FYI: Ethiopian flag

Ethiopian Flag Meaning:The colored stripes on the Ethiopian flag are significant - the red stripe stands for power, faith and blood; the yellow symbolizes peace, natural wealth and love; and the green represents the land and hope.

The colors were also interpreted to have a connection to the Holy Trinity, and the three main provinces of Ethiopia. The star represents unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia. The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity and the blue disk represents peace.


The three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands; Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the three main colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors.

Why Ethiopia?

First I need to share my newest pic of my Tyson . . . Prepping for his first Canoe trip (by the way, he jumped out)
Because so many people have been asking "Why Ethiopia" or "Why Adoption" I thought I would give a quick review of some of the reasons we have been drawn to adopt from Ethiopia and some general adoption questions.

- I have always been interested in adoption, when I was much younger I helped with our church that partnered at a children's home in a neighboring town. In fact several years ago I traveled overseas to check out long-term opportunities to work in orphanages/children's homes.

- When did you get started?
- We started the paperwork and adoption process in August of 2008, approved Feb '09, and Dossier accepted (officially waiting) April '09.


- How did you pick Ethiopia?

Every country and agency has different requirements for adoption, such as age of parents, other children in the family, family finances, length of time to travel and stay in country, and length of marriage. They also are specific about the children they will process adoptions, such as with age or gender, and each have very different time lines for the process.

At the time we decided on Ethiopia it had a very reasonable wait time (6-12 months) however that has since changed and it will be at least 18 months. In Ethiopia we will able to adopt an infant, under the age of 18 months by the time he/she comes home. Because we do not already have children we are unable to choose the gender of the child we adopt (but I don't think we would anyway).

I think it is interesting that Dan spent a significant period of time doing mission work in this area of the world, in 1999 he lived in Tanzania and Kenya. He is somewhat familiar with the region and culture.

When we were still exploring options (i say that, but i already had my heart set on Ethiopia) I read the book "There is No Me Without You" by Melissa Fay Greene, it kind of sealed the deal for me, I dare you to read it and not be inspired!

Minnesota claims to have a huge Ethiopian community, although Rochester isn't exactly the epicenter of all things Ethiopian, we do have a growing Ethiopian community.

-Will we travel to pick up our child?


Yes! I cannot wait, I have already started planning the trip! We are required to be there for 5 days, we hope to go early and have time to explore our child's birth culture and country. Although I have heard horror stories of bringing infants, or young toddlers on a long overseas flight we cannot wait, I am sure Dan would guess that traveling with an infant might be easier than traveling with me at times.


- Where do the children live before adoption?


In Ethiopia children live in orphanages (which is different from South Korea in which they use foster homes). There is a central orphanage called a care center in the capital city of Addis Adaba where we will pick up our child. There is also a center if the children have medical needs. Most children adopted through CHS are from the Southern Region and Oromiya Region of Ethiopia.


- Why are there so many orphans in Ethiopia?


Many children are orphaned due to poverty, the residual effects of war, drought or famine, or their parents may have died of disease, including but not limited to HIV/AIDS related illnesses.


- What agency are you going through?


Children's Home Society and Family Services, based out of St.Paul. They have been working in Ethiopia since 2004 and one of the largest agencies in the country. They also have great post-adoption support system.

- What is the cost?

Unfortunately this is the most asked question, let us just say it will be totally worth it and we need a rather large fundraiser :)

Two Months and Counting . . .

Tuesday marks two months on the official waiting list, I am not obsessively counting though :) It has been a huge blessing to have Val along for the journey. There is only so much a person can relate to the whole adoption process unless if you have done it yourself. Not only is Val my baby sister but i count her one of my closest friends. As much as Dan reminds me that i need to stop obsessing and just 'stop thinking' i know Valarie can totally understand that i cannot just turn it off. Even if it isn't something specific about our future children we obsess about the culture, family, and nation they will be born into. Just last night Valarie started talking about someone she knew just received a referral (matched with a child) and before you know it she is just going on and on about politics in North Korea and the future US/Korea relations . . . Okay I probably need to explain I have always felt like I was the one in the family that kept up on political goings-on and current events and suddenly my sister is spouting off all kinds of current events that i personally have been too tired to keep up with the news. It was an ah-ha moment; Val is obsessive too, I am Not ALONE!

Lately I have attempted to distract my obsession with my future child with fabric, yes it does sound silly when i put it that way. i have been sewing and planning my next quilt, loving almost every minute. Dan thinks it would more financially responsible to go back to obsessing about the adoption instead of spending $$ on fabric. I am so proud of my new tags, no they are not fancy or exciting but it is all mine and i made them so I feel pretty great about them.

If you have some great ideas on distraction that are 'financially responsible' please leave a comment and help me out, and please don't say "go to the gym" because the chances of that happening are not great.

Up and Running

Well the Sisterhood2Motherhood fundraising is up and running! Val is churnning out beautiful custom necklaces and other jewelry.

Moms already love Val's designs especially with children's names engraved and some with their birthstones. She has been really creative, I cannot wait to see some of the new engraving she has been working on!

I have been sewing a bit, trying some new things including the tag blankies and working on a few other ideas. I only wish I had more time to play, if only I didn' t have to go work!

Hot Pink Minky / Chocolate with Pink Dots

Tangerine Minky/ Retro yellow and tangerine dots

Lime Minky / Blue and Green dots

Crafty Weekend

What a great weekend, my parents came for a visit, me and my mom embroidered like crazy! We worked on getting a start on the Silky blankets and Diva Aprons. As much as I wanted to quilt we just didn't have time but talked about quilting enough to count for something! I have uploaded the pics on the flickr site. I really like the Diva aprons just couldn't get a photo to upload here (I am sure operator error!)

On a side note we were dogsitting little Lola and my dad actually liked her, this is big news in our family since Lola is coming to live with us later this fall (Lola tends to lack some social skills but she is so lovable).

As you can imagine I am trying to keep busy, this is going to be a very long couple of years waiting.

laurie

Finally, We are Official!

08/26/08 Application submitted
11/18/08 Adoptive Parenting Workshop
12/31/08 First Home Study Visit
02/17/09 Third and final home study visit . . . . APPROVED
04/09/09 Dossier Submitted
04/16/09 Officially WAITING!!!!!!!!!!

Wow it has taken way too long to be official! Dan and I are waiting for a referral for a child, boy or girl, under the age of 12 months at referral. After referral it might take up to 4 months for court approval and travel. Currently CHSFS is quoting a 12-18 month wait for referral (YIKES!)
Next steps include CIS (immigration) approval and figerprinting . . . . more paperwork. and then more paperwork.
So I have been trying to keep very busy, trying to pass time. The last few nights I have been clearing out room for a 'new' hand-me-down sewing table and working on a beautiful crib quilt. I really love the bold vibrant colors, I hope to finish it up soon and put it up on the flikr site. Anybody in need of a crib quilt let me know, I would love to put one together for you, and it keeps me busy.
Thanks for keepnig us in your thoughts and prayers, it has been a long road already and we have so much further to go!!
Laurie

Drumroll please...

After what seems like much anticipation, I have finally got a few necklaces done using my metal stamping technique. Check out the photostream on "Val's Jewelry" slideshow for samples on the right side -->. Please email valariesmithdesigns@yahoo.com for a custom order!