Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day!
Wishing all of us a Happy Mother's Day and a Happy Mommy-To-Be Day! Wishing everyone all the best.
Monday, May 5, 2008
One of the worst months, again...
Well, as usual, it was another horrifically bad month for referrals. ONLY 3 DAYS!! LIDs of January 10 through 12, 2006 got referrals this month. It seems like time to our referral keeps getting stretched out further and further each day. 183 more days worth of log-in dates to go...
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Robert's First Solo Flight!
Today is a momentus day... Robert solo'd for his very first time after only 10 or 11 hours of flight instruction. His instructor, Pete, said he was the earliest of all of his students to be ready to solo. He started with a lesson from his instructor and then his instructor left the airplane and he did 4 take-offs and landings with only himself in the airplane. Pete had called me on Friday to let me know that he'd be soloing and for me to secretly be there to witness. Robert didn't know I was there until he had landed after his 4th beautiful landing. He was so happy that I was there to witness this special occasion. He's been wanting to do this since he was a little boy.
Here's a short video clip from his 4th and best landing. Please excuse the poor quality... It was a pretty landing, but hard to see on this clip...
Here's what a husband looks like after a job well done!
Here's a short video clip from his 4th and best landing. Please excuse the poor quality... It was a pretty landing, but hard to see on this clip...
Here's what a husband looks like after a job well done!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Chinese Zodiac Quilt
Well, I've bought all the fabric I need for the sashing, border, and backing of the quilt. Now it's time to sew it. I just love all the squares that I received from my 100 Good Wishes Quilt Group. My mom is going to help me sew it all together. Wish us luck! Neither of us has ever sewn a quilt before... This quilt is going to be her carry around quilt. Later, I'll be working on her twin-sized one. Gotta start one at a time...
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
We may have a long wait, but at least we don't have to deal with this...
Vietnam to halt American adoptions after damning US report
By Chris Brummitt, Associated Press Writer
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Vietnam, where growing numbers of Americans have turned to adopt a baby, announced Monday it would stop processing new adoption applications from U.S. citizens from July following allegations of baby-selling, corruption and fraud.
The abrupt cutoff cast a cloud of uncertainty over pending adoptions in the Southeast Asian country, which have surged in the face of tightened restrictions in China, Guatemala and elsewhere.
The announcement came days after The Associated Press published details of a U.S. Embassy report that outlined rampant abuses, including hospitals selling infants whose mothers could not pay their bills, brokers scouring villages for babies and a grandmother who gave away her grandchild without telling the child's mother.
"It is tragic for children that the U.S. government has not been able to find ways to work with the Vietnamese government to prevent adoption abuses while at the same time processing legitimate adoptions," said Tom Atwood, president of the Washington-based National Council for Adoption, a research and advocacy organization.
"Many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children will not have families as a result of this failure of leadership."
U.S. adoptions have boomed in Vietnam, with Americans — including actress Angelina Jolie — adopting more than 1,200 Vietnamese children over the 18 months ending in March. In 2007, adoptions quadrupled from a year earlier.
In its nine-page report, the U.S. Embassy said some American adoption agencies paid orphanage officials as much as $10,000 per referral, while others took them on shopping sprees and junkets to the United States in return for a flow of babies.
It said questions arose after routine investigations turned up widespread inconsistencies in adoption paperwork. There was also a suspicious surge in the number of babies listed as abandoned, making it impossible to confirm the children were genuine orphans or that their parents had knowingly put them up for adoption, as required by U.S. law.
Vu Duc Long, director of Vietnam's International Adoption Agency, called the U.S. allegations "groundless." On Monday, he said Vietnam was scrapping a bilateral agreement with the United States that sought to regulate the adoption system.
"They (the Americans) can say whatever they want, but we are not going to renew it," Long said.
In a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam said it would stop taking adoption applications from American families after July 1. Adoption arrangements with other countries were unaffected.
The State Department said Vietnam's government would allow adoptions to be completed in pending cases where prospective parents had been matched with a child and received an official referral before Sept. 1.
After that date, it said any dossier that had not received a referral will be closed and returned to the adoption agency. It said given the time it takes to process a claim, any adoption initiated now would be unsuccessful.
The U.S. Embassy said it respected Hanoi's decision, but was confident of the accuracy of the report.
"The government of Vietnam has made their own decision, but we believe that our report speaks for itself," said spokeswoman Angela Aggeler.
It was not immediately clear how many U.S. couples were affected by the decision.
Linda Brownlee, executive director of a Washington-based international adoption agency, said the decision would mean that 20 families on its waiting list who will not be able to be matched with children in time.
"Now their dossiers will be returned to them," said Brownlee of The Adoption Center, one of more than 40 U.S. agencies that arrange adoptions of Vietnamese children.
She said the embassy report did not cover positive aspects of adoptions in the country.
"They didn't say how many visas they had approved with no problem," she said. "I know many agencies who have done great work there and that doesn't get reported."
Keith Wallace, CEO of Families Thru International Adoption, agreed. "The (abuse) cases reported by the embassy ... are such a very small fraction" of U.S. adoptions in Vietnam, he said. "It is wrong to imply that Vietnamese adoptions are corrupt through and through."
Vietnam suspended all adoptions with foreign countries in 2003 over concerns about corruption. U.S. adoptions resumed in 2005 under a bilateral agreement intended to ensure they were above board. It was due for renewal on Sept. 1.
Vietnam is only the latest country where U.S. adoptions have been halted or severely restricted.
Suspected fraud and other irregularities have cast a cloud over the nearly 3,000 pending U.S. adoptions from Guatemala, the second-largest source of U.S. adopted children after China. Under State Department pressure, Guatemala is allowing those to go through, but would-be parents were warned last year not to initiate new adoptions.
By contrast, adoptions from Ethiopia are on the increase, growing 71 percent to 1,255 last year. "Ethiopia has become a country where, because of the transparency of the system, many are adopting," said Wallace.
In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, American adoptive parents have become a common sight in the city's hotels.
On Monday, J.B. Sikes, of Anselmo, Neb., cradled his newly adopted son Binyam.
"It was my desire that my family represent what the Kingdom of God looks like, and that's all different colors," the 39-year-old corn farmer said.
Adopting in Ethiopia, which cost about $30,000, was less expensive and restrictive than in the United States, said Sikes, who has two other biological children.
"We started out wanting to adopt domestically, but we found we were the last one on everyone's list, because we have other children," he said.
By Chris Brummitt, Associated Press Writer
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Vietnam, where growing numbers of Americans have turned to adopt a baby, announced Monday it would stop processing new adoption applications from U.S. citizens from July following allegations of baby-selling, corruption and fraud.
The abrupt cutoff cast a cloud of uncertainty over pending adoptions in the Southeast Asian country, which have surged in the face of tightened restrictions in China, Guatemala and elsewhere.
The announcement came days after The Associated Press published details of a U.S. Embassy report that outlined rampant abuses, including hospitals selling infants whose mothers could not pay their bills, brokers scouring villages for babies and a grandmother who gave away her grandchild without telling the child's mother.
"It is tragic for children that the U.S. government has not been able to find ways to work with the Vietnamese government to prevent adoption abuses while at the same time processing legitimate adoptions," said Tom Atwood, president of the Washington-based National Council for Adoption, a research and advocacy organization.
"Many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children will not have families as a result of this failure of leadership."
U.S. adoptions have boomed in Vietnam, with Americans — including actress Angelina Jolie — adopting more than 1,200 Vietnamese children over the 18 months ending in March. In 2007, adoptions quadrupled from a year earlier.
In its nine-page report, the U.S. Embassy said some American adoption agencies paid orphanage officials as much as $10,000 per referral, while others took them on shopping sprees and junkets to the United States in return for a flow of babies.
It said questions arose after routine investigations turned up widespread inconsistencies in adoption paperwork. There was also a suspicious surge in the number of babies listed as abandoned, making it impossible to confirm the children were genuine orphans or that their parents had knowingly put them up for adoption, as required by U.S. law.
Vu Duc Long, director of Vietnam's International Adoption Agency, called the U.S. allegations "groundless." On Monday, he said Vietnam was scrapping a bilateral agreement with the United States that sought to regulate the adoption system.
"They (the Americans) can say whatever they want, but we are not going to renew it," Long said.
In a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam said it would stop taking adoption applications from American families after July 1. Adoption arrangements with other countries were unaffected.
The State Department said Vietnam's government would allow adoptions to be completed in pending cases where prospective parents had been matched with a child and received an official referral before Sept. 1.
After that date, it said any dossier that had not received a referral will be closed and returned to the adoption agency. It said given the time it takes to process a claim, any adoption initiated now would be unsuccessful.
The U.S. Embassy said it respected Hanoi's decision, but was confident of the accuracy of the report.
"The government of Vietnam has made their own decision, but we believe that our report speaks for itself," said spokeswoman Angela Aggeler.
It was not immediately clear how many U.S. couples were affected by the decision.
Linda Brownlee, executive director of a Washington-based international adoption agency, said the decision would mean that 20 families on its waiting list who will not be able to be matched with children in time.
"Now their dossiers will be returned to them," said Brownlee of The Adoption Center, one of more than 40 U.S. agencies that arrange adoptions of Vietnamese children.
She said the embassy report did not cover positive aspects of adoptions in the country.
"They didn't say how many visas they had approved with no problem," she said. "I know many agencies who have done great work there and that doesn't get reported."
Keith Wallace, CEO of Families Thru International Adoption, agreed. "The (abuse) cases reported by the embassy ... are such a very small fraction" of U.S. adoptions in Vietnam, he said. "It is wrong to imply that Vietnamese adoptions are corrupt through and through."
Vietnam suspended all adoptions with foreign countries in 2003 over concerns about corruption. U.S. adoptions resumed in 2005 under a bilateral agreement intended to ensure they were above board. It was due for renewal on Sept. 1.
Vietnam is only the latest country where U.S. adoptions have been halted or severely restricted.
Suspected fraud and other irregularities have cast a cloud over the nearly 3,000 pending U.S. adoptions from Guatemala, the second-largest source of U.S. adopted children after China. Under State Department pressure, Guatemala is allowing those to go through, but would-be parents were warned last year not to initiate new adoptions.
By contrast, adoptions from Ethiopia are on the increase, growing 71 percent to 1,255 last year. "Ethiopia has become a country where, because of the transparency of the system, many are adopting," said Wallace.
In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, American adoptive parents have become a common sight in the city's hotels.
On Monday, J.B. Sikes, of Anselmo, Neb., cradled his newly adopted son Binyam.
"It was my desire that my family represent what the Kingdom of God looks like, and that's all different colors," the 39-year-old corn farmer said.
Adopting in Ethiopia, which cost about $30,000, was less expensive and restrictive than in the United States, said Sikes, who has two other biological children.
"We started out wanting to adopt domestically, but we found we were the last one on everyone's list, because we have other children," he said.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
They may look cute, but...
This little rabbit and his many little furry friends had a harsh winter (and I'd like to make them suffer further...). When the snow finally melted, I was amazed to find much of our landscaping destroyed. They had eaten around the bark of some of my bushes and plants - which I was told by our neighborhood garden shop - are not going to make it due to the extensive damage. I spent about 5 hours yesterday cleaning up and have at least that to go. Next, I am going to have to figure out what to replace the damaged goods with. NOT FUN!! Today was another round of gardening and still more to go...
Here is the little critter and the damage that he/they did...
As Elmer Fudd once said to Bugs Bunny: "kill the rabbit... kill the rabbit..."
Here is the little critter and the damage that he/they did...
As Elmer Fudd once said to Bugs Bunny: "kill the rabbit... kill the rabbit..."
Friday, April 18, 2008
Her first Chinese Dress
A HUGE Thank You to Heather and Dustin for bringing us back this dress for our daughter from China. It is so beautiful. I can't wait to see her in it!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Proud Cousin
My cousin and his wife just had a new baby boy - their second boy. I just went to see him the other day and he is just too cute. Here he is at a lovely 8 days old.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Please, No More Rain!
Well, we had over 2 inches of non-stop rain yesterday and more on the way today and tomorrow. Tonight, the rain may turn to snow. We'll have to wait and see. YUCK!! Robert took this photo this morning of the flood plane behind our house. We even had ducks swimming by... I think they enjoyed it more than we did. Let's pray for a dry basement!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Only 5 days worth of matches this month
Well, as usual, it's my monthly bad news post... only 5 days worth of referrals were matched this month. The CCAA has matched families with Log-In dates of January 5 - 9, 2006. I don't think anything else needs to be said. BUMMER!!
We have 186 days worth of matches to go. If you do the math (which I don't want to) we have way too many more months to go.
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