Sep 25, 2006

Fabulous Friends and Generous Family

On Friday evening our pal JJ set up a dinner so that we could meet some other pals of hers who are also adopting from Vietnam. As it turns out, Ken knew the guy from college and we are jazzed about getting to know him and his wife. Their process has been a very speedy one, or at least it seems that way. They started the process in May and already have a referral. We were luck enough to see photos of their son - one of the cutest kids I've ever seen and I'm not just saying that - and if all goes well they will be traveling to Vietnam to pick him up in the next month or so. Surprisingly, most of the adoptive families that we met at the Dillon event are significantly older than us, and many of them already have a number of children. It was really nice to meet a couple that we can relate to. Seeing their photos and hearing about the process from their point of view has definitely increased our excitement and we are looking forward to starting the second part of the application.

We received a surprise in the mail today from some very generous family members. Their gift will cover about 25% of the projected adoption cost, and we sincerely appreciate their generosity. So to KC Grandma and her Dad, THANK YOU!

In an attempt to learn more about Vietnamese culture from my belly's point of view, I have purchased a few cookbooks and plan to try out a few recipes a month. To those of you who have selflessly volunteered to sample my attempts, I admire your bravery, Though I'd like to think that most will be tasty, you may find that you have volunteered to sample the world's worst spring rolls, and I apologize in advance for any heartburn that may occur. In any event, I'll be sure to keep you up to date on my efforts.

Sep 21, 2006

so that's where babies come from...

IMMIGRANT VISAS ISSUED TO ORPHANS COMING TO THE U.S.
TOP COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN IN 2005


1: 7,906 - CHINA (MAINLAND)
2: 4,639 - RUSSIA
3: 3,783 - GUATEMALA
4: 1,630 - S. KOREA
5: 821 - UKRAINE
6: 755 - KAZAKHSTAN
7: 441 - ETHIOPIA
8: 323 - INDIA
9: 291 - COLOMBIA
10: 271 - PHILIPPINES
11: 231 - HAITI
12: 182 - LIBERIA
13: 141 - CHINA (TAIWAN BORN)
14: 98 - MEXICO
15: 73 - POLAND AND THAILAND (BOTH 73)
16: 66 - BRAZIL
17: 65 - NIGERIA
18: 63 - JAMAICA
19: 62 - NEPAL
20: 54 - MOLDOVA

That's ALOT of kids! I knew that lots of folks adopted from China and Russia, but somehow I find those numbers surprising. In case you are wondering, Vietnam just reopened to international adoption in April of 2006. In 2002, the last year that the borders were open, Vietnam was ranked 7, with 766 children coming to the states.