This Summer

Still waiting to hear back on the result of the vote and we have another creditors meeting next Monday (on the 21st), so lets hope good news is on the way!

Here are a few random pictures from our summer.

visiting the steam whistle brewery in Toronto

statue of liberty in NYC

statue that looks a lot like Matthew ?

Half the fun is eating out - Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pizza)

Soul food in Harlem...I need to go on a diet.

Times Square

Comerica Park Detroit for a Tigers game - look out Matty!

Hey Matty leave those people alone!

Detroit GM building

Ford Museum - the Rosa Parks bus

On the bus sitting where she was when she was asked to move.

-I didn't take any pictures there but another thing we really enjoyed in Detroit was going to the African-American History Museum. It was a great museum and I would recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area, here is the link - Click here.

and a summer without a little music, hey we couldn't do that. We saw Tori Amos in Toronto.

She is a little crazy hehe.

My favourite song below - Northern Lad

Yes, Yes, YES!

So the proposal for the new agency was presented and this week we had our chance to vote on it. I sent in our YES vote on Monday, and so now we just wait to see if they get enough votes to start up the agency again. I feel positive but anxious...will keep you posted on what happens next.

Still Here

Hi there anyone who still checks on this blog! I have to say sorry for not posting in such a long time. It is funny in a way because now more than ever before family/friends have asked for updates about our adoption, so I should be keeping my blog up to date but I just have not felt like writing about what is going on. I think all the talking and thinking about it has worn me down and I just don't have the energy to write about it...so sorry again.

For anyone wondering where things are at check out this website: http://www.familieswithhope.org/
or this blog: http://unitedfamiliesofimagine.blogspot.com/

So I will return to my blog soon with some pictures from the summer. The quick summary of what is going on is that we are waiting to hear a "proposal" for a new agency that may be able to finish our adoptions, but at this time a lot of questions remain unanswered. So we will take one day at a time and are try to stay hopeful.

oh, and I just noticed we are at 13 months waiting for a referral as of yesterday...the last two months flew by. Our "12 months waiting" day fell on the same day as the BDO meeting, I would never have "Imagined" that would be how we would mark 12 months waiting for a referral. ahh, sometimes you can't cry so you just have to laugh.

Heartbroken - PLEASE SIGN

I don't even know what to say...how do you put into words how your life long dream can go up in smoke on a Monday afternoon for a reason that no one really understands, and probably should not have happened. I feel empty. Our adoption agency filed for bankruptcy on Monday and locked their doors with no warning. We saw no signs of this coming. We knew the wait was long but we were told to expect this with International adoption and that everything was fine.

Please support us if you can by signing this petition CLICK HERE

Back Home

So I am back... had a great trip and visit with my brother. Two things I wish we had here - mountains and ocean. Geesh you guys out west are lucky, it is beautiful!!My brother's familyThe wedding (my mom/brother/myself above)
It was beautiful!! Here is to years of happiness (-:

11 months

We have reached 11 months of waiting for a referral and to be honest I don't really feel like we are getting any closer. I seem to go through phases where I feel more at peace with the wait, and when I feel really down. When the summer arrived I started to feel more at peace again and wondered if it was because there is so much to do and keep busy with. But then last week I felt downright rotten, so I have realized that there is no way to predict or control your emotions with this. I am leaving tomorrow to fly out to BC for my brother's wedding (with my mom), so I will post some pictures when I return, it should be fun!

A couple weeks ago the hospital where I work was putting on a fundraiser breakfast and the speaker was L. Gen Romeo Dallaire. You may remember the movie "Hotel Rwanda" about the genocide there. He was the Canadian there during that time who commanded the United Nations Assistance Mission that tried to keep peace between the two sides at war. He shared with us his story of struggling with mental illness and post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return. If you have not yet seen the movie below I would highly recommend it. He wrote a book called "Shake hands with the devil" and this is the movie based on that book.

Please Read/Sign/Email - Thanks!!

Please support Bill C-397, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act by signing this online petition.

-Currently if adopted children (who gained their Canadian Citizenship while in their birth country) decided to have children someday and were not living in Canada at the time, their children would NOT be able to become Canadian Citizens. It concerns me that our Canadian government is trying to create a two-tiered citizenship process and that they don't believe internationally adopted children should have the same rights as other Canadians. Click below to sign the petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/C397/petition.html


Also please support Bill C-413, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act & Can. Labo .

-MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) has introduced a Private Member's Bill in the House of Commons. The bill would amend the law to give adoptive parents the same number of weeks of leave from work as the biological parent of a new-born child. Please support Peter Julian's bill. Having this time together to help build strong attachments is so important to adoptive families.
For more info on the bill click here
You can thank Peter Julian here: juliap1@parl.gc.ca
Or email your MP asking them to support the bill: http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E

Multiple Transitions

I came across this video yesterday. It is the same one we were shown as part of our PRIDE training for this adoption. It made me cry then and again when I watched it yesterday...I think it is a good one to share with family and friends as well. It tries to explore a number of the different feelings kids may have when they have been adopted or are in foster care. It is made up of written text put to music.
-Click on the link below-

Multiple Transitions: A Young Child's Point of View about Foster Care and Adoption

The Agenda - Broadcast - Ontario Adopts

A friend shared this with me. It is a recent interview about adoption (domestic and international) and Sue from IA (our agency) is on the discussion panel. Click on the link below to check it out.

- interview link here -

You will have to click on the tab that says "Ontario adopts" at the top next to the one that says "Jason Kenny" to open the correct video.

10 Months

So we have reached the 10 month mark in terms of our wait for a referral (and 12 mo+ from the time we started the process). Deep breath...and continue on.

Not much new to report. The City and Colour concert last week was a lot of fun. Dallas Green wears skinny jeans which made us laugh a little. I guess I am not up to date on what is cool for men's fashion because I just don't get the skinny jean look. I am trying to picture what Matthew would look like in a pair...hehe. Matthew said some of the boys at the school where he teaches wear girls jeans to achieve the desired look, and here I thought the banana clips of my past were funny.

Julie Doiron opened the show and was great...this is a clip someone else took the same night that I found posted on you tube.



Also had a chance to stop at my fav Toronto book shop and picked up a super fun book. I love the idea of exposing kids to different cultures and the "Another Story Bookshop" rocks for this kind of stuff.



Bee-Bim Bop is a traditional Korean dish. I remember in University I lived near a place where they sold this dish and I had a roommate who was hooked...I used to tease her about eating too much "beep and bop", can't wait to show her this book.



Also went to see Craig Kielburger do a talk with my mother in law. He is the guy who at 12 years old founded "Free the Children". He gave a really good speech. I read his book "Me to We" a few months back and enjoyed it. If you ever get a chance to see him speak it is worth while. He is all about finding happiness in your life by helping others and being less self focused (the 'me'), and more focused on service and community (the 'we').