Friday, February 27, 2009

Fingerprints done!

Well, it was an interesting day. Last night, we were concerned that the roads would be too bad to travel, so we were glad to find that everything got plowed.We started off by dropping our school age kids at a friend's house an hour before school started so we could get on our way.

We made really good time, including a little traffic once we got on 494. We arrived at the Bloomington office 15 min early, only to find out that we weren't supposed to go to the Bloomington office. Our appointment was at the St. Paul office. And although the correct address was on our form, the address and directions from the website was for Bloomington. We got some hasty directions to the other office, packed Alaina back in the van and prayed we could still get in for our appointment. I tried to call the office on my cell phone, but as I've said before, calling government offices is a jungle. Finally, I did get to a real person and she said if they could still get us in, they would and if not we would have to reschedule. Thanks, very helpful. With our best guess and God's help, we arrived at the St. Paul office 20 min. late.

We were relieved that we were able to get in for our appointment with no trouble and celebrated at a nearby Perkin's when we were done. As soon as Alaina's mac n cheese was served, she said she was going to spit up, I, foolishly, didn't think she knew what she was talking about and she promptly delivered blue blast (cool aid/sprite combo) all over her food. It was gross, but funny because her nostrils were blue because it spewed out that way too.

One other interesting thing, when I got my fingerprints, the lady asked me what I do. I told her I'm a mom and daycare provider. She said, "Oh, you have really worn fingertips." I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Later, Mark said, "Oh, she told me I have nice hands." (He was just kidding.) : )

However, the most exciting news of the day I didn't find out until tonight. My good friend, Mary, received news that they passed court in Ethiopia, which means the two sweet, adorable kids that she and her husband are adopting are officially and legally theirs forever. To learn more about their story go to:
http://www.loveisgreaterthanfear.blogspot.com

Thursday, February 26, 2009

An uncommon life

Not everyone is delighted that we are adopting two little boys. Some of our family are concerned about our decision. They hope that we have really considered all the challenges we may encounter. And although there is no way of knowing what is ahead, Mark and I believe it's worth the risk. The joy and delight of welcoming our little boys into our family, our belief that God is bigger than any problem or challenge ahead, our commitment to love over fear compel us. Here's an awesome little video that explains our decision to live a crazy love, uncommon life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_uwWPE6lQ

Friday, February 20, 2009

Do what you are told

Yesterday I received another notice from USIC (I think that’s what it’s called), but the date for our fingerprints was different. Have you ever tried to call a government office to talk to a real person? Wow, leave it to the government to make things difficult. My first attempt ended with the automated system hanging up on me. Whatever! I don’t even know what I did the second time but I did eventually get to a “real” person. When I told her I got two appointments on different days, she said, “Sweet!” Huh? She said, “Oh, that’s great! They bumped your appointment up to a closer date.”
Me- What if Sat works better than Friday for us?
“Well, you better go to the earlier one, they probably filled the later one.”

So, now we are arranging plans to make a trip to Bloomington on Fri. Feb. 27.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Passport and Fingerprints

Whoohoo! We got our fingerprint date for the I600 in the mail today as well as my passport! Our date in Bloomington for fingerprints is Sat. Feb. 28. I'm really glad neither of us have to take off of work to go.

Where will we put them?



Well, thank God for our new house! We just moved into a very nice four bedroom home in June. When we moved in, the girls decided they all wanted to share a room, so we moved them into the largest room, which has a little extra room attached to it. I don’t know if that room was supposed to be a bathroom that never got finished or a nursery or what, but they used it for a play room. So, recently, Evelyn expressed interest in having her own room. I decided that maybe that would be a good birthday gift since she is turning nine March 17.

Last weekend I began moving stuff out of the room that had been empty. I decided to move the crib (that I use for daycare) into the toy room and eventually, we would switch the little girl room with the mom and dad room so when the boys come home, they can stay in the little room (former playroom) near us. But, for now, I’m working on Evelyn’s room. We went to Menard’s on Sat. to look at paint. By the way, I hate painting, but I love my daughter. Oh, and I’m terrible at picking out a good color. So, I grabbed some options and called a friend to help. But, while we where there, we found a horse boarder. This boarder has Evelyn’s name written all over it! It was perfect for her, and as it turns out, is perfect for the room too. The room is currently a light yellow color and matches the pastel colors in the horse border perfectly. Ahhh, no painting! It only took me a half hour to put up the border and Evelyn slept in her new room last night!

Double Blessing

On Dec. 13, 2008 I received an email with a question mark in the subject line. I opened the email and was greeted with “This is Michael. He is 4 years old. Could he be your son?”

We had just begun the adoption process at the end of Nov. after years of waiting for the right time. I wasn’t anticipating a referral any time soon, so this was a surprise. Attached to the email was a picture of a little boy. That picture has been on our refrigerator ever since, even though we promised ourselves we would not get attached. As I inquired more about Michael, I learned that his paperwork isn’t through the government yet and that he has a half brother. I don’t know how you are supposed to feel when you see the picture of your son, but I felt confused. I actually emailed some of my friends that had adopted or were in the process of adopting to ask how you know that a child is supposed to be yours.

If you have read the beginning of our story, you know that in the spring of ’05 I had a sense that there was a baby boy in Africa that was supposed to be my son. This little boy was a baby at that time. I think what threw me was that he had a sibling. Of course I immediately began to wonder if we could adopt them both and I felt overwhelmed. Now, if you know me, I am not easily overwhelmed. I love a challenge and often find an easy life boring. But, this felt too big for me. I decided to believe that maybe this little boy did not live with his brother and maybe they weren’t really that close and maybe someone near Eau Claire would adopt his brother and we could stay in touch. So, that’s where we left it until Feb. 3 when I received the full report on the two boys. When I saw their pictures and read their story, I knew I could not be the one to separate them. Either we would choose to adopt them both or allow someone else to adopt them.

I had delayed sending in the I600 (immigration form) until we had saved up a little more money and I was preparing to send it in that week. On that form it asks how many children you are planning to adopt. A couple of days before Feb. 3, I wrote down that we would adopt 2 children. I thought, “Well, if there is any chance that we might adopt two I better write it in now.” So, when Mark and I got this information, I had already been thinking about it. I don’t know what changed in me, but this time I didn’t feel overwhelmed or scared. I actually hoped that we would be able to do it. As well as sending in the I600, I had also gathered up the rest of the documents we needed for the home study. I send them in with a note that we would like to talk about adopting two children. Our social worker got back to us and set up a time to talk. Honestly, I was nervous about it all week. But, Thurs. Feb. 12 our social worker agreed to approve us for two little boys!

I was so excited, I wanted to call someone and tell them, but honestly, I wasn't sure many of my friends and family would be excited too. So I really didn't tell many people right away. But, I did have the chance to share the story briefly in church on Sunday. Yesterday, Mark mentioned it on the radio. So, I firgured it was time to tell the whole story of this crazy journey of love that we are on.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

We're in the Leader Telegram!

Interesting how things happen, but besides pursuing a family dream of adoption, Mark and I are also dreaming of developing a spiritual community. This dream is featured in the religion page today.

http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-FEATURES.asp?id=BJ5HN8IDIBL

Not only that, but it was Mark's turn to write a column for Faith Matters, which also appeared in today's paper.

http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-FEATURES.asp?id=BJ6479FVID1

Friday, February 13, 2009

The Halvorsen family

My husband, Mark, and I married Oct. 17, 1998. We have four amazing children living with us now, and two more on the way.

Our children:

Evelyn, almost 9, smart, sensitive, contemplative girl. She likes things organized and sensible. I often know what she is thinking, since we think a like. Evelyn loves animals, especially horses.

Dawson, 7 years old. He is ALL boy! He loves to wrestle and play at his friends' houses. He likes computer and video games. He is also an excellent reader. He has a very tough and tender side. We call him Tender Warrior.

Grace, 5 years oldShe is my sunshine girl. She is enthusiatic and excited about life. Sometimes she can hardly contain herself and I'm not sure she can talk if her hands are restrained. Grace is a snuggler and gives great hugs.

Alaina Joy is a 3 years old princess. She wears dresses or skirts every day. She is cute and bossy, definately the loudest of the bunch, which probably helps when she's also the smallest. Alaina is also a snuggler and is often seen with her yellow blankie.

We also have two other little boys that we will learn more about soon. They are currently living in Liberia, West Africa. We hope to bring them home as soon as we can.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Our Adoption story

Mark and I have talked about adoption since we got married. We would have a few kids and adopt. We knew our fourth child was our last biological child. While I was pregnant with Alaina, our fourth child, I had a strong feeling that there was a little boy in Africa that was our son. I was at church at the time and I went out to the lobby. I saw Greg and Kathy Smith there and told them about the feeling I was having. They prayed with me.

Over the next year or so, every once in a while I would have that sense that our son was in Africa and I would pray for him. A few years later, Mark did an adoption Front Page show for Adoption Awareness month in Nov. I remember that night, sitting on the couch with tears in my eyes, while he told me about how the show had impacted him and wondered if it was time for us to seriously consider adoption.

After the holidays, I began researching adoption agencies and types of adoptions. After a short seach, it just didn't seem like it was the right time. We continued to learn more about adoption and asked questions from people who had adopted. We investigated foster care adoption, special needs adoption, and foster care. In the spring of 2008, I thought it was time for us to adopt. I begun filling out the home study application and gathering the many, many documents. Then, Mark suggested that perhaps this was the time for our family to move to a bigger house. Four growing active kids in a 3 bedroom ranch was getting a bit crowded. However, I could not pursue adoption and moving at the same time. So, I turned my attention to preparing our house to sell. It's a longer story, but the short story is that God blessed us with a big 4 bedroom house two blocks away from our previous one.

In the meantime, Mark and I decided to team up with some friends to put on an event to promote adoption. It grew into Hope for Forgotten Children. This one day event offered three tracks: Prospective Adoption, Post Adoption and Orphan Care. It was really exciting to be part of planning this event. And we were pleased that the event broke even. This encouraged us to begin planning for the next event the coming year. At our follow up meeting in Nov. after the event was over, our friend told us about how we could do a private adoption in Liberia, West Africa. As she spoke, I wondered in my heart if the door was finally opening for us to adopt. Mark and I talked that night and we both felt like this was a path we should pursue.
I pulled up the application I worked on earlier that spring, updated it and the other paperwork and sent it off to our adoption agency. We planned to be in the Milwaukee area over Thanksgiving. Amazingly, our social worker agreed to meet with us Friday and Saturday to complete our intervere process. Graciously, Mark's mom and stepdad took care of our kids while we were gone.

Since then, there has been more paperwork to fill out and more copies to make. Our social worker came to our house in December to do the home visit. I sent in the form for the I600a and filed for a passport last week.We began our 16 hours of adoption education a couple weeks ago. So, after years of waiting, in a few short months we are on our way.