Shop 'til You Drop!

We're raising money to travel to China to get our daughter, Elianna Ruth. You can help out by shopping at my online store or by referring friends to the link to shop. Just click the title of this blog entry to take you there, or go to http://www.cafepress.com/kolloquy.

Thanks for your help!

Spooky Reading Night

Approximately 500 people attended my school's third annual Spooky Reading Night last night. Author/Storyteller Roberta Simpson Brown was our featured guest. She is the author of seven books and has been a guest on numerous radio and television shows. This was her fourth visit to Simpsonville Elementary School to tell scary stories to our third, fourth, and fifth grade students. The Spooky Reading Night is a favorite event that our families look forward to each year in Wyatt's Woods behind the school. The girls in the picture are following along with one of Roberta's stories using a flashlight.

Welcome Leila & Mason!

Leila and Mason Wells came to town for a quick visit. Joanna drove down from Indiana. Wendy, Troy and Madison joined the festivities, as did Paula, Sarah Grace, and Emma. A great time at Old Stone Inn!

Update on Elianna

Several folks have asked about our wait for Elianna. If you notice the "Countdown to Elianna" at the top of this blog, you will notice that it has been 5 months, 3 weeks and 5 days since our Log In Date (LID). The Log In Date is the date when all of the dossier documents are logged into the China database for adoptions. A referral happens when China sends a picture and information about a baby that has been matched to your dossier. You then decide to accept or decline the baby referred to you. Not accepting a referral is highly unusual. The most recent referrals to families with our adoption agency came after a 23 MONTH wait from Log In Date. Those families still have a couple of months before they will travel to China to get their child.

What does that mean for us? Well, our Log In Date for Elianna was April 10. If the current trends continue, that will mean that we might get a referral for Elianna sometime around March, 2009. Add travel time into that, and it looks like we might go to China for Elianna around May, 2009.

My hope is that the wait times for a referral will decrease. We started this process in April, 2006. A three year wait seems unreal, but I know it will be worth it. Stay tuned to our blog for updates!