I like adoption

I was reading the adoption blog of some friends of ours (www.therickerts.org) and found a video on one of her posts that was really good called "I like Adoption."  You might need to grab a box of tissues before you watch. 

Check it out here: ilikeadoption

Book 'Em

Travis and I went down to the DeSmet Sheriff's office today to get finger printed. We wanted to get it done before we headed back to Tea from our Christmas vacation. The always friendly Sheriff Scotting and his wife were so nice and didn't even charge us for it! 

 (Notice the lovely necklace I am wearing)

 We should have had them take mug shots of us while we were at it! Maybe then Travis would have done a "real" smile. :)

We have most of our pre-home study paper work finished and ready to be sent in. It takes about 8 weeks for our FBI finger prints to be processed, so it will be at least that long before we can start the home study. Travis also has to set up his Dr. appointment which could also take 8 weeks. Only kidding honey. 

We HEART Africa

This is the necklace that Travis gave me for Christmas. Isn't he sweet? I love it! Mostly because when I am wearing it, it will remind me to think of and pray for our little girl so far away.  He also gave me a few other little gifts. Among them a Johnny Cash Christmas CD. That one... not. so. much. 

Pre Home Study and Training

Pre Home Study paper work:

Well, we are in the pre-home study stage of our adoption process. This includes things such as drug-testing, finger printing, doctor visits, tax returns, and financial statements, among other things. Once we get this bunch of paperwork done, we can start our home study. The home study itself takes about 4 weeks. It is a series of 4 meetings, each at least 1 week apart. Three of the meetings will be at our home and one will be at the Bethany office. I don’t know the specific details of the home study yet, but it’s basically a way for our adoption agency to get to know us as a family and make sure we will be suitable parents for an adopted child.

Training:

Throughout this process we have to complete 30 hours of adoption training. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Bethany office on Sycamore for an all-day Saturday training on “trans racial adoption.”  We watched the video/documentary “Adopted” (It’s NOT the Polly Shore version on Netflix). Go to www.adoptedthemovie.com for more information.  Travis and I and about 10 other couples completed the training. We had some great discussions on the movie and watched other videos related to adopting a child of a different race or ethnicity.

I would highly encourage you to watch the movie. It is from the perspective of 2 families. One from a child, now 32, adopted from Korea. The other is from the point of view of a couple recently adopting a little girl from China.  Whether you are adopting, someone in your family is, or know someone who has adopted, this movie is a great eye-opener to the perspective of the non-white child being adopted in to a white family and community.

I feel like we have already learned so much about international and interracial adoption, and yet we are only at the tip of the ice burg…how exciting!

Another “training” opportunity I am looking forward to is the Ethnic Hair meeting. Since there is about a 100% chance that our little girl will be of African (specifically Ugandan) decent, I need to make sure this mama is able to come through on the hair side of things. If we were adopting a little boy, he would most likely maintain Travis’s hair style (buzz cut). But since we are requesting a little girl, it’s time for me to learn how to do ethnic hair. Braids, corn rows, tight curls, froes.  This could be interesting...

2012 Christmas Letter

2012 Christmas Letter

Meaning: Every year I get “wrapped up” in getting just the right gifts for everyone, or getting the decorations in the all the right places. But I hope that I can keep my focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  Jesus is the most precious gift any of us could receive and is the true Reason for the season.

Embrace: Travis has been working at Embrace Church in Sioux Falls as the Executive Pastor for the past year and a half. He keeps very busy with a growing church and loves working with the staff.  I work part-time as the dietitian at the Avera McKennan Fitness Center, while being blessed to be able to stay at home most of the week with our boys.

Rowdy Boys: Our two boys (Ayin, 3 and Jhett, 15 months) are becoming more rowdy every day. Ayin is definitely a talker and is rarely without something to say. Jhett just started walking and loves to climb on chairs, tables, and anything he can reach.

Red Cars: We had to say goodbye to our red Jeep this year, but welcomed a red Dodge Neon to our car family shortly after.

Yuletide: I couldn’t think of a word that started with “Y,” but Yuletide seemed like a good “Christmasy” word…except I didn’t know what it meant. So I looked it up. Yuletide: the Christmas season, the period extending from December 24^th to January 6^th. There, now you learned something new.

Cleaning:  Between our 3 year-old who dumps out every bin, box or bag of toys he comes across and our 1 year-old who chucks his food from the high chair as far as he can, my job as house cleaner is never finished. And there was a period of 4 months where we had an in-door dog who shed more white hair than I could ever keep up with. Poor Shelby, she never had a chance. I learned that I am a little more particular about keeping a clean (not necessarily tidy) house than I thought I was.
H: The missing letter. For those of you who got our Christmas letter in the mail, you may or may not have noticed I missed the "H". How embarrassing! I blame my editor, Travis. :)

Radical: Is the title of the book by David Platt that Travis has read recently. This challenging book focuses on taking back your faith from the American Dream.

International Adoption:  We are very excited to be starting the adoption process for a little girl in Uganda, Africa. Please pray for us as we continue on this journey to bringing our daughter home! I will be updating friends and family on our journey through our blog at bringingafricahome@blogspot.com.

Sewing:  I was given a sewing machine from my mom for Christmas two years ago and am finally going to put it to good use! I am going to be making and selling baby blankets as an adoption fundraiser. It’s also something that can keep my mind and hands busy while we wait for our little girl to come home.

Thankful: Travis and I are so thankful for our all of our family and friends this year. It’s been a busy year but when we take a moment to slow down and look around, we realize how truly blessed we are. Thank you Jesus.

Marriage: My sister Olivia was married in June to Kyle. Travis’s brother Derek was married in September to Whitney. We are so excited for the new brother and sister-in-law in our family and couldn’t have picked better mates for either of them!

An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess: is the subtitle for my most recent kindle download. The book is called “Seven” by Jen Hatmaker, and I would highly recommend it if you want to be challenged in your faith and in your life as an American.

Snow: Is this going to be a white Christmas? Ayin is excited to be able to put his new Spider Man boots to use!

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!                           The Waltner Family
Travis, Jessica, Ayin and Jhett

Post. ONE.

This blog is to keep you (family, friends, and others) posted and updated on our adoption process. I apologize for not being much of a writer. This whole blogging thing is new to me, but I thought this would be a good way to keep you in the loop and get extra support and prayers when we run into bumps along the road. 

Last week, our formal application for international adoption for Uganda was accepted! We are really excited to start this process (especially me!). Our next step will be to start our home study. Once the home study is complete, we can begin the LONG list of paperwork in preparing our dossier to send to Uganda, Africa.