Ali's Great Summer

Ali has had an exciting summer.  She started off spending two weeks at camp close to home in the local park where they have a large playground, a water park and a big beach to spend their time playing.  Then she headed to my parents and spent two weeks at a swimming camp.  Then came the best part, 2.5 weeks camping in BC, Alberta, Idaho, Montana and Oregon with Nanny and Grandad.  She visited the Dinosaur museum at Drumheller, then the a wolf place in Idaho and the Oregon coast.  One big highlight was catching her first fish. 

And then losing her front tooth!

Her summer finished off with French camp and another week at the camp in the park.  In a few more days its time to get back to reality.  But she says that she is looking forward to going back to school and starting grade 2!

Airborne

My dossier is ready to be sent to the child's country. It is done at the Consulate and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It should be sent tomorrow and arrive in the country at the begining of the week. Then it is onto the next steps: more legalization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital and then translation. Here is a recap of the steps:

Notarization - 1 week - COMPLETED
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa - 1-2 weeks - COMPLETED
Consulate of Child's Country - 1 week - COMPLETED
Courier to Child's Country - 1 week
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Child's Country - 2 weeks
Translation of Dossier - 1-2 weeks
Other courier time - 1 week
Total- 8 to 10 weeks

I expect it will take another 4 to 5 weeks before the dossier is registered. The dossier was 4 weeks at the Consulate so I am at 5 weeks in total. If I am lucky it will be registered by mid-September.

The Heatbreaking World of Adoption

Today the US suspended Nepal adoptions. This is devastating news for all those waiting for referrals.

My heart goes out to everyone. I know how they feel. I know the pain of a broken heart.

Weird Weather

I usually start my day checking the weather forecast and most days there is an icon something like this.

However, this morning we had this.

I have never seen this icon before but yes we are experiencing over 400 forest fires in BC at the moment and yes the smoke from the whole province has settled over Vancouver Island. Yesterday, the air reeked of smoke but today we just have very overcast skies. They are calling for rain on the weekend which should clear the skies and help with the fires.