Waiting...

Well, we have been waiting for a long time now. Now that our referral is imminent it's hard to believe that we have been waiting so long. I am not quite sure how we have survived the waiting, mostly with lots of support from families and friends and also with lots and lots of activities. When we first expected our referral around May/April of 2006 we thought we would plan a vacation around the middle of the wait so that we would have something to plan and look forward to and then by the time we got back we would rush into packing and travel mode - ha, man makes plans and God scoffs! We went to Hawaii in March of 2006 and it was fantastic and beautiful. We had never been before and had a wonderful time (apart from a near drowning experience - a tale we'll leave for another day). We saw wonderful whales, did an incredible snorkle trip, did the road to Hana and also went to the Big Island where we stayed in Volcano National Park and saw the active volcano - amazing. Then of course, no referrals were coming but we kept busy with lots of socializing. I also took up knitting in the winter as a beginner and finally finished a sweater - for the baby! Now I am knitting her a second cardigan - who would have guessed! I also started volunteering at The National Zoo with the Cheetah Conservation Station. I went through some vigorous training and now act in a docent capacity talking to the public about Cheetah conservation, Grevy's zebra, Maned Wolves, and Scimitar Horned Oryx (a species that is extinct in the wild but exists thanks to successful captive breeding). I have loved this work at the zoo and have had some incredible behind the scenes opportunities as well as a chance to travel with some volunteers to Patuxent Wildlife Refuge to see the highly endangered Whooping Cranes and the attempts to breed them and teach them to migrate as part of Operation Migration. David spent lots of time with me at the zoo and got some great pictures over the summer, particularly of the Orangatuns on the "O" line. We also had some great sightings of the Golden Lion Tamarins which they have in a free-range area in the zoo during the summer - so cool. We also had a fair amount of work travel and that kept us busy and occupied. In November, we went to CA to celebrate the wedding of David's brother and had a wonderful time seeing lots of special people. By this time we were going pretty stir crazy with the wait and needed to plan something exciting to help tide us over again. I was keen to go to South Africa again but David needed a new country so we went to Tanzania. It was FANTASTIC! We flew to Nairobi and caught a bus to Tanzania where we were met in Arusha by our guide with Sunny Safaris. It was just me, David and our driver for the next seven nights - well, and plenty of fabulous animals too. We had a glorious time and also met two terrific couples who we have kept in touch with, and one of which we spent at their fabulous New Years party. We went to Tarangire Park - lots of great elephant sighting, went to the Serengeti, to Ngorongoro Crater and finished in Lake Manyara. All beautiful and wonderful. Highlight was the cheetah in Ngorongoro crater and lions mating in the Serengeti but it was all superb. Got back in time to deal with holiday craziness, New Year happened, and we were also coping with everything that had to be redone due to expiring paperwork because the wait was so long! We had to renew our fingerprints which are only good for 15 months (everyone knows that your fingerprints change right, ha!), we had to update our home study which meant visiting with the social worker again - she is very nice, providing the home study agency again with employment letters, financial statements, DMV records, Police and Child Abuse clearances and updated medical reports! It was like doing the whole thing all over again! Also, the extremely important I171H was going to expire on March 26, 2007 and it has to be valid through the completion of travel - it only lasts for 18 months from initial date so we had to do another I600A application - pay the $545.00 fee again and then wait and wait for the new approved I171H to come again. This is a whole separate saga to say the least. Our current status on that is that we received the new form but it had the wrong date on it. I was advised that a new one would be mailed 9 days ago - not yet received. What I did receive was a copy as a Word document e-mailed to me - rather odd. However, it's correct so I am keeping it although we have asked that a copy still be mailed. So, that brings us to current day where we're dying of excitement, barely able to control our emotions and desparate for the referral. The most recent update which came with a big exclamation and said Referral Update and got me all excited but it basically said that CCAA is matching and that perhaps referrals will be sent next week. This is the sweater I made. We are going to add a link here to a few favorite zoo pictures - coming soon.