What's Shaking

Many of you have asked quietly, ...where are things at?

We haven't really known much along the way, so there hasn't been much to post. We are in a long line of families, waiting...and that is a tough spot to be in, month after month.

We did hear back from our lawyer a few weeks ago who mentioned that the Ministry (the official ministry in Rwanda who processes dossiers) is continuing to move along.

In our minds, we are thinking that this summer may be realistic in terms of timing, but we are happy to optimistic and realistic at the same time.

In the mean time, we will keep writing poetry, keep dreaming big, and keep wondering what it will be like to have our babies home. All of those are sweet thoughts that keep us full as we wait.

Please feel free to ask us though...we are happy to share what is happening, as we know it...

Sunday

Hanging Sweetly Off A Crescent Moon
Is Hope

Forms like
A precise expression
Flowing into a refined stretch
And down into my breath
I know

The moon looks down on all of us
And secrets yet told
Hang sweetly

Hope is an accompaniment

Like a ruffle off the edge of a stilled pirouette
Surreal choreography decorates
First a sandy beach and then
A globe - silvery silk sides
Soft flowing fabric shapes oceans
Salty water dancing delicately through tender tree leaves
As waves ebb and grow
Light lifting off into whimsical rhyme
Spinning toes upright
Tapping against snow crests
And down into the depths of the Pacific
Light splattering against pavement
Just outside my house
While we lay sleeping

Keepin' it

F orward falling into splashes of snowy winter slush
A ction of daily life paced like a morning to night metronome
I mitated through life’s shadows – movements so familiar and distant
T hankful for routines keeping pace and rhythm
H opeful for change as snow melts and playful puddles emerge

Restless Wonderings

A sweet starling talks of
faces in dreams
like time machines
bending us forward
through Rwandan doors where
feet shuffle on dirt floors
Barbers and braids
boys and girls
curly curls and
afros

shakes each hand where
water meets land
inside translations and tickets
voyages yet to be planned

meets language to complete
immigration and citizenship
a thousand hills

of questions
upon a lifeline trill

of nature and nurture
steeped in bureaucratic speech
built upon fragrant dreams
reliant on a floating reach

sweet songs simmer as
day light becomes dimmer
fall leaves dance to the ground
lost and found
paper piled families swing on mary-go-rounds
and hair tossles amidst
cut outs of
sugar and spice and lollipop swirls

blending into curly curls and
afros

startling starlings wake up
and blink

2 months DTR

Two months ago our Dossier landed in Rwanda and was passed into the hands of the Ministry of Gender and Family.

We found out that we are number 93 in a list of Dossiers waiting to be processed. For us, that is good news. We have a very little concrete information about timing - nothing more than that, but it felt like a little piece of relief in knowing something.

and from here...we carry on.

Rwanda Joins the Hague Convention

We have a new twist on our adoption journey. Previous to this post, Rwanda was not part of the Hague - an international convention that governs adoptions. The purpose and principles of the Hague are great; however, in the transition for Rwanda - we don't quite know what this will mean for families who have their dossiers there (us). The Rwandan Ministry will not be accepting any new dossiers, but have stated they will process the ones there.

In terms of the politics and procedures of international adoption, this is a good thing. Of course, we all have the best interests of the child/ren in mind.

In terms of children waiting for loving families, this could make the wait that much longer.

This is wild news and places our adoption in a much larger state of unknown.

From here, we wait and see and continue on...

Until we know more, there won't be much to post...

thanks for reading and keeping us in your hearts,

G & S

Dreaming Rwanda

Chubby cheeks and sneak a peaks
Little toes and wooden floor boards
Creak
As we speak in heart crevices
Deep

Tiny eye lids sleep
And dream
As spirit unfolds
Heart beats

And tiny crumbs feed our two dreams
Nestled in a forever homeland
A blood land tie
A forever lullaby

We will build a home
with sweet love
And always remember
Your story of who you are
And where you are from

And we will love you
Wrap you safely in our home
And grow with you
Until you grow on your own
Your chubby cheeks and sneak a peaks

Dossier goes off to Rwanda!

It is cause for celebration, as we have movement again!

The Dossiers are stamped and authorized by all Canadian parties...they will go in the mail tomorrow morning via Fed Ex. It is a 4 day delivery, that is not guaranteed...what is these days?

I asked our Power of Attorney there about the time line for the Ministry processing (this is before our package goes to the orphanage for the referral) and he said it is not fixed and could be any where from 4-6 months. I thought, that's not too bad. Although, it too could change, at least we now have a new time line to hope for.

I'm the eternal optimist anyway, so I will still hope it goes faster.

Anyway, to those following this blog...thanks for keeping posted. It is a celebration of sorts tonight.

Good night,

Gail