This is a very interesting video.  It has a US perspective, (including some race issues particular to the USA) but it’s still worth a look if you are interested in the challenges of transracial adoption.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekMZw_mP-Xc]

Telles, this is for you!  Authentic Canadiana!

(My explanation will make a lot more sense when you see the video!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE]

Telles, this is for you!  Authentic Canadiana!

(My explanation will make a lot more sense when you see the video!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE]

Telles, this is for you!  Authentic Canadiana!

(My explanation will make a lot more sense when you see the video!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE]

Telles, this is for you!  Authentic Canadiana!

(My explanation will make a lot more sense when you see the video!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE]

Telles, this is for you!  Authentic Canadiana!

(My explanation will make a lot more sense when you see the video!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE]

Telles, this is for you!  Authentic Canadiana!

(My explanation will make a lot more sense when you see the video!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDi9DzihrE]

Dang it.

 The owners wouldn’t move much on the price, and we just won’t pay that much for the house, as much as we like it. 

So I’m moping.  No new house.

Dang it.

So I’ve found a house… and we’ve even put in an offer.  I really excited!! because it’s so cute and near the beach and has a beautiful yard.  But J is going through some intestinal gurgling and churning because the house will require a lot of renos, and renovators are pretty hard to come by around here.  Wish us luck in our negotiations!

We think the baby of our family, Haatim, may be feeling threatened.

What would Freud think of this? (Haatim hangs out in the pram all the time.)

This past weekend Telles came to visit us in Kelowna.  We had a lot of fun, eating nachos and hamburgers, biking around the Lake Country rural roads.  It’s pretty easy to keep a teenager occupied… and I think pretty healthy, since we did so many active things.  (Ok, so us old folks, we’re exhausted!)

A fellow sushi lover… we found a new place at the Oriental Supermarket that isn’t half bad…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/UydzGAB3fIM] 

Hanging out at Scandia, playing mini golf and arcade games.  I totally showed them up in the batting cages, I have to add!

And we took a long hike in Fintry Park, which is on the other side of Okanagan Lake. 

It’s really beautiful, and I highly recommend the precarious walk along an old dilapidated suspension bridge to the last waterfall.  Beautiful!

The Canadian Senate passed Bill C-14 – the Citizenship Bill last week and it is expected to receive Royal Assent in the next few days.

This bill means that children adopted abroad by Canadian famillies, where the adoption is finalized in the country of origin, will become citizens of Canada. With the current process, we have to apply for permanent resident visa for our kids (the visas are issued by the government in Nairobi, Kenya, since there isn’t a Canadian embassy in Ethiopia,) and then once they are here in Canada, apply for citizenship for them.  (People say that takes about a year.)  We don’t know if this will be in place by the time Jrock and I are applying to immigration for our “unnamed children”… probably not.  But it’s nice to see this cumbersome process being lightened up. The following are excerpts of the Senate’s discussions. 

Bill C-14 is about families. It is about the steps that a family must take to make their internationally adopted child a Canadian citizen.

Every year, 2,000 Canadian families open their hearts to children born abroad, offering them love and a home. The child becomes part of the family, but the parents must fulfill another requirement before their child can become part of the larger Canadian  family. Unlike children born to Canadian citizens living abroad, a child born in another country and adopted by Canadian citizens is not considered to be a Canadian citizen. The adoptive parents must first request permanent resident status for their child.

Bill C-14 will eliminate that requirement. It is designed to address a provision of the Citizenship Act that creates excessive distinction between children born to Canadians living in another country and children born in another country who are adopted by Canadians. I am sure that honourable senators will agree that Canadians who adopt a foreign child make no such distinction. They will love that child and raise him or her to the best of their abilities as much as if they had given birth to the child themselves.

This bill is about adding a new degree of efficiency to Canada’s citizenship program. It allows the Parliament of Canada to show its support for the caring Canadian families who choose to adopt children in another country. This bill will show its support for those families who give so much in order to offer a child an opportunity for a better life here in Canada.

When I was growing up, our family always had other kids in the house… many, exchange students from overseas.  Shortly after Jrock and I bought our first house, I announced to him: “By the way, a 15 year old from the Philippines is moving in with us for a couple of months in September.”  His famously unsettled reply was “Do I have to talk to her?”

Pam was our first kid together, a perky, pink-wearing, GilmoreGirls-watching, giggling girl.  Both of us really enjoyed having her stay for the 5 months, with sleepovers and canoeing trips.  J even started watching Gilmore Girls with her!

Our second kid was a tall blond drink of water from Germany: Luca.  Luca, at 16, was an athletic couch potato whose wry humour kept us roaring with laughter.  I just loved talking with him.  He only lived in our house for 2 months, but visited us all the time… Luca was like a younger cheeky brother to me and both of us miss him terribly.

This past September Telles arrived from Brazil.  Another tall skinny kid… a little homesick, but with a cheerful non-stop smile.  Telles lived with us for 4 months, and now I can’t believe how much he’s grown and matured… from a quiet 15 year old to a confident 16 year old football star!

Jrock, now the biggest proponent of hosting exchange students, would tell you that having kids from another country in your home really enriches your life.  I would say that you extend your concept of family.  Probably the biggest benefit, other than having friends all around the world, is learning more about your own Canadian culture through someone else’s eyes. 

Ok, so the shopping began a while ago.  But there are only so many things that you can buy when you don’t know the age or gender of your children.

 Jrock and I are pretty fixed on a boy and a girl, but I’ve been nervous about purchasing anything… “just in case.”  But yesterday I broke the mold.  To add to my previous list of

• 120+ children’s books
• 3 diaper bags
• some dress up things (vulcan ears, bow ties, etc…)
• baby nail clippers and the mini turkey baster you use to clear your baby’s nose of snot

Now I also have bought

• a block set on a cart (J thinks these are “cool”)
• a sign and a jewelry box for our girl

I totally stole the idea of the sign from my friend Debbie, who did a WONDERFUL job of decorating her new daughters’ room.

I also picked out a colour scheme for our boy (4 drapery panels will come in handy!)  His room will have a sort of outdoors in the woods with furry animals and snakes and lakes and adventure sort of theme.

And a colour scheme for our girl.  Hers will be a naturey theme with frogs and fairies and trees and flowers.