I have no idea how many of our blog readers are First Nations, but for what it’s worth! I’d like to leand my support to Shawn Atleo’s campaign to become National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Shawn is my cousin by marriage, so I’ve had the chance to spend some time with him.  He’s smart – energetic, youthful, insightful, and respectful.  I wish I could vote on July 21 because he’s the type of guy I would jump at the chance to have as my MP!

Here’s a little video about Shawn:

And you can find out more about him and his positions at www.shawnatleo.ca  Go, Shawn, go!

July 1st came and went last week, so now we are in the meat of the summer.  We had a nice brunch out at J and C’s – goggled their new baby girl (new from China, anyway!) and then headed out to Harambe (family camp for families with kids of African heritage.) We actually had a camping place reserved, but had to cancel when we figured out the kids wouldn’t be here after all. We went for the afternoon instead, and ate T & J’s food and watched a West African drumming/dancing concert. Pretty fun.

Today is a rare rainy day in the Okanagan – it is a semi-arid climate, after all.  I guess when you live in a place like this you are greatful for the rain.  It means I won’t have to water the veggie beds; the one spot in the yard not yet tapped into the irrigation system.

Our yard is coming along nicely, by the way.  We harvested the cherries off our little cherry tree a couple of days ago; alas (I love that word!), alas! we had a worm in every cherry.  So our organic farming methods will have to be slightly tampered with in the cherry department next year.

Here are some pictures of the front and back yards.  Now I’m off to get out the tent.  We are supposed to be camping tonight but if the weather now is any indication, we may be sleeping in the back of the truck tonite and not the tent after all!  Oh, there is no bliss like sharing a bed with two wet, muddy, smelly, cuddly dogs.

First of all, we both want to thank everyone for their good wishes… with a community of friends, cyber-buddies and even all these blog followers we haven’t “met” before – what a wonderful response to our girls and how nice is it to share our joy with you!!!  I know it’s been a long journey for us.  We have had so many ups and downs and its hard to say positive – somedays during the referral wait it’s hard to remember why you signed up for this crazy ride – sometimes during the court wait you wonder if your life will ever pick up and get moving again.  For us, you’ve been along on the journey and it’s been so much easier with the encouraging words and thoughtful advice on the way (in addition, of course, to the hugs and love we receive from our family and in-person friends.) On of the commenters said something about community. For me, that’s what the 750+ people who visited our blog yesterday are: community. Thank you.

On a less serious note, we did crack open that dusty bottle of sparkling wine yesterday:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And we ran around getting our paperwork updated during the afternoon, since Jrock had the day off.  Perfect timing, as we had to get new crim checks, prior contact checks, etc.  Speaking of community, though… Sometime mid-afternoon we picked some books up the library and fetched a coconut bliss iced tea (mmmm) for me, and then walked to the cop shop downtown.  After filling out the forms for the criminal record checks (the 7th this year!) the police officer took our forms and looked up and said “hey, I know you!” He had processed our last crim checks when we got our referral in October.  He asked questions about the girls, and wished up “congratulations!” This is the same guy who told us we should bring the girls by to see them when he filled out the papers in October.  Anyway, these types of daily kindnesses make you feel really good.

Then, we went out and frivolously spent money on full-price items at Superstore (they have the cutest clothes!) We mentally calculated that the size three swimsuits we have at home will be way too big in September or October. So for two Okanagan girls: fruit-themed hoodies and ssize 2 wim suits! Jrock picked them out and I think they’re really cute.

To finish off the post – here are our most recent pictures of the girls from June… as you can see, their hair is really long compared to when it was shaved last November! They are cropped in together since I only got solo shots this month.

Sugar and Spice

Last night I finally had a good night’s sleep – first time in months.  Boy – do I have a lot of energy today!

Sugar & Spice

The day we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived! All the prayers and good wishes and crossed fingers have been answered! We are now OFFICIALLY the parents of our two beautiful twin daughters – just under 3 years old.  We have FELT like their parents for quite some time now, so it’s a very affirming and up-lifting day! They have to be two of the cutest little kids that have even been… and now they are ours.  What a fantastic amazing day!

We had a bottle of champagne in the fridge for our referral day (watch those magic moments here), but we never opened it since we opened the referral email late in the evening.  So we said back in October “we’ll just open it when we pass court…”  Well, who knew that bottle would be dusty! But this morning, that cheap bottle of Henkl Trocken will be dusted off for celebratory mimosas!!!! Yahoo!

FAQ: Of course, the next thing you will want to know is when do we pick them up?  HOPEFULLY in 10-17 weeks from now. My rough guess is3 months. Cross your fingers for us as our immigration paperwork is processed!

Click the photo below to watch a movie of all the pictures we have received of them so far… enjoy!

For all of us who love Barak… even us Canadians!