Hello 30

I turn 30 today BUT

I can still do this:

and I still love sporting my pig tales.

--AnnMarie

Salvage Time

Harold spent some time with me in the shop last week working on an old abrasive chop saw. The saw had a burned out motor and we decided to take it apart and see how it was made. We were able to salvage the vise from the saw and also a bunch of springs and bolts.

You never know when you might need a few big springs or a spare vise!

C.O.

Hillclimb

Adoption Update

We've been asked by a few people how the adoption is going. I thought I'd share the latest here. It's really not all that exciting, primarily paperwork tasks. So, if you quit reading right now, I wouldn't blame you. It's enough to say, we're working on it.

The Dossier: we have to gather a pretty large amount of paperwork for this. Once it is all together, it will be reviewed by our adoption agency, then sent to Ethiopia. It is not until then that we can be considered for adoption in Ethiopia.

Here's some parts of the dossier:

The Home Study, a social worker has met with us and determined that we are indeed a fit family for a child. She will write up a report stating that. Included in her report:
letters from a physician that we are healthy enough
state police background checks
letters of recommendation from our friends
(thanks to Sara, thanks to Jim for helping us out with that btw).

We will also turn in three years of tax records
fingerprints for background checks done by the FBI
letters of employment
a letter of good standing from our bank
and a determination of when our child will be covered by our insurance.

We are also required to take a few classes about adoption, read a book called, "Adoption Parenting" and make a plan of support that includes resources we can call on should our child have any physical or emotional issues.

We keep plugging away at it, little by little and waiting for everything to go through the system.

It's a lot easier than last time, since we know what to expect. I think we have less anxiety than with Harold's adoption. We know it is a slow process and worrying about it won't make anything go quicker. She'll get here, when she gets here. We know it's not within our control. And so we wait.

Now I'm not a super sappy, cry-y sort of person, but this music video got to me. It can be a tough waiting game for children without parents and for the people on the other end who are willing to wade through the paperwork muck to give them a home.

--AnnMarie

Eskimo Dancing

I decided that it would be good for Harold to learn to Eskimo Dance. So on Monday nights we've been cruising on down to the multipurpose building and grooving to some Eskimo tunes. I guess you could call it Harold's first extracurricular activity.

--AnnMarie

A Helmet

Since we started posting a bit about Harold and his little snow machine, we've been nuluked (scolded) by a few concerned folks that he isn't wearing a helmet. Not being ones to ignore good advice, we did get him a properly fitted helmet. It matches his machine and coat and everything.

--The Safety Conscious Rudstroms

Trip to Elim

C.O. had some work to do in the village of Elim so we decided that Harold would enjoy an outing and a chance to see his Uncle John. Here's a few photo highlights from their two day trip.

John bought the two of them matching t-shirts.
Harold loved it so much he insisted on sleeping with it as well.

There was some serious mandolin playing going on.

Harold was invited to go to a cake walk on Friday night.

He came home with TWO! Geesh.

When I ask Harold if he missed me, he simply doesn't respond.

--AnnMarie