Stitched

It’s hard to believe we are approaching the end of the year! I am very excited about what we’ve accomplished in 2009 and I am looking forward to what 2010 will bring. We remain committed to serving you and providing you with support as you take your journey through this incredible adoption experience I am honored and proud to introduce our staff. They are all very dedicated and have great pas-sion for the work they do! Meet Nicole, our new China Program Coordi-nator. Nicole moved to Berthoud to be near her family about two years ago. Only weeks of be-ing in Berthoud she started at the agency. Nicole has six children, ranging in age from 8 months to 12 years old. Two of her children were adopted from foster care. Her personal ex-perience led her to pursue a career in this field. Nicole’s favorite aspect of working at AAC is the connection she makes with each adoptive family. She is very excited to be work-ing as the China Program Coordinator. Waiting Children have a special place in her heart and she really enjoys helping these children find their forever families.

Regina joined our team in June of this year. Regina says the best part about working at AAC is being able to participate in bringing families together. Regina has lived in Colorado for 20 years. She says her favorite thing in the whole world is spending time with her two precious grand-children, Kevan who is two, and little Ashlynn, who is only one year old. Regina likes garden-ing, sewing and cooking, but most of all she enjoys reading to her grandbabies. Marcie just joined AAC a week ago and is very excited to be part of such a wonderful organization. Marcie worked at Berthoud High School for many years, and that is when she first became acquainted with the Bebo family. Marcie is the mother of three grown daughters, April, Goldie and Emily. All three girls are married and she has been blessed with seven grandchildren. Marcie’s eldest daughter and her husband have adopted three children from South Korea through AAC. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...

We always wanted a girl, and had discussed adoption for many years. At the time of our decision to adopt, our four biological boys ranged in ages from 12 to 20. Finally, in early 2006, we decided that we were ready to take the next step and contacted AAC Adoption. When our paperwork was finally completed, we were included in AAC Group 50. At that time, the adoption process from China was still rather quick, about nine months. Soon thereafter, adoptions from China slowed down. In October of 2008, we attended a meeting at AAC and were told that it may be a few years before our group would be matched with girls from China.

AAC suggested that people may want to look at Special Needs girls. We immediately told Morgan that we would be interested in getting more information about SN adoption and within a week or so, we completed the necessary paperwork. Three days before Christmas 2008, Morgan called and mentioned that AAC had the perfect three-year old girl for us. We immediately fell in love with her and began the process of arranging travel to pick up our little angel. She had a cleft lip that had already been repaired and a cleft palate that is scheduled for surgery on Nov. 17th of this year. We traveled to Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, on April 24th, met our new daughter on the 27th. She is everything that we had hoped for and more. She has adjusted to our family extremely well. She is a very happy, smart girl. She is always smiling and has picked up on English quickly. We have had no behavioral issues, food allergies, or skin problems. In fact, it has been if she has always been a part of our family. Her adjustment has been seamless and therefore a very easy adjustment for us. Her two brothers still at home love her so much. We know that we made the right decision to make Sarah a part of our family. Our extended family has grown in love and enjoyment with another girl in the family. This process has been a long journey and we feel that we are the lucky ones to have met her! We would highly recommend looking into SN as these children have so much to offer and in our case expect very little in return.

We have been matched with our daughter through AAC’s Waiting Child Program! I am so very grateful, and am amazed at how beautifully everything is coming together for my family. I hope that this story will open a door for other waiting parents to consider looking for their son or daughter in the Waiting Child Program as well. My first daughter , Olivia, came from China in 2002, at age 10 months. She was such a happy and easy baby. She was, and is, the great joy of my life. T he first adoption went so well that I knew I wanted to adopt another child from China.

When Olivia was younger , we read I Love You Like Crazy Cakes almost ever y day. It’s a kid’s book about a woman traveling to China to adopt her infant daughter . When Olivia was three, she pointed to the pictures in the book, and asked me if there were still little girls in cribs in the big room in China. When I said yes, she announced that we needed to go get one to be her little sister . I started looking into the process again. I finally made a leap of faith and sent my dossier to China in Apr il 2007.

I knew the process would take a long time, probably three years. I felt like I might need all of that time, to get everything else in my life ready for the adoption. I called the agency, and for the first time, really heard what they had to say about the Waiting Children program. T hat felt exactly right of course I would adopt a special needs baby. I star ted researching the different types of special needs. I tr ied to be honest and clear with myself about what I could handle. By the summer of 2008, I was ready to switch to the Waiting Child Program.

In September this year , I finally felt that we were all ready to move forward with an adoption. I submit ted my special needs list to AAC. I remember wonder ing if it was a list that would allow me to be matched quickly with a child, or if it would take a long time. Five days later , the folks at AAC called. I was shopping with my daughter , busy with life, thinking maybe they were calling about more paperwork. They asked me if I would like to consider a 13 month old girl with congenital heart disease. I was absolutely in shock that it had happened so quickly. We rushed over to Kinko’s to review her file via email. She looked tiny and not very happy. Olivia said, “She needs someone to make her smile someone like me.” She is tiny, much smaller than kids her age should be. But her development repor t is reassuring she was standing and cruising on the furniture by age 8 months, so I think she will be okay. I guess uncer tainties are always par t of parenthood.

Now, we wait for the paperwork process that will allow us to travel to China to br ing Zoe home. I wor ry a lot. I worry about Zoe’s heart, and that she may have a tough time transitioning from her foster family to our family. I worry that my older daughter will have a hard time sharing me. I worry that the next six months hold many major changes for the people I love most in the world. But I have faith that we have all been brought together for one another , and I have a clear vision of how beautiful our future can be: Two parents who love each other and four wonderful kids, all taking care of each other , growing together into one loving family.

Taste of China Service Trip

We are still in the process of planning this exciting trip!

Here are a few directions we hope to take:

• Provide everyday needed assistance at orphanages
• Participate in fundraising for the orphanages
• Cultural enrichment
• Sight seeing

If you would like to be involved , contact our office for updates!

It will be another great trip to Korea for parents and adoptees joining AAC’s Taste of Korea Tour 2010. The group will depart the U.S. on July 2nd for a two-week immersion into Korean culture and history, and a life-changing encounter with its people. Experience the way of life in Korea, sample Korea’s distinctive foods, and take advantage of an opportunity to exchange ideas and build relationships between cultures! The tour visits four popular cities- Seoul, GyeongJu, Busan and JeJu island.

Besides touring around the country, adoptees will have the opportunity to learn more about their adoption story by visiting their birth place, meeting with their foster mother and ESWS staff members.

Birth family searches may also be initiated prior to the tour date. Birth information and family searches can be very sensitive and Eastern Social Welfare Services recommends that adoptive families work with their placement agency rather then contacting Eastern directly. The adoptee must be 13 years of age or older to begin a birthparent search.

Summertime’s events heated up quickly with our families enjoying a hearty pancake breakfast and then joining the festivities of Berthoud Day in early June. Only a couple of short weeks later, we were together again, welcoming our friends from ESWS at a delicious, catered buf-fet dinner at the Brookside Event Center. Then it was off to Korean Heritage Camp for a weekend of classes and activities showcased in the beautiful Rocky Mountains!

While those of us stateside enjoyed 4th of July fireworks, Christie led an enthusiastic group of 17 on the annual Taste of Korea Tour, visiting four different cities and connecting with foster families and birth families. It was a two-week whirlwind of exploring heritage and immersion into Korean culture. Christie had only a moment to recover from jet-lag before she, Larry and Marissa headed to the annual KAAN Conference, a summer highlight for Korean adoptees and their families, at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Denver on the last weekend of July.

AAC’s Annual August Picnic exploded into an amaz-ing anniversary extravaganza that featured the National Classical Music Institute of Seoul, Korea. More than 500 people gathered at the Union Reservoir in Longmont en-joying arts and crafts, Korean drum and dance demon-strations, Tai Kwon Do exhibitions, and sumptuous food catered by the Gourmet Kitchen. The week leading up to the picnic was filled with dance and drum workshops for young and old alike, and a thrilling performance by the dancers at the Newman Center at the Univer-sity of Denver.

The summer finale, Chinese Heritage Camp, took place Labor Day weekend at the YMCA of the Rockies outside of Winter Park, CO. AAC sponsored Mrs. Zhao, an orphanage director from China, to be a participant at the Camp. Mrs. Zhao shared insights into China’s changing philosophy of adop-tion, the workings of her orphanage, and China’s interest in social reform. AAC adoptive families honored Mrs. Zhao at an informal reception one evening at Brookside.

Fall was in the air- or was it Old-Man-Winter? - when we gathered October 10th for the annual Halloween party. The cold temperatures and threat of snow nixed the hayride and petting zoo, but the new meeting room at AAC was cozy and warm! The potluck was yummy, and the pumpkin painting was a hit with the kids, but the real fun was watching all the children showing off their costumes- a chubby pumpkin; a bumble bee, ladybug, butterfly and dragonfly; a lion, giraffe, cat and tiger; Yoda; DarthVader and his evil twin; a race car driver; a military camo-man; princesses, superheroes and villains! What a treat!