Our Ethiopian Adoption Journey
By Greg and Tanya Kuhn
28 Sept 08 - Just spent a week with Tanya's folks as they flew into Winnipeg to see us. During this time we were talking to CAFAC and was told that one of the directors was going to Ethiopia the first week of October and should be returning on the 16th with some new referrals...we can only pray that ours will be one of them. Until then the waiting game continues...we are now into our 14th month
08 Sept 08 - Wow, Sorry it has been a very long time since we have updated our website. As most of you already know we are in Winnipeg, Manitoba currently. Upon arriving here, we had to go through part of the adoption process again and do an update to our homestudy. This was so we could get Manitoba provincial approval to adopt. Funny how we had Nova Scotia's permission, but that was not good enough for Manitoba...oh the joys of provincial politics. Well we received approval around the beginning of August and now the file is going through the processes. We have heard from both our new Social Worker and from our agency that our referral is just around the corner...so we wait. Thank you for all who have been hanging in there with us and praying for us. This transition has not been the easiest, but we are only here temporarily. Greg and Tanya
24 Apr 08 - Hi there everyone. For those of you who were wondering, I arrived in Winnipeg yesterday safe and sound. Thanks for praying. Tanya
08 Sept 08 - Wow, Sorry it has been a very long time since we have updated our website. As most of you already know we are in Winnipeg, Manitoba currently. Upon arriving here, we had to go through part of the adoption process again and do an update to our homestudy. This was so we could get Manitoba provincial approval to adopt. Funny how we had Nova Scotia's permission, but that was not good enough for Manitoba...oh the joys of provincial politics. Well we received approval around the beginning of August and now the file is going through the processes. We have heard from both our new Social Worker and from our agency that our referral is just around the corner...so we wait. Thank you for all who have been hanging in there with us and praying for us. This transition has not been the easiest, but we are only here temporarily. Greg and Tanya
24 Apr 08 - Hi there everyone. For those of you who were wondering, I arrived in Winnipeg yesterday safe and sound. Thanks for praying. Tanya
20 Nov 07 - This weekend we spent in Moncton with Dr. Richard and Deborah Northcott, the directors of CHOIR (Canadian Humanitarian) and CAFAC (our adoption agency), along with about 40 other people from the Maritimes who either have or are adopting. Must admit I learned a few new things that I never thought of and had the chance to share openly about the process. Great weekend, and really wonderful people. They also held a dinner/auction to raise money for CHOIR, and last I heard over $5000 was raised...incredible! We had to race back Sunday morning for Kalkidan and Kaleb's dedication ceremony - wouldn't have missed that for the world.
09 Nov 07 - Tanya is off to New Brunswick this weekend, to meet Louise and her new adopted son Nathanial, when they arrive on Monday. Yesterday, we got more incredible news as another family in our groups, Andre and Isabelle got their referral for a baby girl...CONGRATULATIONS!!! We are both so happy for you, and can't wait until it is our turn to hear. The hardest part really is the waiting...
30 Oct 07 - Wow has another two weeks gone by...Our file has been in Ethiopia for a little over two months now. Our friend Louise just left to Ethiopia to pick up Nathanial... Yahoo!!! We will get to see him in November as we head to an adoption conference and fundraiser. Cant' wait. Thank you all for your incredible support.
18 Oct 07 - We have been a little late in some of our congratulations. Just wanted to say a HUGE congrats to Louise Reid who is now the proud mother of Nathaniel (and she will be heading to Ethiopia in a little less then two weeks)...Yahoo!!! Also to our friends Danielle and Nick Bernier, who as of today are the proud parents of a beautiful girl, named Zia. Congratulation to you both...I know our time will come.
14 Oct 07 - We have been spending so much time remodeling the house to put it on the market, that we have spent little time online. Both Tanya and I have been very busy, but are waiting PATIENTLY (haha) for our referral. We have also been busy fundraising again...made some money for the adoption through Tupperware, and we will do a large group function for this in November (we hope). Other then that, just keep us in your prayers.
03 Oct 07 - All of those that have gone before us, tell us this is the hardest part...the waiting. I will admit that this is difficult, and you wish that there were things that you could do to hurry along the process...but alas, one just must be patient. I guess that is what God is teaching us :o)22 Sept 07 - Why does it seem like every time we get together there is a huge amount of food...WOW. This Saturday about eight families got together as part of our Maritime Ethiopian Adoption Support Network. What an incredible time. We got to see Lisa and Pierre's two adorable daughters (Marika and Karelle) for the second time, met Collette and her bundle of joy (Anna), and of course who can forget the Burke family (with their 6 children - two are from Ethiopia (Kalkidan and Kaleb) and one from China (Hannah), not to forget Emma, Joshua and Jacob). We had a wonderful meal at The Ethiopian Restaurant, and I only wish we got to spend more then the occasional afternoon together. What a super bunch of people. No word yet from CAFAC or Ethiopia; but their court system opens back up in seven days (closed for the Millennium), and that should get things rolling again.
15 Sept 07 - We went to the Ethiopian Millennium Celebration in Halifax...what an incredible time. We met a number of couples who either had adopted from Ethiopia or were in the same process we are in. The food was incredible as always...by the way if you have not been to The Ethiopian Restaurant on Quinpool Road in Halifax...you must go. The children were dressed in traditional outfits, with the three colours of Ethiopia (Green, Yellow and Red).13 Sept 07 - Congratulations to our friends Trevor and Julie Morrison who just got their referral today. They are the proud parents of Mulugeta Daniel Morrison, who is about 3 years old. We are both very happy for you.
What a handsome young boy...and only two weeks for a referral, that must have broken all records. 
And just in case people are wondering, we are not allowed to put up pictures of the children that are referred until they become legally adopted, so please understand that we wish we could...but we can't.11 - 12 Sept 07 - Happy New Year's Day!!! Welcome to the New Millennium. To those of you who are wondering, Ethiopia uses a different calendar then we do (the Julian calendar), and today is officially their year 2000. So hope you are all having a wonderful new years day. Here are a few pics of the celebration. We will be getting together with many families across Halifax this Saturday to celebrate.
Ahhhhh...Not sure what happened but we just lost everything...Gone...Poof...
Well lets see if we can remember our last update.
07 Sept 07 - Today we received all of our immigration paperwork and our file numbers for when we have our child referrals. This paperwork then gets filled out and sent to Nairobi, Kenya (closest immigration office to Ethiopia). This is another big step. As most of you know our dossier (our file) is in Ethiopia, and has been there for about three weeks. This means we should have our child referrals by Spring next year.
And once again it is time for fundraising again. We have started our latest Tupperware fundraiser....last time we raised $540 towards our adoption. If you are interested just click on this Tupperware link and it will take you to our page.
03 Sept 07 - The latest addition to our family. Today Tanya's brother David and his wife Kate had a baby boy. David Nathanael Webb weighed in at 8lbs 6oz and was born at 4:13pm. This is our first nephew, and we have three nieces. Congratulations Dave and Kate.
Thanks for reading our blog, and take the time to check out all of our pages.
Thank you to all of our friends for your prayers and support...this has meant a lot as we "wait" through this process.
Greg and Tanya