Backus/Wilcox Family History: July 2006

Friday, July 21, 2006

Nate's 2 Year Pictures

Here's one of the pictures from Nate's 2-year "photo shoot." The rest are available on Yahoo! Photos, so check out the link if you like. I'll try to get more photos up from his birthday party soon.

Craig

TGIF

Mom didn't have chemo at all this week because she was feeling so crappy. She is scheduled next week for chemo. Mom was nauseated this week but the heat had some to do with it. She is planning to go to the doo-dah parade this evening so she must be feeling a bit better.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Chemo a no go

Mom is not feeling so good today. She was supposed to have chemo but she will be having it tomorrow instead. I am not sure if it is heat, chemo or both but it sucks no matter what it is. Her nausea pills aren't working so good, she couldn't keep toast down today unfortunately.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

A Wooha

Mom is doing great this time with the 2 chemo treatment. The new pill for nausea is definitely working super good!! She is a bit achy from the white blood cell shot but that is better than nausea. We have our new kitchen floor and new bushes going infront of the trailer, we're getting spiffy. The airconditioner is teetering on death i think though.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Nate's 2

Well Nate turned 2 on Sunday - his big birthday party was on Saturday - it was a beautiful day. Hot - and not much shade- but good anyhow. He had a great time and was just so excited to open up every single gift. The first gift he saw - sippy cups with Trains on them - you'd think they were gold. and it just continued from there - it was great. He even did good at his 2 year check up - no shots needed. Just a blood test - all is well. Just a slightly swollen lymph node - but the doctor checked it out and no problems (of course - my mind goes to cancer after mom)- so that was a huge relief.

He even had money to go shopping at Toy's R Us (picture in the car) - like we'll ever get him one of those cars - we keep telling him - no way kid. Not even Nonnie or Papa will get one of those (I think I'd shoot them if they did).

Other than that - we had pictures taken yesterday - had issues with anything after 3 shots - so pacifier was in most. But we were able to get a picture with 4 generations, me, Nate, dad and Grandma. It will be nice.

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer
love,
Gail

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Cadillac Taste but only a chevy budget.

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Friday, July 07, 2006

Time to slide!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

E-mail-A-Friend: New organ arrives at Ilion Presbyterian Church

Comment:

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Story:
New organ arrives at Ilion Presbyterian Church

ILION - After six years of painstaking planning, the Ilion Presbyterian Church is finally on the verge of having a new organ.

The Ilion Presbyterian Church, on Second Street, has been using the same organ since 1913. With age and avid use, that instrument slowly deteriorated until, as the Rev. Victor McKusick said, it became unusable.

For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:

http://www.herkimertelegram.com/articles/2006/07/05/news/news01.txt

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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Guess what i learned today?

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Our Adoption Time Line

5/5/10- attended Kensington Church Adoption Seminar

6/2010 - attended free informational meeting at Adoption Associates, Inc (AAI)

7/2010 - met one on one with AAI to discuss domestic and international adoption

8/2010 - submitted application for international adoption (undecided on country)

8/2010 - decided on Ethiopia (ET)

8/26/10 - accepted by AAI to adopt internationally

8/30/10 - Home study visit #1 (with 3 more to follow)

10/6/10 - Passed HOME STUDY

11/5/10 - Home study report finalized

11/9/10 - USCIS paperwork mailed

11/16/10- USCIS accepted paperwork

11/24/10 - USCIS accepted application - date for biometrics set! - 12/17

12/17/10 - USCIS Fingerprinting / biometrics completed

12/20/10 - Redford PD paperwork completed

1/8/11- I-171H RECEIVED from USCIS / DHS

1/26/11- FINAL document received - Gail's dr letter

1/28/11 - Great Seal of MI for Authentication of docs

1/28/11 - Dossier MAILED to Assistant Stork to deliver to US Depart of State and then Embassy of Ethiopia

2/1/11 - Dossier arrived at The Assistant Stork

2/2/11 - Dossier being delivered to US DOS and then to Embassy of ET

2/8/11 - Dossier in mail to ET for translations. OFFICIALLY ON WAITING LIST

6/1/11 - moved up to # 9 on waiting list (only one other family willing to adopt a little boy - so may move faster

6/23/11 - THE REFERRAL

6/26/11 - Answer YES and announcement to the world

7/18/11 - LOST referral - voided out

8/2/11 - officially #1 on wait list again

8/11/11 - Referral for Sami - and accepted

10/10/11 - Got the call about Court date - 11/29/11! Leave Thanksgiving weekend!

11/17/11 - Pass 1st Court appointment & MOYA letter is waiting!!!!!

11/25/11 - travel to ET to meet our boy

11/29/11 - Court date for US to appear & LEGALLY OUR SON

12/22/11 - Submitted to USE for approval and VISA

1/10/12 - USE finally acknowledges review of file

1/25/12 - USE sends to USCIS - more frustrations

1/31/12 - USCIS Nairobi receives files - another wait

2/7/12 - CLEARED USCIS NAIROBI

2/8/12 - Tentatively scheduled for Embassy Visa on 3/13/12

3/9/12 - LEAVE for final Trip#2

3/12/12 - GOTCHA DAY

3/13/12 - Embassy appointment

3/15/12 - Leave for home

3/16/12 - Become US Citizen!!!

Fun Facts about Ethoipia

Ethiopia has been around for a very long time. The country's Rift Valley is known as the cradle of humanity - fossils of the oldest known upright hominid (4-million years old) were found here in 2005, surpassing the famous 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', which was discovered in the same region back in 1974.

•A thousand years before Christ, the Queen of Sheba, we are told, traveled to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon, married him, and had a son, Menelik. When Menelik reached maturity, it is said he left Jerusalem and took with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original 10 commandments, back to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church says it still has the ark in its possession. No one else makes such a claim...

•Ethiopia's official religion is the 1700 year old Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The Jews of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, are said to have been there for 3000 years. And its Muslim adherents have practiced Islam for 1300 years. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South.

•Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to be under colonial rule, other than a brief occupation by Italy during WWII. You can visit many restaurants in Ethiopia today due to the influence of Italy during the occupation.

•Traditional Ethiopian food consists of various vegetable or meat dishes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, which is a large crepe-like sourdough flatbread made from fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses a piece of the injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the sauces.

•The Ethiopian calendar is very similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar – each have 13 months, 12 with 30 days each and the 13th month at the end of the year with 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. The year starts on September 11th (12th in a leap year). The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so Ethiopia recently celebrated their millennium on September 12, 2007.

•Coffee can be traced back to the 9th Century where it is believed a shepherd discovered coffee beans in the highlands of Ethiopia, namely the Kaffa region. The Ethiopian people are very proud of their coffee and they show this in their well known coffee ceremonies. The Coffee Ceremony is a very important part of socializing in Ethiopia and to be invited to a coffee ceremony is always considered a sign of respect and friendship.

•There are multiple tribes with different subcultures and over 80 languages in Ethiopia. The Amharic language is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia and is the official working language for Ethiopia.

•Family in Ethiopia includes immediate and extended relatives, neighbors, and friends. Faith and family are the foundation of the Ethiopian culture. Ethiopians are very respectful and loving. The elderly are considered very knowledgeable and as a very important part of the family structure. Children are usually raised in a large community that includes extended family and neighbors, and siblings are expected to help take care of each other.

Backus/Wilcox Family History