Tyler and "The Group 51 Girls of Summer"

Happy August!

At right ... a few choice snaps from Tyler's Montana excursion ... his first "s'more" and then utter concentration while painting a picture of the lake.

Meanwhile, our agency's Group 51 is having a wonderful time in China right now ... you can see them being united with their daughters (scroll down to the "Congratulations!" post) and then enjoying bonding and touring time via this link: http://www.frcchina51.blogspot.com/ It's great to see the crying faces (of the babies) transform to smiles over the course of just 3-4 days.

Lots going on right now -- the Olympics start tomorrow -- should be quite a spectacle. We are close to beginning our 30-day countdown to our log-in date (March 14, 2006) being matched. They are now just beginning February of 2006.

Of course, what that means is (nearly) anyone's guess. I guess what we can say for certain is that we are months away from being matched. Anyone after our log-in date (say, April 2006 or beyond) cannot necessarily say that, unfortunately.

So, let's say 30 days. If the CCAA matches 10 log-in dates a month going forward, we will get our referral in 3-4 more months. If they match only 3 log-in dates a month going forward, it will be 10 more months. In my view, both of those scenarios are unlikely and it'll be somewhere in between.

A major point of suspense (and heartbreak) for thousands of families worldwide -- have the Olympics been a major factor of this China international adoption slowdown???? -- will be answered in just 1-2 more months when the games (and then the special Olympics that follow) are over.

Stay tuned!