A Nepali Christmas?

With Nepal being a country far from Christianity, they obviously do not celebrate our Christmas. But in honor of our daughter we enjoyed a few Nepali foods on Christmas Eve as a way to celebrate with her.

After our finger printing trip on Tuesday, we stopped off at an Indian Market in Omaha and picked up a few specialty ingredients I would need to finish my Nepali dinner. The menu included:

Momos (top left): A meat dumpling native to the Himalayas

Pulau (top right): A simple rice dish with spices, cashews and golden raisins
Dal Bhat (bottom): A lentil soup and rice dish that is a very typical meal in Nepal

Everything was really very good and I'd like to try different recipes in the future. Our favorite was probably the Momo! Everything should have been a bit spicier, but I kept the Scoville units low so the kids could palate them. Poor E still did not enjoy the meal. I forsee us travelling with at least 3 jars of peanut butter to Nepal next year just for him!

We followed our dinner with Christmas cookies and the exchanging of gifts. I look at my mantle now and hope and pray that there will be a stocking hanging full of gifts and a beautiful brown eyed girl running downstairs to open them next year!

Merry Christmas, sweet girl! May you be celebrating here with us in your forever home next year and may you know the immeasurable blessings of our Savior, born in a manger, who came just for you!

A Quick Trip to Omaha

We completed the last hurdle in our paperwork relay today as we drove to Omaha to be finger printed by the USCIS at Homeland Security. The weather could have delayed us, but the expected winter storm #2 has not hit yet. Jay took the afternoon off and we took the boys with us. It was a quick errand. The staff was very nice and got us in and out quickly -- probably 15 minutes. With Christmas this week, I do not expect to receive the final form for our dossier any time soon. But I hope it will arrive early in the New Year.

Once we receive this final form, we make a copy for ourselves and send the original to our agency along with our check for the Completion of Documents Fee. We are creeping towards that $4000 total. If you find yourself able to help our cause during this season of giving, we’d be forever grateful! If you’d like to give but don’t know how, just get in touch with us here, on Facebook or give us a call or send an email and we’ll fill you in.

Stay Tuned: On Christmas Eve I will be cooking 3 Nepali dishes in honor of our daughter. Log in later this week for pictures and critiques! Merry Christmas, friends!

Snow Day

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

We've all heard that statement before. It does not apply here to our adoption. The blizzard that hit us last week not only closed schools for 3 consecutive days, but it also closed down the Omaha USCIS office on Wednesday the 9th and we were not finger printed for our 1 and final form for our dossier. Supposedly, we will be rescheduled for this appointment. How and when we will hear of that news is unknown. We'd appreciate your prayers for a quick rescheduled appointment!

Nepal is still not moving forward on adoption processing, as far as we know. Yet, we are hopeful and pray for our little Nepali girl.

In the meantime, we are ready for Christmas. The holiday parties are behind us. The shopping is done. Gifts are wrapped and under the tree. I just have to mail my Christmas cards and I hope to get those out in the next couple of days. Now to enjoy the remaining days of December doing a little holiday baking and relaxing.