Scott and Ellen
Walter home from Guatemala 5/03
Lucas home from Guatemala 6/04
Faith home from Guatemala 12/05
We would like to take this time to say Thank You for all your help and support during our process of adopting our daughter Gabrielle from Guatemala. Now that she is home with us and the seemingly endless waiting is over, it is much easier to be objective. We were told in the beginning that the process was full of highs and lows—and in fact that is a very good description of what took place. We were told not to be the “ugly Americans” and we said that we could do that—but that was easier said than done. We were told it would take 8-12 months and it took 12 months. As we now step back and look at those things we were told and much more, they all pretty much went just like you said it would. Through all of this, we always had the ability to call you and get an answer to our many, many, many questions. You were always calm and collected. This is an important asset during this process as our emotions were not always calm and collected … We would also like to say that we were very touched that you would be at the airport to meet us upon our arrival during a blizzard with 60 mph winds—it really speaks to your dedication to this process.
We would also like to thank the entire staff at AAI for their help and support through this process. We have always been greeted very warmly and professionally either via the phone or in person. AAI is a first class organization from top to bottom and should be very proud of the job that everybody does.
Gabrielle is the greatest blessing we could ever have prayed for and we owe a lot to you and your staff for helping to make this possible. As we move through the process of adopting Walter, we look forward to working with you all to making this just as wonderful.
2007 Update
It has been four years since we first sent the letter above to AAI regarding the adoption of Gabrielle. Since that time, we have adopted three additional children (Walter, Lucas, and Faith). When we started the adoption of Gabrielle in 2001, we had no idea that God would place these other children in our hearts and eventually in our home. It certainly wasn’t our plan to adopt four children, but we have tried to be open to God’s will. We cannot imagine what our home or lives would be like today if not for each and every one of these children. While there have been some difficult times, these children have truly been a blessing. AAI has been a very solid resource throughout all these phases. While our original caseworker transfered to head the Chinese adoptions, her replacement, Kim, was very helpful through the adoptions of all three of our other children.
One thing that was very important to us as we chose the agency way back in 2001 was that we wanted an agency that we could be open to regarding to our beliefs. We felt through all these adoptions that the people we worked with were fellow Christians that understood our need at times to take time to pray to make sure we were doing the right things.
As I said four years ago, AAI was very, very helpful in making all the adoptions a true blessing. Thanks for your help.
