I love roller coasters, don't I?

Okay I'm back. Sorry it's taken me so long to write, but with Christmas, trying to sell a house, chasing Muggie around and looking for a job my free time has been, well pretty non-existent to say the least. So where did I leave off? Right, Dave and I decided to hop on the private adoption roller coaster, despite the nagging doubts that plagued us both. "Would we get our hearts broken?" "What about our Ethiopian daughter?" We hadn't received a referral from our adoption agency, but in our hearts we were already parents to a beautiful little girl from Africa. Despite our reservations we climbed into the roller coaster seat, held tightly on to the rail and took a deep breath as we moved slowly toward the first incline. We communicated by email with Kate's mom for the first little while. After we agreed to be considered as parents, we received an email with a series of questions asking about our background, i.e. our education, interests, values, religion, etc. Looking back now, these questions were by far the hardest to answer because we didn't know what Kate and Jon were looking for. I remember staring at the questions, knowing exactly what the answers would be and scared out of my mind that we were going to get it wrong. Clicking the send button filled us with excitement and terror and all we could do was wait. If the Guiness Book of World Records was working on the most times an email account was checked you would have seen my name in bold letters next to the entry. It was almost like waiting for "that guy" to call - you ladies know what I'm talking about. But, as you may have guessed, we did hear back and that email led to more emails and then one day I got a message from Kate. It was under her mother's email address, but Kate introduced herself and we chatted via email a number of times. At this point Dave and I had no idea what Kate and Jon looked like, so when Kate asked if we'd like to see a picture we were ecstatic. When the pictures finally came through we were amazed. Kate and Jon were so beautiful, but not just physically. When we saw their picture, we could see how young they were, but also how completely wise they were. Mature beyond their years. I loved them both instantly. After many more emails, I got a message from Kate's mother telling us that Kate and Jon's birthdays were coming up (only a few days apart). I read and re-read the message and then finally replied asking what she thought was appropriate. When she suggested a phone call might be nice I was floored. I now know how guys feel when a girl they like tells them to call, complete and utter panic! I called Kate on her birthday but got the answering machine. She called back later that day and we talked for about 3 hours (maybe longer Kate?) Things were looking good, but Dave and I were still only cautiously optimistic. The roller coaster ride wasn't over yet....