Summer Wrapping Up: In Pictures

Where to begin in reporting our summer. It seemed to have flown by. Destiny attended Girl Scout Camp at Saltwater State Park and Church Vacation Bible School. We took a day hike at Mt. Rainier National Park, and the highlight of our summer was a four-day camping trip with friends. Four moms, twenty-four kids, four days. It was a blast.

Also this summer, we had visitors from Ethiopia. The director of WACAP House (Our agency's children's home) came for meetings and we had the opportunity to take him and his colleague to see some of the local sights. It was great to have the opportunity to visit with them both and for them to see Melat's progress, and her continued good health.

Just last week we got excellent news from M's doctor who says that her HIV is not progressing still. It's unclear why this is, and she'll continue to have her maintenance tests, but it's great to see that she's doing so well.

Melat just had her fourth birthday, and recieved a little bit of birthday money. She also gets money for her only "chore" in the house--which is matching socks. She gets $0.25 per load of wash for matching socks.

Boy was I surprised to learn she'd squirreled away $160!

I took her to the bank and she opened her first bank account. She handed the teller her green card, and her money and said "I'm thinkin' about it and I want a bank for my money."


Destiny is celebrating her 11th birthday this month. She's busy getting ready for school to start, and is getting a head start on some of her lessons (she's doing an online-home school program). She was reading her history book and came to me in outrage saying "Mom! I can't believe they have us read this book--people die in it!" (I felt bad that I had to explain to her that in history, everybody dies.).

With Destiny home-schooling now, Melat was pushing back about preschool, so she's staying home now too--and has daily "table time" twice a day--an hour of activities at her little-kid-sized desk.

She sat on the sofa a few days ago with her lacing cards--those little wooden shapes with holes around the edges. She was pulling the shoestring through the holes and said to me "Mom, I don't understand why anybody would do this." Then she put the cards in the box and went on to do something else.

I guess it's a good point. Why would anyone do that? But toddlers aren't supposed to ask.

One Happy Little Girl

Last night, Melat, our littlest daughter, spoke to her grandfather (Jess' dad) for the first time on the phone. He lives far away and the kids haven't met him yet. Now that Melat has been home almost a year and is almost four years old, her English was good enough to have a talk with Grandpa.

He asked her how she's doing. She said "I'm good, I have a mom and a dad and my Destiny now" (Destiny is her big sister's name--our other daughter).

That sentence says so much, doesn't it? We're coming up on one year home for Melat in September. What an amazing year it's been.

If you're interested in helping African Orphans find their forever families--and their "destinies" as the case may be--see http://www.projecthopeful.org or www.ahopeforchildren.org

Coupon code for ink and toner!

We use a lot of ink and toner aruond here because of my businesses. I thought I'd pass this deal on (they're an advertiser on one of my commercial blogs).





Here's the July ink coupon codes.

July Inksmile memeber 10% coupon code: 10OFF0709 for printer ink and toner.

Happy Father's Day

I've looked high and low for the source on this lovely poem, as I would like to give attribution where it is due, but I cannot find it. The author appears to be unknown, but if you know it, please let me know and I will add the attribution. Rob's grandparents sent it to him on his first Father's Day with Destiny home, and I've held on to it because I found it such a great description of him.

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,

And then there was nothing more to add,

He knew His masterpiece was complete,

And so, He called it - Dad.

Photo: Rob in the Redwood National Forest on our trip to 'Frisco in 2005.

Look who's pedaling now!

Just a quick video of the girls riding bikes. Melat has gotten the hang of the pedals.

Important Activisim Alert from Adoptive Families Magazine

This is reprinted with permission from Adoptive Families Magazine


Dear Readers,
There is a horror film being released on July 24, called Orphan, about a family who adopts an older girl who "is not what she appears to be." The film is currently being promoted, and the trailer is available at http://orphan-movie.warnerbros.com . The adoption message is extremely negative, and plays into the stereotypes of adopted children, particularly older children, as damaged.
Though we have not been able to preview the entire movie, the trailer leads us to believe the movie will send a horrific message about adoption. The adoption community is protesting the release of the film. We urge you to contact the makers of the film, as well as your local movie theater chains, with your concerns. Feel free to copy or adapt the sample letter below.


To whom it may concern:I want to express my outrage about the release of the movie Orphan. The film plays into the stereotype of adopted children as damaged and dangerous. It discourages families from pursuing adoption, particularly adoption of older children, who are especially in need of loving homes. As an adoptive parent, I am horrified by the line in the trailer that "it must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own." Adoption has often been misrepresented in the media, but the previews for this film are unbelievably offensive. I urge you to change the promotional materials, and to consider holding the release of the film altogether.

Contact information:

Warner Bros.4000 Warner Blvd.Burbank, CA 91522818-954-6000

Silver Pictures4000 Warner Blvd. 90Burbank, CA 91522-0001818-954-4490

Time Warner Inc.One Time Warner CenterNew York, NY 10019-8016212-484-8000

Thank you for your support.The editors of Adoptive Families

Adoption Tax Credit

I recently sent a message to my State Congressional Representative asking him to ensure that the Adoption Tax Credit becomes part of the permenant tax code.

This tax credit helps to reimburse families for the legal costs of adoption by reducing their tax burden. We have benefitted greatly from this credit in both of our adoptions and without it I do not believe that we could have adopted our girls.

I'm posting the Congressman's reply here, to help spread the word that the congressional officials need to hear how important this tax credit is, even though it is used by only a very, very small portion of society.


May 21, 2009

Dear Jessica,

Thank you for contacting me in support of H.R. 213, the Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee of 2009. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me on this important issue.

As you may know, the federal government provides assistance for the adoption of children through federal grants to states, and through the tax code. Although federal assistance programs for adoption focus primarily on children adopted out of foster care, federal adoption tax provisions are available for all adoptions (except for adoptions of step-children).

Congress created federal tax assistance for adoption through the enactment of the Small Business and Job Protection Act of 1996. This Act added tax incentives for adoption to the existing federal adoption assistance grant programs by creating a tax credit and an income tax exclusion of up to $5,000 per adoption and $6,000 per adoption of a special needs child. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 provided an increase in qualified expenses for the credit and the income tax exclusion to $10,000 (indexed for inflation), but also included a sunset period. Beginning in 2011, the prior law limits of $5,000 and $6,000 will become effective again unless extended in new legislation.

The tax credit and the income tax exclusion significantly limit who may benefit from the tax provisions. Both provisions are subject to a phase-out rule which creates an income cap, and puts in place a minimum income level on the use of the tax credit. As a result, in tax year 2004, very few families with an adjusted gross income of less than $25,000, or with an adjusted gross income of $200,000 or more, claimed the credit. In tax year 2004, approximately 71,100 tax returns, or .05% of all tax returns, included a claim for the adoption tax credit, with a total credit value claimed of $301.9 million.

Currently, H.R. 213 is under review in the House Committee on Ways and Means. While I do not sit on this committee, I look forward to learning more about this legislation through committee hearings and reports. Please be assured that as tax legislation is introduced and debate this Congress, I will keep your strong support for H.R. 213 in mind.

Again, thank you for sharing your concerns on this issue with me. Please, do not hesitate to contact me on this or other issues that may arise.

Sincerely,
Adam Smith
Member of Congress

AS:sm

If you'd like to receive occasional e-mail updates from my office, please visit my website to sign up - http://www.house.gov/adamsmith/IMA/newsletter.shtml.Sincerely,Adam SmithMember of Congress