Fun with Miriam, Tim and Anthony Gonzalez (That's right!)

This past month, or so, we’ve had a lot of fun with Miriam and our new friend, Tim. Our dancing sides seem to come out when together. Okay, well maybe it is more Miriam’s and my dancing side that comes out. Brad and Tim pretty much sit back, relax and laugh at us.

Out for drinks in Broad Ripple.


For some reason Tim and Brad kept high-five-ing. Not sure why.


Our good BU friend, Meghan Boots, came into town a few weeks ago. We all caught up at one of our favorite downtown spots, Nicky Blaine's, and then Chatham Tap for late night food. It was also wonderful to meet her boyfriend, Lew, for the first time!



Ha! Sorry Boots - that face is hilarious. And I love this picture.


Tim surprised Miriam with an iPhone in February. We have too much fun taking pictures, sharing apps, etc. We're total iPhone dorks now. And thanks Brad for pointing that out in this picture.


On the 22nd, the Friday before the 500, Miriam, Tim, Brad and I had SO much fun at a pre-race party at the Conrad. It was one of three nights of parties hosted by Carlos Diaz from Extra (who is originally from Indy). What a great time! Fun to get dressed up, some cool "famous" people milling around (Greg Oden, Colts player Anthony Gonzalez, Carlos himself, some of the dancers from Dancing with the Stars, a few Playboy girls thrown in for good measure, Smiley from an area morning show and even Subway Jared. Fancy, right?), a great DJ, free apps, good friends...what more could you want? Well, maybe an appearance by Peyton, but I can't have it all.

All dressed up and ready to party 500-style.




We were surprised to see our good friend, Alice, there!



Oh no...the dancing has started yet again. Somewhere Brad and Tim are laughing. Hopefully, only Brad and Tim.


Mingling with the stars, or something like that.
Miriam, me and Carlos Diaz

Dave Smiley from ZPL's morning show - we aren't special, he made that face with everyone.

Miriam, Greg Oden and me - on three steps I'm actually taller than he is!


Below, my favorite pictures from the night. I wanted a picture with Colts' receiver Anthony Gonzalez SO badly, but couldn't work up the courage to ask for one until halfway through the night. Finally, I managed to catch him as he walked by. The conversation went something - well, exactly - like this:
Me: "Hey! Would you take a picture with us"
Gonzo (looking mildly creeped out): "Um, okay."
Me: "Because you're Anthony Gonzalez, right?"
Gonzo (looking embarassed): "Yeah."
Me: "And Maybe I cheer for you on the TV?"
Gonzo (coming around a bit - Oh, this girl actually watches football): "Maybe."
Me: "And maybe I made my dog a Colts' jersey?"
Gonzo (I've won him over): "Now that's cool."

Priceless.




I can't explain it, but this is how the night ended. Brad wanted to stop and use the restroom on the way home. (It's a bit of a drive between our place and downtown.) So, he ran into a minimart near Lafeyette Road. While he was using the restroom, I looked at the car next to us and saw what is below. It seemed to be wearing a nice dog collar and a leash and looking for someone in particular to return. 2:30 in the morning, Lafeyette Road and a goat in a car. That's how you know it is time to go home and sleep.

The Todd Family is Growing!

We’re so excited to finally post our biggest news! We have been waiting for everything to be finalized and now the countdown has finally begun. Every last bit of the paperwork has been turned in and we are officially waiting for our baby from Ethiopia! Yes, we are adopting internationally! It has been a huge process, and we’ve only just begun to learn all that we will need to know, but here is a “brief” summary of the past few months.

It took us three months to complete all the paperwork, which is apparently considered to be fast. Some of the “highlights” were: background checks from every county in which we’ve lived (that would be 5 for us – HUGE thank you to Meghan Boots for helping us in San Francisco), a frustrating form on which to wait from immigration (took two months), lots of blood tests and an extensive physical, 10 hours of DVD training and four tests (one of which was essay), training regarding transracial families, and an extensive home study performed by an agency here in Indianapolis. That’s just a small sample.

Every piece of paper first had to be notarized and then taken to the secretary of state to be authenticated. By the end we had a huge stack of papers covered in state cover letters and shiny gold seals. It looked so pretty; I had to take a picture!

Now that the paperwork is done everyone wants to know what is next. We are working with a wonderful agency in St. Louis, Children’s Hope International. While their referrals (that’s when the adopting family finds out they have been assigned a child) aren’t as fast as some agencies, they have a reputation for having perfect paperwork and a great relationship with the embassy in Ethiopia. This is certainly a process where you want everything done perfectly! They also have a strong Christian perspective, which was very appealing to us, and amazing one-on-one attention. We LOVE our consultant, Toni, and the woman in charge of the Ethiopia program, Sharon.

So far this year the wait for a single infant, which is what we requested, seems to be around 9-11 months. Once you receive the information on your child most of the adoption process takes place in Ethiopia before you travel. That means you are subject to the scheduling of the courts. Generally, it is 2-4 mos. before you travel to Ethiopia to pick up your child. During this time, our wonderful agency takes your child out of the orphanage and moves him/her to the agency’s House of Hope. At the House of Hope the child will receive more one-on-one care and medical treatment, so you know your child is getting the best care possible while you wait to travel.

We fully recognize that the optimal situation would be for all of these children to stay with their biological families in their home country. Sadly, many of them have been orphaned, abandoned or relinquished and are in dire sitautions. We can only hope to give our child the best home we can provide while incorporating a lot of Ethiopian tradition and culture. We’re very excited to absorb as much of the culture as possible! Over the next year we’ll be learning Amharic, cooking Ethiopian food, incorporating Ethiopian holidays and traditions and preparing to become a transcultural family!

So, all of this means that we are definitely expecting a child and most likely will be traveling next summer! We’re excited to be able to update you all via the blog. I imagine that next year we will have some pretty exciting and interesting posts. In the mean time, I have thirty-something pictures to post showing the fun of the last month, or so. More to come soon!


We’ve made friends with two area families who have recently adopted from Ethiopia. (There are quite a few families in the Indianapolis area who have done this! We’re looking forward to getting to know more of them.) Here are some pictures of our get-togethers and their adorable, happy, sweet sons, Tegegn and Hudson. There is also a fabulous video of Tegegn taking some of his first steps!

Tegegn Ponsler and Brad while at the Bells' for dinner


Hudson hiding against his dad, Chris Bell


Becky and Chris Ponsler had us over for lunch. Tegegn was sporting his Colts track suit!



All our paperwork ready to go!

The Jetta, 1998-2009

This month we bid farewell to an old and faithful friend, The Jetta. My (Meagan's) graduation present from Butler 10 1/2 years ago just barely made it to Tom Wood Toyota on the west side of Indy to be "traded in" for a Scion. The Jetta safely carted me literally all over this country. It was a bittersweet moment for all of us as Brad drove it out of the drive for the last time. We always knew the Jetta would let us know when it was time, and it definitely did.

I know many people picture me and my black '98 Jetta GLS as a unit, so I had to give it its due on the blog. While I had that car I graduated from college, moved to Texas, graduated from graduate school, moved to Indy, dated Brad, got married, moved to California, had my first professional jobs, moved back to Indy, and bought our first home. Pretty much my entire adult life was racked up in those 180,000 miles. Below are some of the Jetta's greatest hits and our farewell pictures. Jetta: Thanks for a good ride.

Just some of our many trips:
Twice from Indy to California
Florida to California
Countless trips between Dallas and Indy
Dallas to Mexico
Many trips between Indianapolis and New York
Indy to Amarillo
Indy to the Grand Canyon
Many trips between Indy and Florida
And all over the Midwest!





The dogs watched as we said our goodbyes. They all had many rides in The Jetta, especially Gracie. I'm sure there is still sand from San Francisco's Crissy Field in that car.

Rock Stars

Apparently, these past few weeks Brad and I thought that we were rock stars. The downside to that thought is that you are bound to prove yourself wrong. The upside is that you spend lots of time having fun with friends. (Until, that is, you prove yourself wrong and learn that you are in no way a rock star. Then you become a hermit for a week or two in an effort to recover.)

Below are some pictures of the fun we had over a couple weekends at the end of March. Up until 3 a.m. both Friday and Saturday over two weekends definitely catches up with a 30-something, we discovered. But it was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, I didn't manage to capture a great night we had with Miriam and Tim over at our house. We snacked on a bunch of appetizers and dessert along with some good wine and chatted until we had exhausted our greatest hits (a.k.a. our funniest stories). It was really great to get to know Tim a lot better. We're looking forward to more get togethers soon!

Elizabeth and Keith (who are now Indiana residents again!) came down from Crown Point for a weekend. What fun! They lived in New York for quite a while, and much of that time we were in California. I felt totally spoiled to have them here in my house in Indiana. We just HAD to stay up until 3 both nights to make the most of it!




Enjoying one of our favorite treats - the huge cone of fries at Brugge with all the dipping sauces. Yum!


Drinks afterwards in Broad Ripple




Opening a great bottle of wine from Long Island which Keith and Elizabeth gave us as a house warming present. What a perfect opportunity to use it, celebrating their return to Indiana.


We are all Ben Folds' fans and have been looking forward to going to his concert in Indy for a long time. It was my first time to see him live. So fun! If you get a chance, definitely catch a show.






And after that, yummy German beer at the Rathskellar. (And after THAT, burritos at La Bamba, which I didn't manage to capture. Too busy eating.)


The following weekend we got a message from two friends, Marilyn and Steve, who live in Fort Wayne. They were going to be in Indy for a shopping day and wanted to grab some dim sum. (Shanghai Lil's is fabulous, by the way.) Though we had just enjoyed our late night with Miriam and Tim, who could pass up a dim sum lunch, some plum wine, and a chance to catch up? It was fun to see their little guy, Davin, too.


Later that day we were expecting a fun group at our house. Louis and Heather were going to be in town with their new baby, Connor. Amazingly, a lot of our other friends were able to come into town too! We all met early for drinks at our place and then went just down the road to our favorite Italian spot, Delullo's. (Seriously, the best pizza I have ever had!) Then back to our place for dessert and coffee. It is so rare that we all get together, we had to make the most of it. We sat around chatting and listening to funny, old, Brad and Louis stories until the morning. We've heard them 100 times, but they still make us die laughing.
Nate, Brad, Me, Tyler, Adrienne and Amanda

Amanda and Brad road in the back of Nate and Amanda's car where their dogs usually hang out. Brad did his best impression. Doesn't Amanda have the best smile?

Louis and Heather then arrived with Connor, who is a perfect little guy.

Tyler was very good at bouncing Connor.

We did a lot of standing in circles and staring at sweet Connor. For some of us, it was our first meeting!

We don't have much furniture in our pool room yet, so we ended up crashing on the floor for a while. Nate had us dying laughing.



Preparing for our guest takes a bit of effort. We all have to be freshly scrubbed, that's for sure. If I've learned only one thing the past year it is this: after you wash and brush three large dogs on a sunny day, you take a picture. Lord knows they won't stay that way for long.

Gracie, Luke, Cal

Cal being serious - a rarity

Luke working hard on a toy

Beautiful Gracie


Clean Dogs, Clean kitchen - Ready for guests!