Pretty Much our Whole Lives...

...Or so it seems! I'm going to skip most of the writing and let the pictures speak for themselves. It has been a busy, but very, very fun summer so far. Hope you all are having a great one, too! Happy 4th!

It's been a lovely summer - lots of rain, so everything is lush and green, but plenty of sun, too. We've had fun hanging in the yard with the dogs. I found out they will catch the ball as long as I can throw it.


Someone discovered that we have strawberries (a favorite treat) growing in the yard....


I'm excited to let everyone know that I finally have an Indy performance coming up! Along with some great Butler alums, I'm singing in a concert the first weekend of August. We've had way too much fun at the planning sessions, as you can see below. I'll be sure to send out the concert info to everyone soon.

Planning at Tim's house, I had Pia (Tim and Steve's dog) to keep me company. Like our dogs Pia is a rescue. Tim was really excited that she actually wanted to cuddle with me!

Kyle and Lexa Ferril - the founders of Full Circle Music, our hosts for the concert.

Elizabeth and Keith relaxing with Pia and Tim after our hard work planning.

Planning session number two at our house - tapas night!

We all went out to take a look at the garden. I took this picture just for Dad. See, we're all lovin' the garden!


Mom, Dad and Jenny came to visit for a while when Jen was in rehearsals for Das Rheingold with Indy Opera. I took them to my favorite Yucatan/Mexican spot downtown and Miriam came along to catch up, too. We managed to close the place down, naturally.

We had to enjoy some grilling out, of course.

Our good friend, Cindy Wacker, joined us for drinks and dinner before the opera performance. Thanks for the wonderful wine, Cindy!

Backstage after Jenny was a goddess (both literally and figuratively) in the opera. Her good friend Shanna came to see her, and Corey showed up from Boston to surprise her!

A proud family. You were awesome, Jen! And that dress...!

While Mom and Dad were here we all celebrated Bob's birthday. Even Brad's cousin, Erin, and her husband, Nate, where in town to join! I think Bob looked pretty sharp in the new fishing hat we got him.


Naturally, when Mom and Dad come to town, massive amounts of work gets done on the house. Mom and I made the front of the house our project.
First, the before:

And after:
We carried every one of those 70 lb. stones. Quite the workout! We also planted some new shrubs and flowers. Next, I'm going to till up the grass around the stones and put down some mulch. Finally, a front walk!




Dad has been excited to plant me a garden since we moved in last year. For Christmas I got enough seeds to feed a small village. When he arrived he had plans to till just a 20x10 section. A week and a half later, we had four raised beds, the tilled patch and a walled herb garden complete with iron trellis. This was about a week after Mom and Dad took off:


Lots of rain and 3 1/2 weeks later!








And 4 1/2 weeks later! It's grown even more since I took this. I think the squash plants might take over the world.








My first harvest - lettuce! Lots of huge, yummy salads that week.


We had a great night out recently with Ryan and Monique Metzing. Monique's high school friends run a WONDERFUL Italian spot, Matteo's, on the square and then we headed to Syd's just down the street for drinks. Great dinner, good friends, karaoke at a dive bar afterwards...fabulous night.

Brad and Ryan ruled the shuffleboard that night.


Two weekends ago we finally got to have a fun and relaxing weekend at Bob and Bonnie's family lake house near St. Louis. Lots of boating and eating with family. Thanks for a fun weekend, Todd's!


For race weekend we were guests of the Crisels. They have such a fun 500 tradition and made us feel just like part of the family. Plus, it was great to have so much time to catch up with Nate and Amanda. Here, Amanda and I are enjoying the race. Thanks so much for being such fabulous hosts, Crisel Family!


If you've never been to the race, the crowd is truly amazing. 400,000 people all in one organized place. It's really incredible.




I'm always amazed by the look of the cars in person. They just look so much faster than on TV - literally a blur. You can't even see them as they go by!


Babies, babies and more babies!!! The families of so many great friends are growing. When our own little one arrives we are going to have a lot of play dates to set up!

Below, Lauren Brown, myself and Abby Hoskins are at Abby and Bill's shower. They just welcomed little Lincoln on July 2nd. Congrats guys!!! And though I didn't get a picture, we just met sweet little Kinsley Stevens, daughter of Brad and Tracy. She's a beautiful, perfect little bundle. Congrats to you guys, too!



I also got to meet sweet Nadia Reed, daughter of Maggie (Wacker) and Tony, when Maggie was here visiting from southern California. Another perfect bundle, Nadia snoozed in my arms the whole time we chatted over lunch.




This spring my good friends, Jen and Eric Rawe, welcomed their second daughter, Samantha Jane. Miriam and I went over to see her and have since watched her grow right in front of our eyes. Yet another beautiful, perfect babe. And Maggie is already a pro at the big sister routine!
Jen, Maggie and Sam

Miriam, Me, Jen, Maggie and Sam

Sam already growing up just a couple weeks later!

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!