We happily welcome the change of season. It is great to be in the middle of a Michigan spring. I am loving the sunshine and the mild temperatures. I am finally finding the time to write a little bit about what has been going on at the Brescia house. We had a wonderful Easter celebration. My sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and dad came up for what is becoming a yearly trip. I enjoyed their visit, although it was way too short. I wish we lived closer to our families and were able to spend much more time together.

For the past month I have been studying for the finally step in obtaining my Master’s. Yesterday I took the comprehensive exam for my program. I think that preparing for this exam was one of the most difficult things I have had to do during the course of my educational career. I was so anxious the felt like I was going to be sick before and during the exam. I still had those feelings of anxiety several hours after the exam. I think that it went well; we will see if I pass or fail in a couple of weeks. Besides the exam results, I am all set to graduate on May 1st with a Master’s degree in Special Education.

Adoption news…a couple weeks ago we got an e-mail for the adoption agency informing us that our dossier has been submitted to the Ecuador Adoption Authority, and is now undergoing review. We were told that the review which results in “idoneidad”, or approval, is taking 3 months or more. They have also seen some take more than 5 months, and sometimes they just aren’t notified that it was approved, so that could account for the lengthened time. So the wait continues. We have been taking about what we could be doing to help prepare for bring home our child but not knowing the gender or age will make some things difficult. But we will do what we can and continue to pray.