May 2026 - Home Study Update

We have completed our home study update. We needed to get finger printed and have a background check, meet with our case worker Lauren, and update a bunch of forms for our agency to have updated information for us. 

April 2026 - Grow Group - Adoption Scams

Bethlyn and David attended a Grow Group hosted by Children's Home/Lutheran Social Services (CHLSS) in April. This was one on adoptions scams, the worse fear of everyone hoping and waiting for placement. We heard from somone who had fallen prey to a scam. He discussed what happened, what to avoid and what we all could learn from it. Their story had a happy ending, as they did take placement and have a very happy baby boy. We both learned that when people ask for cash up front, it is a big red flag. But people will also just scam you just to mess with your emotions. No money, just to mess with you. It's hard to believe we share a world with people who would do that to another person. We left this grow group feeling more informed and more prepared to avoid being scammed in the future. 

January 2026 - A Dog Adoption

We are a family that enjoys the company of dogs. In November of 2025 we decided to foster a dog through Safe Hands Rescue. We got ahold of Cyrus a dog who was 1 to 2 years old. Very much a puppy, but a very big puppy he creategd challenges for us right away. He broke out of his cage three times. Part of the process for adoptin gout a dog like this is to attend weekly events to showcase the dog, take in and review applications for his adoption and meet with potential adopting families to determine the right fit for Cryus. We followed this process with a great family, and adopted him out to what we thought was his forever home. That lasted a week. The family decided he was not a good fit for them and returned him to us. We were hurt. We opened up his application an dtook him to more evnets to try an adopth im out. But we soon realized that he had become a part of our family, he was a good dog who needed some training and got along well with our other dog Felix. We officially adopted him on December 27th 2025. He has been a very good boy with us and we are filled with love for him. 

October 2025 - Grow Group through CHLSS

Bethlyn and David attended a Grow Group hosted by Children's Home/Lutheran Social Services (CHLSS). These occur every 3 months and have been informational. This week featured families who had recently adopted children and were there to share their experiences. It was very informative. One of the things we learned about how communication with the birth families was huge and can put both parties at greater comfort with the entire process. We also had time to connect with other families waiting to adopt. This was a very informative group and we are glad we took the time to learn from them. 

Our big summer trip of 2025 was a trip to Australia. David wanted to add a new contintent and new country. Australia fit the bill! It was a beautiful country with world famous sights, new sporting events to attend like Australian Rules Football, goregous beaches, seeing animals like the koala and snorkling the Great Barrier Reef! We spent two weeks Down Under and just had the greatest time. We are so fortunate to be able to do these trips. We can't wait to share our love of travel with a child. We'll start small but someday being able to take them around the world to experience new cultures and countires will be a must do. 

As part of our Home Study we are required to update our background information once a year. This involves filling out some paperwork and getting our fingerprints done with a background check done by the state of Minnesota. Just a little house keeping that is required for us. Feels like we are getting the hang of this but looking forward to the day when we don't need to do it! 

Adoption Agency Selected 

December 2023