Hair and Skin Care Workshop

Have you seen the Happy Girl Hair website?

The planning committee is very excited to announce that the one and only 'Joyful Mom' from the Happy Girl Hair website will be conducting a skin and hair care workshop during the reunion.

If you plan to attend the reunion, then make sure you attend this workshop and bring your skin and hair care questions with you.

Need a Little Assistance

For those in the Portland area, the planning committee is requesting your assistance.

We are trying to plan an Ethiopian dinner for Saturday night and have been in contact with some of the Ethiopian restaurants in the Portland area. The problem we're having is finding a restaurant that can accommodate more than about 80 people. Based on the responses we've received regarding attendance, we anticipate having over 80 in attendance. All the restaurants have offered to cater a dinner for us, but we need to find a location that would accommodate a group of our size.

If anyone knows of a church or community center in the Portland area that may work for our group, please leave us a comment.

Thank you!

Reunion Plans

Although we haven't yet decided on exact locations for everything and don't have a completed agenda yet, I thought I'd share what we have planned for TAFRU.

Friday evening we will have a Meet-n-Greet. This will include food and drink for everyone in attendance.

Saturday morning - Breakfast with the agency representatives

Saturday morning/afternoon - Trip to the Oregon Zoo

Saturday evening - Ethiopian dinner

Sunday noon - Farewell lunch at a local park

We are also working on a hair and skin care class and/or Ethiopian cooking class for Saturday afternoon.

Our goal is to provide everyone ample opportunity to spend time with each other in fun and informal settings and to also provide some educational opportunities as well.

Also, we are looking into making t-shirts available for those participating in TAFRU this year. If we are able to come up with a TAFRU logo and can get a good price on t-shirts, we will provide the information at registration and ask that they be worn during the zoo trip on Saturday. Purchase will, however, be optional.

Updates and Info

I allowed the blog polls to go ahead and close, however, we are still collecting attendance information. Please feel free to leave a comment here or you can provide information to us on our Facebook page. If you haven't joined us on Facebook, click here.

So far we have 25 families planning to attend TAFRU and another 9 who may be attending. We would love to see that number grow, so please spread the word to other Toukoul families you know.

The planning committee is still working out the details for the reunion and hope to have some definite plans in place and the information posted here by the end of February. Our goal is to make this reunion as fun and informative as possible for everyone.

Now for some good news from our Toukoul families!

Jes and Mel have their Embassy date later this week. Unfortunately, they've hit some possible delays in getting back to Germany, but hopefully everything will work itself out quickly. (This is a private blog, but you can email Mel for an invite. Email address is next to the blog link in the right hand column.)

If you haven't visited Bushel and a Peck, please do so. This is one of our Toukoul families who have been waiting 4 years to complete their China adoption and they just returned home with a beautiful baby girl. Be sure to congratulate them.

The Theis family returned home earlier this month with their adorable little guy. (Another private blog, but you can email Jennifer for an invite. Email address listed next to the blog link in the right hand column.)

Also, check out Journey to Oliver. The Chambers family also traveled earlier this month and brought home their cutie patootie as well.

The Redick family is also home with their cute little guy. (Please email Kellyann for an invite to view the blog. Email address is next to the blog link in the right hand column.)

Check out Highchair Theology to see some pictures of a very cute little addition to the family.

And last, but not least my very own growing family is leaving in less than a month to bring home our baby girl. You can check us out at World of Weeks. (Email me for an invite to view the blog. Email address is next to the blog link in the right hand column.)

As always, if anyone else has good news to share, please leave a comment so we can celebrate with you.

Also, if anyone else has a blog that they would like to add to the blog list, please leave the blog address in the comments section and we'll get it added.

Polls

So far, 19 have participated in the polls posted on the right hand column of the blog page. In an effort to get more participation in these polls, I have extended them for one more week. If you have not yet participated, please do so. The planning committee needs and values your input.

Thank you!

Working on the Agenda

The planning committee has been in discussions about the plans and agenda for TAFRU over the past week. One thing that has been discussed is putting together an agency breakfast for Saturday morning. Some families will be traveling from outside the Portland area and have not had the opportunity to meet their agency representative and this would allow those families that opportunity.

Before we try to set anything up, we want to get a better idea of how many would truly be interested.

Also, we would like to get a better idea of how many are planning on attending TAFRU at this point. This will help us tremendously as we continue to make reunion plans.

Please take a minute to participate in the polls that have been set up on the right hand side of the blog page.

Thanks.

Dossiers, Referrals, Court Dates, Pick Up Trips and TAFRU

I know there have been some good things happening with our Toukoul families over the last couple of months. If anyone has some good news to share please leave a comment.

Now that the Holidays are behind us, it will be time to get back to work on plans for TAFRU.

If you are planning to attend, but haven't made your hotel reservations, please do so. Just click on the picture of the hotel on the right hand side of the blog page to make your reservation. If you make a reservation and later discover you can't attend, you have until July 23rd to cancel the reservation without penalty. Making your reservation early will also assist the planning committee in determining if additional rooms are needed and we are more assured of being able to get them now.

Stay tuned for more information!