With only a few days left in the calendar year, AAI has exceeded placement goals in some of its programs, including those involving domestic adoptions. Our goal for the year was 35 placements and as of today, 42 children have been placed through the foster/adopt program and 15 other children came to families through private adoptions. The ages range from newborn to 12 years in the foster program and newborn to 14 years in the private sphere. We are so happy for the families who now have another table setting or two (or three!) this holiday season.

We usually do a year-end overview, both as a way of celebrating the year's placements and as an encouragement to families who still wait. Here are some stats for the foster/adopt program for 2013:

• 10 girls
• 32 boys
• 12, two years old and younger
• 17, three to five years old
• 10, six to ten years old
• 3, eleven to twelve years old

There were two groups of siblings with three children and many of these figures represent sibling sets of two. Most of these children are considered healthy. One child is diabetic, one has very mild cerebral palsy, one is sight-impaired, and three have developmental delays.

As you can see, those of you still waiting, these placements do finally happen. Waiting can be frustrating, painful, and anxiety provoking. For a sense of perspective, families waiting for a healthyyoung child in the China program wait seven years. The wait for Ethiopia for a healthy young child is about three years. Our other programs are almost entirely for families willing and able to parent a child who is older and/or has special needs. It is true, as it should be, that the WA Foster/Adopt program is the most expeditious one, though we know you'd probably like to scream or cry at times.

Moving into 2014, we would like to convey our gratitude to you for being gracious, patient, and truly good families. We appreciate the opportunity to continue to work with you, knowing that one of these days, when we all least expect it, the phone will ring and there will be a special child ready to join your family.

We wish you all a safe and joyous holiday season and a very prosperous and happy new year!