Progress!

Okay, so it's not like we're ready to travel, but we're one
step closer.  It's been almost a month since we heard
from USCIS saying they were processing our
paperwork.  The next piece of paper would be the appt.
letter for biometrics.  Once the prints are taken,
then we get the piece of paper that approves us
to adopt from another country.  The very last piece of
paperwork we need for our dossier to be complete.

Well, I've waited patiently each day for the postman
to deliver our mail and nothing. No letter. 

Yesterday seemed to be another day of nothing. I have
to admit, I was truly sad when I took the mail from the
box and there was nothing from the USCIS.
Then about 30 mins after getting the mail from
the mailbox, the kids came to me and said the
postman was back.  I quickly ran up the stairs to
find a book that I ordered plus two letters from the
USCIS. Yeah!!

So today we decided to try and get the prints
done a week early and we were able to get
in!  Thank you!!!

Our hope is that we'll get the final USCIS paper
by later this week/early next week so that we can
get it sealed.  Then.we're.done.   Our paperchase
will be complete.  Everything will be at the agency
for checking before sending our dossier to China. 

We're getting closer to meeting our daughter and
we can't be more excited!

We would post pics of her, but we want to wait until
we get our LOA before making it official on
the blog.  Just a little longer. :-)  We can't wait to
share pictures with everyone!!

Meet the Champ!!

The Wild Thing Kart Series at Stafford Motor Speedway has come to an end for 2010. The final race was last Sunday, September 12th. It has been an interesting season. Not many updates were posted because of our busy summer schedule both on and off the track, so here is a quick wrap-up of the season at SMS.

D ran the Tiger Sprint ‘B’ class this year. He qualified for the 1st feature race (which pays the most points) all but one time this season. He has two 3rd place finishes to his credit. His consistency has allowed him to accumulate enough points to finish 2nd overall in the point standings. Congratulations D!!

J ran in the Jr. Outlaw and Tiger Sprint ‘A’ divisions this year. He finished 8th overall in the Jr. Outlaw division. His best finish was 5th. Not bad for the first season. The biggest surprise was how he finished in the Tiger Sprint ‘A’ class.  J has four 2nd place and one 3rd place finish this season.  He was third in the overall points going into the final race last Sunday and ended up with a 6th place finish. This put him second in the overall points standings. However the kart that won the race, and was leading in the points, was found to have an illegal muffler and was disqualified.  He received zero points because of the disqualification which put J in the first place overall.  Congratulations J on becoming the Tiger Sprint ‘A’ division champion for 2010!!

There is still some racing left in 2010, all of it in New Hampshire. J&D Racing will be racing at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH on 9/26 and 10/10 and at Route 106 Racepark in Concord, NH on 10/2 and 10/9. Stay tuned for more updates now that summer is over.

We Have An Announcement to Make......

As you can see from our Adoption Timeline, we received
a referral a couple of weeks ago. :-)  We were totally
blown out of the water by the phone call as our
dossier is not completed and logged in with CCAA.
We had always thought and understood from others
that you NEVER get matched prior to being logged
in.  So when the phone rang that day and I saw
it was from our adoption agency, I thought it was in
regards to paperwork that I had been e-mailing them
for pre-approval for notarization, etc.

Imagine my surprise when the person on the other
end asked if we were still interested in the special
needs program.  Of course we were!  She said
that was good to hear because she had a file that
she wanted us to look at. 'Excuse me, you know
that our dossier isn't completed, right?  Yes, we
know exactly were you are as far as paperwork goes'. :-)
Silence on my end.  She asks if I'm still there....yes,
just trying not to cry....trying to slow my heart rate down. :-)
She then tells me some info about this sweet little girl and
tells me to get to my computer as she'll be sending the
file very soon.

As I wait for the file to show up, I call S at work.  He too
is surprised.  We weren't expecting a match for many
months yet.  But who are we to question God's timing?!
We spent a few days looking over her file, talking to
our pediatrician and the specialist at our local children's
hospital who will be taking care of her.  Everyone
we spoke to gave us no indication of any problems with
her file.  We also prayed for our decision and this special
child. 

We officially accepted the referral on August 23rd.
We submitted our LOI to China by Friday the 27th, and
we heard today, August 30th, that China has given us
pre-approval.  We still need to submit our dossier and
there's always the possibility of us being unmatched with
her, but as of now, she's our daughter! 

We now have permission to send her a care package.
So, along with completing our dossier and immigration
paperwork this week, we get to send a package to a special
little girl waiting for us on the other side of the world.

How's It Going?

Summer is quickly coming to an end here in our
quiet little corner of the world. Although the
past few weeks haven't been so quiet in our
household. :-)

Our church's Worship Team, which S and I are
blessed to be a part of, hosted an Evening of
Worship with Robin Mark this past Friday.
If you don't know who Robin Mark is, you're
missing out! Robin is a remarkably gifted worship
leader from Ireland. Each summer, he travels around
the U.S. and plays with local church's worship
teams and provides communities such as ours
with an amazing evening of not just great
music, but powerful worship! Our WT has
been preparing for months for this evening
and they didn't disappoint! They were awesome!
We were thankful to be able to be a part of this
event and meet Robin. He's a truly down to earth
guy who simply loves the Lord and loves to share
that love with those he encounters through music. 
Below is a picture of Robin practicing with the team.

 

The boys are wrapping up their racing season.

About two weeks ago, S's sister, brother-

in-law and niece came for a visit. They are one of

sponsers of the J&D Racing Team. That particular

Monday night, they were also Event Sponsers.
They were able to hand out the trophies to all
those who placed while getting to know some of
the racing families. A good time was had by all!

 

Our adoption paperwork is coming along. We

are ALMOST done with all the papers required

to complete our Dossier. This week, we hope

to have all but one document notarized, certified,

and on it's way to the New York Chinese Consulate
for the final special piece of paper needed to 'seal'
them. We will also apply for our immigration paperwork.
That piece of paper gives permission from our government to
adopt a child from another country. We will be given an
appt.to get our fingerprints taken (again) and then we wait
for them to clear. Once this is done, and we receive our approval,
then that will go through the process of getting 'sealed' and
our Dossier will be complete and ready for our adoption agency
to give final approval.  Once that is done, it will be sent to
China to be officially logged in!

Things have been moving very quickly with matches in our
agency. We could be traveling to China within the next
6 to 8 months to meet and bring home our daughter! :-)
We can't wait!! We ask that you please pray for things
to go as smoothly as possible and that all the paperwork
is processed in a timely manner! Thank you!

THANK YOU!!

We just received our first check from Just Love Coffee Roasters,
the company that is helping us with our adoption fundraising
efforts. :-)

A big THANK YOU to the family that purchased coffee to
support bringing our little girl home!! Enjoy the coffee!

Adoption Update

Just an update on where we are in the process. We're
currently in the middle of the paperchase. Sending
out marriage and birth certificates to get certified
by various Secretary of States and then to be sent to
the appropriate Chinese Consulates for authentication.

We will have our first home study visit this week.
We hope to have the home study completed and ready
to send to our agency for approval by mid July.

Right now, it's a lot about the hurry up and wait.
If you know me, then you understand that this is
very difficult for me. :-) I keep reminding myself
that this is all part of the process and EVERYONE
has to go through it and at the end of the paper-
chase is a precious little girl waiting for her mama
and baba. :-)

Things that make us uncomfortable

Okay...let's face it. There are just some things that are
uncomfortable talking to friends & family about....one of them
is money. This is not a post asking for money...don't worry. :-)

Although in the next few months, we will have 'fundraisers' of
sorts that you might get an email or phone call about asking for
support. Please don't feel that you HAVE to participate.
Follow your heart. :-)

One of the first 'fundraisers' is located on our blog. It's a
win/win kind of thing. :-) Lots of you like coffee. So, if
you buy some coffee from this site, you'll be supporting coffee
growers & children in Ethiopia while helping our adoption fund
in the process. :-) Click on the Just Love Coffee link
to check out all the great coffee they have available.

You see, when we first felt the call to adopt, we didn't know where
we were going. I prayed many times for God to 'give us a sign' about
the country we should adopt from. I've had several dreams over the
past year and a half. In some of the dreams, I would be holding her,
but would NEVER see her face. I would have dreams about laughter
in the house and I would hear the boys laughing but also the laughter
of a little girl. One of the last dreams I had before we put in our
application to our agency was of us meeting our daughter. I saw her
face! I knew where she was! Although I woke up right before I got to
pick her up, it gave me comfort in knowing He was giving us guidance
in which direction we should be looking.

So, this leads me back to the coffee. You see, Ethiopia is still on my
heart. If I could, I would adopt from both China and Ethiopia! I can see
your eyes rolling and hear the deep sigh right now dear. :-) My Godson
was adopted from Ethiopia as well as a couple of other children in our
congregation. Ethiopia will always hold a special place in my heart.

So, in honor of my Godson, E, and the children in Ethiopia who wait
for their forever families, we're supporting this company selling this
coffee. If you've never tried Ethiopian coffee, you're missing
something really good. :-)

If you decide to buy some coffee, thank you. If not, that's okay. We
appreciate you stopping by. :-)