Exactly Three Weeks Ago Today...

...I wrote a blog post titled "Paperwork Bottleneck".  In that post I talked about how we had just found out that we had to have our dossier submitted to the SDA by December 1.  Within a few days of that we realized it was actually November 30 that we had to have it submitted.  (I know one day doesn't seem like that big of a deal but it really, really is!)  In that blog post I asked for some pretty specific prayers, that we would receive our state background clearance, that we would get our biometrics appointment, that we could get our I600A expedited and that we could get our dossier to our facilitator in time to have it translated and notarized in country for submission by the November 30 deadline.  Guess what?  ALL of that happened and it has been submitted to the SDA ONE FULL WEEK ahead of the deadline!  Between finally reaching the *right* person at the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for our state clearance, to being able to "walk in" for our biometrics appointment vs. waiting for the appointment date, to speaking to the  *right* agent at the USCIS to have our I600A expedited, to having not one, but two different families traveling to Olga's country hand deliver our documents to our facilitator at the exact times that we needed we have officially made the deadline!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers that I know have come from so many different people.  We are truly grateful.  As long as the SDA doesn't find anything wrong with our dossier we should be notified of our invitation to travel right around the same time Olga arrives for Christmas hosting.  We are praying that our SDA appointment is on or just after January 17, 2011.

And now we wait some more!  But at least with this waiting I know we have done everything we can do up to this point.

Thanks so much for following along and providing all of the much needed support that we have received.

S~

Dossier Update

Just wanted to post a quick update.  Our I171H has arrived in country (many thanks to the family who took it!).  Everything has been translated and as of today should be notarized.  Our facilitator plans to submit it to the SDA tomorrow morning.  As soon as I know that it has been submitted I will update the blog again.

Thanks for hanging in there with us!
S~

 

Happy Dance Time

I had a good feeling about today.  I got a little exercise in first thing this morning then went to the kids school to do some copying for Rhys' teacher.  Then I went home.  And stayed home.  That doesn't happen a lot.  I just really wanted to be here when the mail came.  The letter carrier came around 12:30.  Guess what she had in her stack of mail for us?  YES!!!  Our I171H has arrived!!!  I made copies, ran to the UPS Store to get the "True Copy" letter notarized and then drove to Atlanta to get the notarization apostilled.  I got all of that done in two hours, and the icing on the cake was that I got it done without getting caught in Atlanta crush hour traffic!  There is a another family traveling for their SDA appointment this weekend so I am overnighting our *FINAL* document to them to hand deliver to our facilitator.  We had our fingerprints taken just six days ago.  I am thinking that has got to be some kind of record for turnaround!  I am so incredibly thankful for all of the prayers that went out on this and to our USCIS agent for going against the "norm" and expediting our I600A.

Now we wait.  As soon as everything is translated (and it might already be except the I171H) it can be submitted to the SDA.  BEFORE the November 30 deadline.  YEEHAW!  (Lots of exclamation points in this blog post!)  By the way, I don't think I ever mentioned that the rest of our dossier that we sent last week made it safe and sound and the facilitator said it looked perfect.  :)

Thanks again for all of the prayers.  We truly feel them and can see them in action.  You all ROCK!

Off I go to do a Happy Dance.  :)

S~

Got to speak with Olga

We were able to speak with Olga again.  She sounds really good.  She has received the package that I sent with a sweater and two pair of funky socks which I was relieved to hear.  When I asked her if there was anything she needed she became very quiet and said, "Yes, Mama, I do need something.  I need lip gloss." We all laughed and I promised her I would run out to Bath and Body Works to get her favorite lip gloss.  Then she said, "And I need to ask for something else, and it is very serious.  Can you send me sneakers?"  My heart sank because I really don't think I can send her sneakers.  On larger packages the recipient might have to pay a tariff and Olga is obviously not in the position to do that.  I tried my best to explain that to her in hopes that she would understand.  After a few minutes of me explaining and re-explaining she finally said, "But Mama, it's just candy!".  Okay....she wanted Snickers!  Not sneakers!  Another good laugh was had by all.  So now I have three lip glosses and four Snickers bars ready to go out.  I did warn her the Snickers might melt, but she was okay with that!

I mentioned last week that the Parliament in Olga's country had passed the first reading of a bill that would suspend all international adoptions.  While we have heard nothing concrete about a second vote happening there are rumors flying wild on others' adoption blogs.  Quite honestly I have no desire to deal with rumors and those who have posted have not backed up their information with facts.  My desire here is to let you know that there is something very real you can do to help.  I am asking that you write your congressman and senators using the letter below or something similar to it.  I am also posting links for you to use to get your congressman/senators e-mail addresses.  All of the below information I have stolen borrowed from a different blog!

House of Representatives

Senate

Dear (name),

On November 2, 2010, the Ukrainian parliament voted to proceed with voting on legislation that would halt all international adoptions until inter-country adoption agreements are in place (see the State Dept. announcement at http://adoption.state.gov/news/ukraine.html) . At this point, all that is needed for this to become law is one more vote in Ukrainian parliament and a signature by the Ukrainian president. This could happen any day.


If it does, many families and innocent children will be greatly affected. Many of these families are adopting older children who have a very short time-frame before no longer being eligible for adoption.  American families adopting these children in the NEXT MONTHS offer them what may be their only opportunity at a normal and productive life free of crime, prostitution, or institutionalization due to illnesses that are treatable in the United States. I personally know one of these families.

I am writing to you to URGE you to act quickly on this matter by completing two actions. First, contact your Ukrainian counterparts and request a consideration of revision of the law to allow adoptions to proceed while the agreement is being drafted (as was done in Russia).  Secondly, work with your colleagues in congress to begin drafting this agreement so that it is ready to go in the event the law passes.

Thank you for your timely consideration of this urgent matter!


And, as always, please continue to keep our family in your prayers!


Thanks,
S~

Gold Party Fundraiser Results

I think I can say that the gold party I hosted last night was a success.  Between the 20% check that Southeast Gold Buyers gave me and additional donations from guests we made $650 to help bring Olga home!  Another big step forward in our fundraising!  Big thanks to Helene from SGB and all of my guests who not only brought their own gold but also brought a friends gold to sell!

In other fundraising news, a Bible study small group from our church has offered to cover the remaining cost of Olga's Christmas hosting!  So this means two things: after their donation and our Christmas Tree Fundraiser money comes in we will not owe NHFC anything else and I no longer will be asking for tree sales to benefit our family!  If you are thinking, "Shucks!  I was going to buy a tree!", don't despair!  You can still buy a tree, just select another family for the fundraiser to benefit.  My personal choice would be Melissa Macy as she put quite a bit of legwork into researching and getting this fundraiser set up!  Her family is adopting a brother and sister that they hosted this summer.  Check it out if you are still looking to order a tree for Christmas:  Dutchman Tree Farms Fundraiser  

I did call the USCIS back yesterday regarding our I171H approval letter.  I spoke with our agent and she said that our application has been processed and forwarded to her supervisor for approval.  She indicated that it would move from the supervisors desk to be mailed within 24 hours and we should have it within 7-10 days, probably sooner!  So...if we have received it in the mail by Friday we should be able to have it notarized and apostilled on Monday.  I was told of another family traveling the week of Thanksgiving so if we can get them the form before they leave we should make our dossier submission deadline.  Otherwise, I am seriously considering getting on a plane to Ukraine and taking it myself.  It feels like a sprint to the finish at this point!

Thanks for all of the prayers!  Keep 'em coming!

S~

Spoke to the USCIS today...

I got all of our apostilles photocopied and then bundled everything up to overnight to our fellow Ukrainian adoptive family who is using the same facilitator.  They should have all of our documents by 10:30 tomorrow morning, and they are traveling this weekend!

I called the USCIS this afternoon to see if our prints were in the system or not.  The representative I spoke with first gave me the "canned answer" that it usually takes 48 hours for the prints to get into the system.  I pressed a little harder and explained my time dilemma.  She finally looked in the system and located our prints.  I asked when an agent would be assigned to our case and she told me that the cases were assigned in the order they were received.  Seems fair, but I'm quite frankly looking to jump the line here!  She explains I should call back in a week, I explain that will be too late.  We go back and forth, she remained professional yet firm, I remained calm yet teetering on the edge of hysteria.  I realized after about 10 minutes that I wasn't going to be able to persuade her to have my case assigned to an agent.  I got off the phone upset, but amazed at the fact that I didn't completely fall apart.  I had already decided that I would call back on Friday and hope to get a different agent who might be willing to expedite our application.  About an hour or so later my cell phone rang.  It was the USCIS agent I had spoken with earlier.  She said that after checking to see about the deadline I had told her about she went ahead and pulled our application and we should have "something" in 7-10 days!  I, of course, start gushing "Thank You's" in about 15 different ways.  I was so thrilled with her phone call I didn't get any really important details.  Like, was she our case agent or had she given it to someone else?  Seven to ten calendar days or business days?  The "something" we should receive is the I171H approval letter or just an acceptance letter?  I basically think I got great news, but as I didn't get the details I'm not all that positive I got great news!  *sigh*  The USCIS is closed tomorrow, but I will call back on Friday to try to get some of my answers.

So, if I could amend my earlier prayer request, please pray that she meant that we should have our I171H in 7-10 calendar days and that perhaps I can pay a little bit better attention to detail!

:) S~

Apostille

I made the trip into Atlanta again this morning to have our notarized documents apostilled.  If you are unfamiliar with that term, it basically means that they (the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, or GSCCCA) research each notary to ensure that their signature matches what is on file and then they put a fancy seal on it.  Mission accomplished, but not without a bit of drama thrown in.  I gave all 25 documents to the Notary Manager and he told me to come back in about an hour.  When I came back I could tell by the look on his face that something wasn't quite right.  The notary who had signed our medical records had signed them with her First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name.  That is what was on her notary stamp as well.  Unfortunately according to her commission with our county her stamp and signature should have been written First Name, Middle Name, Last Name.  The GSCCCA could not issue an apostille because of that.  The notary manager had called the county clerk to have them contact the notary so that she could "promise" to sign an affidavit changing her notary commission using her middle initial instead of middle name.  Remarkably, the county clerk called the notary manager at the GSCCCA back in less than 45 minutes giving him the go ahead to apostille those last few documents!

Wheh!

The last four months of our lives represented in paper form

So now I need to make some photocopies of all the apostilles and ship them off to the family traveling to Olga's country this weekend.  

I will be calling the USCIS this afternoon to see if our prints have shown up in the system yet.  It's a bit early, but tomorrow is Veteran's Day so their office will be closed.  Here's hoping I get to update my blog twice in one day with good news!

My big "ASK" for right now is prayers that our USCIS prints land on the right persons desk and that they are able to get our I171H approval letter to us in record time!  Our deadline for dossier submission the the SDA in November 30.  And overnighting documents there doesn't actually get them there overnight.  After I get the approval letter I still have to get it notarized and apostilled before it can be sent.  

Thanks to everyone for following along and all of your support.


S~

Biometrics Walk In Appointment

We got our our kids on the bus this morning for school at 7:00, then hopped in the car to go sit in traffic on our way to Atlanta.  We arrived at the Application Processing Center hoping for a walk in appointment to have our fingerprints taken at 8:20.  I'm so glad it was a relatively mild morning as they made those of us without scheduled appointments wait outside for about 15 minutes before allowing us in the building.  Once inside the process went fairly quickly and we had our paperwork filled out and prints taken less than an hour after we arrived!  YAY!  Now I get to call the USCIS everyday and pester the daylights out of them to get an agent assigned and get our I171H ASAP!

On the way back home we decided to make a quick stop for coffee.  Thankfully (for us) we weren't the first car in line at the light as the car in front of us was hit by a minivan running a red.  Everyone was okay, but we stayed to be witnesses and ended up being there for almost an hour.  No coffee for us, but I'm really just thankful that there were no major injuries.  We got back on the interstate and drove up to our exit to go home.  No joke, at the top of the exit ramp a big car carrier had just rear ended the car in front of it!  Yeesh!

Next I was off to Starbucks to meet our adoption agent to go over all of our paperwork.  Everything looked good except perhaps one thing, but our agent is checking on that.  Luckily the one thing that might not be okay is relatively easy to fix so it shouldn't be a problem.  We now have all of the paperwork, excluding the I171H, that we need for our dossier.  Tomorrow morning I will head back into Atlanta to have all of the notarizations apostilled.  After that they get overnighted to a family traveling to Ukraine this weekend to be hand delivered to our facilitator.  They can't be officially turned into the SDA without the I171H, but they can be translated and ready to go ahead of time!

And in closing...another letter from Olga!!!  Actually, two, but one envelope had drawings for each of us and the other envelope had a letter and a fairly recent picture of Olga with a friend of hers.  It just so happens the friend is a boy.  If you have a teenage daughter living under your roof and you worry about her and teenage boys, try being on the other side of the world from her and worrying about teenage boys!

Thank you all so much for all of the thoughts and prayers as we are racing against the clock.  The dossier submission deadline is three weeks from today!  Keep those prayers coming!

S~

USCIS Biometrics Letter

GOT IT!  I have in my possession our appointment letters to have our biometrics completed!  The appointment isn't until 11/16, but we plan to go tomorrow morning to see if we can snag a "walk-in appointment".  Keep sending those prayers our way!

S~

Busy Week Ahead of Us! (I hope!)

I wish I had a really exciting "Olga Update", but no such luck!  I just wanted to post an update about where we are in the process and where we hope to be in the process a week from now.

I was speaking with our adoption agent last Friday about our Marriage License and how it was not notarized, but certified.  She was checking with the facilitator to make sure that would be sufficient.  Then she casually mentioned that the marriage license would need to be apostilled in the state it was issued.  That would be Missouri.  We live in Georgia.  With the luck we have had so far with government efficiency I was a little panicked.  I was prepared to drive to Missouri today so I could be in Jefferson City first thing Monday morning to hand deliver the license to be apostilled.  I called the Secretary of State's office in Missouri and they assured me that they can turn it around same day!  So off I ran to the UPS Store to overnight our license along with a pre-paid air bill for them to overnight the apostilled documents back to us.  I should have that back on Tuesday morning.

Next on the list is our I171-H approval letter from the USCIS.  Or, to be more precise, the lack of our I171-H approval letter from the USCIS.  We still do not have our biometrics (fingerprint) appointment letter which is needed before our very important I171-H approval letter is issued.  I was assured that the appointment letter was in the mail.  Tick-tock-tick-tock.  Our letter carrier is going to be lucky if I don't jump in her mail truck looking for the letter myself when she pulls up to our mailbox tomorrow.


In the meantime I will go to Atlanta on Tuesday or Wednesday to have all of our notarized documents (that we actually have!) apostilled.  At that point they will be ready to send to Ukraine.  I will then place all of the documents in an overnight envelope to send to another family who is traveling to the SDA on Saturday to hand deliver our *still* incomplete dossier to our facilitator.  Our hope is that they can be translated now even though they cannot be submitted to the SDA without the I171-H.  


The last thing to address is something I have been attempting to bury my head in the sand about.  I won't pretend I know all about the adoption laws from Olga's country and how they differ from other Eastern European countries.  But, here is what I do know.  Last week a draft of a law that would most likely suspend all international adoptions from where Olga is from passed.  It is something that they have been trying to pass for years, but it has never happened until now.  I have heard different things about how fast this *could* become law.  The update on the US Embassy website has the most bleak estimate.  If it passes a second reading it could be signed into law by the end of 2010.  Here is the post from the Embassy of the US:

PUBLIC ADOPTION NOTICE – NOVEMBER 3, 2010

November 3, 2010

The Ukraine legislature is in the process of voting on a bill that would suspend all intercountry adoptions from countries without bilateral agreements with Ukraine, including adoptions from the United States.  The bill passed a first reading and vote, but must still pass a second reading and be signed into law by the president.  The second reading could take place in the next few weeks.  If the bill passes the second reading, it may be signed into law as early as the end of 2010.  The draft bill appears to include suspension of all adoptions in progress.

The Department will post updates as information becomes available.

This notice is posted at the Department of State website athttp://adoption.state.gov/news/ukraine.html.

I really don't like ending a posting with bad news, so I will finish up here by saying OLGA ARRIVES FOR CHRISTMAS HOSTING IN 36 DAYS!!!!

Here is my list of how you can help:

1. PRAYERS!  The list is long this time-pray that we get our biometrics letter in the mail TOMORROW!  That our marriage license is back on Tuesday.  That all of our documents are SDA ready (no mistakes or issues).  That the family who is taking our dossier to Ukraine has a safe journey-and not just because they are taking our dossier!  And, of course, pray that whatever happens with the Ukraine adoption laws, that we are able to get Olga home by February, 2011.
2. Christmas Tree Fundraiser!   If you usually have a live tree for Christmas, consider ordering from Dutchman Tree Farms.  Click the following link, select "yes" for New Horizons for Children, and the select my name, Susan Langvin Pirkey, from the drop down list.  Dutchman Tree Farms Fundraiser  
3. Repost my blog!  Please share this blog with your Facebook friends, or e-mail it to anyone you think might enjoy reading my insanely long posts.  :)
4. Donate!  You can use the yellow "Donate" button at the upper right corner of this blog to donate directly to our adoption costs.

Thanks, and I will keep you all posted throughout the week.  I hope to have lots of good news to report all week long!

S~

Travel Dates for Hosting

I received an e-mail from NHFC today.  It was one last outreach to match host families with orphans for winter hosting.  I will copy her e-mail below so you can read what she had to say.  It's lengthy, but worth the read.  I think everyone who reads this blog understands how grateful I am that we have Olga in our lives and that we wouldn't be here if it were not for an amazing set of circumstances that led us to host with NHFC.  If you have thought, even briefly, about being a host family for just over four weeks this winter now is the time to take action.  The last day to sign up is November 7.  Please keep in mind that NHFC is NOT an adoption agency.  Their #1 goal is to match children with no families of their own with Christian families in America who would like to share their love of Christ with them.  It is a month long commitment that will undoubtedly change your life and the life of an orphan.

In the e-mail from NHFC it was casually mentioned that the host dates are December 13, 2010-January 15, 2011!  I'm sure that information will be sent to us host families shortly, but when I saw the dates in the e-mail I felt like I had hit the jackpot and gotten some kind of super secret insider information!  YAY!  I can now officially start the countdown until we get to see our oldest daughter again!  39 days!

If you would like to contact me directly to ask questions about our personal experience, please e-mail at:  SusanPirkey@gmail.com  Here is the e-mail from NHFC:


Dear Friends and Family of New Horizons for Children:
This will be my last update email asking for additional prayers for the few remaining children who do not have Christmas host families. I prayed and thought about what to write. Yesterday, it became clear as to what it has to be…

An 18 year old young lady, by the name of Sidney, has been doing her Senior Project with me over the past month. She decided that she wanted to learn more about the hosting program, the reasons for it, about adoptions that often result from it and wanted a better understanding of how it all works. She came in a few times to question me, interview Renee and her daughter, Michelle and one of her sons and has sent me several follow up emails along the way. Through our time together, I have been really impressed with her professionalism and dedication to her work. We’ve had University interns that put in less effort than Sydney! I’ve learned that she carries a 4.25 GPA and is presently number 18 in her graduating class of 505 students at a public High School and aims to be in the top 10 by graduation in May. I asked how she achieved a GPA above 4.0 and she explained she took Advanced Placement classes in Human Geography, (English) Language Arts, World History, US History, Micro Economics, Literature, Statistics, Government and Honors classes in Spanish which “count more” due to the difficulty level. She also earned college credits from these classes ready to transfer as soon as she graduates! Sidney wants to attend either the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech and major in International Business if things go her way. She is also President of the Spanish Honors Society and was in Beta Club in 10^th and 11^th grades in addition to being a member of the both the National Honor Society and Model United Nations which is a debate team.

Yesterday, she came back to our office for her final meeting with Renee and I and met with a young man, Taylor, who is 24 and now a senior at Kennesaw University also majoring in International Business. They went into another office and talked for a long time. When they finished, she exclaimed, “We have SO much in common and understand each other a lot!” When I asked what she felt they had in common she had a lot to share: Taylor graduated as Valedictorian of his high school class, and had many achievements both in school academics, soccer on two teams and other extra-curricular activities. But, they share something even more special… They were both adopted as teens from foreign countries: Taylor is actually my oldest son, who was adopted at age 13 from Russia and Sidney is actually one of our first Latvian children who came on a hosting program 5 years ago. They both came to America not speaking a word of English and not knowing a soul except for the family who adopted each of them. Sidney has a younger brother and they were hosted as a (hard to place) sibling group, while Taylor left behind a younger sibling in Russia, he has now has many younger siblings who were also adopted. Sidney and Taylor both kept their first language of Russian and were able to communicate in that too! Their goals in life are similar and the things they shared and realized since being adopted are also very much alike.

When I asked Sidney how she felt she has changed since coming to America, she shared, “I am now more accepting in regards to other kinds of people and different cultures.” This led her to choose International Business for her intended major in college. Taylor has shared similar feelings with me and this was one of his deciding factors in choosing International Business! Sydney stated she appreciates what she has now, more than ever before; especially her family and friends. One of the things she does better now and she feels makes her successful is that she knows how to make friends since she is more outgoing and sociable. In Latvia, in the orphanage she said, “I never had any incentive to do this before.” She credits her family for teaching her “to go out there and take a chance even without knowing if the outcome would be totally successful…even when she didn’t know English very well at first.” She shared her self esteem is so much higher now, which was apparent without asking… and she feels successful and ready to have a future both personally and professionally.

There are FOUR days left to choose one of the children who remain for the Christmas hosting program. Sidney knows that if a family did not “take a chance without knowing if the outcome would be totally successful” and hosted her and her brother, she would not be where she is today… a young lady with a future, a loving family, a solid education, who is safe, happy and healthy--physically, mentally and spiritually. She said she was “blessed to have this chance in this family.”

Meet Sidney:	Meet Taylor:

Perhaps you are one who receives this email, and goes through one of these scenarios:

• Looks at the children, prays for direction on what to do… but, hasn’t felt called to host.
• Thinks, “I’d like to send a donation to help one of these children, but what if (how, where)….”
• Believes, “I live in the state of _________ and therefore I can’t host…”
• Has called before and thinks that the mandatory training day is not offered close enough to your house.
• Thinks it’s too late, and therefore, won’t make the decision to move ahead.

Perhaps God is tapping you on the shoulder right now, as you read this and is telling you “to go out there and take a chance even without knowing if the outcome would be totally successful…”
And to answer some of the concerns above:
Donations can be made via PayPal on our website: www.NewHorizonsForChildren.org;
We host children in ANY STATE in the continental USA;
Host Parent Training is now offered in many places:

Denver CO Orange County CA Portland OR St Louis MO Davidson NC Atlanta GA

Winter Haven FL New Orleans LA Dallas TX Reading PA Manchester NH

(NOTE: if you attend training now, it covers you for future hosting programs too!) The deadline to match is November 7, so it’s NOT too late if you act now.
Lastly, but most importantly: Go view the remaining children who need prayer warriors, sponsors and host families and forward this email to others.
Children arrive from Russia, Ukraine, and Latvia, on December 13 and return January 15.
We always solicit prayers, prayer warriors and churches around the country who are looking for an orphan ministry to operate within their church. November is National Adoption Month and many churches are focused on the grim future of orphans and want to find ways to help.
NHFC is a non-denominational, non-profit, Christian ministry. Our goals are to reach orphans in Eastern European countries and bring them to the USA to visit with American Christian host families for 4-5 weeks over Christmas and in the summer. This shows them a functional family environment, immerses them in English, gives them love of family, and of their Father in Heaven. It undoubtedly builds their otherwise non-existent self-esteem. They realize they DO matter and can succeed in life. In the end, more than 65% of children who come on New Horizons for Children’s host program and are eligible for adoption, do find forever families, and are later adopted. It may not be their host family who adopts them, but perhaps someone who knows their host family and met them through the program. Some children still have partial scholarships to offset their hosting fees. Others have families interested to host, but need financial assistance from donors. All of them need prayer warriors!
May God bless you on this journey,
Le Ann Dakake
Director of Hosting Programs
New Horizons for Children

Quick Chat with Olga

We called Olga's school this morning.  After several attempts and even speaking to the wrong child the first time we finally were able to speak with her.  (The first child we spoke to had a first name that rhymed with Olga's last name, so there was obviously something lost in translation!)  She said she is doing well.  She received the last letter I sent as well as the letter Aunt Deby (my sister) sent.  She sounded very excited to have received a letter from her Aunt Deby!  In the course of the conversation she told me that her host mother from Spain called her yesterday!  Olga had gone on hosting programs to Spain and stayed with the same family for 6 years before coming to America.  What is odd about that is that Olga hasn't been to Spain in two years and her host family from Spain hardly ever contacts her.  It made my stomach drop a bit when she told me that.  My brain starts going crazy with all kinds of "what if" garbage.  I quickly asked if she was still excited about coming back here for Christmas and she said yes.  I think with all of the snags we are running into here every little thing that isn't in "my plan" puts me into panic mode.

I plan to call the USCIS again today to see if our application has made it to the Missouri facility.  The rep I spoke with yesterday said to wait a week before calling.  I'm just going to ignore that little piece of advice.  :)

S~

 

Paperwork Bottleneck

Today is November 2.  We must have our dossier submitted to the SDA by December 1.  Before it can go to the SDA we must still wait for our USCIS fingerprint appointment and I171H approval letter.  All of the documents must be apostilled and then sent to our in country facilitator who must then translate all of the documents before submitting to the SDA.  In other words, we really, really need to have our dossier complete and in country in less than three weeks to get it to the SDA before December 1.  If we do not have this done then we are looking at next spring before we can bring our daughter home for good.  That is something I am really not willing to think about, so right now I am asking for prayers.  Prayers that God opens the doors to a speedy USCIS fingerprint process (called biometrics) and approval.  Prayers that all of our dossier documents are ready and correct (have I mentioned that our State of GA background clearance letter still isn't in our hot little hands?).  Prayers that our facilitator is able to translate all documents and submit them to the SDA by (or even before!) December 1.  And prayers that Jeff and I remain faithful that no matter what happens, God's timing is perfect.

Thank you,
S~