Happy Birthday Kayla!!
We love you so much, more than words can ever say. We are so grateful God gave you to us and what an honor it is to be your mom and dad!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
20 years ago, on June 28th...
...our first baby girl was born!
We love you so much, more than words can ever say. We are so grateful God gave you to us and what an honor it is to be your mom and dad!
We love you so much, more than words can ever say. We are so grateful God gave you to us and what an honor it is to be your mom and dad!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Sad day
We just received the 'final' word from Andrea, the director of Reece's Rainbow, that the country our girls are in will not issue new travel dates to families to adopt their children until after the closure. The last families allowed to travel are those families who had their paperwork submitted prior to June 1. Our paperwork was submitted June 2. We missed the cut-off by two days. Two days.
Our facilitator in country had been trying to negotiate travel dates, but evidently was not successful. It is estimated it could be about three months before we are allowed to go get our girls. It could be shorter...it could be longer.
We are devastated.
The thought of our girls having to lay alone in their cribs for who knows how long is enough to bring a grown man to his knees.
So, we wait.
Please keep our girls in your prayers, that their health holds up until we can get there. That their spirits remain strong. That they are fed, and changed, and bathed until we get there.
This closure and delay is not a surprise to God. He has known of it since before time and He knows the outcome. We will rest in that and will continue to praise Him in this storm...
From Casting Crowns:
I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away
Chorus
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
Chorus
Our facilitator in country had been trying to negotiate travel dates, but evidently was not successful. It is estimated it could be about three months before we are allowed to go get our girls. It could be shorter...it could be longer.
We are devastated.
The thought of our girls having to lay alone in their cribs for who knows how long is enough to bring a grown man to his knees.
So, we wait.
Please keep our girls in your prayers, that their health holds up until we can get there. That their spirits remain strong. That they are fed, and changed, and bathed until we get there.
This closure and delay is not a surprise to God. He has known of it since before time and He knows the outcome. We will rest in that and will continue to praise Him in this storm...
From Casting Crowns:
I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away
Chorus
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
Chorus
Monday, June 20, 2011
Fathers Day ~ 2011
We had a nice simple Fathers Day this year. This was Michael and Matthews very first Fathers Day and oh, what a joy it was to celebrate this day with them because now they have a daddy of their very own!! Jeff had to work all day so that gave Holly and Rachel a chance to run into town to pick up a gift and bake a cake for him. I called my daddy and talked to him and my mom for a little while and Jeff called his dad..had to leave a message...but wished him Happy Father's day just the same. There are no pictures of Justin with Jeff because he was soooooo tired and we went ahead and put that sweet baby in bed before we thought to grab the camera. After we got Justin settled, we celebrated:
Happy Fathers Day, Jeff!!!
 |
| Rachel made the cake ~ it says, Happy Fathers Day Dad! I love you! |
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Please PRAY!
The country our girls are in just announced that it will CLOSE their adoption department July 11 and will remain completely closed for at least three months while they switch to another department.
What does this mean for us?
It means that we MUST get our travel date, get an official referral from the Adoption department that is closing, meet our girls and then get permission from the Adoption Department to go to court....all before July 11.
PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR US that we will be issued a travel date and complete all the necessary steps before the closure. Please pray for all the other families in this process.
Precious lives are on the line.
What does this mean for us?
It means that we MUST get our travel date, get an official referral from the Adoption department that is closing, meet our girls and then get permission from the Adoption Department to go to court....all before July 11.
PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR US that we will be issued a travel date and complete all the necessary steps before the closure. Please pray for all the other families in this process.
Precious lives are on the line.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
25 years ago today...
...God blessed Jeff and I as we gave birth to our first child, Wesley. How can 25 years have already gone by?!? We are so proud God picked us to be your parents. You are an amazing young man. I look forward to see where He leads you on the rest of your life's journey.
Happy Birthday Wesley!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
SUBMITTED today!!!!!!
We just received the news that our dossier was submitted today to the adoption authorities in the country that our girls are in! WooHoo!!!
Now we wait for our appointment to go visit with the authorities and receive their official adoption referral for our girls. We expect to travel within the next 3-4 weeks...again, WooHoo!
Now we wait for our appointment to go visit with the authorities and receive their official adoption referral for our girls. We expect to travel within the next 3-4 weeks...again, WooHoo!
God is so incredibly good to move us along so quickly. Thank You, Thank You, Thank YOU!!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Home 5 months
Matthew and Michael have been home five months. It really is incredible how far they both have come in just a short period of time.
Look whose WALKING!
Michael!
Look whose pulling up to STAND!
Matthew!
Look whose HAPPY!
Look whose LOVED!!!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
I-171H RECEIVED...The Golden Ticket!
We received our I-171H Friday, May 6. That is what we in the adoption community call The Golden Ticket. It is just a single piece of paper but it is priceless as it holds the lives of two little girls. Without this one piece of paper, we could not bring home our girls. I'm so thankful we have it now!!!
This has been a very busy couple of weeks. We took all of the dossier documents that we had completed to Austin May 4th to be apostilled. We had a nice trip, got to tour the capital again and arrived back home 19 hours later. Very long, yet quick, trip.
We sent in our I-600A application to USCIS on April 28. This is an Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition to our government. They receive it in Texas, process it, send it to MO for more processing, assign an officer to the case, process it some more, then either approve it, reject it or ask for more documentation. If it is approved, USCIS gives you an I-171H form that officially says your are approved to adopt. Seems easy enough...but the process is usually V.E.R.Y long taking many, many weeks to complete. We do not have time on our side for several reasons so I was determined to get through the process in record time and we asked God to show us favor...He did!
The process can be expedited for medical reasons so we went to our Dr. May 10th to see if he would write a letter for medical expedite for the girls...he did! We sent that letter to USCIS that very day and then ran over to Congressman Randy Neugebauer's office the next day, May 11th, and spoke to his assistant, Jay, and Jay then called USCIS on our behalf to recommend a medical expedite as well. Within 5 minutes of Mr. Neugebauer's office calling USCIS, we had an officer assigned to our case. By noon the next day our I-600A was approved and I had the I-171H in my hands ready to be apostilled. 15 days! God is good!
Now we just have to get the I-171H and one other document apostilled and we can send our entire dossier to the country our girls are in and wait for the travel date. Jeff could be traveling in 6-8 weeks if all goes quickly!!
 |
| I-171H, (personal info removed for the blog) |
This has been a very busy couple of weeks. We took all of the dossier documents that we had completed to Austin May 4th to be apostilled. We had a nice trip, got to tour the capital again and arrived back home 19 hours later. Very long, yet quick, trip.
 |
| Texas Secretary of State building where we get our paperwork apostilled |
 |
| Waiting inside the SOS building for apostilles to be finished |
 |
| In session! We got to watch a debate on the floor and how Texas laws are made! |
 |
| Matthew and Michael's first trip to THEIR state capital. Matthew is looking at the TEXAS sign on the floor of the rotunda in the center of the State Capital. |
 |
| Cute Kids!!! |
 |
| Peace officers' memorial just outside of the Capital |
 |
| Texas State Capital building |
 |
| 45 documents apostilled for our dossier....DONE! |
We sent in our I-600A application to USCIS on April 28. This is an Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition to our government. They receive it in Texas, process it, send it to MO for more processing, assign an officer to the case, process it some more, then either approve it, reject it or ask for more documentation. If it is approved, USCIS gives you an I-171H form that officially says your are approved to adopt. Seems easy enough...but the process is usually V.E.R.Y long taking many, many weeks to complete. We do not have time on our side for several reasons so I was determined to get through the process in record time and we asked God to show us favor...He did!
The process can be expedited for medical reasons so we went to our Dr. May 10th to see if he would write a letter for medical expedite for the girls...he did! We sent that letter to USCIS that very day and then ran over to Congressman Randy Neugebauer's office the next day, May 11th, and spoke to his assistant, Jay, and Jay then called USCIS on our behalf to recommend a medical expedite as well. Within 5 minutes of Mr. Neugebauer's office calling USCIS, we had an officer assigned to our case. By noon the next day our I-600A was approved and I had the I-171H in my hands ready to be apostilled. 15 days! God is good!
Now we just have to get the I-171H and one other document apostilled and we can send our entire dossier to the country our girls are in and wait for the travel date. Jeff could be traveling in 6-8 weeks if all goes quickly!!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Ways you can help...
We have had several people ask us how they can help with our expenses for the adoption. There are several ways to help.
You can simply donate by clicking on the Reece's Rainbow "Donate" button at the top of the side bar. All donations given through Reece's Rainbow are fully tax deductible and go directly to our adoption. RR gives us this money closer to our travel date.
If you want your donation to come directly to us for immediate expenses, please use our daughter Rachel's fundraiser, found a little lower in the side bar. These donations are not tax deductible because they go directly to us and not through RR.
**You can pray....prayer is a HUGE part of raising money.
**You can have a garage sale.
**You can have a bake sale........(Thank you, Dani, for doing this!!!!)
**You can host a 'give-away'.
**You can host a 1K/5K/10K fun run.
You can choose one of our needs below and raise money towards that specific need if that is what you are being called to do. International adoption is about as expensive as a private domestic adoption. It usually costs about $25-30,000 to adopt two children from the country we are adopting from.
We do not pay anything for the children themselves. We do not pay anything to the government of their country. ALL expenses all go towards actual adoption costs like paperwork processing, mailings, airfare, hotel accommodations abroad, food, transportation while in-country, facilitation/translations fees, etc.
Every penny raised is a HUGE blessing. Tell me which need you are going to cover and I'll mark that need as MET! Of course, you can also remain anonymous if you wish.
Thank you all so much for your willingness and eagerness to help us rescue our daughters!!!!!
Our Adoption Needs:
1. $ 200 Homestudy update
2. $ 200 Apostilles
3. $ 300 Medical fees for the girls in-country
4. $ 475 Car Transportation in-country
5. $ 500 postage fees
6. $ 600 Train Transportation in-country
7. $ 700 Food, in-country
8. $ 720 I-600 Fee, in-country
9. $ 800 hotel/apartment in-country
10. $ 808 Visa Application for the girls, in-country
11. $ 890 USCIS fees
12. $ 1,300Passports for the girls, in-country
13. $ 2,335 Initial RR fees
14. $ 10,000 Airfare
15. $ 11,000 facilitation fees, in-country
Total: $30,468
Some people may wonder WHY are Jeff and I going to all this expense to adopt two little girls in Eastern Europe when there are thousands of children right here in America we could adopt for free through CPS. There's only one answer to that question:
GOD!
We have to go where He is calling us this time and He is calling us to this particular country for these particular children. They are our daughters, and we have to to get them out of there and bring them home.
Thank you all so much for helping us!
You can simply donate by clicking on the Reece's Rainbow "Donate" button at the top of the side bar. All donations given through Reece's Rainbow are fully tax deductible and go directly to our adoption. RR gives us this money closer to our travel date.
If you want your donation to come directly to us for immediate expenses, please use our daughter Rachel's fundraiser, found a little lower in the side bar. These donations are not tax deductible because they go directly to us and not through RR.
**You can pray....prayer is a HUGE part of raising money.
**You can have a garage sale.
**You can have a bake sale........(Thank you, Dani, for doing this!!!!)
**You can host a 'give-away'.
**You can host a 1K/5K/10K fun run.
You can choose one of our needs below and raise money towards that specific need if that is what you are being called to do. International adoption is about as expensive as a private domestic adoption. It usually costs about $25-30,000 to adopt two children from the country we are adopting from.
We do not pay anything for the children themselves. We do not pay anything to the government of their country. ALL expenses all go towards actual adoption costs like paperwork processing, mailings, airfare, hotel accommodations abroad, food, transportation while in-country, facilitation/translations fees, etc.
Every penny raised is a HUGE blessing. Tell me which need you are going to cover and I'll mark that need as MET! Of course, you can also remain anonymous if you wish.
Thank you all so much for your willingness and eagerness to help us rescue our daughters!!!!!
Our Adoption Needs:
1. $ 200 Homestudy update
2. $ 200 Apostilles
3. $ 300 Medical fees for the girls in-country
4. $ 475 Car Transportation in-country
5. $ 500 postage fees
6. $ 600 Train Transportation in-country
7. $ 700 Food, in-country
8. $ 720 I-600 Fee, in-country
9. $ 800 hotel/apartment in-country
10. $ 808 Visa Application for the girls, in-country
11. $ 890 USCIS fees
12. $ 1,300Passports for the girls, in-country
13. $ 2,335 Initial RR fees
14. $ 10,000 Airfare
15. $ 11,000 facilitation fees, in-country
Total: $30,468
Some people may wonder WHY are Jeff and I going to all this expense to adopt two little girls in Eastern Europe when there are thousands of children right here in America we could adopt for free through CPS. There's only one answer to that question:
GOD!
We have to go where He is calling us this time and He is calling us to this particular country for these particular children. They are our daughters, and we have to to get them out of there and bring them home.
Thank you all so much for helping us!
Friday, April 29, 2011
The neatest thing happened today....
We have very little information about Matthew and Michael's early years. We have no baby pictures of Michael and only a couple of baby pictures of Matthew from RR.
It is customary for the SDA to trade their file baby pictures with adoptive parents if the parents have a current picture of their child. We did have current pictures of both boys and asked the SDA to trade. For reasons known only to them, they said no to Jeff. So Jeff asked if he could take a picture of the baby pictures....again, NO! Our facilitator went back on our behalf at a later time and he was also told NO!
Our boys SDA baby pictures surfaced again during court and our translator asked the judge if they could trade at that time....again, NO! The judge told them that the SDA pictures were now part of the court records and were going to be SEALED with the court documents. There was nothing more for us to do.
FOUR MONTHS LATER...
I am reading through messages on the post-adoption RR support group site and read this:
Pictures for someone??
In going through and organizing all of my paperwork from this last adoption, I
came across some photos that I apparently picked up from the SDA in March 2011.
:) :)
They are pictures of two little boys with Down syndrome. As best I can decipher,
the names on the back of the pictures are (xxxx xxxxx) and the other
picture only has one name--(xxxx)?? They are cute cute little boys and I would
love to get these pictures to their family, so if you know who they belong to
please let me know!
Courtney
The names Courtney gave were Matthew and Michael's birth names! Were these their SDA pictures? I immediately emailed her and asked if she could scan and email the pictures to me so I could see if they were pictures of Michael and Matthew....
Awwwww, they were so tiny. I just want to scoop up my babies and hold their little selves from those pictures. I'm so grateful to have baby pictures of them! God works in mysterious ways, that is for sure!
It is customary for the SDA to trade their file baby pictures with adoptive parents if the parents have a current picture of their child. We did have current pictures of both boys and asked the SDA to trade. For reasons known only to them, they said no to Jeff. So Jeff asked if he could take a picture of the baby pictures....again, NO! Our facilitator went back on our behalf at a later time and he was also told NO!
Our boys SDA baby pictures surfaced again during court and our translator asked the judge if they could trade at that time....again, NO! The judge told them that the SDA pictures were now part of the court records and were going to be SEALED with the court documents. There was nothing more for us to do.
FOUR MONTHS LATER...
I am reading through messages on the post-adoption RR support group site and read this:
Pictures for someone??
In going through and organizing all of my paperwork from this last adoption, I
came across some photos that I apparently picked up from the SDA in March 2011.
:) :)
They are pictures of two little boys with Down syndrome. As best I can decipher,
the names on the back of the pictures are (xxxx xxxxx) and the other
picture only has one name--(xxxx)?? They are cute cute little boys and I would
love to get these pictures to their family, so if you know who they belong to
please let me know!
Courtney
I LITERALLY ABOUT FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR!
The names Courtney gave were Matthew and Michael's birth names! Were these their SDA pictures? I immediately emailed her and asked if she could scan and email the pictures to me so I could see if they were pictures of Michael and Matthew....
THEY WERE!
Awwwww, they were so tiny. I just want to scoop up my babies and hold their little selves from those pictures. I'm so grateful to have baby pictures of them! God works in mysterious ways, that is for sure!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
I-600A...SENT!
We mailed off our I-600A application today at 2:00pm. Praise God!! What a relief! It feels so good to be one step closer to our girls.
We had a flurry of activity in the previous few days to get to this point. Our SW worked tirelessly over the entire Easter weekend to complete our homestudy...thank you, Ashley!!! Then, she got the HS notarized...twice...due to technical difficulties the first time, but she persevered and got it done late last evening and we were able to pick it up so we could mail it off with our I-600A application today. Whheewww!
Please be in prayer that the we can move quickly. There are great changes coming very soon in the country our girls are in concerning international adoption and we need divine intervention to get over there before the changes happen. We will move forward in faith.
We had a flurry of activity in the previous few days to get to this point. Our SW worked tirelessly over the entire Easter weekend to complete our homestudy...thank you, Ashley!!! Then, she got the HS notarized...twice...due to technical difficulties the first time, but she persevered and got it done late last evening and we were able to pick it up so we could mail it off with our I-600A application today. Whheewww!
While we wait for our I-600A to be processed, we will continue to gather dossier documents, notarize them, have them checked by our RR stateside helper and then have everything apostilled in Austin. After all that, we mail everything to the country our girls are in and wait for our travel date!
One step closer to home, baby girls, one step closer to home!!!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Resurrection Day
Easter!
HOLY RESURRECTION DAY!
The day the Holiest of Holies
ROSE
from the dead.
HE IS ALIVE!
Alive!
Our living God!
THAT is what sets Him apart from all other gods. Our Heavenly Father chose to come to this Earth in living flesh. He chose to die a horrendous death on a wooden cross so we could live. All we have to do is choose Him.
Thank you, Father, for giving your life so that we can have eternal life. Thank you for adopting me into your family, grafting me into the Kingdom of God.
Our living God!
Alive!
Easter!
HOLLY RESURRECTION DAY!
THE DAY THE Holiest of Holies
ROSE
from the dead.
HE IS ALIVE!
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Matthew 27:50-53
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
13 years ago today....
...one of the neatest people ever created was born!
Happy Birthday, Jason!!
Jason, you have grown into such a neat young man. I am so proud of the person you are and the strong Christian you are becoming. I cannot believe 13 years has already passed since God blessed us with you! You are a treasure and we love you so much!!!
I'm so glad everybody was able to come celebrate your special day with you. We had a great time!!!
Happy 13th Birthday, Jason!!!!!
Our big delay...Technical difficulities
This will be a pretty technical post, mostly just for me to remember what is going on. Sorry to bore everyone with technical difficulities...
We have run into a little set-back with our I-600A. Our HS update is finished and I was fixing to send it to our stateside helper for review before filing it with USCIS, but I decided to call USCIS to check on what documents I needed to send in with our update. During our conversation, the officer asked me if we had already filed the I-600 and I said we did, after we adopted Matthew and Michael in Dec. The officer told me we could NOT do a simple update since our I-600 had been filed. She said two more children could only be added to a current I-171H if we had not already filed the I-600.
Our SW had called USCIS three different times last week to verify various things for the update and they said we could add two more children, but I guess USCIS thought we had not filed the I-600 yet and we did not know to mention it. We all assumed we could work off our current I-171H since it is less than 18 months old. Just miscommunication.
The USCIS officer said HS's must be less than 6 months old when filing a brand new I-600A. This means we will have to do a new homestudy, not an updated one because our original HS is now 9 months old. We will also have to get new biometrics done which means waiting for a new fingerprint appointment. I'm bummed to say the least!
Our SW is so sweet and said that if she hustles, she can get the new HS compiled and finished by early next week. I'm so thankful she will work on this throughout Easter weekend!!! Thank you so much, Ashley!!!
So, that is where we stand. Still compiling our HS....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Definitions:
SW... Social Worker
HS...Homestudy
USCIS... Government agency that approves the number of children one can adopt internationally
I-600A... Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petitions.
I-600... The Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative
I-171H...The Golden Ticket... Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petitions....basically USA's permission for you to adopt internationally and the number of children approved.
We have run into a little set-back with our I-600A. Our HS update is finished and I was fixing to send it to our stateside helper for review before filing it with USCIS, but I decided to call USCIS to check on what documents I needed to send in with our update. During our conversation, the officer asked me if we had already filed the I-600 and I said we did, after we adopted Matthew and Michael in Dec. The officer told me we could NOT do a simple update since our I-600 had been filed. She said two more children could only be added to a current I-171H if we had not already filed the I-600.
Our SW had called USCIS three different times last week to verify various things for the update and they said we could add two more children, but I guess USCIS thought we had not filed the I-600 yet and we did not know to mention it. We all assumed we could work off our current I-171H since it is less than 18 months old. Just miscommunication.
The USCIS officer said HS's must be less than 6 months old when filing a brand new I-600A. This means we will have to do a new homestudy, not an updated one because our original HS is now 9 months old. We will also have to get new biometrics done which means waiting for a new fingerprint appointment. I'm bummed to say the least!
Our SW is so sweet and said that if she hustles, she can get the new HS compiled and finished by early next week. I'm so thankful she will work on this throughout Easter weekend!!! Thank you so much, Ashley!!!
So, that is where we stand. Still compiling our HS....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Definitions:
SW... Social Worker
HS...Homestudy
USCIS... Government agency that approves the number of children one can adopt internationally
I-600A... Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petitions.
I-600... The Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative
I-171H...The Golden Ticket... Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petitions....basically USA's permission for you to adopt internationally and the number of children approved.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Birthday Boy!
HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, JUSTIN!!!
You are such a JOY!!!
Rachel and mommy made you a birthday cake...
...and oh, how you loved licking the spoon from the frosting.
Matthew and Michael waited patiently for you to open your presents.
You enjoyed eating your cake!
Everyone enjoyed celebrating your birthday with you!!!
You, Michael and Matthew had a little play time before bed and then off to sleep you went.
Happy 2nd birthday, Justin! We love you more than words can ever say!!!
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