Four Counties, Three Police Stations, Four Superior Court Visits and off to Atlanta

As you can tell, It has been a bit busy around here. We sent off our immigration paper work and received word that it is in hands of the Department of Homeland Security  and so now we wait. We have been told it can take up to 90 days to get back what we need. We of course are praying for a speedy turn around and that our 797 (which is what we are waiting for) will arrive when God allows for it to arrive.

In the mean time, we have been working on our Dossier packet. This pile of documents along with the 797 will go off to China and allow us to wait some more, but this time for a referral.

These documents include, but are not limited to, financial declarations, birth certificates, marriage certificate, pictures of our house, pictures of us, police reports from everywhere we have lived in the past 5 years, a letter of petition for our adoption to the Chinese government, 5 reference letters and our home study. All of which (except the pictures) have to be notarized and then certified by the county in which the notary resides, the state in which the notary resides and then the Chinese consulate. With several trips across a couple of counties we have everything ready to go to the State, and then it will be off to the Chinese consulate. 

This has definitely been an interesting process, some of the highlights include:

·      Having a “fun” conversation with the Chief of Police in Newnan as to why he needs to write the letter we needed and not have this Yankee go to the Mayor 

·     

       Clayton County Superior court suggesting that I go to QT or Quick trip to Lunch.  For those of you who do not know, that is a gas station.

·      

   Michael heading out to Griffin, only to have them delay due to a sheriff being arrested.  His mom so graciously picking up the document and then finding out it had to go to another county because that is where the notary was from. She had a great adventure on FridayJ (And adventure we are thankful for)

·      

    Seeing an old friend and hearing her say: “You look great for having a baby in the next year” That just made me smile.

So you see it has been a wild ride. But on the flip side of all the miles driven, our daughter’s story is being shared with so many people. And that is all worth it!

Please join us in prayer as we wait for the 797 and as we head to the capital in two weeks to have their stamps put on everything.

Jennifer

Great Christmas Gift, Great Cause

Great Christmas Gift….. For a great cause

Hands down adoption is expensive. While we have been saving like mad people, working overtime, applying for scholarships,  and all sorts of crazy things, it will still be expensive. We have our first payment almost saved to go with the Dossier packet. The next payment will come when we receive our referral.  We have been told that can take 6-8 months, but we also have been told it could be much shorter than that. So with that, we are trying to be prepared. We cannot accept a referral unless we have the money to send off to China.

We bought these little beauties in China on our trip this past summer. And thought this would be a great fundraiser. Faith, Hope and Love seem to be a theme for our adoption.

This charms are Sterling Silver. The Chinese characters spell out Faith, Hope and Love.

The Color of the bags varies

A donation of $20 will get you one. For $2 more you can add a Chinese silk bag to go along with it. With everyone purchased you will also receive a small note about our journey. We have a limited number and are praying they get snatched up quickly. We will have more potentially coming at the end  of November, but that is not set in stone yet.

If you are interested, please email me at Chinadibbs@gmail.com. We are able to ship for a small additional shipping fee. Money can be accepted in person, by check and by paypal. All proceeds will go directly into our adoption account. Please put in the subject line of the email…. Faith, Hope and Love.

Thanks,

Jennifer

I800A+ a bunch of paperwork+ a check= I797

The next step has been completed! We sent off our immigration paperwork! And so now we wait. Immigration will take up to 90 days to get. Once we have our immigration letter back, then we can send off all of our documents to China and eagerly wait for our referral. Please be praying along with us that we filled out everything correctly and that there is a quick return.

More to come!

The First Fundraiser

Our Full Garage

For weeks we have been stacking boxes in our garage filled with love from others. Love that we hoped and prayed would provide some necessary funds  to move our adoption along. Our garage ended up full! We were amazed at the out pouring of support. So we spent some late nights pricing, making signs and getting things ready.

The Driveway

We had friends lined up to help, that were going to show up at 6am on Saturday morning. And then on Friday, our friends from AL called to say they were bringing their 6 pairs of hands to help with the sale as well. Logan, their oldest had a lemonade stand as well as a bake sale. The sale was on.

Logan's Lemonade

It was great to tell our story to people.  People were filled with generosity and love as they inspected our goods. Lots of items were bought. We had enough left over for a yard sale in the spring. Between the lemonade stand and the sale we raised enough for ½ of our immigration payment. All we can say is Praise the Lord.