WE'RE COMING HOME!!!!!!!!
We had our interview today at 2:30 for Derek's visa and after paying $400 and signing 2 documents we were issued a call tag to pick up his visa at 4:00 TODAY!!!! Loan will pick everyone's visa's up and bring them to the hotel and we will be all going out for a celebratory dinner. We are waiting to hear back from Todd about getting on the Wednesday night flight back home. WE ARE SO EXCITED TO BE BRINGING OUR SON HOME FINALLY!!!!!!
Once we check out of here tomorrow night we will be dormant from the blog for a few days until we settle in at home but as soon as we get on track we will blog again.
Pray for our safe and cry-free travels!!!!!!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
So we are back from our trip to the US Embassy. A mass of paperwork sorting but we made it through yet another step. YEEEHAW!!!!!! Tomorrow at 2:15 we will have Derek's visa interview and on Wednesday morning we should have it in our hands!!!!! WOW....he'll legally be ours and able to come HOME!!!!!!! This is a great feeling. He is adjusted so well to both of us now. It was a struggle for a few days but the outcome has been fantastic. He is a beautiful little boy so full of life, laughs, and fun. Don't get me wrong he is still a screamer when he wakes up but we are hoping that will ease with time.
So I emailed Todd our travel guru already to give him a heads up that we are ready to return to the states and we are waiting to hear back from him as to how the flights will fall into place with the visa. Pray for a quick return without any problems and that Derek will tolerate all of the flight time without much crying.
THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!!!!!!!
So I emailed Todd our travel guru already to give him a heads up that we are ready to return to the states and we are waiting to hear back from him as to how the flights will fall into place with the visa. Pray for a quick return without any problems and that Derek will tolerate all of the flight time without much crying.
THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!!!!!!!
This morning we went to the SOS clinic for Derek's medical check up. He wasn't the happiest about it but he got a great report. He is 24 pounds and 34 inches tall. He cried for most of it. He is a strong little boy and I sweated trying to hold him down for the doctor to check him out. He recovered quickly though. This afternoon we are heading to the Embassy to file our paperwork and application for Derek's visa to come home. WOOHOO!!!!! We requested the interview appointment which will hopefully be tomorrow morning. If that is the case then we should be able to pick up his visa in the afternoon and call Todd to arrange our return HOME!!!!!! We are really hoping to be flying out of Hanoi on Thursday. WOW!!!!! So watch for details of our return here!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
God has been very busy answering prayers from around the world for us today. The past few days have been a struggle for us with Derek as he really needs time to adjust and attach to us. Today we have a phenomenal breakthrough that only Prayers to God could produce. Derek has attached himself quite well to Norm which has been exhausting to him and I both. I feel helpless and insufficient. Today Derek made great strides in letting me hold him, play with him, carry him, feed him, and put him to sleep tonight. Thanks so much for your prayers even at 10,000 miles away from home God is answering them!!!!!!
Hopefully I will have time to post some great pics tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Hopefully I will have time to post some great pics tomorrow.
Stay tuned....
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
TODDLER LIFE IS TOUGH.....
I guess I had forgotten after 12 years just how tough toddlers can be. This has been so hard on Derek. He is very attached to Norm and we are trying to transition him into bonding with me as well but it has been quite a challenge. He is very strong willed and temperamental. The days are long and tiring hence not much action on the blog. We wake up anywhere between 4:30 and 6:30 and he refuses his formula so he hasn't had that since Tuesday morning. We get ourselves ready and head to breakfast around 8:30 or 9 to dine with whoever from the gang can make it. He loves scrambled eggs and fruit. We have been able to feed him congee and some baby food as well. Potty is a whole different story. We are having zero success on that. We try to spend a lot of our time in the afternoon at the pool since he seems to kinda like it there (except today). He is super cranky today as he has been eating like a trooper but hasn't had a BM since he is here. So today we gave him some good old Fletcher's and plenty of apple juice. He just laid down on Norm's chest on the bed and they are both sleeping soundly. A little early though (5:30) so I hope bedtime isn't going to be a major challenge. We found the easiest way to put him to sleep is to walk out by the pool where you can hear the waves from the sea and feel the cool breeze. Knocks him out about everytime. Hard on our backs though. He got a shower with Daddy today since he peed all over him. We are praying so hard that each day will get better.
On a side note....I had to have the hotel staff come twice now to remove geckos from our room. I hate the little critters. I'm waiting to see if tonight will be night number 3. They tell me the gecko is my friend. I prefer no lizards for friends.
I am going to try to upload a little slideshow in my next post for you all to check out!!!!
Please continue praying, We applied for Derek's passport today (big expense) and we are hoping to have them back by Friday. We will be checking out of the beautiful Sandy Beach Resort on Sunday and flying to Hanoi tocheck in at the Somerset Grand for the remainder of our stay. Please wish us well in travels as Derek doesn't like to sit. We acclimated him to walking and holding our hands tonight after days of back breaking pain. He did about 2 hours of walking for us. Not bad!!!! Guess tha't why he conked out quickly.
I guess I had forgotten after 12 years just how tough toddlers can be. This has been so hard on Derek. He is very attached to Norm and we are trying to transition him into bonding with me as well but it has been quite a challenge. He is very strong willed and temperamental. The days are long and tiring hence not much action on the blog. We wake up anywhere between 4:30 and 6:30 and he refuses his formula so he hasn't had that since Tuesday morning. We get ourselves ready and head to breakfast around 8:30 or 9 to dine with whoever from the gang can make it. He loves scrambled eggs and fruit. We have been able to feed him congee and some baby food as well. Potty is a whole different story. We are having zero success on that. We try to spend a lot of our time in the afternoon at the pool since he seems to kinda like it there (except today). He is super cranky today as he has been eating like a trooper but hasn't had a BM since he is here. So today we gave him some good old Fletcher's and plenty of apple juice. He just laid down on Norm's chest on the bed and they are both sleeping soundly. A little early though (5:30) so I hope bedtime isn't going to be a major challenge. We found the easiest way to put him to sleep is to walk out by the pool where you can hear the waves from the sea and feel the cool breeze. Knocks him out about everytime. Hard on our backs though. He got a shower with Daddy today since he peed all over him. We are praying so hard that each day will get better.
On a side note....I had to have the hotel staff come twice now to remove geckos from our room. I hate the little critters. I'm waiting to see if tonight will be night number 3. They tell me the gecko is my friend. I prefer no lizards for friends.
I am going to try to upload a little slideshow in my next post for you all to check out!!!!
Please continue praying, We applied for Derek's passport today (big expense) and we are hoping to have them back by Friday. We will be checking out of the beautiful Sandy Beach Resort on Sunday and flying to Hanoi tocheck in at the Somerset Grand for the remainder of our stay. Please wish us well in travels as Derek doesn't like to sit. We acclimated him to walking and holding our hands tonight after days of back breaking pain. He did about 2 hours of walking for us. Not bad!!!! Guess tha't why he conked out quickly.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Here's THE Post You Have All Been Waiting For.....
It's 9:26 p.m. here in Danang Vietnam and Derek is FINALLY tucked safely into OUR bed. He is sleeping so soundly. It took him quite some time to calm down from the whole day but he fell asleep comforted and cradled in his daddy's arms. He seems to have a stronger attachment to his daddy than his mommy. Don't get me wrong I'm okay with that. I love to see Norm so happy!!!! Today is Father's Day for him.
We thank everyone for your continued prayers and we ask that you now pray for Derek's grief and mourning of the loss of his nannies to pass quickly. We pray that he will fell comfort and contentment with us now.
He is so beautiful!!!!! We can't wait to show him off!!!!!
Hung will apply now for his passport and we will head to Hanoi on Monday to have his medical exam and hopefully his visa interview on Tuesday and if God will be so gracious to us to be able to head for PA by the end of the week. I miss the girls so badly!!!!
I will leave you with a little video......
It's 9:26 p.m. here in Danang Vietnam and Derek is FINALLY tucked safely into OUR bed. He is sleeping so soundly. It took him quite some time to calm down from the whole day but he fell asleep comforted and cradled in his daddy's arms. He seems to have a stronger attachment to his daddy than his mommy. Don't get me wrong I'm okay with that. I love to see Norm so happy!!!! Today is Father's Day for him.
We thank everyone for your continued prayers and we ask that you now pray for Derek's grief and mourning of the loss of his nannies to pass quickly. We pray that he will fell comfort and contentment with us now.
He is so beautiful!!!!! We can't wait to show him off!!!!!
Hung will apply now for his passport and we will head to Hanoi on Monday to have his medical exam and hopefully his visa interview on Tuesday and if God will be so gracious to us to be able to head for PA by the end of the week. I miss the girls so badly!!!!
I will leave you with a little video......
Friday, September 05, 2008
Brighter Days Are Happening....
We made a huge breakthrough with Derek today. He was much more receptive of our visit and played for long periods of time with us. He giggled so much!!!! We had a really fun day. I needed it after yesterday's visit. We met the OD today. She is great!!!!! She loves the children and they love her just as much! Ray went with us today and we were able to treat him to a great supper afterwards. It was really good to be with him over the past few days. He has a definate admiration for the families and the children.Hung has been great as well. He is right there to help us adjust and give pointers how to handle the crying. Hung's friend Quang did a few rounds of trips to the orphanage with us to translate as well. Very wonderful man with a great love for the children and their needs.
Today after a few hours of playing Derek reached up to me to pick him up. Once I had him in my arms he realized he made an oops. He cried as usual then. But it was for a very brief moment a truly heartwarming and wonderful feeling. I LOVE HIM!!!!!
This was the last day we will see him until the G&R on Monday afternoon at 3. Please continue to pray for us. Pray that God will wrap his comfort around Derek and that he will allow us to hold him and comfort his needs and fears.He is such a beautiful little boy so full of life and energy and loads of laughs.
Tonight I packed his diaper bag and a bag to be taken to the orphanage by Jim & Teresa that has his G&R clothing in it. He will look so cute!!!! We will have a dinner with the nannies after the ceremony and be able to share our gifts with them. We are excited about that.
Well I've got to get some sleep. I'll try to post a few more pics tomorrow!!!
We made a huge breakthrough with Derek today. He was much more receptive of our visit and played for long periods of time with us. He giggled so much!!!! We had a really fun day. I needed it after yesterday's visit. We met the OD today. She is great!!!!! She loves the children and they love her just as much! Ray went with us today and we were able to treat him to a great supper afterwards. It was really good to be with him over the past few days. He has a definate admiration for the families and the children.Hung has been great as well. He is right there to help us adjust and give pointers how to handle the crying. Hung's friend Quang did a few rounds of trips to the orphanage with us to translate as well. Very wonderful man with a great love for the children and their needs.
Today after a few hours of playing Derek reached up to me to pick him up. Once I had him in my arms he realized he made an oops. He cried as usual then. But it was for a very brief moment a truly heartwarming and wonderful feeling. I LOVE HIM!!!!!
This was the last day we will see him until the G&R on Monday afternoon at 3. Please continue to pray for us. Pray that God will wrap his comfort around Derek and that he will allow us to hold him and comfort his needs and fears.He is such a beautiful little boy so full of life and energy and loads of laughs.
Tonight I packed his diaper bag and a bag to be taken to the orphanage by Jim & Teresa that has his G&R clothing in it. He will look so cute!!!! We will have a dinner with the nannies after the ceremony and be able to share our gifts with them. We are excited about that.
Well I've got to get some sleep. I'll try to post a few more pics tomorrow!!!
Thursday, September 04, 2008
It is a struggle but hopefully each time we are with Derek it will get easier. He is content having us sit near him as long as we don't touch him. In this video he was actually allowing himself to succumb to sleep after the struggle of crying and kicking for what seemed like hours to me. This is a very hard reaction for me to handle. I have cried many, many tears over this process.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Can You Say G&R???????
Well the good news is that WE FINALLY CAN!!!!!!! Our G&R is set for Monday at 3:00. We will be going to the orphanage tomorrow morning again and then hopefully Saturday the kids will come to the hotel for a little pool party. Hopefully a good icebreaker.
Monday Derek will be OURS!!!!!!
We will stay in DaNang til Thursday then head to Hanoi to finish up all of the paperwork. We expect to be there for about 10 days.
This deserves a BIG WOOHOO!!!!!!
Many CONGRATS to the Michelle & Jeff, Lauren & Matt, & Teresa & Jim!!!!! WE MADE IT GUYS!!!!!!
Continue to pray as there is still much transition for Derek following the G&R.
THANKS to ALL for your prayers, thoughts, and well wishes!!!!!
Well the good news is that WE FINALLY CAN!!!!!!! Our G&R is set for Monday at 3:00. We will be going to the orphanage tomorrow morning again and then hopefully Saturday the kids will come to the hotel for a little pool party. Hopefully a good icebreaker.
Monday Derek will be OURS!!!!!!
We will stay in DaNang til Thursday then head to Hanoi to finish up all of the paperwork. We expect to be there for about 10 days.
This deserves a BIG WOOHOO!!!!!!
Many CONGRATS to the Michelle & Jeff, Lauren & Matt, & Teresa & Jim!!!!! WE MADE IT GUYS!!!!!!
Continue to pray as there is still much transition for Derek following the G&R.
THANKS to ALL for your prayers, thoughts, and well wishes!!!!!
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
SAFELY NESTLED IN!!!!!
So we have been experiencing some problems with our internet access, hence the delay in blogging. We have very safe and well nourishing flights to get here. We probably ate more on our International flights than we do in a weeks time and we did it all within a 17 hour span. Fly the friendly skies of International travel and you will see.
It is definately TROPICAL here. It is so stinkin' hot and muggy.
Yesterday when we arrived we were greeted by Michelle running out of the lobby. No she wasn't trying to get away from us...she was actually pleased to see us!!! We rested up alot yesterday and the most strenuous thing we did was go out to dinner here at the hotel. We stayed in a quaint little bungalow the first night. Nice place that would have been even better had the geckos stayed away from our doorway. I was not a happy camper upon our return to our room from dinner. Like screaming. crying not happy!!!! I hate critters!!!!!!
Today we rose around 8 and started our day with a delicious breakfast buffet downstairs and then prepared for our afternoon. We went to Marble Mountain today. BEAUTIFUL!!!!! The architecture of that place is unbelievable. This mountain is made of marble and has many carvings all around it. We were in caves that were undescribable. We have tons of pictures which we will try to sort through here and choose the best ones. We tried out the pool after that HOT trek!! Very refreshing. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention we went to the spa with Michelle this morning too. Norm had a massage and I had a head treatment (massage). Not the most relaxing for me but it was nice anyway. I could relax alot more here if there weren't these darn geckos everywhere. Dinner was great tonight in the hotel and we are doing this posting and then off to catch our winks for our BIG day tomorrow!!!!! we will meet Derek tomorrow afternoon at 2. We are so excited to see the kids.
Here are a few pictures for youto gander at until we get some video uploaded.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
TODAY IS THE DAY.....
We are leaving Harrisburg International Airport at 3:30 this afternoon to begin our looooong journey to meet Derek and FINALLY bring him HOME!!!!!! What an exciting day.
I woke at 6am and got the girls up for school. Just finished making breakfast for them and soon they will head out the door. What a sad moment it will be!!!! I can't wait to come home to them already!
We will be leaving here at noon to head to the airport and do our check in thing and wait it out for the plane!!! My mom, Norm's mom & his sister Cheryl will be taking us to see us off. I don't know that my mom has ever been to the airport before in her life. This will be quite an experience for her.
Follow us today as we try to post as frequently as we can about our journey. I know we should be able to catch up with yo all when we get in to Hong Kong. Talk to you soon!!!!!
We are leaving Harrisburg International Airport at 3:30 this afternoon to begin our looooong journey to meet Derek and FINALLY bring him HOME!!!!!! What an exciting day.
I woke at 6am and got the girls up for school. Just finished making breakfast for them and soon they will head out the door. What a sad moment it will be!!!! I can't wait to come home to them already!
We will be leaving here at noon to head to the airport and do our check in thing and wait it out for the plane!!! My mom, Norm's mom & his sister Cheryl will be taking us to see us off. I don't know that my mom has ever been to the airport before in her life. This will be quite an experience for her.
Follow us today as we try to post as frequently as we can about our journey. I know we should be able to catch up with yo all when we get in to Hong Kong. Talk to you soon!!!!!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
When it rains it POURS.......
Many of you along with us have been anxiously waiting to hear when our G&R will be set for. Well once again another DELAY!!!! The OD's son broke his leg and she needs to be in HCMC for his surgery and has asked that our G&R be set for around the 9th or 10th of September. Doesn't seem that far away bt when you are longing to hold your child and spnd every moment with them it is an eternity.
The DOJ has passed our paperwork along with Michelle & Jeffs to the PC and it is anticipated that they would be requesting the G&R date by the end of this week or beginning of next. Hence our quick arrival in Danang as we were hoping to get there and the G&R would be set for the 1st week of Sept. As Michelle has stated it's not so bad being in Vietnam (at least it doesn't look to be yet) but having to visit Derek occasionally rather than to have him with us is the heartwrenching part. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to walk out of the orphanage without him in my arms on Monday (Oh Yeah....I forgot that part, we are set to visit the orphanage and meet Derek for the first time on Monday).
Please pray that we will be able to finalize the adoption no later than the 10th so we can be heading back to the states by the week of the 21st. That's my birthday week (what a great gift I will get this year) so coming home would be great. Also it is difficult being away from our jobs for so long. I was hoping to return to the salon on Oct. 7th but that will depend on when we arrive back home and get through a little adjusting to Derek and jetlag. I will be missing the girls more than ever too. i can't wait to see them when we return and we haven't even left yet. What does that tell you???
Tomorrow will be bittersweet as I kiss the girls goodbye for school as I will miss them so much (my heart hurts when I think about it) but it will be so fantastic to board that plane knowing we are bring our son home. Home where he will have a wonderful life full of love and joy!!!!!
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. And again THANK YOU ALL for all you have done for us!!!!!
Many of you along with us have been anxiously waiting to hear when our G&R will be set for. Well once again another DELAY!!!! The OD's son broke his leg and she needs to be in HCMC for his surgery and has asked that our G&R be set for around the 9th or 10th of September. Doesn't seem that far away bt when you are longing to hold your child and spnd every moment with them it is an eternity.
The DOJ has passed our paperwork along with Michelle & Jeffs to the PC and it is anticipated that they would be requesting the G&R date by the end of this week or beginning of next. Hence our quick arrival in Danang as we were hoping to get there and the G&R would be set for the 1st week of Sept. As Michelle has stated it's not so bad being in Vietnam (at least it doesn't look to be yet) but having to visit Derek occasionally rather than to have him with us is the heartwrenching part. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to walk out of the orphanage without him in my arms on Monday (Oh Yeah....I forgot that part, we are set to visit the orphanage and meet Derek for the first time on Monday).
Please pray that we will be able to finalize the adoption no later than the 10th so we can be heading back to the states by the week of the 21st. That's my birthday week (what a great gift I will get this year) so coming home would be great. Also it is difficult being away from our jobs for so long. I was hoping to return to the salon on Oct. 7th but that will depend on when we arrive back home and get through a little adjusting to Derek and jetlag. I will be missing the girls more than ever too. i can't wait to see them when we return and we haven't even left yet. What does that tell you???
Tomorrow will be bittersweet as I kiss the girls goodbye for school as I will miss them so much (my heart hurts when I think about it) but it will be so fantastic to board that plane knowing we are bring our son home. Home where he will have a wonderful life full of love and joy!!!!!
Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. And again THANK YOU ALL for all you have done for us!!!!!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
I don't know where to begin.....
THANK YOU TO ALL who have blessed our adoption!!!!
We want to THANK everyone who has donated time, baked goods and yard sale items for our sale this weekend (which went very well today), monetary donations, listening ears, open hearts and especially PRAYERS!!!!!
You are all so special to our lives and you will be to Derek's as well.
May God Bless You as You Have Blessed Us!!!!!!
THANK YOU TO ALL who have blessed our adoption!!!!
We want to THANK everyone who has donated time, baked goods and yard sale items for our sale this weekend (which went very well today), monetary donations, listening ears, open hearts and especially PRAYERS!!!!!
You are all so special to our lives and you will be to Derek's as well.
May God Bless You as You Have Blessed Us!!!!!!
LOOK AT OUR LITTLE MAN......
Thanks to Michelle & Jeff for the many pictures and video clips of our kiddos. Derek is so fascinating!!! I can't wait to get there next weekend and see him for myself!!!
HERE HE IS......
Gotta admit....He's a cutie isn't he!!!!!!
Be sure to check out our link to Michelle & Jeffs blog as there you will be able to see some videos and more pics!!!!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
So much is happening that I haven't taken the time to sit down and jot about it.
Michelle & Jeff made it safely to Vietnam and will be going today to the orphanage to spend time with the kiddos. WOW...I can't wait to hear more and of course to see pictures and video. She has told me so much about what they have seen already. We can't wait to get there. Our associate, Hung, sounds like an awesome guy. He is working so hard for the families and it is through him that we will finally get toreach our goal....BRINGING DEREK HOME!!!!! We are anxious to meet him in person when we get there.
I have secured our flights and our hotel in Danang. Thanks to Lauren & Matt for the air miles for our domestic part of the flight. You are truly wonderful and we look forward to meeting you both!!!!
We will stay at the Sandy Beach Resort which Michelle has posted pics of on her website (link at side) and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!! It will be so relaxing....at least til Derek comes to stay!!! LOL!!!!
We have been told that Derek is the "bully" of the orpahange. He steals the toys from the other kids and makes them cry. Oh Boy do we have alot of work to accomplish. But as I'm sure you guessed he will get away with alot around here!!!!
Donations are pouring in for the Yard & Bake Sale coming up this weekend. We are so pleased with the response from so many people. We received several monetary donations as well. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!
Well I need to get a little rest before jumping up tomorrow morning bright and early to chat it up with Michelle and get the low down on Derek!!!!!
I'll post more tomoorow about Michelle's visit to the orphanage!!!!
STAY TUNED.......
Michelle & Jeff made it safely to Vietnam and will be going today to the orphanage to spend time with the kiddos. WOW...I can't wait to hear more and of course to see pictures and video. She has told me so much about what they have seen already. We can't wait to get there. Our associate, Hung, sounds like an awesome guy. He is working so hard for the families and it is through him that we will finally get toreach our goal....BRINGING DEREK HOME!!!!! We are anxious to meet him in person when we get there.
I have secured our flights and our hotel in Danang. Thanks to Lauren & Matt for the air miles for our domestic part of the flight. You are truly wonderful and we look forward to meeting you both!!!!
We will stay at the Sandy Beach Resort which Michelle has posted pics of on her website (link at side) and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!! It will be so relaxing....at least til Derek comes to stay!!! LOL!!!!
We have been told that Derek is the "bully" of the orpahange. He steals the toys from the other kids and makes them cry. Oh Boy do we have alot of work to accomplish. But as I'm sure you guessed he will get away with alot around here!!!!
Donations are pouring in for the Yard & Bake Sale coming up this weekend. We are so pleased with the response from so many people. We received several monetary donations as well. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!
Well I need to get a little rest before jumping up tomorrow morning bright and early to chat it up with Michelle and get the low down on Derek!!!!!
I'll post more tomoorow about Michelle's visit to the orphanage!!!!
STAY TUNED.......
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Progressive Busyness......
This basically means that over the next 2 weeks we will be so busy our heads will surely literally spin on our shoulders.
1. We are in the midst of trying to successfully book our flight to Vietnam
2. We are trying to secure our hotel accomodations via internet for our arrival in DaNang
3. We are rearranging work schedules, calling clients/customers, securing credit cards, stashing money into our travel account, sorting change to be exchanged for paper currency, running girls to basketball & field hockey practices, back to school preparing, and preparing for next weeks big benefit yard & bake sale here. Oh there's lots more but I could bore you with it all.
4. I have charged all batteries and packed all electronic devices except the laptop.
5. I need to get prescriptions filled.
6. I NEED HELP & SANITY!!!!
So Michelle & Jeff are getting ready to fly out to Vietnam on Saturday night so she and I are trying to catch up with each other as much as possible since we will have no connection together until their very sleepy arrival. I can't wait til they get settled and head to the orphanage to see the kiddos. Bring on the pictures!!!!!
Lauren & Matt will be arriving in DaNang around the 22nd & 28th I believe so we are looking forward to finally meeting them face to face after many emails and phone conversations. May I also mention how wonderful and generous Lauren is....everytime we tried to secure flights she managed to have some kind of voucher or mileage assistance to help defray our costs. We now found out that we will fly the domestic leg of our trip with US Air and she has enough miles to gt that flight booked for us at no charge to us. SHE IS WONDERFUL!!!!!!
I wish safe travels to all of you and we'll seee you there!!!
We are scheduled tentatively to fly out of Philly at 6:15 pm on Aug 28th and arrive in Hanoi Vietnam on Aug. 30th. I won't even try to figure out the time thing. It is so confusing!!!!
Hopefully today w can secure the flights and the hotel so I can check that off our list.
There will be a Benefit Yard & Bake Sale at our house on Aug 22 & 23 for anyone interested. We will be using the proceeds to support Derek's Orphanage as funding has ceased from our agency. The children are in danger of being moved to another facility which could affect our adoption proceedings so we are going to try to help defray some of the cost to help keep it going. If you want to help out we need baked good donations, yard sale donations, or just come out and shop!!!!!
Norm, Alyssa, Jessica, & I are also doing a fundraiser with PEZ dispensers. As many of you know Jess is a new but blossoming PEZ COLLECTOR and she thought it would be cool to sell PEZ dispensers to try to raise money to SUPPORT ADOPTION!!! So we ordered some dispensers which will be available at the Yard & Bake sale and I will have them in my shop and at Norm's garage for the next few weeks. They will sell for $4.00 per dispenser and all proceeds will be used to SUPPORT ADOPTION!!!!! Later we will have some SPECIAL dispensers selling that will be custom imprinted for all of you Collectors out there. Be on the lookout. We will link our webpage for them on this site. We hope to have them available in the next few weeks. We will be shipping them out as ordered!!! Help Us Help Children Find Homes!!!!!
Okay I rambled enough and when I think of more I'll start a new post!!!!!
Keep Praying!!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!!
This basically means that over the next 2 weeks we will be so busy our heads will surely literally spin on our shoulders.
1. We are in the midst of trying to successfully book our flight to Vietnam
2. We are trying to secure our hotel accomodations via internet for our arrival in DaNang
3. We are rearranging work schedules, calling clients/customers, securing credit cards, stashing money into our travel account, sorting change to be exchanged for paper currency, running girls to basketball & field hockey practices, back to school preparing, and preparing for next weeks big benefit yard & bake sale here. Oh there's lots more but I could bore you with it all.
4. I have charged all batteries and packed all electronic devices except the laptop.
5. I need to get prescriptions filled.
6. I NEED HELP & SANITY!!!!
So Michelle & Jeff are getting ready to fly out to Vietnam on Saturday night so she and I are trying to catch up with each other as much as possible since we will have no connection together until their very sleepy arrival. I can't wait til they get settled and head to the orphanage to see the kiddos. Bring on the pictures!!!!!
Lauren & Matt will be arriving in DaNang around the 22nd & 28th I believe so we are looking forward to finally meeting them face to face after many emails and phone conversations. May I also mention how wonderful and generous Lauren is....everytime we tried to secure flights she managed to have some kind of voucher or mileage assistance to help defray our costs. We now found out that we will fly the domestic leg of our trip with US Air and she has enough miles to gt that flight booked for us at no charge to us. SHE IS WONDERFUL!!!!!!
I wish safe travels to all of you and we'll seee you there!!!
We are scheduled tentatively to fly out of Philly at 6:15 pm on Aug 28th and arrive in Hanoi Vietnam on Aug. 30th. I won't even try to figure out the time thing. It is so confusing!!!!
Hopefully today w can secure the flights and the hotel so I can check that off our list.
There will be a Benefit Yard & Bake Sale at our house on Aug 22 & 23 for anyone interested. We will be using the proceeds to support Derek's Orphanage as funding has ceased from our agency. The children are in danger of being moved to another facility which could affect our adoption proceedings so we are going to try to help defray some of the cost to help keep it going. If you want to help out we need baked good donations, yard sale donations, or just come out and shop!!!!!
Norm, Alyssa, Jessica, & I are also doing a fundraiser with PEZ dispensers. As many of you know Jess is a new but blossoming PEZ COLLECTOR and she thought it would be cool to sell PEZ dispensers to try to raise money to SUPPORT ADOPTION!!! So we ordered some dispensers which will be available at the Yard & Bake sale and I will have them in my shop and at Norm's garage for the next few weeks. They will sell for $4.00 per dispenser and all proceeds will be used to SUPPORT ADOPTION!!!!! Later we will have some SPECIAL dispensers selling that will be custom imprinted for all of you Collectors out there. Be on the lookout. We will link our webpage for them on this site. We hope to have them available in the next few weeks. We will be shipping them out as ordered!!! Help Us Help Children Find Homes!!!!!
Okay I rambled enough and when I think of more I'll start a new post!!!!!
Keep Praying!!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
FYI.....Birthday Change
Just letting everyone know that after alot of (and I mean A LOT OF) deliberation Norm & I decided to make Derek's birthday January 9th. This is the date that the orphanage found him abandoned and since there is no record of any birth day or any connection with a birth family pkus the fact that all of his documents were filed with Jan. 9th as his "date of birth" we have chosen to keep that date as his "BIRTHDAY"!!!! So today Derek is officially 19 months old!!!!
Just letting everyone know that after alot of (and I mean A LOT OF) deliberation Norm & I decided to make Derek's birthday January 9th. This is the date that the orphanage found him abandoned and since there is no record of any birth day or any connection with a birth family pkus the fact that all of his documents were filed with Jan. 9th as his "date of birth" we have chosen to keep that date as his "BIRTHDAY"!!!! So today Derek is officially 19 months old!!!!
TAKING A LEAP OF FAITH!!!!!
So here's the deal. We are going to put all of our trust in God getting us that G&R the beginning of September!!!! Norm & I talked last night and have decided that we will make our travel arrangements. We are planning at this point (barring no unforseen interuptions again) that we will leave the Harrisburg airport on August 28th or 29th. Of course we will continue to PRAY that God will bless us with a G&R for the last week of August which would mean we would need to travel the week of the 18th, right of Michelle & Jeff's heels. So I have COMPLETED the suitcases and will just need to pack all of our electronics into the carry on and we are ready to fly the friendly skies. It will be long but the award at the landing will be tremendous.
We are having our conference call Monday night at 7. Our 797C that we needed to get legalized (which BTW hop onto Michelle & Jeff's blog (linked to the right) and look at the feat they conquered to get that done for us) should be arriving in Hanoi on Tuesday via FedEx and hopefully will be transferred to the hands of the DN DOJ the same week and if all goes well possibly by the end of next week or the beginning of the next we will have our G&R. Now don't get too excited and bank on that happening but have hope with us. FAITH!!!!!
We are very excited to have Michelle & Jeff get to DaNang and go to the orphanage as they will take lots of pictures and video for us of Derek. What an exciting email that will be to receive. Imagine....VIDEO!!!!! We will get to see OUR son walking, talking, playing, running, smiling...WOW I just can't wait!!!!!
We'll post more info once we complete our conference call and have some insight into the remainder of our process!!!!!
KEEP PRAYING....we truly appreciate it!!!!!
So here's the deal. We are going to put all of our trust in God getting us that G&R the beginning of September!!!! Norm & I talked last night and have decided that we will make our travel arrangements. We are planning at this point (barring no unforseen interuptions again) that we will leave the Harrisburg airport on August 28th or 29th. Of course we will continue to PRAY that God will bless us with a G&R for the last week of August which would mean we would need to travel the week of the 18th, right of Michelle & Jeff's heels. So I have COMPLETED the suitcases and will just need to pack all of our electronics into the carry on and we are ready to fly the friendly skies. It will be long but the award at the landing will be tremendous.
We are having our conference call Monday night at 7. Our 797C that we needed to get legalized (which BTW hop onto Michelle & Jeff's blog (linked to the right) and look at the feat they conquered to get that done for us) should be arriving in Hanoi on Tuesday via FedEx and hopefully will be transferred to the hands of the DN DOJ the same week and if all goes well possibly by the end of next week or the beginning of the next we will have our G&R. Now don't get too excited and bank on that happening but have hope with us. FAITH!!!!!
We are very excited to have Michelle & Jeff get to DaNang and go to the orphanage as they will take lots of pictures and video for us of Derek. What an exciting email that will be to receive. Imagine....VIDEO!!!!! We will get to see OUR son walking, talking, playing, running, smiling...WOW I just can't wait!!!!!
We'll post more info once we complete our conference call and have some insight into the remainder of our process!!!!!
KEEP PRAYING....we truly appreciate it!!!!!
Friday, August 08, 2008
PLAYLAND HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.....
We began tearing apart our dining room and transforming it into PLAYLAND on Sunday. Here are a few pictures. I keep stocking the shelves. Soon I can open my own toy & book store. I will slow down now though since it won't be long until Christmas and alot of people will want to get Derek things so I have to leave a few things on the store shelves. I forgot how fun it was to buy toys!!!!
I also wanted to add the latest update to this post. As I mentioned our agency has decided to close its doors due to financial ruin. Our PM/CM has been diligently volunteering his time to get our adoption finalized. We will be having a conference call along with (I think) 12 other families and our new agency (Holt) on Monday at 7:00 p.m. We are really looking forward to hearing details from them what we should expect at this point. Michelle & Jeff so kindly drove hours yesterday to have our 797C long with documents of their own and Matt & Lauren legalized at the Consulate in San Fran and then forwarded the via Fed Ex to Ray at Commonwealth. He should have received them today and was in turn going to Fed Ex them directly to Vietnam to our associate so they could be filed at the DIA. It is my understanding that they will then go to the DN DOJ and we can then get our G&R date. Please Pray that this is soon.
Michelle & Jeff will be leaving next weekend to head to DaNang to hang out and wait for the G&R. We will really miss traveling with them but the importance of their being there is much greater. After all we will meet up with them there and as I told her we expect that they will have checked out the latest and greatest spots for us to be until we get there. The best part is that they will get to go to the orphanage and meet the kiddos. I can't wait to have them love on Derek for us. We will at least now get tons of pictures and better yet....live video!!!! Michelle wants to try to teach him to say Mommy & Daddy in English before we get there. She'll have her work cut out for her. We aren't sure how often they will be permitted to spend time at the orphanage but every minute counts. Then at the end of the month Matt & Lauren will arrive on scene to add a little more lovin to the mix!!!!! THANKS GUYS!!!!!! We will get there as soon as we can. Unfortunately with our businesses we can't pack up and leave for an extended time.
So we are asking that you continue to pray hard and we have FAITH that GOD WILL GET US THERE WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT!!!!!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
GROWING MONEY ON TREES!!!!!!
I'll let you all know in time how it works.....
I brainstormed yesterday how I could begin raising money for the orphanage where Derek is staying until we can bring him home before they close their doors due to financial strains. I thought there must be something I can creatively put together that will raise a few bucks to help out.
That's when I headed to the salon basement and dug up this.....
I just put it up last night before closing and I sold $4 off of it already. Anxious to see how it goes. It is a conversation piece to see a Christmas tree set up in August so naturally people ask and then I can explain the situation to them and it becomes their choice to help or not. Clever huh!!!!
I'll keep you posted on how the selling goes.
And for my PEZ lovin friends, I am contemplating contacting PEZ to make some sort of adoption PEZ dispenser for me to sell to raise money. Maybe 100-200 of them to get started. What do you think???
Monday, August 04, 2008
We NEED Prayers, Support, Encouragement, & Suggestions.....
We received word last night and confirmed email this morning that our agency is filing bankruptcy and will close its doors. We are almost to the finish. We have gotten our I600 approval and are awaiting our G&R date. However our agency will not be handling this for us. Our PM/CM was "left go" from the agency last Thursday and is continuing to try to get our case (along with Michelle & Jeff's and Lauren & Matt's) taken over by a new agency. We are unsure of what the outcome of this will be. We may face further paperwork, financial stress, and waiting time. I will not place a price on my son however and I intend to complete this adoption. We have contacted several entities in hopes of some insight about our best approach to this matter. At this point the most important thing is to "Bring Home Our Children".
Can you help us?????
We received word last night and confirmed email this morning that our agency is filing bankruptcy and will close its doors. We are almost to the finish. We have gotten our I600 approval and are awaiting our G&R date. However our agency will not be handling this for us. Our PM/CM was "left go" from the agency last Thursday and is continuing to try to get our case (along with Michelle & Jeff's and Lauren & Matt's) taken over by a new agency. We are unsure of what the outcome of this will be. We may face further paperwork, financial stress, and waiting time. I will not place a price on my son however and I intend to complete this adoption. We have contacted several entities in hopes of some insight about our best approach to this matter. At this point the most important thing is to "Bring Home Our Children".
Can you help us?????
Friday, August 01, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
We haven't posted since receiving our update on Tuesday as it wasn't the best news we anticipated receiving.
We found out in an email update from our agency that there was a document problem when the DIA & DOJ were reveiwing our dossiers to prepare for the G&R to be set. It seems somehow the infamous I-171H that if you all remember I struggled so hard to get updated a little time back was apparently not forwarded to the appropriate facility and it was questioned whether we had a renewal and then it was decided it needed authenticated which we didn'f have time to accomplish. The I600 approval email was forwarded to both entities and it has been agreed upon to accept our renewals (both Michelle & Jeff and ours were in this mix) and proceed with the G&R scheduling. This however is expected to take jumping a few hoops and we were told that the last week in August we should begin to prepare for our travel. So it is looking like our G&R will be early September. It will sure be a nice birthday present for ME!!!!!
The one thing I tell myself is that God has the control in this and He knows better than myself or anyone reading this that I was heartbroken thinking that I would have to be separtated from my girls for weeks. I feel God has prepared this travel to allow me a few weeks to enjoy the rest of the summer with them before they start back to school on August 26th. I apologize to Michelle & Lauren that God chose it this way as this delays you as well but we all 3 have decided we WILL do this TOGETHER and that GOD is going to do this at HIS WILL!!!! I truly believe God has brought the 3 of us together for reasons we will get to see someday soon!!!
This week the girls are at a local Bible Camp and next week they will vacation with their dad then I will get to enjoy them endlessly for 2 weeks efore preparing to climb aboard the wings of victory to fly to our son!!!
Lauren has presented us with a few TERRIFIC opportunities and I THANK her tremendously for that!!!!! She is a doll!!! I can't wait to meet her face to face.
We do plan on traveling to California a few days early to spend some celebration and quality tme with Michelle & Jeff prior to our travel to our kiddos. I am looking extrememly forward to that as I miss Michelle tremendously!!!!! I'm not sure why God brought us together living on opposite sides of the U.S. but none the less I THANK Him for doing it!!!!! Someday, who knows, maybe we'll live closer together. In the meantime it's a great vacation spot!!!!!
So all in all we ask that you continue to pray fo the remaing steps of the wait to process and pass quickly. We really need to see and hold our son!!!!!
We found out in an email update from our agency that there was a document problem when the DIA & DOJ were reveiwing our dossiers to prepare for the G&R to be set. It seems somehow the infamous I-171H that if you all remember I struggled so hard to get updated a little time back was apparently not forwarded to the appropriate facility and it was questioned whether we had a renewal and then it was decided it needed authenticated which we didn'f have time to accomplish. The I600 approval email was forwarded to both entities and it has been agreed upon to accept our renewals (both Michelle & Jeff and ours were in this mix) and proceed with the G&R scheduling. This however is expected to take jumping a few hoops and we were told that the last week in August we should begin to prepare for our travel. So it is looking like our G&R will be early September. It will sure be a nice birthday present for ME!!!!!
The one thing I tell myself is that God has the control in this and He knows better than myself or anyone reading this that I was heartbroken thinking that I would have to be separtated from my girls for weeks. I feel God has prepared this travel to allow me a few weeks to enjoy the rest of the summer with them before they start back to school on August 26th. I apologize to Michelle & Lauren that God chose it this way as this delays you as well but we all 3 have decided we WILL do this TOGETHER and that GOD is going to do this at HIS WILL!!!! I truly believe God has brought the 3 of us together for reasons we will get to see someday soon!!!
This week the girls are at a local Bible Camp and next week they will vacation with their dad then I will get to enjoy them endlessly for 2 weeks efore preparing to climb aboard the wings of victory to fly to our son!!!
Lauren has presented us with a few TERRIFIC opportunities and I THANK her tremendously for that!!!!! She is a doll!!! I can't wait to meet her face to face.
We do plan on traveling to California a few days early to spend some celebration and quality tme with Michelle & Jeff prior to our travel to our kiddos. I am looking extrememly forward to that as I miss Michelle tremendously!!!!! I'm not sure why God brought us together living on opposite sides of the U.S. but none the less I THANK Him for doing it!!!!! Someday, who knows, maybe we'll live closer together. In the meantime it's a great vacation spot!!!!!
So all in all we ask that you continue to pray fo the remaing steps of the wait to process and pass quickly. We really need to see and hold our son!!!!!
Monday, July 28, 2008
OUR APPROVAL STORY----
I just read Michelle & Jeff's blog and decided I should probably post our approval story so at least I have it recorded somewhere. Not that we will ever forget but we are trying to post as much as possible for Derek's sake. So here it is:
Knowing that we were going to be 2 weeks post orphanage investigation on Wednesday July 23rd we anticipated our approval to come sometime that week. On Tuesday afternoon as I kept watching my email and all of the blogs that I enjoy each day I made a last ditch effort to find out approval information. I logged onto the Yahoo Travel Group and posted a question asking if anyone out there had ever gotten a mid week approval since all we were seeing was Friday and Monday's. Much to my surprise I received this comment back:
YES,
Ours was on Wed. exactly 2 weeks after they had been to our son's orphanage!
IT IS GOING TO BE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Teresa
AP-Guatemala
PAP-Vietnam I600 approval since 7/2
THANKS TERESA B. You know your stuff!!!!!
You can only imagine the excitement I felt from reading this. I forwarded it to Michelle & Lauren and read it to Norm immediately. I knew that Tuesday night or wee hours Wednesday morning was going to be it.
I watched our email and refreshed it countless times before finally heading off to bed around 11:00 with our laptop under our arm and my cell phone in my hand. We set the laptop up on the dresser and checked it a few more times before giving in to the tiredness from the day. I laid the cell phone next to me at the bed and drifted off to sleep. Michelle, Lauren & I had a pact that whoever got the approval first would call all the rest of us. After praying long and hard I fell asleep restlessly but none the less I slept.
At 3:31 AM my cell phone started playing "Klumsy" and we knew that someone got the much awaited approval news. Anticipating we would all 3 get approved at the same time we were prepared for a huge celebration. I answered the phone excitedly and all I heard at the other end was Michelle screaming something to me about the approval and giggling as hard as she could. Norm flew out of bed to check our email which seemed like it took forever to get the computer awake for. HMMMM.....No approval at our end. I could hear the sinking in Michelle's giggle when I told her we didn't get ours. I proceeded to comfort Norm and told Michelle I would call her if we got ours. Now that we were awake there was no falling asleep anytime quickly anyways. I laid back down in the bed and told Norm it would be here soon that we still had an hour or more to check for it. Michelle was off to call Lauren.
15 minutes went by and I decided to check for the email again. Well guess what.....IT WAS THERE!!!!! Norm sprang out of bed to read the good news with me! His response was "I'm A Daddy"!! Tears of joy filled our eyes as we hugged and rejoiced. We were finally approved to travel for Derek. I called Michelle to tell her and once again the giggling and screaming started!!! She wasn't able to reach Lauren though. I decided I would try as well but she hadn't answered my call either. Strange!!! I left a message to call me though. I debated with myself about calling my mom at that hour of the morning but this was news that needed shared so Norm took to calling his parents and I called my mom. Much excitement was shared!!! We laid back down in bed still exhausted but full of questions and sleep took over and we drifted off again. At a little after 6 my cell began playing that tune again.....it's Lauren!!!! She was so excited and sounded so shocked. She had actually SLEPT through our calls (BAD LAUREN). She broke the chain (we'll get her for that later). None the less we all 3 got them and we will all travel together and adopt these beautiful toddlers together after 2 1/2 years of the struggle to get to this point.
What a glorious morning that was. I have concluded that even though each portion of this wait has been hard this one IS the hardest. Knowing we have the approval to travel and bring Derek home but waiting for the government in Vietnam to issue us a date to be there is tough. We are packed and ready to make our travel arrangements when the call comes through!!!!!
Continue to pray for our wait and for our travel!!!!
I just read Michelle & Jeff's blog and decided I should probably post our approval story so at least I have it recorded somewhere. Not that we will ever forget but we are trying to post as much as possible for Derek's sake. So here it is:
Knowing that we were going to be 2 weeks post orphanage investigation on Wednesday July 23rd we anticipated our approval to come sometime that week. On Tuesday afternoon as I kept watching my email and all of the blogs that I enjoy each day I made a last ditch effort to find out approval information. I logged onto the Yahoo Travel Group and posted a question asking if anyone out there had ever gotten a mid week approval since all we were seeing was Friday and Monday's. Much to my surprise I received this comment back:
YES,
Ours was on Wed. exactly 2 weeks after they had been to our son's orphanage!
IT IS GOING TO BE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Teresa
AP-Guatemala
PAP-Vietnam I600 approval since 7/2
THANKS TERESA B. You know your stuff!!!!!
You can only imagine the excitement I felt from reading this. I forwarded it to Michelle & Lauren and read it to Norm immediately. I knew that Tuesday night or wee hours Wednesday morning was going to be it.
I watched our email and refreshed it countless times before finally heading off to bed around 11:00 with our laptop under our arm and my cell phone in my hand. We set the laptop up on the dresser and checked it a few more times before giving in to the tiredness from the day. I laid the cell phone next to me at the bed and drifted off to sleep. Michelle, Lauren & I had a pact that whoever got the approval first would call all the rest of us. After praying long and hard I fell asleep restlessly but none the less I slept.
At 3:31 AM my cell phone started playing "Klumsy" and we knew that someone got the much awaited approval news. Anticipating we would all 3 get approved at the same time we were prepared for a huge celebration. I answered the phone excitedly and all I heard at the other end was Michelle screaming something to me about the approval and giggling as hard as she could. Norm flew out of bed to check our email which seemed like it took forever to get the computer awake for. HMMMM.....No approval at our end. I could hear the sinking in Michelle's giggle when I told her we didn't get ours. I proceeded to comfort Norm and told Michelle I would call her if we got ours. Now that we were awake there was no falling asleep anytime quickly anyways. I laid back down in the bed and told Norm it would be here soon that we still had an hour or more to check for it. Michelle was off to call Lauren.
15 minutes went by and I decided to check for the email again. Well guess what.....IT WAS THERE!!!!! Norm sprang out of bed to read the good news with me! His response was "I'm A Daddy"!! Tears of joy filled our eyes as we hugged and rejoiced. We were finally approved to travel for Derek. I called Michelle to tell her and once again the giggling and screaming started!!! She wasn't able to reach Lauren though. I decided I would try as well but she hadn't answered my call either. Strange!!! I left a message to call me though. I debated with myself about calling my mom at that hour of the morning but this was news that needed shared so Norm took to calling his parents and I called my mom. Much excitement was shared!!! We laid back down in bed still exhausted but full of questions and sleep took over and we drifted off again. At a little after 6 my cell began playing that tune again.....it's Lauren!!!! She was so excited and sounded so shocked. She had actually SLEPT through our calls (BAD LAUREN). She broke the chain (we'll get her for that later). None the less we all 3 got them and we will all travel together and adopt these beautiful toddlers together after 2 1/2 years of the struggle to get to this point.
What a glorious morning that was. I have concluded that even though each portion of this wait has been hard this one IS the hardest. Knowing we have the approval to travel and bring Derek home but waiting for the government in Vietnam to issue us a date to be there is tough. We are packed and ready to make our travel arrangements when the call comes through!!!!!
Continue to pray for our wait and for our travel!!!!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Here's How We CELEBRATED Our Approval.....
We bought a huge pack of fireworks for the 4th of July but my brother bought an even bigger one (He always has to be the best) so we went any enjoyed his and took Jessica's suggestion of saving ours for Derek's Homecoming!!!! However tonight we decided that the approval needed some sort of great celebration so here is what we did.....
We bought a huge pack of fireworks for the 4th of July but my brother bought an even bigger one (He always has to be the best) so we went any enjoyed his and took Jessica's suggestion of saving ours for Derek's Homecoming!!!! However tonight we decided that the approval needed some sort of great celebration so here is what we did.....
Post 201.....
WE GOT OUR APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you say DANCE OF JOY????!!!!! (It's a little better than the PEZ Dance Of Joy, for our PEZ friends)
Exactly 2 weeks from our investigation and 57 calendar days total!!!!
OMG......This is AWESOME!!!!!
Looks like my post from yesterday took us sliding onto the front stretch of the track!!!!!!
More to come as we get more dates.......
THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS!!!!!!
WE GOT OUR APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you say DANCE OF JOY????!!!!! (It's a little better than the PEZ Dance Of Joy, for our PEZ friends)
Exactly 2 weeks from our investigation and 57 calendar days total!!!!
OMG......This is AWESOME!!!!!
Looks like my post from yesterday took us sliding onto the front stretch of the track!!!!!!
More to come as we get more dates.......
THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS!!!!!!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
As you can see I have changed the title of our blog today. This whole process has felt like I have been behind the wheel of Matt Kenseth's race car. We have been run off the track, slammed into walls, and spun in circles but like Matt we persevere and get back in the seat and buckle up each week to race for the finish line every day. We will continue to find strength in Our Loving Lord to go on each day waiting for our approval to travel.
Just to let everyone who reads this that is unaware of what the next steps are here it is:
1. USCIS issues travel approval
2. Our Vietnam in country associate will request a G&R (Giving & Receiving date or Adoption Day) from the DOJ of Danang.
3. Agency will notify us of G&R and tell us when we have to be in Vietnam.
4. Travel will be arranged by us (Pray about this as I am not a travel expert...however I am counting on Michelle for help)
5. Fly to L.A. for a day or two with Michelle & Jeff
6. Fly to Hong Kong
7. Connect to Hanoi, Vietnam
8. Day 2--Fly to Danang
9. Day 3--G&R Derek will be OURS!!!!!
10. Day 5 (I think)--Fly back to Hanoi for remainder of stay which will include lots of sightseeing and we will have Derek's medical exam for his visa.
11. Once we have his visa we can fly HOME!!!!
12. Begin our journey with Derek as a part of our family!!!!!
EveryDay-----PRAISE GOD!!!!!!
Just to let everyone who reads this that is unaware of what the next steps are here it is:
1. USCIS issues travel approval
2. Our Vietnam in country associate will request a G&R (Giving & Receiving date or Adoption Day) from the DOJ of Danang.
3. Agency will notify us of G&R and tell us when we have to be in Vietnam.
4. Travel will be arranged by us (Pray about this as I am not a travel expert...however I am counting on Michelle for help)
5. Fly to L.A. for a day or two with Michelle & Jeff
6. Fly to Hong Kong
7. Connect to Hanoi, Vietnam
8. Day 2--Fly to Danang
9. Day 3--G&R Derek will be OURS!!!!!
10. Day 5 (I think)--Fly back to Hanoi for remainder of stay which will include lots of sightseeing and we will have Derek's medical exam for his visa.
11. Once we have his visa we can fly HOME!!!!
12. Begin our journey with Derek as a part of our family!!!!!
EveryDay-----PRAISE GOD!!!!!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Will it be TODAY or TOMORROW or NEXT WEEK......
We are praying harder than ever that God allows our approval to come in our inbox tonight between 10 & 11 pm, tomorrow between 3 & 4 am, Sunday between 10 & 11 pm, or Monday between 3 & 4 am. PLEASE SOON!!!!!
I enjoy my sleep at night so I haven't had the urge yet to stay up or sleep with one eye open waiting for "The Email" so I have stationed Lauren & Michelle on ALERT and provided authority to them to call me at whatever hour necessary to give us "The News" we are waiting for. This way they get to bear the good news first and.....I get some sleep. LOL!!!!!
We are praying harder than ever that God allows our approval to come in our inbox tonight between 10 & 11 pm, tomorrow between 3 & 4 am, Sunday between 10 & 11 pm, or Monday between 3 & 4 am. PLEASE SOON!!!!!
I enjoy my sleep at night so I haven't had the urge yet to stay up or sleep with one eye open waiting for "The Email" so I have stationed Lauren & Michelle on ALERT and provided authority to them to call me at whatever hour necessary to give us "The News" we are waiting for. This way they get to bear the good news first and.....I get some sleep. LOL!!!!!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
LOOK WHAT CAME TODAY......
OUR VISA'S!!!!!!
I bet I got all of you excited for a minute thinking it was our approval.....SORRY!!! I am thinking that may not come until next week since it looks like most people are saying it took 2 weeks from the time the USCIS visited their orphanage until they actually got the approval email. Today is 1 week so hopefully by the end of next week. Looks like travel will be early to mid August. It's going to be tough as we will probably not be back for the girls' 1st day of school. We were really hoping to get the kids all aquainted together before school started but I think that will be a very slim chance. Hey I'm not going to complain though as I am just glad we will soon be bringing Derek HOME!!!!!!
Keep Praying!!!!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I am having a harder than usual to cope with kind of day today. I am very anxious and nervous and my tummy is churning like crazy. I can't explain to you why other than the fact that we know any day now our I600 decision could get here. As I said I think it will be Friday and I am praying that it will be an approval not a NOID. We still have that chance of uncertainty. I guess my uneasiness today is a sense of that uncertainty rearing up its ugly head at me. We have waiting and struggles so long through this process and I just want it to be time to bring Derek home!!!
We have fears to face in the process yet but this weekend we met a wonderful couple who adopted a VERY handsome son last year whom we have followed their blog a long time now. Kim & Matt were more than willing to tell us what to expect and what not to expect. They gave us great pointers but most off all they gave us the HOPE we need that we will finish this adoption by FINALLY bringing Derek home!!! Jonah is so awesome. When Matt got him out of the car I was awe struck. It must be what it will be like when they present Derek to us at the G&R ceremony. WOW!!! THANKS MATT, KIM, & JONAH for the great few hours we spent together. I'm sure there will be many more to come.
I just pray that USCIS will approve Derek's adoption and that we will get that approval ASAP!!! Friday is a long way off...tonight would work for us!!!!!
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY WITH US!!!!!!
We have fears to face in the process yet but this weekend we met a wonderful couple who adopted a VERY handsome son last year whom we have followed their blog a long time now. Kim & Matt were more than willing to tell us what to expect and what not to expect. They gave us great pointers but most off all they gave us the HOPE we need that we will finish this adoption by FINALLY bringing Derek home!!! Jonah is so awesome. When Matt got him out of the car I was awe struck. It must be what it will be like when they present Derek to us at the G&R ceremony. WOW!!! THANKS MATT, KIM, & JONAH for the great few hours we spent together. I'm sure there will be many more to come.
I just pray that USCIS will approve Derek's adoption and that we will get that approval ASAP!!! Friday is a long way off...tonight would work for us!!!!!
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY WITH US!!!!!!
Friday, July 11, 2008
NO NEWS.....
I waited half on the edge of sleep last night for my cell phone to begin playing "Klumsy" by Fergie (my cool ringtone) but it never played. :(
I need to sleep as much as I can and Lauren has been stalking her computer in the wee hours of the morning to catch a glimmer of hope for approval this week so she promised to call me if anything came through so I could keep resting. So where were you Lauren??? LOL!!! No really it's not funny that we didn't get the news we hoped for this morning. I guess we will have to stay strong and hold onto hope that i will come next week. Fortunately they didn't send us a notice saying that they needed to investigate more or needed more documents. This is a good sign!!!!
So we will go into the weekend enjoying time away with the girls even if it is shopping. We also plan to meet up with a family that adopted their son last year from Vietnam. We followed their journey as we anticipated ours to follow quickly after but it just didn't work that way. Now we will get to meet them and Jonah finally!!!!
Stay tuned for updates next week!!!!! Who knows maybe the good news WILL come!!!!
I waited half on the edge of sleep last night for my cell phone to begin playing "Klumsy" by Fergie (my cool ringtone) but it never played. :(
I need to sleep as much as I can and Lauren has been stalking her computer in the wee hours of the morning to catch a glimmer of hope for approval this week so she promised to call me if anything came through so I could keep resting. So where were you Lauren??? LOL!!! No really it's not funny that we didn't get the news we hoped for this morning. I guess we will have to stay strong and hold onto hope that i will come next week. Fortunately they didn't send us a notice saying that they needed to investigate more or needed more documents. This is a good sign!!!!
So we will go into the weekend enjoying time away with the girls even if it is shopping. We also plan to meet up with a family that adopted their son last year from Vietnam. We followed their journey as we anticipated ours to follow quickly after but it just didn't work that way. Now we will get to meet them and Jonah finally!!!!
Stay tuned for updates next week!!!!! Who knows maybe the good news WILL come!!!!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
POST 190 & 11,000 VIEWS LATER.....
We received an email from our agency today that the USCIS did a surprise visit to the orphanage where Derek & his friends are on Wednesday and they spoke with the caretakers, reveiwed records, and played with the children. We were told it went "WELL"!!! WOOHOO!!!! I anticipate that we will soon get our approval now.
There's great hope for tomorrow!!!!!
PRAY...PRAY...PRAY!!!!!!!
We received an email from our agency today that the USCIS did a surprise visit to the orphanage where Derek & his friends are on Wednesday and they spoke with the caretakers, reveiwed records, and played with the children. We were told it went "WELL"!!! WOOHOO!!!! I anticipate that we will soon get our approval now.
There's great hope for tomorrow!!!!!
PRAY...PRAY...PRAY!!!!!!!
DAY 45 !!!!!!!
We made it to the average wait time for approval. Still havent gotten it yet but at least we know we are getting closer!!!!
I spent yesterday looking back upon blogs of families who had recent approvals and travel and realized that most approvals came on a Friday or Monday so therefore we are hoping tomorrow is "THE Day". Pray extra hard for us today. Most approvals come through around 4-4:30 am since that is the end of the day for Vietnam officials. It would be a great start to our weekend.
We made it to the average wait time for approval. Still havent gotten it yet but at least we know we are getting closer!!!!
I spent yesterday looking back upon blogs of families who had recent approvals and travel and realized that most approvals came on a Friday or Monday so therefore we are hoping tomorrow is "THE Day". Pray extra hard for us today. Most approvals come through around 4-4:30 am since that is the end of the day for Vietnam officials. It would be a great start to our weekend.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Tonight I will ask that you say this prayer with us....
Dear Lord we pray that your will be done in getting Derek home to us. You have been so good to us and we are so thankful to you for this. We pray for the health and safety of Derek as well as the rest of the children in the orphanage We pray that our approval will come soon and that we will be able to travel to meet our son that you have blessed us so richly with. Thanks You Dear Lord In Heaven. AMEN
Norm has been very optimistic and has made the statement that he felt our approval would come Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Today has passed with silence and tomorrow (Day 44) will forge forward. We will awaken tomorrow morning and as we have done everyday since this adoption started, we will dart to the computer and eagerly pen our email inbox with much anticipation and hope for our approval email to be there. We are edging closer each day. We have read that the average wait time is now at around 45 days, however we aren't sure if it is calendar day or working days. I just read a post of a friend who knew of an approval given to another family at 47 calendar days. This could mean great things for us. We will remain strong in our faith that God will grant us the approval to bring Derek home soon. Our days are ticking by rather quickly (quicker than I imagined they would) and for this we are grateful. We would love to go into this weekend away with the girls with that approval under our belts!!!!
Please continue to pray for us and for Derek as well as the other families and children waiting. Your prayers are certainly helping. Thank You All!!!!!
Dear Lord we pray that your will be done in getting Derek home to us. You have been so good to us and we are so thankful to you for this. We pray for the health and safety of Derek as well as the rest of the children in the orphanage We pray that our approval will come soon and that we will be able to travel to meet our son that you have blessed us so richly with. Thanks You Dear Lord In Heaven. AMEN
Norm has been very optimistic and has made the statement that he felt our approval would come Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Today has passed with silence and tomorrow (Day 44) will forge forward. We will awaken tomorrow morning and as we have done everyday since this adoption started, we will dart to the computer and eagerly pen our email inbox with much anticipation and hope for our approval email to be there. We are edging closer each day. We have read that the average wait time is now at around 45 days, however we aren't sure if it is calendar day or working days. I just read a post of a friend who knew of an approval given to another family at 47 calendar days. This could mean great things for us. We will remain strong in our faith that God will grant us the approval to bring Derek home soon. Our days are ticking by rather quickly (quicker than I imagined they would) and for this we are grateful. We would love to go into this weekend away with the girls with that approval under our belts!!!!
Please continue to pray for us and for Derek as well as the other families and children waiting. Your prayers are certainly helping. Thank You All!!!!!
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Today reaches another milestone in our waiting process. We are officially on Calendar Day 40. We are inching our way closer to bringing Derek home. We will be applying for our visa this week so if anyone out there can give me pointers for applying or knows the current fees I'd love to hear from you.
We will be attending yet another 4th of July Picnic tonight (3rd one for the weekend) and will be seeing alot of friends who will be asking alot of questions considering we thought we would be bringing Derek to this picnic this year. Pray for me to have the strength to face all of the questions and comments and to have the proper answers to respond with. You all know what I mean!!!!
We have scheduled a short weekend getaway with the girls next weekend so we are really looking forward to that. We will be seeing a show "In The Beginning" it is a local theatre that hosts Biblical Shows. They are beautiful. We will then get to do some outlet shopping in Lancaster,PA. Time to start serious school shopping since we will probably travel part of August and the girls will head back to school at the end of the month. We will have to opportunity to spend time with our friends Barb & Alan too while we are there. We are going to have a full 2 days of fun!!!!!
We will be attending yet another 4th of July Picnic tonight (3rd one for the weekend) and will be seeing alot of friends who will be asking alot of questions considering we thought we would be bringing Derek to this picnic this year. Pray for me to have the strength to face all of the questions and comments and to have the proper answers to respond with. You all know what I mean!!!!
We have scheduled a short weekend getaway with the girls next weekend so we are really looking forward to that. We will be seeing a show "In The Beginning" it is a local theatre that hosts Biblical Shows. They are beautiful. We will then get to do some outlet shopping in Lancaster,PA. Time to start serious school shopping since we will probably travel part of August and the girls will head back to school at the end of the month. We will have to opportunity to spend time with our friends Barb & Alan too while we are there. We are going to have a full 2 days of fun!!!!!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
We Have Crossed The Hardest Spot.....
We are now on Day 36 of our I600 approval wait. We feel from watching blogs of other families that as of yesterday (Day 35) the approval could come any day now!!!! We have seen approvals come anywhere between 32 and 46 days recently. Given there are no problems with Derek's dossier and there doesn't need to be any extensive investigations done we should sail smoothly from here. We are going to remain optimistic and faithful through our wait. Every night and every morning I check the email repeatedly just in case the approval works its way here. We are very ready to bring our little man home.
We will be having our Travel Talk on Wednesday evening so I am trying to come up with questions to ask. I am never so good at that when I am on the spot. Therefore I need to try to find time today to start a list.
Norm & I spent the weekend away (probably our last alone weekend for a long time)in Gettysburg for our 5th Anniversary. We got to see a re-enactment on Saturday. Very interesting and amazing what these soldiers must have endured during this war. Wow the years fly by. I will leave you with a few pictures:
We are now on Day 36 of our I600 approval wait. We feel from watching blogs of other families that as of yesterday (Day 35) the approval could come any day now!!!! We have seen approvals come anywhere between 32 and 46 days recently. Given there are no problems with Derek's dossier and there doesn't need to be any extensive investigations done we should sail smoothly from here. We are going to remain optimistic and faithful through our wait. Every night and every morning I check the email repeatedly just in case the approval works its way here. We are very ready to bring our little man home.
We will be having our Travel Talk on Wednesday evening so I am trying to come up with questions to ask. I am never so good at that when I am on the spot. Therefore I need to try to find time today to start a list.
Norm & I spent the weekend away (probably our last alone weekend for a long time)in Gettysburg for our 5th Anniversary. We got to see a re-enactment on Saturday. Very interesting and amazing what these soldiers must have endured during this war. Wow the years fly by. I will leave you with a few pictures:
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
UnAdoption Related Post....
Please PRAY for Alyssa tomorrow as she heads into surgery at 8:30 AM for her wisdom teeth to be removed. She has never undergone surgery therefore I am nervous about the whole anesthesia thing. Also her one upper tooth appears to possibly be into the nasal cavity which would require further surgery time to repair that and her nerve in the lower jaw is very close to the roots of the teeth being removed risking a chance of disturbing that leading to numbness and possible taste loss on past of her tongue.
So pray for her strength for the surgeryand for healing and recovery.
She is also battling a back injury. Hopefully she will give it some rest this week from Basketball and things will have time to heal a little.
Please PRAY for Alyssa tomorrow as she heads into surgery at 8:30 AM for her wisdom teeth to be removed. She has never undergone surgery therefore I am nervous about the whole anesthesia thing. Also her one upper tooth appears to possibly be into the nasal cavity which would require further surgery time to repair that and her nerve in the lower jaw is very close to the roots of the teeth being removed risking a chance of disturbing that leading to numbness and possible taste loss on past of her tongue.
So pray for her strength for the surgeryand for healing and recovery.
She is also battling a back injury. Hopefully she will give it some rest this week from Basketball and things will have time to heal a little.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Update Alert!!!!!
Today we woke up to a great email surprise in our inbox. Our much anticipated update and new picture of Derek came today. He is growing so much! He looks so much different this month than he did last month. WOW!!! Here are his stats:
Height: 35"
Weight: 30 lbs.
Arm Length: 13"
Head Circumference: 19"
He is in good health and it is stated that "He is the oldest child in the orphanage and is ACTIVE & NAUGHTY". We will have our hands full on this one! Look out Line Mountain here comes Derek!!!!!
Keep Praying for Derek to come home SOON!!!!!
Today we woke up to a great email surprise in our inbox. Our much anticipated update and new picture of Derek came today. He is growing so much! He looks so much different this month than he did last month. WOW!!! Here are his stats:
Height: 35"
Weight: 30 lbs.
Arm Length: 13"
Head Circumference: 19"
He is in good health and it is stated that "He is the oldest child in the orphanage and is ACTIVE & NAUGHTY". We will have our hands full on this one! Look out Line Mountain here comes Derek!!!!!
Keep Praying for Derek to come home SOON!!!!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
QUIET....VERRRRRY QUIET!!!!
I hate these waiting days. It is so quiet. There hasn't been any updates in weeks and we know we won't have much to hear until the much anticipated email of our approval gets here. As you can see above, we are now on calendar day 21 of our wait. I refuse to count working days, it seems to take so much longer. Well I have once again (and hopefully for the last time) unpacked and started over again. I have resorted to as little clothing as possible since we packed lightweight items which can easily be hand washed and hung to dry over night. I also took Michelle's advice and eliminated alot of snacks. We will get there what we need. I guess I feel like we are going to a country where we won't find anything we need but in all reality the areas we will travel into are more westernized than anticipated. We Will Survive!!!!!! Oh yeah...let me throw this in right here...Michelle, GET PACKING!!!!
It was a quiet weekend for us. I celebrated Fathers Day for Norm but it is a day I wish would never come every year. I lost my Daddy 3 years ago and celebrating the day in't the easiest for me.
Alyssa is having surgery on Tuesday to have her 4 impacted wisdom teeth cut out so please pray for her procedure and healing...not to mention my nerves.
Stay tuned for updates as I have requested some photos and measurement updates. We'll see if my email gets a response.
Please keep praying!!!
I hate these waiting days. It is so quiet. There hasn't been any updates in weeks and we know we won't have much to hear until the much anticipated email of our approval gets here. As you can see above, we are now on calendar day 21 of our wait. I refuse to count working days, it seems to take so much longer. Well I have once again (and hopefully for the last time) unpacked and started over again. I have resorted to as little clothing as possible since we packed lightweight items which can easily be hand washed and hung to dry over night. I also took Michelle's advice and eliminated alot of snacks. We will get there what we need. I guess I feel like we are going to a country where we won't find anything we need but in all reality the areas we will travel into are more westernized than anticipated. We Will Survive!!!!!! Oh yeah...let me throw this in right here...Michelle, GET PACKING!!!!
It was a quiet weekend for us. I celebrated Fathers Day for Norm but it is a day I wish would never come every year. I lost my Daddy 3 years ago and celebrating the day in't the easiest for me.
Alyssa is having surgery on Tuesday to have her 4 impacted wisdom teeth cut out so please pray for her procedure and healing...not to mention my nerves.
Stay tuned for updates as I have requested some photos and measurement updates. We'll see if my email gets a response.
Please keep praying!!!
Monday, June 09, 2008
Packing It All In.....
Not an easy task when you are traveling half way around the world with no idea of what to expect when yo get there. I want to pack everything we need into 2 suitcases. Anyone who has traveled there that can give me pointers....I am more than willing for your suggestions!!!! I got everything into 2 bags but now they are overweighted. AARRGGHH!!!! I eliminated alot of clothing and I am in a temptation mode of going with 2 outfits and just buying the rest of what I need. Any ideas???
Not an easy task when you are traveling half way around the world with no idea of what to expect when yo get there. I want to pack everything we need into 2 suitcases. Anyone who has traveled there that can give me pointers....I am more than willing for your suggestions!!!! I got everything into 2 bags but now they are overweighted. AARRGGHH!!!! I eliminated alot of clothing and I am in a temptation mode of going with 2 outfits and just buying the rest of what I need. Any ideas???
Friday, June 06, 2008
Another Thrilling Day.....
This morning I opened my email inbox to find yet another approval for a family (43 Calendar Days). For us this could mean we are a quarter of the way there. WOOHOO!!!! Let's hope that the steady flow of approvals holds out. I read a blog today (thanks Shara) that confirmed there has been an increase in manpower at USCIS and the approvals are definately proceeding steadily. We are on Day 10!!!! Getting closer!!!!
Then second I went to the mailbox to find our approval for our 797C extension!!! This if you remember was a great concern of ours as we were worried about our current one expiring before the extension came through. No more fears on that one.
Do you see a pattern here???? GOD IS WORKING!!!!!!
This weekend Norm & I are stealing away to the Nascar Race!!! Woo....GO KENSETH!!!! I am getting very excited. We will be sitting with friends of ours not to mention a little tailgating action too!!! It is supposed to be about 98 degrees at the track on Sunday so we will sweat off the pounds of food and alcohol we consume!!!! It is an adrenaline rush for me though so I can't wait to get there!!!!
KEEP PRAYING!!!!!
This morning I opened my email inbox to find yet another approval for a family (43 Calendar Days). For us this could mean we are a quarter of the way there. WOOHOO!!!! Let's hope that the steady flow of approvals holds out. I read a blog today (thanks Shara) that confirmed there has been an increase in manpower at USCIS and the approvals are definately proceeding steadily. We are on Day 10!!!! Getting closer!!!!
Then second I went to the mailbox to find our approval for our 797C extension!!! This if you remember was a great concern of ours as we were worried about our current one expiring before the extension came through. No more fears on that one.
Do you see a pattern here???? GOD IS WORKING!!!!!!
This weekend Norm & I are stealing away to the Nascar Race!!! Woo....GO KENSETH!!!! I am getting very excited. We will be sitting with friends of ours not to mention a little tailgating action too!!! It is supposed to be about 98 degrees at the track on Sunday so we will sweat off the pounds of food and alcohol we consume!!!! It is an adrenaline rush for me though so I can't wait to get there!!!!
KEEP PRAYING!!!!!
Monday, June 02, 2008
A MECHANIC'S WORK IS NEVER DONE.....
Last evening Norm & I decided it was time to put Derek's Mustang together. After sitting in the basement in pieces for a year now it was time. Not to mention that we know it is only a matter of weeks until he will finally come HOME. So we dug out the tools and I read the directions while "Mr. Mechanic" assembled the pieces. While he was at it he decided to put together the 4-wheeler too. Man is Derek gonna have a blast this summer in the back yard. Oh I forgot to mention that on Monday night we decided that it was time to put the pool up for the summer too. So we have lots of fun stuff for him when he gets home.
We also found this little excerpt on the Ethica website thanks to another blogging buddy's post:
May 28, 2008
Notes from ASP Meeting at US Embassy Hanoi
I-600 processing: There have been more I-600s processed in 2008 than in 2007, representing a 10-15% increase. Since the Orphans First program started, the average processing time has been coming down and is now at 46 days. In January, with Christmas and the New Year (both Western and Tet) holidays, there were some rough spots and delays. In January, there were also a large number of petitions filed (112) which contributed to the slow down. Both the embassy and CIS offices have taken steps to increase staffing. On cases that went over the 60 days, there was usually some sort of issue that needed to be looked into.
So we are looking at this with much excitement and encouragement. We saw a family just leave to pick up their baby girl Ella after a 32 working day (46 calendar day) wait. We can do this!!!!! That would put us around mid-July!!!! WOOHOO do you relalize that's only like 6 more weeks. That will fly!!! I know we shouldn't get our hopes up so high but we are just so excited to be in the final stages.
Please keep praying for us and Derek!!!!
Last evening Norm & I decided it was time to put Derek's Mustang together. After sitting in the basement in pieces for a year now it was time. Not to mention that we know it is only a matter of weeks until he will finally come HOME. So we dug out the tools and I read the directions while "Mr. Mechanic" assembled the pieces. While he was at it he decided to put together the 4-wheeler too. Man is Derek gonna have a blast this summer in the back yard. Oh I forgot to mention that on Monday night we decided that it was time to put the pool up for the summer too. So we have lots of fun stuff for him when he gets home.
We also found this little excerpt on the Ethica website thanks to another blogging buddy's post:
May 28, 2008
Notes from ASP Meeting at US Embassy Hanoi
I-600 processing: There have been more I-600s processed in 2008 than in 2007, representing a 10-15% increase. Since the Orphans First program started, the average processing time has been coming down and is now at 46 days. In January, with Christmas and the New Year (both Western and Tet) holidays, there were some rough spots and delays. In January, there were also a large number of petitions filed (112) which contributed to the slow down. Both the embassy and CIS offices have taken steps to increase staffing. On cases that went over the 60 days, there was usually some sort of issue that needed to be looked into.
So we are looking at this with much excitement and encouragement. We saw a family just leave to pick up their baby girl Ella after a 32 working day (46 calendar day) wait. We can do this!!!!! That would put us around mid-July!!!! WOOHOO do you relalize that's only like 6 more weeks. That will fly!!! I know we shouldn't get our hopes up so high but we are just so excited to be in the final stages.
Please keep praying for us and Derek!!!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Well It's Official.....I have NESTED!!!! I took this week off of work to catch up a little on the cleaning. With the busyness of the salon it gets hard sometimes to make myself spend even a day each week devoted to cleaning the house. So....I decided to take a week off work and tackle the dilemna. The house now looks like the day we moved in, at least until the girls get home from school anyway. Then the cyclone hits. I thought it would be nice to enjoy the house without so much clutter for a few weeks before we bring Derek home and there is "stuff" everywhere. I love when the house looks so tidy!!!! But you know what....I am going to love it even more when there are pitter-pattering feet running through it screaming and tossing toys about! Wow, with a 12 and 16 year old I kinda still get a taste of it but not in the same sense. It has been 3 days of waiting since our I600 approval and I must admit this is the hardest point. I thought each step was the worst but this one is definately it, at least until we get there. I think all in all the hardest part will be sitting still with all of that anticipation as we fly 30+ hours to see Derek's face in person.
Thank you all for your continued prayers...we still need them though so don't give up yet!!!
Thank you all for your continued prayers...we still need them though so don't give up yet!!!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN.....
We woke up this morning to open our inbox for our email and much to our delight after long anticipation....we have our confirmation of receipt of our I600 in HCMC!!! WOOHOO!!! Now you can all begin watching our ticker!!!! The letter stated that most determinations (approvals) are made within 60 working days!!! Let's hope we are lucky!!!!
Keep praying...everytime I post you can see how it's working!!!!
We woke up this morning to open our inbox for our email and much to our delight after long anticipation....we have our confirmation of receipt of our I600 in HCMC!!! WOOHOO!!! Now you can all begin watching our ticker!!!! The letter stated that most determinations (approvals) are made within 60 working days!!! Let's hope we are lucky!!!!
Keep praying...everytime I post you can see how it's working!!!!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
For those of you still tagging along this journey with us.....
We are officially on our final leg of the journey (well at least from here in the U.S.). Our I600 was submitted last week (we are still waiting confirmation of receipt from USCIS and then we will start a ticker for you to watch)and hopefully by the looks of other families whom have gotten approval the process is moving a little more smoothly and we will get approval somewhere in the 14-90 day range. I am estimating late June. What a great 5 year wedding anniversary gift that would be for us to give each other. An awesome across the world trip and a new son!!! What could be better??!!!
We received Derek's dossier documents yesterday explaining his abandonment. Wow those are really heartwrenching. It's certainly something to read. He was actually left outside the orphanage at 4 a.m. with barely any clothing and just wrapped in a towel, and crying. How sad!!! He will be so lucky to come to our home and have a family to care for him.
Please continue to pray as the final approval is all that's left before traveling.
Did I montion I finished packing??? 4 suitcases later??? Well one is actually filled with nothing but snacks for us and the kiddos on the plane ride home! Need to keep everyone happy...right??!!!
Pray...it's working!!! Thanks so much for all of your continued support, thoughts, and prayers. It has gotten us this far and it will bring Derek home!!!
We are officially on our final leg of the journey (well at least from here in the U.S.). Our I600 was submitted last week (we are still waiting confirmation of receipt from USCIS and then we will start a ticker for you to watch)and hopefully by the looks of other families whom have gotten approval the process is moving a little more smoothly and we will get approval somewhere in the 14-90 day range. I am estimating late June. What a great 5 year wedding anniversary gift that would be for us to give each other. An awesome across the world trip and a new son!!! What could be better??!!!
We received Derek's dossier documents yesterday explaining his abandonment. Wow those are really heartwrenching. It's certainly something to read. He was actually left outside the orphanage at 4 a.m. with barely any clothing and just wrapped in a towel, and crying. How sad!!! He will be so lucky to come to our home and have a family to care for him.
Please continue to pray as the final approval is all that's left before traveling.
Did I montion I finished packing??? 4 suitcases later??? Well one is actually filled with nothing but snacks for us and the kiddos on the plane ride home! Need to keep everyone happy...right??!!!
Pray...it's working!!! Thanks so much for all of your continued support, thoughts, and prayers. It has gotten us this far and it will bring Derek home!!!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Friday May 16, 2008
A wonderful day to remember.....
Today we received our "Official Match Letter" from the DIA. It is in Vietnamese but non the less we have it!!!! We are officially considered in Vietnam's eyes to be Derek's Mommy & Daddy!!!!! WOW...what a feeling!!!
Along with that letter came a new picture of Derek!!!! He is so adorable!!!!
Our I600 will be filed on Monday!!! WOOHOO!!!!
A wonderful day to remember.....
Today we received our "Official Match Letter" from the DIA. It is in Vietnamese but non the less we have it!!!! We are officially considered in Vietnam's eyes to be Derek's Mommy & Daddy!!!!! WOW...what a feeling!!!
Along with that letter came a new picture of Derek!!!! He is so adorable!!!!
Our I600 will be filed on Monday!!! WOOHOO!!!!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
We just received a phone call from Ray at our agency. He was following up on our 797C approval. He was worried that it expired but I pointed out to him that it is good for 18 months and our approval is good until June 20th. We also clued him in on the fact that our social worker has completed our home study update and we just need the agency to give her the go ahead to print it and we can then submit it to the USCIS office in Philly and hope we can get a little help from our friends at Merle Phillips' office again to expedite the approval of our extension so there are no gaps left in the paperwork. So all is looking good at our end. He also told us that our I600 will be submitted this week!!! WOOHOO!!!! We will be on the final waiting stretch real soon!!!!
We'll keep you posted and we would appreciate your continued prayers!!! It really is working....do you see it????
We'll keep you posted and we would appreciate your continued prayers!!! It really is working....do you see it????
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Another Forward Leap....
Yesterday we received awesome news from our agency. Ours & Derek's dossiers have been approved by the DIA (Vietnamese Government) and our Official Match Referral Letter has been sent. We will hopefully receive that in the next 10-14 days. We aren't sure how long mail will take to get here from Vietnam. This means we are legally and officially matched to Derek and that he'll soon be able to come home. On Monday (which will actually be tomorrow our time) the DIA will be sending our referral package to the DOJ in DaNang and we will then receive copies of Derek's dossier. This is information we have been waiting so long to read. It will contain info about his abandonment and hopefully an updated photo and measurements. From there the DOJ in DN will submit our I600 to the USCIS on our behalf. Hopefully that will be done by the end of next week. Then our final wait begins. Technically the USCIS says 30-60 days for approval but we have seen some families who are already way beyond that 60 day wait. We aren't sure what time frame to expect for the USCIS to approve us and hopefully this step will finalize without another investigation needed. On the brighter side we have seen some families get approved in 1 day. I guess it depends whose desk the papers fall onto. I pray the USCIS will have mercy on us. The other great thing is that Michelle & Jeff's paperwork is hanging right in there with ours. We are praying we will finalize together and be able to travel together and return home together. What a great experience to share with such awesome friends. Speaking of which I am dying to be with them again. January was a long time ago.
So all in all next week we should have some news about our I600 and hopefully soon a new picture of OUR SON!!!!
Thanks for praying it is really working. God has been so good to us!!!!
Yesterday we received awesome news from our agency. Ours & Derek's dossiers have been approved by the DIA (Vietnamese Government) and our Official Match Referral Letter has been sent. We will hopefully receive that in the next 10-14 days. We aren't sure how long mail will take to get here from Vietnam. This means we are legally and officially matched to Derek and that he'll soon be able to come home. On Monday (which will actually be tomorrow our time) the DIA will be sending our referral package to the DOJ in DaNang and we will then receive copies of Derek's dossier. This is information we have been waiting so long to read. It will contain info about his abandonment and hopefully an updated photo and measurements. From there the DOJ in DN will submit our I600 to the USCIS on our behalf. Hopefully that will be done by the end of next week. Then our final wait begins. Technically the USCIS says 30-60 days for approval but we have seen some families who are already way beyond that 60 day wait. We aren't sure what time frame to expect for the USCIS to approve us and hopefully this step will finalize without another investigation needed. On the brighter side we have seen some families get approved in 1 day. I guess it depends whose desk the papers fall onto. I pray the USCIS will have mercy on us. The other great thing is that Michelle & Jeff's paperwork is hanging right in there with ours. We are praying we will finalize together and be able to travel together and return home together. What a great experience to share with such awesome friends. Speaking of which I am dying to be with them again. January was a long time ago.
So all in all next week we should have some news about our I600 and hopefully soon a new picture of OUR SON!!!!
Thanks for praying it is really working. God has been so good to us!!!!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
SADNESS RULES...AGAIN
Remember last year around this exact time I was totally devastated because our CM was taking maternity leave.....well it's worse this time!!!! I received a call last week from Diane asking me to please keep this quiet until she could tell all her families (which I confirmed today that she has done)....Dianehas resigned AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
Diane has become far more than a CM to me. She has become a dear friend whom I will miss immensly. She will be available to us until Friday and then our case will be taken over by Ray. Hopefully we are on the home stretch at this point. We were really hoping for Diane to lead us there but I can truly appreciate her desire to have time with her family. Her baby girl needs her more than we do and I am not the selfish type.
Diane if you are reading this....
WE WILL MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!
Remember last year around this exact time I was totally devastated because our CM was taking maternity leave.....well it's worse this time!!!! I received a call last week from Diane asking me to please keep this quiet until she could tell all her families (which I confirmed today that she has done)....Dianehas resigned AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
Diane has become far more than a CM to me. She has become a dear friend whom I will miss immensly. She will be available to us until Friday and then our case will be taken over by Ray. Hopefully we are on the home stretch at this point. We were really hoping for Diane to lead us there but I can truly appreciate her desire to have time with her family. Her baby girl needs her more than we do and I am not the selfish type.
Diane if you are reading this....
WE WILL MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!
Thursday, May 01, 2008
MORE GOD (or GOOD) NEWS TODAY!!!!
It has been confirmed that our age ammended letter has been submitted to the DIA and that on Monday our agency will try to find out whether the Official Referral Match Letter has been sent out to us yet. This will be great if they say yes since it could mean we could receive it with in the next week to week and a half. Also our I-600 and our Commitment Letter was sent to VN on Tuesday so once we get the match letter our I600 can be submitted and then the final wait begins. Our agency is still telling us 30-60 days for USCIS to approve our case. We are going to pray that we will not have any issues that need investigated from the USCIS and we can get approval as quickly as possible.
All the prayers that we are being showered with are being answered!!!
Thank You All and PLEASE Keep PRAYING!!!!! GOD is helping!!!!!
It has been confirmed that our age ammended letter has been submitted to the DIA and that on Monday our agency will try to find out whether the Official Referral Match Letter has been sent out to us yet. This will be great if they say yes since it could mean we could receive it with in the next week to week and a half. Also our I-600 and our Commitment Letter was sent to VN on Tuesday so once we get the match letter our I600 can be submitted and then the final wait begins. Our agency is still telling us 30-60 days for USCIS to approve our case. We are going to pray that we will not have any issues that need investigated from the USCIS and we can get approval as quickly as possible.
All the prayers that we are being showered with are being answered!!!
Thank You All and PLEASE Keep PRAYING!!!!! GOD is helping!!!!!
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