TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2006 01:22 PM
Today we are feeling very encouraged, we had a conference phone call with Raul V. (the Attorney heading the Colombian program for our agency) and our new Case Manager ( who has been so wonderful & patient with us, always answering our thousands of questions). They were very thorough, covering a lot of important information and clarifying some things that needed to be clarified so that we are all clear and in sink about the process. We are so excited that they will be able to send our dossier to Colombia as soon as they receive our birth-certificates (Michael's is already back & mine should hopefully be back from Brazil no latter than next week). The only thing we will need after that, is for the I-171H approval form (Immigration), to hurry up and get here, then we are all set!!!
We are sooooooooooooooooooo excited that hopefully soon, VERY, VERY SOON, it will all be done and we will hopefully be approved for the girls without any problems and will get a travel date to go get our precious daughters and bring them home!!!!
Of course we were reminded today, that nothing is certain (as far as the ICBF approving us for those specific girls), but by faith we are waiting for God's perfect will and the very best for those dear children, who we have already come to love, if we are the ones meant to be their parents, IT WILL HAPPEN and what a blessing that will!!!
Thank you to all of you, beloved family and friends, who have been praying, and even already dreaming with us, about our future family, which by faith, we are committed to, even while still waiting for the outcome!!!
Love always,
Sharon & Michael
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MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2006 11:41 PM
Today, we had so much fun going through some albums and looking for some recent pictures of ours to put in the 3 little albums we are putting together for the girls.
This week we are also planning on taking a lot of photos of their school, local library, YMCA, our church and many of our dear friends. We want to make sure the little albums we lovingly prepare for our daughters will give them a great idea of who we are, what their lives will be like, the great places they will go to and the many wonderful family and friends they will have.
It's really wonderful how the agency not only prepares the children, but the parent also. This whole experience has made Michael and I want to become strong and outspoken advocates for "older Children " adoption and "Sibling group" adoption. There is such a huge need all over the world and so many people who have the love and the financial means to do it, if fear of the unknown wasn't a factor (which hopefully, as more people become educated about the process, it will not be an issue anymore)!!!
We pray that God will use us and our experience to open the eyes of many other families, so that more children may find a home and their forever families. Where they can grow and mature in love and safety, to become the wonderful human beings with all the potential God created them to become!!!
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2006 12:34 PM
Yesterday, Michael's new & re-done apostilled Birth Certificate arrived from Illinois and our friends from Brazil emailed us that they had already received mine and were processing it for me (what would I have done without them)?
We are also so encouraged, to have had the chance to meet a couple (through email) who are adopting two little girls from Colombia, from the same agency. They have already been approved and have a travel date all set. We are so excited for them and hearing their story has inspired us both BIG TIME!!!
They also introduced us to another couple's blog, who just recently returned from Colombia after adopting a little brother & sister. Because of a judges strike, they ended up having to stay in Colombia for 7 weeks, waiting for the adoption to be finalized so they could bring the children home. We have gained new strength to keep on waiting, after hearing all these experiences, knowing that in the end it will all be well worth it, when we finally have our children with us, being able to hug'em, kiss'em and bring them home, YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*** Here's a link with lots of great pictures from other families who have adopted from Colombia: http://www.childrenshopeint.org/colombiaupdate.html
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2006 01:30 PM
Praise God, things may get complicated at times, but He is still in control!!! Our friends in Brasilia were more than willing to help us out, the documents have already been FedEXed to them and now it's just a matter of "waiting" for them to be returned to us, so we can send it to the agency to send to Colombia (so there's still a chance that the kids could come home before Christmas)! :>)
It's amazing that although it was a bump on the road, the Lord provided for the necessary office to be in a city in Brazil where we actually have good friends living. With Him as our Father, there's ALWAYS a way!!! :>)
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2006 06:13 PM
Today we found out from our new Case Manager that my birth certificate would not be accepted in Colombia. It was very disappointing for our original case manager never told us there was a problem, when we submitted everything in for our dossier. I had to do some research and call a few places in Brazil and our new and C. Mngr did help out quite a bit by digging up the contact information for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Brasilia - the capital of Brazil, to issue me a "legalized and certified copy" of my Brazilian birth certificate. We are hoping to have some friends in Brasilia assist us in processing this in an expedited manner, once that is done, it then has to be officially translated into English and Spanish, sent to the Colombian embassy in Brazil, which in turn will send it back to us, to send to the agency, to send back to Colombia. Needless to say, we are a bit stressed and disappointed that just when we thought we were all done, this will now cause more delays.
Please keep praying for us, during this "waiting" period, which is becoming a bit hard, considering we were hoping to have the girls home by fall, but now we are lucky if they are here before Christmas!!!
The Lord is good though, ALL THE TIME and He is in control, no matter what the outcome will be!!!
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2006 10:32 PM
Wonderful news:
Today we finally had our fingerprint appointment for the Department of Homeland Security (former Immigration). It was at 8am, all the way downtown Detroit; we were so afraid of being late or anything going wrong (ie. traffic, construction back-ups, etc.), that we got up sooooooooo early (even before the birds & the chickens)! :>)
Praise God, that is done, now all we have to do is wait for their approval to come in the mail. It does sound simple doesn't it? but guess what? "WAITING" is the operative word here, something that we are having a hard time with. Hey, no one said this wouldn't be an experience of growth and more character building!!! :>)
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 08, 2006 11:05 AM
Today we received word that our Case had to be reassigned because our Case Manager no longer works for the agency. Boy oh boy, that is a real unexpected surprise and not of the "good kind", specially when I had just talked to her at length last week and she never mentioned she was leaving! We are going to remain hopeful though, that the new Case Manager is ready to take over and process everything without any delays and that we will continue to stay on track. This can be a stressful time and this news doesn't help, but the Lord knows all things and our faith and trust has to be completely in Him!!!
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 01, 2006 06:08 PM
Hello,
Good news:
We had been told that due to backups, there was a delay in the processing time-frame for applications at our local Immigration office. However, we are thrilled that today we got the letter with the appointment date for us to go in and submit the required fingerprints. Our appointment is for 8/11 at 8am and after that is cleared through FBI, they basically have everything they need to go ahead and approve the I-600A form we submitted ("Application for advance processing of orphan petition" - it's the form we have to file prior to the one we will file at the American embassy in Colombia, which is the I-600 "Petition to classify orphan as immediate relative" - thus authorizing us to bring the girls back with us, already as US Citizens)!
Basically, what it means is that once the Immigration is done and submit the approved form back to us, it gets immediately sent to Colombia which by then will also have our dossier and then, is all a matter of waiting to get the final "Official Match" approving us for the girls, which means we can travel a month or so after that
We understand that this can still take 2-4 months, we have accepted the fact that we may not have the girls with us in the early part of fall, we also know that it really shouldn't matter, but to be honest we would absolutely REEEEEEEEEEALLY love to be able to have them home with us before Christmas!!!
Please, we ask you to pray that the people that get a hold of our applications (both here at Immigration & in Colombia for the final decision), are efficient in their use of time and don't delay or linger in their processing of documents and that they would somehow see our heart for these girls and approve us without problems!
Thank you so much for being a part of this journey!
Love,
Sharon & Michael
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