Biometrics

It finally came!  Our appointment for Jordan and I to get our fingerprinting done.  Just one more step closer to Mei Mei!

Short, sweet, and to the point.  Just want to continue the documentation for our precious baby girl to be able to look back on. :)

Letter came today (June 30th)
Fingerprint appointment is set for July 17th, 2014

The Amazing Race

In an effort to raise funds for our Adoption, Jordan and I have put together an Amazing Race Fundraiser!

What is it you may be asking yourself?  Teams of 4 will embark on a journey around the world (Garden City, Livonia, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Canton, Westland areas LOL)!  They will be given a series of clues that lead to different locations.  At each location their team must complete a road block (a fun activity) before receiving their next clue.  

First person to cross the finish line will win ***ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!  

***One million dollars OR more likely a fancy first prize that is not equal or greater than One Million Dollars, but still worth your while.*** Heck if we had that kind of money to give away we wouldn't be in the need of a fundraiser! 

So fill your car with a team of 4, gas up, and meet us up at MorningStar Church for an evening that will for sure leave you with lasting memories!  

Early Bird Registration:
June-August
$60 per car of 4   ~OR~
$15 per person

Prices will go up to $20 per person after August 31st

Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.

Blessings

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  ~John 15:7

This blog is to serve as a testimony to the awesome power of Jesus Christ and the love He has for His children.  Last night I sat in complete defeat and poured my heart out asking my Daddy in heaven for help.  He's a good listener and truly does not want to see his babies upset.  I guess you could say that I am a Daddy's girl.  

I can report to you today that my Father in Heaven heard my cry and my woe's of yesterday are no more.  I have cried many tears today of gratitude to the great big God that I serve and to those who have allowed Him to use them as His vessel.  

Blessings.  

Blindside

I should have known better, I should have been aware, but it slipped by me.  We just found out that we have to pay just shy of another $2000 tomorrow to finish up our home study.  I'd like to say that I was calm and collective about that but in all honesty I had a mini meltdown.  I felt like the water I was treading along on consumed me in that moment.  

As I was sitting at the table (that I've been sitting at since I got home from my day job, it is now 9:51 p.m.) working on Origami Owl work, I got all choked up and poured my heart out to Jordan saying it's just not enough anymore.   Don't get me wrong, Origami is more than a blessing and has carried us thus far, however at this moment it is simply just not enough.  

So to add to the $2000 I thought I was behind on, I now have to tack on another $2000.  

So in the midst of my defeated feeling I cry out to God and say, "Lord you got this right?   Cause I don't, so I'm trusting in You to carry us through this one."  And a peace washes over me.  

Just keep swimming as Dory would say...... just keep swimming.

This blog will document the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I hope you will pray along side of us through all those moments.  :)  

The First of Many Wahoooooo Moments!

Wahooooooo!!!!!  Just got the news that our Home Study has been approved!  

The Waiting Game

I will probably say this a lot but I'm tired of waiting.  I have to constantly remind myself that my little girl just isn't quite ready yet and that in God's timing she will be here.  However, it still sucks!  Today we are waiting on our Home Study to be approved.  My social worker had it completed last week and sent it over to my Family Coordinator over at the adoption agency (AWAA) but she was out of the office until today due to a family emergency.  So now she needs to play catch up with all her peeps which is making the process of approval take even longer. 

So until then we are doing what we can with our I-800.  More forms, ugh!  One thing that we did find out was that our I-800 is WAY more expensive than we orignally thought it to be.  We were told by our Social Worker that she thought it was $60 per person filing to have the fingerprints ran.  NOPE!  It is $750!!  That is total, not each.  Our next payment to the adoption agency follows closely behind when we send in our Dossier, that is over $4000.  

SO, with all that being said while we wait for our Home Study approval we are looking up ways to fund raise for our little girl.  Looking at doing a Bowling Fundraiser on June 27th, who's down?  It would be $20 per person and it includes 3 games of cosmic bowling, shoes, and pizza.  We need all the help we can get at this point, and I'm trying to do as many Origami Owl parties as I can to make the money to pay these next two bills.  I'm currently about $3000 shy.  

I fully trust that God will provide us with the funds as he has so far, now it's just to make it happen.  

Love you all for always supporting us and loving on us.  We appreciate all our friends and family more than you will ever know.

Home Study Complete!

Another milestone in this journey.  Our Home Study visits are finally finished!  Now with them all wrapped up it will be typed up by our Social worker and sent to her boss, us, and my adoption agency for review.  Once it gets the seal of approval from all of us it will be notarized and finished!  Whoo-hoo!  For those of you asking, here are our next steps:

• Notarize our completed Home Study 
• File for our I-800
• Take all our Dossier documents to the SOS and get them State Certified
• Travel to Chicago to the Chinese Embassy to have our Dossier Authenticated
• Mail Dossier to our Adoption Agency
• Adoption Agency translates Dossier to Chinese and sends it to China
• China approves it and Logs it in .  Giving us a Log in Date (LID)
• Start receiving referrals.