We signed the LOA (Letter of Approval) and mailed it back to our agency. They'll send it back to China, then we wait for our Travel Approval. We also sent off our passports. That's scary. We mailed them to the travel agency in NY to get our visas stamped in them. So, we're really doing this!
It's looking like my Dad could possibly travel. Our agency "guessed" that the travel time could be May 9-22. That's a GUESS (and inaccurate, actually, since we'll have to stay about 16 days, not 14.) If we do leave here on the 9th, my dad will come with us for a week, and then return to the states. If it's later than the 9th, I don't think he can come. But if it's earlier, all the better!
I took Tommy out today for a walk in our double jogging stroller (a consignment sale find). He loved it... and kept talking about how the other seat is for Grace. :-) He's excited to fill that seat, too.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
WOW... LOA!
Well, we had been told by the agency to expect a wait time for our LOA (Letter of Approval) of approximately 2-4 months. Nope. 1 month, 5 days. We got it today! What does that mean? It means that China (CCAA) has now officially reviewed all of our documents from our dossier and has decided that Mike and I are fit for adopting Gracelynn. They gave us the go-ahead! Tomorrow we'll receive paperwork from the agency to fill out. Then in about 2 weeks, we're expected to get Travel Approval (TA). Wow! At that point, we'll work with the travel agency to determine dates of travel and visa application, etc. So, going by the standard timeframes.... 2 weeks till TA.... 6-8 weeks till takeoff after that. So... we're looking at MAY (maybe April or June). I told the kids today.... Grace should be home before school is out. They are really excited!
Of course this good news came with a little sadness and stress too.... one, wow, do we have to get ready with our travel preparations... and two, this trip could easily conflict with my Dad's current plans to travel to Alaska. We talked it over. He asked us not to play around with the dates... just go get our girl. (It would be sad if he cannot join us though... we were really planning on it. But maybe he can organize our trip back to China in another 8-10 years to take Grace back to visit her homeland?)
The agency said that 4 Special Needs families received their LOAs today and that we'll be traveling together. That's nice. I'm not sure where their children are (as in which Province), but we'd fly out together, spend time in Beijing together, and then we'll meet up again in Guangzhou later.)
Oh, on a separate note... we submitted paperwork last week to have our fingerprints retaken (since they will expire April 24) and to "motion" for a new I-171H since we thought that's what we were being told to do. Last Friday, we received the fingerprinting date... next Thursday morning. We also received the receipt in the mail for our "motion" ($$). Today I learned from our case worker that it wasn't necessary. Our current I-171H is just fine. That's great in that we won't have to wait for a new form... but that also means that our check was useless. I'll try sending a letter to request the money back, but I won't hold my breath.
Well, wish us luck. I'll post more as things progress. Soon, we'll be blogging from China.
Of course this good news came with a little sadness and stress too.... one, wow, do we have to get ready with our travel preparations... and two, this trip could easily conflict with my Dad's current plans to travel to Alaska. We talked it over. He asked us not to play around with the dates... just go get our girl. (It would be sad if he cannot join us though... we were really planning on it. But maybe he can organize our trip back to China in another 8-10 years to take Grace back to visit her homeland?)
The agency said that 4 Special Needs families received their LOAs today and that we'll be traveling together. That's nice. I'm not sure where their children are (as in which Province), but we'd fly out together, spend time in Beijing together, and then we'll meet up again in Guangzhou later.)
Oh, on a separate note... we submitted paperwork last week to have our fingerprints retaken (since they will expire April 24) and to "motion" for a new I-171H since we thought that's what we were being told to do. Last Friday, we received the fingerprinting date... next Thursday morning. We also received the receipt in the mail for our "motion" ($$). Today I learned from our case worker that it wasn't necessary. Our current I-171H is just fine. That's great in that we won't have to wait for a new form... but that also means that our check was useless. I'll try sending a letter to request the money back, but I won't hold my breath.
Well, wish us luck. I'll post more as things progress. Soon, we'll be blogging from China.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Fire in China Orphanage
I just learned of a deadly fire in an orphanage in Huizhou City. Grace is in that city, but not that orphanage. Apparently a mosquito coil caught quilts on fire and 8 disabled children died in the fire from smoke inhalation, age 4 and up. When I first saw the post, I panicked! But it was another orphanage. Please pray for speedy paperwork so we can go and get our girl!
I apologize for a lack of posts lately, but our Internet connection is really awful these days. I'll be on for 5 minutes, then it's gone for half the day. The Comcast guy is coming tomorrow.
We are almost done with our paperwork. Looks as though we need to file a motion to redo our I-171H since we are now going with a special needs child. ($$$) We also need to get new fingerprints. We applied for both of those this week. Still waiting to hear back from the USCIS on both. We did, however, finish our homestudy update! YAY! I have it in our possession. It'll be used in China.
Tonight I go to a consignment sale. I'm dropping off a van-full of clothing and toys and doing my "volunteer work" for a few hours. Then, because of that, I get to shop early tomorrow! Wish me luck. I'm hoping to find a double stroller (either a nice Maclaren or such... or a jogging stroller).
Last weekend we "went to the dark side", as one of Mike's co-workers said. We bought a Mac. A Macbook Pro to be exact, so we now officially have a laptop ready to take to China! YAY! However, I'll never be able to look at it without feeling a dull pain in my gut. While we were at the Apple store (and Mike was checking out), I noticed that they had a special on printers. $100 rebate when you also bought the computer. So, we bought a $130 printer/fax/copy combo printer. Our other one was on it's last legs... springs were popping off all the time! For $30, I didn't care if it was the best one on the market... it was only $30. So after we carried the new computer (with a nice little box and handle, carried by one-handed Mike) and the new printer (huge, bulky, heavy, push-in handles blocked by poorly designed foam insert, carried by me!) across the long, long, long mall, we felt we made a good deal (despite my sore arms). It took a couple of days, but I finally got the printer hooked up and set the box aside to deal with the rebate. Somehow, both Mike and I forgot. One of us set it in the garage. I threw the box away with the trash yesterday morning. Yesterday evening, it dawned on me... I needed the UPC code. We now lost our $100. UGH!!! Who would've thought a box would be worth $100.
In any case, we are one step closer to China. Got the laptop and a new super-compact digital camera ready to go.
I apologize for a lack of posts lately, but our Internet connection is really awful these days. I'll be on for 5 minutes, then it's gone for half the day. The Comcast guy is coming tomorrow.
We are almost done with our paperwork. Looks as though we need to file a motion to redo our I-171H since we are now going with a special needs child. ($$$) We also need to get new fingerprints. We applied for both of those this week. Still waiting to hear back from the USCIS on both. We did, however, finish our homestudy update! YAY! I have it in our possession. It'll be used in China.
Tonight I go to a consignment sale. I'm dropping off a van-full of clothing and toys and doing my "volunteer work" for a few hours. Then, because of that, I get to shop early tomorrow! Wish me luck. I'm hoping to find a double stroller (either a nice Maclaren or such... or a jogging stroller).
Last weekend we "went to the dark side", as one of Mike's co-workers said. We bought a Mac. A Macbook Pro to be exact, so we now officially have a laptop ready to take to China! YAY! However, I'll never be able to look at it without feeling a dull pain in my gut. While we were at the Apple store (and Mike was checking out), I noticed that they had a special on printers. $100 rebate when you also bought the computer. So, we bought a $130 printer/fax/copy combo printer. Our other one was on it's last legs... springs were popping off all the time! For $30, I didn't care if it was the best one on the market... it was only $30. So after we carried the new computer (with a nice little box and handle, carried by one-handed Mike) and the new printer (huge, bulky, heavy, push-in handles blocked by poorly designed foam insert, carried by me!) across the long, long, long mall, we felt we made a good deal (despite my sore arms). It took a couple of days, but I finally got the printer hooked up and set the box aside to deal with the rebate. Somehow, both Mike and I forgot. One of us set it in the garage. I threw the box away with the trash yesterday morning. Yesterday evening, it dawned on me... I needed the UPC code. We now lost our $100. UGH!!! Who would've thought a box would be worth $100.
In any case, we are one step closer to China. Got the laptop and a new super-compact digital camera ready to go.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
And still more fabric squares...
Here are a few more squares:
This beautiful Vera Bradley fabric is from Mike's Aunt Judy and Uncle Dick. Christy gets her Vera Bradley purses from Aunt Judy's store all the time! :-)
This pretty pink heart fabric is from the Halls, neighborhood friends. Their one son is in Reagan's class.
This beautiful fan pattern is from Ms. Bateman, a family friend.
This t-shirt fabric is from Daddy. He purchased this t-shirt after watching a choir of orphaned children. This choir helped to spark our interest in adopting a child.
This pretty pink fabric is from the Gibbs family. Their son is also in Reagan's class.
The fabric received to date has now been mailed off to the quilters in Roanoke, VA. If anyone missed the deadline, I will still accept fabric in the months to come. I plan to use any extra squares not fitting in the original quilt and any new squares to make a small doll quilt for Gracelynn. So, if you still want to contribute, feel free!
This beautiful Vera Bradley fabric is from Mike's Aunt Judy and Uncle Dick. Christy gets her Vera Bradley purses from Aunt Judy's store all the time! :-)
This pretty pink heart fabric is from the Halls, neighborhood friends. Their one son is in Reagan's class.
This beautiful fan pattern is from Ms. Bateman, a family friend.
This t-shirt fabric is from Daddy. He purchased this t-shirt after watching a choir of orphaned children. This choir helped to spark our interest in adopting a child.
This pretty pink fabric is from the Gibbs family. Their son is also in Reagan's class.The fabric received to date has now been mailed off to the quilters in Roanoke, VA. If anyone missed the deadline, I will still accept fabric in the months to come. I plan to use any extra squares not fitting in the original quilt and any new squares to make a small doll quilt for Gracelynn. So, if you still want to contribute, feel free!
Another Glitch
We've been told time and again to never expect things to run smoothly. Things will keep getting in the way, but will always work themselves out. This is one of those times.
We have a I-171H (Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition... now I know why they go by form numbers!) Anyway, it basically states that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services accepted our application to bring a child home to the US to raise in our family. It was sent to us in late March 2007. It expires September 21, 2008. In order to be approved, we also had to get fingerprinted through the USCIS. That expires April 24, 2008. (Why is one for 15 months, and the other for 18 months??)
Anyway, we knew we'd have to reapply for new fingerprinting to get an updated I-171H that has a non-expired fingerprint date. No biggie. Planned to do that next month.
However now we just got word that our I-171H needs to be appealed. A new rule through the USCIS says that since we changed from NSN (non-special needs) to SN (special needs), we need to appeal the original decision and pay more $$$ (of course). Ugh. Ok... I understand that things change, and we need to just comply. No sense getting upset over it, but we are highly confused! Our agency case worker doesn't seem to know the specifics behind it and said to contact our social worker (who in the past has usually sent us back to the agency to find out the details). So now we're left with... do we go ahead and request new fingerprints first? Do we wait for our new homestudy and request the new I-171H first? Can we do them simultaneously? Ugh.
On a happier note, the Hollar household is getting ready for a new addition to the family. We're closer to finishing Grace's room. I hung up the pink curtains and painted the pink stripe. The new bedding set arrived (and looks so cute!). I plan to get her name spelled out somehow in letters (like the other three kids have) and put that over the armoire that Nana and PapPap purchased. It's a small room, and yet somehow I couldn't get the photos to really show how good it's looking. So these two photos show most of what's in there. There is also a double closet to the left of the armoire, and a pink-basket 2-shelf unit between the two windows. That's it. I think a big pink flower rug would finish it off nicely. :-)
The boys' room seems to be working well for them (if only they could be more alike and therefore be harmonious living with one another... ha! ) In fact on Freecycle this weekend, I scored 4 valances for their bedroom. All blue and white checkered... so they match their blue, sage, and red room perfectly! A few $5 rods, and now their windows are finally "topped"... only took 4.5 years after moving in to finish them. :-)
And just so we don't forget Reagan, I took a photo of her too. She acquired the curtains that used to be in Tommy's old room. She wanted more blue in her room, so she's got it! :-) We'll have to weave some more blue in there later. Right now it's so PINK!
I'm sure we'll work out all of the paperwork details in plenty of time. I'm just glad we're hearing about this new change now, and not 2 weeks before we need to leave! It's just another hurdle in the neverending mess of paperwork with adoptions.
We have a I-171H (Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition... now I know why they go by form numbers!) Anyway, it basically states that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services accepted our application to bring a child home to the US to raise in our family. It was sent to us in late March 2007. It expires September 21, 2008. In order to be approved, we also had to get fingerprinted through the USCIS. That expires April 24, 2008. (Why is one for 15 months, and the other for 18 months??)
Anyway, we knew we'd have to reapply for new fingerprinting to get an updated I-171H that has a non-expired fingerprint date. No biggie. Planned to do that next month.
However now we just got word that our I-171H needs to be appealed. A new rule through the USCIS says that since we changed from NSN (non-special needs) to SN (special needs), we need to appeal the original decision and pay more $$$ (of course). Ugh. Ok... I understand that things change, and we need to just comply. No sense getting upset over it, but we are highly confused! Our agency case worker doesn't seem to know the specifics behind it and said to contact our social worker (who in the past has usually sent us back to the agency to find out the details). So now we're left with... do we go ahead and request new fingerprints first? Do we wait for our new homestudy and request the new I-171H first? Can we do them simultaneously? Ugh.
On a happier note, the Hollar household is getting ready for a new addition to the family. We're closer to finishing Grace's room. I hung up the pink curtains and painted the pink stripe. The new bedding set arrived (and looks so cute!). I plan to get her name spelled out somehow in letters (like the other three kids have) and put that over the armoire that Nana and PapPap purchased. It's a small room, and yet somehow I couldn't get the photos to really show how good it's looking. So these two photos show most of what's in there. There is also a double closet to the left of the armoire, and a pink-basket 2-shelf unit between the two windows. That's it. I think a big pink flower rug would finish it off nicely. :-)
The boys' room seems to be working well for them (if only they could be more alike and therefore be harmonious living with one another... ha! ) In fact on Freecycle this weekend, I scored 4 valances for their bedroom. All blue and white checkered... so they match their blue, sage, and red room perfectly! A few $5 rods, and now their windows are finally "topped"... only took 4.5 years after moving in to finish them. :-)
And just so we don't forget Reagan, I took a photo of her too. She acquired the curtains that used to be in Tommy's old room. She wanted more blue in her room, so she's got it! :-) We'll have to weave some more blue in there later. Right now it's so PINK!I'm sure we'll work out all of the paperwork details in plenty of time. I'm just glad we're hearing about this new change now, and not 2 weeks before we need to leave! It's just another hurdle in the neverending mess of paperwork with adoptions.
Friday, February 22, 2008
And yet more in the mail...
We have a few more fabric squares to add.
This is from the Christian family, cousins of Mike. Such cheery little bears!
This fabric is from Christy's sorority sister and college roommate, Ms. Jordan. We went to Grove City College, and I'm so excited to have it in the quilt now!
This also is from Ms. Jordan. I remember this shirt from our college days!
This fleecy fabric is from the Straight Family, friends of Mike and Christy. They moved to NC and we miss them, but are so glad to have them in the quilt!
This cute princess puppy fabric is from Christy's great aunt and uncle, the Showmans.
This fabric is from a student in Reagan's class, Ian. Thank you Ian!!
This fabric is from another student in Reagan's class, Ryan! He loves sports, so this is perfect!
And, of course, if any of you know my daughter... this is from Reagan. Fits her perfectly!I believe this puts us at 72 fabric squares so far! I know of one from Mike's aunt that is being mailed, one from a family friend, and I've heard from two church friends promising some... not to mention that Reagan's whole class was invited to participate. (And they were to turn them in today... which was canceled due to snow... so maybe a few will show up on Monday?) I think we'll definitely hit 77. YAY! Thank you everyone! That doesn't mean you can't continue to send in. The first 77 will be in the original large quilt... but I hope to make a smaller doll-size quilt or pillow sham with any more that come in. The original goal was "100 wishes", so I'd love to hit that goal. This will be such a great treasure for Gracelynn to keep.
Almost All of the Fabric now in....
I'm sending in the material on Monday, so I've had a huge influx of fabric these last few days. Here are the newest:
This "panda paw" fabric is from a sorority sister and her husband, the Watsons. (Remember pandas were our sorority mascot.)
This cheerful home is from the Neaveills. Their daughter is in my Brownie troop.
This sweet little-girl fabric is from the Pasqualones. Mrs. Pasqualone assists in leading our Brownie troop.
Uncle Mike and Aunt Jeanne sent this fabric from the bib of my cousin. It was purchased 20+ years ago by my grandparents.
This fabric is from the Hoffmans. They breed and raise Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Mr. Hoffman was our best man in our wedding.
This fabric is from the DeHarts. Mrs. DeHart also assists in leading our Brownie troop.
This gingerbread applique is from the Cockes family, cousins of Mike. It was made by Janine's grandmother.
This fabric is from the Felts, our neighbors. It was used in many projects for Mrs. Felt and her daughter.
This fabric was lovingly chosen by Tommy (our youngest). He wanted to keep it, but eventually was persuaded to give it to Gracelynn.
This fabric was chosen by Ben. How cool... Spongebob! Ben played baseball for a few years.
This "panda paw" fabric is from a sorority sister and her husband, the Watsons. (Remember pandas were our sorority mascot.)
This cheerful home is from the Neaveills. Their daughter is in my Brownie troop.
This sweet little-girl fabric is from the Pasqualones. Mrs. Pasqualone assists in leading our Brownie troop.
Uncle Mike and Aunt Jeanne sent this fabric from the bib of my cousin. It was purchased 20+ years ago by my grandparents.
This fabric is from the Hoffmans. They breed and raise Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Mr. Hoffman was our best man in our wedding.
This fabric is from the DeHarts. Mrs. DeHart also assists in leading our Brownie troop.
This gingerbread applique is from the Cockes family, cousins of Mike. It was made by Janine's grandmother.
This fabric is from the Felts, our neighbors. It was used in many projects for Mrs. Felt and her daughter.
This fabric was lovingly chosen by Tommy (our youngest). He wanted to keep it, but eventually was persuaded to give it to Gracelynn.
This fabric was chosen by Ben. How cool... Spongebob! Ben played baseball for a few years.There are a few fabrics in the wash as I type, so I'll add those soon... including Reagan's choice.
Today is an icky day at the Hollar household. Mike has what we believe is the flu (in addition to a big-ol' splint on his right arm). Christy had some sort of stomach bug for the last 24 hours or so. We're all iced in, so I'm happy. I didn't have to drive anyone anywhere today! If you live close by and haven't given us your fabric yet, I can accept them until Sunday night! Thanks so much to everyone who has donated fabric and written up "good wishes" cards. We really appreciate the love and thought given into these (as well as the postage costs!) I'm sure it'll be something that Gracie will cherish forever.
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