LADYBUG TEA AND AUCTION

Chloe and I attended an adoption grant fundraiser this last Saturday. It was the fourth annual Ladybug Tea and Silent Auction and our second time attending. We had just started on our adoption journey about 2 months before we attended last May. We applied for one of their adoption grants last year and found out the beginning of July that we had been chosen to receive one! It was a huge blessing and we we were so thrilled and thankful beyond words. They asked if I would speak at the tea this year and share how we started on our journey and how God has provided for us as we've stepped out in obedience to His call for us to adopt. I felt so honored and was thankful for the opportunity not only to say thank you for the grant that we received last year, but to put a face out there to all of the people there spending their money on items that will go towards grants for others too. Chloe and I had a really good time too and the food was yummy!!!

A CARE PACKAGE TO GRACIE

We mailed a care package to Gracie on Thursday, May 10th. This is a picture of all the items that we sent to her. The Washington Cougars t-shirt is for the orphanage director (it is highly suggested to send gifts and sporting teams clothing is a suggestion for males there). The photo album has a picture of Gracie in the middle of the star on the front and then a bunch of pictures of all of us inside. This was a gift for her foster family but we definitely pray that they look through it with her a lot so that she will at least recognize us when we go to pick her up. The pink teddy bear is of course for Gracie but will be kept at the orphanage for the other children when she leaves. The tootsie rolls are a gift for the older children in the orphanage. And the two-pack disposable cameras are the only thing we are expecting but not sure if we will get back when we go to pick her up. We requested that they take pictures of her with her foster family, friends, the city, etc. but there is no guarantee that they will or that we will get them back. Our agency suggested that we sleep with the teddy bear for a few nights so that it would absorb our scent and this could dramatically help in the bonding/attachment process when we get her. Since the album was cloth on the outside we slept with that too. We bought doubles of the teddy bear & album, since we will not get the ones we sent back, and will bring them with us to give to her when we pick her up (she will not be any the wiser that they aren't the ones that she's (hopefully) had for the last two months! But someday we will explain it to her.....) We love you Gracie and can't wait to have you in our arms!!!

WAITING FOR OUR "LOA" FROM CHINA

Our agency sent our "LOI," which stands for letter of intent, on April 10th and it arrived in China on April 12th. This document states we are requesting to adopt Gracie and are aware of her mild heart stenosis. When the CCAA, China Center of Adoptions, received it they went and pulled our dossier (official documents that took us & the U.S. from March '06 to August '06 to put together). Every family's dossier, and there are about 20,000 in China currently, has to be given a "logged in" date of when it arrived, then translated, then reviewed, then matched to a child, then give families their referrals in order of when their "log in" date was. Well, our dossier was logged in 9/20/06 and translated shortly after but then has been sitting in a room waiting in line to be reviewed (CCAA is only through reviewing dossiers through 3/31/06). But good news! Since we switched from the "non-special needs" program to the "special needs"/waiting child program then we don't have to wait in the same line for our dossier to get reviewed and then wait again for our referral since we've already received our "referral"! Like I said earlier, when they received our "LOI" they went and pulled our dossier to be reviewed ASAP. It may still be in a line along with other family's dossiers whose baby/child was on a waiting child list too but it is a much shorter line. The average wait time right now for reviewing "special needs" dossiers is about 2 to 3 months from the time they receive the "LOI".
Once they finish reviewing our dossier then they will send our agency our "LOA" which stands for letter of approval. If they have any questions or need more info when they are reviewing our dossier then it could take longer but we are praying for our "LOA" as close to the 2 month mark as possible! This would be around mid-June and then we have to sign it and send it back. Then we will wait again for China to give us permission to travel but this only takes between 1 to 3 weeks to receive. Then, our agency will set up our consulate appointment for the soonest opening they have and our travel will be based around the available appointment. Whew!!! What a process!!!! But we know she is well worth all the work and the wait!!! Realistically, the soonest we can hope to be traveling is around mid-July which would be great! But we just have to keep waiting and be ready to jump on that plane which is what we are trying to do right now. Thank you for all your prayers and please keep them up for us and our sweet Gracie.