Merry Christmas!

     We're in Mississippi for Christmas!  It's wonderful to see familiy and friends!
We got an email today, saying that Raeanna had received her care package!  I can't believe she got it in time for Christmas!  The post office said it would get there December 28th, but it arrived on the 24th.  Great timing!
    Yesterday, our agency called to tell us that the orphanage wants to do surgery on Raeanna's hand. They needed to know if we wanted them to proceed.  We decided to give the go ahead, and in the email we received to let us know she had gotten the package this morning, they said she was in the hospital  awaiting the surgery. Wow!  They move fast when they decide to do something.  It'll probably be sometime this evening when we're celebrating Christmas Eve and it's Christmas morning there. I'm glad she'll have her gifts for afterwards.  Please pray for her.
   I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and make many blessed memories as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Orientation by Phone

This morning I had an orientation with our caseworker by phone.  She went over everything that we need for the dossier and how we go about getting the proper forms and authentications.  It's interesting and overwhelming.  In Kentucky,  the county clerk has to verify that the notary public is authorized to notarize.  Then, the Secretary of the state of Kentucky has to verify that the county clerk is legitimate.  Then, Hillary Clinton's office has to verify that the KY Secretary of State is legitimate and the Ch*nese Consulate has to verify it all.  This has to be done for many documents, so you can why it takes a while. We're moving ahead as quickly as we can.  The caseworker estimated that it would probably be between July and September before we could travel to get our little girl.  I was really hoping we'd make it by May, but once all of this is done,  then there is a wait for different stages in Ch*na to be completed.  It's beginning to come together, though, and my agency is wonderful. We're going to get there as soon as we can.

Our First Care Package to Raeanna!

We were finally able to send Raeanna her first care package.  We were waiting on the photo book. It took 2 weeks longer than it was supposed to take to get here, so it delayed us.  The US Post Office said it would be there by December 28th.  I wanted it there by Christmas, but I didn't want to send it without the pictures. It has the photo book, backpack, a My Little Pony toy, a little doll, a card with a picture of us and my voice recorded on it, 2 cameras for them to take pictures of her, a blanket, a little blanket bear, cookies, candy for her and the nannies, crayons & coloring books, and animal crackers for the other children. I hope they take pictures of her getting it. 

We also had our 2 homestudy visit today. 

Today, all 5 of us were interviewed by the social worker.  Now, we're off to the mall to experience all of the hustle and bustle.

1st Homestudy Visit

Our first visit from our homestudy social worker went well.  We showed her the house and gave her the information she needed about the room  that will be Raeanna's bedroom. We signed a few forms and went over the other forms we'll need.  Bob and I both have to write an autobiography and email it to her by Thursday.  I always gave my World History students an assignment on the first day of school. They were supposed to write an autobiography, and write about their influences, and where they hoped the future would take them. The table has turned!  It's my turn now!  It's hard to write about yourself!

The night before the homestudy, I was finishing the dishes and I looked down to see suds pouring at my feet on the floor.  I screamed for Bob to come help me, and we cleaned up the floor and emptied the cabinet under the sink to clean it. Then, we realized water was pouring from the other side and had reached the carpet.The drain pipe was loose.  At 11:00, the night before the homestudy,  we had to pull up the carpet and cut out the padding. We dried the carpet with fans overnight.  Bob ran to the store to get padding the next morning, and we had it all fixed by the time the social worker arrived at 11:00am the next day. Phew!! She never even knew it happened; not that it would've really mattered anyway. I guess we just had to have a little extra excitement!

I'll be gathering lots of paperwork, after I get the autobiography done. We will need child abuse clearances from every state we've lived in since the age of 18.  Katey will also need them, since she's here often. We'll need reference letters and proof of just about everything.  We'll get some of it done while we're in Mississippi over the holidays, such as bank letters and proof of accounts. I will also be mailing a care package to Raeanna, as soon as the photo book I ordered gets here.  I'll post later with a picture of what's in the package.
Please keep us in your prayers.

Homestudy!

We have our first homestudy visit this Saturday! Can you guess what I've been doing? Cleaning the house! They say it doesn't matter much, but of course, I'll feel better if it is nice, neat, and clean. I got a cd from our agency of all of the paperwork requirements. There are requirements specifically for the dossier and others, with some overlapping for the homestudy. I printed mounds of papers to fill out. I'm going to be very, very busy over the next couple of weeks! I also need to get our Christmas cards done and shop. I'll manage somehow. I always do! The faster I get everything done, the sooner we go to Ch*na! Hopefully, the government offices will work fast, too!