Quick Fundraiser

We are still waiting on a signature... so while we continue to wait...

My friend has offered her commission if I host a scentsy party.  It's the first Sunday in November at our church... but the good news is you can order now ONLINE!  

And if you order today or tomorrow, they are having an awesome sale!!!  Like TOTALLY Awesome!

I just bought 6 items for under $40!!  Woo Hoo!  Christmas presents and a couple other gifts for other people.

Here is the link:

https://kimgreinkeschafer.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Home?partyId=204376592

Make sure you are shopping for "Little Z's Fundraiser"  

Isn't this cool!  This is a total Win-Win!

Order your scentsy stuff today and help bring our little man home!!!

Thanks.

While we wait for a signature

Waiting for a signature... Our article 5 is submitted so all that's left is we wait.  And wait...

Waiting can be a little fun.  We are preparing for our little boy.  Preparing is REALLY fun and it makes it so real :-).

Want to see how we are preparing??

Well, first...

Every little boy traveling to America needs some luggage.

And he will need a car seat to ride in.  I'm sorta (well really) excited that I will have a rear facing child again!  At 8 years old no less.  I think I may have hit the record :-)

And of course he needs a helicopter to remind him of his trip to the USA!

And as soon as he hits American soil, he needs a shirt to remind him that he becomes an "All American Boy"

Then, in order to fit into our family, he needs fire shirts.  Boys in our family wear fire shirts so they can match their daddy!

 (I love that this one says, "Mom's little Hero!"

And as we prepare to paint his room, he needs new bedding to match the light blue walls.

My awesome friend gave us some clothes!  We are figuring on 2T and 3T sizes.  I think 2T will fit in the waist, but 3T might be better in the length.  He's kinda a tall, skinny little dude!

And although we plan to do cloth, my friend also gave me some diapers that her son outgrew!  These are size 6 so it will be a little while before he fits into them.  Hopefully by next summer.  We figure it will take him a good year to get adjusted and to learn how to go like a big boy.  His world is going to be turned upside down and I am not going to push this right away.

And finally... This is the shirt he will wear home on the airplane.  I think it's TOTALLY perfect!

Bring on the signature and COURT DATE!!  WE ARE READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the winner is...

Ron and Margie Stolk!  Sorry it took so long to announce it on here.  For some reason I thought I already blogged about the final puzzle drawing.  Thanks for all who contributed.  My dad will glue the pieces together soon and we will display it for all to see how LOVED our little Z is!

It has been 4 weeks since we first laid our eyes on our son.  4 weeks since we got to see him and hold him for the first time.  The past 4 weeks have been the longest 4 weeks of my life.  But the good news is... a month down in the wait to bring him home.  

Many people have asked me, "What's next?"  "How long?"  "What's the process?"

What's next?...

The Wednesday after we got back from our trip (Sept 18th), we had a letter stating that the United States have approved him to immigrate into this country!  This is called our i800 approval.  This was then sent to the embassy in Z's country.  The following Friday (Sept 27th), our lawyers in his country attended a meeting on our behalf and our article 5 was issued at that meeting.  

Two BIG steps done two weeks after we said goodbye to him!  

Now our Article 5 have been translated and will sit on the MOJ's desk for a signature saying they approve us to proceed.  The MOJ could sign this week or she could sign weeks from now.  It's very hard telling.  Our hope is that she will sign quickly.  That's what we are praying for.  

After signature, we will wait for a court date.  This is the FINAL step.  Court... which will happen on our behalf while we are sleeping.  When court happens we will wake up, hopefully with news that we have a new son!  Then approximately 5 weeks later, we get to go rescue him and bring him home forever!

The process between trips is approximately 3-6 months, usually closer to 4-6. (we've been told.). One month down so now we have 3-5 months left :-).  Counting down!  The wait is VERY hard.

One thing that could slow the whole process down that is 100% beyond our control.  We need an updated FBI clearance for court.  We mailed our fingerprint on September 16th... right when we got back. These usually take 5 weeks to process and another 1 week to get federally appostilled, then sent to his country.  Everything was fine with the time frame... UNTIL OUR GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN!  Yes, not all of our government shut down... but of course THIS part of the government is no longer working.  We got our first FBI clearances back in March, (for court we are told they have to be within 6 months).  That is why we need an update. 

We are not losing hope though... there is still a possibility that we can pass court without the updates.  I've seen cases pass without the second set of updated clearances.  It just depends on the judge we get.  Please pray that our lawyers can explain this to the judge or that this part of our government will start processing these again and we can get them back in time for court.  We have no clue when court will be so the sooner we get these back, the better. We have placed this in God's hands and know that everything will work on in His perfect timing.  No sense in getting upset over things we can't control. 

I find it very ironic that Z's country has a government slowdown and now we do.  Not many can say that both governments slowed down during their adoption process!

Thanks for your continued prayers.  We are working on another fundraiser and I will announce it soon.  

   Soon little guy, very soon we will take you home forever!!