Round 5...yep, more paperwork. I live for it! (updated with a video clip)

Well, as promised, we received another round of paperwork. This group of documents included paperwork required by the United States Homeland Security including the I-800, a copy of the signed Letter of Acceptance form that we received from China and a few other forms including our signed Letter of Intent. As well as a U.S. Government document which will help Zoe become a U.S. Citizen as soon as she arrives in the United States.  All of this paperwork had to be completed and received no later than February 2nd. So we beat the deadline...I am hoping that submitting early pushes our time lines up just a bit... 

The few things I have learned throughout this process regarding paperwork is as follows:

1. Get as organized as possible and understand what is needed and whom it needs to go to.

2. Plan to spend several hours reviewing the paperwork. 
3. Try to do all the paperwork at once if possible. or it will drive you crazy.
4. Get it done early as possible...don't put it off.
5. Check and double check to make sure you have completed everything they are asking for.
6. Make copies of everything you do.
7. Mail it off using a mailing service that can track your documents until it reached it's desired destination.
8. Make sure you have plenty of cold beers on hand.

So, I had two packets of information to mail out on Thursday and Friday. I have become great friends several of the United States Postal Workers...they have seen me there so often they call me by my name when I come in...and I get first class service.  One packet went to Holt International, our adoption agency who will hold them until they need to be submitted. We sent them one of the most important documents, the original signed Letter of Acceptance (LOA).  This document not only indicates that the People's Republic of China have accepted us as adoptive parents but we (Sonja & I) accept Zoe as our child. This was a huge milestone.  So what does that mean...  well I am guessing that we are probably 8-12 weeks away from traveling to China and picking up Zoe. So, once we signed the Letter of Acceptance there is not turning back.  However, we never have second guessed our decision. Very exciting...I even think Nathaniel is getting excited...that is when he has time to think about it at all.  As long as it doesn't get in the way of his schedule he should be fine.

So, the next step his to secure our I-800 tentative approval from Homeland Security, cross our fingers we provided them everything they needed. Knock on wood, we will hear back from them within 2-3 weeks. Once we secure this approval we can begin working on our visa's to travel to China. 

Finally...here is a video clip we received from China of Zoe Ann (Wen Jia Si Ruo).  From my understanding parents going through the adoptive process do not get a lot of pictures of their child and rarely get video's. Bonnie who works for Holt International indicated that a video was a "gift"! So we thought we would share one of our "gifts" with you....



 Well, that's the latest for now.  Thanks for spending some time with us....

With mixed emotions...

This has been a long and emotional week. It's amazing how weeks and months can go by and rarely anything changes and in a matter of a week your world gets tossed all around.  It started late last week when our son was competing to make his Varsity Wrestling team at his middle school.  He has worked so hard to be competitive and has watched his weight so he could remain at 105 pounds at the dismay of both his parents.  Quite honestly, neither of us understand why he enjoys wrestling. Anyhow, he had to wrestle a number of boys to determine whether he would make Varsity or Junior Varsity.  Although we are not crazy about the sport we wanted him to get varsity since he wanted it so bad.  We were a nervous wreck until he finally shared he made varsity...Woo hoo! Now the stress is off...so we thought...He was so excited he called his grandpa in Bellevue to let him know.

That same evening my wife was working and I had received a call from Holt International, our adoption agency. They informed us that China has officially approved us as adoptive parents.  This was a huge hurdle and very exciting news.  The phone call from Holt was almost one year from the day when we originally applied for adoption...how ironic.  Holt also called Sonja and left a message on her cell phone so I called her to let her know.  She was so excited.  So, we are waiting for some paperwork that we should reecive today including the USCIS I-800.  This form determines the child's eligibility for classification as a Hague Convention adoptee. The petition is filed by the U.S. Citizen prospective adoptive parent to finalize the immigration process of a child who habitually resides in a Convention country. So...hopefully we can get the document completed and sent on its way. So, one step closer to Zoe.

Nathaniel also wrestles for the city club team, the Bellevue Bulldogs.  On Saturday, I took him to the "open" wrestling tournament and he won the tournament in his age group and weight class. Now for many boys on his team, that is not such a big deal as they are much more experienced.  It was a great win as one of the boys he wrestled is a very good wrestler so it was a great day.

Nathaniel wins all his wrestling matches for the day!

So, we had so many things to be happy about...we were going over to my parents house to visit with my father and see my mother who has been ill...my father was working to get inhome hospice in place to help him help her.  The lady from hospice was very nice and it made me feel good that they were their to help take care of my mothers needs. After an spending some time over there we left for the evening.  The next morning I got up early to blow the snow off the driveway as we had gotten more snow than predicted.  A few minutes after I had come in...it was freezing and I needed to warm up my hands.  My father called to let me know my mother had passed. It was a huge surprise. I miss my mother... a lot...tearing up thinking about it. She would be thrilled to hear about Nathaniels accomplishments and our progress closer to Zoe.

Mom...Day Captain at the Henry Doorly Zoo! She loved working at the Zoo...

Until next time...