Friday, October 29, 2010

Dossier is on its way!

We received our approval from USCIS yesterday!  Many many thanks for your prayers.

Randell went to Austin this morning to have all the papers apostille, and we mailed our dossier (adoption packet) today. We met the time line for mailing the paperwork! It was surreal to think that in that box, that contained 33 different documents, was the future of a little boy across the world and the dream of a son for us. 

The dossier should arrive on Wednesday.  Then it will take about 5-10 more days for it to be translated and submitted to their government. This will depend on how many other dossier are being translated.  Also, Thursday is the only day that the SDA accepts dossiers in the country we are adopting from.  Please pray that everything is accurate and that we do not need to redo any papers.

Once our dossier is submitted, based on what we have seen from other families, it takes 2-4 weeks to receive a travel date. We would love to be able to travel early in December and have him home by new year or soon after.  This would be a very tight schedule, but God can make it happen.

As the time to travel approaches, we need your prayers and support to reach our goal of $25,000. If your are able to provide any financial support, please click on our donation picture button at the top of the page.

With GOD all things are possible! He has guided us throughout this process and has opened the doors to move forward.  Thank you for your continue prayers and support to bring Grady home.

Friday, October 22, 2010

We have a fingerprint date!

Update of Process:
We have been waiting for over three weeks to be assigned to a social worker who would take our case at the USCIS.  Randell would call 2-3 times a week.  Randell's uncle helped us to get in touch with our senator by sending an email with our story.  We are so thankful for his help.

Finally, this week, during one of Randell's calls the social worker who answered took our case.  Thank you Lord for putting that call in her heart!  She told us that we would receive an email with our fingerprint appointment in a couple of days, and it would also be sent in the mail.  Yahoo!

We receive the email and the earliest available date is Nov. 17th.  Oh NO...heart sinks...we will not make it in time.  SO, we decide to just show up and camp out all day at the Dallas office in hope of getting our fingerprints.  Although they don't take walk-ins, we decide to take our chances.

Randell send our social worker an email explaining our story, and early this morning she calls.  We have a new appointment...Tuesday, Oct 26!!!!!!!  God is so good to us!

My husband has been amazing throughout this process.  He has done so much running around to get paperwork done, and he has not taken "no" for an answer.  If you know Randell, you know how hard it is for him to be that "pushy".  I am so thankful for the man I married.  We usually laugh at weddings or movies when people make their speeches with words like "you're my best friend or you complete me." But...the truth is that he really is my best friend and we do make a good team.  When he reads this, it will make him gag.  : )

I have been tearing up all day from the overwhelming feeling of thanksgiving.  We once again have hope of submitting our dossier in time.  Please pray that our approval will come quickly and that the dossier will not have any errors.  My hope is to hold our little boy before Christmas.  My dream is to have him home by the end of the year.

Fundraising Update:
Between our savings and the gracious donations of friends and family members, we have about $15,000 raised towards the cost of our adoption.  We only need about $10,000 more. 

Prayer Request:
Please pray with us that the remainder of this process will move quickly, and that we will have sufficient funds.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Garage Sale Success!

Our morning started at 4:00 am, because we had so many items to set up.  Last night we had spent hours sorting and preparing, and I am so glad we did.  Our family, Sunday school class, and my in-laws church donating so many items.  My husband's aunt also set us up with a bank bag with start up cash.  THANK YOU, it was one less thing to prepare and it was very generous!
 It was a perfect day to do it.  There were garage sales everywhere, including one at a nearby park.  This allowed a lot of people to see our signs.  It was a garage sale frenzy.  We had non-stop customers from   7:00 am - 2:00 pm. and we sold almost everything.  Amazing!

Besides purchases, we had family members, coworkers, neighbors, another RR family who came to meet us, and "strangers" who donated along with their purchases.  What a blessing!  THANK YOU!!!!!  I am truly overcome with gratitude! 
We could not have done it all without the help of my mother-in-law and my sister.  They worked tirelessly!   Thank you!!!!!
 I am also so thankful for my husband!  He worked until he could no longer move.  God touched his heart first when we started on this journey, and I will need to tell that piece of the story later. 

Now for what you have all been waiting for.   

The GRAND TOTAL towards the cost of the adoption was...
$1,743!!  
To God be the glory!!!! 

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Garage Sale!

I am so thankful for our family and friends! We had planned on having a garage sale this weekend, but decided to postpone it one more week. Last week there were several friends and family members donating items, and we needed time to sort and prepare. Then my sister (who is a real estate agent) was selling a house, and the sellers did not want a bunch of stuff. Friday, my husband picked up 3 truck loads! What an unexpected blessing! Our garage is packed, and it has spilled out unto our covered patio. THANK YOU to our friends and family for all the donations!!!
My sister came over yesterday and helped me to start sorting, and Friday my mother-in-law is coming to help prepare. There is a lot of good stuff! I had to make some very difficult decision as we prepared for this garage sale. Giving up all of my teaching materials and 1000+ children books, and sorting through my daughter's baby clothes to decide which to sale was physically painful. I felt like the people on that T.V. show, Hoarders. My heart is still aching over it, but collecting enough funds to bring Grady home is more important than keeping a bunch of dusty "memories".

If you live in our area (Allen, TX), please join us for our Bring Grady Home Garage Sale on Saturday, October 9th at our house. Email us if you need our address.