ah-ha! technology!

the hubs called our agency today to follow up on luke-dude's dossier, since there was something askew with his progress and their tracking of it.

it turns out, our agency is AMAZING!

when the computer system the CCCWA (department of China that oversees and processes adoptions) uses was upgraded recently, a small bug occurred. families that were already in process with one child and were adding on another--the two children's files were not being linked making it appear the family for the second child was starting from scratch--and that they did not have a lot of the other documents (because they were linked to child #1). this doesn't bode well for them reviewing child #2's dossier (whenever they get to it, since it's not a priority and is pushed to the back of the line). as soon as our agency discovered this "bug" was causing our delay (and two other families') the assistant director FLEW OUT TO CHINA! to follow up and work with them. she will be there through next week, pushing for them to do us and the other two families manually. i cannot tell you what a relief it is to know your agency cares so much they are actually in country to follow up until the issue is resolved.

our case worker and the assistant director are still assuring us we should be in China with our children by the last week of May. hooray!


here's a picture of luke pushing lucy away--what a perfect little brother he is ;)

we wait for you

We're still waiting on our LOA from China (when all our documents for Luke have been reviewed and they give us the big "thumbs up!").

We were hoping it would be super fast, which would be by the end of March (our dossier for Luke-dude was received in China on March 2nd). If this happens, we'll be able to likely travel at the end of May. Hooray!

We dream of what it will be like when we are there, finally together as a family. We look at TripAdvisor recommended activities and wee picture us, as a family of 4, touring the zoo together, having family dinners tougher and eating street dumplings together.  There was also a zoo recommended, but they have clowns, so--NO!

i wish that donkey would kick him really hard!

the only way i could be happy seeing these clowns like this is if they fell. 

I'm so desperate to embrace my children.

Please continue to pray with us for quick approval of Luke-dude's documents, and quick turnaround for his Immigration and visa approval. <3

Until then, here's a few cute picture of them as itty-bitties! :) 

because it matters to this one

this is "clarice"

isn't she precious. oh, and her smile--it could light up a room from a hundred thousand miles away. she has such a beautiful soul, such a joy, such a light in her eyes. so much hope CAN lie ahead for her. all she needs is a family; but, her time is running out. :( 

when she turns 16 in july, she will no longer be adoptable. 

poof! her chance of every having a family, a safe environment to live and grow in, to experience love and a mother's touch and embrace--gone. she will be transferred to an "institution" where on average, children live less than a year once there. the neglect is unimaginable, and it takes it's toll--on these precious soul's.  

but, there's hope for her. YOU. you are her hope. 

there are so many loving families whose only hinderance to adopting is money. the average adoption (depending on the country) total fees span from $22,000 to $38,000; but, this is what makes Reece's Rainbow so amazing! the most vulnerable and most over-looked children are given a better chance of finding a family because the financial burden is eliminated, or at least lifted.  clarice has over $21,000 in her grant. that means her adoption is PAID FOR! the only fees a family would need to front would be their home study (or home study update) and USCIS fees, these are minimal, and likely from $2,000-$3000. and honestly, if a family committed to clarice and had to begin the process form scratch, they could set up a gofundme account and have a community (including my husband and i) rally around them to even help with that small amount. 

that seems so soon--july! but, there is enough time! luckily, only certain paperwork needs to be filed for her before her 16th birthday--you don't actually have to be in country picking her up by her 16th birthday, so, it is VERY feasible to give her the promise of a family in time! 

you can read more about her by clicking at the end of this post. if you would like more information on the process of adopting sweet clarice, contact debbie@reecesrainbow.org.

even if you cannot pursue her adoption, please share this post, so that someone may see it and they would be her forever mommy and daddy! we cannot let her light slip away, she has too much hope within her. 

***unfortunately, this is one of the few countries/areas single women cannot adopt from, but they are open to older parents (empty nesters!) and large families. :) 

clarice's grant page