Finally the story behind our LOA. Monday began as any other day. I saw a few LOAs trickling in. Many were less days from LID than typical but none quite as low as ours. I really didn't expect ours would come in but was hoping it would be soon. I thought if ours did come in I wouldn't get the email until late in the day. Imagine my surprise when about 2:45 I checked my email and we had LOA. I was in shock!! Nicholas, my 17 year old, said he had never seen me that way, I was walking around with my mouth wide open repeating over and over again "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, we got our LOA." Thirty Eight days was the least number of days I had ever seen and ours came at 33 days. Yesterday a couple came in at 26 days. That is amazingly fast!
Once the initial shock wore off I announced to all my adoption groups. Didn't even have time to do a creative LOA photo. Lots of paperwork to do. Monday- 2 I800 applications to complete and review and review some more. This were sent via Fedex Tuesday morning along with a copy of our LOAs and additional paperwork to USCIS. Once it reaches our officer she will make sure everything is in line with the previous application and homestudy approves us for the needs of the boys. We have a great officer so I feel confident once it gets to her we will have a quick turnaround. I am concerned our I800s won't make it past the lockbox though. The lockbox checks to make sure all the documents are in order. Ours are but our case is complicated and happens rarely so it may be rejected due to one box that should be yes and no but we could only pick one box. If it is rejected we may lose some time. Our officer doesn't think it will be but I really think it will be returned to us. Time will tell. Tuesday- the boys visa applications. Seems simple but we had to keep redoing them. Wednesday-gathering paperwork for our new post placement agency since the last one closed. Another added stress because I am afraid somehow it is going to slowdown our process.
If you remember the plan I posted last week I said my plan was to leave on June 13. Since we received our LOA so quickly I am now adjusting my plan to leaving May 23 with a slight possibility of May 16. Of course if we have problems with our I800 getting through the lockbox my plan will be adjusted again.
I love when God laughs at our plans and they are far better than I could imagine. Even though we still may have a delay with our I800 application his plan was far greater than mine. I would be even more stressed if we hadn't received our LOA so early. At least now I know worse case we would be traveling on my old plan.
Now the reason it took me so long to do LOA photos. I had to consult with my creative team(Zachary) and he had a busy week at school. Finally last night he was able to decorate cakes for me and help me take photos. I think he did an excellent job. I told him we need to plan ahead for TA so we can post the photo right away.
Giving all these worries to God. It is out of my control and I need to trust in him.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Post Coming Soon
A post is coming soon. Just don't have time to get it together. Too much paperwork the last couple of days. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish some things up and post.
I will say God is good all the time! His plan is far better than mine, more than I could have possibly imagined!
Ephesians 3:20
I will say God is good all the time! His plan is far better than mine, more than I could have possibly imagined!
Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Day 32 and Names Chosen
Day 32 - We should be at least halfway there. For my plan to work we need to be more than halfway there. LOA really needs to come before the end of March. Time will tell.
We finally chose names for the boys. Jacob Nathaniel is named after my mom, Jacqueline and Caleb Jonathan is named after my Aunt Joanne, my mom's twin sister. We decided on Jonathan because we knew we wanted a Jo name after my Aunt and it sounded the best with Caleb. Jonathan was one of the names we originally did not like but after discussing it more we changed our minds. I suggested Nathaniel because I like the name and it was a 3 syllable name like Jonathan. Dallas liked it. I didn't even realize until later when I wrote the names one below the other that both names have Nathan in them.
I know I posted these photos but since they are 2 of my favorites I am posting them again.
Jacob Nathaniel
Caleb Jonathan
We finally chose names for the boys. Jacob Nathaniel is named after my mom, Jacqueline and Caleb Jonathan is named after my Aunt Joanne, my mom's twin sister. We decided on Jonathan because we knew we wanted a Jo name after my Aunt and it sounded the best with Caleb. Jonathan was one of the names we originally did not like but after discussing it more we changed our minds. I suggested Nathaniel because I like the name and it was a 3 syllable name like Jonathan. Dallas liked it. I didn't even realize until later when I wrote the names one below the other that both names have Nathan in them.
I know I posted these photos but since they are 2 of my favorites I am posting them again.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
LOA Wait- Day 20
Just waiting...
Did find out yesterday our homestudy agency is closing their doors Friday. Not a huge surprise since their primary program was Russia. With Russia closing their doors we didn't think they would be able to hold on much longer. Hopefully we won't be out of the money we had to prepay to them for post placement visits before bringing Alyssa home. Tried to call today but they aren't answering the phones...no surprise there either. It is what it is.
The hassle is now we have to find a new homestudy agency to do Alyssa's 4 remaining post placement visits and the boys' visits. Our agency makes us prepay all the homestudy visits before we can bring the boys home. Guess we better get on it.
Good news is our dossier is in China and our homestudy agency closing won't have any effect on the boys' adoption. Thank goodness we weren't still in the homestudy process. That would have been a nightmare.
So while we wait here are a couple of photos. These aren't my favorite photos but it is interesting that they look so different from each in other. In all the other photos we have they look alike.
Did find out yesterday our homestudy agency is closing their doors Friday. Not a huge surprise since their primary program was Russia. With Russia closing their doors we didn't think they would be able to hold on much longer. Hopefully we won't be out of the money we had to prepay to them for post placement visits before bringing Alyssa home. Tried to call today but they aren't answering the phones...no surprise there either. It is what it is.
The hassle is now we have to find a new homestudy agency to do Alyssa's 4 remaining post placement visits and the boys' visits. Our agency makes us prepay all the homestudy visits before we can bring the boys home. Guess we better get on it.
Good news is our dossier is in China and our homestudy agency closing won't have any effect on the boys' adoption. Thank goodness we weren't still in the homestudy process. That would have been a nightmare.
So while we wait here are a couple of photos. These aren't my favorite photos but it is interesting that they look so different from each in other. In all the other photos we have they look alike.
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