Mr. Lockbox at USCIS

Dear Mr. Lockbox at USCIS,

Tomorrow two applications should be scanned, given a receipt date, and sent on to Missouri.  Please don't reject us!  We promise we are right even though it may appear we are wrong.  If you let us get to Missouri it will all be straightened out there.  If you could kindly send a text to the people that filled us out as soon as possible it would be greatly appreciated.   They are on pins and needles waiting.

There are two little boys in China that having been waiting a long time for a family and a family waiting impatiently to bring them home.  They love them so very much and need this part to go smoothly.  If you reject us it could delay their meeting by weeks.  Please don't allow this to happen.

Please..please..please..Mr. Lockbox!

Thank You,

Two I800 Applications that so desperately want to make it Missouri

Jiaozuo CWI, Henan, China

This is where our boys have spent the first 3 years of their life.  Hard to believe within a few months we will be there.  I am going to request to visit their orphanage.  It would be wonderful to meet the ladies who have taken such good care of our boys.

Very Possible Change of Plans

That I800 form is haunting me.  I do believe it is going to rejected at the lockbox.  This wouldn't be that big of a deal but it can take weeks before you even know it is rejected.  We can't resubmit the form until we know it has been rejected.  Our only chance is if they push the application through but send the money back.  We owe the money and it is the correct amount but they may think otherwise.  Even this will slow down our process but not near as much.  Everyone else who had an application that reached the lockbox and sent in the text notification form has received their text.  We have not.  Not a good sign at all.

Thank goodness we received our LOA so quickly.  I am already sick to my stomach thinking about this.  If it had happened later it would have been much worse because it could have ruined any chance of travel during the summer.

So we wait....

God May be Laughing at My Plans

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.

As of 3/11/13 we have...

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

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,

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