For those of you who did not hear my screams of joy or see my cartwheels Tuesday morning, trust me they were happening! Yes, yes, the FBI does like us and after four months we have our paperwork back saying, wait for it... We aren't criminals! Yaaay! The worst thing either of us has ever done is had one or two, maybe three… Nevermind… Speeding tickets.
Because of the installation of a new IT system at their offices in West Virginia in September, fingerprint cards mailed to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services are taking twice as long to process. Fortunately, the folks there were so nice and helpful every time I called… Almost every week for the past month.
What does this mean? This means our home study (which is an assessment of whether Kevin and I are suitable to adopt) is complete once we submit copies of our FBI background checks to All God’s Children (with link), our adoption agency.
What happens next? Glad you asked! Next, we have to apply to Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for advanced processing. Because we are adopting from a country that’s part of the Hague Convention, we submit our I-800a form, along with a copy of our home study, to the National Benefit Center (NBC, but not the TV station!) which is the department of USCIS that handles paperwork for adoption from Hague Convention countries. Basically, we have to get another approval from our government saying it's OK that we adopt. It takes about 60-90 days to get the certificate of approval back from the NBC.
Obviously, God is laughing because He's wisely putting an impatient girl through a process that requires a supreme amount of patience. The "silver lining" in all this is we can submit our I-800a form to the NBC and simultaneously have our dossier translated into Bulgarian, because review and translation of our dossier ALSO takes 60-90 days.
Obviously, God is laughing because He's wisely putting an impatient girl through a process that requires a supreme amount of patience. The "silver lining" in all this is we can submit our I-800a form to the NBC and simultaneously have our dossier translated into Bulgarian, because review and translation of our dossier ALSO takes 60-90 days.
We are getting there… In the meantime, we also had a snow day on Tuesday, or rather an “ice day,” which meant lots of fun sledding on the hills under the power lines across the street. Then, we had some of our amazing students from New River Church who live in our neighborhood over to hang out. Chlo wanted to paint, so we got a big piece of paper and painted all over it. The little girls painted houses and the big girls got festive. We painted pirates, faces and info about the Pirate Dash. My family is so blessed have such great encouragers and supporters of all ages!
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our lovely lovely painting
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This is the last week to get a shirt with your registration for the Pirate Dash 5K! We have a fun group of people ready to dress up like pirates and run, and also some serious runners and walkers! We’re looking forward to it! If you haven't registered, GET REGISTERED here! Who doesn't love a good pirate dress up day? After today, I'm pretty sure we’re gonna paint mustaches on the kids at the 5K who want one and maybe some of adults as well! :)
Some new sponsors have joined the Pirate Dash! Lake Wylie Bowl N Bounce, Bright Eyes and Bushy Tails, Lake Wylie Pharmacy, Vitamins 4 Less, Road ID, Unified Creationz and a supporting family who would like to remain anonymous! The support from the community has been amazing! I was even interviewed for an article in the local paper, The Lake Wylie Pilot!
For a little fun here's a video of the girls sledding right in to me!!
For a little fun here's a video of the girls sledding right in to me!!
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