Golden Ticket

Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! We had heard that the average time to bring a child home from Susan's country is 7 months but that it is also possible to happen in 4. It still may be early to celebrate but we may be able to do it 4! As much as the paper chasing was time consuming and frustrating, it all came together pretty quickly. We only had a couple of snags but those were always resolved pretty quickly too. Once I mailed the docs to the USCIS (United States Customs and Immigration Services) and had all of the other docs apostilled at the state capital, remember the $650 bill, a huge weight was lifted. Now we just play the waiting game, but even that has been easier than I thought.

We were given a 75 day waiting period to receive our approval from the USCIS. I knew that once they received our application, then we would get a letter notifying us of our fingerprinting appointment. Well our application was received on June 18th. We received our fingerprinting appointment letter a couple weeks later and our appointment to get that done was scheduled for July 17th. We were told that we should walk in and have our fingerprints done sooner than our scheduled appointment, so we did on July 5th. When I returned home I called the USCIS to let them know that we had already taken care of them and at that time I was told that our file still hadn't been assigned to anyone and that it could still take 75 days. 2 days later I received a phone call and heard the best news ever! We got approved! Our "Golden Ticket" came in just 2 days after our fingerprints! Such a tender mercy! What this means is that we now have approval from the United States to adopt one child with special needs. "Sweet pea, that is you!" We immediately had our "Golden Ticket" notarized, sent it to our adoption team to make sure that it was good to be apostilled, then I went to the capital again today to have it apostilled. Once I receive that in the mail in a couple of days it will be sent to Susan's country and our dossier (packet of all of our docs that is waiting in her country) will be complete. Hopefully they are in the process of  submitting our first set of docs, to match us with Susan, then we will be submitted to get approval to adopt Susan. Once we get that approval we will get a travel date. We still have 6 weeks or so to wait but if everything continues to run smoothly, we will possibly be travelling in September. Mark and I will be celebrating our 16 year anniversary on Sept. 6th and I cannot think of a better anniversary trip. We came together in love, hoping one day to grow our family and Susan will be the icing on the cake with a cherry on top! I really hope that it works out that we can travel in September. Prayers please!

What this really means is that we have 6-8 weeks to get fully funded. I have faith that we can do it. Heavenly Father didn't bring us this far, didn't lead us to this point to not have it work out. Susan is one of his precious children who has a chance to be saved! We have a chance to save her and we will! We have a few fundraisers that will take place in the coming weeks and we would love you all to stop by, participate and support us.

1. YARD SALE/FUNdraiser! It will be held this Saturday the 14th, 8 am-1 pm. We have been blessed by so many donations to make this happen. The garage is chuck full of stuff that people have dropped off and donated. Thank you neighbors, family and friends! We will be selling hot dog lunches so if you're not interested in shopping then stop by for a dog!

2.Online Auction! Christmas in July! I will post more details very, very soon but we have loads and loads of brand new stuff to auction. Over 75 items and counting! It will go live very soon and will last a few weeks. There is something for everyone. Think gifts, Christmas, birthdays, weddings, etc. It's an auction fit for a princess, our princess!

3. Stampin' Up with Maxine Conrad. Stampin' Up is a scrapbook, crafty, card making, stamp business with the cutest stuff ever. Paper, stamps, ribbon, fabric, embellishments, whatever you need to create the cutest gifts and crafts. Maxine is a demonstrator for Stampin' Up and has offered to donate her commissions for the month of July to any of our friends, family, followers who place an order with her. Please visit her website by clicking here stamptothemax . Check out her ideas and specials and place an order today!

4. Don't forget the Bloom Necklaces for sale. $22. And the Pocket Watch Necklaces. $30.

5. Save the Date! AUGUST 18th from 7-9 pm. We have something very special coming up on August 18th. More details to come but it's a night you won't want to miss! Think date night, food, entertainment, music, trip giveaway! ( I had you at food right?)

Lots of FUNdraising coming up and we couldn't be more excited! We are ready to bring our princess home. It takes a village and you my friends are the village! Our account hasn't moved in weeks. Please do what you can to support us and remember our Reece's Rainbow donation button is always open, 24/7. You may not be able to make the yard sale or order Stampin' Up but you can donate and know that you are making a difference. In less than 2 months, we may be able to hold our baby girl in our arms and tell her that she is loved, not only by her family but by the many people who had a hand in bringing her home!

Before I head to bed let me leave you with a quote that really touched my heart today.