Chinese Visitor & Wedding Excitement

We have had so many exciting things happening over the past few weeks.  It has made time fly by, which is nice when you are counting down the unknown months until the adoption is complete.  :-)

First, we had a temporary daughter from China for 12 days!  The elementary school was running a program for a group of students from China.  They were looking for host families, and I was probably the first to email an emphatic "YES!! SIGN ME UP!"  Several weeks later, the group consisting of 8 students (3rd-5th graders) and 2 teachers arrived in our town.  I met my girl and she told me that she is 8 years old and her English name is "Smile".

 

The kids really enjoyed playing with her, and it was obvious that language barriers are almost non-existent when it comes to having fun!  She spoke minimal English, just basic words and phrases that she had learned in school, but we were able to communicate well enough through my Google translate app and a lot of hand charades.  :-)  I was happy to be able to pick up a few more Chinese words, and she seemed to like hearing me practice my Mandarin.  Evie & I sang our one Chinese song several nights in a row, which happens to be John 3:16, and although I don't think she had ever heard it before she clapped enthusiastically and said "very good!"  I was able to show her the verse in the Chinese Bible so she could read what we were singing.  What a neat opportunity!!

The school had many events planned during their visit, including: bowling & pizza night, open gymnastics time at a studio, an afternoon at a trampoline center, open gym at the school (snowday activities), an inflatables party, a weekend at an indoor water park and snow tubing resort, and a Chinese New Year dinner and celebration.  We also managed to squeeze in a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese and visit the local library for story time.  

 

Overall it was a wonderful time with great memories.  Smile was homesick pretty much every night & morning, and was on the phone with her parents during those times (not surprising...she was only 8 and this was her first time away from home!) but she was also having a lot of fun and enjoyed being a part of our family.  I was able to talk to her parents a few times, and we are keeping in touch with her family through a chat app.  They have invited us, her "American Parents", to visit them in China any time. :-)

My favorite memories aren't from the events, but from the random little things... like the surprised "Oooooh!" sound she made when she saw or heard something new or different.  Or the way she had scrambled eggs with toast and loved my home made peach jam, and ended up making a sandwich with those things every morning for breakfast.  And how she made the "peace" sign whenever someone was taking her picture!  And how she had no interest in shopping for anything but books.  But my all-time favorite was when she let me blow-dry her hair.  It sounds silly, but seriously, I was so happy I almost cried because I know that someday soon I will have my own daughter with shiny, jet black hair to take care of, and I could just imagine it so vividly with her standing in front of my mirror.  It was such a blessing to meet and get to know this girl!

The other HUGE excitement we've had recently was the wedding of my brother Eric and his beautiful bride Elizabeth!  We are so happy for them, and it was such a joy for our whole family to share in this wonderful occasion!  Curt was the most handsome groomsmen ever (I know I'm biased, but it's true), and I loved being a bridesmaid and spending time with my favorite group of girls.  Evie felt like a princess standing up there with the flower girls, and Corbin was a cute little ring bearer who was the center of attention on the dance floor all night.  That kid has moves!  :-)  My grandma Marilyn was able to fly up from GA and stay with us for the week, so that was an added blessing for us and the kids to spend time with her!  

(I can't post the professional wedding photos here, but you can look for them on my Facebook page!)

Now life is getting back to it's normal pace.  We have gotten all 9 of our necessary documents notarized (praying it was done right and will be acceptable...there were some questions about it) and now we have 13 documents to get certified and sealed.  Our work is cut out for us, and hopefully won't take more than a few weeks to get it sent to China!  Your prayers are appreciated!

Official "Request for Evidence"

It was mid-November when we sent the I-800a form to the USCIS, mid-December when we were ordered to be fingerprinted at their facilities in Detroit, then in mid-January we received a pink slip in the mail.  Not sure why they use that color...but the form is called the "Request for Evidence" letter.  This means that after looking over our entire home study report they had some questions or things that needed clarification/proof.  Our letter contained two requests: 1) A paragraph added to our home study explaining HOW we are preparing to adopt a child with the various special needs we are considering, and 2) an explanation as to WHERE we were living during the 2 years we both traveled overseas, because each place we lived would require a Child Abuse Registries check.

The first was easy enough, I send our case worker a list of some of the practical things we've been doing to prepare.  For example, researching the hospitals in our area and their specializations, as well as watching several online workshops focused on various special needs and how the children are treated medically after international adoptions.

The second request made me nervous because Curt and I both traveled, separately, to over 30 countries each during the 2 years after high school.  We were doing volunteer work with a missions organization.  I couldn't imagine even TRYING to get background checks for all of those places!  So I sent an explanation and prayed they would accept the fact that we were never in one place for more than a week or two.

Today, 3 weeks later, my breath caught in my chest when I saw the USCIS envelope in the mail.  I was afraid to open it.  It felt like our entire adoption was hinging on ONE small detail.  I finally gathered up the courage and tore into that thing....and much to my delight I read the words "APPROVAL NOTICE".  I was so happy I started jumping and yelling, which made Curt come running because he thought the house was on fire or someone was hurt.  :-)  Nope, just great news!

That means ALL of our papers are ready for the notarization, state certification, and Chinese consulate seal, then we can send them off to China!  Those steps may take several weeks still, but this is one HUGE step in the right direction!!

Celebrate with us and do a happy dance!  :-)

P.S. For the past 10 days we have had a visitor from China!!  I can't wait to share about this experience in my next post.  But first, I get to enjoy her for one more day!