We are out of Review!!!

Finally, Sept '06 LIDs are out of the Review Room! This is the first milestone we've had in a long, long time.

We started the process to update our paperwork this week. Our social worker came over Tuesday night for dinner and to update our homestudy. Next Thursday we have to get our local (state level) fingerprints redone. Once we get those back and get a new copy of our homestudy, we can schedule our appointment to get refingerprinted (federal level) in K.C. sometime during the beginning of January.

Hope you all have a relaxing weekend!

Name That Bird

I happened to glance outside yesterday afternoon and saw this bird sitting on our fence. Unfortunately, it flew away to quick for me to snap more than one picture. We've been searching the internet to figure out what it is...what do you all think??

Thanks!

A couple weeks ago my friend Marlana threw me a "Renew Your Enthusiasm" shower at Mille's. I was able to catch up with a group of girls I went to high school with and it was so much fun! Thanks girls for a great time and some great presents that did help lift our spirits as we continue to wait for Anna. Here is a picture of the thoughtful gifts everyone gave us:

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Follow-up

Good news regarding the story we shared in the last post. This is taken from the website of their agency:

Bethany Christian Services are pleased to announce the Sheldon family has received their visas and are returning home from China this weekend. “We will continue to work with the family to make sure all their needs are met,” said John VanValkenburg, Public Relations Specialist for Bethany Christian Services. “This has been a difficult situation for the Sheldon family and Bethany would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support for this family, including the efforts of Michigan Congressmen, Vern Ehlers and Mike Rogers.”

Due to these special circumstances, Bethany is accepting contributions to support the family until December 31, 2007. Checks can be made payable to Bethany Christian Services and please indicate the Sheldon family on the memo line. Checks can be sent to Bethany's Donor Records at 901 Eastern Ave NE, PO Box 294 Grand Rapids Michigan 49501. Bethany Christian Services will give all donations to the family for their “Hope for Hannah” fund.

Help needed for a family in China

I'm posting this from another blog:

Earlier this week I came to you asking for prayer for a fellow adoptive mom in China now picking up her daughter. Her husband had been traveling with her and died suddenly due to complications of his diabetes. I just received the following information from a family traveling with them in China and we need all the help we can get to bring this mom and baby home. Here is the message...

The US Consulate in Guangzhou has denied Sandi Sheldon permission to proceed with the adoption of Hannah. They want her to fill out a new I-171 and are making no guarantees after that. Sandi, of course does not want to leave China and leave Hannah here because she has no where to go. Sandi needs our help desperately! Please start a massive campaign of calling to her US Congressman and US Senator and urge them to intervene on Sandi's behalf. We have discussed this with Sandi and she wants our help. Please pressure these elected officials to contact the State Department and straighten this out. Sandi should not be denied Hannah's adoption because her husband passed away unexpectedly. The adoption has been finalized here in China. Sandi's congressman is Mike Rogers. His Washington office number is 202 225 4872. His Michigan office number is 517 702 8000, he also has a toll free number 1-877-333-MIKE. Sandi's US Senator is Debbie Stabenow. Her Washington DC number is 202 224 4822 and her Michigan office number is 517 203 1760.

Please call the numbers listed if you can and say a prayer for this family. Thank you!

***UPDATE: Apparently the U.S. reps office has received over 1000 calls and is working on this situation, also Sec. of State Rice's office has been contacted and is well aware of the situation. This family is thanking everyone for their phone calls and is now asking them to stop so these offices can focus on addressing the issue.

FOURTEEN MONTHS!!

We've officially been logged in for fourteen months today! Hard to believe that last year we thought we'd be traveling right now and would have Anna home by Christmas...now we're more realistically looking at traveling sometime in 2009 (yes, 2009, not 2008). Unless, by some miracle, things start really speeding up. This month the CCAA referred a whopping 8 days worth of LIDs, which means the wait is now approximately 23 months.

Here is an interesting website that has a handy-dandy calculator to help you "guesstimate" (based on your LID - ours is 9/12/06) when you might receive your referral - Bright Outlooks (bright, ha!).

And, for a website that is a lot more fun than "Bright" Outlooks - check out this one of a family in China right now. No, we don't know them, it's just one of the many that we look at monthly to keep our spirits up. Anyway, they've done a great job at describing their trip and have posted some great pictures. Hope you enjoy.

Have a good week!

A congrats and a picture

First of all - Congratulations to our friends Joel and Misty who found out last week that they'll be having a little girl!! You have to check out their blog for the latest pictures of Garrett ...he's such a little cutie!

B - Here is the cutest picture of our niece and nephew from Halloween night. Nathan was a magician ("Nate the Great") and Katie was Raggedy Ann. They were super cute (as you can see)!!

And 4 - Hope you all have a great week! ;-)