New member of the family.

The day before Easter we welcomed little Lucy into our home. Nissa, the cat, was less then enthusiastic about this newest addition. Lucy is a Golden Retriever and such a cutie. Her typical daily routine consists of sleeping, eating, playing, releiving herself (sometimes outside and sometimes inside). For that reason she has been staying in the entry and office (easy clean up). Nick said a dog is more work than a baby since they can't wear a diaper and you need to go outside in the middle of the night to take care of them. Despite the challenges we are having a great time getting to know her.

DTC

I have realized that adoption is loaded with acronyms. So far we have already had CHSFS (Children's Home Society and Family Services),  BIJYF (Before I Joined Your Family), PAC (Pre-Adoption Class). Recently we encountered yet another acronym, DTC. Of course this stands for Dossier to China. For us this is a very big step. We are finally done with all of our dossier paperwork (a big accomplishment). In a few weeks we will receive notice form China that it was received. If everything looks okay we will be able to start getting referrals of children. China's adoption process allows for a family to review the referral of one child each month. So far, it looks as if we are still on track to receive our first referral this spring. We are eager to get information about the child that God is preparing us for.

Arizona 2013

 Eloy, AZ with Lowell and Judy. This is a popular place for parachuting. We just watched.





 Old Town Scottsdale with their souvenirs they picked out.

 After our hike with Sebastian, Maurice and Marion. We made it to the shady spot straight above the sign.

 The train park in Scottsdale. This was the only day the weather was cool.

 A Route 66 stop on the drive home.

 "standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona"

 Faith did not like getting her picture taken at all this trip so we don't have too many great family pictures.

Taking a break from the drive in Dodge City.

For the third year in a row we had the opportunity this winter to enjoy some time in Arizona. We were able to visit all of Nicks' three sets of aunts and uncles and of course spend time with Sebastian, Marta and cousin Aliyah. The cousins of course had a great time playing together. We flew down and drove back. We really enjoyed taking our time on the drove home doing some sightseeing and visiting some states that we had never been to.

Adoption Update

Since the word is out on our adoption plans now I thought it would be good to try to keep people updated on our process. I don't do a lot on facebook and I'm not sure I want to post all about the adoption there either so I thought I would try to post some updates on this blog from time to time.

Adoption had been on our mind for awhile and after a lot of thought and prayer we decided to start the adoption process. After considering all the adoption options we decided that international adoption would be the best fit for us. Then we needed to decide on a country to adopt from. Eventually we narrowed our options down to China or Korea. Both countries allowed us to adopt a child that would be younger then Faith. We felt at this time it would be important to keep our current birth order. We both felt more of a pull toward and interest in China. We would be able to adopt a child with a special need that might not find an adoptive family in China. We are also in interested in China and are excited to learn about it's culture and history.

So far in the process we have gone through educational trainings and have completed our home study (a number of meetings with a social worker including one visit at our home). With that all complete we were ready to start the paperwork for our dossier. We have filed one form with USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) and are currently working on all the other required paperwork for China. There are a number of forms and documents that need to written, collect, notarized and copied.

What's to come: By the end of February we should have all our dossier paperwork completed and file it with the Chinese government. Hopefully by spring we will start receiving referrals of children that are in need of a home. If time frames stay the same by next fall or winter we will be able to travel to China to get our child.

Our future child: I am feeling very eager to receive information about a child. It will be so nice to have a name and face to go with this child that we have been thinking about and praying for. We have been approved to adopt a child 0-30 months old of either gender with a special need. We are working with Children's Home Society and Family Services in the Jade program which works with children that have a "minor or correctable" special need. Some people have assumed since we are adopting form China we will receive a little girl. In reality we have been told there are just as many boys in this Jade program as there are girls. So we really don't know if we will receive a boy or a girl.

That is all for now.