Documents to China!

Yesterday, we received an email that our dossier was sent to China! Finally! It usually takes a few more weeks to receive a Log In Date. After that, we need to receive a letter of confirmation, and the I800 approval. What all this means is that we still have 6 months to wait, at least. We set a "wishful target date" of December 14 to travel. That would be exactly one year after we put in our application, and it would have us traveling over Christmas break. It will be tough to leave some of the kids home over Christmas, but if we travel over a school break time then we can at least take one or two of the kids with us. They can't afford to miss two weeks of school, but one week isn't too bad. Also, we have a cruise booked for February, and we booked a room for Logan, just in case we have him then too!

More information!

We've been busy, busy, busy as usual and the time has flown. Connor and J.P. (John has adopted the nickname) and I went to California so that they could compete in the Junior Olympics in Taekwondo. We've also been at our cottage on Conesus Lake for the past three weeks on vacation. Even on vacation though, we continue to move towards our adoption of KangChao. When we were in the SanFrancisco airport we saw an adorable little travel suitcase with a panda bear on it, and I almost bought it for Logan. Yes, we are still calling KangChao Logan...we've toyed with the name Leo, but Logan has "stuck." In the end, I didn't end up buying the panda bag because it was a little too girly. Then yesterday I received an email from a parent who adopted a boy who is good friends with Logan!! The following is from an email I received.

"Luke told me that KangChao plays good and slides on the slide with him and runs and plays well. He told me The ladies in pink were teaching KungChao to write and cut and he was 5 when I left, and that is young! Luke said KangChao is nice and sweet and innocent. Hope this helps I will look through the pics the orphanage gave me of Luke growing up and see if we have any with your son in them. "

timeline

Yesterday, Elizabeth Rose told me that we might be able to travel to get Logan by the end of this year. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm optimistic. I also received an email with photos of another little guy that Elizabeth Rose met when she was in China last month. Apparently, this little one impressed her, and she wants us to help find him a family. Hmmm...maybe we should reconsider adopting two little guys this time. David said no in early June, but he's been renting movies that feature large families lately and he's having a change of heart. Yes, six boys would be a handful, but we have already switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone defense. It's not any more difficult, most days, to have 5, 6 or 7. We often have the boys' friends over for days or weeks at a time. We had Austin's friend stay with us for ten days earlier this month, and other than buying more milk than usual, it didn't change anything. We rarely go skiing or on vacation without bringing a few of the boys' friends. Six boys? I say yes! Maybe even before the end of this year, with any luck!!

The most recent adoption followed this timeline:
PA (pre-approval) 7/19/10
DTC (documents to China) 12/30/10
LID (Log in date) 1/13/11
LOA (letter of acceptance) 2/24/11
I800 (US homeland security) 3/15/11
Cable from Consulate 3/24/11
A5 (article 4) 4/8/11
TA (Travel approval) 4/21/11
CA 5/19/11

I 800A approval

We had a super busy week this week!! My dad and stepmom flew up from Florida to attend John and Ben's baptism and first communion. Our tenant moved out of the cottage, and I spent several days cleaning and getting ready for the grandparents' visit. It's also Father's Day weekend. To top it all off, the three youngest boys had a taekwondo tournament all day on Saturday, and next week we are flying to California so that they can compete in the Junior Olympics. To celebrate all these events, we had a big family and friends cookout on Sunday at the cottage. It was wonderful to see all the kids together and happy! Then, on Monday, we received our I-800A approval. I think this is the last document we need before WACAP can send our dossier to China. Hopefully, China will accept all of the paperwork from the dossier we used in 2010. This will make it much easier on us, and a little less expensive.

what's in a name?

Here we go again!! Yes, I've been re-thinking the name Logan. For six months we've been calling KangChao his new American name, Logan. But lately I've had second thoughts about the name. First of all, we had a foster child whose name was Logan. We love him dearly, and I still entertain the idea that he may, someday, somehow, wind up back in our home. God works in mysterious ways, and I am certain, deep-down, that Logan will come home eventually. Also, Logan is not a Biblical name. I know that Austin and Connor are also not Biblical names, but adoption is guided entirely by faith, and I want our sons who are adopted to have names from the Bible. When I had Austin and Connor we didn't even attend church, so it wasn't as important then. Anyway, we tossed around names again at dinner. Boy, our dinner table is LOUD. On another note, I just read the book "20 and Counting" It's a book about a family who has 18 children!!! They are extremely organized, religious, home-schooling and fun!! I read the entire book in one day. How exciting to have such a big family!!

The answer is no

Yesterday, we went to our biometrics appointment in Buffalo. The whole appointment, from start to finish, was less than 15 minutes, and we were home by 11:30. On the way to Buffalo, I asked David once again if he thought we should adopt two children this trip. He said, "No." He worries that we won't be able to give KangChao enough attention. I really think that he remembers that John was NOT nice to Ben when we adopted them together, and David is afraid a similar situation will occur if we again adopt two at once. Later, David said that we can consider adopting two more boys after Austin graduates from high school. I will be 50 years old by then, so maybe we'll decide against it, but for now I guess we are going to just concentrate on bringing KangChao home. I have a feeling that this topic will be revisited though. David takes awhile to warm up to my brilliant ideas!

Memorial Weekend 2011

This weekend we went to Washington DC to see our nation's capitol. While we were there, we were lucky enough to be able to coordinate a visit with a family who adopted a boy that is one of John's friends!! They haven't seen each other in 18 months, and it was a nice reunion for everyone. This family adopted four children from China over the years, and they brought five (of their 9) children to see us in Washington. Collectively, our two families had 9 children, six of whom were adopted from China, and we managed to feed them all dinner and watch them swim without any trouble at all. We told the family about our upcoming adoption of KangChao (Logan) and we think he lives in the same orphanage that their daughter Emma lived before her adoption. What a small world! We also went to the National Zoo to see the two panda bears that are on loan from China. Ben was so excited! We tried to see pandas in the Guangzhou Zoo, but for some reason they weren't in their cage that day. Overall, it was a fabulous weekend.