We Got THE Call!

Last night, as we were going out to eat to celebrate Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras, we got the call from WACAP.  The one we've been waiting for since September.  She said she got a very small package from the TRC today and it contained our "To Whom It May Concern" letter from the Thai government. Good things certainly do come in small packages!

This sets in motion our paperwork towards our travel date.  Right now, WACAP estimates that we'll travel by May (hopefully in time for Mother's Day or maybe Bryan's birthday) IF all of our paperwork is in order and processes through "the system" without a hitch.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers for a swift and clean process since our immigration paperwork expires on May 13th.  So we're down to the wire!  But at this point, we feel certain that we'll finally be with our son this summer.  It truly is a blessing and God has once again surprised us with perfect timing.

What a great belated Valentine's Day gift!
Love to all from Ann & Bryan

Love Across the Oceans

It's hard to believe that it is Valentine's Day weekend already.  Months ago we thought "maybe" we'd have our paperwork in order and getting ready for travel at this point.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  We wait.  We are getting frustrated since the time lines keep getting extended. At first we were told 1-2 months from I-800 to travel, then 2-4 months, and now WACAP states 3-7 months. Yikes! And here we are still waiting for the TWIMC letter.

For some reason, we thought that adopting an older 'special needs' child would make the process SO much faster and it really has NOT. When we started this whole thing in Aug. 2008 our son was a 6-year-old and now he's an 8-year-old and will be 9 this November. There's a LOT of change for a child in those years and we've missed them all sitting here without any control over the process. Very frustrating and emotional all around.

But then last week we finally got confirmation from the orphanage that Ray did receive the Christmas gift we sent him and really liked it.  And this week we got a message from the orphanage through our agency stating that they will be sending your "To Whom" letter soon. “Soon” is a notoriously ambiguous term from Thailand - it could mean a week or months. But it is encouraging to hear that it is on the horizon and indeed coming our way - I hope it is in fact very soon!

So it feels like a happy holiday weekend even if we just received "a little bone to chew on" related to our adoption of our beloved son...who seems so far away right now.