Drum Roll Please...Off We Go!

It's taken 20 months to get to this point and now it seems like a whirlwind all at once.  We are now only 10 days away from boarding a plane to Bangkok and becoming parents up-close-and-personal rather than just on paper.  That's right, we got our travel dates!!!  We'll be flying out of Green Bay on Monday, May 3rd and hopefully returning home on May 19th...just 3 days before Bryan turns 33.  Plus, Ann has the added bonus of being with our son on Mother's Day.

Somehow we thought we'd have 2-3 weeks to prepare for travel and now it feels like we're racing to the finish line.  Of course, this metaphor is incorrect since this is only the beginning of our journey as a family of three.  What more can we say?  We're thrilled, excited, nervous, joyful, thankful, etc.

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement, support, and guidance.  We could not have gotten through this process without your love and prayers.

Love,
Bryan & Ann

PS - We'll try to keep you all updated...check your emails...keep your cell phones on...watch for status update on Ann's Facebook page...and please keep us in your prayers.

The Busier the Better

We had a whirlwind trip to Green Bay and Milwaukee today.  A few weeks ago we set up today's appointment with the Bellin Travel Clinic to discuss our travel plans and what to be cautious with, health-wise, while in Bangkok.  She also hooked us up with prescription antibiotics in case of emergency while abroad and some pills (thankfully not a shot) for Typhoid that is recommended for Thailand travelers by the CDC.  We got some good info and are realizing that this trip really is going to happen soon!

Then, we headed to the USCIS building in Milwaukee to update our fingerprints.  This was actually quite the accomplishment on our end since we took the initiative to contact the Hague adoption document processing immigration officer who was assigned our case.  Through email we discovered that she had received our paperwork on Friday, March 26th but was not able to process it until we got our fingerprint updates.  She then told us that the fingerprinting was scheduled for April 20th (which we didn't know yet since we hadn't gotten the notices in the mail at that point).  Monday night the notices appeared in our mailbox and we contacted our immigration officer again via email to see if there was any chance we could get in early this week or next week so we could move our paperwork along.  She was very helpful and so was the lady at the office in Milwaukee.  With about 6-7 emails back and forth, we were able to schedule an early fingerprinting today at 1:45pm.  So immediately after our travel clinic appointment ended at 11:20am, we dropped in quickly at Subway and sped our way down to Milwaukee.  We got there with only 5 minutes to spare.  Whew!

So, after all that, we hope now that our paperwork will continue through USCIS and on to the Thai consulate so we can get our actual travel date.  Keep us in your prayers for a speedy process and we'll keep proactively contacting those in charge (politely) to help the process along.

Ann & Bryan

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.

Referral Paperwork for our Smiling Boy

We can’t help but to take a look back and reflect on our Christmas letter from last year and know that one piece is still missing.  We had hoped that this Christmas our prayers would be answered with a trip to Thailand, but we continue to try to be patient and trust that it’s in God’s Hands and His timing.  

Last Friday, we received our "official referral" paperwork from the Thai Red Cross in the mail, minus the To Whom It May Concern letter that we are still waiting on from the Thai government (DSDW).  So now we can get through it all and be ready to go when the DSDW sends the letter. The TRC even sent a few newer photos which made us smile since WACAP did not see him when they were there last month. Even though the photos are just printed on computer paper, our hearts cannot help but glow as we see his smiling face while he holds up photos of us.  Every little glimpse of our son or step in the process helps boost our morale.

Merry Christmas to all!
Ann and Bryan