August 2006

August 9, 2006
Rapid RabbitThat is what he calls me. Type A personality. Wanting to be in control. My D.H. (dear husband or darn husband) which ever the day brings is trying to be supportive. I was hoping that our dossier would be sent out today and be headed for Hanoi, Vietnam for translation. I knew the staff was working on getting it all put together, but as of tonight at 5 it is still sitting at the agency. Tomorrow will be another day and maybe our dossier will be sent.When it reaches Hanoi, it will take two weeks to be translated into Vietnamese. There are four offices that do the translation for the whole country, and they handle all the dossiers that come in from around the world. What a task that must be! If our dossier gets to Hanoi and is translated before the next matching meeting our dossier will be in the pile. Not that it would get matched right away, but at least it will be in the right place.There are sixteen dossiers from our agency to be matched which are ahead of ours. Right now matching meetings are scheduled every other month, and they are making approximately 5 matches at each meeting. Like everything in the adoption world, things can change with the drop of a hat. Nothing is set in stone. I will be patient Rapid Rabbit.Rapid Rabbit is a song that our boys listened to as toddlers in which the rabbit just can’t wait to be patient.
August 8, 2006
When I check our Fed Ex, tracking number today I was very surprised! Our dossier left San Francisco last night and arrived at our agency this morning at 9:19. I was told that the dossier would be assembled and notarized and then be sent off today to Vietnam. Therefore, our Dossier is officially DTV. (Dossier to Vietnam) This is a huge step in our adoption process. With all the joy this brings , it also means that the biggest wait will begin. This is the wait for a referral. Please pray for this little girl who God has chosen for us that she is safe, well fed and have nannies who take care of her. Also, pray for her birth mom that she may feel some peace about giving her daughter up for adoption for this is one of the hardest things she has done.
August 5, 2006
This week has been a busy one. Last week, we went to Des Monies to get our finger printings taken at the immigration office. They will run our prints to make sure we have not been convicted of any crimes so we can get our visas to go to Vietnam when the time comes. The prints are good for 18 months. If we don’t travel with in the 18 month time frame will have to pay $70 per person to get them redone and this time N will also have to have prints done since he will be over 18. We are hoping to travel and be home before they expire. After our fingerprints are sent, we wait. This can take up to 2 to 3 months in some states. Iowa however does it quickly, usually about a week. Our letter stating we where approved (I-171H) came back in less than a week. I was shocked. That was last Tuesday. Wednesday I headed to Des Monies to have this last and final document state certified $5 for each of the 10 documents we need for our dossier. After that I went to the bank for a cashier’s check. Getting a cashier’s check is generally quite easy to do but I was in Des Monies and do not know where anything is except the shopping areas. I looked up the address in the phone book and entered them into Lola (the name I gave my GPS system). Lola did the best she could but with construction, one way streets and traffic it was not an easy task. I eventually found the bank and got the money 10 documents $50 per document to be authenticated $500. Now I had to find Fed Ex. Luckily, I could just walk a few blocks to get to one. The lady at the Fed Ex office was very nice and wanted to help. She wanted to help too much. I had specific instructions on how to mail the package to the Vietnamese consulate. I need to provide a return envelope with postage paid to be sent to our agency. She insisted that I didn’t need another envelope that they could just go find one because Fed Ex is all over in CA. After a lengthy discussion, I finally got through to her that this is how it needed to be done. So much help so little time. I assembled the package, 10 documents with 10 state certifications a cover letter and our check. I wanted to check it over one more time, but she snatched it out of my hand to go weigh it. It was sent off before 2 pm Wednesday and arrived at 10:30 Thursday. I don’t think it has been sent out to our agency. I have checked the Fed Ex tracking site and no package found. Others that have sent their dossiers to the consulate have a one day turn around. I will wait until Monday if it has not been sent out yet I will call. So here we are waiting again. I’m getting use to it now. The next wait will be for a referral that will take months.