| Adoption Story - Page 2 |
| Wednesday, April 17, 2002 = Today we had our third homestudy meeting with Kathy Gallup. For this meeting Kathy came to our home so she could see the house and the environment our children will be raised in, as well as be able to see if we have adequate space for children in our home. During our meeting this time, we discussed our opinions on raising children, etc. We also took time to write our Personal Statement and prepare our Financial Statment that must go with our dossier. Thursday, May 9, 2002 = We received the rough draft of our homestudy in the mail today from Kathy Gallup. We will both read over it this weekend and mark any changes that may need to be made and return it to Kathy when we meet with her next Monday. Friday, May 10, 2002 = We went to the FedEx office today and sent off Steve's Birth Certificate to the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China- New York (NY). The NY office handles all documents from the state of New Jersey where Steve was born. Tuesday, May 14, 2002 = Wow!! That was quick. We just received Steve's birth certificate from the NY Chinese Consulate. It is now Certified by the state of NJ and has been Authenticated by the Chinese Consulate. We are one step closer. Wednesday, May 29, 2002 = Kathy contacted us to let us know that she sent the final draft of our homestudy to the INS today. Now we just have to wait for the INS to send us our form I-171H which is our approval to bring a child into the U.S. We can only hope they will get it sent to us quickly. Thursday, June 6, 2002 = WhooHoo!!!! We received our I-171H today!!!! I think that must be a world record. It only took one week. We have made a copy of this form and added it to the other 14 forms the create our dossier and have sent them to the Indiana Secretary of State office to be Certified. I just hope the Secretary of States office is just as quick as the INS. Wednesday, June 12, 2002 = Yippe!!! Once again, we have gotten our papers in just one week. We received our dossier back from the Indiana Secretary of States office today. We are preparing to go get a money order and take our pack of information to the FedEx terminal tonight so the Chinese Consulate will have our papers tomorrow sometime. When we sent Steve's birth certificate to the Chinese Consulate in NY, they turned it around in just one day. Lets see if the Chicago office can be just as quick. :-) Thursday, June 13, 2002 = We had a bit of a disappointing evening last night. As we were getting our documents ready to sent to the Chinese Consulate, we notice the IN Secretary of States office had rejected two (2) of documents. They say that the person who notarized Steve's doctors letter needs to print or type her name under her signature. And my birth certificate is a certified copy for the county healt department and it needs to be from the state health department. We are disappointed that this is going to slow us down a bit, but at least both of these are easy to get corrected. We requested my birth certificates from the state health department last night and Steve has taken his doctors letter to work with him and plans to stop by the doctors office as soon as he gets off work today. Ok. Steve is home and the doctors letter has been corrected. Now we just need my birth certificates. Friday, June 14, 2002 = I can't believe it!!! God Is Good!! We received my birth certificates today. Now it is time to go to Fort Wayne to the FedEx terminal once again. We are going to send these last two documents back to the IN Secretary of States office for Certification. They should receive them on Monday, June 17, 2002. Once we get them back, then we will be back on track and ready to send everything to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. Tuesday, June 18, 2002 = We received my birth certificate and Steve's doctors letter from the IN Secretary of State today. They were both correct this time!! Thursday, June 20, 2002 = After work today, we went to the FedEx terminal to ship our packet of papers to the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago. We need them to authenticate our paperwork to finalize the process. Friday, June 21, 2002 = Well, was tracking our package all day today and it was never delivered. The tracking screen says that our package made it to the Chicago FedEx terminal, but there is no record of it after that. We have talked to customer service several times and have had no luck. They are going to have the Chicago office search their facility to try to find our package. However they have also told us that it could just be a glitch in the system. They are supposed to call us if they find out anything. Saturday, June 22, 2002 = I am very nervous and frustrated. We have not heard anything from FedEx. If they have lost our package, that contains the last 6 months worth of paperwork for our adoption, we may have to start all over again. :-( I have mentioned this problem to the CWA listserver we are on and we have received some wonderful words of encouragement. And we know their are many people praying for us, that our package will be found. Many on the CWA list have mentioned that the same thing has happened to them on occassion and the situation is always resolved. I pray that we are just as fortunate. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 |
 |
|
|
|
HOME / ADOPTION FUND / ORDER FORM / ADOPTION STORY PAGE 1 / ADOPTION STORY PAGE 2 / ADOPTION STORY PAGE 3 / EMILIE'S PHOTOS PAGE 1 / EMILIE'S PHOTOS PAGE 2 / EMILIE'S PHOTOS PAGE 3 / CHINA PHOTOS PAGE 1 - BEIJING / CHINA PHOTOS PAGE 2 - NANNING / CHINA PHOTOS PAGE 3 - GUANGZHOU / LINKS / CONTACT US |
|
|
| Support our Hammell Adoption Fund and help us adopt a second daughter from China. |