Our Family's Journey: February 2014

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

February 26, 2014 - Scout

Let me lay out the scene for you. Jesse got in trouble in school for something serious, so his punishment was taking all the toys out of his room and put into our closet (along with all our house stuff that we've bought). Then Ashlyn got in trouble for something she did in school, so all of her toys got put into our closet as well. Well, our 14 year old Yorkie, Scout, decided it was comfortable to make his way onto the kids toys in our closet and make a bed! How could I not take a picture of that!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

February 23, 2014 - 4th Soccer Games

This week I got to watch both games, which meant being on the soccer fields for four hours in the heat. I feel bad for the people up north going through this harsh winter, but oh my...it was hot today! Jesse's team lost by one point with a final score 2 to 1 and Kaylyn's team won by one point with a final score of 2 to 1.

February 22, 2014 - Ashlyn's 11th Birthday Party

Ashlyn wanted a family birthday party this year, so we invited all the family over for pizza, chips, soda, and cake. It was fun and it is always nice seeing the family. Wai-gong, Uncle Steven and his girlfriend, Mamaw Justice, Mamaw Hannan, Wai-gong & Wai-po, Aunt Amy and Tyler, Aunt Jessica and Shyanne, Aunt Tara, Nana and Uncle Justin, and Bryan and Terrie came over. Ashlyn enjoyed the party very much and it showed.

Friday, February 21, 2014

February 21, 2014 - Ashlyn's Birthday Sleepover

For Ashlyn's birthday, she decided to have two friends stay the night and then have a family birthday. She invited two of her good friends that go to CCA, Lucy and Rachel. We went to Fujiyama's Japanese Steak House for dinner and the girls painted their fingers and toes. They had a lot of fun!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

February 18, 2014 - Ashlyn's 11th Birthday

Can't believe we brought our little girl home just over 4 years ago and she's already 11! Happy birthday Ashlyn!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

February 16, 2014 - More House Pictures and the 3rd Soccer Games

Stopped by the house today and most of the drywall is up. It's coming along! Kaylyn and Jesse had their 3rd soccer games today. Jason took pictures before Jesse's game and I took pictures of Kaylyn's game. Jason helps coach, so he couldn't take pictures during the game, but Jesse scored two goals! Their team finally won this week. Kaylyn's team won for the second week in a row. She almost scored a goal again, but the goalie caught it before it went in. They are both playing so well this year!

Ashlyn

is an adorable 13 year old girl who has overcome VSD. She had surgery when she was 2 years old to correct this heart defect and God put it in our heart to reach out to her and take her in to be our daughter. Kaylyn was excited about getting a younger sister (even if it's only 6.5 months younger). We couldn't wait to go to China to get her and bring her home so that we could be her forever family. Since being back, we have learned that she has had other special needs like infundibulum of the right ventricle, a submucous cleft palate, and a cholesteatoma with hearing loss. We take it day by day and we wouldn't want it any other way! She is a joy to everyone who meets her and God has very special plans for her.

Our Adoption Timeline

12/5/2009 - Travel back home

12/3/2009 - Oath-taking ceremony

11/24/2009 - Adoption is finalized with China

11/23/2009 - Gotcha Day...meeting Ashlyn

11/19/2009 - Travelling to China to pick up Ashlyn!

11/11/2009 - Mommy, Daddy, & Kaylyn getting 2nd Hep A shot. Done with immunizations.

11/5/2009 - Received Travel Approval (TA) (~ 42 days from Article 5 or ~ 87 days from LSC)

9/24/2009 - Article 5 is approved and paperwork is being sent to CCAA. (~15 days)

9/9/2009 - I800 paperwork was sent from the State Department's National Visa Center to China. (~ 13 days)

9/8/2009 - Received our Passports with the Visas in the mail. (~ 19 days)

9/3/2009 - Sent Ashlyn her second care package from Ann at Red Thread.

8/27/2009 - I800 was approved. (~ 13 days)

8/20/2009 - Sent off passports and paperwork to get Visas.

8/14/2009 - Our signed LSC and DS-230 paperwork was sent to China today and USCIS received our paperwork today

8/13/2009 - Sent the I800 and I864W along with all the proper paperwork to USCIS

8/12/2009 - Sent the signed LSC and DS-230 application to GWCA

8/10/2009 - Received Letter Seeking Confirmation (LSC) through agency (~59 days)

7/20/2009 - Received the updated I-797C letter from USCIS and emailed copy to GWCA (~ 17 days)

7/19/2009 - Received updated pictures and measurements for Ashlyn.

7/10/2009 – Sent care package for Ashlyn XiangLing to China. Sent to Ann at Red Threads to send out to the proper place

7/3/2009 – Sent paperwork to USCIS to get updated Approval Letter I-797C

7/2/2009 - Received updated Homestudy update correction in the mail

6/25/2009 - Received updated Homestudy in mail and found mistake with age range, so it had to be re-done

6/17/2009 – Signed the Homestudy Update Agreement

6/12/2009 – Received Pre-Approval (PA) letter from China for Xiang Ling and our dossier would go into the procedure for adoption of special need children. (~ 8 days)

6/5/2009 – Learned what Xiang Ling’s name means:

XIANG:From Chinese 翔 "to soar", 祥 "auspicious, lucky" or 香 "fragrant" (which is usually only feminine).

LING: From Chinese 灵 "alert, quick" or 铃 "bell, chime".

HUANG: From Chinese 煌 "bright"

6/4/2009 – Got more passport photos so that we could send color copies to GWCA for our LOI package & LOI was officially sent to China

6/3/2009 – We locked in Xiang Ling’s file to put together our Letter of Intent (LOI) and Waiting Child LOI Referral Agreement

6/1/2009 – Xiang Ling’s file was pulled for us

5/27/2009 – Another shared list came out and we saw a little girl named Huang Xiang Ling, age 6, on the list. We did not see the list till Saturday 5/30/2009 because we were on our 4th Disney cruise. We emailed GWCA and asked to see Xiang Ling’s file.

5/15/2009 – Mommy & Daddy got 3rd Hep B vaccine and Mommy, Daddy, & Kaylyn got 1st Hep A vaccine

4/8/2009 – Dossier Log in Date (LID) (~19 days)

3/20/2009 – Great Wall China Agency approved dossier and sent dossier to China

3/18/2009 – Sent completed dossier to Great Wall China Agency with next day delivery

3/17/2009 – Received the authenticated document from Los Angeles Chinese Consulate (~ 14 days)

3/15/2009 – Gathered pictures and created the lifestyle pages for the dossier and obtained our passport photos for the dossier

3/14/2009 – Received the authenticated documents from Houston Chinese Consulate (~ 12 days)

3/3/2009 – Sent the New Mexico document to Los Angeles to be authenticated by the Chinese consulate

3/2/2009 – Sent the Florida documents to Houston to be authenticated by the Chinese consulate. Received the certified document from the state of New Mexico (~ 7 days)

2/28/2009 – Received the certified documents from the state of Florida (~5 days)

2/23/2009 – Sent all Florida documents to Tallahassee for Certification & sent my birth certificate to New Mexico for Certification

2/20/2009 – Received I-797C Approval Letter (~30 days)

2/13/2009 – Approval for I-800A

2/10/2009 – Biometrics for I-800A

1/21/2009 – USCIS received I-800A

1/16/2009 – Completed the course With Eyes Wide Open and received 4 hours of Hague training (this completes our 10+ hours of Hague training)

1/14/2009 – Home Study complete and received

12/29/2008 – Home Study home visit

12/23/2008 – Mommy & Daddy received 2nd Hep B vaccine

12/8/2008 – Completed the course The Journey of Attachment and received 2 hours of Hague training

12/1/2008 – Completed the course Medical Issues in International Adoption and received 2.5 hours of Hague training

11/30/2008 – Completed the course Conspicuous Families: Race, Culture, and Adoption and received 1.5 hours of Hague training

11/25/2008 – Mommy & Daddy received 1st Hep B vaccine. Attended a China Adoption Waiting Child Webinar and received 2 hours of Hague training

11/24/2008 – Signed adoption agreement and paid 1st adoption fee. Received our birth certificates & marriage license

11/22/2008 – Attended Great Wall China Seminar