This afternoon we had a conference call with the agencies involved with our adoption of Mia.  There has been a lot of noise on various web sites about adoption … in Vietnam and in other countries.  Vietnam, being so newly opened to adoption, has a lot of questions associated with it as these agencies try and get enough experience to make the process go smoothly.  So, we wanted to talk with everyone to make sure that we were as prepared as we can be before going.  I think Kelly and I feel pretty confident going forward that we have done as much as we can before actually leaving for Vietnam.

At the end of the call, we asked about time frames.  They again told us that our third letter should be received this week and they told us that they expect our travel date to be on or around Sept. 21st with a “Giving and Receiving” ceremony on or around Monday, Sept. 24th.  This pretty much means that we will miss Zach, Britt, and Luke’s birthday’s.  But, it is getting exciting … and quite a bit stressful … to know that the day is coming quickly!

Cameron

We heard over the weekend that we will probably get our “third letter” this upcoming week.  This is the final authorization from the Vietnamese government and it means that we will probably travel by the end of September.  We have heard that before, and been disappointed, but it does seem like we are close.  Now we have all the stress of getting things done as the actual date may come!  Up until know, it has seemed a little like a dream.

I will let you know as soon as we hear something.

Cameron

 We received new pictures today.  They speak for themselves.  She is so cute.

Cameron

Our paperwork was received earlier this week in Texas and was sent over night to Vietnam on Tuesday.  We are hoping to hear back today that it was received.  So, we are actually back on the road to making some progress.  We were told that we will be traveling with at least one other family and Kelly actually received an email from them today.  So, at least we won’t have to be ignorant alone over there.

I would still think we are at least a month away from traveling, but that is all in God’s hands.  I think Kelly and I have a certain amount of peace at this point that everything will happen when God wants it to happen.  We were reading as a family this morning in Proverbs 16 and all the references to man having a plan, but God directing his steps.  So, I guess we go when He says we go!

We were hoping to have some more pictures by now.  If we get some, you know I will post them.

Cameron

About six months ago we did all our paperwork to adopt Mia.  All that paperwork had to be notarized, certified by the State of Ohio, certified by the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco, send back to our adoption agency, and then sent on to Vietnam.  One of the documents was certified attached to another document.  We had asked at the time if that was going to be a problem and we were assured that it would not.  We questioned this because we had time to fix it, but again they told us it was fine.

Yesterday they told us it was not fine and that document had to be redone.  This was very frustrating news to say the least.  Kelly was able to get a new document yesterday, but again it has to go to the State of Ohio, Vietnam Consulate, etc.  So, the process has just been delayed.

I can’t imagine the process at this point taking less than 3 – 4 weeks.  But, we are praying that it goes quicker than that.  It is so difficult to be this close to the end and have road blocks like this pop up.  But, we sure love that little Mia and are willing to jump through whatever hoops are necessary to get her home.

As always, thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and concern.

Cameron