On the adoption front....

Things are apparently moving along. Last week we got our notice from the USCIS stating that they had received our application and that we have been "logged in." Yesterday we got our fingerprint appointment letters. I am going to estimate, with fingers crossed, that we will receive our approval and referral around May 1.

This process has been a long one. After adopting the Empress in 2006 we decided we wanted to adopt again. A little over a year later we submitted our application to Great Wall, the agency we went through previously with the Empress. We were shocked and heartbroken to hear days later that China had denied our application. They cited T's previous cancer 18 years previously. Strangely, it had not affected our adoption of the Empress. We asked for a reconsideration and got letters from T's doctor and the agency and China gave us a 50% chance of a successful adoption. Basically they were saying we could proceed, pay all the money and wait for a referral that might not come. We couldn't take that chance.

I began researching other countries. Finally, we agreed on Ethiopia and sent in our application this past June. A day or two after sending in the application we received a call from our new agency. They had a new progam in a new country and we were the first people to fit the criteria. That country was Burkina Faso. After talking and praying, and doing as much research as we could on a country we had NEVER heard of, we decided to proceed. At first it was easy, things clicked and it appeared we would get through this pretty quickly, then things began to fray. Our homestudy agency, the agency we used for the Empress, the agency who knew us intimately, began months and months or mistakes, flubs, and mix-ups. As it stands today, we may still have a sticky problem. After trying for months to get a background check for T from Oklahoma, we gave up and sent our paperwork in without it. Fingers and toes crossed that we won't have to ultimately get one... So here we are....waiting. It should take 90 days.

Burkina Faso is a small west African country about the size of Colorado. Formerly known as Upper Volta. It is located at the bottom of the Sahara desert and is an extremely hot climate. The name Burkina Faso means "Upright People."

We are excited and nervous all at the same time. Please pray for our family.