THE HOME STUDY HAS BEGUN!!!!!!!!

It is Dec. 9, 2010 and our homestudy has officially begun. We had our first home study interview with our adoption social worker today. Our county/area is so internationally adoption challenged that we had to drive three and a half hours to Dayton, OH to find a agency licensed in our state that was willing to work with the distance. However  I am glad that we picked Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, our social worker, Molinda, is so sweet and so very helpful. She does have to make the trek to our house in January and then it is just the waiting game for the state of Ohio to do there thing. In a dream world we could have a referral by christmas next year. I believe in the power of prayer, faith and prayer are what make dreams happen along with a little hard work. So as we embark on this next step in our journe to bring Bourkely home we covet your thoughts and prayers. TaTa for now......

Home Study.......Fundraisers......

We have finally decided on  a Ohio licensed agency to conduct our home study. This is step one of the OFFICIAL process. The only downfall is the agency is in Dayton, Ohio (the closest we could find that our international adoption agency was willing to work with) and the social worker from from this agency tells us it is going to take approximately 4-6 months to complete the homestudy.  This is about 2-3 months longer than we had anticipated. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it is not that long and we will work through it. The Lord works in mysterious ways........

P.S. As most of you know the price of international adoption is not only emotional but financial as well. We are going to begin a few fundraisers in the upcoming months that we hope will help with the financial aspect. I have a few ideas but if anyone has any ideas on fundraising they would be greatly appreciated. A few people have inquired about how they can help financially. Currently we are are selling quilt squares for five dollars a square and the name of the family donating will go on the square. Later these pieces will be made into a special quilt of Africa so that we can show Bourkely how much he was loved and wanted even before his birth.  We appreciate any donations given through this or any other fundraisers in the future. Also on our blog there is a link to paypal.com for donations or donations can be sent to 312 Williams St. Tiltonsville, Ohio 43963. WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE IN ADVANCE!!!!!!! LOVE AND HUGS!!!!!!!

Adoption Agreement

The adoption agreement is en route to Children of Hope International. There is no turning  back now....this agreement is our contract with them and is all binding. This signifies the official start of the process now the mounds of paperwork and the many months of waiting for this process to unfold begins. Just keep us in your prayers please that God will grant us patience and the emotional strength to survive this process.. however after a year and a half of uncertainty this next year or so should be a breeze knowing that in the end Bourkely will be ours and no one can take him away. :)

Dossier instructions have arrived......

On Saturday October 30th our adoption agreement and dossier instructions arrived. We signed the adoption agreement and soon that will be sent in with our first payment installment. This past friday (october 29th) I contacted Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley in Dayton about doing our home study and post adoption requirements. I am patiently waiting for a social worker from there to call me today and give me some information. I know sometime all of this will slow down and we will just be waiting for a referral but for the this first part things have been moving rather fast, I guess after  being used to the slug pace of Children's Services and the foster parents system anything would be faster. I am just curious how long the home study process takes in a international adoption.  Well anyway, much paper work to prepare and four nights of work in a row ahead of me I better get busy....Talk to you all soon.

Application approved.....

At 5pm on October 25, 2010 (one week earlier than we had planned) Sharon Turner, the head of the Ethiopian adoption program at Children's Hope International, called to let us know that our application has been approved and we are now a Children's Hope adopting family. This is a great relief and a load lifted. Now comes the mounds of paper work and working lots of overtime to come up with the finances. The Lord has blessed us once again and we thank Him every minute for what He has done for us.

It has begun.......

The first step of the adoption process has begun. On October 19, 2010 we sent our application to Children's Hope International. We are now waiting on approval from Children's Hope that we are eligible to adopt from Ethiopia. This should take approximately two weeks. Then the dossier process begins. Stay tuned for more updates.............