DTC is coming!!!

Sorry we haven't posted in awhile. We've been busy with the Recital and finishing up the dance year at the studio. When we last left a post we were waiting for everything to be authenticated and waiting for the I-171H form from Immigration Services.

Well...we got our I-171H form yesterday which is our approval to adopt an orphan from a foreign country. We sent it overnight to the adoption agency so they could send it to be authenticated. But when they got it today they said they also needed the second sheet in the packet with it. So, we ended up going to Syracuse today to drop off the second sheet in person so everything could go out together to be authenticated. When we were at the adoption agency our adoption agent Vicki gave us the GREAT NEWS that our dossier would be sent to China by the end of next week!!! We couldn't believe it!! We thought we would have to wait until at least the middle of July for it to be sent. So needless to say we are very excited and happy about this!

We should get our DTC (dossier to China) date next week. Then after that is the LID (log in date), where we are officially in the pile of dossiers to be looked at. After that the referral (our picture of Avery), then our T/A (travel approval), and we go get her!

As Gary said earlier today we are OFFICIALLY PREGNANT-on paper that is. Now we start the really long wait.

We are going to send out the information about the quilt to everyone really soon...keep watch in your mailboxes. We hope you will all participate in Avery's quilt. We look forward to opening the fabric in the mail during our long waiting and also look forward to assembling the quilt with family and friends.

We hope you are as excited as we are!
Love~
Alli & Gary

Progress report

Hello all!

It's been a while since we've posted, so we thought we'd give you all a quick update! We've been a bit busy with dance shows- it is that time of year! We had the NDC company shows over Memorial Day weekend, and the recital is coming up on the 12th. Luckily before all this hit, we got the last of our paperwork submitted.

Our Home Study has been submitted to the Orphan Adoption Unit of the USCIS. They are now in the process of getting it authenticated and we are awaitng our I-171H, which is the approval to adopt an orphan. This process normally takes 4-6 weeks. We are currently about 2 weeks into that wait period. In the meantime, the adoption agency is in the process of getting all the documents we have submitted so far for our dossier authenticated at the county, state, and federal level. Once we get our I-171H form, New Life will send this last document out to be authenticated and the dossier will be translated into Chinese at the Chinese Consulate. This usually takes another 3 weeks. Once it is authenticated and the translated, our dossier will be complete and will then be sent to China. With any luck, we are still looking at mid-July-ish for our dossier to go to China. :-)

Then the "official" clock begins! We'll keep you posted when we hear some news!

~Gary & Alli