Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Winter Review and Spring Preview!

Sam and I haven't posted much on the blog these past few months.  It is not that we haven't wanted to update you on our progress, but with our work, farm life and the demands of our adoption paperwork, the days end with us tired and falling into bed.  Despite the busyness, I feel like we are in such a sweet period of life right now!  I wake up daily with a quiet sense of joy each day (Sam probably wouldn't call the days I wake up with energy and an off-key song "quiet joy," but that's ok!). 
I thought I would share a few snapshots of what's been going on day to day for the last three months.   We've taken on some wonderful equine boarders, have been trying to enjoy our sweet, little farm and all of God's beautiful creation, spent fun time with each other, enjoyed all types of weather that winter in the south offers, been making great strides to be healthy, have begun planning our garden for the summer and have bought a little something here and there for some special little girls....  See?  Life is sweet!














Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Home Study Wrapping up!

Greetings Friends!
It's been a while and we wanted to give everyone an update.

We are proceeding SLOWLY through the process...but we are making progress!  Our Social Worker has met with us four times and asked a lot of questions about our background, parenting styles, etc.  She also educated us a lot on the process, including issues related to attachment  which are very important in children who have had 'less than optimal care.' It's all been very helpful.  So, that part is done and she is writing a 12+ page report just about us, our home, family, and stating that we meet all the requirements from the state.



Take 'Note'
Who ever knew that a Notary Public was such an important thing?!  We have to have every document Notarized. This means that the person signing has to do it in the presence of the notary.  However, because of all the scrutiny these documents will be under, it also has to be done exactly  right.  This includes:

  • All dates must be the same date.  This includes the Date on the document, Date signed, Date notarized
  • Needs to be signed with a blue pen
  • The Notary’s commission must be valid for at least six months from the day it was notarized.
  • Notary must include:
    • Their stamp/seal (Must include the notary’s name)
    • Their signature (Must match the seal/stamp name EXACTLY, for example if seal says Mary Jane Smith, do not sign Mary J. Smith)
  • Commission expiration (no sooner than six months)



That's a lot to communicate!  We have had a couple of documents that must be redone. We've learned from these mistakes and are back on track now!

After we get items notarize the Notary Seal has to be Certified at the County Courthouse in the Notary's home County.  Then we will take them to the Secretary of State's Office so that they can certify that the Probate Judge's certification is authentic.  We will then bundle all of these documents together and send them to Houston, Texas to the Chinese Consulate where they will look at all the State certifications and attach  another piece of paper to each of them saying that the State certification is authentic.  If you are counting that is 4 steps including notarization.  Our agency will then bundle all these documents and send them to China where they will be Logged In to the system.  

We hope this has helped to explain why the paperchasing process takes so long. We have so much to be thankful for.  God has continued to bless us and show us His Great Wonders.  Thank you for keeping up with us and praying for us during this process.