Biometric Barrage

It is hard to believe that we are entering the end of January already!  We were unexpectedly out of town for several days over the last two weeks, so I feel a bit like I "lost" some time.

In the butterfly house

We do not have our immigration approval back yet, however, on Friday we had our fingerprints taken (again) as part of that process.  Our appointment was at 8 a.m.. (I really wonder why no one checks to see how far away we live from the office that will be taking the prints before giving such an early time.)  :-)  It was a five hour round trip for an appointment that lasted about thirty minutes.  On the positive side, they were really prompt in getting all the 8 o'clock appointments (there were several) through the line and fingerprinted. We took the kiddos with us this time and made it a Field Trip day.  After our appointment, we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then to the Life and Science Museum, an interactive science museum that also has some wildlife.  Because it was raining for most of our time there, we did not do all of the outdoor activities but still spent about four and a half hours in the museum. (The butterfly house was awesome!)  If you are ever in the area, it is a great place to take your kiddos and keep them entertained for hours (literally).  We arrived home around 5:45 p.m., and since we were all up by 4:30 a.m., we were exhausted and ready for bed early.

Just emerged from the cocoon (photo taken through glass)

The last time we had our fingerprints taken for USCIS, it took another four to six weeks for us to get the approval paper.  We hope it won't take that long this time, but that is out of our hands.  During the time that we were out of state, our agency sent our dossier to Poland to be translated. Yay!  Waiting on our immigration approval is not stopping things from moving forward.  :D  The translation of the dossier can take up to a month, and though we cannot get an official referral until we have the approval from immigration, we can have the dossier translated and ready to go when the approval comes.  

Once the dossier is completely translated, including the immigration approval, we wait for the dossier to go through an approval process through the Polish governent.  After the Polish government gives its approval, we will get the official referral for our daughter.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is such a fun time of year, isn't it?! We think about carols, Christmas lights, decorations, cookies, time with family and/or friends, parties, Christmas programs, and so much more. At one time, I would have included snow on my list of "Christmasy" things, but we don't get much of that here.  There is just something about snow falling silently against a backdrop of Christmas lights and carols playing.... Unfortunately, today it is pouring rain. *sigh* Oh well, we still have the Christmas lights on and the carols playing.

A Reason to celebrate

This year as we celebrate Christmas,  the emotions are mixed in our house.  As we sat at the table eating lunch a little while ago, we looked at the clock and determined the time in Poland.  It was about 6:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve there, and we asked the question, "Will (she) be getting any presents this year?"  I don't know.  I do know she is being cared for, and I am grateful for that but still await the day that she will be here with us instead of thousands of miles away. We look forward to sharing all that is special about Christmas with her and the meaning behind the celebration.

Since our last post, we are another step closer to bringing her home.  Our immigration paperwork (I-800A supplement 3) was sent out on December 9th, and we received the immigration notice that says they are processing our request to update it.  This should take two to three weeks, so taking the holiday time into consideration,  we are looking for it to come back by the beginning of January.

We also got all of the documents together and sent in to our agency for our dossier.  Some of them have to be notarized and apostilled before being mailed overseas.  (Apostilling was not a requirement for our dossier to Hungary, but it is a requirement for Poland.)  The only thing we are waiting for to send our documents overseas is our immigration approval, and we can move on to the next step. :D

At the County Courthouse getting Background Checks done for the dossier

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!