Tuesday, March 25, 2008

God's View on Adoption...

Saw this on another blog. It's tremendous! Enjoy.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Updated I-171H: Error?

That's right. We received our updated I-171H with new fingerprint date only to discover that the names listed at the bottom of the form were not ours! They are not even close. We've notified the USCIS of the error and hopefully they will get the correction done in a timely fashion. They had already sent the error form to the National Visa Center also. So, we are praying that the corrected form is the one that makes it to the U.S. embassy in Guatemala.

We are so thankful that we do have the technology to get some of these matters addressed more quickly than in times past. That is definitely a blessing.

Update: The USCIS corrected the I-171H error in record time. We had our newly updated form within two days of our contacting them with the error. Hurray! I sent a PDF of the form to our facilitator who in turn sent it to our Guatemalan attorney to place in our file there as proof of the updated finger prints in case there is a question later in process at the embassy. We are truly blessed to see all the Lord's work on our behalf.

Monday, March 17, 2008

We're Back In!

Received an email from our facilitator and our file was submitted to PGN today! It most likely will not be viewed until next week as the gov't of Guatemala takes off Wed-Friday for Holy Week, then business as usual beginning Monday. We are very excited none the less.

The file goes through three reviewers. First reviewer makes sure all required documents are in place. Second reviewer checks for misspellings or any inaccurate information. Third reviewer, which is the attorney general gives the file a final look over and then either signs or rejects it. The file can be rejected by any of the reviewers, but the attorney general must sign off regardless of who rejects it.

When a file is approved, then submission for new birth certificates takes place with our last name replacing the existing one. Then it's submission for a U.S. visa and a second DNA is done and compared against the child's last one. Finally, the embassy issues what is called a pink slip and asks us to travel to get the children.

When a file is rejected, the attorney must fix the error and then re-submit the file.

Please pray in the coming weeks that our file is clean and will be approved. We so want our little girls home with us.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Check out my Guestbook!

I've seen this on other blogs and thought it would be fun to add to ours.

Friday, March 7, 2008

An Explanation

We heard from our coordinator yesterday and this is what she said concerning our file's re-entry into PGN:

"The final packet is very complex with an amazing amount of detail; cover page and index to assist in the location of all documents in a correct and predetermined order.... the attorney's are being very fastidious; in your case, it is double the effort and they do not want to give any reason for extra perusal... time better spent now than getting kicked out again and having to face having to update and resubmit......"

She also said they are currently finishing up 28 cases in Guatemala and I know they've had many come to completion in recent weeks. They work with four different attorneys at any one time. It really gives one an appreciation of the work they do for you. I marvel at how they keep everything straight!

Due to the chaotic environment in Guatemala right now for the attorneys, they have been stressed to the limit. Our coordinator said that being the case, that she has set aside one day a week to discuss cases with them... today is that day. Hopefully, there will be some update news on our particular file.

We are so hopeful that the girls may be home by the end of April if all goes without a hitch. We would love to have them home before either has their first birthday :)

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

SNOW in Texas!

Can you believe it? Snow in the DFW area in March? The kids were so excited to see it. Our 3 1/2 year old had never seen nor touched snow before.

Coming Down During the Night

Some had already melted by 7 a.m. This is our back yard and if you've never seen one, a mesquite tree.
Our soon to be 4 year old's first snow experience. He wasn't sure he wanted any part of it.

Here are our youngest 5. Too bad that it rained so much and made the ground too squishy to really get out and play in it. We got about 2 inches of rain before the snow began late in the evening. But still, a memory made.