End of June.

At 6.5 weeks the last lab result came back from Port-au-Prince. So a bit early from the laboratory's estimation of 2-3 months! We rapidly sent off the results to the USA by scanning the results for E-mail.

Received word yesterday from the doctor that he will be working on the documents in the next few days.

The original headed to the USA on Tuesday along with the other paperwork for our file.

Think [hope] that the last referral letter was notarized and on it's way to the agency this week but not yet confirmed. So looks like we moved from mailing our first application letter to completing Applications 1 and 2 and [most] the home study requirements in 3.5 months!!

Also in the mail our Haitian bank letter and our certificates of good conduct from the Port Margot, justice of the peace.

 We scanned a cope of a needed guardianship from via computer to the social worker. A letter stating that Cory and I know first aid and CPR also headed to the agency this week.

The write up of our home study will start next week.

Our first full day in Michigan in August we plan to have the last two documents notarized and certified as well as get our fingerprints done.

Once our home study is finalized we will file our I-600A application with the American government as well as adding it to our dossier so it can be sent off for translation.

Will start to research and contact French translators in July so that when our dossier is complete we can move to the translation without delay.

It's our prayer that we can finish the dossier, translation and legalization during our trip to the USA, Lord willing.

Home Study Happiness

After months of wondering and praying about how and where we would be able to complete the needed home study it feels great to cross it off the list!

We applied for the home study a mere 3 weeks before the study occurred.

Travel can be tricky to figure out and due to heavy rains in central Haiti we did need to change her travel plans to get to the second family but as far as we know everything worked out.

We enjoyed getting to know Rhonda and learning more about how to met the needs of our little ones when they join our family. Anna and Eli joined us for some of the classes.

Thankfully, Rhonda as an experienced overseas traveler and home study provider, recognized how different our lives here really are compared to most Americans and with flexibility adjusted the questions and training to better fit our situation and needs.

Tuesday Cory and I showed her a bit of Port Margot including the bakery and market. Several ladies commented on how I do not often go to market and once I was called Anna.

Wednesday we brought Rhonda back to the airport for the second home study in Haiti. We have a few pieces of paperwork to complete this week before Cory travels to LaGonave.

Praises:

• Successful home study training and visit
• Notarized bank letter obtained
• On-line training completed

Prayers:

• One last lab result to come
• Trying to find the timing of the fingerprints- here vs. in the USA in Aug. 
• Final paperwork to agencies for our dossier

Paperwork Praises

Tired after this week but a good kind of tired.

Praising the Lord for:

• Home study scheduled for June 17-19
• Thanking the Lord that a second family in Haiti can also get their needed home study done on the social worker's trip. 
• 5 envelopes in the mail for home study paperwork on Tuesday's flight:
• 2 to doctors for medical paperwork
• 1 to potential guardians-need to be prepared
• 1 to Michigan DMV to request driving records
• 1 to agency full of forms and documents
• Obtained our letters of good conduct from the justice of the peace.
• Eli and Anna's TB tests came back negative.
• Know of at least 2 reference letters sent to the agency
• Signed up for our 10 hours of on-line education
• Both Cory and I started our classes
• Both continue with our book / web site reading list and required write-ups
• Cory spoke with the Embassy and resent an e-mail, trying to learn how to get our background checks completed. 

Praying for:

• One last lab result to come.
• Trying to find the timing of the fingerprints-soon here vs. in the USA in Aug. 
• All paperwork to be done correctly and nothing lost in the mail.
• Good heath, travel, weather for the home study visit. 
• Cory to be able to get a notarized bank letter, here in Haiti.

Home Study Paperwork

This week we continued to talk to an agency in California about our home study and as of now a social worker is planning to come the week of June 17th to do the study and provide education classes.

Still smiling. 

She will be in Florida for a conference before coming down and we found a second couple roughly 60 miles south-east of us who will share in the travel costs and also have a home study done that same week.

Travel plans, finding the right flights and a seat on the plane continue to be researched but looks like she will fly in and out of Port-au-Prince. Pray she can get the needed tickets, as well as for good travel.

People flying into Cap Haitian this week experienced weather delays and early in the week the Port-au-Prince runway was closed due to a Brazilian plane running off the runway and needing to be investigated.

Homework Breakdown [home study and dossier]:

• 3 new books and written paragraphs
• 4 web sites to read and 2 sentence overview
• Forms/lists/documents [over 20 total]
• similar to first agency-5 reference letters, financial, medical, family picture, marriage and birth certificates
• new-driving records, house floor plan, guardianship form, new questions for autobiography, safe home study questionnaire, personal profiles, credit check
• Eli and Anna will need TB skin tests to complete their medical forms.
• Cory found out how to do our local police letters so we plan to head to Port Margot next week to do this.
• Cory will also need to head to the bank to ask about the bank letter soon
• Need to continue to research the how and where for our background checks.
• 10 hours each on-line classes about adoptions to be done before the home study 
• Fingerprints for back ground checks.