Hello friends and family! We are still in the gathering stage. We finally got all of our documents together for the social worker. The packet that we mailed LSSS was an inch thick! We are now just waiting on an appointment for the home study. The great news is that during the paper chase for the documents for the SW, we ended up with most of the paperwork needed for the dossier! WooHoo! We've also finished our I-600A form for the USCIS. That will go out tomorrow, and then we wait on a fingerprinting appointment in San Antonio.

It's strange how each state and each country is so different when it comes to paperwork requirements and the time it takes them to process things. Colorado made a certified copy of David's birth certificate, sent it off to the secretary of state and had it back to us within a week. Michigan told me that mine would take 3-4 weeks. Talk about slow!

We are still waiting on our pre-approval from China. I am gathering photos for Brighton for his photo album. I'll have to get the English words translated into Chinese before I send it.

Our yard sale was a HUGE success! We couldn't believe how many donations we received. The love just keeps pouring in. Charly made bracelets and sold 8 of them! She also put a donation basket out and received quite a bit. In all, we made almost exactly what we needed for the USCIS I-600A fee and fingerprinting fees with about $40 left over. God is still providing every step of the way! Thank you so much to everyone who donated financially, with yard sale items, by purchasing bracelets or with donating time to help price items and work at the yard sale. I love you all so much!

Our case worker at CWA called and counseled me on finding a male family member to go with me to China since Brighton is a 9-year-old boy. I do not want to get stuck in a situation where we are in a strange city and he needs to use the restroom alone. I called Josh and he's excited to go! He was a little sad that he wasn't going to spend much time with Brighton. Now he'll get to see him for nearly two weeks. This also means another $3700 tacked onto the end of the travel fees. Please pray for guidance for us as we seek God's direction on the travel arrangements.

Please continue to pray for safety for Brighton and that no roadblocks get thrown up to slow us down.

Tina

"So is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11