And we go on...

Kris, our caseworker at AAI (homestudy agency) called. She received the go-ahead to expedite our homestudy! Yeah!!! (I think). Now we must come up with several thousand dollars weeks earlier than we had anticipated...

Our last homestudy interview will be Wed., Dec. 3rd. Then, it's just waiting for Kris to get all of the references back (most people have told me they've already sent them) and to write up the study. We must then send it to Julie at CCI (our placing agency) and she sends it to Taiwan for acceptance and an official "match" with Yin. Please pray this happens without a hitch. I'm so nervous that somehow, something will send us off kilter.

Well, that's all that's going on with the adoption at this point. Just hurry and wait, hurry and wait and worry. It will so be worth it in the end though!

Sheryl

News from the placing agency...

We heard from the caseworker at the placing agency Friday. She said another family is trying to complete their homestudy in an attempt to adopt the same baby girl! I know I should be happy for her that she could have a forever family even sooner than us, but somehow I can't bring myself to be that big of a person. I'm so upset. The caseworker said that the other family isn't completed yet either, so no idea how far along in the process they are, but Taiwan is certainly anxious to place her, so ... whoever gets done first.

After contacting the caseworker doing our homestudy here in Michigan, she is going to try to expedite the whole thing, but must get clearance from her supervisor to hurry it along vs. using their typical time frame. So... the good news: we could possibly be done sooner than anticipated and bring her home from the orphanage sooner than we thought. The bad news: that also means we have to come up with A LOT of money sooner than anticipated!

So, that said, say a prayer for us that this all goes forward very quickly and she isn't "matched" with another family before we're able to get our paper over to Taiwan, and that we are able to come up with the money to proceed!

Sheryl

Homestudy....

Well, we met with our caseworker for our homestudy. We were so nervous, but it seemed to go well. She understands our desire for this to speed right along as she has an adopted child also. (that was a nice perk!) We have set up the dates for our second and last meetings for the first 2 weeks of December, so assuming all of the paperwork goes as quickly, I'm hoping we could get our homestudy approved by the end of the year.

Then comes the even harder part. Joby and I must find the money to finance the rest of this adoption. It seems like we make too much money for assistance, but too little to pay for it ourselves. We are praying that God will find a way to help us with this. Please say a prayer for us also, we truly believe there is a plan, and it DOES include our bringing Yin home to live with us forever!! [now, if God would just feel the need to reveal the steps in the plan..... :-)]

We have been in contact with the caseworker at the placing agency and know that Yin hasn't been matched with any other family so we are filling out forms and completing our education requirements as quickly as we can, hoping to expedite this process. Even our kids are hurrying. The morning after we told them they needed references from a teacher they had teachers lined up and waiting with instructions to fill out the form and QUICKLY return it to the agency. (I had to laugh after the girls told me they gave their teachers directions!)

So... we continue to wait and pray. I'll keep everyone updated on any changes as quickly as they happen. I'm so eager to HAVE changes to report!!

Sheryl