The big move- ie: the bunking of the brothers

Yesterday was the big move, Patrick and Kellan are now room mates- moved Patrick's bed and dresser into Kellan's room. Went remarkably smooth, Patrick is really enjoying it, and Kellan made him feel right at home. Helped him move some of his little things- aligator teeth, skeleton riding a dragon- onto his dresser. There is still lots left in Patrick's room- he is already referring to his room as Su Xue Wei's room- very cute.
It may take a couple weeks to get it all cleared out and organized! I thought of posting a picture but didnt want to frighten anyone!
So- they are settling in, I am sure the fighting will comence at some point, but for now they are enjoying it- never would have thought, go figure! I got some great kids.

Here it is, the official word from CCAI, our agency!

Jim & Sandy,

Congratulations! Your dossier has arrived at our office! J

Your dossier will now go through the following steps:
Check-in: Your dossier package is checked to ensure all necessary dossier items are present. If your package is missing any item(s), we will notify you without delay. If all dossier items are present, we will begin the review of your dossier! Please do not be alarmed if your fees are not checked-in immediately; they are handed to the Accounting Department and are processed on a different timeline than the rest of your dossier.

Critical Review and Translation: Your dossier will be here for 10-15 business days if it is complete and problem-free. During the critical review process, your dossier is looked through another 3 full times for any mistakes or errors. This review includes a careful inspection of the document in terms of content and format, possible translation problems, and dates. A thorough check of the notarization, certification, and authentication pages are also made at this time just to make sure all is in perfect order. We will notify you once this step is complete.


Once your dossier is complete and the critical review is finished, a summary translation of your dossier is completed, making sure the most important information is easy to locate when your dossier is received by the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in China. This also helps decrease the chance this important information is mis-interpreted during the full translation of your dossier in China.

Binding: Your dossier is bound together in a very professional red folder, with photos being mounted and documents carefully lined up and ordered according to the CCAA’s preference.

Mailing: Lastly, your dossier will be carefully packaged and sent to China via international express mail!

Remember, we are as anxious as you are to get your dossier to China and will keep you posted every step of the way!

We’ll be in touch soon,
Kim J

Dossier is on its way to our agency!!!!!!!

Finally- it is out of our hands! Now the real waiting begins!
I received our documents this morning by fed ex from a wonderful friend who picked it up from the NYC Chinese Consulate herself yesterday- Thanks Nicole, and Karla! We got right in the car and drove to fed ex, to mail the completed documents to our agency!
I waited what seemed like forever in Kinkos for the one man working there- who obviously was new, to wait on the one person ahead of me. He finally got around to me, and took another 10 minutes to process the one envelope I had to send. So, I paid, he gave me the receipt, and I stood there for a minute waiting for him to put the address label on- he walked to the other counter to get something, so I thought - Sandy, this is dumb it will be fine, there is no one else here. So I walked out to the car, got there, turned right back around and walked back in.
The address was still not on the package- so I said to him that he may think I am crazy, but I NEED to see the address on the envelope.
I think this man truly thought I was nuts, but he obligatorily put the address label on while I watched- I feel so much better!
The girls were caught up in the excitement as you can see-
We will post again when we here the documents are sent off to China, it will be another 2-3 weeks, but our part is DONE! YIPEE!

Paperwork off to the consulate- the last step!

Well, the paperwork arrived safely from the Secretary of State today-
Just by luck there is another family who is also sending their paperwork, and have a close friend in NYC who has offered to hand deliver their package to the consulate- she has agreed to take ours as well! This may seem like no big deal, but it means saving us over one week of waiting which at this point means so much.
I just want the dossier in the hands of our agency- which it will be one week from Monday- July 24th-
We are almost there!!!!!!!

Finally!

Our long awaited 171-H arrived safely on Saturday. I finally got in touch with the woman at USCIS (ie: immigration) on Thursday. She admitted to taking three days off over the holiday, and leaving it on her desk.
Jeeeez, wouldnt you clear the mail off your desk before you go?

Oh, well- it arrived, so today I was off to the county clerks office so they could put their magic seal on all of the papers that are contained in our "dossier" then to the post office to overnight it to the secretary of state.
When it returns from them, I put it back in the mail to the Chinese consulate- then we are done! Our agency in Colorado then takes over, translates everything and gets it off to China.

We are in the homestrech, paperwork wise that is.
Then we wait again for China to issue us a travel approval- basically an invitation to travel to adopt our new daughter.
This can take anywhere from 30-120 days, with the average around 60 right now.

Pictured is all of our paperwork spread out on our table-
13 documents in all!

Still waiting, and waiting-

Well, the much anticipated I171-H from immigration is still not here! Ugg! When I spoke with the woman at immigration last Thursday she said it was sitting right on her desk and it would be in the mail on Friday. Well it should have arrived by Saturday, Monday at the latest- and here we sit on Thursday still waiting!
The woman I spoke with has not returned my call, and I have not been able to reach anyone in person.
So- we wait. This is the hardest part of this whole process, all that you have no control over.

On a very good note, we did receive an email from our girl a few days ago! She is working very hard on her English skills, and I think she is doing very well, certainly much better than our Chinese!
Here it is for all of you-

Dear Sanday and Jim Houle:How are you doing lately? Thanks for the postal parcel you sent me for Bejing.I received it on June 12th. I feel sorry bevause I was too busy reviewing to reply by letter in time.Your gifts made me joyous.The hat fited me well.I used the notes and pens so good.I Looked at the photo of your family went to Desney and had a good time.I have a great honor to become a member to your family in the future.Last week,I finished Lessons of this semester and got the score of 80 in the Math and Chinese test.but my English is not very well. I must stady hard.I feel so thankful to you take care me.
Best wishesYoursSu Xue Wei