It’s been a while since writing last time. What’s new?
The dossier is country specific, so I guess we’ll be committing to the Philippines…..and choosing a number of kids we’d like to adopt.
It’s been a while since the last entry. Not much is happening right now. We’re still waiting for the OK to send the I-600 form in. We haven’t heard back about the Adam Walsh law background check yet.
Some school books arrived a couple days ago. Holly started high school tennis and is going through the tryouts this week.
We finished our 16 hour adopting older children class at Hope Adoption Services in Oak Park Heights, MN. It was a really good class. Some of the info we already knew, but there was a lot of good info. It was presented in a very simple, logical manner.
We dropped off our fingerprint cards for the Adam Walsh Law at Crossroads yesterday and are supposed to get a response within a couple weeks from the State of MN if we’re OK to adopt children. After that, we’ll send in our I-600A form to the USCIS and then wait for the OK to get our fingerprints and background check done by them.
Oh, I almost forgot – we received a voicemail from Friends of FANA (adoption from Colombia). I thought we weren’t their friend because we didn’t get much info or response from them to our email and phone calls. I think we’re going to pursue the Philippines yet, then maybe try Colombia as a fallback. We really like the Children’s Shelter of Cebu, their people/employees and children.
One last thing: on the Adoption Day 4 entry, I mentioned my mom and dad sold their house. Well, it didn’t sell. The buyers said it didn’t pass the inspection. They don’t have it up for sale anymore.
Wow, 60 days – 2 months (more or less)
On 8/1, we had an office visit with our adoption counselor. She summed up what we have to do yet. We read over our home study. It really does seem like we’re more than 1/2 the way there, other than the waiting, that is.
Today we’re going to the police department to get our fingerprints taken for a new law – the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. It will add a couple weeks to the process, but hey, what’s a couple more weeks? Then, after we get the OK from the Minnesota Department of Human Services, we can send in that famous I-600A ‘salmon colored form’ to the UCSIS, along with a check for $750. After we get that form in to the USCIS, we’ll get an OK to get our fingerprints taken at our local USCIS office. Then the FBI will check us out. Hey! They already have my fingerprints on file…do I get a discount?
Oh, I forgot to mention the 2nd large payment to Crossroads before they forward our home study to the USCIS. I guess it’s no secret – it’s on their website. It’s another $2100 to Crossroads. Did I mention the link at the right side of each web page? It’s a handy way you can help us out with our adoption fees. The $10 amount is changeable. 
We have a class today and tomorrow at Hope Adoption Services. The class is 8 hour each day, on adopting older children and how to deal with the problems that can come with older children.
