LOA!!!!!

Last night when we arrived home from visiting Kringle's Inventionasium, we received word from our agency that our long awaited LOA (letter of acceptance) had arrived! This is the official document from China, saying YES to our adoption of "Mickey"!!

With my mom watching the kiddos while we are gone, we are going to avoid being gone over spring break. That being said, we have our eyes on traveling mid march. :)

Scrutiny

Last Monday we were notified that our dossier had moved out of translation and into the review department. Unfortunately, the reviewer asked for more information. We are hopeful that the documents we sent late last week will satisfy them and we will be able to move on to the next step. We are optimistic that LOA will be issued soon. If so, our hopes of traveling in late February are still feasible.

In translation

Our dossier (big pile of papers ALL about us) is in translation in China. A friend shared this image yesterday. It gave me the giggle I needed. Hopefully no important details about our family get "lost in translation".

A overdue update

I've been kinda quiet for a while and it's finally time for us to explain why. On Monday, August 22nd, as I was getting ready for my highly anticipated return to book club after summer break, I received a message from a fellow adoptive family with our agency that would send our world spinning out of control.

Long story short, on Wednesday August 31st we initiated an agency transfer at day 49 of our LOA wait from China. Not an ideal time to do it, but we feel it was the best choice for our family. 

It has cost us time and money we don't have, but wanted to ensure that "Mickey" comes home and that he comes home in the least stressful way for everyone involved.

In complete transparency, this has added approximately $3,500 to our costs. I have signed up for some local craft shows and will do whatever else it takes to get to our new fully funded goal ($24,000).

We are happy to report that we have a new LID date of today (10/10) and are hoping to have LOA (the document that shows China approves us to adopt "Mickey") soon!

A Fundraiser Weekend

On Saturday, August 27th we hosted our Pancake Breakfast at our local Applebee's. I'll admit I was nervous from the start that this event was going to be a flop (most of the things I've tried lately have been flops or COST us money).

I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout and we were blessed with a TON of last-minute donations and ended up having FIFTY raffle baskets. We ended up making $1702 that morning. The check is on its way to Reece's Rainbow to be added to our total very soon.

If that wasn't enough excitement for one weekend, then this happened.

The next morning we were invited to a polka celebration mass and picnic at Celebration Lutheran Church down in Chardon. The polka side of it was being performed by our beloved Chardon Polka Band. Turns out the church heard about the band's recently launched fundraising campaign for our adoption and decided that all offerings taken that Sunday were being sent to our fund. So another $1169.92 will be added to the $413 that has been donated to that fund.

Check it out here:

http://reecesrainbow.org/110894/polka

We are so thankful for Jake and Emily spearheading this campaign. Check out the awesome "hot cards" they will be handing out at all of their shows. :)

I've still got a few Aldi quarter keeper keychains available for a $15 donation to our fund. Send receipt and address to kaz_mom at hotmail dot com.

http://reecesrainbow.org/103677/sponsorobrien-2

Thank you one and all for your continued support!

Finally launching my Aldi quarter keeper keychains!! Ever been that person in the parking lot of your local Aldi searching your floor mats and seat cushions for a quarter? Well search no more with this quarter keeper keychain. I currently have 50 ready to ship with more on their way.

For a $15 donation, one will be on its way to you! Please donate to our FSP and then email (kaz_mom at hotmail dot com) me your receipt and address. :)  You will receive one of the 8 colors pictured below to be fair to everyone and to keep what little sanity I have left. Thanks for understanding!

http://reecesrainbow.org/103677/sponsorobrien-2

Flapjack Fundraiser

For anyone local to the east side of Cleveland, we are launching our next local fundraiser. Per our agreement with the restaurant, we need to sell 100 adult tickets in advance. So far we've sold about 15. Please contact me via text or email to place your order for tickets.

A long and long overdue post!

It's hard to believe the kids will be back to school in just a few short weeks! Where did summer go??

We've been hard at work with all aspects of the adoption. Just a few things to get everyone caught up:

Paperwork wise, our dossier (the big 'ol stack of documents that describe all aspects of us) was sent to China on June 28th (or what we in the China adoption community call "DTC" for dossier to China). It was uploaded to their system and we were given an LID (log in date) of July 13th. From there our paperwork goes through a translation process and then a review process. As long as they don't have any further questions about us, a document called LOA (or LOSC, basically a letter seeking confirmation that we still want to adopt Mickey - who wouldn't?!?) should be issued in 4 to 6 weeks if trends continue the way they have recently.

This means we are still looking at potentially traveling in November. While this is all kinds of awesome, that means we have about 4 months to raise another 18 thousand dollars. I'm currently hashing out the final details of our pancake breakfast at Applebee's. I hope to announce more about that soon!

So besides that, what have we been up to? I'm glad you asked!

So far, the highlight of our summer was driving to Mammoth Caves, Kentucky for the Reece's Rainbow Family Reunion at Jellystone Park. We were only able to stay for three nights, but it was an amazing weekend! We finally got to meet in person people that we had only chatted with online.

It was so nice to be surrounded by other adoptive families for the weekend who "get it"!

We also got to meet the infamous Reece for whom Reece's Rainbow was named after. His mom Andrea, who all the kiddos call "Auntie" is even more amazing in person than she is online.

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Each cabin or campsite had a Reece's Rainbow sign so we could find other families easier. :)

Cece and Adhu finally got to meet Reece in person. Don't tell anyone, but Cece has a major crush on Reece's younger brother Owen!!! <3

Cece and Adhu LOVED all the pools. It was especially appreciated as it was VERY HOT that weekend.

And of course the kids had to paint some pottery!

Our last evening there it finally cooled off enough to play putt putt.

Mornings were coolest to enjoy some time on our cabin's front porch.

What's a visit to Jellystone Park without meeting Yogi Bear himself??? Reece jumped in the pic too!

Cece and Adhu are truly our pots of gold!!  <3

And if you're still reading, I must thank the anonymous donor who helped pay for our cabin at Jellystone. It was our first getaway as a family of four and it was much appreciated!! The kids are constantly bugging me about when and where the reunion will be next summer! (hint, hint Auntie)

Mother's Day Chocolate Flowers - now with two options!

We are still taking orders for Mother's Day chocolate flower bouquets!

Now we are offering two sizes of bouquets - 3 flowers or 6 flowers!

For a $25 tax deductible donation, the recipient will receive 3 chocolate flowers and a yellow vase. For a $45 tax deductible donation, the recipient will receive 6 chocolate flowers and a yellow vase.

We will mail these to you or the recipient of your choice just in time for Mother's Day! Orders will be accepted through Tuesday, May 3rd to ensure delivery in time for Mother's Day on Sunday, May 8th.

Mother's Day Chocolate Flowers

Our next fundraiser is here!! Mother's Day Chocolate Flowers in a yellow vase! It's a half-dozen chocolate flowers made with a variety of 42 Dove Promise chocolates. For a $45 donation to our FSP (100% tax deductible), we will mail these to you or the recipient of your choice just in time for Mother's Day! Orders will be accepted through Tuesday, May 3rd to ensure delivery in time for Mother's Day on Sunday, May 8th.

I-800a Received at USCIS

According to the email I received from FedEx this afternoon, our I-800a application and supporting documents were received by USCIS today. This is the step after finalizing our home study. Once we receive approval from Homeland Security, that means the U.S. agrees to allow us to bring an orphan to the states and automatically become a citizen. This is a big step.

Unfortunately there's been big slow downs with the process lately. We hope to have preliminary approval in about 50 days, hopefully sooner.

The O'Brien's are adopting again

We arrived home with Adhu from India on July 17, 2015 after a long, faith-shaking process. We thought we were done – our family was complete.

Big sister, new little brother, father and mother were settling into our new normal. We were bonding and getting ready to live our lives as a family of four.

But God had plans that we could not forsee. Plans bigger than us, plans for another child in need – of a family, of a future. Please pray for our family as we step out in fathe once again.

Big sister, Big brother – waiting for “Mickey”.