Karen began painting the mural today! How exciting to see our world in vivid color!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Painting Begins!
Karen began painting the mural today! How exciting to see our world in vivid color!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Mexican Vacation
(From the balcony of our house in Puerto Vallarta)
(Sitting on a traditional chair in Tlaquepaque, MX)
(Esther, Laura and Ana Rut with Principe)
Visiting Mexico confirmed our desire to raise our children knowing and loving many cultures and speaking Spanish. It also affirmed our desire to be a part of a Latin American culture and spend time visiting and living abroad. We have so many big dreams for our life and for our family! All are in the Lord's hands and he will carry us through.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Mural-Day2
As Karen began to trace the outlines of Europe, Asia and Africa onto the wall, we both began to see how big this mural will be. It made us think about how big the World really is and how diverse. I can't help but marvel at all the wonders of God's hand. And somewhere among the wonders of creation is our child who will someday, in God's perfect timing, be a part of our family.
Monday, July 23, 2007
The mural begins
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Letters from AWAA
America World sent our dossier to El Salvador on July 9, 2007 and we received these letters welcoming us to the Third Phase / Waiting Phase of the process to adopt our child. The papers are being translated now and will go on to the OPA (Oficina Para Adopciones) and then the ISNA (El Salvador's child welfare agency) and then eventually to the Comite de Asignacion (Assignment committee)
Dossier sent letter, pages 1 and 2
Dossier sent letter, pages 1 and 2
Waiting phase letter, pages 1 and
2
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Salvadoran News Link
http://www.elsalvador.com/ is the website of "El Diario de Hoy" a main Spanish language daily news publication out of San Salvador.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Photos from El Salvador
Here are some of the pictures that Christi took while visiting El Salvador last week.
Update from El Salvador
Christi Hicks, our family coordinator and AWAA's Latin America Program Director, recently returned from a trip to El Salvador. She met with several people who are integrally connected to the process of international adoptions. Here is her update. I highlighted some information that is new and promising as we enter into the "waiting" stage in which all is in the hands of the Salvadoran government. Of course we know that all of this is in God's hands, and this new information shows how He is at work and teaches us how to pray for adoptions in El Salvador.
_____________
Dear El Salvador families,
I can’t thank you enough for your prayers, thoughts, and even fasting for Susan and I while in-country. We certainly felt your prayers!!
We arrived on Sunday afternoon (June 24) and were able to go and visit some of the Mayan Ruins that lie just outside the city of San Salvador . It was great to see more of the culture and history of this beautiful country. Monday morning (June 25) we went to visit with the director of adoptions for ISNA (the child welfare agency) to discuss their process as well as gain a better understanding of their role as well as limitations. They have a database with all the information for the children, but lack internet in some of the outlying departments, such that there is a lag time in receiving and trading information between headquarters in San Salvador and the outlying departments.
Later that morning we were able to visit the Nun and the children in her care. For those of you that were in the process during the holiday season, these are the children you funded to buy shoes and school supplies. The nun again shared with me their vision for purchasing a property where they could grow their work with these children. They are currently licensed with ISNA to care for these children during the day, but then they have to return to their homes at night because in their current facility they cannot house the children overnight. Many of these children are from some of the poorest areas near San Salvador and have families that do not wish to care for these children or are unable to care for them. Without her program, they would virtually be homeless every day as they would be unable to attend school and would have no oversight during the day while parents are at work. Many of these families would like to relinquish their rights and entrust their children to the care of the organization permanently. However, unless the organization is able to purchase the sufficient property, they will only continue to be able to host a day program for these precious children. (I’ve included photos of many that were there that day). Please pray the Lord will bring the right contacts into their path for them to purchase this property and live out the big dream the Lord has given them for these children.
That afternoon we met with the Procurador General. He was very warm, welcoming and greeted us as friends. He stated that one thing the country of El Salvador is doing to help decrease wait time is changing a crucial law. He said this law should be implemented in the next six months. What it would change is that children who are abandoned would no longer need to go through a lengthy one to two year process to be declared adoptable. This would become an administrative procedure that could take much less time, allowing the child to be placed with a forever home much sooner. Please pray with us that this law is implemented quickly so that these children will no longer be locked into the system.
Tuesday morning (June 26) we were able to meet with the Director of OPA (Office for Adoptions). She shared with us a few specific referrals for some children that are more difficult to place, such as special needs and older children (6-14 years old). I was very encouraged to see the files and the extent of the information they're offering. El Salvador is a member of the Hague Convention and it is going to great lengths to really comply with these standards. For this reason, of the files I saw, we will be getting extensive medical reports as well as psychological reports and background studies on all the children referred. Of the files they shared with us many are available immediately and she said that so far we have the best families being put forward and she would love for our agency to be able to accept one, a few or even all of these children. I have asked that any families having submitted dossiers that would be interested in hearing more about the older and special needs children available would participate in a conference call on Monday afternoon. At this time, this opportunity is only available to those families that have submitted dossiers to America World prior to the date we met with the Director. Please pray for God to open the hearts of families, regardless of whether they are America World families or others, for these precious children that long to have a family and a home to call their own.
Again, I can’t thank you enough for all your prayers and support for our time.
Christi Hicks
Latin America Program Director
_____________
Dear El Salvador families,
I can’t thank you enough for your prayers, thoughts, and even fasting for Susan and I while in-country. We certainly felt your prayers!!
We arrived on Sunday afternoon (June 24) and were able to go and visit some of the Mayan Ruins that lie just outside the city of San Salvador . It was great to see more of the culture and history of this beautiful country. Monday morning (June 25) we went to visit with the director of adoptions for ISNA (the child welfare agency) to discuss their process as well as gain a better understanding of their role as well as limitations. They have a database with all the information for the children, but lack internet in some of the outlying departments, such that there is a lag time in receiving and trading information between headquarters in San Salvador and the outlying departments.
Later that morning we were able to visit the Nun and the children in her care. For those of you that were in the process during the holiday season, these are the children you funded to buy shoes and school supplies. The nun again shared with me their vision for purchasing a property where they could grow their work with these children. They are currently licensed with ISNA to care for these children during the day, but then they have to return to their homes at night because in their current facility they cannot house the children overnight. Many of these children are from some of the poorest areas near San Salvador and have families that do not wish to care for these children or are unable to care for them. Without her program, they would virtually be homeless every day as they would be unable to attend school and would have no oversight during the day while parents are at work. Many of these families would like to relinquish their rights and entrust their children to the care of the organization permanently. However, unless the organization is able to purchase the sufficient property, they will only continue to be able to host a day program for these precious children. (I’ve included photos of many that were there that day). Please pray the Lord will bring the right contacts into their path for them to purchase this property and live out the big dream the Lord has given them for these children.
That afternoon we met with the Procurador General. He was very warm, welcoming and greeted us as friends. He stated that one thing the country of El Salvador is doing to help decrease wait time is changing a crucial law. He said this law should be implemented in the next six months. What it would change is that children who are abandoned would no longer need to go through a lengthy one to two year process to be declared adoptable. This would become an administrative procedure that could take much less time, allowing the child to be placed with a forever home much sooner. Please pray with us that this law is implemented quickly so that these children will no longer be locked into the system.
Tuesday morning (June 26) we were able to meet with the Director of OPA (Office for Adoptions). She shared with us a few specific referrals for some children that are more difficult to place, such as special needs and older children (6-14 years old). I was very encouraged to see the files and the extent of the information they're offering. El Salvador is a member of the Hague Convention and it is going to great lengths to really comply with these standards. For this reason, of the files I saw, we will be getting extensive medical reports as well as psychological reports and background studies on all the children referred. Of the files they shared with us many are available immediately and she said that so far we have the best families being put forward and she would love for our agency to be able to accept one, a few or even all of these children. I have asked that any families having submitted dossiers that would be interested in hearing more about the older and special needs children available would participate in a conference call on Monday afternoon. At this time, this opportunity is only available to those families that have submitted dossiers to America World prior to the date we met with the Director. Please pray for God to open the hearts of families, regardless of whether they are America World families or others, for these precious children that long to have a family and a home to call their own.
Again, I can’t thank you enough for all your prayers and support for our time.
Christi Hicks
Latin America Program Director
Last bit of Certification -- Officially "Waiting"
Kim traveled to Hartford yesterday to have our approval form and a small handful of other documents certified by the Secretary of the State's office. All the apostilled documents were carefully packed in a FedEx envelope and sent overnight to AWAA in McLean, VA. (They arrived first thing this morning.)
Hopefully, the documents will be reviewed and forwarded down to El Salvador very soon.
That means that we are officially in the "waiting" stage of this journey. It could be as soon as 12-14 months from now that we meet our first child. We got an email this week from James' parents and spent some time with Kim's parents and both are so excited to meet their first grandchild. All of our friends at Trinity Baptist Church are excited and supportive too. Several of our friends have growing families too. Amber and Greg just had thier first baby, Sophia, Jill and Ben are expecting their first in October, Shannon and Matt will be parents in December, Kristen and Morgan will welcome their baby in January, and Heather and Pat will be parents in God's timing (hopefully soon!). Our child will have plenty of good company!
Hopefully, the documents will be reviewed and forwarded down to El Salvador very soon.
That means that we are officially in the "waiting" stage of this journey. It could be as soon as 12-14 months from now that we meet our first child. We got an email this week from James' parents and spent some time with Kim's parents and both are so excited to meet their first grandchild. All of our friends at Trinity Baptist Church are excited and supportive too. Several of our friends have growing families too. Amber and Greg just had thier first baby, Sophia, Jill and Ben are expecting their first in October, Shannon and Matt will be parents in December, Kristen and Morgan will welcome their baby in January, and Heather and Pat will be parents in God's timing (hopefully soon!). Our child will have plenty of good company!
Friday, June 29, 2007
APPROVED!
Yesterday afternoon we received our I-797C form in the mail from The Department of Homeland Security / USCIS (Customs and Immigration). The name of the form is "NOTICE OF FAVORABLE DISPOSITION CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR ADVANCE PROCESSING OF ORPHAN PETITION." Whew!
We read it through several times and had to send an email to Christi, our family coordinator at AWAA to interpret its legal-ese for us. WE'RE APPROVED!! The US government officially recognized that we "are able to furnish proper care to an orphan or orphans as defined in section 101(b)(I)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act." The exciting part of all this is that a copy of this form was forwarded to the US Embasy in San Salvador. El Salvador now has us on their radar!
That means that we are one very important step closer to adopting our child. I'll go on Monday to Hartford to have this form apostilled along with two or 3 others that need updating. Then I will send them to AWAA and from there they can all go to El Salvador to be translated and submitted! Then can come approval by El Salvador, Referral, Travel and FAMILY!
Praise God from whom all blessing flow!
WOO HOO!
We read it through several times and had to send an email to Christi, our family coordinator at AWAA to interpret its legal-ese for us. WE'RE APPROVED!! The US government officially recognized that we "are able to furnish proper care to an orphan or orphans as defined in section 101(b)(I)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act." The exciting part of all this is that a copy of this form was forwarded to the US Embasy in San Salvador. El Salvador now has us on their radar!
That means that we are one very important step closer to adopting our child. I'll go on Monday to Hartford to have this form apostilled along with two or 3 others that need updating. Then I will send them to AWAA and from there they can all go to El Salvador to be translated and submitted! Then can come approval by El Salvador, Referral, Travel and FAMILY!
Praise God from whom all blessing flow!
WOO HOO!
Here is a copy of our I-797C Approval!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Pre-Parental Counseling #1
Yesterday we met with Pastor Josh and Rochelle to talk with them about Parenting for the first time. We've asked them to sit with us periodically to discuss what they have learned about parenting, raising children who love the Lord, growing personally in our Faith, and keeping our marriage strong as we prepare to become parents.
During our first meeting we discussed:
During our first meeting we discussed:
- Parenting a sinner--we are all sinners and need to parent in the light of God's grace and forgiveness
- Letting go of our pre-conceived expectations for our child's life and letting them be who God created them to be
- Being consistent in rules and discipline
- Communicating carefully as parents
- Giving a child the time and attention he/she craves before expecting him/her to be content to play independently
- Super Nanny--parents have the ability and responsability to make changes when one strategy is not working
- Parenting books--sometimes a helpful resource, but it's important to rely on our own parental instincts when making decisions about our family
We hope to meet with them several more times to glean as much wisdom from them as we can. We will also be seeking advice and wisdom from many other wise and experienced parents as we "wait" for our child to come home to us.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The World For Our Little One
One thing we want to show the world through our special and multicultural family is that the world is God's and we are His. Every human on this globe is created by Him as a unique part of His plan for the World. His plan is to adopt each of us into His family by His grace and through His son, Jesus Christ. The whole diverse world is part of His plan. We want our family to be a living testimony of the way that God brings us (who were far from Him) into his family--to be His heirs (Romans 8:12-17). As a symbol of the way His love encompases every corner of the Earth, we have decided to paint a mural on the wall of our child's bedroom wall--a colorful map of the world.
Kim's friend Karen has agreed to work with us this summer, using paintbrush and paint, to give the world to our first child. She is a 4th grade teacher at Kim's school and is also a muralist.
PORTRAITS, MURALS & MORE...
KAREN MCHUGH
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Message From AWAA
We received this message today from Christi, our Family Coordinator. Some good news, and some more work to do. A couple documents need to be fixed up, but the good news is that the agency is processing us along with the others who submitted their dossiers prior to May 31. This is a blessing because families who submit after May 31 will have to pay a new International Program Fee. Since they granted us an extension, we will not have to pay this new fee.
Hi Kim,
In reviewing your dossier there were a few things that need to be amended.
1. The psychologist's license CCOO had a scratch-out. Unfortunantly you'll need to redo this.
2. The power of attorney dates do not match up. It shows that it was completed and notarized on the 21st but then the date for your signatures is the 22nd.
Let me know if you need me to send the originals to you. Otherwise if you want to just complete those 2 pages and send it to me with your I171H you'll be all set.
In regard to the request of the extension, I had already granted that to your family so you all are counted as before the 31st deadline.
God bless,
Christi Hicks
Assistant Eastern Europe Program Director
Latin America Program Director
America World Adoption
6723 Whittier Avenue, Suite 202
McLean, VA 22101
Toll Free: 888-ONE-CHILD ext. 124
Direct Line: (703) 891-3145
Fax: (703) 356-8973
www.spirit-of-adoption.org
(KJV) Romans 8:15 For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father.
Click here for more information on AWAA's new El Salvador Program, Ethiopia Program, or Kazakhstan Program.
This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this for the addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose or take any action based on this message or any information herein. If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation.
Hi Kim,
In reviewing your dossier there were a few things that need to be amended.
1. The psychologist's license CCOO had a scratch-out. Unfortunantly you'll need to redo this.
2. The power of attorney dates do not match up. It shows that it was completed and notarized on the 21st but then the date for your signatures is the 22nd.
Let me know if you need me to send the originals to you. Otherwise if you want to just complete those 2 pages and send it to me with your I171H you'll be all set.
In regard to the request of the extension, I had already granted that to your family so you all are counted as before the 31st deadline.
God bless,
Christi Hicks
Assistant Eastern Europe Program Director
Latin America Program Director
America World Adoption
6723 Whittier Avenue, Suite 202
McLean, VA 22101
Toll Free: 888-ONE-CHILD ext. 124
Direct Line: (703) 891-3145
Fax: (703) 356-8973
www.spirit-of-adoption.org
(KJV) Romans 8:15 For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father.
Click here for more information on AWAA's new El Salvador Program, Ethiopia Program, or Kazakhstan Program.
This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this for the addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose or take any action based on this message or any information herein. If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Fullton Family Album
Here are some of the pictures we included with our Fullton Family Album that will be submitted with our dossier to El Salvador.
Expectant Mother and Father
Enjoying time together
Our child's future bedroom
Our home
Expectant Mother and Father
Enjoying time together
Our child's future bedroom
Our home
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Almost Official
On June 1, we copied and organized all of the documents for our dossier. We squeezed them all into a FedEx box and sent them off to AWAA's office in McLean, Virgina. The stack was over 2'' tall and just barely fit into the box.
DOSSIER DOCUMENTS:
A: Copy of Passport Photo pages for husband and wife
B: Birth Certificates
C: Marriage Certificate
D: General Physical Examination
E: Copy of Physician’s license
F: Police Department Record
G: Proof of Income (Employment Letters)
H: Photo Copy of USCIS I-171H (Keep the original)
I: Home Study
J: Copy of agency license and social worker license
K: Copy of America World’s License
L: Psychological Evaluation
M: Copy of Psychologist’s license
N: Letter regarding psychologist
O: Power of Attorney
P: Agency Post-Placement Commitment
Q: Agency Recommendation
R: Guardianship Statement
S: Photo Album
T: (2) Two copies of every page of A-S & U on this sheet**
U: Letters about medications (placed after Physician’s license in dossier)
We sent all these in except for letter H. We went on June 2nd to have our fingerprints taken. Those need to be processed by the FBI and then the Dept. of Homeland Security can approve our application and USCIS can pre-approve our child for a US visa. Once that document arrives, we can have it certified and our documentation will be complete. It will be reviewed by AWAA, sent to El Salvador for translation, and then submitted to the Salvadoran "Oficina Para Adopciones" who will eventually approve us and send us a referral--our child!
One more big step closer.
DOSSIER DOCUMENTS:
A: Copy of Passport Photo pages for husband and wife
B: Birth Certificates
C: Marriage Certificate
D: General Physical Examination
E: Copy of Physician’s license
F: Police Department Record
G: Proof of Income (Employment Letters)
H: Photo Copy of USCIS I-171H (Keep the original)
I: Home Study
J: Copy of agency license and social worker license
K: Copy of America World’s License
L: Psychological Evaluation
M: Copy of Psychologist’s license
N: Letter regarding psychologist
O: Power of Attorney
P: Agency Post-Placement Commitment
Q: Agency Recommendation
R: Guardianship Statement
S: Photo Album
T: (2) Two copies of every page of A-S & U on this sheet**
U: Letters about medications (placed after Physician’s license in dossier)
We sent all these in except for letter H. We went on June 2nd to have our fingerprints taken. Those need to be processed by the FBI and then the Dept. of Homeland Security can approve our application and USCIS can pre-approve our child for a US visa. Once that document arrives, we can have it certified and our documentation will be complete. It will be reviewed by AWAA, sent to El Salvador for translation, and then submitted to the Salvadoran "Oficina Para Adopciones" who will eventually approve us and send us a referral--our child!
One more big step closer.
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