Whoopin' it up here in Indiana!

We have moved another step closer in our journey to Nola.  This morning, our packet of documents was delivered to CNA.  We were told by our contact at the Embassy in Guatemala that they will notify us if any additional paper work is requested or if anything we submitted doesn't meet the standards of CNA and needs to be reworked.  I was hoping "previos" were something we left behind in PGN but is sounds like we can still get them in CNA.  Hopefully, everything will be accepted as is and the next thing we hear from them will be our invitation to come down for Empathy.  Only positive thoughts here!!  What a wonderful feeling to be moving forward!!

Feels Like Old Times

There was a time.......back in the beginning........not the beginning of my life but the beginning of my blogging.  There was a time when we documented everything.  We celebrated each small step in the forward process of this adoption.  Over the past 4 years at least, there weren't really any events to celebrate.  But today, we had one.  It was, again, just a little step but it felt HUGE!  Today I mailed our packet of required documents to Guatemala for translation.  Our dear angel Mayra works with a translator who will be preparing the documents and then submitting them to the USCIS office in Guatemala City.  What a wonderful feeling!  Waiting.........waiting is never easy but at least now we are waiting on a process.......a process with actual steps............and yes, we will celebrate every one!

We Received An Early Christmas Present!

On Friday December 14th, while everyone was reeling in disbelief over what happened in CT, we received a phone call that brought more tears to my eyes.............happy tears!  A USCIS staff person called us to tell us that they received the referral information from CNA for our case and we are ready to begin processing under the new Acuerdo!  I couldn't believe what I was hearing!  My mind immediately started running through the list of things that need to be done..............our Spanish............first on the list is improving our Spanish!  We've had 5 years and here we are........not very proficient in her native language!  That phone call didn't include any kind of time line that we can expect to follow but knowing our little girl will be coming home is enough for now and knowing I still have some time to get my Spanish skills whipped into shape is not a bad thing.

We also found out where Nola is living.  When we went to Guatemala a few weeks ago with the Bags of Blessings for the children at Hogar Solidario, I was devastated to find that Nola wasn't there.  The house moms told us she was with a family.  They made sure I understood that the family wasn't adopting her but that didn't make much sense to me.  When we returned home, I sent a message to my USCIS contact letting her know that Nola wasn't at the home and asked if they could find out where she was.  When they received the referral information, it contained the name of the hogar where Nola is currently living so they gave us that information.  It's a small private Christian home called Hope For Tomorrow.  They have several pictures of Nola on their site (although they refer to her as "Mary"?).  She looks healthy and happy!  According to her bio, she was adopted by a Guatemalan family in January but two months later, the family decided they couldn't keep her so she was taken to the Hope hogar.  It's amazing the path her little life has taken but it has finally lead her back to us.  God has had His hand in it all along.  I believe it's been His plan for her to come home to us and I know He was protecting my heart by not letting me find out about the national adoption until after it was disrupted.  I can't imagine how I would have dealt with that!

Hopefully as soon as the Holiday's are over, we'll get our documents translated and delivered so we can again begin waiting.  The next step will be the Empathy Study which will be a supervised one week visit with Nola.  We're hoping to get that scheduled about 8 weeks after the CNA receives our documents but they will contact us when they're ready for us to come.

It has been a long five years full of doubts and fears and anger and frustration but last Friday, all of that changed!  Our little girl's coming home!  No, we don't know when, but she IS coming home!

Thank you all for your prayers and please continue lifting up all of the waiting families.  We've become a very close group and there are still so many who are waiting for their turn to receive good news.  I'm praying their turns come very soon!     

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our clan minus two.  Geri's youngest, Jillian, wasn't able to be here and Luis' youngest, Laura, wasn't feeling too photogenic.  What a wonderful time to be together and count all of our blessings!!

 

 

Best News We've Gotten In A Long Time!!!

We received an e-mail from Kristen Smith yesterday:

Dear Ms. Lane,

We are happy to inform you that last week CNA confirmed that your case is ready to move forward under the Acuerdo process. We hope to receive their referral very soon.

Please let us know if you have any questions/concerns.

Sincerely,

Adoption Unit

USCIS Guatemala Field Office

Guatemala City

 

I almost couldn't believe what I was reading!!  After years of waiting, she is actually going to get to come home!  We still have a good bit of wait ahead of us but our prayers have been answered!  Once the USCIS office in Guat City receives the referral letter, we will submit our new paper work and wait for an invitation to come down for the empathy study (one week of supervised visitation with Nola).  Following the approval of that process, the case is submitted to a Family Court.  Not sure how long that may take for approval but I am more than willing to wait and find out.

 

We so appreciate the prayers that have been offered up on behalf of Nola and our family!  Please continue to keep all of the waiting children and families in your prayers.  This is an unbelievably difficult process and it won't be over until every child is home with their forever family

Now, an even bigger BIT of news!!

Yesterday we received a message from Kelley at USCIS.  She wrote to say they had received a message from CNA.  CNA stated that they had received the letter from us, via the US Embassy, that documented the dates of our visits along with pictures.  They said that the empathy period in this case with the domestic family had failed and that, as a result, they would be willing to re-consider the new evidence from the U.S. PAPs.  It can't get any better than that...........well....it can.......but for now, this is great!!  Basically, what they are saying is that they tried to place Nola with a Guatemalan family and that placement failed so they will now reconsider us.  It's not a "yes your case can proceed" statement but the next best thing!  The CNA Board is still debating the issue and until we hear a definite "YES" I won't be resting.  Thank you all so much for your prayers up to now and please keep them coming.  We are getting closer!  Praise the Lord!!

Little Bits of News

On Friday, I received two e-mails, one from USCIS and one from the US Embassy in Guatemala.  Kelley from USCIS just let me know that there hasn't been a decision made yet.  She also wanted to inform me of a meeting they were going to have with CNA today to discuss our case and cases like ours who the CNA say have no bond with their child.

The message from the Embassy was more uplifting.  We were told to write a letter to CNA documenting our visits with dates and pictures.  The Embassy will deliver the letter and support our appeal of the CNA decision.  I was up until 2am copying the information from all of our visits (13 total) and adding pictures for nearly every one.  There were some visits that I wasn't able to get pictures because I wasn't allowed but I still have the stamp in my passport to prove I was there.  When I was finished I had 8 pages!  Far too large a file to send as one attachment.  I had to divide it into three files.  I just received confirmation from the Embassy that they received all three sections.  The official said she would send the letter to CNA immediately but I would imagine there would have to be some translating done first.  Anyway, I'm resting easier since I have that job done.  Now, I only need to print out the letter and send a hard copy to the Embassy for them to keep in our file. 

***Update***

I received a message from the Embassy around 6:30 letting us know our letter had been delivered to CNA.  The Director said our case would be reviewed and they would let the Embassy know if there is a possibility for our case to continue.

I'm praying specifically for the Board of Directors at the CNA to recognize the love we have for Nola.  I hope they can see our determination to bring her home hasn't diminished at all over the last five years.  I'm asking that they honor the bond we have established with our little girl and allow our case to proceed.  Please join me in that prayer!

I'll keep you all posted.