Saturday, March 24, 2007

Spring, and that hope thing

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast" - Alexander Pope

Spring flowers are poking their heads up, the daffodils are beginning to bloom in sheltered places! The time of renewal is here, the gray dull days of winter are nearly behind us and new life is beginning. Another spring and another new beginning, hopefully our new beginning will be here sooner rather than later.

Assuming she will be 11 to 14 months when we get her, and estimating we are united in November, then she has been born and is living somewhere in China. In an orphanage or a foster home, or in what province, we will not know for several long months yet. But we can be sure she is there when we send our good thoughts her way.

In the meantime, we will be renewing various documents, and clearances here in the United States. Our "Pre-Approval To Bring A Foreign Born Orphan Into The United States" aka I-171H from the Citizenship and Immigration Service will expire shortly, and must be renewed. The USCIS will require another fee of $545 for this, and we will also have to renew our fingerprint clearances for another $140 . Our home study will also have to be updated along with Iowa criminal checks, and etc. The good part is we already have most of the required documents i.e. birth and marriage certificates to complete the renewal. And, the documents in our Dossier (application) in China do not "age", so we do not have to renew anything there.

At least, it's something to do!

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