Happy Gotcha Day!

July 8, 2011 in Uncategorized | by shannonjwest

One year ago on July 4, 2010 we held our son for the very first time and finally became a family. Amazing how one child can bless a family in so many ways. I cannot imagine our life without him and thank God for him every day.

Look at that scared little boy

He sure has come a long way in just one year.

Not so scared anymore

The kid sure loves his cake!

Happy 1st Gotcha Day!

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About This Blog

This blog is dedicated to our journey of faith and obedience through international adoption. We want to invite you to join us on this adventure as we experience the joys, challenges and spiritual growth of adopting a child from Ethiopia.

Below is a timeline of our journey:

August 2008: Began adoption research for Ukraine.
September 2008: Experience tremendous road blocks with Ukraine. Decide to adopt from Russia and submit application to A Helping Hand adoption agency.
October 28, 2008: Orientation with placing agency, A Helping Hand. Begin to gather documents for dossier.
November 2008: Submit application to home study agency, Hope's Promise. Orientation with Hope's Promise. Begin to gather documents for home study.
December 2008: Submit home study documents.
January 2009: Begin to pray about switching to Ethiopia. Meet with friends adopting from Ethiopia. Make decision to switch. Have to find new placing agency because A Helping Hand does not have an Ethiopia program.
January 20, 2009: Home Study session #1 - couple interview
February 2, 2009: Home Study session #2 - individual interviews
February 9, 2009: Home Study session #3 - home inspection and final couple interview
February 11, 2009: Home study approved!
February 11, 2009: Orientation with new placing agency, Gladney Center for Adoption
February 13, 2009: Celebrate approval of home study at Ethiopian restaurant.
February 21, 2009: Begin 10 hours of on-line Hague adoption training.
February 25, 2009: Ethiopia conference call with Gladney staff and other adopting families.
February 27, 2009: Submit Gladney application part 1 & 2.
February 28, 2009: Receive random check in the mail from old friends wanting to contribute to adoption expenses! Huge blessing!!!
March 5, 2009: Submit Gladney program fee #1 and homestudy review fee.
April 1, 2009: Home Study is finally written and sent to Gladney for review.
April 3-4, 2009: Mandatory adoption training through Hope's Promise.
April 18, 2009: Submit post-placement fee to Hope's Promise.
April 22, 2009: California documents (birth certificates, marriage certificate, bank letter, reference letters) sent to Sacramento for authentication.
May 4, 2009: Received authenticated documents back from Sacramento.
May 6, 2009: I600a application (request to US immigration to adopt) finally mailed!
May 14, 2009: Launched ONE*C campaign and website to raise orphan awareness and help fund our adoption.
May 22, 2009: Went to immigration office to submit electronic fingerprints for our I600A application.
June 4, 2009: Finally approved by Gladney and submitted program fee #2!!!
June 26, 2009: Received immigration approval letter I-171H - the final document needed to submit dossier!
July 15, 2009: Turned in Colorado documents to the Secretary of State for authentication
July 16, 2009: Picked up authenticated documents from CO Secretary of State and sent completed dossier to Gladney via FedEx.
July 17, 2009: Received email from Gladney that they received our dossier and are officially on the wait list!!!
March 17, 2010: After exactly 8 months of waiting, we got our referral for a 12 month old baby boy!
May 7, 2010: The new travel 2x policy goes into affect, but get a call that our paperwork made it to court in time and we'll only be traveling 1x.
May 13, 2010: Get a call that our court date is set for June 4th
June 4, 2010: Court date delayed until June 7th due to a clerical error on paperwork
June 7, 2010: Pass court! He is officially ours!!! Embassy date set for July 8th
July 4, 2010: Gotcha day! Together at last.
July 13, 2010: Arrive home from Ethiopia

July 2011
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