THE DAY WE GAVE OUR FINGERPRINTS TO THE FBI

One of the most interesting things about adopting so far is the lengths to which we have had to go to be cleared to do it.  As part of the home study, we had to have a criminal background check for every state we've ever lived in as well as child abuse clearances from said states.  Along with remembering every address of every place we've ever lived since birth (literally - even the address of the house we crashed in for two weeks in between moves), we also had to list the names of every person we have ever (EVER!) lived with!  You know those years in college with 50 roommates?  Yeah, good luck.

While we had to have our fingerprints taken to complete our home study, we had to have them taken again for our I800A application.  There is a location that will take our fingerprints at our local high school but the I800A application deals with immigration and therefore the fingerprints for that application need to be done by the Department of Homeland Security.  The closest place for us to do that is actually in Vermont and the appointments are scheduled by the USCIS.  So on Tuesday, we woke the kids at 5:15am to crawl into the car and make it to our 8:00am appointment in Vermont.

The appointment was simple: bring your appointment notice, bring ID, show up on time, walk through a metal detector, fill out a short identification page, wait your turn, take a photo for the F.B.I., allow an agent to take your fingerprints, go home.  We were done in 30 minutes.  But there is just something about the acronym F.B.I. that made it seem so intense!  Our fingerprints are going to be run through the F. B. I. database 😱 Well, that's something I never thought I'd ever have to do!

Our part of the I800A is over, assuming the F.B.I. clears us 😉It will likely take another 6 weeks for the USCIS to finish our I800A paperwork.  In the meantime, we're working on completing the paperwork needed for our dossier (the final packet that includes the I800A and our home study and is what is sent to China).  We've also applied for two grants and we're looking at children on the waiting child list.

We're taking things one day at a time, one piece of paperwork at a time, and one email at a time.

I want to stop and say thank you to all those who are praying for us and who have given to our GoFundMe page.  We cannot thank you enough.  Every time we hear that someone is praying or that someone has given, it's such a boost of confidence for us.  And 100% of the time we've needed to hear it at the exact time that you decided to say it/give it.  God is good.  Thank you for being in this with us.

As a heads up, YouCaring notified us that they have merged with GoFundMe.  We'll be able to use YouCaring for the next month but will have to start a new GoFundMe page by July 31st.  I'll let you know when we officially make the switch!

Can't wait to tell you more!
Brooke