Spring and summer 2022 have been BIG for us. We bought a house and sold our house, moved, completed 2 fun adoption fundraisers {you're all amazing btw}, adopted the sweetest dog, Kylo; each hit some major milestones at work, and got a lot of family time in. Moving into our new home has been by far the most exciting (and stressful) thing for us for lots of reasons. We're grateful to be in a *quieter* neighbor and have more space (going from 1 to 3 bathrooms is lifechanging people).
But most importantly, if you've been following along, you know that we needed to move into a bigger home before we could start our home study... and now that we've finally moved and gotten settled, we're home study ready!! 🎉🎉🎉
We're so happy to be moving in the right direction. Here's what we've accomplished so far, and an outline of what we can expect next in the process:
Choose an agency. ☑️ We've learned not all agencies are equal or align with our values, nor are their approaches all the same. We spent 6 months meeting with many agencies and asked lots of questions. We are excited to have chosen Holt International Children's Services.
Determine which program is best for our family. ☑️ We're not eligible to adopt domestically through an agency until we've been married longer. Because we're so eager to love on some kiddos, we determined international adoption is the best (and likely quickest) route for us to become parents. However we learned, each country sets their own eligibility guidelines, processes, and legal requirements. This affects the time, travel, and cost of adoption, as well as who can adopt from that country. Also, the age, gender, and needs of children waiting to be adopted differ from country to country. Because of my and Jedd's health background and age, we found out that Colombia is the best fit for us!
Apply! ☑️ We then received lots of documents and paperwork to guide us through the process. And then some more paperwork...
Complete a home study. We're finally at this step!
Parent education courses.
Prepare our dossier.
Submit the dossier to Colombia for approval.
Begin the immigration process.
Receive “the call” letting us know we’ve been matched!
Travel to Colombia to meet them!!
Travel home and finalize adoption <3
Complete post-placement adoption requirements.
While there hasn't been much movement in the adoption process itself until now, we've spent this time diligently saving, and, as you know, fundraising. We can't thank our family and friends enough for supporting us emotionally and financially over the past year and a half. Whether you've played Squares or March Madness, been a shoulder to cry on or ears to vent to, adopted a puzzle piece, or asked how we're doing, we so appreciate you
If you are interested in supporting our adoption fund, we have two fundraisers currently ongoing:
During the month of July, Noonday is having a massive sale AND they're increasing the percentage of sales donated to adopting families!! If you're not familiar with Noonday Collection, they design and sell amazing jewelry and accessories made by talented Artisans across the globe. It all started when the founder began raising funds to adopt her son from Rwanda. And, about 5 years ago, I fell love with the style and mission. I know you'll love shopping and their story too.
Yes, we are still collecting new and used shoes! My dad has graciously stored shoes for us so that we didn't have to worry about storing or transporting them when we moved. However, I'm sure he'd like to free up some storage space for the boat ;) We did not actively collect shoes for quite a while because we were prepping to sell the house, but now we're ready! As you're purging this summer, we'd love it if you set aside your gently used men's, women's, and kid's shoes for us.
If you're still reading, thank you. If you clicked one of the links above to our current fundraisers, thank you. If you share this blog post on Facebook, thank you. If you're keeping us in your prayers, thank you ❤️