Yippee!!!!!!!!

John checked the mail this morning and......our I-171H extension has arrived!!
Phewww! I was getting nervous, as we were fingerprinted over two weeks ago, and
our current I-171H was due to expire in the next 3 weeks.
The I-171H is essentially the first step of the approval given to us by the USCIS (US Immigration) to bring Marissa Renee home from China. We complete the process at the American Embassy in Guangzhou, China.

The latest rumors are that the next batch of referrals will get to March 6th, 2006. That would leave 16 more days, till our LID. Watching and waiting!

Next week we attend our travel meeting with La Vida, looking forward to it!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope your day is filled with love, friendship and many blessings!
Oh....and some chocolate too! ;)

Our Travel Hand Book Has Arrived!!!

I'm cautiously starting to get excited. John and I will finally after over three years of waiting, be attending La Vida's travel meeting in March. At that meeting we will learn all we need to know about preparing for and traveling to China to bring Marissa Renee home. Along with attending this very important meeting, La Vida has sent us our travel hand book, as well as other important information we'll need. Just getting to this point is surreal. When you wait as long as we have, and you finally see some light at the end of the tunnel, it's just mind boggling. That's really the only way I can describe it.
I'm still again cautiously optimistic that we'll receive Marissa's referral within the next 3 months or so, with travel to China this summer.

And as always, all praise and glory goes to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who without Him, none of this would be possible. We continue to wait in His perfect timing for our daughter Marissa Renee.

Fingerprinted again!!

Today John and I were fingerprinted by the USCIS for the third time! Fingerprints are only valid for 15 months at a time. Ours actually expired this past July, but we knew that we would have to renew the immigration approval (our I-171H) we need to bring Marissa Renee home to the USA, again, so it made sense to wait till we were in the renewal process. Our fingerprinting today is hopefully the last step in renewing that approval (hopefully for the last time!). The fingerprinting process is not how you may think, no black ink involved (yippee!), it's all computerized. They spray your hands with water and you place your hands on a glass panel that reads your print. It takes all of about 5 minutes. I thought it was really cool!

We're Hitching Flights to China!!!....Not!!!

John, I and my friends from the FCCLI "waiting group" went to brunch this morning at the 56th Fighter Group. We had a blast, the ladies sat on one side of the table, while the guys did their thing on the other end!! 56th Fighter Group is a restaurant right off of a small airport in Farmingdale, Long Island. The brunch items available were vast and delicious: salads, seafood, pasta, breakfast foods such as omelets, pancakes, waffles, lunch items such as ribs, chicken, steak, and I haven't even gotten to the desserts!! Everything was delicious. I paced myself and was able to try a little of everything. I also enjoyed a Mimosa!! which I had been thinking about for several days :)
After brunch we wanted to take pictures by the planes in the back of the restaurant.
We asked the guys to gather first...and the result is the picture where the guys are all faced forward toward the planes with their backs to us...we ladies laughed so hard that we cried!! The guys turned around, not understanding what we found so funny, and then we got the face front picture!!! Then it was the ladies turn!!
I have to say how much I value the friendships of these fine ladies...Pat, Kim, and Lori. We are sharing this journey of adventure together while we wait for our referrals. Lori has a unique view as she is waiting for her second child from China, and offers understanding and advice that is priceless.