Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Alex told Santa that he would like trains and train tracks for Christmas. :-) Happy Holidays everyone.

East Meets West China Adoption Conference

We spent the weekend in Tampa Bay, Florida for Great Wall of China's East Meets West China Adoption Conference. We learned a lot and had a great time. Alex spent the weekend with his Gema and GDad in College Station where he got to see Paul and Linda win state awards at an NAACP reception. Oscar and Hobo had lots of play time spending with weekend with Grandma and Bapa. We are happy to be home again.

The East Meets West China Adoption Conference is held twice a year and each time the conference is held in a different state hoping to bring adoption education to as much of the country as possible. A unique conference, EMW provides insightful perspective from families, medical, legal and financial planning professionals, award winning authors, Chinese officials and many other experts in the field of adoption.

Upon completion of the conference, you will receive a certificate stating your completion of 8 hours of Hague-mandated training.

Attendee Benefits:

* Exposure to THE experts on International adoption (medical, legal, Chinese officials, social workers, community leaders, adoption agency workers, etc.)
* Interaction with other families in various stages of the adoption process
* Resolve questions about adoption vs. natural child birth
* Face to face contact with Chinese officials
* Meet an orphanage director who gives his/her personal account of life in an orphanage
* Receive a parent training certificate to use for state requirement
* Make professional contacts in the field of adoption
* Learn about Chinese adoption policy
* Get an in-depth knowledge of Chinese adoption and culture
* Satisfy 8 hours of HAGUE training

Malia - we are saving all of Alex's Halloween costumes in case you like them too! Year 1: dinosaur. Year 2: bug. Year 3: duck.

How about Molly?

Alex thinks it would be a good idea for Malia's nickname to be Molly since it's also one of his favorite train's name from Thomas the Train. :o) His previous nickname for Malia was Cheerios.

San Antonio Mailer is out the door

The document gathering process is a long a tedious one. It's a long train of certification in which starting one task depends upon finishing another.

Our Mailer #1 is already in to Great Wall. Mailer #2 is being prepared as we speak. In between those two is a separate mailer to the Department of Homeland Security branch office in San Antonio. We just mailed it in last night.

The San Antonio Mailer requires a number of documents (birth & marriage certs, for example) from Mailer #2, plus a final copy of our home study. After weeks of waiting, we finally got it.

Now we wait. After 30-90 days, we will likely be approved by DHS to continue. The approval itself is a requirement for Mailer #2 to Great Wall (it's always a train), which will be ready to be mailed by the time we are approved. Also, at some point before DHS approval we will have to travel to San Antonio for fingerprinting.

Long story short, the document gathering process is nearing an end. Woohoo! One more Mailer to go, and then the "Long March" to Malia can begin. :)

Home Study Approved

Here's an email we just got from our adoption social worker. We are another step closer to getting Malia. :-)

OK, the homestudy has been approved. I've given a copy to Great Wall and your copies were dropped in the mail yesterday. Good luck, guys! Keep me updated on how things are going!

Thanks

Amy

Thomas the Train

Malia - when you get here, I'll teach you all about trains. Here I am riding on Thomas the Train. First, make sure Gem'a is holding you so you don't fall out of the window when you are looking around. I am now an official Junior Engineer! Love, Alex