October Adoption Update

We have completed several of the biggest milestones in the process! Our homestudy was completed mid-August. In mid-September US Citizenship and Immigration approved us as suitable to adopt. And our dossier was mailed off to Colombia in early October.

Now we are waiting for the dossier to be translated, which takes about a month (and costs $3000 - gulp!) After that is done it is sent to Colombia's adoption committee for approval. Next they will send us Jean's referral which we accept then send back to US Citizenship and Immigration for approval. Once that happens we will be approved to travel to Colombia for the actual adoption.

As far as when this will happen, we are not sure. Our best guess right now is January.

PUZZLE FUNDRAISER UPDATE

It has been two weeks since we kicked off the puzzle fundraiser and it is so wonderful to see the outpouring of support for Jean!

We absolutely love how beautiful of a keepsake this will be for him. After we frame it in glass on both sides, not only will Jean be able to enjoy this as a wall-hanging in his room, but he will also be able to see all the names of those who were a piece of his adoption story on the back of the puzzle. Our family will also pray for all who contributed each time we look at the back of his puzzle with him!

After so many years of feeling unwanted, being passed from foster family to foster family, and thinking that he would probably never be adopted, this is going to mean so much to Jean to see how many people - many of whom have never even met him - already love him from afar and want to help him to finally belong to a forever family. We can't wait for him to see it!

Here is what the front of the puzzle looks like:

And here is the progression as puzzle pieces have been purchased over the past two weeks, showing the names of donors written on the backs of the pieces:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 

Day 6

Note that at this point the word "orphans" has disappeared! That's the whole goal here, right?

Day 14

As of now, about two thirds of the puzzle pieces have sold! We are so very thankful for everyone's generosity.

We are hoping to fundraise $15,000 of the $40,000 we need for the adoption. We are at $6,387, almost halfway there!

If you would like to participate in this fundraiser, each piece is $20. When you donate through our AdoptTogether profile (tax deductible!), we take however many puzzle pieces your donation represents and write your name on the back of the pieces. 

You can choose to buy 1, 2, 5, 10, or however many pieces you like. When you make your tax-deductible donation, please put a note for how you would like your name to read (i.e. "Jane Smith" or "The Miller Family"). If you donate anonymously online, but would like to have your name on the puzzle, please email or message me. If you prefer to send a check, let me know and I'll give you our address.

Thank you again for everything, especially for your prayers for Jean, that the process be speedy and smooth, and for all orphans, that they may find forever families too.