Process Update
We are in the final stages of paperwork. We received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) on June 13th and immediately submitted our USCIS immigration form I800. It took a few days longer than normal thanks to the July 4th weekend but Lydia’s visa information was sent the NVC (National Visa Center) on Wednesday July 6th and we received her GUZ number on July 13th. All these acronyms basically mean that she has now been approved to come to America as our adopted daughter. The next step is the Article 5 drop off and Pick Up. Article 5 takes place on the Chinese side and is the creation of her visa for her to be adopted. Article 5 is exactly business days and ours will be dropped off on Monday, July 18th. YIPPIE! Once we have Article 5 pick up, we are ONLY waiting for our Travel Approval. WOO HOO! Which comes about 5 days after pick up. This is exciting news friends, as we are just a few weeks from confirming our “family day.”
Fundraising Update
Our personal goal for fundraising was $5000.00 and we have almost made it. We had a very successful shoe drive with Funds2Orgs and we raised $1223.60. We raised $92.66 in our T-Shirt fundraiser but we also got the cost of our own t-shirts covered! So that means we will coming home in our Script China shirts. Our Adopt Together account has been blessed with $1974.00 and we have received $220.00 in cash donation’s.
Total: $3510.26
We have reopened the Bonfire T-shirt “Script Ohio” fundraiser and are hoping to have a garage sale during the month of August. We are also still doing our Finding $5 on Friday fundraiser. If you feel so inclined to give, we would be ever so grateful.
Lydia Update
As we gear up to travel, we were allowed to ask for one more update on our sweet girl. We are fortunate that our agency allows us to ask multiple times during the process. It helps us to get to know her a little bit and it reminds us why we are working so hard to bring her home. Some fun facts about Lydia:
- She has grown quite a bit in the past year. She has gained almost 10lbs. Her measurements lead me to believe that she is just a tad larger than Ezra. Probably about a 4T but we know the information isn’t always accurate so we will bring a variety of sizes for her.
- She likes candy. The nanny who filled out her form mentioned her love for candy in 3 different places. (If you would like to donate a small suitcase of lollipops, I will not complain.)
- She doesn’t like “big” vegetables. This made me laugh. I assume by big they mean whole or large chunks. I just ordered an spiralizer, so she can have plenty of “small” veggies when I get her home.
They sent us a new picture. She has a summer hair cut and I am just happy they didn’t shave her whole head which I know a lot of other families find when they get their summer updates. She is wearing the most heartbreaking little dress. It says “love me” on it. I just wanted to climb into that picture and tell her how much we are going to love her. She is also holding a little sucker, which I have a feeling will be most of her pictures when we first bring her home.
Thank you so much for following along on our journey!
We are so thankful for all the love, prayers and support we have received for this adoption.