PAIR Letter? Check!!

Hello friends!

 

Well, good news! We were submitted to court on Friday! Our agency went ahead and submitted us without our PAIR letter since they knew we’d get it in the next day or so.

 

And guess what was in the mailbox on Friday afternoon? You guessed it. Our letter. This gives up preliminary approval for Bertie to migrate to the US and become a citizen. 

I dropped it in the mail to our agency yesterday afternoon. They will get it authenticated and sent to Ethiopia for our court file. 

 

Per our agency, court has been a little backed up lately, but they hope to get us a birth relative court date within the next 1-4 weeks. We’re praying hard that it’s sooner. We’re quickly approaching the court closures for the rainy season.

 

As soon as we the court date has been completed, we’ll be waiting on a recommendation letter from the Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA). As soon as the team has that letter, we’ll be submitted for a court date. Those will generally come within 1-3 weeks!

 

Please continue to pray for us. We still aren’t where we need to be financially due to crazy airfare prices doubling for the summer season. We had planned to save at least 6,500 by the end of June – and we’re there. But after running numbers for each of our 3 travel options (2 trips, up to a 4 week trip, or up to a 6 week trip), we realized we’d need almost double. This was not poor planning on our part. We continued to check airfare all throughout the spring. And it hovered around 1100-1600 per ticket.

 

When we looked earlier this month, we had definitely had sticker shock. KC and I are not big travelers, so we didn't realize what the summer months will do to ticket prices. Haha!

Apparently, the summer airfare hike is hitting many adoptive families hard. We're all scrambling for any help we can get, and most organizations are just out of funds at this point. 

 

We’re budgeting as best as we can for the next month to allow for us to add extra to our travel savings account. Even with all the uncertainty, we’re not stressing out too bad because we’ve prayed continually for His guidance on this. We’re oddly at peace and we know that He will meet us where we are. We know that’s from Him because we should not be this calm at this point. Haha!

 

I’m thankful for His presence to help calm my spirit when the things of this world try to steal my joy. We are blessed in more ways than we realize, and I try to dwell on those things instead.  :)

Soon. It'll all be over soon. ❤️

  

  

 

 

Final interview Status? COMPLETE!!!

Eeeeek!! We got an email from the embassy early this morning. 

They’ve completed their final interview and have sent their determination to the NBC/USCIS office here in Kansas City.

 

They do not tell us what their determination was in the email. Our officer at NBC/USCIS will do that within the next 4-10 days. IF we cleared, which we’re 99% sure we did, they’ll mail us the PAIR letter.

 

And that dear friends. Is the last piece of paperwork we need in order to make our first trip to see her beautiful face. It won’t be long now! And we can barely contain our excitement!

 

We will upload a copy of our letter to our agency so they can send it to Ethiopia so Ethiopia can schedule the birth parent/relative court date. Those are normally 3-4 weeks out.

 

And then we could travel within a week or two of that date! We could be in Ethiopia the week after the 4^th of July! Or earlier if things go along smoothly.

 

Friends, I know we’ve asked a lot of you these past few months. But please help us pray about our trip.

 

We still are unsure as to whether we are going to take 2 separate trips or if we’ll stay in country for 4-6 weeks (even though we’ve been told it could be closer to 3). Both require more finances that we had planned for as ticket prices double in the summer.

 

If we don’t stay in country and decide to make 2 trips, we will get minimal time with Bertie. As in barely 2 hours with her our first trip and then only 2-3 days our second trip before bringing her home.

 

We’re praying and waiting on God for a clear heading. That He will either provide the funds needed or that He will help us develop a bond with Bertie in that short amount of time.

 

Sweet friends, will you agree with us? And help us pray for clarity?

 

And if you haven’t already heard, we’ve been selected as the featured family of the week at Give1Save1. We’re so blessed by this opportunity! You’re more than welcome to head over to their blog and check out our video and donate if you feel led.

 

I don’t think KC and I can adequately express how grateful and humbled we are by your kindness and generosity. I wish I could come and hug each of you around the neck. Since that’s not likely, imagine me hugging you tightly. And crying. Because let’s face it, I’m a hugger and I tend to get emotional. This hug could get awkward. But that’s okay. Because it’s all I have to give you for all you’ve done for us. <3 

http://giveonesaveone.blogspot.com/2014/06/say-hello-to-collins-family.html?m=1  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Interview

Guys, the final interview is in ONE WEEK on June 4^th. This is the last piece of information that NBC/USCIS needs in order to issue their determination. We’ve also been told that even though USCIS says they’ll issue it within 10 days, it’s usually a 3-4 day turnaround!!

 

How exciting is that?! So we’re now looking at getting our PAIR letter within a week of the embassy’s determination! As soon as we get our letter, we’ll update our agency so they can submit our case to court.

 

We went into this part of the process thinking we’d have 4-6 weeks of a “heads-up” if you will before traveling. After talking with our coordinator, it seems that Ethiopia is issuing court dates with little to no notice. Some families were only given a few days notification.

 

This is an awesome thing and kind of a bad thing.

 

It’s an awesome thing because I don’t have to pine for six weeks before actually traveling. I likely won’t have enough time to whine or cry or get all emotional about how much time it’s taking. Ha!

 

It’s kind of a bad thing because tickets will be a bit more expensive since we won’t have much notice.

 

But I still think the good outweighs the bad. My bank account may not agree, but who cares!  ;-P

 

So we’ve been advised by our coordinator to be ready to travel by the end of June. So we are doing just that. We’re working on getting the last bit of stuff needed for travel. We’re starting now so we can break up the cost of small toiletries, meds, snacks, etc.

 

I pulled out a folding table and set it up in our room so we can put our luggage and everything else travel related there. Mostly because I have a tendency to buy things far out, and then put them in random places…. I usually find them about 2 months after I needed them.

 

I even got a super head start on packing Bertie’s bag and picking out which clothes she’ll wear.

 

This is pretty big considering I’m generally a massive procrastinator. But this is exciting and long-time-coming, so that’s likely why I was able to stray from the norm. I’m sure it’s just a fluke.

 

This could be a bit smoother waiting until the 4^th though... It’s already Tuesday, and we have a 7^th birthday coming up on Friday and a preschool graduation on Friday night. It’s a “yay!” and “boo!” all at the same time *sniff, sniff*

 

And next week…. Well next week we’ve been chosen to be a part of something pretty exciting for us! I can’t share anything until Monday morning, but I’ve been dropping hints and teasers on FB and IG. I’ll definitely amp those up this week! So please check back next Monday! It’s exciting guys. HUGELY exciting!

 

BUT….. Here’s your little glimpse!

Last shot of the day. We started goofing off. 

Oliver licked me. Haha!

This is when I yelled "Ewwww! He licked me!" His face shows no remorse. Hehe. 

Exciting news & one step closer!

We just got an email from the embassy in Addis. They’ve set up an interview with the “birth parent/relinquishing relative/other”. This is the final step before they issue their determination to USCIS back here in the states.

*cue squealing, screaming, and little bit of nervous breathing and staring into space*

 

We don’t have an exact date yet, but they could send their decision back here in the next week or two! As soon as that happens, we’ll get our PAIR letter within 10 days.

 

And then it’s only a matter of weeks before we travel. It’s getting close!

*cue squealing, screaming, and little bit of nervous breathing and staring into space*

 

And to be completely honest, we’re (or at least I) getting a little nervous. It's finally here... 

!!!!!!!!

 

There have been a lot of changes for us in the last few weeks. Good changes. Changes we’ve been praying about regarding our work situations. So please help us continue to pray about these things.

 

Also, we’ve been given a great opportunity coming up in about 2 weeks. I can’t give it away yet, but it’s a pretty big deal to us. I know, I know – I’m being terribly cryptic, but it’s adoption/travel fee related. We’ll share some more information about it later this week/next week, with maybe a little “sneak peak”!

 

The embassy will email us when they’ve sent their decision back here to NBC/USCIS. As soon as they do, we’ll be sure to let you guys know!

 

Thank you guys for all your prayers!

  

   

The calm...

It’s been a week since our file was sent to the Embassy in Ethiopia. And man, am I itching for some news. We should be notified when the birth parent/guardian interview is set up.  So since we haven’t heard anything, I’m assuming it hasn’t happened yet. And it’s driving me crazy! Hahaha!

 

We’re so sooooooooo close! I’m praying that we get a speedy answer. There are rare cases that are approved and sent back within 2 weeks. Since we’ve been the rare delay throughout this entire process, I’m hoping we’re the rare acceptance here at the end.   :-)

We’re praying we get USCIS clearance soon so that we still make the cut off before the courts close at the beginning of August (normally around the 10th-12th).  

 

ALSO, we found out that as soon as we are issued our PAIR letter, Ethiopia will issue a birth parent court date, or in Bertie’s case, a guardian court date first. This is normally 3-4 weeks out.

Here's the kicker. Since this new PAIR process has begun, we WON'T know we're traveling for court until 1-2 weeks before our court date. 

Yikes. 

This means ticket prices will likely be much, much higher since we won't have much of a heads up. The best time to buy the cheapest tickets is about 6 weeks out. 

It will be similar when we go for our embassy trip. Not much notice anymore. 

BUT, on the flip side, our agency is exploring the possibility of 1 longer trip. The time between our court date and embassy date is much shorter now too!

So there's good and bad to it. The mister and I are going to do our best to pump over even more to help offset those costs.

I'm trying my best not to freak out over finances and work. May is a crazy month with birthdays and end of year stuff at school, but June should be a better month for saving since we won't have pre-k costs. 

I know Gods got this, but it's easy to get caught up in all the big stuff. 

 

Please keep praying for us – for multiple reasons. We’re working overtime to add extra to our account and still make it day to day.

 

Please pray for me as well. I’m in this last-phase-burnout-mode, and my brain feels like it’s taking a vacation. DEFINITELY got some serious mom-brain going on. 

 

I’ll update you as soon as we hear anything, but I didn’t want to leave you guys hanging for too long. I know many of you are just as excited and anxious for news as we are. You guys are the greatest.

  

  

 

And it’s off!!!!!

A little backstory for you:

 

I called USCIS this week to see if they had received the Request for Evidence our agency sent on April 24^th. As of Tuesday, they had not. Our USCIS/NBC caseworker suggested we resend it as “it’s likely lost in the mail”.

 

I called our agency to request that they resend it Express Mail. Our coordinator told us they received a letter that it had been received and we should give ituntil Friday. KC and I agreed.

 

Yesterday, I called and left a voicemail for our caseworker to let her know I’d call her back on Friday or Monday to see if they found it. KC and I figured our file would be sent over next week at the absolute earliest. We were kind of bummed, but it would only set us back a week or two, which is really nothing in the grand scheme of this whole process. Ha!

 

And then this morning, I check my email and see this:

 

From: "Addis, Adoption"
Date: May 8, 2014 at 9:00:36 AM CDT
To: "Sandia Collins"
Subject: Notification of Receipt of PAIR Filing from USCIS

 

Yeah. I honestly think my heart stopped for a few minutes. I instantly thought, uh, no friggin’ way! I just talked to her Tuesday and left a voicemail yesterday! It can’t be… can it?

 

So before I got too overly excited or told my husband, I immediately called our coordinator at Bethany only to remember that Miss J is off on Thursdays. Boo. SO I call our local social worker to see if she can get me one of the other Ethiopia team members and she gives me an email address. To which I forward the email with the question of “Does this mean what I think this means?!”

 

Miss C’s reply?

 

{Yes your case has gone from UCSIC onto the Embassy in Ethiopia for their investigation of the orphan status I-604. Big step, good news!!!}

 

I immediately forward the email to KC and text him to call me. He calls me and, much to my excitement, shows the proper level of enthusiasm at this BIG step. Pretty much the last BIG paperwork step before we travel!

 

Here’s our final steps:

 

1.       The US Embassy will take 2-5 weeks to make a determination and issue our PAIR letter

2.      We upload our PAIR letter to our coordinators at Bethany so they can

let the Ethiopian office know to get us a court date – those are normally 4-6 weeks out

3.      We travel for 1^st court date

4.      We come home and wait for Embassy court date – those are normally 2-4 weeks out

5.      We travel for our 2^nd court date

6.      WE COME HOME WITH BERTIE!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Guys. Guys. GUYS. This is HUGE. I honestly freaked out and was shaking I was so excited. It’s been SO long and I cannot believe it’s finally here! For those trying to add it up, at the absolute earliest, we could travel in 6 weeks. That would put us around June 20^th. At the absolute longest, we could travel in 11 weeks. That would put us at July 24^th.

 

God has been so good to us, and we’ve been clearing so many hurdles so much quicker than we thought. So, we’re praying we’re traveling at the end of June! We are ready to meet our baby girl!

Updated Timelines

So exciting news about timelines!

We thought once our file was in Ethiopia, it's be 6-12 weeks before we got our PAIR approval and another 4-6 before we traveled. 

Turns out, we're IN the 6-12 weeks now! As soon as NBC/USCIS sends our file to Ethiopia (which we hope happens this week), it'll take 2-4 weeks for them to make a determination. We'll receive our official PAIR letter within 10 days of that decision. 

As soon as we get our PAIR letter, our agency will let ethiopia know we're ready for court! The court date will be scheduled about 4-6 weeks after we get the letter! 

I'll call our caseworker at NBC/USCIS tomorrow to see where we're at. 

Sooooooo we could be in Ethiopia within TEN weeks if everything goes smoothly. 

Yeah, KC and I are freaking out a little too! Please pray for swift decisions to be made and no more snags. Guys, we're so incredibly close!! ❤️ 

Photo courtesy of What To Expect When You're Expecting (of course!) 

 

Some new news!!

Great news guys! I just spoke with our new coordinator Miss J. Today, she mailed off the items that NBC (USCIS) needed for our files!! It only took them 3 days to get everything gathered.

I’ll call NBC next week to make sure they received them and that they are what they’re needing. Please help us pray that they don’t make us re-do anything again. Our agency is pretty positive the paperwork is as clear as it can be.

All we’re waiting on now is for NBC to send our file to Ethiopia for determination. That’s the part that takes 6-12 weeks. And then that’s it! We get our PAIR letter and then we’ll be scheduled for court! Court is normally scheduled about 4-6 weeks after PAIR approval.

Eeeek! As long as we take our first trip before the courts close in August, I will be ONE HAPPY MOMMA! Of course, I wouldn’t mind if we got to travel at the end of June or in July either.  ;-)

We gotta kick it into high gear and bring Bertie home!

(sorry for all the exclamation points, lots of excitement going on here people!)

Here's a snippet of our convo:

We ALSO found out that during our first trip, when we come back from the north (where she is) to Addis Ababa (the capital), she gets to ride back with us!!!

She'll be with us for the 6 hour car ride back to Addis where she'll be moved into a temporary orphanage until we bring her home. 

We get 6. Whole. Hours. On top of the few at the orphanage. She'll at least know who we are and won't feel like she's being kidnapped by white people. Lol. 

KC and I were really excited to hear that! This has been a good news day. So keep those prayers comin' friends. ❤️

  

  

To catch you up...

*whew!* Guys. It’s been a busy 2 weeks. I have a few new things for you:

 

1. I updated you guys on the 14^th to let you know our file was at USCIS and we did not have a case worker yet. Four days later, we received a letter from them stating we had a case worker and that they needed more evidence. I know, it happened REALLY fast!

 

Turns out, they need the official death certificate (or an official letter stating that they do not have it) for sweet B’s parents. *hold back tears* 

I guess our agency didn’t send an official one. They also need clearer copies of a few other official forms and statements. Our agency thought they were clear, but apparently NBC didn’t think so. *shrugs*

 

Our case worker stated they were blurry and needed to be clearer because they don’t always scan clear when they send to Addis. SOOOOO I guess that our file doesn’t go through snail mail, but EMAIL! That shaves off a lot time guys.

 

Our agency is in training today, so they won’t get my email with the information from our caseworker at NBC until tomorrow. 

*UPDATE!*

Our coordinator already emailed me back and said they are going to work on getting an official letter typed up. They are also going to get with the team in Ethiopia to see about getting better copies of the translations! Yay!!!

KC and I are continuing to pray that we can get this resolved this week and our file sent over soon! God has just opened one door after another. It feels great after feeling like we run into the doors sometimes. Ha!

 

Once our file is in Addis for “investigation”, it will take them 6-12 weeks to make a determination and for us to get our official PAIR letter.

 

And then……

...........

...........

...........

WE GET A COURT DATE!!! WOOOHHHOOOOO!!!!!!

 

 

2. In other news (maybe not quite as exciting as número uno), our van started acting up on Easter Sunday. It started making a loud screeching noise and smoke was coming out from under it. Then, it wouldn’t start on Monday. The mister and I have THE worst luck with vehicles. KC and I said we wouldn’t stress about it and we spent all day yesterday in prayer.

 

We called our dealership to see if we could have it brought in to see if the issue was covered under the extended warranty we bought. We called a tow truck and thankfully, the tow was covered under our car insurance.

 

We get it there, and they tell us it’s the AC compressor relay (?). It drained the batter because it was stuck in the on position. It was building up pressure, and the smoke we saw was the “pop-off valve” releasing pressure so it didn’t explode. THAT smoke was definitely a good thing. Good news? Our extended warranty covered it he said.  

 

After work, we drove to pick up Helga. KC and I had a bet going on. I thought our deductible was $100 and he thought it was $200. He walks in to pay and get the keys. I notice he was in there for a few minutes. When he walks back out, he has a weird look on his face. I asked him what was up. His reply:

 

“It didn’t cost us anything. It turns out, it wasn’t covered under our warranty. He looked up the wrong warranty when he talked to you. So they are going to eat the cost since it was his mistake.”

 

Yeah. I know. My jaw dropped. God is SO good. This may not seem like a big deal to most people, but KC and I have put A LOT of money into our vehicles the last few years. Honestly, we have horrible luck with vehicles. Our van is only 4 years old.

 

I had tears in my eyes as we drove home and I praised and thanked God the whole way. KC and I put the issue into His hands, and He took care of it for us. He’s always taking care of us.  :-)

 

 

3. Last but not least, KC and I spent all day Friday having some down time/anniversary date day. We also made an appointment that morning to get our travel vaccinations. Mr. Collins HATES needles. In his words, “I fought guys in the jail where I worked, I went overseas and was blown up, and I can handle most things. But I just can’t deal with needles!!”

 

Poor guy. But he did great! He managed to keep his blood pressure down and didn’t pass out once!  Haha! I even documented the trip. You can tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t a happy camper. Oh the things we do for our kiddos.  :-)

 

 

 

The first picture was us waiting. He wasn't excited. I get allergy shots every week, so no big deal for moi. 

Though, the yellow fever hurt. They have to shoot it into your fat. Lol. 

 

 

 

Easter baskets for the kiddos! 

 

Handsome big brothers. Caedmon is on the left. Oliver is on the right. 

 

A nice, recent picture to include in the album I'm making for Bertie. ❤️

 

 

There She Is

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for us. I can barely believe it actually happened! Except it did. I know it did because every time I look at my phone, I see this beautiful little girl on my screen staring back at me. My little girl. My daughter. I get shivers when I say that now. Because there’s a person attached to that word. She’s attached to that word.

If you’ve ever watched What To Expect – imagine the scene where Jennifer Lopez and her husband see their son for the first time. Yeah, aside from his reaction, it was like that. I sobbed. I could barely talk (We’re going to try to upload the video we took). I knew. I saw her face and I KNEW. Search YouTube for referral day videos. There are tons. That’s exactly what it was like. FINALLY seeing the face that you’ve been praying months, years for.

A face to go with the name you picked. Only to realize, it doesn’t “fit” her. As soon as we heard her Ethiopian name, and KC (brilliant man he is) immediately thought ‘Bertie’ would be a perfect nickname. A better way to keep the old and the new – exactly what we want to do. The boys love saying her Ethiopian name, though it is a bit hard to not call her ‘Effie’.

An adoptive momma-friend posted this on her Facebook yesterday. And goodness, it. Is. Perfect. There she is. Ours.

I know it’s only been 3 weeks since we received her picture and 1 week since we officially accepted her referral, but this wait time hasn’t been too bad. That’s likely because life got crazy all at once. My mother had heart surgery, my little sister is getting married, my father could possibly be released, my mother-in-law broke both her feet, and work has been crazy as I’m training my co-worker to do my job of payroll in anticipation of being out. So while we think of her often, we still have other things on our minds too. So it has helped.

It hasn’t been too bad… yet. We’re currently waiting for our PAIR letter to be issued. A process that can take 6-12 weeks. We’re praying daily that we see it in 4-6 weeks instead of 12, so we could use your help taking that request to Him.

It’s crazy. We’re at this place right now, where we’re okay with whatever. Because we know who she is. So, it won’t be pleasant waiting, but we’re okay with this time before our first trip being our longest. Because, once we meet her, it will be TORTURE coming home without her. Leaving her half way around the world….

The wait time before our first court date is about 2-3 months (if everything goes smoothly) and the wait between coming home after our first trip and going to get her on our second trip will only be 2-4 weeks instead of the 6-10 that it used to be. All because they’re moving a few steps to the beginning. I’m thanking God for that!

And we’re praying fervently, every single day that USCIS performs their investigations and interviews and issues that precious PAIR letter in just a few weeks’ time. That would be just fantastic! If that happens, we could travel 4-6 weeks after that for our Ethiopian court date. That could be at the end of April guys. I’m trusting and believing in God. Whatever His timing.

We’re working overtime to add more funds to our travel account and to pad our main bank account since I will be off for 10 weeks on unpaid leave. Luckily, it will be during the summer, so we won’t have pre-school costs and KC’s work tends to pick up in the summer months. So that will be a BIG help. The boys will also be home, so it will allow the 3 of them to bond. God knew just what he was doing….   :)

Guys. We’ve been so blessed by all of you. And you continue to amaze us. You’ve helped us from day 1 and are still doing so. One example: We gave away Oliver’s old crib we had been saving since we increased our age range. KC and I really felt like she would be older – around 3 or 4, so we knew we needed to find her a bed. A friend at work gave me a twin bed at the very end December. I was so thankful! But I was sure I had plenty of time to paint it and find a mattress and box spring. Wrong. Haha! I painted her bed over the weekend and had 2 friends give us a mattress and box spring. One had a mattress but no box spring, and the other had a box spring but no mattress. It worked out perfectly!! You guys.

KC and I will thank you as often as we can. I know I end most posts like this, but I want you all to know how important you have been in this process. You have given one little girl a chance at a new family. She lost hers, but has given another. She is a daughter again. A sister. A granddaughter. A niece. A cousin.

We cannot thank you enough. We can’t wait until she gets here and can see all the amazing people who helped to bring her home. ❤️