Fingerprinting Day!

Today we went to the local US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office to have our fingerprints taken for our background checks. This is actually not the fourth, but the fifth time we've been here for fingerprints, since Rachel's referral was so long in coming and our prints would expire before the adoption was completed. (How do fingerprints "expire", I wonder?) For some reason, they always have trouble getting clear prints from Al (perhaps his prints have, indeed, "expired"?)

Friends Forever!

We celebrated our six-year Gotcha Day with Hannah's travel group today! These girls have grown up together and are the dearest of friends. Our families have grow close, too, and even the little sisters are great friends. Who knew that when we adopted Hannah, we'd also be gaining an extended family! (That's Hannah, front row, center.)

Daddy Daughter Dance

What a special memory this evening was for both Hannah and Al! Our little girl is so grown up now! Needless to say, I was a bit weepy while taking photos and video as they were leaving! They both had a wonderful time!

Yet another step...

Today we received the letter from US Citizenship and Immigration Services that we can go ahead and have our fingerprints done! We're hoping to do that early next week. Then we wait several weeks for the fingerprints to clear, and we will receive the final document for our dossier. We're a little closer...

Happy Gotcha Day, Hannah!

Hannah, April 2000
Today, in addition to celebrating Easter, we celebrated six wonderful years with our precious first daughter, Hannah Zhipan! In some ways, it's hard to believe it's already been six years since she joined our family, and yet, we can hardly remember our lives without her. What a wonderful, beautiful, talented, intelligent, funny, creative, caring, loving child she is. And she is growing up into such a delightful young lady. Tonight, we watched the video of our trip to China to adopt her, and I had to laugh at the younger, new mom I saw. How unsure I was, how little I knew! (And how much younger I looked!) And what a remarkable adventure it's been to be Hannah's (and Rachel's and Abbie's) Mama!

Happy Gotcha Day, darling Hannah! You are such a blessing to our family!

The Homestudy Is Done!

Our completed homestudy came in the mail today from Sunny Ridge! A copy of it was also sent to USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services). We will now wait to receive a letter telling us to go get fingerprinted to clear the Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System. Once our prints clear, we get the I171-H document that states we have been given permission to "bring an orphan into the United States for the purpose of adoption." That document, along with all the others (I'll list them all in a later post) are to receive seals from the State of Illinois and the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. Then we're done and ready to send it all off to CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) for them to do their thing and match us with our Sarah!

One more thing I have to send to China with all those official documents is four pages of photos depicting family life. How on earth do you document family life with three lively little ones with only four pages of photos? I need a lengthy video to do that!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I must go and iron three little Easter dresses! May you have a blessed Easter!

Our Little Fashion Model!

"Our next model, Hannah Zhipan Cormier. The daughter of Al and Becky, Hannah looks fresh in this silk dress, with floral ribbon detailing and sequins. Interestingly, this dress comes complete with its own bag for very easy laundering.
"Hannah is the oldest of three sisters and the family is awaiting a referral for another sister, hopefully later this year! Hannah enjoys a diverse group of activities including singing, learning to speak Mandarin Chinese, Tae Kwon Do, science and nature, dinosaurs, knitting and playing violing. This year, she rode the school bus for the very first time.
"Hannah's best friend is Abbie. These two kindergarteners were friends and played together in China before their moms and dads adopted them. In the future, Hannah wants to have six children! Thanks, Hannah!"
- Copy read about Hannah as she modeled at the Sunny Ridge fashion show last Saturday, April 8th.