We are very excited to announce that after 3 1/2 years of waiting, we have officially been matched to our daughter!! On July 6, 2016 we received a phone call from AWAA (our adoption agency) about a beautiful little girl. Due to confidentiality, our agency asked we not share publicly about our daughter until China approved our family for her adoption. So the process began for us to prepare the necessary paperwork needed to submit what is called a "letter of intent" aka LOI to China. In short, this paperwork summarizes that we are prepared to adopt and will care for all of our daughter's needs. By July 9th we completed this letter and it was sent to China July 11th. Then the waiting began again...
Some families have told us that they have waited for months for approval from China. There doesn't seem to be any indication of why families have to wait, basically it is what it is. However, we feel truly blessed because by July 20th, 9 days after submitting our LOI, we recieved what is called our "letter of approval" or LOA from China. Once we received our LOA, AWAA indicated we were officially permitted to share publicly about our little girl we have prayed for over the past 3 1/2 years.
Now that we have our LOA, we begin the next faze of paperwork to continue forward with our adoption. The first stage is called the I800 which is submitted to the "United States Citizen and immigration Services" or USCIS. This paperwork is necessary so our little girl can become a US citizen when we bring her home. There are a few other steps we will need to complete and the waiting process begins again. Once all of this paperwork is completed and approved, we will get what is call TA or travel approval. It is at this point we will begin the travel faze of our adoption!!!
Our agency estimates we should Travel around mid September or mid October. This all depends on how fast we receive our upcoming approvals. There are a few Chinese holidays (September 15-17 and October 1-7) that will also affect our travel. We are beyond excited to see the end of all this waiting and look forward to bringing our little girl home!!
Again due to confidentiality, we can't share very much about our little girl but what we can share is that she is a beautiful gift from above; we will have her home before her 4th birthday and her name will be Emma Capri Ayres. For those of you wondering, Emma and Evy will be 9 months, 3 days apart in age. :-)
As we continue on in our journey, we will continue to keep you posted with our progress. We also ask for your prayers. We have a lot left we need to complete before we are able to travel, both paperwork wise and financially. We know in our hearts God will provide both emotionally and financially!! We also ask for prayers for Emma, Jaxon and Evelynn as their lives are about to change forever. Lastly, please pray for all the children of the world waiting for families and for families still waiting for their child(ren) to be forever home, for their continued strength and courage. This process is not easy but it is entirely 110% worth it!!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!!
God bless!!!
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