USCIS Approval!

We recieved an email this morning that we are approved through the Department of Homeland Security (aka. I 800-a approval through USCIS) to adopt from China! We should be getting the official notice in the mail by the end of this week.

Our next step is to get all of our notarized documents for our dossier certified in Olympia. After those come back, we send them to the US Consulate to get Authenticated. Then all of the documents/dossier gets translated and sent to China.

A wonderful Gift... Our PA

What a wonderful Christmas Gift! We finally got our Pre Approval today! We have until March 23rd to get our paperwork to China and then they will do a final review (i think i have that info. correct:))

Isn't she just precious!!! Hayleigh asks EVERYDAY if we are getting Maylynn today... She is really excited to be getting a sister:)

A quick update...

1. We are still waiting for our fingerprint approval from USCIS - it should be here before Dec. 25th... We'll see:)
2. We have gone ahead and are trying to get some out of state documents certified and authenticated - i hope to have that completed by next week.
3. We signed and returned to our agency the "official" Letter of Intent.
4. We are waiting to hear if we've recieved our pre-approval from CCAA to adopt Maylynn - once we have, i think i can post a pic and send her a package:)
5. We are trying to sell our travel trailer to use the equity for the adoption.
5. We just found out the CCAA is raising the orphanage fee by $2000 dollars - big bummer! Not too sure how that's going to affect us yet... i guess the equity in the trailer will be a "wash"... Oh well.

We are hoping to bring her home in April or May - we'll see what God has planned though:)

Introducing our new daughter!

God is so amazing! And His Timing is not always our Timing:):) - Boy, we sure weren't expecting to get a referral already but we are really excited and can't wait to bring our new daughter home! She is perfect! It is so cool to look back to see how He has had her planned for us... Beginning with Kay and not being able to adopt her because our paperwork wasn't ready in time and putting adoption on our hearts again - then going to China and falling in love with some children only to find out that they were already matched or had severe special needs - then coming home and being matched with a daughter which has all of the things that I had been praying for: age, special need, and in a foster home - God is soooo Good! With getting a referral so soon - it was also very cool to see how the Holy Spirit spoke to both Lance and myself separately (he was in Seattle this weekend - which is also cool b/c i was supposed to be with him but b/c we just got a puppy - i stayed home to puppy sit and in turn was able to get the email referral!!) We are really excited to be on this adoption journey again and to see God's hand at work.



So.... Here she is! Due to CCAA regulations we can not give specific details that may identify her - if you would like to know more, you can email me directly (kirstvick@hotmail.com) and i can try to let you know more:)

Her chinese name means pure and peace as water. She was born in April 2007 and was abandoned at the gate the hospital. She has been fostered by a family since July 2007. She had surgery to repair her cleft palate in April 2008. Her report looks like she is developing very normally and will fit in perfectly with our family. We feel so blessed and can't wait to bring her home.



We are praying about a name for her... we are thinking that it may be Maylin R.......(chinese name) Vickerman (it fits with the name pattern that we have for the other kiddos: Taylor Ryen, Brayden Reade, Hayleigh Rae Fukai- it's neat that her chinese name starts with an "R" and fits the pattern already - we may also add an american middle name - not sure though...)

In the next few weeks we should be able to put a picture up.

We are hoping to get our fingerprint approvals in the next few weeks and then we can get our dossier certified and authenticated... Then we wait for Travel approval etc.. etc... It could be sometime this spring when I/we travel:)

Kay's Orphanage is coming to get her...

On Friday, we also found out from Harmony Outreach that Kay's orphanage (where she was originally placed in) will be picking her up on Oct. 27th to take her back there so she can be adopted to her family on Nov. 10th. Harmony tried really hard to talk them into waiting until after i came but they insisted on the 27th.

At first i was really sad - i am still dissappointed that i will never be able to meet the precious little girl that we wanted and tried to adopt into our family. We know now that God used her to get us to this place in our lives - for us to adopt again. To trust Him and to have faith that His plan will be revealed soon.

After praying about not meeting her, i have come to realize that the Lord doesn't want me to be distracted while i am on this journey. He has waited 3 years to send me on this trip. He wants me to be able to focus on the work that He has planned for me and to be able to do it whole heartedly. ----- I do have a friend here that happens to be adopting from the same agency as Kay's family and will more than likely be meeting up with her and her family at the White Swan. So, i am praying that they will be able to meet and give Kay's family our contact information:)

Kay's Adoption Day is Nov.10th

Oh my, my, my... I am so glad to find out that Kay will still be at Harmony when i'm there in 10 days!!. However, I just found out that Kay will be adopted to her new family too, while i am there on Nov. 10th. I am so, so, very happy for her. Even though it will probably be very hard on my heart, i really would like to be there when she meets her new family. Please pray with me if this is God's will. I would love to meet her new family.
Also, i am trying to think of a simple meaningful gift for her and her new family. I know that i've never actually met her in person, but i do feel that she has been in our family for the past year as we have sponsored her, prayed for her and have tried to adopt her. So, if you have any ideas - please let me know ASAP!! :):)

Fingerprints!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Fingerprints!!On Tues. Oct. 14th, Lance and i headed to Yakima for our 8am appt. to do our I800 USCIS fingerprints. They have come along way in the past 4 yrs! Now it's all computerized - no inky mess! The people were very friendly despite the intimidating entrance - Before you could even walk into the building a guard came out to check our appt. letter and then made us turn off our cell phone before we could enter and walk through the metal detector. After that, it was all smiles and very friendly people:) I'm feeling like we need to maybe start a blog for our next daughter and how our journey began for her - but that will have to wait until a later date!! :)

Happy Birthday Kay...

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Kay
On Monday, it was Kay's birthday (same as mine:)). We had sent her a package of birthday presents a few weeks ago. Harmony Outreach is so sweet, they sent us some pictures of her opening her presents and celebrating her birthday. They also sent a picture of her family that will be adopting her. It is a couple from Iowa. I still havent' found out if she will be there while i am there in a few weeks...

Kay's Matched...

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Kay...
I am so happy for Kay! We just found out this morning that she was matched with a family from Holt Adoption Agency. I am sure she will be going to a very loving family that will love her as much as we do. We were a bit surprised this morning to find this out - we had hoped that we had a few more weeks before she'd be show up on the list and be matched. We just got our homestudy done yesterday- our agency did an amazing job trying to rush to get it done. We will continue on down this path for another daughter. We feel that God had used Kay to lead us in this direction. We are curious and excited to see what He has planned for us. Thank you to everyone that was praying for us - please continue to lift Kay up in prayer.
God Bless...

5th Post...

Thursday, August 07, 2008

A little bit of hope lost...It's funny how quickly things can turn. Just yesterday we had great hope that we would be adopting Kay. Then this morning we received word that the orphanage will not write a letter for various reasons. So, we are left wondering what now? Do we continue to finish our dossier with hopes to adopt Kay - the chances are that China will require a family with their dossier completed when she appears on the list - but that's the questions: when will she appear on the list - in 1 month, or 3 months? we do not know... So, what happens if we are almost done with our dossier but still are not close enough to being done to adopt Kay? do we try to adopt another precious little girl? Or is God saying to us "Now is not the time." So many questions... we are praying about all of these things right now - please pray with us too...

We also recieved an update in the mail about her with a picture. Here is what it said: Kay is a happy and very active little girl. She moves quickly and keeps her nannies on their toes with her mischievous nature. She walks very well and climbs up and down stairs on her own. Kay is a good sleeper and has a daily routine of eating, playing and napping. She has a bright and cheerful disposition, is fond of music, and will nod her head along with the rhythm. She is very smart and likes to imitate her nanny or the other children's actions. She can tell by her nany's facial expression if she did something right or wrong. She also is able to draw a straight line with a pencil or crayon.

It sounds like she'd fit in perfectly here!!! Her birthday is the same as mine - Oct. 6th. So, we will be putting together a bday package for her soon too:)

4th Post...

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Kay Update
We are feeling a little bit more hope... It looks like Kay's orphanage might write a letter on our behalf. We are praying that this gets done in a timely manner - (like REALLY FAST! :)) It then needs to be sent to the Province's civil affairs bureau and then to CCAA. We are also praying that CCAA will show favor upon us and hold Kay's file until our file is closer to being done. We have NO IDEA if any of these things will happen - it is all in God's Hands. We feel that we are really taking true steps of faith in this. We have an accepted application with Lifeline (our agency) and we are getting our homestudy updated. We traveled to Spokane today for our first homestudy visit and to get some more questions answered with our agency. We will have another visit in a few weeks... in the mean time, we have just a couple paperwork items to complete. After our homestudy is done, we will file a I-800a with the Homeland Security to get approval from our gov't. Because of the new Hague Accreditation requirements, this has sometimes taken awhile (like 3 months!! ) So, when that time comes we will need prayers for a quick approval! ::) So, we are just praying, doing paper work, praying and doing more paperwork...
ps. we will not be able to post any pictures of Kay until we have everything secured.
But here's a picture of China. Kay's orphanage is in Urumqi on the FAR left side of China! Actually, this area has been in the news quite a bit lately with some icky stuff that is getting publicity b/c of the Olympics... yikes! Hayleigh was from Chongqing (it is the green province in the picture below)

3rd Post...

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Kay Updated Update!!!!!
We just got word tonight that our agency has found Kay’s file at the CCAA. A few things that we need to pray for now are:* That my agency is able to lock her file in because her special need is very minor, she will probably go to a list that is shared with all agencies or that they just go ahead and put her on my agencies list of special need children (very unlikely – but you never know);*That once my agency secures her file – that CCAA will have favor upon us to adopt her without being dossier ready (most children with minor needs like this go to families that are already logged in – we are not) – we are trying to get the orphanage to send letter to the CCAA stating that we financially support her and are hoping the CCAA will show us favor.So, that is where we are at! Please pray for all of this and God’s direction and timing.
Well, it's been awhile since i've updated the blog with info about Kay... and that's mostly because we don't have any new information. However, we have not lost hope! We pray for her everyday and Hayleigh asks about her sister Kay daily too. God's timing is so good - Lily sent us some pictures of Kay this morning! I just LOVE them! I can't wait to squeeze her and kiss those cheeks. And i say that because no matter what happens - i will be doing that when i go there in November:) We still have no new information - everyone is still looking for her file. So, please keep praying that "my people" (agency and H.O.) will find her file and that we will be able to "lock" her file in before ANYONE else!!! And of course for God's timing for everything:):)

2nd Post...

June 26, 2008,

Kay update...Shortly after my last post we got word from Harmony Outreach that Kay's file is at the CCAA and hasn't been picked by a family! We quickly let our agency know and they agreed to help. Although, they tried to find her file and they can't find it!! So please pray that her file is located and that our agency, Small World, is able to lock it in!! So, in the mean time, we are get our dossier together with the hopes that Kay will be our daughter.

The picture above is her playing and wearing some of the things that we recently sent to her and other kids at Harmony Outreach. If anyone is interested in helping us put together another package, please let me know. They need "trousers" and shoes for children ages 3-36months.

First Post...

Wednesday, June 18, 2008


A Heavy Heart...
Well, I'd like to introduce you to Kay. She is the absolute precious little girl that we sponsor at Harmony Outreach http://www.harmonyoutreach.org/ As soon as she was announced to be in the care of Harmony, we fell in love with her and began sponsoring her. She was abandoned probably because of the one-child policy and her need for surgery for her cleft lip. She will be 2 on Oct. 6th (my bday). While John Bentley was here for the fundraiser we did for Harmony, he mentioned that he thought that her file was at the CCAA for international adoption. We have been praying about adopting her ever since. Our hearts are heavy right now because we have tried several different angles on trying to adopt her. It is "illegal" in China to pre-identify a child but it has been done before. It seems that with the way the "Waiting Child" program has began to change, that it will be next to impossible for us to adopt her. We have called a few agencies but we haven't been able to find one that will help us. The China director of the agency that we used to adopt Hayleigh has stopped taking applications because of the new waiting child policies- we were hoping that based on our past relationship with them that they would help but they too said that it would be impossible... Although - "With God anything is possible."
I really would like Hayleigh to have a sister from China, i guess it is just not God's timing right now.