7th Months Waiting!

This update is for you Aunt Susan. :)  I hope you're doing well!

Unfortunately we don't have much news other than we are holding steady at 29 on the "unofficial" list.  We have been waiting now for 7 months and have moved about 16 spots since then.  We are still hopeful to get a referral sometime next year but if you do the math for how many spots we've moved in 7 months...well, don't do the math! :)

On other news, Lupe has been a bad dog and has now tore up both bedroom's carpets.  Anyone looking for a crazy dog?  Just kidding, but she will now be punished to her kennel for awhile.  Makes me sad. :(

In the exciting life of Jason, he is now planning another trip back to Africa already.  I wish I was included in the plan :) (maybe next time) but they are working on a father/son trip...so that is pretty exciting!  Those kids are going to have a blast with multiple Clement men!  Ha. :)  I can't wait!

That's it for now.  I pray for some movement to get us moving on up the list!

Tonight's Skype

Tonight I skyped with Jason and he had a few young men along side. :)  It is so neat to be able to talk to the children there, technology really is incredible.  Jason was pretty tired from staying up late but he was planning to go back to sleep.  Yesterday they went on a boat ride at the opening of the Nile River.  I am excited to see his pictures when he returns.  Today I think they were planning to stay at the orphanage and play more soccer.  The only pictures I have received lately is the important pictures of comparing Lupe to her African cousins...see below. :)  She is definitely a dingo.

My Favorite Skype So Far

I'm pasting in my email to some family and friends from my skype with Jason two nights ago.  It's really more for my own memory than anything else. :)

I could hear kids in the background singing (it was 6am there).  Jason’s group is staying at an orphanage for the next two days.  When they were done with their morning prayers/singing they came and sat by Jason so I could see all the girls faces.  So pretty.  I felt pretty popular but I know it was just the Ipad they were amazed by.  J  Jason asked them what they were singing and they all started to sing ‘ Jesus Loves Me’.  Wow…it was awesome.  They were all smiling, I thought only a few were there, but when I asked them their names it was around 10.  They just crowded around Jason and looked at me on the screen. J  They spoke pretty good English which amazes me.  They have a dog at the orphanage, Jason said it was Lupe’s African cousin…apparently they look similar.  Jason told them we had a dog named Lupe…and they all started giggling.  J  And then when Jason and I would say ‘I love you’, they would chime in with ‘so much’ after.  Ahhh, broke my heart.  It was hard to go to sleep after that! 

More on Jason's Group in Africa

I might have to have Jason start updating this blog so I can get in his words his exciting moments, thoughts and memories each day in writing.  But until that happens, here are a few blogs that are being updated by people on the trip.  They are very exciting to read and have some pictures.  I hope whoever is reading this gets as excited as I do when I read them.  Man, I wish I was there!!
Side note: I just read the first blog listed and had to add it - wow, be ready to feel some emotion.

http://elderadventures.blogspot.com/ - Elder's African Adoption Adventure
http://anotherpiecetohispuzzle.blogspot.com/ - Another Piece to His Puzzle
http://hiltfam.wordpress.com/ - Adventures of the Orange Backpack

Day 1 - Jason in Uganda

Here are some pictures that Jason emailed today from their time spent with 300 plus kids at Return Ministries in Uganda.  I LOVE these pics!  The first pic is Jason getting ready to do some 'bucking bronco'...if you recall this from the Bill Cosby show when Rudy had a slumber party. :)  Kids love this!...and Jason is going to have a sore knee tomorrow.

Jason to Africa

Jason left today to Uganda and Ethiopia with a group of 35 or so people on a 'Visiting Orphans' mission trip.   Some things they are doing are playing and spending time with lots of orphans and helping fix up some families homes.  I know they are doing much more, I don't know exactly, but the links to some of the organizations they are working with are below.
We were at the airport by 4am this morning and Jason got checked in and made it to Charlotte and DC smoothly.  He is currently on his way to Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) then they take another flight to Entebbe (city in Uganda - maybe the capital?).  Addis Ababa is where we will be heading eventually to visit our son, once we have a referral.  So that is exciting for me as Jason gets to check out the city first.
I will keep updating as I hear from Jason (I hope Skype works).  Please pray for safety and life changing events for everyone.

http://www.visitingorphans.com/
http://www.sixtyfeet.org/

www.ourglimmerofhope.org/campaign/dig-deep

www.dudeperfect.com

http://www.toms.com/

Waiting times

We found out that it is going to take longer to get a referral than originally thought. We knew this based on what has been going on but our agency had never quantified those delays into revised wait times. Today we have been told that basis the latest referrals the revised wait time for an infant boy is 10-16 months. Because we were DTE 3/4 that would put us at getting a referral between Jan and July. I hope it will be sooner than later of course but God has a plan!

Not much to update...

It has now been a little over 4 months since we sent in our Dossier and have now moved up to number 34. There haven't been many referrals lately but quite a few children have come home so I'm thinking there has to be some soon. The Ethiopia courts close in Aug for the rainy season so no children will get to come home during that time, so when they open back up some time probably in early Oct there will be a backlog of families that need to pass Court. Pray for those families that they will pass court and embassy so they will be able to bring their children home before the closure. I can't imagine seeing your child's face then having to wait 2+ months before you can go meet them. It has been slow moving, but every month gets us a liitle closer! :) We know there is a special little boy picked out for us. That's all for now!

Slowly Moving / Fishing

We have moved up a few spots in line and they now say it will take 7-10 months for an infant boy.  This of course changes monthly depending on how many referrals there were.  I am still praying for some quicker movement so the babes don't have to stay in the orphanage longer than they have to.

Since there's not much news on the adoption front - here's a picture of my fish I caught in the Gulf last weekend.  It is my biggest fish so far, a King Mackerel.  My brother-in-law Jeff also caught a Nurse Shark!  Gross.

Update

On 5/4 we will have been waiting 2 months.  They have gone surprisingly fast.  At the end of April our Agency said it was now taking 8-10 months for an infant boy referral...before it was 5-8 months.  So it seems we are back to the 8 month countdown again.  I will definitely learn patience during this process - or I hope so!  Someone posted that if all families submitted to Embassy in May pass, that would open up room for 20 more children in the transition home.  That would cause some more movement, that all the waiting families would love to see!

Seeing Some Movement

If you noticed, I added near the top right corner of our page our number on the 'unofficial' waiting list.  We started as # 45, and in the last two days moved from # 44 to # 38!  I am excited to see some movement!

Ethiopia Update

I have been reading for the last two weeks that the recommendation letters needed from MOWA (Government of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women's Affairs ) to pass Court (which is needed to be able to finish the adoption process) could slow down by 90%.  This was a little discouraging since we just got ourselves on the waiting list.  Many families in our adoption group have been praying since then and yesterday we received some uplifting news...

P.S. our Dossier arrived to Ethiopia with no delays!

Dear Jason & Janna,

We are writing to update you on the current situation in Ethiopia.  While meetings between Ethiopian government officials continue, we have seen positive steps.  Within MOWA, there have been significant and positive personnel changes which have resulted in overall staff turnover and changes in the adoption unit.  This unit is now called the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA).  We are hopeful and expectant that the new leadership will not only support processing an adequate number of favorable recommendation letters, but also implement policies that will best serve the children.  Due to the staffing changes, we anticipate much transition over the next few weeks.  However, we expect that once everyone is settled into their new positions, MOWCYA will work to process a higher number of recommendation letters than they currently are able to process.  

We have continued to receive optimistic feedback and have seen that the Ethiopian government is very committed to adoption.  I hope this information is an encouragement to your family.  We will continue to update your family with any confirmed information we receive. 

We are DTE!!

As of 3/4, we are finally DTE!!  For those who dont' know adoption lingo, that means are documents are in the mail to Ethiopia and we are on the official waiting list!  It sure feels good to have the 'paperchase' done!!

If you would like to track the package with us, it is on Fedex: 794495755477

Received the important I171H

Last night I noticed an important piece of mail sitting on our countertop before bedtime and realized that our I71H form had arrived!!  We were super excited that we received it back in exactly one week after getting our fingerprints done.  I didn't really know how long it would take but since this whole adoption is a big waiting game I always just tell myself it's going to take an extra long time for everything.  So it was great to have it one week later.  I did not have everything prepared to ship out so today I spent some time at Fedex/Kinko's making 3 copies of each of our documents and then putting them all in the appropriate order.  I think the guys at Kinkos thought I was nuts because I was carefully manually coping all docs rather feeding them quickly thru the tray. :)  I really hope that I did everything correctly, but I could only look at each paper so many times before I just had to have faith that I did it right.  Anyway, I am super excited to have everything done and out of my hands!  We now have to wait for the Agency in Virginia to receive and review them and send them to Ethiopia.  We are in the last step before being on the official 'waiting' list!!

Fingerprints are done!!

Well, today was our Biometrics appt at the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services).  I am happy to have it over with as a few people have said to be careful that you don't get any cuts on your fingers beforehand...otherwise you might have to reschedule.  Jason did burn his finger last night, so there was a second where I was a little worried, but it wasn't bad and we got thru today with flying colors!  There always has to be a little drama I guess! :)  So now we are just waiting to get a form mailed back to us.  As soon as I have that form all of our paperwork and a few copies will be mailed off and we will be on the official 'waiting' list.  I will be so excited to get all of this paperwork out of my hands!
Also last weekend I went to a Christian Adoption conference in Atlanta with my friend Cindy.  There were around 250 mothers or mothers to-be there from around the US and I would say the majority of them did/were adopting from Ethiopia!  I learned a few things and it was nice to make some more friends with adoptive moms.

Getting Closer!

I received great news when I grabbed our mail tonight!  We received our fingerprint appointments...they are on Feb 11th.  Almost as great news is that Jason is in town that day so we don't have to worry about him having to change around his schedule or airfare.  After that we will wait to receive our I-171H form from USCIS (Immigration).  That is the last piece of paperwork that we are waiting for!  A little impatience is starting to set in. :)

Pictures from Christmas

Here's some pictures from our time in Iowa.  You can see how distinguished Lupe looks in the top picture.  Then below you can see a devotional book that I received from my Mom, titled "Heavenly Humor for the Dog Lover's Soul".  Lupe got to it before I did and she must not have liked what she saw in the Chapter titled, "Obedience School Dropout".  How funny is that!?! - Maybe she is smarter than we think! :)  Sorry Mom...and Happy Birthday!





Received and Mailed

We finally received our final Home Study Report on Dec, 30th.  It wasn't actually slow mail, just slow being mailed. :)  I am just happy that it wasn't lost.  Anyway, our documents to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services have been mailed and in 2 to 6 weeks (lets hope for two) we should receive word back to go get our fingerprinting done.  That will be our last step before being able to mail off our pile of paperwork to get approved by the country of Ethiopia.  Yea!!
We have realized that it is possible that now or in the next few months, our to-be little boy could be born.  Please pray for him and his birth parents and their tough decision ahead.

Love you guys, Janna