We're Clean!!!!! - Fingerprints Sent by FBI (AGAIN) to US Consulate in Guangzhou

Wow! Am I EVER looking for progress to post on this blog! We have received word from the FBI that (once again - $70 bucks a pop ....... EACH!!!) our prints are without criminal history and the most recent update has been sent to the Consulate which will process Joanna's US Citizenship status when we bring her to the States, hopefully in March or April 2007.

Here's an interesting tid-bit. Be was selected for jury duty in Orange County, Florida this month. When she reported, she was called into the judges' chambers and informed that her SSN was matched up with a child molester in St. John's County. She told the powers-at-be that she had been through a thorough background check and was in the process of adoption from China - and even did the FBI fingerprint yaddah. After further investigation, it was revealed that the offender was dead and even of a different race. Oy!

I'll post a link to our latest vacation pictures this week ...... Cheers! Don

Fingerprints ......Done! ....... Again........

Our FBI fingerprint file expires in October, so in order to keep our adoption documents active, we needed to have them re-done. Our scheduled appointment was for 8 AM, yesterday, August 19. As we approached the Immigrations Office on schedule, we took note of the line in front of the building ...... about 50 - 60 people. We looked at each other and the expressions said "Oy! We'll be here for hours ....... and government employees!"
So the door opens to reveal a series of snake line airport type queueing ropes. We watched as applicatants took their clipboards with the pen-on-a-chain and the same form we had filled out last year and sat down on the same plastic orange stacking chairs. We received ours and sat down and filled out our form and realized that hardly any of the previous 50 or so people had moved from their seats. Then it hit us ...... ENGLISH!!!!! The form was in English! All of these people were applying for citizenship and did not yet speak the language! We promptly turned in our form and after a short review of our responses, we received positions 7 & 8 for the fingerprinting procedure.
With the exception of 1 employee who was just doin' her job, we found the staff to be accommodating and surprizingly courteous. Now, if they could just send a bit of that over to our local Driver License Office........ We were done in just under 30 minutes.
Do I hear breakfast at Cracker Barrel?

August 2005 - One Year Ago......

Surprize, surprize......Be and Don are in the 5th month of the adoption process of a child from China. We had been working on the idea for a few years, however, life's circumstances did not permit us to go forward with it until this year. The plan is that Don will retire from US Airways next year to coincide with the adoption closure. At that point, Don's new full time job will be father to whoever God sends our way. Be will continue to work at ORMC in her real job.The adoption process is quite involved with a mountain of paperwork, required reading, online courses, home studies, physical exams and blood work, FBI approval and then there's the referral and acceptance process and travel to China for up to 3 weeks to live and bond with the child.China has a model adoption program (mostly because they want to get rid of unwanted kids) and even though the process seems extreme, it's the best fit for Be and myself with our circumstances. So, we're looking at April 2007 until our new arrival comes back to Orlando with us. Your prayers during this process are much appreciated. We figure God has quite a sense of humor ........ a Chinese kid with the name Schafhauser?
As things progress, we'll keep friends and family posted with this page...........

We're Baaaccckkk.....

We took a week off and went up to the Smoky Mountains, TN. No agenda, no plans, no nothin'. We hiked (and hiked some more), did some white water rafting, saw a few shows and some friends (pic taken on their dock at Norris Lake). More shots to follow.......it was a stellar trip!

One Year Ago .......

...... we started our blog as a ledger of our adoption journey. Check out the posts for Aug & Sep 2005 for items about the beginnings of our process .....