VERY NICE......

Okay Hank, I stole the thumbs up picture idea from ya! Sorry pal......
Anyway, some great news today! Our Child Dossier was approved by the MOJ! Now Holt will appear on our behalf, sign the committment papers, and then we will get approval from the People's Committee. These two steps usually take a month. If all goes well, we will get travel approval about the first of September and travel later in the month. At the same time, we are waiting for I-600 approval from the USCIS. That can take up to 60 working days (it was submitted July 14th), but it seems like for most Holt families, it is 30-45 days. That would put our I-600 approval between August 22 and September 16. Hopefully it will all come together in August and We'll have Emma Reese home by October! Thanks for all your prayers and support!

I-600 APPLICATION RECEIVED!!!

This morning we received an e-mail from USCIS in Ho Chi Minh City notifying us that our I-600 application (a very important step) has been received! Now the embassy staff will investigate Emma's case to verify that she is indeed an orphan. The time frame they give is 60 days, however it seems in most Holt adoptions it is around 45 days! That means we could possible be cleared for travel in early September! We are still waiting on Emma's dossier to be approved and should have word anyday! Looks like our goal of September travel is still most likely! Keep us in your prayers! Thanks!

EMMA' S ROOM

While we are anticipating approval of Emma's child dossier and our I-600 application to be submitted any day, we are very happy that her room is now ready for her arrival! Cathy loves to do crafts and has made many of the things in her room herself.

AUSTIN'S 20TH BD & 4TH OF JULY

Cathy and I celebrated the 4th

with both our families. In the

morning we went to the annual

4th of July parade in her home

town of Marlow, OK. This is the

13th consecutive year we have

attended together. We went with

Cathy's sister, brother-in-law, and

their two little ones, Judson and

Zoe. It was good to get to spend time with them as well as Cathy's mom and grandma. That evening we went to watch fireworks just north of my hometown EL Reno, OK with my family. We enjoyed hanging out with my mom, sister, and nieces. It was a fun 4th of July! On Sunday the 6th, we celebrated Austin's 20th birthday! We had Hideaway Pizza (famous in Oklahoma) and birthday cupcakes. Abby (Austin's sis) and Kelly (Abby's boyfriend) were there as well as Austin's girlfriend Jolene. We missed Candice (Austin's sis who is in Japan) but we know she was thinking of him. It was a small group, but we all enjoyed celebrating our son's 20th BD!