Day 35

This is my favorite weekend of the year! We close all of the pools on Monday! Now I can focus 100% on the trip ahead. I have told this story several times, but here we go again. Today is day 35 of the I-600 approval clock. The I-600 is what allows Emma to come to the U.S. In simple terms, USCIS says approval takes up to 60 working days. We could receive approval Monday, or it could be in early October. Whenever we get that email, we will leave for Vietnam about two weeks later. It's frustrating as the days tick by, but we have so many things to look forward to this fall and winter. Bringing Emma home, Abby & Kelly may have good news soon, Candice coming home for Christmas, OSU & PC North football, OKC NBA basketball, the Holidays, Skiing, Hawaii, and especially the joy of a toddler terrorizing the house! Yes, we get frustrated, but it's sort of a good frustration. Hope everyone is well. We look forward to I-600 approval very soon! Thanks and keep praying!

WE HAVE FINAL APPROVAL!!!

Today we received word that our adoption has been approved by the Binh Duong Province People's Committee. This is the final step with the Vietnamese government. She is now legally ours. Technically we could go get her now, but we do not have I-600 approval from the U.S. yet. We must have that approval to be able to bring her to the U.S. As I have said in many posts, the I-600 approval can take up to 60 working days. Today is day 30 so we could receive it any day. Whenever we are approved by Immigration, we will leave about two weeks after that. We are so close! Please pray for speedy I-600 approval so we can bring Emma home soon!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Today was the first of school for Cathy and I. We start much earlier than most schools around the country, but we also get out early as well. For me this is my 20th year as a teacher and for Cathy her 22nd. We are lucky to be able to do something we really love! This is our traditional first day of school photo. I really enjoyed my three classes today. The kids were great and we got off to a good start. Two of them are very large, 32 and 33 students. The other is only 18. I am teaching Oklahoma History and Cathy has Geometry and Teen Leadership.

There hasn't been anything new this week on the adoption front. It is day 23 of the I-600 process. We think the final Vietnamese approval will be completed by the end of the month. However we will not be able to travel until the I-600 is approved by the U.S. side. They tell the applicants that it will take up to 60 working days (October 6 in our case), but most Holt families have had approval in 30-45 working days ( August 22-September 16 in our case). Once we get I-600 approval we are cleared to travel. That is usually two to three weeks later. So, if we get everything opproved in late August/early September, we should travel two or three weeks later. That is close to what we have been thinking for several months. Hopefully our next post will be great news!