All That Studying - DONE!

Yesterday, 2/23/16, was our 2nd and final homestudy visit!

Our first visit consisted of our social worker talking to us as a family about our life, why we want to adopt, and just general things to get to know us.  She then did a walk through of our house. looked for safety items/issues (like fire extinguishers, etc), and wanted to see our plan for a bed(room) for the child.  This visit was very informal and relaxed.  In all it took about an hour and a half.

Our second visit was with the same social worker.  This time, she spoke with John and me separately. She went in to more detail about the things we'd shared on our autobiographies.  She spoke with me, then him, and then our oldest son.  This one, too, took about an hour and half.

Where do we go from here?  Now, she writes up our homestudy report.  It then goes to our agency to be approved.  Once it is approved in office - we officially get registered with CARA.  This is a huge milestone for us!  We are so excited to keep pushing forward.

What is CARA?  Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions. CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003. CARA primarily deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies (taken from their website).

Fundraising update - we are currently at about $500 raised!  We are so thankful to everyone who has been a piece of our puzzle.  We do have some ways to help still open.  Our two main ones are our shoe drive and puzzle drive.  Check out the "GIVE" tab at the top for more information on these!

I will update again once we have more news.  Keep us in your prayers friends!

Homestudy: Coming Soon

January 27, 2016 we turned in our final application!  The boys and I were so excited to take it and drop it off to Mrs. Terri at Children of the World.

February 10, 2016 was scheduled to be our first homestudy visit.  Unfortunately, John's grandfather passed away that week and we had to be out of town.

Our first homestudy visit in now scheduled for this Monday, February 15, 2016!  We are so excited to meet our social worker, Bonnie, and move one step forward towards meeting our girl.

Fundraising update:  We have also had 92 pieces of our puzzle donated!  My mother did a Trades of Hope fundraiser for us that raised a $40 donation for us, AND we currently have 215 pairs of shoes towards our 10,000 goal.  We have a ways to go - but slow and steady wins the race!

Keep us in your prayers, and I will update again soon once our homestudy is complete!