We have our LID, April 26, 2012.

It Took 23 days. But it did arrive.  Yes, we have a LID of April 26, 2012.  Some people have received LIDs of as early as 7 days, but not longer than 3 weeks.  So the Lord knows the plan and here we sit 23 days later.  If you had told me last year that  we would have struggled this long through the home study,  USCIS, and forever to be DTC.    I would have said no way!  But the Lord knows the plans that he has for us and they are to prosper us and give us hope for the future.  Diane's paraphrase Jeremiah 29:11.   I guess he knew we needed time to grow our stamina in Him not our selves.  Praise the Lord for one more milestone. 

The Cost of Adoption

         The 2012 Lexus GX 450  starting price $53,260

Now many people have asked me about the cost of adoption.  They usually say,"isn't it expensive" or "How much does it cost to buy a child?"  Well, first of all, we did not buy a child.  We paid fees for every step of the process of adopting a child.  The placement agency has a fee for their services. The home study was done for a fee.  The USCIS has a cost for their investigation (immigration).  The flights to China had a cost.  The Marriott Chongqing is a 5 star hotel and came with a breakfast buffet that was spectacular.  And, we paid for every meal.  Yes, their are fees on the China side as well.  I may not agree with all the fees, but I paid them. Total cost for an international adoption from
china is about $ 28,000.

Now, as most of America, we spend money on what we must,  like health care, insurance, food, clothing, shelter, utilities, our cars, childcare, and tithe to our church.  Then there are the things we want like a swimming pool, phones, music, cable TV, mp3 players, computers, Internet, video games, a gardener, and what ever is the latest toy, fast food, going out to dinner, the movies, special classes/clubs and hobbys for the kids like Chinese language, pledge, dance, youth fellowship, sports like soccer, basketball, football and taekwando.  Oh, and there is the cost of going to the fabric store, Ha Ha.  Everything has a price, a fee or a cost.  Some things we say "no" to like the newspaper.  and some things I do not agree with, like the cost of our electricity.   But every month, I choose to pay it, because I want electricity.

There is no doubt about it, life costs money.  Everything has a fee.  It does blow me away that a person can go and buy a new car like the Lexus shown above.  They pay $53,000- $59,000 and no one bats an eye.  We however, bought a one year old Toyota Sienna.  It cost  $ 22,000 had 20,000 miles on it.  So here is a plan, instead of the Lexus,  buy a Sienna, do the adoption and get the $12,000 tax reduction refund instead and you will be up $12,000.

DTC at last. Thank you Lord!

                             D T C

We received a email late last night.  Our dossier was sent to China that morning, April 3, 2012.  This means we are officially DTC!.  We now wait to see how soon it gets" logged in "   It takes 5 to 21 days or longer to actually have China log that they have received our dossier.  Once they receive the dossier they need to review it and say OK.  They then send a letter of acceptance that confirms that they are going to let us have the kids.  Remember last year, we sent them a bunch of paperwork and they pre-approved us for both of the kids at that time.  You would think that the pre-approval would speed up the process...  Well maybe just a little.  So, we start to count from the log in date or LID.  Average lenth of time from LID to receiving the LOA is 75 days.  Someget it sooner and someget it later.  Let the wait begin.

Depraved Indifference

Friends,  Watch this video.  It will change your life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHJ6-YhSYQ&feature=player_detailpage

Lilly Rose goes to her first Grand Assembly

Despite haveing a cold, Lilly Rose attended her first Grand Assembly.  She was quite excited about wearing her new Jumper and white apron.  She got to spend the day with her new friends and Aunt Rosanne.  I good time was had by all.