July Accomplishments

The paperchase is on!! We're off to gather all the documents and information we need to complete our Home Study and our Dossier. Here's a summary of our July accomplishments:

1. 7/4/06 -- Mailed application to Adoption Assistance, Inc. for Home Study
   
   
2. 7/12/06 -- Mailed application to CCAI
   
   
3. 7/19/06 -- Mailed State Police criminal check forms
   
   
4. 7/20/06 -- Mailed Child/Spouse Abuse registry checks for Jana, Mike, Sawyer
   
   
5. 7/24/06 -- Received notice from CCAI that our application was received
   
   
6. 7/31/06 -- Sent Record Check to CCAI in lieu of local Police Clearance Report

... and that's just the beginning:)!

Choosing an Agency

We narrowed our agency choices down to two -- CCAI (in Denver) and A Helping Hand (in Lexington). Both agencies advocate for the children left behind and both are very highly regarded. It just so happened that both agencies had information seminars scheduled in Lexington for the beginning of July. CCAI's seminar was on Saturday, July 8, and A Helping Hand's seminar was on Monday, July 10. Saturday worked better for us, so Michael, Sawyer and I attended. It was fabulous -- very informative and very emotional. The room was filled with couples seeking to travel this journey and the moderator, home from China just a few months with her own daughter, shared her personal experiences along with some "Gotcha Day" videos. We left with an application in hand, feeling nervous, excited, and very eager to get started.