Some Easter fun and a paperchase update

It's hard to believe that I haven't updated the blog in a few weeks, but I guess we've just been that busy.  That, and I didn't want to sound like a broken record with the "still no progress on the adoption front" kind of news.  That gets old real fast. (Just ask me what I was doing three years ago.  It gets old! lol)

It's also been a while since I picked up my big girl camera.  That, and I can't get my act together to do an iPhone photo dump. So since I finally managed to snap a few photos this weekend, (and I have news) I figured I better share the photos and the update before too much time slips away.

On Saturday, the dumplings dyed eggs.

On Sunday we went to church.  Then before heading over to our friends' house for the afternoon, I snapped a few photos of the kids out back.  This was our first "photo shoot" in our new backyard. It's not as big as our old one, but it will do.

Did you see that bird feeder and bath in the background?  The kids had a field day "playing "with them when I was snapping individual shots of them.  Here's proof.

So I had to be a little creative with my angles and placement.

The kids had a quick bite to eat.  And then as we were trying to rush out the door, I stopped them for a few quick snaps inside.

Madeline wanted to twirl for me.

Then, apparently, sometimes their mama can crack a joke or two.  I should've "upped" my ISO and shutter speed, but we were in a rush.  Still love 'em.

We truly had a lovely and relaxing Easter weekend.  Well, maybe I did.  Patrick had to work a little, poor fella.

So, I know some of you are curious about the latest happenings with Havi's  adoption. After a grueling five week wait since we received our LOA, our home study agency finally completed our necessary update for our Supplement 3 (because we moved.) So on Friday, we finally mailed off our I-800 and Supplement 3 applications. Hopefully our Supp 3 is approved without any RFE's (Request For Evidence). If all goes well, both will get approved in 2-3 weeks. Then we wait for our I-800 approval to be cabled to Guangzhou. After that our Article 5 can be dropped off. Two weeks later, it will be picked up, and we will begin our wait for TA (Travel Approval), which can take 2-3 weeks.   If all goes well, we should be able to travel this June.

Although I'm trying to trust it's all going to work out, I'm now beginning to worry, mostly about our Supplement 3, whether not not our approval will be issued without delay or not. Immigration officers can be picky. I called our officer just one time, to let her know we moved. Other than that, I have had no communication with her. She did approve our I-800A application with no problem.  But seriously, I can't even remember her name! How pathetic is that?! Doesn't every prospective adoptive parent (PAP) know their officer's name? Yes, but not me! Oh how I pray it all goes well.

On top of that, we have a major problem with Madeline's Chinese passport. We applied and received her new U.S. passport.  However, the passport center failed to return her Chinese passport when they returned all the other supporting documents!  The Chinese Embassy requires all Chinese passports for U.S. citizens who were formerly Chinese nationals to also be sent when requesting their first tourist/travel Visa... which would be Madeline.  We NEED to get this item back and STAT so we can apply for our Visas.  The call center won't request original documents to be returned until it's been two weeks since the U.S. passport has been received.  Well, I wasn't waiting two weeks for them to request the item be returned.  So I wrote a letter and overnighted it.  It's been almost one week since I mailed the letter, and NO ONE has called me about the matter.  Needless to say, I'm not happy.  AND I'm stressed out about it.  Please pray that someone will call me or they will just locate it and return it to us soon.  We certainly don't need this extra hassle.

So that's where things stand on the adoption front.  Oh, we also ordered a cake care package for Havi but have yet to receive any photos.  To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement.  It's been over two weeks since we ordered the package.  When oh when will we receive some updated photos of our little Havi?  I'm just so bummed.

Anyway, I do promise to share some iPhone photos here soon.  And hopefully we have some good news to share too.