Dossier and I 600A

On Friday I mailed off our Dossier Packet (the paperwork that will eventually be sent to China) to our adoption agency to be authincated by the Great State of Georgia. Saturday, I sent in our first payment for the adoption and then mailed of our I 600A petition to (adopt an orphan) to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. So hopefully soon we will get our approval and get our second set of fingerprints done. I also want to thank all those who have already agreed to help in the "100 good wishes quilt" I know it will be very special becuase it will be from all of you, my friends and family.

WE'RE APPROVED!!!!!

We are officially approved by our adoption agency to become adoptive parents as of yesterday. Sorry I didn't blog yesterday but I was busy finishing up some last minute paperwork for our adoption. We have our homestudy and follow up complete and can now send it to immigration. We are finally moving on to the next step. We still have a long way to go before we bring home our little girl but we are one step closer.

Before and After

As I mentioned before I am adding some pictures that I had taken on a previous trip to Biolxi and a few that were taken this week. The first one is of one of the casino's Treasure Island or Treasure bay prior to the hurricane. There are photos of it now in previous blogs. Notice how far the ship has been moved. The next 2 are of the Hurricane Camile Memorial and the following 3 are of the Church and bell tower.

more pics

Need Help!

O.K. your are probally thinking something is seriously wrong seeing how I have 2 posts within one day. But it's not that kind of help. I was thinking that I might do something for my little girl while I wait and this is where you come in. I have been reading a lot of blogs lately and there are a few traditions that are common in China. I have read about the "100 wishes quilt". I'm including some instructions that I copied from another blog.

Here's what you do:
Choose a 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from a fabric store, fabric you already have, or something that is special to you. (Why 100% cotton? Blends tend to be problematic - don't know why, that's just what the experts tell me.)
Prewash the fabric so it shrinks and is clean; then iron it so that it is straight enough for cutting.
Cut two squares of 100% cotton, washable fabric - use 8"x8"
Add your wish. The wish can be your own words and thoughts, a favorite poem or quote, or whatever. Place it on a 3" x 5" or a 4" x 6" card with a scrap of your fabric glued to the card. Your wish card can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like. If you feel creative and want to decorate it, that's great too. Your wish can be deep and thought-provoking or something as simple and fun as a wish for a lifetime of great hair days. For those of you who are really into it, you can include a picture of yourself so she can see who sent her the wish.
"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." --An ancient Chinese belief

Robin, I would like to do it the way we did Kate's wedding quilt. What do you think. I'm am going to send a letter to other friend and family at a later date along with a few photos that I still have from Kate's.

I would also like for you to send in a photo of your self along with your wish card that way later I can make a scrap book for her to keep. Please do not use the name Katie at this time because we are not sure that is what we are going to name her. We are looking into finding a name that sound a little more Chinese maybe like Kim Lee or something. Lee is also a family name (Mike's side)

for the few friends who read this please comment and let me know what you think about helping me do a quilt. It's something that we have right about a year to accomplish. Do you think we can do it Robin. Later I'll post a few of the pictures from Kate's quilt.

CHOCOLATE HEAVEN

Can you say, "I've died and gone to heaven" that is Chocolate heaven. I have to say that I haven't had a lot to do while here in Biloxi but I have eaten very good. All the meals but one we have eaten here at our hotel the one at the other Casino was also good and for dessert they had Mississippi Mud like my grandmother use to make. She made it for me on my 16th birthday. But back here at the hotel for lunch yesterday and today and then for dinner we ate the buffet. Lots of vegetables, shrimp, and tonight crab legs and sushi. All so good. For dessert they have fresh pineapple, grapes, strawberries, honeydew, and cantaloupe and 2 chocolate fountains (white chocolate and chocolate) I dizzled (A LOT) of both types of chocolate unto the fruit. Yummy!!! It's so good and I'm sooooo full. I am hoping that tomorrow we'll eat here one last time and I'll eat one more time in Chocolate Heaven. I told Mike that when I die and go to heaven I will have this in heaven but it gets better because I'll be able to eat ALL I want and not get sick or fat. I am also showing a few more photos that I took while here. Maybe some of us can come back and help out at a later date. The destruction is everywhere.

P.S. Did I mention that Mike's fingerprints came in yesterday and that our homestudy is ready to pick up. Oh well, I'll have to wait until Monday. We now can finally have our follow up which is suspose to be done rather quickly and then we can finally send it off to imigration requesting to bring an orphaned child into the county and then it all goes to China. YEAH!!!

SHIPPED WRECKED

Well we made good time getting here to Biloxi. We drove along the coast because we could not check in until 4pm which ended up being more like 5 pm. It was unbelievable the destruction that remains after Hurricane Katrina. We I was going to do the "SPA" thing, only after retracing my steps about 5 times did I ask where it was only to find out that it left with Katrina. So now, Mike is playing poker and I sit here typing this blog. Tomorrow I am heading out to the beach and to take some more photos. The photos I took today are "drive by's" window rolled down camera snapping so they are not my best work but it is enough to see the destruction. We stopped by the casino that was the pirate ship and it was gutted along with the rest of the casino. The ship part used to be somewhat behind the main building so it was slightly up rooted. When I get home I'll locate some of the pictures I took the last time we were here so that you can see before and after.