Dossier it Authenticated!!

On Monday, May 21, my dossier went to Topeka for Authentication. I got it back already this morning!!! Those guys are sure quick! I wish everything in this adoption would move that quickly. I am learning a lot about being patient though. I know that the daughter God has chosen for me, may not even be born yet so I have to wait. Now I will send my dossier to the Guatemalan Consulate in Houston so they can authenticate it too.

For those not familar with the process, the top picture is of my documents with the statements from the Secretary of State (Ron Thornburgh) saying that the notaries I used are actual notaries for the state of Kansas. The second picture show a page from Governor Kathleen Sebilous stating that Ron Thornburgh is the Secretary of State. I guess the Governor doesn't need anyone to say she is who she says she is.

I had 15 documents authenticated at $7.50 each for a total of $112.50. For the Guatemalan authentications it is $10 each - - - $150!!! No wonder international adoptions are so expensive.

Dossier to be Authenticated

This is for real this time. I FINALLY got it dropped off in the Fed Ex box. It will be overnighted to Topeka.

I got my approval from my agency coordinator that my dossier was fine. I got my last "Witness Statement" this afternoon. THEN came the most difficult part... getting it ready to send.

I typed up a cover letter to go with the dossier, wrote a check, prepared a return envelope and airbill, packed it all in the Fed Ex envelope and headed off to the drop box. Three blocks from my house I realized that I had forgotten to include my birth certificate. Back to the house.

I re-typed the cover letter, wrote a new check and made up a new envelope to send it all in. On the way to the car I realized that I hadn't stuck my birth certificate in with the dossier. Back inside. Now I finally have it all in the dropbox.

I hope this authentication process goes fast. For Guatemala I also have to send it to the Guatemala Consular in Houston. After that it goes to my agency.

My fingerprints will be done on Friday, June 15 in Kansas City. That is the soonest I can get it done. Then I will be waiting for my I-171H and my dosser to return to me. This is a lot of waiting!!!

Thank You Shopper!!!

I got my third statement from my Bookcodex shopping fund-raiser. This is the first time I have gotten any money on a statement. Someone bought several items from Office Depot through my site. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!! Every dollar helps me get my Johanna Faith.

For those of you who don't know what this is, I'll tell you. Down this page and on the right side is a link to Bookcodex shopping. At this site are several stores you can shop from. Some of them are quite familar, Wal-Mart, Sears, Office Depot, etc. Some are specialty shops. If you go through my blog to this site and shop, a portion of what you spend comes to me for my adoption fund. Take a look if you haven't already done so. Tell your friends and family.

What's Going On

It has been awhile since I posted so I thought I had better catch up. I am still working on my dossier for Guatemala. I am waiting on one reference and the two witness statements. I should get those from friends this week.

I heard from USCIS about fingerprints but need to try to schedule another time. They letter I received said we can go to Wichita on any Wednesday for fingerprints. Wednesday is not really good. Mom works at Wal-Mart on Wednesday afternoon. It would also not be good for daycare. A Friday would be much better. I am going to see about making an appointment even though the lady on the phone said I couldn't make an appointment.

Other than that, nothing else is going on. I am continuing to try to raise money. We are planning for a big garage sale but don't have date yet.

Making Changes

I had a couple of changes to make on my blog since I have changed countries. Tomorrow I will put on things about Guatemala, now that I have removed the Kazakhstan stuff. I also went through my filebox and shreaded a bunch of papers. My whole dossier has to be redone. I think the new one will be easier and I will hopefull have it in Topeka by Wednesday.

I will be adding new blogs to my list of "Favorites" too. I have started visiting more blogs of people adopting from Guatemala. I will add those to this site.

Johanna has moved

I am just going to make this a short post for now. I have changed my adoption from Kazakhstan to Guatemala. One of the main reasons for this was the in-country time for Kazakhstan. I have a lot of paperwork to do now to redo my dossier for my new country.