Got the letter from Michigan

Brenda Ballard faxed us the letter from Michigan stating it was common practice in 1959 for the county clerk to change the name on a birth certificate without a court order on the parent's request due to a misspelling. She said she had forwarded it on to the USCIS in Charleston. So we wait now and see what happens next.

Chinese New Year Celebration

We spent the afternoon immersed in Chinese culture. Not all the people in the group were parents who adopted from China, I would say most were Chinese people who just happen to live in the area.

Our good friends were there and we met some new ones. Two couples sat across from us at lunch who are in the same stages of the process as we are. One is waiting for the 171 to come back from Washington, so they can finish their dossier and the other just sent their dossier to their adoption agency. So it is likely we will all be traveling to China at about the same time.

As I watched all these cute kids running around all day, I remembered that the time delays are for a reason and someday the delays will be cause for a big celebration. Bigger than the one we would have had if our 171 had the right name on it.

One day we will have a child and I'll remember had it not been for the delay then that child would not be ours. One day I'll thank the USCIS for being a thorn in my side. But today, I will thank God because his plans are greater than mine.

I thought it was ironic that the first piece of mail I glanced at when we got home was a catalog. The front featured a purse, some women's clothing, summer sandals and a small wall hanging. The wall hanging seemed sort of out of place in the midst of all that other stuff. It said:

"Good morning! This is God, I will be handling all your problems today. I do not need your help. So have a nice day!"

Here are some pictures from Chinese New Years. This is the year of the pig, in fact this is the year of the "golden pig". I think it only comes around every 60 years.

A "white" head in a sea of "black" (Jeff).

Twins from China performing in the talent show. Our friend's daughter was trying to get a better view.

The Dragon



Children's Choir. They sang a song in Chinese.

The Craft Table: The little girl in the red bow is our friend's daughter. She asked me what color my baby liked. Kids ask hard questions. Hearing someone refer to "my baby" is weird the first time you hear it. The first thing that came to mind was "pink" and so she colored me a pink pig.

Received the I-171H

Everyone is blue, even Chase and Sadie. We received the 171 today and as expected with the wrong name on it. The officer in Charleston has forwarded it to China.

We're waiting on a letter from Michigan telling the Charleston office of the USCIS that the birth certificate Michigan certified in 2006 for this adoption is indeed correct.

We are going to a Chinese New Year's Celebration tomorrow with some friends who are in the process of adopting their second child from China. It should be fun....we need some after this week.

Good News from Afar!!!

My friend and her family in Missouri just got their referral of a son from Thailand!! He's 11 months old. Don't know all the details as to how soon they can travel. Thailand does it a little different than China. But, hopefully the wait won't be too long. Congratulations STJE and G!!

USCIS problem on way to being resolved

Thank-you Brenda!

We met with Brenda Ballard this morning in Greenville. Jeff laid out all our documents and explained what happened with the name spelling on his birth certificate. Once she saw everything she understood. First she tried calling the head of the USCIS in Charleston. She didn't get anywhere with her. They want a letter from Michigan stating that in 1959 it didn't require a court order to have a name spelling on a birth certificate corrected.

She was able to talk to people in Michigan at levels Jeff could never get to. The words, "I work for Congressman Bob Inglis in South Carolina" let her bypass secretaries and voice mail. Within 20 minutes she had confirmation from Michigan that she would receive a letter within 48 hours clearing this whole mess up, signed by the MI state registrar.

All we can say is many thanks to Brenda and there is no doubt we'll be voting for Bob Inglis in the next election. We got business cards when we left the office and will be taking them with us to China.... just in case we need them.

On-going USCIS problems

Brenda Ballard the assistant to our congressman Bob Inglis called this evening. I think at the beginning even she thought there was nothing we could do other than go to court to get a name change. (Which makes no sense. What would he do, take his birth certificate to a judge and tell the judge I need a court order: Please change my name to the name that is on my birth certificate!)

This is not something you can explain very well over the phone. We have an appointment with her tomorrow morning in Greenville. Hopefully when she sees all the paperwork it will make sense to her.

Jeff talked to Vital Records in Michigan and they told him in 1959 it was common to walk in to the county clerk's office and have an incorrect birth certificate corrected. His mom did this two days after she got the original with the spelling error.

USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services)

When you adopt internationally you deal with two separate governments and all the paperwork that each one requires. Some of the paperwork is the same between the two, some isn't. We have everything finished to satisfy the Chinese government. It has been approved at the State level, by the State Department and the Chinese Embassy.

As far as the US paperwork, you have to get a "permission slip" from the US government to adopt a foreigner and bring them into the US. The USCIS won't grant this "permission slip" (I-171H) until you have been cleared by the FBI (fingerprints) and the USCIS has reviewed the home study, all your vital documents (birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees), physician letters etc. If everything is A-Okay with them they will send you the 171H.

1. You need the 171H to get the US consulate appointment in China.
2. You need the appointment to get your child's passport and citizenship papers.
3. You need the passport so they can get on the plane.
4. They need to get on the plane so they can come home AND become US citizens as soon as the plane lands on American soil.

A long time ago there was a misspelling on Jeff's original birth certificate. His mom took it back to the county clerk in MI and had it corrected. But for some reason the USCIS thinks it should have been done by "court order". I mean please..... it was 1959. They didn't have computers like they do now. The county clerk wrote a line through his name and re-wrote it the correct way and issued a new birth certificate. The USCIS is being sticky on this and will only recognize the original misspelled birth certificate. They are sending us a 171H with Jeff's name spelled wrong!

That might not sound like that big of a deal, except the US Consulate in China won't let you take a child out of the country unless the name on the 171H matches your name on every other piece of paper in the dossier. (Believe me it happens. I just met a woman who was in Russia to adopt and was sent home because of a typo. It took her 3 months before she got everything corrected and was able to go back to Russia.)

Thank-goodness we have a politically tied social worker. I've been to her house and she has pictures of her and her family with presidents, senators and a lot of other people. We have been on the phone with the USCIS, SC Department of Heath and are waiting for a call back from our congressman's office. The USCIS reports to the congressional level. Nobody else tells them what to do. The only way to "encourage" the USCIS to spell Jeff's name right will be if our congressman Bob Inglis steps in.

I had heard it was a good idea to let your senator know you are adopting internationally. If there are problems in the foreign country then you have someone who is aware of you and what you are doing. I didn't think we would need to resort to it before we even left the US!!

Well it has been an interesting journey!!! I'm sure we will get what we need, it is just how many hoops do we and other people have to jump through before we have that little golden piece of paper, the I-171H, in our hands (with Jeff's name spelled right).

Finally Washington Documents Back

It has been a little disturbing the last few days, especially since we have already dealt with one lost package that UPS has never found. But the courier was to pick up our documents on Wednesday and we should have gotten them back on Friday.

I didn't bother looking up the tracking number on Thursday because it takes awhile for FedEx to log them in. I checked Friday morning and they hadn't been logged in. Not really sure what happened with this, the courier hasn't e-mailed me back yet. I think it is related to the snow Washington got last week. I heard other people on the message boards say that last weeks snowstorm backed things up in DC.

Finally on Sunday the tracking number was in the FedEx system and we got them today. So now we are down to one piece of paper. We need the I-171 from USCIS (immigration).

My social worker gave me a number to call today at the USCIS office. I talked to a very pleasant man, Alvin, but he wasn't able to find out much. He did know our package was sitting on Mr. Krause's desk, but he wasn't aware of any problems. Mr. Krause is off today so Alvin couldn't ask him about it. It has been over a week since they got the additional information we sent them. I didn't think it would take this long. Some people have been getting their 171 back from Charleston in 10-14 days. Our fingerprint appointment was Jan. 30, so we are at day 22 since we had everything done for immigration.

Oh well, patience....

Billy Joel Concert (A Pretty Good Crowd for a Saturday)

Jeff heard Billy Joel was going to be in Greenville so we got tickets for a night of re-living the 70's. Walking to the concert from the parking garage this crazy man swerves up to the stoplight just as we're ready to cross the street. He had everyone's attention, including the cops directing traffic. He leans his head out the window and yells to no one in particular, "WHERE's the parking for the ROCK CONCERT!!". Billy Joel never fit my description of a "rocker", at least not the one this wild-eyed, long haired man implied. I wonder if he found the parking garage.

We had opted for the floor seats, down where the die hard fans sit. We were crammed in like sardines. I never sat in the floor seats before, but it is all about getting to know your neighbor. We had some nice ones on both sides. So we all sat squished together and waited. I don't know how they did it? One minute there wasn't a piano on stage and then the next minute there was a big, black shiny grand and BJ's fingers were traveling from one end to the other. He opened up with "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me". (Maybe he does consider himself a rocker).

After every couple songs he stopped and talked to the audience. I like it when the entertainer talks to the audience. Yeah I've heard their records and seen them on TV, but I want to know what they really sound like and if they can have an intelligent conversation with the audience. He could and he's pretty funny!

At one point he discussed the various seats in the house, ensuring almost everyone had good seats because he has one and only one special effect. His special effect is the turning piano. Sometimes you can see him from one side with a good view of the keyboard and then the piano spins on a platform and you get a different view.

He said the seats in the back of the auditorium were good, but for another reason. He points way to the back, "I'm really glad you people sittin' in Virginia bought those seats. I need the money these days, my car insurance is outrageous." (He's had some traffic incidents in the last few years.)

He points to us sitting on the floor seats, calls them the most expensive and the worst because, "There's eight men on a hanging platform above your heads." (Everyone looks up and by gosh there are eight guys up there). "If one of those wires break, its' going to take out at least a hundred of you."

He announces the next song from his first album in 1971. The crowd claps and hoots. Then Billy gets this perplexed look on his face and points down at a 23 year old in the front row who is doing her best to show her excitement, He says, "You weren't even born yet?" The crowd erupts into cheers and laughter.

I was amazed at the number of young kids in the audience. I figured this would be the over 35 crowd. The couple in front of us couldn't have been older than 20. I wanted to know how they were able to pay for the tickets working at McDonald's. But, I'll give this kid credit, he knew all the words to the songs. He even knew the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire" and that puts him in the die hard fan club. Except, I have this image of him learning the words by listening to his dads 8-tracks.

BJ finishes with "Only the Good Die Young" then he and the band leave the stage. But, there is one song the crowd has been waiting to hear and we haven't heard it yet.

Now, in the days before smoking became a criminal offense everyone would "flick their bic" and hold it till the performer came back on stage. Who has a bic now? And if you did, you'd probably be arrested for flicking it in a public place. Jeff elbows me in the side. He's laughing and shaking his head. "Look", he says pointing up in the stadium seats, "Everyone is waving their cell phones". Sure enough the grandstand is lit up with cell phone panels. Hey, you can't fight progress! I get Jeff's cell, flip it open and wave along with everyone else.

The young couple in front of us are frantically waving their cells also. I wonder if they think this is an original thought by their generation. I remember hot summer nights at Arrowhead Stadium, waving lighters. Back then I probably thought it was my generations idea to "flick a bic". Maybe not? Maybe mom and dad waved matches?

Finally the band and BJ are back on stage. You can almost hear the sigh across the auditorium, okay now we are going to get to hear "the song". But it isn't. I lean over to Jeff, "I forgot about that song". Then a few minutes later I'm leaning over to him again. "I forgot about that one too". Then the band walks off the stage and BJ starts walking off also.

The crowd literally "boos" him. He turns around and looks at us like we are nuts. Soon as he turns around the crowd cheers!! So he moves towards the piano, then away from it, teasing us along and laughing the whole time. We do this booing and cheering thing. It's like playing "hot and cold" as a child. That piano is hot and he is not leaving without playing it again.

So he does play again, and I find myself leaning over to Jeff again saying, "I forgot about that song". Then the band and BJ wave good-bye and start walking off the stage again. The booing is louder now than before. This time BJ looks at us like he has no idea what song we want him to play. He shrugs his shoulders and holds his palms up to the crowd. Finally the cheering moves him back to the piano and he takes a seat. "Okay Billy, you have been teasing us long enough."

A deathly silence and tension covers the auditorium. Then, from out of no where, he pulls out his harmonica and we hear the first few notes of that familiar tune. The crowd explodes in applause and cheers as The Piano Man begins to play.

The crowd sings along from the beginning. I notice my 20 year old friend doesn't know the words to this one. Maybe he didn't know that many of the people in the crowd would have come just to hear this one.

On the last verse, we sing out, "It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday". And he finishes the rest. Then it is time for the last refrain, but this time the house lights come up, the band quits playing, Billy quits playing, Billy quits singing and leans back on the keyboard and turns to the audience. We finish the song:

Sing us the song, you're the piano man,
Sing us the song tonight,
Cause we're all in the mood for a melody,
And you've got us feelin' all right.

And He did.....

The Citadel

Sarah's boyfriend Michael (front in the picture) is a junior at the Citadel. He is very nice and has been to our house several times. The poor guy came the first time over Thanksgiving Week-end. He showed up in the middle of a charades game with all the crew from Virginia Beach and some how got roped into doing a military marching thing with Jeff, Ray, Tony, Lance and Steve. I figure if he can hold his own with those guys, he is "A-Okay" with me.



I love this black and white (Michael is the one holding the towel), reminds me of Cary Grant movies and the 60's. Anyway he is a really nice boy from a small town about 15 minutes from us. I think our high school football team and his are rivals. I'm looking forward to meeting his parents the next time he and Sarah come up. It might be awhile though, the Citadel has strict curfews and they don't let their boys have a lot of free time! He and Sarah can just focus on school for now, good for both of them. :)

Valentine's Day

We had a nice Valentines Day. We took off in the middle of the afternoon and went for a matinee. We saw "Blood Diamonds" it was really good. Unbelievable what it costs to go to a movie these days. The two drink/popcorn special is $13.00 and our tickets were $13.00. I don't know how young kids can afford to go to the movies anymore. Not like I did, we used to go all the time when I was growing up. It was actually a cheap thing to do.

Our friends in Gaffney sent their dossier to China on Jan. 30 and they were LID (logged in) on Feb. 12, 2007. Hooray!! That is really fast. The latest I have been hearing is that it has been taking up to 5 weeks to get dossiers logged in. Maybe some things are speeding up in China. Another friend in Georgia, though had some disappointing news today. There was a mess up on a date on her birth certificate and she has to start back at the state level and have it authenticated again at the Chinese Consulate. For every delay I believe there is a reason that we will understand later.

Happy Birthday Sarah, she's 21!

Sarah's 21!! She celebrated her birthday in Charleston with all her friends then came up to our house this week-end. We had spaghetti (Sarah's favorite) and a cake. Took a ride in the Chevelle, watched "Gladiator" and spent the evening talking about what the future might hold for all of us. She is doing well in school and loves her job at the bank. It sounds promising that she might be able to continue to work there when she graduates. She'll have a degree in psych and wants to work in human relations.

Her birthday present from me was everything so she can get a passport. I know that day is way off in the future but I hope she will be able to go to China with us when we pick up her sister! I know I'm going to need some help. She and Jeff can keep me sane during the trip. We are hoping Lance will also be able to come at least for the "Adoption Day" court date, but will have to see where he is in the Navy in 2 years.


She brought Mr. Chase with her. Sadie was glad to see her old friend. They played until they both fell asleep on the living room floor. Right now though Chase is in trouble. The man who has the field next to us fertilized it a few days ago with manure. Can you believe that?

We had to give Sadie a bath on Friday because she found her way into it and now Chase has done the same thing. Then Jeff pulled on the hose, I'm not sure exactly what happened but we don't have any water. Something broke and he had to turn the water off. Sunday evening, what can you say!!!

CCAI in GA and Courier in Washington recieved packages

CCAI sent me an e-mail that they had received the stuff we sent to Georgia and I checked FedEx on-line and saw the the package to the courier was delivered.

A friend of mine in St. Joseph has been notified about a waiting child in Thailand. Keeping her and her family in prayers as they review all the information and decide about this darling little boy. Carla and Frank have their home study appointment next Monday. They have a 6 hour interview, can you believe that. I thought all my paper work was bad, but our home visit was a breeze. June Bond/Adoption Advocacy was wonderful.

We have been swamped with work for the last month or so. One hospital is activating a new system in March and the others just have the normal things.

We have also been dedicated to going to the gym. So we stopped around 1600 and went and ran on the treadmil. The guy who taught the "body boot camp class" on Monday happened to be at the desk when we walked in. I was hoping he wouldn't notice me. But he did and wanted to know if I was coming next week. I said "YES", what is wrong with me???

Have a good evening

Documents sent to CCAI and Washington, DC

Spent the morning getting documents together, scanned and copied. Jeff did all the running today while I made copies, wrote letters to go in the packages, and tried to slip in a little work here and there. He had to go down to Greenville because Sarah's military ID card expired and he needed some paperwork from the Navy Support Center, then headed up to Landrum to buy horse feed; then on to the bank for a money order for the Chinese Embassy!

Jeff got home just as I had everything laid out on the dining room table. The column of papers on the left originated in Missouri and Michigan and were previously authenticated at the Chinese Embassy in Chicago. Today we shipped them off with our "couple photo's" to the CCAI office in Georgia. The two columns on the right originated in South Carolina. We sent them to be authenticated by the State Department and the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC, via courier: Assistant Stork. We are done for awhile till we get the 171! We decided to send everything we had to Washington now, then when we get the 171 we can have it expedited and won't have to expedite everything (costs more per document for a 24 hour turn around in Washington).

Body Boot Camp

Today my brain is fried!! Not only has work been crazy but I went to body pump class (which I love) at the gym only to find out that they have changed it to another class called: Body Boot Camp.

Now you can imagine what that was like with a name called Boot Camp. And that is exactly what it was, Boot Camp. If you have an image of that, then imagine me doing it for an hour.

Also envision that person who can never climb the rope or do all the pushups. Well that was me! I don’t know if I will be able to move tomorrow. We ran sprints across the gym floor, ran carrying weights, crawled around on our hands and feet going as fast as we could!!! There were several points I really thought I would have a heart attack, I thought I could not go on……

I was the weak link on several of the relay races. And there were team activities and the team could not go faster than their weakest link. Oh brother, talk about humiliating…at the end after doing push-ups (All I can think about is the girl soldier in "Officer and a Gentleman") the instructor literally pulled me up off the floor......It was just horrible.....there is more but I’m to tired to type.

Documents taken to SOS in Columbia for certification

Sadie (my faithful traveling partner) and I hand carried the home study, police clearances, financial statement, physician forms, and adoption petition to the Secretary of State's office in Columbia, SC for certification.

It was a nice ride but took about 5 hours round trip. If I lived closer I wouldn't mind being a courier, but that is a long way to drive. We looked on-line and didn't find any couriers in Columbia. At this point after having one package lost in UPS land I felt better taking all these things myself than mailing them to the Secretary of States Office. I was in and out in 30 minutes and would have been out sooner but I met another lady adopting from Russia, so sat and talked to her for awhile.

She and her husband went to Russia around Thanksgiving for the court date to adopt their daughter and bring her back to the US. All the paper work gets reviewed on so many levels before ever reaching the foreign country, but unbelievably someone missed that her maiden name was used as her middle name on one of the US govt. documents. The judge of all people caught the error and said, "No baby going home with you". They had to fly back to the US and get the document corrected and are leaving this week to go to Russia again, which meant new fingerprints (their's had expired), new VISA's and a lot of grief.