Where East Meets Us: One of My Favorite Pictures

I just had to post this one. It's from Candy Day last year. It was totally spontaneous, I didn't tell them to pose this way. I think it's just hilarious!

Important Dates

Nov. 9, 2009 LOA Sent to China
Nov. 3, 2009 Letter of Seeking Confirmation came, in record time according to Dillon!
Oct. 29, 2009 Received I-171H AGAIN!!
Oct. 27, 2009 Pre-Approval for Pan Lan!!!
Oct. 14, 2009 Fingerprint Appointment with USCIS (3rd times the charm!)
Sept. 29, 2009 LOI for Pan Lan
March 27, 2009 Turned in our updated Special Needs Checklist
March 24, 2009 Dillon received access to the Special Needs Database
July 2008 - I forgot to add that OUR DOSSIER WAS PUT BACK IN LINE!! RIGHT WHERE IT WAS BEFORE!!! WOO HOO!!
June 6, 2008 - We received the I-171H again! We had to renew with USCIS :)!
April 14, 2008 - Fingerprint Appointment with USCIS (again)
March 3, 2008 - Reorganized Adoption Paperwork - Makes Me Feel Like I'm Accomplishing Something, and Reminds Where We've Been
Dec. 24, 2007 - Mailed Letter to Dillon to Have Dossier Put Back in Line
Oct. 1, 2007 - Date to be Induced
Sept. 5 2007 - Only 5 more weeks until our due date!
February 2007 - We are pregnant!!
December 11, 2006 - We are LID!!
November 7, 2006 - We are DTC!!! There are 7 families in our group.
October 11, 2006 - Our dossier is complete! We now wait for other families in our group to have their done.
October 4, 2006 - We recieved the I-171h, the last piece of paper we need to complete our dossier

A List of Common Adoption World Abbreviations and Terms

SWI - Social Welfare Institution, the orphanage, but also sometimes an orphanage and a home for the elderly
SN - Special Need, some of the families request a child with a special need, we have chosen not to
LID - Log In Date, the date your dossier is officially logged in in China
Travel Group - All the other families who have the same DTC/LID date as we do and we will all travel together unless one of them chooses a child with a special need. Usually all the referrals in a group come from the same orphanage, which will be another thing we will have in common with our travel group.
I-171h - a PPP that we waited 6 weeks on so we could finish our dossier
USCIS - United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Bethany - Our adoption case worker at Dillon who is very patient and has a great sense of humor
Dillon - Our adoption agency, which we love, is based in Tulsa, but serves many parts of the country, and it's Christian based
PPP - Pretty Peace of Paper, once you have received the pesky one it becomes the pretty one ;)
PPP - Pesky Piece of Paper, which is any piece of important paper you are waiting on
Referral - The first picture you see of the child you have been matched with and a brief medical history
CA - Consulate Appointment
TA - Travel Approval
DTC - Dossier to China