The Peck Family Bound for Korea!

Our friends, Sean, Kimberly and their daughter Kira (from Oklahoma) are "bound for Korea". They are traveling to be united with their second child, Spencer Ross Jeong Peck. Spencer was born October 19 and is thriving! We wish them well and can't wait to meet Spencer in person!

An Eventful Saturday

Yesterday to say the least, was an eventful Saturday. Scott was off of work so when we woke up we had a big breakfast (waffles, bacon, hashbrowns, eggs and fruit), took showers and baths and headed out. We ran to the bank, Target, Bob Schultz Motorcycle and then went to Burger King for a small playgroup.

We met Val, Connor, Jane and Jared at Burger King in St. Peters. The boys had a ball running around and crawling through tubes and tunnels. We ate lunch (which I might add, was nasty!!). After about an hour we loaded up and we went back towards Cave Springs.

During transit, my mom called and said that she had been in an automobile accident. Apparently, an older gentleman ran a red light and slammed into her front passenger side. Neither party was injured (thank the Lord). Moms car (which she picked up from the shop Friday night) was leaking fluid and had tons of plastic (and bumper) hanging below. We ended up having to have her car towed to a local cheverolet dealer.

We then ran back to Bob Schultz Motorcycle to finalize paperwork and pick up a new ATV. Owen and I are excited because we now have our own bike and we don't have to share with Daddy anymore. We look forward to spring - warm riding air and most importantly, MUD!!!!!!!!!

Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year is a celebration of the new year in Asian communities around the world. It is observed by the Chinese, Koreans, and Vietnamese. The event takes place during the first three days of the first lunar month (late January or early February). The date of the new year is determined by the lunar calendar, so festivities begin with the new cycle of the moon that falls between January 21 and February 19. Each year is symbolized by a different animal: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Calendar year 2007 marks the "Year of the Pig".

The new year celebration known as the Spring Festival in China, Tet in Vietnam, and Sol in Korea, is the most important and the longest of all festivals in these communities, traditionally lasting for two weeks. During this period, towns and villages are decorated with colored lanterns, floral displays, and brightly colored banners emblazoned with new year greetings.

The New Year is a special occasion full of warmth, cheerfulness, and reflection. Most importantly, families and friends of all cultures can keep alive the traditions of coming together to share in the hopes for a new beginning.

For more information on the Lunar New Year:
http://www.thetasteofasia.com/celebrations.asp
http://www.adoptvietnam.org/vietnamese/tet-links.html
http://www.fathertimes.net/traditions.htm
http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/holidays/newyear-korea.htm
http://www.afk.com

Ha Crick Resigns

Ha Crick has been a loyal and dedicated employee of Dillon International for the past 6 years. She has developed a strong and trustworthy relationship with orphanage directors in the provinces (5) and government officials at every level. She has endeared herself to children, orphanage workers, families in need, adoptive families and certainly to Dillon co-workers. Currently, Ha oversees as many as 800 children in 5 provinces of Vietnam who receive shelter, education, and medical care through the help of Dillon International and its humanitarian-aid project, OrphanCare International.

After spending the past 3 weeks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, meeting with Dillon staff and adoptive famililes, Ha Crick has made the difficult decision to resign her position with Dillon International effective February 18, 2007. Her reasons for resignation include continuing health problems and the growing demands of the job. While Ha was not directly involved with the "adoption process" she was the director of humanitarian programs in Vietnam.

Dillon International seems to think that Ha's resignation will not delay our adoption process further. We hope that Ha will be able to train someone quickly and efficiently so when our precious Avery is revealed to us he/she will be able to provide detailed updates on her growth and developement.

To view an article on Ha's recent visit to Tulsa, go to:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=070104_Ne_A9_Adopt19391

Timeline for Avery

12/02/2005 Initial Application
01/21/2006 Adoption Workshop - St. Louis
02/21/2006 Formal Application
03/28/2006 Pre-Filing with Immigration (I-600A)
03/30/2006 Home Study "Update" Begun
05/01/2006 Home Study Approved
08/15/2006 Home Study Addendum Approved
08/??/2006 Dossier Complete
09/09/2006 Dossier Authenticated
09/09/2006 On the Waiting List - Vietnam
01/12/2007 Log-In-Date(LID) Papers Sent to Dillon
01/31/2007 Dossier sent to Vietnam for LID
01/31/2007 Updated Medical Letter Sent to Dillon
02/08/2007 Referral Call
02/09/2007 Referral Accepted and Received Photograph
02/12/2007 Received FedEx Package with Acceptance Papers
02/13/2007 Priority Mailed Acceptance Papers to Dillon (Thursday arrival)
02/14/2007 LID
02/23/2007 Updated Medical Letters Sent to Vietnam
04/25/2007 Provincial Approval~Avery's Dossier sent to Hanoi (70 days)
05/25/2007 Hanoi requesting birth mothers signature before dossier approval
05/31/2007 Birth mother has signed form and applying for VISA (36 days)
06/06/2007 Received news of travel (GNR - 6/25/07)
06/20/2007 Leaving for VN
06/25/2007 Preliminary Giving and Receiving Ceremony @ 9am
06/26/2007 Actual Giving and Receiving Ceremony - 4ish
07/06/2007 Homecoming

Timeline for Owen

03/06/2004 Initial Application
03/23/2004 Adoption Workshop - Kansas City
03/24/2004 Formal Application
04/07/2004 Formal Application Approved
04/16/3004 Pre-Filing with INS
04/29/2004 Home Study Begun
05/13/2004 Home Study Completed
06/07/2004 On the Waiting List - Korea
12/08/2004 Child Assignment Received
12/09/2004 Acceptance of Assignment
04/06/2005 Passport Issued
04/21/2005 Travel Clearance Issued
04/28/2005 Gotcha Day - Seoul, South Korea
04/29/2005 Returning to USA
06/27/2005 Petition to Court for U.S. Adoption
12/02/2005 Finalization Day for U.S. Adoption Decree
12/15/2005 Final Adoption Decree sent to Dillon International

Still Holding at Number 2!

We are still holding at number 2 on the waiting list for Vietnam. While we have only been waiting about 4 1/2 months I find myself starting to long for our sweet baby Avery. I didn't think that I would be in meltdown mode already, but...I am in the beginning stages!
I think it has been difficult because we have been in the process since December 2005! We sent in our initial application to Dillon in December of 2005 with thoughts of going back to Korea. We knew that it was going to take some time due to the extensive waiting list for a daughter (in Korea) and the simple fact that Scott needed to lose 20 pounds (according to Korean standards). Well, right after he lost the weight we decided to switch to the Vietnam program. We put a lot of thought and tears into our decision to switch but we felt like our daughter was going to be Vietnamese.
It has been several weeks since there has been any word of a referral (boy or girl) and TET is right around the corner which will more than likely delay the process even more. We have decided that we would like our daughter to be as young as possible since Owen is still so young. The last girl referrals have been infants (5-6 weeks). We are hoping that we will have some news to share in the next few weeks. Please say an extra prayer for our family and other families who also long for their children.

Sesame Street Live - Elmo Makes Music

Wednesday, January 17th we went to the Scottrade Center to see Sesame Street Live. Owen and Jared had a blast! They sang, danced, ate popcorn and hugged as they saw their favorite Sesame Street characters.

Adoption Process - Vietnam

Many people are curious why we just can't go over to Vietnam to get baby Avery. The process is outlined below. Remember, this is a new program and the timeframe and process could change at any time.

Once our homestudy and dossier is completed and submitted to the Vietnamese government for approval we can expect a referral in approximately 6-9 months (We went on the waiting list 9/8/06). As of today, we are currently #2 on the waiting list.

Dossier: A collection of required documents presented in support of a petition to adopt a child overseas. It becomes the foreign countries paper representation of whom the adopting family is. It is used to "approve" the family adopting a child from their country. The specific paperwork may vary from country to country. Many of these documents are duplicates from the homestudy process.

Upon acceptance of our referral (when all paperwork is completed) our documents will be sent to Vietnam. The follwing is an outline of what will occur once our papers arrive in Vietnam.

(1) Our dossier and acceptance papers are sent to Ho Chi Minh City to the Dillon staff and attorney. When their attorney receives our dossier, he will forward it to a translator. The translation process can take 1-3 weeks. After our dossier has completed the translation process, the attorney will send it to the International Adoption Department (IAD) in Ha Noi. The IAD will review our dossier, and, if they are satisfied with all the documents, they will give our dossier a log-in-date. We can estimate travel within 3-6 months of the log-in-date.

(2) After the IAD has given our dossier a log-in date, they will send a letter to our child’s province requesting that the Local Justice Department begin compiling our child’s legal documents, which is also called the child’s dossier. This process can take up to 30 business days.

(3) Once the IAD in Ha Noi receives our child's dossier, they will review her dossier as well as ours. After they are satisfied with all of the documents they will forward our families dossier (and Avery's) back to her Local Justice Department in the province where she resides.

(4) When the Local Justice Department in Avery's province receives our dossier and her dossier, they will forward the documents to the People's Committee. The People's Committee will then set a date and time for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony. Once that date and time is set we will be "VIETNAM OR BUST".

*We hope and pray that this process will be completed in record time!