Still Waiting

I have not been able to write for a long time because I have been having a pity party for my self. Here is a brief update on our journey to our son. We found out a couple months ago that the agreement between the US and Vietnam probably would not be re-signed. What does that mean to us? Well this particular agreement is called a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU"). You can go to this govt website to read the government warning
http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/intercountry/intercountry_3939.html

The other issue is that the agency that we are with is in the process of getting Hauge certified. There have been lots of rumors that Vietnam is only going to work with Hauge agencies.

1. Hague Rumor.

We understand that a rumor is spreading that the State Department will require Vietnam to become a party to the Hague Convention before a new Memorandum of Understanding can be signed. We have confirmed with the Department of State that this rumor is false.

As the U.S. is poised to enter the Convention, it is, of course, recommending that all countries become parties. Under the Convention, bilateral agreements like the one the Vietnamese government requires are not necessary. However, the U.S. is fully aware that the process of becoming a party to the Hague is serious and time intensive, and there is no expectation that Vietnam will become a party to the Hague before the current agreement expires in September. The U.S. will thus be conducting negotiations with Vietnam on renewing the MOU.


We hear so many different things. It is very frustrating. Patience is essentail. I know that Heavenly Father is looking out for us. Our son will come when it is the right time. I really need to focus on the time that I have with my beautiful children, and cherish the moments that we have. We have wavered back and forth to switch countries. Every time that comes to our thoughts, we know that we are just getting anxious. We have prayed about this, and know this is right. We know that this will be taken care of and Heavenly Father listens to us. I know that prayers are not answered immediately and sometimes they are not the answer that we are looking for, but it's not our plan. He has planned our lives and we just need to listen to his guidance. We are now just in a holdng process. We thank all of our friends and family that are taking this journey with our family. We could not ask for more support.

An update on our family! Well Jeff and I have been married now almost 61/2 years. WOW!!! 3 children later and one on the way. Things are good. Lil Jeff is doing great. Loving school and Mama. He told me that he does not want any more birthdays after 6, so he can live with us forever. He is playing baseball. He is really getting the hang of things.. He is an amazing little boy. Lola is great she is just beautiful,confident and very independent. She is taking dance 2 times a week. Loves is so much. Her goal is to be a Cardinals cheerleader. Yea Daddie. Little Sophie is great! Oh and by the way she owns us. She works us daily. She is becoming a beautiful little toddler. She still smiles all the time. Her eyes sparkle. Her favorite thing to do is read, read, read. Everyday books are every where. We are about to start the potty train thing. Our family is planning a trip to Arizona this summer to see Nana and Papa, and a trip to see my sister and friend Jenn in Atlanta. We have made some new friends finally in Jacksonville. Yeah, it's about time. We are doing great. We enjoy our family a lot. We love our church it has brought so much to our lives. We love being LDS. We love knowing that our family is for eternity. Keep little Ryne (Ryno) in your prayers.

We have been put on the list

We are so excited to say that we have been put on the list! I know that we have another long journey ahead of us, but we will take that day by day. I just keep thinking about this mother who is pregnant carrying our child or has already given birth, and the decison that she will make. Being a mother of 3 I can't image having to make that decision. She must be a really heroic mother to do that. I know we sill have so long to wait, but the long to hold this little guy is so strong. We found out on Novermber 8, 2007 by e-mail that we have been on the list. Here is the e-mail:

Hi Jeff and Laura,

We did receive your CIS approval and check in the amount of $4790 for your dossier fee. I have placed you on the wait list as requesting a male child 12-18 months of age and open to Cleft Lip. I will be sending you a letter which states you are a waiting family and will include a travel guide for you to look through.

Congratulations for completing this step!!

Take care,

Angie Thorn

I-171H YEA!

It's Nov 2, and we received our I-71H. I am so excited that we can finally get placed on the wait list. We are soooo excited. The other neat thing is I got the I71H on my 30Th birthday. It has been a awesome day.

Homestudy (COMPLETED!!!!!!!!!!!)

Wonderful – then I will put the home study in the mail this morning. Cathi Moore reviewed and approved it as on Wednesday afternoon.

Lori Fraas, L.C.S.W.
Executive Director

Yea those were the words that I read this morning at 7:26am on Thursday October 11,2007.
Wow I am very happy. We are on to the next step in this wonderful journey to our little boy.

Passports

Today we got all of our passports for the kids from Fedex. We are taking all of our children with us to Vietnam, so we knew that they would each need one. The kids were very excited to see their pictures in the passport book. I can't believe that this is really going to happen. The excitement is overwhelming

Mom and Dad Bouchy ( E-mail about Ryne)

Hi,
We read your email and thought it is a beautiful introduction to one of the best goals in life-adoption.
Our prayers and thoughts are with you all.
Give everyone a kiss and hug from us.
We love you,
Mom and Dad

I-600A

It's Saturday about 2:24pm, and we just got a letter from CIS that they received our application. It takes (90) days to process, and (60) days to process the fingerprint application form. We are moving right along.

Just getting started

We were so excited after we went to a CHI informational meeting about adoption. We got my sister to babysit for us that Saturday. We walked into to the door, and the spirit really touched us. Our eyes filled with tears, and we both said this is it, this is right. We knew at that moment. It was the right time to bring another little life into our family. July 5, 2007 we sent in all of our paper work. I was pacing the floors waiting for approval. I called the Missouri office. The lady that answered the phone said it's funny because I was just about to call you. She told me that we were approved. We then got another packet in the mail to get started. We mailed in our I-600A and got our home study agency. We recently just got back the I-600A because the fees changed. We mailed it in one day late. We were really bummed, but it's part of the process.