Fingerprints Visit to the City

On Tuesday (June 4) we loaded the family wagon and took the couple hour drive to the big city of Pittsburgh PA for our fingerprinting appointment for the US Immigration Services and Department of Homeland Security. After the fingerprints are cleared and processed then we will be receiving our approval letter. This little special letter is the last bit of paperwork that we need for our dossier! So very exciting!

Found our way through the big city, found parking, found our destination with no lines, and after the 5 minutes that it took for the fingerprinting we were off for a stroll through the city. Well, the kids had a blast just walking around in the beautiful and friendly city. They were especially excited to see a building that had....get this...are you ready?....excited to see a building that had revolving doors!! Whoooohooo! Yah, we live in the sticks, so this was ever so fun!

Did some site seeing and toured the lovely and inspiring IKEA while we were so nearby! Got a little carried away and again, being from the country we didn't think of things like leaving Pittsburgh at 4:30 p.m. Oh right, that thing called "T R A F F I C." It put us to a 4 hour drive home. All for the sake of the children right?

Finally, we are all don.....nope, I'm not even going to finish typing the word! BUT this step, of collecting papers for the dossier, yes! DONE!

Now, on to gathering all those notarized and official papers so that we can take another road trip to the Secretary of State Department to get them "authenticated." That's where they make sure that the notary license is valid and good enough to be state official. Oh my. The process of it all!

Good news though is that the day after we had the fingerprints done I had to call that department concerning another issue (really long story not even worth a blog post headache) and our officer said that she just mailed out our approval!! It's in the mail! Scooping that up and heading east to the Secretary of State as soon as possible with this ever so precious pile of papers.

And we're off again!

Comments

Airplane Tray Table Cover for Travel!

In my part of the world, the popular sport of choice for this season is sewing. Sewing? Yes, well, it's a winter sport for me with its challenges, obstacles, and skills to be improved upon! Not to mention that it hasn't been above 10 degrees Fahrenheit for near a month and with wind chills at -25 to -40 tonight, one just has to stay inside in the comfy cozy walls of home! Out comes the sewing machine and projects left behind from seasons past. This time, I decided to tackle a new project that will be put to good use in the future: an Airplane Tray Table Cover for future traveling! Thinking of sunny Ethiopia just brightens the mood from the winter blues too! After searching the web, and viewing images of other "airplane tray table covers" (search it, you'll find them), I decided to create my own. This is pic is of my first attempt. Overall, it turned out fine and I am happy with the end result. To give you an idea, this would slip over...

Miserly Moms Recipes

After posting some ideas about tips for the family budget, I had many positive responses and am encouraged that many of you will be putting forth an effort to set a food budget and stay within that budget. Take a visit here to view the previous post. Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy is an excellent resource for money saving tips, menus, recipes, and family organization. After looking it up on Amazon, apparently my copy is the "collectable" edition...oh geez, that makes me feel old. There is a newer edition that Jonni has available in a Kindle version for $7.99 . Note: Kindles weren't invented yet when I was starting out as a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) Ha.ha.laugh. Here are some highlights from the book (the one made of paper) : 1. Don't Confuse Frugality with Depriving Yourself 2. Remove Little Wasters of Your Money 3. Don't Buy Everything at the Same Store 4. Make Your Own Whenever Possible 5. Eliminate Convenience Foods ...

The "firsts" that I don't want to share

The firsts that I don't want to share. When we started our adoption process nearly 3 years ago, Christmas was always a mile marker. We began in December 2012 and Christmas was always the one event that we wished for Tarik to be home. "Maybe next Christmas" turned into "maybe next Christmas." When asked when we thought that Tarik would be home, we'd say, "hopefully by Christmas." The holidays were hard in the waiting time and just wanting the family to all be together for those holiday moments pulled at our hearts. Finally, this year, 2015 was our first Christmas home with our new son! And the reality of Christmas, couldn't have been farther from what I ever imagined of our first Christmas to be together. It was Tarik's first Christmas home. A time to celebrate and be joyful! After all this time of waiting. But it also turned into the first Christmas without my dad. Not a 'first' I want to share. My dad is a heal...

One Sought Me

Search This Blog