Chris and I started this blog to chronicle our journey to adopt Fernanda and Wendy, sisters from Bogota whom we hosted through Kidsave's Summer Miracles program in the summer of 2009.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Girl Scout Weekend!
Saturday we went to Boo at the Bronx Zoo with the Girl Scouts. The zoo had a special day when all children in costume enter free, and the Girl Scouts made it their big fall family event complete with patches for attending. Fer is Batgirl for Halloween, and Wendy has a ballerina costume and a college graduate costume. It was quite cold and windy, so I was trying to convince her to wear the graduate one so she would not freeze. She was adamant until the last second that ballerina it would be, but then suddenly changed her mind and jumped into the college one in time to leave. Saturday afternoon we went to the Columbia soccer game, and then Sunday we did Meet the Breed at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Unfortunately my camera died so I only have one picture from Meet the Breeds, but it was an amazing extravaganza of all things cat and dog. Wendy earned a tiny patch for doing a scavenger hunt with me, while Fer took a more chill approach. Except for my allergies kicking in with 30 cat and 70 dog breeds on display, it was a lot of fun!
December 2008 We submit our hosting application to Kidsave, applying to host 2 sisters from Colombia through the Summer Miracles program
February 2009 We start our homestudy with Spence-Chapin
April 2009 We are matched with Fernanda and Wendy from Bogota
June 29 Fernanda and Wendy arrive for the five week Kidsave Summer Miracles program!
August 4 The girls return to Bogota
August 5 We are allowed to call the girls to be sure they arrived safely
August 12 We submit our Letter of Intent to ICBF (Instituto Colombiano Bienestar de la Familia, the Colombian child welfare authority) to proceed with an adoption application for Fer and Wendy
August 14 Dossier completed!
August 17 Our dossier is sent to Colombia for translation by Spence-Chapin's representative
August 31 We receive permission to call/email the girls
September 1 We call and speak to both girls on Fer's birthday!
September 4 Our dossier translation is complete and the translation is registered
September 8 Our Letter of Intent is approved
September 9 We confirm that our dossier has been filed
September 16 Our dossier is approved by ICBF National!
November 12 Our dossier is approved by ICBF Regional and our official referral is issued!!
November 28 We receive permission from ICBF to have the girls stay on with us after the Holiday visit
December 1 We submit our I-800 paperwork to Spence-Chapin
December 4 The girls arrive for the Holiday Visit!
December 23 Our I-800 approval is sent to the American Embassy in Colombia
January 5 2010 Our representative in Bogota is able to get all of our paperwork from the American Embassy to start the process when the courts re-open (on January 12)
January 9 We return to Colombia with the girls to begin the adoption process!
January 13 First Integration Meeting at ICBF offices
January 20 Second Integration Meeting -- we receive our certificate to submit our application to the courts
January 21 Our papers are submitted to the courts
February 11 Sentencia (the adoption decree) is issued!
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