I800 Approval On The Way

I have been out of state all week at a minister's conference with my hubby in Tennessee, so that is my excuse for not posting. I have about a thousand pictures of the Smokey Mountains to post but that will have to come later. 

I LOOOOOVE the southern hospitality that you get in Tennessee. We weren't five minutes off the plane and we heard, "Y'all have a blessed time." And, "God bless you." You just don't hear this in Iowa from mere strangers. I wish all of America had Christianity and manners...and Golden Corral. ;)

I'm so thankful that while I was gone, Josiah was navigating my emails back home. My I800 was supposed to be approved one week ago, but I have a slow officer and one that...well...let's just say doesn't have a good reputation for being nice...at all. He takes forever with approvals and I'm starting to wonder if it's on purpose. Josiah kept checking everyday to see if my officer was responding to my emails or phone calls...nothing. So I finally called on Wednesday and told the lady who answered the phone to NOT patch me through to my officer because I keep getting his voicemail and he's not responding. She told me that they don't like the I800s sitting around, they want them approved and out the door. She said if I didn't hear from him by the next day that I would be assigned a new officer.

Guess what? He didn't call, I was assigned a new officer, and she approved my that day!! Thank you, Jesus!!

So my I800s are on the way! Do I get to go to China yet? Nope! I have to wait for a special # assigned to my case so I can get paperwork rolling with my new children's names, then I wait for Article 5 drop off, which is done in China. Then I wait for Travel Approval! These next few steps fly quickly though...just a few weeks in between each step. If things proceed quickly, I will travel beginning of Jan, but if there's a hint of hitting Chinese New Year, I'll get bumped into the first week of Feb. No worries...all in God's timing!!!