Just when we thought we were done...

So our week started off with the knowledge that we needed to cancel the Bonfire fundraiser. There are many reasons why this happened, but the good news is that we'll be having another fundraiser in October (probably an Italian buffet).

But we are also raising money by collecting gently used children's clothing for resale. In some cases I'll be compiling the clothing into lots for resale. Otherwise, I'll be attempting to consign most items.

Then, just when I thought we were done w/ the dossier...

So today I went through all our dossier stuff as I need to go into my school and photocopy the whole thing, and (of course) we're still missing a couple things.

For those of you who don't know what a dossier is, it's like a person's life on paper (financial, medical, employment, etc.). Sounds easy, right? except that so many of the items need to be notarized. And a couple need to be certified by the state!

I just realized that my employer letter (shows my salary and stuff) had to be notarized. Of course. So I now have to get this re-done (had it done the first time around Christmas) as my human resources administrator is likely new and I need THEIR signature notarized. Like, am I supposed to bring a notary with me????

The final stretch of the dossier!

So now we wait for others... What are we waiting for?

1. We are waiting for the State of New York to put their stamp of authentication on two documents. This should only take a few days.
2. We are waiting on 2 individuals who are completing our new letter of recommendation. This should be done in the next couple days.
3. We are waiting for my parents (who live with us) to complete their HIV and TB tests (per Ethiopia) and their doctor forms to be signed.

The good news is that we have no responsibilities right now. So we've decided to have a fundraiser:

Sloane BBQ & Bonfire

Please join us for our adoption fundraiser! August 6th. You will be treated to a delicious grilled dinner, great music and fun in the back yard followed up by smores and other campfire goodies!

Adults = $15 donation
Children = $5 donation
Children under 5 = free

There will be other donation opportunities (for children and adults), so please bring your dollars!

Please feel free to RSVP via Shari's facebook account (shari palermo sloane) or via a response to this blog in the comments.

Although it would be so much fun to have our friends and family present, we understand if you can't attend. If you would still like to send a donation, just ask for our address.

The next step of our process is $9,000 for Ethiopia to view our dossier and to have them match us up with a child. We are truly committed to providing a home for a child that God has waiting for us in Ethiopia. Please help us make this blessing a reality.

Next!

On to the next phase of the adoption. Sending in the dossier, which is basically our lives on paper. We are awaiting the fingerprint information to come back. Mom & Dad just got fingerprinted last week.

So we need to update a couple things for the dossier already. Now our doctor forms have to include a couple new pieces of information. Problem is... I recently changed doctors. So I'm wondering if this is going to be difficult. That's literally the last step before we send in our dossier. Guess we gotta get to it.

So that's about it.

OK. Now we're rollin!

Now we're in for the ride of our lives! So now the immigration part of the process is under way. The application is called the I-600A. It's not a big problem. Pretty easy to complete. The fingerprinting process will be a little challenging as my parents are in Florida and they must be fingerprinted too. So we have to figure that out still. This step = $1,100.

Also, we need to put the finishing touches on the dossier. Not much left on that. This step = $3,000.

Then we get our referral (that's where we get to "meet" our new son via a photo and documentation). So exciting!

Please pray for us as we plan and carry out our next fundraiser. We need to raise money and fast! We're going to host an Italian buffet at our home, with MANY delicious dishes. I'm thinking late February.

So how are we really going to pay this astronomical amount (about $24,000 total). We attempted to attain a home equity line of credit but were turned down :( so now we are going to have to take out a personal loan at 10.25%. Yikes! So we'll have to be paying on that loan each month until our tax credit comes, which is likely February of 2012. The interest we pay may be tax deductible, which is a glimmer of silver lining.

And of course we will be happy to accept your monetary support. The widget above will assist you in the giving process. We thank you in advance and promise to keep all of our supporters updated regularly via this blog. We'll let you know more as we continue the process.