87 Miles to Peru!

The "Athens 2 Atlanta" road skate in Georgia is the oldest (and I think longest) inline skating race in the U.S.  The 87 mile, hilly course will be more then double my current longest skate of 40 miles (Madison to Devil's Lake).  The parallels between a 2-3 year adoption journey and an 87 mile inline race are mind-boggling.  Both require an immense amount of time and energy, pain and sacrifice.  As we power through the race (and several long hills) we will imagine our child at the finish line, and realize just how much the end result outweighs all the struggles.

As we prepare for this race in October, Doug and I need your help!  Please consider sponsoring us through what will surely be a labor of love!  You can use the fundraising link on the right side of your screen, or contact us directly.  The race coordinator is amazing and is working with us to lower the entrance costs so that we can maximize our fundraising effort.  The goal is to have 87 sponsors, one for each mile!  All funds will be going to help offset a portion of the $25,000-$30,000 total cost of the adoption.

Please help us reach the ultimate goal of bringing our child home from Peru!  Doug is up for the challenge.  Are you?

Paperwork Free!

Yes, you heard that correctly: DOUG AND I ARE CURRENTLY PAPERWORK FREE!  When we started this process we received two large paperwork packets, one from each agency.  We completed the homestudy packet several weeks ago and revisions are currently being made to our official homestudy (12 page document that sums up our lives and motivation to adopt, written by our social worker).  The paperwork for our placement agency, Villa Hope, consisted of our formal application documents.  For any that are curious here is what was included:

Fee Schedule
Photos
Financial Statments
Statement of Motivation
Our Child Statement
Guardianship Letter
Proof of Health Insurance
Two forms of ID
Conviction Statements
USCIS Inquiries
Adoption Services Agreement
Online Education Certificates
Behavior Management Agreement
Grievance Policy
Disclosure of Information Policy
Supervised Provider Agreements
Post Placement Requirement Agreement
Reference Letters
Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificate

And since Doug is amazing and offered to make copies of everything and drive to the post office, all that paperwork is now on its way to Alabama along with the largest check we have ever written.  So for the foreseeable future (probably about a week) we don't have to run around getting anything filled out, signed, or notarized!  Huzzah for the small victories!  And we have moved a couple steps along in the overall adoption process!