Drum Roll Please....

I can't believe it, but China has already finished reviewing adoption applications in our log-in date group of June 2006.

Bryan and I got passed the review stage with no questions asked. Phew!

This is a great way to start the weekend!

Minneapolis!

I was in Minneapolis last week on business. I saw my first Minnesota Twins game in the famous Metrodome that is shared with the Vikings. I think this was my first in door baseball game. Unfortunately, the Twins lost and there were many disappointed fans, but I had a blast just enjoying my surroundings. Of course, I went shopping too! Many locals think that the Mall of America is overrated, but I absolutely love it. I had not been shopping for awhile so I had bottled energy that exploded. I shut down the mall one night and had to go back to my car twice with all the goodies. I got the famous brown bag from Bloomingdales.

Above are pictures from the Twins game and a Spam castle at the Mall of America (of course I had to get a picture of the Spam castle).

Wow! Police Renunion Tour Unbelievable!

Bryan and I saw the Police last night and they were better than ever!! They played around 20 songs and came back on stage 3 times for encores. They physically look amazing and pretty much the same as the 80's, maybe with the exception of Summers who gained a few pounds.

I never got to see the Police in concert since they broke-up when I was young, but I have seen Sting in concert and I've never been disappointed.

The first picture from the concert is borrowed from someone and the second picture is from my camera phone from our seats.

Favorite songs: King of Pain, Wrapped around your Finger, Message in a Bottle

May 2006 out of the Review Room!

We just received notice that adoption dossiers with log-in dates through May 2006 are out of the review room in China. That means that our personal adoption documents (dated 6/14/2006) that we worked on for three entire months that contain every detail of our past and present life are finally being scrutinized by China. No pressure!

What does the review room mean? From what I’ve learned, each agency has a dedicated review person so each agency is already familiar with what their reviewer likes to see. So hopefully, our U.S. agency has tailored our documents accordingly.

If the reviewer finds something that is questionable or in need of clarification, they will send questions to the adoptive parent’s agency and the agency will notify the parents. This is where it gets scary. I’ve heard of cases where the parents received questions and even though the questions were cleared successfully, the parents experienced a delay in receiving their child because their paperwork was not placed back in the same log-in date order. This can be very devastating for parents that have already waited eons for their children.

Once China has reviewed an entire month of dossiers, they will show that a month is complete. Please cross your fingers and toes with us that we successfully get out of the review room with no questions! I will let you know when we are in the clear.