~At Home With Olivia~: May 2014

Adoption Timeline

2/26/07 - Sent application to agency
2/28/07 - Started home study update
3/19/07 - FBI prints taken
3/29/07 - USCIS prints taken
4/10/07 - FBI print clearance
4/26/07 - Received referral photos of Olivia via e-mail (DOB 11/15/05) - accepted referral on the spot!
5/7/07 - Formally accepted referral
5/9/07 - Home study completed
5/31/07 - I-171H approval. Officially "paper ready"!
6/25/07 - New attorney means 2nd POA
7/19/07 - 2nd POA gets to Guatemala
8/??/07 - DNA supposed to take place...birthmother doesn't show
8/27/07 - 2nd attempt at DNA...birthmom doesn't show again!
9/20/07 - 3rd attempt at DNA...same story, birthmom doesn't show
~BIRTH MOTHER HAS DISAPPEARED~
11/15/07 - Little Olivia's 2nd birthday
12/9/07 - We inform agency that we'd like to pursue an Abandonment Decree
12/15/07 - Agency agrees, needs to confer with Guat. attorneys
12/17/07 - After conferring, we are advised not to pursue AD, due to process changeover
1/1/08 - All new Guatemalan adoptions cease - grandfathered cases (like ours) can continue
2/8/08 - Agency has hired a private investigator to search for birthmom...............................
3/3/08 - Received confirmation of CNA registration
4/08 - Private investigator comes to a dead end in finding birthmom
5/23/08 - Renewed USCIS fingerprints
6/11/08 - I-171H approval...again.
7/9/08 - Home study agency says we need to update our home study
8/14/08 - Assigned to our 4th attorney who will plead our case for abandonment
8/17/08- New attorney means new POA
10/24/08 - Homestudy update complete
10/27/08 - Request USCIS for I-600A extension
11/9/08 - Completed the 10 hour course of newly required Adoption Training Education
11/15/08 - Olivia's 3rd birthday
1/13/09 - Attorney meets with CNA for approval to present to Court
2/4/09 - Former atty. receives summons from CNA that he has to present Olivia in front of a judge within 48 hours! (We also find out she has the chicken pox!)
2/6/09 - Olivia is taken to Court, chicken pox and all! Judge allows her to remain with her FF, but calls for one more search for Bmom. Next Court date in June to determine Olivia's adoptability. We're given the go-ahead to finally be able to go to Guatemala and meet our little girl!
4/6-9/09 - Our first trip to Guatemala...we meet Olivia!!!
4/7/09 - Meet with Jaime Tecu @ CNA to discuss our case
4/21/09 - OLIVIA'S BIRTH MOTHER IS FOUND!!!
4/22/09 - Birth mother does not show up for meeting with attorney, Beyla. Won't answer phone.
6/10/09 - 2nd Court hearing. Beyla was made our Mandatory attorney, we were accepted as part of the process. Adjourned until Nov. 17th. We're told we need to redo our dossier. Judge issues an order for the police in birth mother's town to find her and bring her in for DNA test.
8/31/09 - "Brand new" dossier complete. Will take to Guatemala and hand deliver to Beyla.
9/5-9/09 - 2nd visit trip to see Olivia!
9/8/09 - Met with Beyla for 2 hours, gave her our dossier and got up to speed on what's happening in our case and what we can expect at the hearing in November. As we suspected, Olivia's bmom is again on the run. Praying that she'll be found again before the hearing.
11/14-18/09 - 3rd visit trip
11/15/09 - Olivia's 4th birthday! We're celebrating WITH her!
11/16/09 - 3rd Court hearing. A surprise "grandmother" has told PGN she wants custody of Olivia. So the judge sets the next and FINAL hearing for June 9, 2010, to allow enough time to investigate this person and hopefully find her unworthy.
1/15/10 - Olivia starts pre-school!
3/17-22/10 - 4th Visit trip
6/5-10/10 - 5th Visit Trip
6/9/10 - FINAL (not) Court Hearing ~ DNA test taken between Olivia and potential grandmother. Olivia ordered to go to an orphanage. Definitive "FINAL" hearing in 3 months, on Sept.9th.
9/9/10 - F~I~N~A~L Court hearing ~~ NOPE, POSTPONED due to lab mistake on DNA test. Judge calls for new test, new final hearing.
11/15/10 - Olivia's 5th birthday.
12/13/10 - We were told that 2nd DNA test run in Sept. on "grandmother" is in sufficient and judge orders new samples and test run with the inclusion of an alleged "uncle" in January.
5/3/11 - It's now May. We are still waiting for DNA samples to be taken. The "grandmother" apparently stopped cooperating back in October. We've asked all the people we can think of to help with this situation. To date.....nothing.
6/21/11 - Court hearing with new judge. ~ Update, "Grandma" did not show, hearing POSTPONED until August 8th.
8/8/11 - Court hearing...POSTPONED AGAIN! "Grandma" was a no-show. Not sure what the judge will do now...
8/19/11 - CNA decrees to resolve remaining adoption cases.
10/7/11 - Judge @ 3rd Court turns our case over to judge in Escuintla Court
11/15/11 - Olivia's 6th Birthday
2/14/12 - Court hearing ~ POSTPONED!
2/28/12 - Rescheduled Court hearing
5/8/12 - Hearing to get DNA results and judge's decision ~ POSTPONED. No DNA results yet...
8/17/12 - Court hearing. We've heard DNA results came back inconclusive. Judge to make decision on where to go from here. ~POSTPONED~
9/3/12 - Court hearing ~ CANCELED ~
11/15/12 - Olivia's 7th birthday
1/11/13 - Court hearing with new judge ~POSTPONED~
3/1/13 - Rescheduled Court hearing ~ Judge calls for 3rd and final DNA to be taken on March 21st. Will get results sometime this summer
3/21/13 - DNA samples taken. Alleged birth mother is found and gives her sample!
6/2013 - Case sent to Appeals Court
5/14/13 - We're told that our case has been moved back to Guatemala City Court
8/19/13 - Official word that after 3 years, 2 months & 10 days the DNA results for the Guatemalan family in question, are NEGATIVE! They are NOT related!
8/2013 - Appeals Court sends case back to Escuintla Court
9/4/13 - Hearing for adoptability ~ NO ruling
9/18/13 - FINAL hearing. ADOPTABILITY!
11/15/13 - Olivia's 8th Birthday
1/30/14 - CNA Referral!!!!!!!
3/5/14 - Empathy Visit Invitation
3/16-31/14 - Empathy Study
4/15/14 - CNA Approval!
4/29/14 - File submitted to Family Court!
5/19/14 - Adoption Day! Family Court approval! Olivia is officially our daughter!
5/30/14 - Birth certificate!
6/2/14 - Fly to Guatemala to get Olivia!
6/3/14 - GOTCHA DAY! Officially receive custody of her! TB test.
6/4/14 - Olivia gets her Guatemalan passport.
6/5/14 - Olivia's medical exam. I-600 and visa interviews.
6/6/14 - Visa pick-up, CNA restitution meeting. WE ARE DONE!!!
6/8/14 - Fly home! Olivia becomes a U.S. citizen. We are at home with Olivia.

Monday, May 19, 2014

It's A Girl!

We are praising God for His faithfulness! 7 years, 2 months and 3 weeks after we embarked on this adoption journey, Olivia now is officially our daughter!

The next steps will include, getting a birth certificate with her new name, a passport, then a medical exam and a visa. We hope to travel to Guatemala in the next couple of weeks to complete the process and bring her home!

We are so very thankful to all those who have followed us, supported us, prayed for us and believed with us that this day would come. We are truly blessed.

More to come!

YouCaring Fundraiser: http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/adopting-olivia-after-7-years-she-s-coming-home-/137318

We are.....

We are finally a family of four, no longer waiting for our little girl Olivia to come home! Our process of adopting her from Guatemala was well over 7 years, but on June 8, 2014, our beautiful little girl came home. I'm Sue and I've been married to my best friend and husband Bryan for 30 years. We have a wonderful 14 year-old daughter Emily, who we adopted from China in 2001. She's in the 8th grade and I home school her. Our sweet Olivia is 8 1/2, we'll be home schooling her as well.

Our family is complete, to God be the glory!

~At Home With Olivia~

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Monday, May 19, 2014

It's A Girl!

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Ephesians 1:5

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