Kelly Times Two

We got invited over to dinner last week at my friend's house, and she invited a few others over too.  She went to a lot of work to put out this authentic Chinese feast.  Left to right, Demi, Lindesey's husband, Lindesey (host), my new daughter, Xu Jiemei, Zoey, and Fong Jiemei. There was so much color and variety, and our friend, Lindesey, went out of her way to make sure there were no heads on the fish, just for me.  We enjoyed the evening and were grateful for all that she put into this for us.  Hannah had a fun time playing with Demi's daughter, Zoey. The next morning, we had to meet with a local court appointed social worker to make sure we are fit to be parents in order to adopt our girl, who is now living with us permanently.  We met with our translator friend, Abish, at the Hsinchu County Children Care and Counseling Community Support Center. As we were looking for the room where we were to have our meeting, Abish squealed with excitement and surprise...

A few weeks ago, after we realized that we would be adopting Hannah, I had been reading pages of information from various sites regarding the steps we would need to take to get her home.  The USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) requires an extensive application (I-600 or I-600 A) for a non-Hague process country (Taiwan is not part of The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation and Respect of Intercountry Adoption), that included the need for a home study by a licensed professional social worker.  I know of another American couple here in Taiwan who is adopting a little girl, but they did their home study prior to moving to the R.O.C.  We didn't even know we would be adding a family member a month ago, let alone a year ago, so I had no idea how we could get the crucial home study done.  I tried contacting local adoption agencies, all who referred me to the AIT (American Institute in Taiwan) to find someone.  I took the ...

This picture was taken at church a few days ago while Kelly was on his way to the US for work this week. We have some wonderful news to share.  We are adopting 7-year-old Yeh Min Yu, who has been in our home off and on the last couple of months.  There's a lot that goes into making this official, dealing with US Homeland Security to arrange for her immigration visa, Taiwan courts and Chinese documents, getting a home study done by a licensed, qualified person, applying for a passport.  You have no idea.  I'll be glad when it's all done, but I couldn't wait to share this bit of joy with everyone.  We will name her Hannah to go on her new US birth certificate.  She's excited and nervous to go to America with us.  She can say more than 100 words in English so far.  Some of her favorite things to say are "small dog, butterfly, apple, pig."  She says it more like pig-uh.  We love her and feel this is one of the reasons we came to Taiwan....

Lindsey has been helping me out in the kitchen since she's been home from college and it's a pleasant surprise to have her creating delicious meals for us.  She's turning into quite a fantastic cook!