We hope this post finds everyone doing well! Yesterday we went up to Cedar Park (north side of Austin) to get fingerprinted by the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). The only kink in the trip was that we ended up bringing our five year old, Emory, because she had a fever the day before so we didn't send her to school. She was very worried she was going to have to get fingerprinted as well :) We were lucky to get through Austin traffic pretty quickly for our 8am appointment and we were the second people in line, so all in all it was a pretty painless process. We are one step closer to our USCIS application being approved, and that is the last thing we need to send our dossier package over to Burundi!
In the last few weeks, we have learned of several other families in the Austin area that are going through the process of adopting through Burundi. One family brought home twin 7 year olds about 6 months ago. We have been in email contact with them, and are looking forward to getting a chance to meet them and hear about their process. The mom, Liz, said the twins are adjusting really well and it's been a smooth process so far! Then last week, we had a chance to go out to dinner with another couple, Ashley and Ryan Beard, who live just a few miles from us and they are going to pick up their daughter tomorrow!! We are so excited for them as they started the process a long time ago! They started in Ethiopia and spent most of their time there, and then switched to Burundi. It has been really good to meet them and learn from them! Send prayers their way as they travel to Burundi this week to complete what has been a very trying process for their family! From connecting with Liz and the Beards on facebook, we were connected with another couple who is just a little bit ahead of us in the process. They're up in Steiner Ranch (about thirty minutes from us) and they just mailed their Dossier in last week! We have also been in touch with one more couple who goes to our church and is using the same agency and they're in the beginning of the process. So if all of these families end up with one child as opposed to a sibling group like Liz's family, we will have 6 kids from Burundi all right here in Austin. So cool!
The Beards were also nice enough to introduce us to a lady named Kerrin who is a noonday ambassador. I was not familiar at all with noonday, and so far I am really impressed with them as a company! Kerrin is having a "trunk show" in November and the woman hosting the show wanted to select an adoptive family to benefit from the proceeds of the trunk party. The Beards were going to be that family, but the graciously passed the benefit along to us since they're completing their adoption before the party! It is really nice because I don't have to host, invite guests, or anything...I just get to show up!! For those of you not familiar with Noonday, it is a company that basically gives a platform for third world artisans to sell their products. It is all fair trade and really nice! They sell items from Afghanistan, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Kenya, Napal, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam. They have some really nice handmade jewelry, bags and other unique items. The link to the website that will benefit our adoption is:
bit.ly/AdoptionHelp
It is case sensitive just FYI. If you like fair trade items at all, check it out! You can order now through December 1 and the items ship when you order them (the company does not wait until the December deadline to ship things).
Thank you all for following us on this journey! We are so appreciative of all of your prayers and support!
Much love,
The Bauchers
Continued prayers for your process, Brian and Kristen. It must be both overwhelming and exciting at the same time. Love, Tom and Linda
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