June 30, 2015

Back to Reality after my 12 day trip with students and families from Goshen High School to Europe. We traveled through Eastern Europe. It was an amazing opportunity, and one that I hope Jim and I can provide to our future son/daughter someday! I foresee trips to Disney World and the Grand Canyon in our near future, post adoption! Oh, those will be the days!

We have been working hard today to continue the paperwork journey. We accomplished a lot today and hope to get more completed tomorrow. We officially have 1 of our 3 puzzles put together as well. I will post a picture once it's sealed next week! :)

We want to thank everyone for their continued support and prayers! This is one of the most rewarding yet exhausting processes, we've ever been through.

        Pause thinks she's helping with the paperwork!


Love, 
Jim and Kelly

June 12, 2015

Today Jim and I went to have our medicals and local background checks completed. Our goal is to get the first round of paperwork to our Home Study Agency before I leave Tuesday on a 12 day trip with students and families from Goshen High School. Jim always loves an opportunity to get shots and have blood drawn, so you can just imagine how much he enjoyed himself today! (Insert Sarcasm)
I will tell you that it's the little things that get you along this journey. The wonderful news of our adoption is beginning to spread throughout Goshen! I love being able to share our journey with family and friends. Today we went to the Goshen Police Department to get our local background checks completed. As I was getting my $14.00 out to pay for them, they continued to tell me that there would be no charge. It just made my heart smile. Every penny counts at this point as we are saving for our next HUGE payment of $11,000. Goshen is such a unique community and definitely an excellent place to grow a family! The picture below truly describes the place I love Goshen, Indiana.



           Love,
    Jim and Kelly 

June 3, 2015

Good Evening everyone, today our adoption process really got REAL! Jim and I traveled to Indianapolis today for our home study orientation with St. Elizabeth/Coleman Pregnancy and Adoption Services. Then on the way home, we had a conference call with All God's Children International in the car to discuss our dossier process. Wow, we certainly have a lot of work ahead of us! Our social worker at St. Elizabeth/Coleman called this our paperwork pregnancy, and trust us she's not lying! We went into these meetings with an open mind knowing that there would be a lot to complete. Their goal is for all of our paperwork and next payment to be submitted by September 14th. That is a bit stressful, but we love their optimism. Ultimately, this part of the process has to be completed by November 14th. Our next payment is $11,000 not counting our home study fee and other expenses that will come up during the paperwork process. Jim and I need to start spreading the work regarding our puzzle fundraiser. If you feel led to help us with this, please contact Jim or I. You can email us at kwhittker217@gmail.com or jwhittake727@gmail.com 


Love,
Jim and Kelly