It's Done -- the fingerprinting, that is!

The fingerprinting is completed and went off without a hitch, almost. It was an interesting experience to say the least. We got to the application support center in downtown Brooklyn relative quickly. We had enough time to stop for a cup of coffee and a bagel. We were able to finish our bagels and still walk in 20 minutes before our scheduled appointment time. (The appointments actually mean nothing -- it's just a way of getting people to arrive scattered throughout the day.) We filled out forms (almost identical to the ones that we received with our appointment letter) and were given a number. That's when the almost glitch happened.

Since Edward is 18 he had to go with us and be fingerprinted. He's the one that almost ran into the problem. His name is legally Ralph Edward Snyder-Ritter, but goes by Edward. When we got his non-driver's license photo ID, he decided to have his name on it as R.E. Snyder-Ritter. They couldn't put R. Edward since the program the DMV uses wouldn't allow for middle names. That's where the problem arose. He had filled out his application as Ralph Edward Snyder-Ritter and since the ID and application didn't match, even though the ID was a photo ID, he was sent to the opposite side of the room that I had been sent to, to await a conflab with the manager. Fortunately the manager okayed everything and we were good to go (Edward said that the manager had that look of "this is not worth my time"). From there, we had no problems.

Now it's a matter of waiting for the fingerprints to be processed before we receive our permission to bring an orphan into the country. PTL!!

Fingerprinting Time

It's been quite a while since I've updated and with Christmas coming, I've been soooo busy I haven't gotten around to posting.

We received our finalized home study report in the mail on December 1. So, on December 3 we mailed the appropriate copy to USCIS (immigration). We had already sent in our application and the fee for the fingerprinting. I was ready for quite a wait for our fingerprinting appointments. The website that I had been checking for time frames was saying there was a 3 month wait. Okay, I was prepared for that. However, I wasn't prepared for the time frame that is taking place.

Let me explain. As I said, we mailed in our completed home study on December 3 and by Saturday, December 8, we had received our fingerprinting appointments -- less than 1 week later. And, the cherry on top of this sundae is that our appointments are for December 20!!!! The real answer to prayer is that the appointments are for the day after Edward's college finals are finished. He finishes on December 19 at 5:00 pm and our appointment is Thursday, the 20th, at 10:00 am. I have to admit that I was concerned that our appointments might conflict with his college class schedule in the spring, but God is good and arranged for that NOT to be the case.

Once the fingerprinting is completed and we are approved to bring an orphan into the country, it's just a matter of waiting for a referral from our agency. Please pray with us that the referral comes quickly and that we can travel during spring or summer next year. We are hoping to have our child(ren) here by Christmas 2008 at the latest. Please pray with us!!

This is an amazing journey that we are on and we so often see God's hand at work in this whole situation and our lives. We look forward to sharing pictures with you when we receive them!! :-)

Merry Christmas to you all. May you experience God's blessing this holiday season and in 2008!!

One Step Closer

It's been a while since I had any updates on our adoption. We are one step closer. Yesterday we received, via the US postal system, our completed home study report. So, on Monday, one report gets sent to USCIS so that we can get approval to bring an orphan child(ren) into the country. The second report gets mailed to our agency and we get to keep 2 copies of the report.. The rest of the process is then out of our hands and into the hands of our government and Zambia.

Once we receive USCIS approval, we then wait for a referral and travel. Please keep praying with us that this process moves along quickly. The Zambian program has some details that need to be ironed out; pray that these things will be taken care of quickly and efficiently.

We will continue to update you when there is news to report. Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf and for all the support that we have received. We love you all!!

Final Yard / Flower Sale Update

I haven't updated in ever so long because there has been nothing to update. However, we have the final tally on the fund raiser that my aunt and cousin organized. Are you ready for this?!? Drum roll, please . . . . the final total is $1,800!!! Yes, you read that correctly, one thousand eight hundred dollars!! Isn't God great!?! We are so excited because we can now send in the forms to USCIS (immigration) and get pre-approved to bring an orphan into the country. Those forms will be mailed later today or tomorrow.

So that's the latest! Thanks so much for praying for us during this journey. Please don't stop!!!

Not Much New

There's not a whole lot of news to share. We're still waiting for our police clearance and home study write up. That could be a while yet. We're told that the NYS police clearance could take up to 2 months and the home study can't be finalized until the agency has that clearance.

The yard/flower sale keeps on going and has raised about $1,500 so far!! God truly is amazing. Who would have thought that we would ever get that much from a yard/flower sale?!? God sure did!! My aunt tells us that my cousins are willing to keep putting flowers out to sell as long as they are selling (and as long as they have them to put out). With this amount from the sale, we now have enough $$ to file with USCIS. After that, we'll only need about another $500 (in addition to what we have saved) for the second part of the agency fee. Then it's just a matter of time before we receive our referral and can travel. We don't have the travel $$ yet, but I know that God will supply that when it is needed.

Thank you so much for praying with us and supporting us in our adoption journey. God bless!

No Doubt About It

If there was ever any doubt that the Lord was behind this adoption, there certainly wouldn't be now!! We got an update on the yard sale total last evening. We are now at $1,200 and counting!!! Is that a God thing, or what?!?!?!? I'm am blown away by all of this. I certainly didn't expect this to happen, but I shouldn't have doubted. Our God is a great God and greatly to be praised!! Amen!

Home Study

It just dawned on me that I never wrote a thing about the home study, although I did ask for prayer.

For those that may be contemplating an adoption, the home study is not a big deal. It was a very painless process, just a long one. We talked with out social worker for about 3 hours. She asked a lot of questions about our families while we were growing up and our family now, how we met, why Zambia and the list goes on and on. One of the questions she asked was how Ralph and I met. It's an interesting story (if you don't know it and want to, just let me know) and she was quite intrigued. By the end of the interview process she made the statement, "This is the most fun home study I've ever done" and she's been doing them for close to 30 years.

She interviewed Edward and Johannah but that lasted about 5 minutes. She basically wanted to know if they thought that we would be good adoptive parents and if they were in favor of the adoption. No problem there!!

Roberta, our social worker, was getting ready to leave and I thought that all of my cleaning was in vain. But, no. She did want to do a walk through of the house to see the space that we have available for a child. Not a problem there, either.

The interview process was actually enjoyable and nothing to stress over. She will be writing it up and giving a a draft to read and make corrections (of a factual nature) if necessary. She'll finalize the document and send us a copy.

The only thing that I was really concerned about was the dog. However, she loves dogs and Oliver was on his best behavior so it is not a problem.

All in all, it was a great experience for us all. I am looking forward to reading what she wrote from her copious pages of notes!!

Pictures, Finally

I've finally gotten access to a quick internet connection, thanks to my son's computer. So, I can finally update everyone with pictures of the yard sale. By the way, as of Friday evening, the yard sale total stood at $1,100. The greenhouse owners, my cousins, keep adding flowers to be sold and they keep selling!! Thanks so much Ken, Jon and Dan!! Your support of the adoption is overwhelming and greatly appreciated.

Okay, now for the pictures.

This gives you an idea of how we displayed the items for sale. Since the sale was basically inside the greenhouse, we needed a way of displaying the items. These carts are usually used for moving plants around. We just cleaned off the soil and put the items on them.



In the center we were able to set up some table for displaying books, puzzles and games and clothing. Behind the clothing table is our daughter, Johannah. She worked very diligently on getting the clothes organized.



The plants made a great impact on people as they drove past. They were just beautiful!!



Cousin Dorothy, the idea lady!! She suggested the idea for the yard sale fundraiser, and her mom, Aunt Nell, ran with the idea.



Ralph, my husband, is on the left and Uncle Russ is on the right. These guys "manned" the flowers and outside sale items (like the bikes in the foreground).


Other miscellaneous photos are below:









This pictures shows the carts as they are normally used.

I think that gives you an idea of the yard sale. What a blessing it has been for us!! Yes, the amount raised has been a huge benefit, but knowing that others are supporting us in our adoption (through their donations to the yard sale) has meant a lot to us.

With the home study finished, we are just waiting for police clearance and USCIS approval. When that's done, we then wait for our referral. It's an exciting time for the Ritter family!!

Successful Yard Sale!!

I've been wanting to post an update, but we have been having some computer problems. I have pictures from the yard sale that will help you visualize what we were able to do in spite of the threat of rain. Hopefully I can get those up later tonight. In the meantime, the yard sale was a huge success as a fundraise. We were able to raise over $900 in the "pay what you think it's worth" sale. Didden's Greenhouse, where the sale was held, donated lots of flowers that were a beautiful attraction. We left those outside to help draw people in -- we figured that the rain certainly wouldn't hurt them. :-)

When I'm able to post pictures, I'll write more.

Sorry for the long overdue update!

It's been quite a while since I've updated. I'll just give you a quick update on our vacation. The trip to the museum was fun as always, but it was overcast and rainy. Fortunately the exhibits are inside and the only time we had to go out was to get from one building to the next. I'll try to get some pictures posted in the near future.

Our vacation ended all to soon, but we had to get home so that Edward could begin his college career. He started the Monday after we got home (August 27) with two days of orientation and then two days of classes. He is now in his 3rd week of college. He enjoys Western Civilization and NT Literature, but abhors College Writing and thinks that Pre-Calculus is boring. I think that he enjoys Logic, but I'm not sure. That's a 3 hour, Wednesday afternoon class.

That's enough about the rest of my life. Since this is supposed to be a blog about our adoption, I better update you all. Our homestudy is on Friday, September 14 at 11:00 AM. It's about a 3 hour process. Hopefully, I'll be able to post an update. On Saturday, my extended family is holding a yard sale as a fund raiser for us so we will be headed to Pennsylvania for that.

Our biggest news is that we have made a decision about which country!!! We have decided to go with Zambia for a number of reasons, the least of which are the finances. We weren't really country specific originally. We just knew that we wanted to adopt and didn't have a whole lot of $$. It looks like we should be able to have a completed adoption within 9-12 months. We are excited about this and really feel that the Lord has led us in this direction. This means changing agencies and that's the saddest part. I loved working with the people from Christian World Adoption -- they have been so loving and caring. I will miss them!! I have had contact with the director of the Zambian program at our new agency, Faithful Adoptions. She is a Christian and has also been a pleasure to work with. I look forward to our future relationship as we work together to bring our child(ren) home.

Please keep us in your prayers this Friday. The house is clean and we are ready to go! :-)

We're Still Here!

Since there are no adoption updates while we are away, I though sharing about our vacation would be fun, at least for me.

One of the things that I love about this place is the cool weather -- although, I understand it's cool at home too. I checked the weather online today, for this beautiful place, and it's supposed to go down to 36 tonight!! Now, that's cold for August.

One of the other neat aspects of this vacation is the expense or lack thereof. First Baptist Church of Indian Lake owns the house in which we are staying and they provide it free of charge to people that are in full-time ministry. It's "rented" on a first come, first served basis, but we usally don't have much trouble getting the dates we want. This is the place where we are staying.



Even when the weather has been warm, this house stays quite cool -- it's completely shaded all day long. We love the swing on the front porch. That seems to be Johannah's favorite place to sit and read.

We prefer to come after Labor Day when most vactioners are home and being homeschoolers, that has always been possible. But with Edward starting college before Labor Day this year, we had to come earlier.

Earlier today we went to the Barton garnet mine, on Gore Mountain, for a tour. It's an interesting place to see especially Henry Hudson Barton V was one of Ralph's college roommates. Johannah bought a beautiful sterling silver garnet necklace that goes with the ring that she got last year. Tomorrow's agenda calls for a visit to the Adirondack Museum.

Although, this is vacation, it doesn't always seem like it to me because I still have to cook. However, the men cooked dinner this evening and cleaned up. The proof is in the picture below:



and what a good dinner it was, too. Actually, I think that Ralph is a better cook than I am and Edward has become familiar with the kitchen having worked the last three summers in the kitchen at Pinebrook Bible Conference.

Our other favorite past time while here is reading. Vito, Edward's friend that is along for the week, took advantage of the down time before dinner to read.



Tomorrow is the museum, so hopefully I'll have more to share then.

In the Adirondacks

We made it up here yesterday by 10:30 pm. We picked Edward and Johannah up at Pinebrook, along with Ed's friend, Vito (who has come up with us the past 2 years). I really didn't think that we would have internet access, but we actually are able to "borrow" someone's wireless network. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures later today.

Last night it got so cold -- it got down to the upper 40's, I'm sure. But the weather is beautiful -- nice clear, blue sky and sunny. I'm sure the week will be wonderul, it always is.

Ralph and I will be going shopping later this morning so that we have some food in the house; it's always nice to be able to eat.

Oh well, the pictures will be coming later. In the meantime, I'm going to get some reading done. Toodles!

When It Rains, It Pours (in a good way)

I had no sooner posted about the 2 new fundraisers and we got an offer of an additional one. This is for all you scrapbookers out there. My Creative Memories friend, Debi Paratore, has offered to do an ongoing fundraiser. Just go to her website (see the blurb on the right side of the blog) and place your order. Be sure to mention that your order is to benefit the Ritter Adoption Fund. I'll be sending out a general email when we return from vacation.

Speaking of vacation, we are leaving Sunday after church. We'll be picking up our two children at Pinebrook along with one of Edward's friends, and heading to Indian Lake, NY in the beautiful Adirondack Mts. This is the 5th summer that we have gone there and it is the most peaceful, quiet, relaxing vacation that we could have. So, I won't be around to be posting any updates, especially since there won't be any! :-)

Have a blessed week. I'm sure that there will be lots to tell when we return (I may even post some pictures!).

A Few Fundraiser Options

God is truly blessing our adoption experience in ways that I never even imagined. I knew the the funds needed for the adoption were not available to us, but I also knew/know that God is in control and can meet those needs before I even ask or think. We have been blessed by offers of fundraisers from friends and family and people that neither Ralph nor I have ever met. Our first fundraiser was a success -- a Tupperware fundraiser raised about $285.

We are now beginning 2 new fundraisers: Avon and Silpada, fine sterling silver jewelry. You can click on the links on the side of my blog to get to the websites of the two ladies that are heading up these events. Details are posted there, too. And remember, I'm still trying to sell my retired Stampin' Up! stamp sets. Some of that will be going to our adoption also.

Our family, as mentioned in a previous post, has decided to hold a yard sale with proceeds to go toward the adoption. If you live near Hatfield, PA or near me and want to donate something for the yard sale, drop me an email at stamphappymomma and I'll see that the item(s) get where they belong.

My mind keeps whirling about ways that we can raise the needed funds. I keep trying to think of things that I could do at home to earn some extra money. I have some options that I'm considering and praying about. So, if you think of it, please pray that God would give me the right ideas and the right people to contact. Thanks!

Thanks for dropping by today. Don't forget to leave a comment or two. :-)

It Begins . . .

. . . the home study, that is. We mailed the application (and fee) to the agency that will be doing our home study. There are still some things that need to be accomplished, like fingerprints (Ralph, Edward and me -- yes, Edward, too since he is now 18). We are waiting for one reference letter and then I think that we have all the paperwork that we need to get going. Our social worker's name is Roberta Kalmar and she has been extremely helpful so far via email and the phone. We will schedule our first visit when we return from vacation and Johannah has returned home from her summer ministry at Pinebrook Bible Conference. Since our children fully understand what we are doing, Roberta must talk with them, too. I'm not worried about that at all, since both of our children are in favor of the adoption. I'm more concerned about the dog and what Roberta will require us to do with him. It may mean a vet bill of several hundred dollars to make sure that he is up to date on his shots, etc. We will see!!

BTW, we were able to get the reduction in the fee (see my last post). Praise God for His love and watch care over us and the finances!!

And It Begins in Earnest

It's extremely hot and muggy today. Thank God for the air conditioning in the living room and bedroom or I'd be even more frustrated than I am. We finally got the paperwork and application to begin our home study only to find out that the agency fee went up $100. Our social worker is asking about a one time exception so that we can get the original fee of $300 that we were quoted. Once that application is filed with the appropriate fees, we can finally begin the home study. I thought that we'd never get here.

It's amazing the information that is required for this step -- addresses for both of us since we turned 18, fingerprints for us and Edward (who turned 18 on Sunday), reference letters and the list goes on.

Our biggest struggle right now is the financing of the home study and INS fees. The $$ just aren't there to proceed with any speed. If we don't get this accomplished in a relatively decent amount of time, all of our other paperwork for our Ethiopan dossier will be out of date. I seriously want to change our country to Zambia, but Ralph just isn't as certain since we already sent the initial fee to CWA and it isn't refundable, although Ralph wants me to ask. I don't feel comfortable with that however, so he'll have to do that.

The heat is really getting to me and the computer, so I best be going. Hopefully tomorrow will be cooler and I can post again.

Our Week is Over

Our week of vacation/service has ended. It was a great week -- we got to see old friends, talk, and relax. We had many opportunities to talk about our adoption. So many were interested in what we are doing. They can't believe that we are crazy enough to even want to start another family. We aren't crazy at all!! When God calls you to do something, you have to do it. We really don't have a choice, but it's something that we are really looking forward to.

Even though today is our last day here, we get to hang around for a while. Tonight is parent's night for the summer staff. Since our kids are on staff again this year, we are here for that event. We'll leave later this evening when everything is over. We're not sure when that will be, but we're here for as long as possible.

It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over. Edward only has two weeks of his summer service left, a week of vacation and then college!! Johannah is here until Labor Day minus our week of vacation. In so many ways this summer has flown by and in many other ways it's been a looooooong summmer. I'm just so excited to get to Africa and bring our child(ren) home. The Lord knows the desires of my heart and it will happen in His time!

Pinebrook . . . in the beautiful Pocono Mts.

Our annual week at Pinebrook Bible Conference started yesterday. It's great to see our kids again and spend some time with them. This year is a little different for us, though. We've decided to spend the week serving as line monitors during the meals. This means that our week is free and the $$ that would have been spent to spend the week here can be put toward the adoption. What a blessing that is!! Our church usually pays for most of our week here, but this year it will be to bring our children home. I am thrilled!! :-) Since we know almost everyone here this week, it's been a great way to get to see everyone.

One of my friends that I met 12 years ago here at Pinebrook has decided that she will be going to Zambia with us if that's where we ultimately end up. Our stay there could be any where from 3-6 weeks. Ralph will only have to stay until we meet our children and then he can head home. Carol will be with me to keep me company and help with the children. It will be great to have a companion after Ralph leaves. And then Ralph will be able to get all of the necessary "stuff" that we will need -- carseats, stroller, winter clothes, etc. We'll hold off getting any of that until we know the ages and sex of our children. More excitement if building. I can't wait to get my children home!

The Rest of the Story

Well, that was a long dinner! LOL!! Life happened and I haven't been able to get back to this until now. Where did I leave off? Hmmm, I better go back and check my last post. Be back in a moment.

Now, the rest of the story . . . We were married on October 15, 1988 and I immediately got pregnant! So much for wondering if we could have children. Our wonderful son was born in August of 1989; what a joy he is!! We still wanted more children, but didn't have as easy a time the second time around. In September 1991 our daughter was born; she, too, is such a joy! Now we had the perfect family, or so everyone was telling me. However, we wanted 4 children. It was a while 'til I wanted to try to have another child, but when I finally did, pregnancy did not come. We talked about domestic adoption but knew that a private adoption would be the best for us because of expenses.

We became aware of a chaplain in a women's prison that counseled pregnant inmates to give their child up for adoption. One particular inmate was in prison for child abuse and was pregnant with her sixth child. She agreed to let us adopt her child; however, while in she was in jail she lost the baby at 8 months. The baby, a beautiful little boy, we are told, strangled on the umbilical cord. We were heartbroken.

We still tried to conceive but weren't having much success. In 1997 I lost about 40 pounds and wouldn't you know it, I got pregnant! We were thrilled, but from the very beginning I sensed that something was not right. I miscarried on November 1st. Needless to say, we were devastated. We didn't know what the Lord was trying to teach us, but we were willing to learn. During this time, adoption never left our minds.

In 2000 we moved and once again I felt the urge for another child. My dh gave me the go ahead to do the research on adoption agencies. I was floored at the cost and knew that we just couldn't afford it. Adoption was once again put on the back burner and we decided to try to have another biological child. However, that was not to be. I was told in the spring of 2001 that I had pre-cancerous endomitrial cells (official diagnosis was stage 1 uteran cancer) and need to have a hysterectomy asap.

Fast forward to 2007. My heart ached for another child, however biological children were no longer a possibility and in my mind, neither was adoption. God had other plans for us. My cousin and his wife were in the process of adopting from Guatemala and I followed their adoption story with great interest. Often I felt very jealous because they were living my dream. So, I once again brought up the subject with my dh. His response, was as always, do the research, choose the agency and we'll sign. We found our agency, Christian World Adoption (the same agency that my cousin used), filled out the application and waited. We were waiting for the funds to send in the application. I finally asked Ralph when we could send the application in and his reply was, "When the tax return comes back". My thought was, "And that will be when?" I put the form aside and prayed and waited.

We didn't have to wait long. Guess what was in the mail the next day -- you guessed it, our first tax return. There was great rejoicing that day! The check was deposited into the bank, another check was written to CWA and we were on our way. Our country of choice is Ethiopia and we are hoping to get a child between the ages of 6 and 18 months. We are willing to take a sibling group of 2!!

The Lord is amazing! I am finally learning to wait on the Lord and not to run ahead of His leading. Why has it taken so long?!? I wish I had the answer for that, but at least I'm finally learning.

This has gotten long, but I wanted to finish the story before another month went by. I'll try to post some more this week and let you all in on some updates.

The Beginning of the Story

Where does one start to tell the story of how God has led us to adoption? I guess the best place is at the beginning. I have always loved children and wanted to have four of my own. However, even in high school I thought that adoption would be a wonderful way to have children. After all, God adopted us, so adoption is just another step in our walk with Him.

I wasn't sure that I would ever be married so I considered the idea of single parent adoption but with my parent's teaching, I came to realize that this is not what God intended for children. His intent was a 2 parent family; so I prayed for my life partner. I just assumed that he would be found while I was in college, but that didn't happen. After many years of singleness (and hating every moment of it) God taught me that I needed to be happy in my singleness. Boy what a hard lesson to learn. Shortly after coming to terms with be single for the rest of my life, I met Ralph, my dh, at the age of 29. Doesn't God have a sense of humor?

We got engaged after dating only a few months. One of our first conversations was about children. He loves them as much as I do, but we realized that we might not be able to have our own biological children. Ralph mentioned adoption and I immediately responded with a hearty, "you bet"!

Gotta run, dinner is calling. I'll be back later to continue on with the story.

Adoption Fundraising

We are trying to raise the funds to take the next step in our adoption journey. The church received 2 gifts today for the adoption fund. PTL!!

A cousin suggested an idea for a fundraiser -- a family yard sale at our picnic on Labor Day. We loved the idea! I'm sure that the family will help out in this area since we all have lots of stuff to get rid of.

One other way that I'm trying to raise the funds is to sell my retired Stampin' Up! stamp sets. If you are interested in seeing what's for sale, take a look at Stamphappymomma. You'll be able to click on each thumbnail to get a larger picture that will also show the price I'm asking. 50% of what I get for each set will be going to our adoption fund. The rest will help to pay off some bills.

Trying my hand at this blogging thing

I thought that this would be a great place to keep everyone updated on our adoption journey. I'm new to this blogging stuff, so please bear with me. Keep checking back for updates.