Consulate Appointment

Things are moving quickly now.  We have our confirmed US Consulate appointment in Guangzhou on September 10.  That means we will be meeting our Anna on September 1st!  Making travel plans and booking flights now! We also have to get China travel visas from the Chinese Consulate in NYC. Yay!

We are still running our fundraiser and we are almost to 100 pieces. We would really like to do the drawing for the gift card this weekend- so let us know if you can sponsor a puzzle piece- only $10. Thanks!

See the next post down from yesterday for all the details!

Travel Approval

Big news today! We got our Travel Invitation from the CCCWA to come to China also known as Travel Approval or TA. That means we are going to China in about 6 weeks! eek!  We are hoping to be in China by the 1st week of September or maybe a few days earlier because of the flight arrangements - you have to allow 2 days coming and going.

Great Wall

After months of filling out paperwork and waiting this is finally happening! And I don't feel ready at all LOL!  We still have a lot to do and arrangements to make (and plane tickets and hotels to pay for). But eventually we are going to get Anna.  It doesn't seem real now after we waited so long!

We may be flying into Shanghai or Hong Kong instead of Beijing- it depends how things work out.  But we will be there for about 15 days.

At this point besides paying for our flights and hotel, we also have to pay the orphanage fee to China- this is for Anna's "room and board" with the foster family plus money to help the orphanage run day-to-day.  We are glad to pay it but it is about $5000.  Thankfully we can wire the money to China because in the past you had to hand carry the money in cash to China!  We have applied for 4 different adoption grants and we hope we get at least one to help offset the fees we owe.

Anna Marie

You can still help us with our fundraiser.  We are asking for sponsors for our 300 piece panda puzzle.  For a donation of $10 your name will be entered in a drawing for a $50 Best Buy gift card when we get to 100.  We are at about 84 pieces right now so hurry and get yours in.  You can use PayPal steuart.adoption @ gmail.com (take out the spaces) or mail a check to Lee Steuart P.O. Box 1375 Stow OH 44224.  Please include your name and address or email so we can contact you if you win!  If we can keep going and get to 200 pieces we will giveaway a $50 Amazon gift card. And if we don't run out of time and we can get to 300 pieces we will give away a $100 Amazon gift card.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

We got Article 5- waiting on Travel Approval now

Help bring Anna home!

We have 49 54 puzzle pieces pledged so far out of the first group of 100.  Don't forget we are giving away a $50 Best Buy gift card when we get to 100.  Great news! Our Article 5 was ready and picked up from the US Consulate in Guangzhou on 7/12.  Next stop is the CCCWA for Travel Approval letter! (Thanks for everyone's prayers it was a nervous couple of days!)  We will probably travel to China in late August or early September. We mailed Anna a care package today with some photos of us and a recordable Hallmark book with our voices on it.

Fundraiser info-
We are asking for people to sponsor a puzzle piece. For a gift of $10 you can sponsor one puzzle piece. We will write your name on the piece. Once we have 100 pieces sponsored we will give away a $50 Best Buy gift card. When we have 200 pieces sponsored we will give away another $50 gift card. When we have all 300 pieces sponsored we will give away a $100 gift card.

You may sponsor as many puzzle pieces as you like. We will run the fundraiser for 30 days. Donations can be made on our blog through PayPal (use the PayPal donate button on the right or our PayPal email is steuart.adoption @ gmail.com- take out the spaces) or you can send a check to:

Panda Puzzle

Lee Steuart
P.O. Box 1375
Stow, OH 44224

Include you name and email so we can contact you if you win a gift card. Please note donations are not tax deductible. Please consider sharing this on your blog. Thank you for helping us bring Anna home!
 

A Piece of the Puzzle

When we decided to adopt again we chose the China Special Needs program. We wanted Rachel to have an Asian sibling and we wanted to provide a home and a family for a child who might otherwise never find a family. We have decided to adopt a 5 year old girl we are calling "Anna".  Anna is a burn survivor.

Anna Marie

The China adoption program is long- established and well run. It is also very expensive - over $30,000 once we pay all the fees. And an additional $7,000+ for airfare to China and back for our family.

We have been saving, sacrificing, taking out loans, and applying for adoption grants. So far we have not received any grants. We will get a tax credit next year and a small amount of adoption assistance from Lee's employer. But now we have reached the stage where we have to do some fundraising.

We are asking for people to sponsor a puzzle piece. For a gift of $10 you can sponsor 1 puzzle piece. We will write your name on the piece. Once we have 100 pieces sponsored we will give away a $50 Best Buy gift card. When we have 200 pieces sponsored we will give away another $50 gift card. When we have all 300 pieces sponsored we will give away a $100 Amazon gift card.

You may sponsor as many puzzle pieces as you like. We will run the fundraiser for 30 days. Donations can be made on our blog through PayPal (use the PayPal donate button on the right or our PayPal email is steuart.adoption @ gmail.com- take out the spaces) or you can send a check to:

Lee Steuart
P.O. Box 1375
Stow, OH 44224

Include you name and email so we can contact you if you win a gift card. Please note donations are not tax deductible. Please consider sharing this on your blog. Thank you for helping us bring Anna home!

About Our Family

The Steuart's

In 2007 our family was blessed by the adoption of our daughter Rachel from Korea.  She is now 7 years old and just completed 1st grade. Since 2012, we have been working on the paperwork to adopt a 5 year old girl from China.  Anna suffered severe burns to her leg and she was placed in an orphanage at age 3.  She has been living with a foster family in her home province for the last year. Not only are we making her a part of our family through adoption, we are also bringing her to the US for medical treatment.

Now that most of our adoption paperwork is complete, we shift our focus to raising funds to cover the adoption expenses and the travel to China.  We have made personal sacrifices, held a garage sale, used up our savings, and taken our loans.  We have applied to various agencies for adoption grants.  Now we are asking for your help to complement our fundraising efforts.

We believe that adoption is a ministry and that we are called to be actively involved with our faith by looking after orphans (James 1:27).  We are asking for your prayers and support of our adoption.

Anna Marie

China Adoption Expenses
Application fee and homestudy $1550
Fee to local adoption agency  $6450
China adoption program fee  $3000
In-country travel & guides  $6550
Post-placement services $2160
China orphanage donation $5000
Flights to/from China $7000
US Immigration/Visas $1250
Medical file screening  $800
Approximate Total Fees  $33,760

Help bring Anna home by making a donation to our adoption fund by using the PayPal Donate button on our blog.  Every little bit helps. You can also help us by donating airline miles. Please contact us if you would like to donate United, Delta, or American Airline miles. Thank you for considering us!