Immigration Approval!! I-800 approved!

USCIS mailed us our immigration approval for Elsa! 
Otherwise called form I-800.  :)

This is different from our first I-800a which approved us as a family...this one has approved Elsa as the specific child we will adopt.
 
Our paperwork is now being processed by the National Visa Center and then it will be forwarded to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China...this part of the process should take 4-5 weeks...and then we will be waiting on China to give us our TA- Travel Approval.
 
Exciting times! 
 
Also, I have just finished two wonderful books (Thanks, for the recommendations, Mom) about amazing folks who have lived exceptional lives, who were also blind.
 
The most recent is called "Thunder Dog".  It follows the story of Mike and his guide dog, Roselle, and their escape from one of the twin towers on 9-11.

 

 

Mike is happily married man, and was also a successful sales manager in NY.  And after reading a few chapters, I realized he is also a Christian.

 

This is a quote from page 125:

 

"If there is just one message about blindness that I could share with sighted people, it would be this:   It's okay to be blind.  It won't ruin your life or drain away all joy and satisfaction.  It won't strangle your creativity or lower your intelligence.  It won't keep you from traveling and experiencing life in other places.  It won't separate you from friends and family.  It won't keep you from falling in love, getting married, and having a family of your own.  It won't prevent you from getting a job and making a living.  Blindness doesn't mean the end of the world.   And with technology and education, blindness can be reduced from an all-consuming disability to just another human limitation, of which there are many.   There is more to life than eye function."

 

 

Well said... 

 

More on the other book later...  :)