One more makes Four!!
Lots of more wonderful news!!
January of this year, John and I were searching the adoption websites like we have done previously and we came across this picture of a cute little 8 year old boy named Istolk. We pulled up his information and read a little more about him and said "man he's a cutie". but didn't do much more about it. As the days went on I found myself thinking about him more and more. A few weeks later I pulled up his picture again and showed it to John and asked him what he thought about sending in our paperwork. His response, to my surprise was yeah, why not, let's get some more information. So I sent an email to the social worker, who then requested our home study. In February our home study was submitted to Utah State Dept. of Family Services. and a little more information was forwarded to us about Istolk (Izzy). I also spoke a few times with the Social Worker Annie and Andrea, asking lots of questions. As time went on we became more and more excited. We attended the temple and prayed about it and it just seemed really right, however we knew that this was going to be a very long process. Even though our homestudy was submitted there were other families that were inquiring as well and once all the homestudies were reviewed a few would be chosen and then taken to a committee which would then choose the best match for Istolk.
I am not sure the total number of families that inquired but I do know that in the first session there was approximately 22 families. We fortunately was one of the families that was chosen and taken to the committee. On May 3rd, 2011 the committee chose our family (out of all the other families) as the best match for Izzy!! We were ecstatic!
Once again there was going to be a waiting period. We were so anxious to meet him, but we had to wait for the ICPC (Interstate Compact Agreement) to be approved from the state of Utah and the State of Nevada. We were told that this could take up to several months. We tried to be patient, but I decided to take matters into my own hands and contact those people who were involved in the approval process. From the date that the ICPC was submitted on May 4th it took 1 1/2 months for our final approval. On June 23rd (our last day of school) we got the approval! We were so anxious to get to Utah to meet him. But once again we had to wait, wait for schedules and approvals.
On June 28th we drove from Reno to SLC. We stayed in Elko at a hotel that evening, and woke up early the next morning and drive to SLC. We met with our Social Worker Annie (who reminded us so much of my cousin Britney Waters, they could be twins). She laid out all the files on Izzy from when he came in to care when he was 4 years old. There was 7 volumes of folders and lots of reading. This was at 11 am. At 2 p.m. Izzy arrived with his foster family. We met him and what a handsome boy he was in person. We all (John, Jaidyn, Me, Izzy, Matea (foster sister), Oli (foster mom), Sale (foster Dad) and Annie (social worker) went into a visiting room where Izzy began to play with all the cars, he especially liked the police car. After visiting for about 45 minutes. We decided to all go to lunch. So we followed them to Chili's. On the way there I started to get so emotional. The spirit was so strong and really overwhelming. I felt like we were finally doing something that was so right and we were lead exactly where we needed to be. When we got to Chili's we all sat down and talked for quite some time. Oli said that on the way to the restaurant, she asked Izzy how he liked her friends (meaning us), and he said "I like them, maybe I can go visit them in Reno and they can come visit me here in SLC". While at dinner I asked Izzy if he would like to come and do something with us and then we would take him back to Oli and Sale's. He excitedly said "yes". Izzy came with us in the car and we drove to Liberty Park where we rode the boats, Izzy and Jaidyn rode some of the rides and then we went to ice cream before driving him home. We had a really fun time with him. He's a great kid and even though Jaidyn was very evasive and a little hesitant she had fun too.
DAY 2: the second day we arrived at Oli and Sale's and Izzy greeted us with big hugs. We visited for awhile and then left for our way to Lagoon. We had a hard time getting discounted tickets so we ended up arriving at Lagoon pretty late in the afternoon. John was loving having a little buddy that wasn't afraid to ride on all the rollercoasters with him, and Jaidyn was enjoying have someone to ride on the rides with her as well. After Lagoon we drove Izzy home. He told us that he would like to spend the night with us one night. So we suggested that maybe the following night.
DAY 3: We spent another day at Lagoon, this time most of the day was spent at the waterpark. All of us had a really fun time and by the end of the day at 10 p.m. we were exhausted and had just about all we could take of Lagoon. Izzy was packed to come and spend the night with us, so we drove to Jeannie's, she had made a perfectly nice bed on the floor near our bed for the kids, she even plugged in Jaidyn's nightlight. The kids fell right to sleep and slept through the night.
DAY 4: We woke up early in order to make it to Oli and Sale's church on time. When we got there it was a Samoan ward and so we had to obtain headphones in order to understand what was being said. It was so wonderful to hear the hymns sung in a different language. After church we went to Target to get our pictures taken. Then drove out to Springville to visit with the Tanner's. Sale and Oli met us at Walmart near Jeannie's to pick up Izzy.
DAY 5: Today is the 4th of July and we woke up and drove to Oli and Sale's. We went to lunch with their family and Izzy. Then from there we went to Sugarhouse Park to set up to watch the fireworks. The kids loved the fireworks and we had a great time.
DAY 6: We drove back to Nevada. It was hard to leave but we knew that we would be able to talk to him every day and see him real soon.
January of this year, John and I were searching the adoption websites like we have done previously and we came across this picture of a cute little 8 year old boy named Istolk. We pulled up his information and read a little more about him and said "man he's a cutie". but didn't do much more about it. As the days went on I found myself thinking about him more and more. A few weeks later I pulled up his picture again and showed it to John and asked him what he thought about sending in our paperwork. His response, to my surprise was yeah, why not, let's get some more information. So I sent an email to the social worker, who then requested our home study. In February our home study was submitted to Utah State Dept. of Family Services. and a little more information was forwarded to us about Istolk (Izzy). I also spoke a few times with the Social Worker Annie and Andrea, asking lots of questions. As time went on we became more and more excited. We attended the temple and prayed about it and it just seemed really right, however we knew that this was going to be a very long process. Even though our homestudy was submitted there were other families that were inquiring as well and once all the homestudies were reviewed a few would be chosen and then taken to a committee which would then choose the best match for Istolk.
I am not sure the total number of families that inquired but I do know that in the first session there was approximately 22 families. We fortunately was one of the families that was chosen and taken to the committee. On May 3rd, 2011 the committee chose our family (out of all the other families) as the best match for Izzy!! We were ecstatic!
Once again there was going to be a waiting period. We were so anxious to meet him, but we had to wait for the ICPC (Interstate Compact Agreement) to be approved from the state of Utah and the State of Nevada. We were told that this could take up to several months. We tried to be patient, but I decided to take matters into my own hands and contact those people who were involved in the approval process. From the date that the ICPC was submitted on May 4th it took 1 1/2 months for our final approval. On June 23rd (our last day of school) we got the approval! We were so anxious to get to Utah to meet him. But once again we had to wait, wait for schedules and approvals.
On June 28th we drove from Reno to SLC. We stayed in Elko at a hotel that evening, and woke up early the next morning and drive to SLC. We met with our Social Worker Annie (who reminded us so much of my cousin Britney Waters, they could be twins). She laid out all the files on Izzy from when he came in to care when he was 4 years old. There was 7 volumes of folders and lots of reading. This was at 11 am. At 2 p.m. Izzy arrived with his foster family. We met him and what a handsome boy he was in person. We all (John, Jaidyn, Me, Izzy, Matea (foster sister), Oli (foster mom), Sale (foster Dad) and Annie (social worker) went into a visiting room where Izzy began to play with all the cars, he especially liked the police car. After visiting for about 45 minutes. We decided to all go to lunch. So we followed them to Chili's. On the way there I started to get so emotional. The spirit was so strong and really overwhelming. I felt like we were finally doing something that was so right and we were lead exactly where we needed to be. When we got to Chili's we all sat down and talked for quite some time. Oli said that on the way to the restaurant, she asked Izzy how he liked her friends (meaning us), and he said "I like them, maybe I can go visit them in Reno and they can come visit me here in SLC". While at dinner I asked Izzy if he would like to come and do something with us and then we would take him back to Oli and Sale's. He excitedly said "yes". Izzy came with us in the car and we drove to Liberty Park where we rode the boats, Izzy and Jaidyn rode some of the rides and then we went to ice cream before driving him home. We had a really fun time with him. He's a great kid and even though Jaidyn was very evasive and a little hesitant she had fun too.
DAY 2: the second day we arrived at Oli and Sale's and Izzy greeted us with big hugs. We visited for awhile and then left for our way to Lagoon. We had a hard time getting discounted tickets so we ended up arriving at Lagoon pretty late in the afternoon. John was loving having a little buddy that wasn't afraid to ride on all the rollercoasters with him, and Jaidyn was enjoying have someone to ride on the rides with her as well. After Lagoon we drove Izzy home. He told us that he would like to spend the night with us one night. So we suggested that maybe the following night.
DAY 3: We spent another day at Lagoon, this time most of the day was spent at the waterpark. All of us had a really fun time and by the end of the day at 10 p.m. we were exhausted and had just about all we could take of Lagoon. Izzy was packed to come and spend the night with us, so we drove to Jeannie's, she had made a perfectly nice bed on the floor near our bed for the kids, she even plugged in Jaidyn's nightlight. The kids fell right to sleep and slept through the night.
DAY 4: We woke up early in order to make it to Oli and Sale's church on time. When we got there it was a Samoan ward and so we had to obtain headphones in order to understand what was being said. It was so wonderful to hear the hymns sung in a different language. After church we went to Target to get our pictures taken. Then drove out to Springville to visit with the Tanner's. Sale and Oli met us at Walmart near Jeannie's to pick up Izzy.
DAY 5: Today is the 4th of July and we woke up and drove to Oli and Sale's. We went to lunch with their family and Izzy. Then from there we went to Sugarhouse Park to set up to watch the fireworks. The kids loved the fireworks and we had a great time.
DAY 6: We drove back to Nevada. It was hard to leave but we knew that we would be able to talk to him every day and see him real soon.
Comments