Red Thread Legend

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,

   regardless of time, place or circumstance.

The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.

Chinese Legend

Have read this several times, but the unique way the Lord has put our family together seems reflective of this legend.   It's been demonstrated as we've been drawn from around the world to create a family.  I was looking at this again today as I'm preparing a care package to send to Lauren via a company called Red Thread China.  It's exciting to have the opportunity to communicate with her before we're actually able to get there. We'll send pictures of our family and a letter introducing ourselves.

Got an email Hannah's passports been processed and is being mailed to us.  We're glad. Had a glitch with the paperwork the first time it was sent.  Notarized multiple items yesterday.  Just keep knocking out item after item to complete the process.

Hope is Fading Video

Hope is Fading from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.


This video speaks for itself and represents our hearts towards adoption.

Local Police Clearance Letter Completed

Yesterday we had an appointment at 2:00 to meet with a local Sergeant from the Riverside County Sheriff's office to have him sign the clearance letters for notarization.

As we discussed that the clearance letters were needed for (International Adoption) the Sheriff's Officer told us he and his wife were in the process of adopting a little boy locally through the County Process. He and is wife will be attending a court hearing within the next couple of weeks when the judge will terminate the parental rights of the birth mother and father.  We told him we would pray for his family and for the birth parents to not choose to cause problems and drag this out longer than it has to.  (not wanting to give personal information but know that these two people who gave birth to the child do not qualify as parents under any definition and should have no parental rights).

When the Sheriff left our notary then shared that her youngest brother was adopted and we were able to discuss with her how the love we share with our children and between the siblings is a bond that was not determined by a biological connection.

The Sheriff's Officer commented that he was amazed to find or run into so many people who have been part of an adoption since he and his wife started the process. We agree and are amazed each time we go through an adoption to find out how many people along the way have been blessed with knowing someone or being part of adoption in their own families.

Pre-Approval & Fingerprint Appointment

Hooray!!!!

We received our Pre-Approval from China today dated 7/19/2010 stating they accepted our treatment plan for Lauren Mei and basic family information that we provided.  We have until Oct 19th to have our Dossier submitted, we have everything for the dossier already completed with the exception of getting the documents that were notarized here in California certified by the CA Sec of State and then Authenticated at the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate. Kevin's Birth certificate needed to go the PA Sec of State and the New York Chinese Consulate and Lynda's Birth certificate went through the Washington, DC Chinese Embassy. Lynda's birth cert being a US Department of State document did not need the extra certification step that the other documents all needed. (saved us $20). : )

We also received our fingerprint appointment for the USCIS (for immigration preliminary approval), we have to wait until August 11th and go to the Riverside, California office. Once the fingerprints are done we should get our approval and if all goes well have our dossier sent to China by September!

Please continue to keep us in prayers and pray for favor with the two governments to move things along quickly and most importantly pray for Lauren Mei to be getting healthy and strong as she waits for us to bring her home.

Family Story

We have been blessed with a family that has literally been brought together from the 4-corners of the world. Lynda was born in Toul-Rosieres En Hay, France; Kevin in Chester, Pennsylvania; Amber in St. Petersburg, Russia; Cameron in San Diego, California; Hannah in Zhuzhou, Hunan, China; and now Lauren in Shanghai, China.

Our first child was Cameron, his birth mother Marci lived with us for about 5-1/2 months during her pregnancy. Cameron arrived almost 17-years ago into our lives and has been a blessing ever since. Cameron is a child who is peaceful and full of compassion, always pulling for the underdog and showing love to everyone he meets. Marci is now married in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Amber (22) although our oldest was our second child. We travelled to Russia about 15-years ago to bring her home. Amber is now in her own apartment locally and doing well - especially in her relationship with her boyfriend Eddie. We are so proud of the beautiful young woman that Amber has become and appreciate the support and encouragement she gives each of us.

Hannah came home when she was 18-months old in 2005. Lynda, Kevin, Amber, and Cameron all travelled to China and brought her home.  Hannah is a child of such joy, she has a way of always bringing a smile to your face. Hannah loves to laugh, dance, and sing, she is a true leader and will make an awesome big sister.

We are all anxious to bring Lauren home. Kevin, Lynda, Cameron, and Hannah will make the journey this time and we are hoping and praying for some miracles and favor so we can travel before the end of the year.  We are however aware that we may not travel until early 2011 and will keep updating on our process as things change.

Updated Photos

First thing Monday morning Lynda's e-mail contained updated photos (just taken over the weekend) along with updated measurements and medical information.

Lauren is doing well, she had been a little sick back in Feb/Mar, but we are impressed with how quickly and how well the Childrens' home and Hospitals react and take care of the little ones in their care.  We know just like with Hannah, once we have Lauren home she will quickly get healthier as she will have more one-on-one attention.  We are and will continue to pray for her protection and health as we (and she) wait for our process of paperwork to be done and have received final approvals from China and U.S. to travel and complete the adoption.

Hope you enjoy the pictures - she is so cute!

Paper Chase Goes On.

Received notice that Immigration (USCIS) received our paperwork and will be sending our FBI fingerprint appointment (yes another set of FBI prints - agencies are not allowed to share information from other print request).

This week we got information that Lauren had been back in the hospital in February/March timeframe with a kidney infection.  I (Kevin) did my typical thing of checking all the blood work information and medical info we had to make sure I did not miss something and in waiting for the updated medical reports started to worry.  Cameron called me at work and told me that his grandmom (my mother) sent a card with the origins of the name Carr - the name is Gaelic and comes from carra - meaning spear.  He told me a spear is a weapon for pointing and going forward in battle, it was not made for retreat or for going the other way.  He told me that we (Lynda & I) never gave up on Amber, him, or Hannah and our pursuit to have a family and do the best for them and why would I stop now.  Cameron said, "She (Lauren) is my sister and we need to continue on moving forward no matter what and bring her home."

Wow - I thank God that I have a son who not only has wisdom but was willing to share it with his father.

First Entry

This is our first entry into the Blogging World as we start off on our journey to Lauren Mei.

We submitted our I-800a last week to USCIS, this is the final step to getting our dossier completed. (our homestudy, medicals, financials, employment status letters, birth and marriage certificates are all ready to go.)

Our Letter of Intent (LOI) and Family Summary & Treatment Plan for Lauren Mei were sent to China and we are awaiting the Pre-Approval (PA).

We will updating as we get more information and complete the remaining stages of this adoption journey; then here is where you will find us posting when we finally travel to China.

Looking forward to our future trip to China!

The Carr's