Saving Sofia: My Custom Story (Feb. 15th- Feb. 21st)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

My Custom Story (Feb. 15th- Feb. 21st)

My Custom Story offers 4 x 5 inch custom photo board books with laminated pages to protect the photos from drool! You can choose from 17 storylines or write your own. They make great gifts for birthdays, Christmas, baby showers, and Father's Day! In honor of the week before Sofia's 1st birthday (February 15th - 21st), My Custom Story will donate 100% (YES, you saw that right 100%!!!) of the profits to Sofia's adoption fund.

My Custom Story's Blog also shows different ideas for photo books. We have three very special books that were made by Mary Ellen and I have to say they are our FAVORITE books in the house. These books make amazing gifts too.

So...PLEASE check out the website and order one for yourself. My good friend and owner of My Custom Story, Mary Ellen, will help create a book for you as well if you want to give her the pictures you want to use and a general story line so if you are feeling writer's block just use one of her templates. You can also buy gift certificates and give those as gifts or buy a couple for yourself this week and then it gives you time to come back and make the book later but still help us all out.

We absolutely LOVE our "Sofia's Family" book and we take it everywhere we go. All our boys love to read the book but especially Joaquin who loves to flip through the pages and when he gets to the final page and back of the book, he signs "baby" when he looks at Sofia's picture. It is quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen him do. We plan on taking this book (and maybe a few more with pictures of our home and her room) to Sofia on our first trip to meet her in a few months and we will leave it with her until we return to pick her up so that she will have her family close to her. We also plan on taking a bunch of pictures in Sofia's home country when we visit so we can make a book for her to remember that as well when she is home with us. So you can bet I'll be buying a few books of my own this week!

Thank you so much Mary Ellen for this completely GENEROUS gift to Sofia on her birthday week. We love you! And PLEASE...go shopping right now over at My Custom Story!

5 comments:

Anne and Whitney: Up, Down and All AroundFebruary 15, 2010 at 5:29 AM
Your "Sofia's Family" board book is awesome!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this website with us... I can't wait to order one and I am going to order some "gift certificates" too, so I can make some later but still buy them during your 100% donation week!!! How awesome of your friend Mary Ellen to do this for you guys!!!
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Kristin FergusonFebruary 17, 2010 at 7:22 PM
Hi Jennifer,

I went on the custom story book website to make a book but realized I don't have nearly enough photos to do a book for Nadia (whom we're adopting from Eastern Europe as well). However, now that I've read your post, I realize I could buy a gift certificate and make one when I have more pictures. Since I'm in the last mad rush to finish dossier forms, I wasn't going to have the time to make a book now anyway. Thanks for the gift cert. suggestion.

P.S. Love the new look of your blog. I need to spend some time making mine a little "spiffier". :)

Kristin
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SarahFebruary 20, 2010 at 7:42 AM
I ordered a book for Zoya for your fundraiser! It's called "Waiting for Me." Can't wait to get it and take it to her when we travel (SOON I HOPE!)!!!!
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SharonFebruary 25, 2010 at 10:32 AM
Tears, tears, tears. Can't wait until she has that book in her hands!
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CrittleFebruary 25, 2010 at 11:18 AM
I love this product! Must have.
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Adoption Timeline

12-13-09- Grandma Esther passed away. Discovered Sofia at www.reecesrainbow.com and decided to donate to her grant fund in honor of Grandma and the Christmas Angel Tree Project. Couldn't get her off my mind.

1-1-10- Received Sofia's Christmas Angel Tree ornament and put it on our Christmas Tree. Still constantly thinking about her.

1-24-10- Hector and I decided to commit to adopting Sofia. Contacted Andrea at Reece's Rainbow.

1-25-10- Contacted Across the World Adoptions to begin the Home Study.

1-26-10- Sent our application to Reece's Rainbow and sent a check for the FSP Donation, Love Offering and Promise Trust.

1-27-10- Jen's physical completed. Vaccines administered. FBI and DOJ/Child Abuse fingerprinting completed.

1-28-10- Faxed Home Study Application and Agreement. Mailed hard copy.

1-29-10- Hector's fingerprints completed for FBI and DOJ/Child Abuse. Completed the required 10 hours of International Adoption education credits.

1-31-10- Mailed USCIS our I-600A application and fees.

2-1-10- Employment verifications completed for Home Study. School evaluations completed on Diego and Mateo. Received dossier paperwork from Reece's Rainbow.

2-4-10- Assigned a social worker for our Home Study at Across the World Adoptions. Had over 15 documents notarized.

2-5-10- Hector's physical completed. Vaccines administered. Child Specific Petition and Power of Attorney's notarized and ready for apostille.

2-8-10- CSP and POA's apostilled and shipped to Sofia's home country! First home study visit is scheduled for 2/15.

2-10-10- ALL paperwork completed for Home Study! YEAH! Working on gathering the rest of the dossier paperwork.

2-15-10- 1st Home Study Visit completed.

2-16-10- 2nd Home Study Visit completed.

2-22-10- Received our I-797C Notice of Action for our Orphan Petition.

2-25-10- State Police clearance fingerprinting done. Apostilled 20 documents at Secretary of State office.

3-1-10- Final revisions completed on Home Study.

3-2-10- Jennifer fingerprinted a third time for USCIS. Hector's police clearance letter received.

3-3-10- Hector fingerprinted a third time for USCIS.

3-4-10- Home Study, Agency License and Social Worker Licence notarized and mailed to us today.

3-11-10- USCIS Approval!

3-12-10- Dossier shipped out to Sofia's home country!

3-15-10- Dossier arrived in Sofia's home country!

3-25-10- Dossier officially submitted. Approximately 10 day wait to get travel date!

4-6-10- Received our SDA appointment for 4/22 at 9am! Booked our plane tickets for 4/19 arriving on 4/20.

4-14-10- Volcano erupts in Iceland causing flights to be grounded throughout Europe!

4-19-10- Flight is cancelled. No alternative routes are available. Requested new SDA appointment.

4-20-10- Got a last minute flight to Kiev through Vienna, Austria.

4-21-10- Arrived in Kiev, Ukraine!

4-22-10- Completed SDA appointment at 9am. Received referral at 6pm. Hopped on a midnight train to Dnep.

4-23-10-Arrived in Dnep at 7am and ran around Dnep for 11 hours today with our facilitator Marina gathering papers and getting notaries. Met Sofia!

4-26-10-Took Sofia out of the orphanage to get her picture taken for Visa immigration, US Embassy and the SDA. 7 day wait begins for court date.

4-27-10-Prosecutor says our documents are complete and ready for the judge and court proceedings.

4-29-10-Still waiting for interpol clearance so court date is set for 5/13.

4-30-10-Interpol clearance arrives. Court date moved to 5/6!

5-6-10- Court completed and Sofia Andrea Sanchez is officially adopted! 10 day wait begins.

5-16-10- Return trip is set for 6/6 and we'll arrive in Dnep on 6/8 to begin the process of bringing Sofia home, hopefully on or before 6/17.

6-8-10- Arrived in Sofia's region and completed all necessary paperwork for her new birth certificate and for her Ukraine passport.

6-10-10-GOTCHA day! Took Sofia out of the orphanage and home to our apartment.

6-11-10- Got Sofia's Ukrainian Passport and took overnight train back to Kiev. Changed return flight home to 6/15.

6-14-10- Got Sofia's Visa at the U.S. Embassy.

6-15-10- Going HOME!

6-16-10-Applied for Sofia's Social Security Card.

7-15-10- Received Sofia's official certificate of U.S. Citizenship in the mail.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

My Custom Story (Feb. 15th- Feb. 21st)

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