It is hard to believe that it has almost been one year. They have now spent a summer vacation in Upstate NY and visited my family in NH. You can read more about all that on my other blog.
It is hard to believe that we filed for our 2011 Adoption Tax Refund over 6 months ago. As you may have read, we have gotten stuck in the “examinations” process as they audit 69% of adoption tax refunds. It has been very frustrating as they have seemingly dropped the ball every way imaginable.
We sought the help of our CPA, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and Senator McCain’s office. Still it was going no where.
Amie checks the IRS website a few times a week to see if there are any changes. We got a surprise one day when it said there was not record of a return. I guess their computer refuses to work on Sunday. The next day it went back to the same old boring message.
Yesterday Amie went through the routine: same message. Then called the Senator’s office.
Then she checked the mail. There was a check in there for the full amount plus interest. We had heard of others in our same situation (non-Hague country with an Act of Adoption in 2011 that traveled in 2012) that had the 2012 expenses denied and ended up in tax court. We are so thankful that none of that happened to us. I was anticipating the worst.
Part of the oddness of all of this is that we were told that our return was being processed in MA (most likely Andover). The check was sent from Fresno, CA. And the letter we received today saying the check was on the way was from Austin, TX. Our government at work!
So now we can move on with the projects we planned on doing. Most importantly we are doing some work in the wasteland that is our backyard. We are going to subdue and rule it to make it a more habitable space for the kids and us. We will be expanding the porch so we can actually cook and eat out there, as well as sit and relax. There will be more shade, including from some trees. Maybe even a patch of artificial grass. I don’t want to mow, and I don’t want to spend a small fortune keeping the grass alive.
Some of our friends in FL adopted a new born this month. They are in the midst of their transition.
Other friends of ours have been in Uganda for the last 3 weeks to finalize the adoption of 2 boys. They are dealing with all the uncertainties and unpredictability over there instead of over here. They have the kids’ passports, finally, and are trying to get their embassy appointment so they can come home.
A local pastor has been maybe flying to Ethiopia for the last few weeks. That is just how it goes sometimes.
So there is a whole lot of adoption stuff going on in our little world.
Soon I’ll do “The First Year”. Just be patient.
Cavs Adopt Blog 