We have recieved approval for all of our documents. We are ready to go...just waiting for that bloomin' homestudy. Actually, we know that the homestudy itself is done, but now there are a few more documents that our domestic agency must prepare for our international agency. We don't know how long that will take, but we're hoping not long!
Nathan and I are hoping to make the trip to the Secretary of State on Wednesday of next week. Please pray specifically for our homestudy to be done so we can make that trip on that specific day. It's the only day of the week we have time to go. Otherwise it will have to wait until the following week. Pray for Wednesday!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Last Document
Good news! We received the last corrected document in the mail yesterday! Woo hoo! Today we will scan in those corrected documents and e-mail them off for approval from our agency. Once those are approved we are ready to take a drive the Secretary of State to have them apostilled.
Our homestudy is in its final stages and should be ready any time. Please pray that it would be done in perfect time to travel with us to the Secretary of State so that we don't have to take two trips. Also, pray for the wording of our homestudy. There is one phrase in it that we disagree with and have asked them to take it out, but their initial response was no. We have asked again and are waiting to hear back as to whether they will remove it or not.
Lastly, we are aware that even with a "favor" for our BCIS clearance, the Orphan Petition Officer is greatly behind on issuing appointments for fingerprinting. We've heard that he's up to 4 months behind. We do not need this for our first trip, however, we do need it to bring our daughter into our country. Once I have a completed homestudy, I will begin "rattling cages" about our daughter's need to get out of Russia in hopes that they will get us a fingerprinting appointment. Please pray that we would be able to get this taken care of before we leave on our first trip.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Our homestudy is in its final stages and should be ready any time. Please pray that it would be done in perfect time to travel with us to the Secretary of State so that we don't have to take two trips. Also, pray for the wording of our homestudy. There is one phrase in it that we disagree with and have asked them to take it out, but their initial response was no. We have asked again and are waiting to hear back as to whether they will remove it or not.
Lastly, we are aware that even with a "favor" for our BCIS clearance, the Orphan Petition Officer is greatly behind on issuing appointments for fingerprinting. We've heard that he's up to 4 months behind. We do not need this for our first trip, however, we do need it to bring our daughter into our country. Once I have a completed homestudy, I will begin "rattling cages" about our daughter's need to get out of Russia in hopes that they will get us a fingerprinting appointment. Please pray that we would be able to get this taken care of before we leave on our first trip.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Monday, January 28, 2008
Hopeful
As it is already Monday, but I have not gone to bed yet and my fingers are frozen from being downstairs, I will be brief with our prayer needs for the upcoming week.
We are waiting for our CPA to finish re-doing our documents, our doctor to re-sign one document with his notary and our State Level Criminal Clearance re-do letter to come back. We are hopeful that the local documents can be obtained on Monday (is that today already?). So far, the Department of Justice has been quick when we've needed them to do and re-do documents, but...well, there's always that chance of them being slow. Please pray for us to receive those re-done documents in the mail in the first part of this week.
We are still waiting for an appointment with BCIS, but we actually don't really need that to travel on the first trip, but it would be nice to have it done before we leave the first time.
Lastly, our homestudy is finally at its last stop, but this where it tends to get lost. Please pray that it would not get lost, but instead be done this week so that we can drive all of these documents to the Secretary of State ASAP!!!
The sooner these things are apostilled at the Secretary of State, the sooner we can tell you a real projection of travel dates!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
We are waiting for our CPA to finish re-doing our documents, our doctor to re-sign one document with his notary and our State Level Criminal Clearance re-do letter to come back. We are hopeful that the local documents can be obtained on Monday (is that today already?). So far, the Department of Justice has been quick when we've needed them to do and re-do documents, but...well, there's always that chance of them being slow. Please pray for us to receive those re-done documents in the mail in the first part of this week.
We are still waiting for an appointment with BCIS, but we actually don't really need that to travel on the first trip, but it would be nice to have it done before we leave the first time.
Lastly, our homestudy is finally at its last stop, but this where it tends to get lost. Please pray that it would not get lost, but instead be done this week so that we can drive all of these documents to the Secretary of State ASAP!!!
The sooner these things are apostilled at the Secretary of State, the sooner we can tell you a real projection of travel dates!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Almost there...
This is just a note to say, "Woo hoo!" Our homestudy is finally in the main office getting approval. Woo hoo! This is the last step before it becomes officially completed. Sometimes this part of the process can take up to 3 weeks (I don't know what in the world would take so long, but whatever) so please keep praying that it will be turned around quickly!
We are also almost done re-doing some of our documents. We've either already got them in our hands or we are waiting for them to come in the mail.
Again, Godspeed...
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
We are also almost done re-doing some of our documents. We've either already got them in our hands or we are waiting for them to come in the mail.
Again, Godspeed...
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Sunday, January 20, 2008
So Close...
Well, it's been a nice few days off from adoption stuff, but as soon as this holiday is over, we'll be back on the road again.
After submitting our documents to our agency to look over, we received some feedback on some things that need to be fixed first before we get them apostilled. Now I was a little bit bummed about this because I wanted it to all come back perfect and have everything be on its way to the Secretary of State. However, I had to look at the bright side. Most of the documents were fine and those that need to be fixed are relatively easy fixes. I also had to be thankful that these things were caught before we spent the money to apostille them. Oh and yes, I did finally get a chance to confirm the price for apostilling these documents. Good thing I had overly prepared myself because at $20 per document, it's going to be a pretty penny to get everything over the next hump, but as much as I can find a reason to worry every step of the way, I have to continually remind myself what an awesome opportunity I have to be in the front row of seeing what amazing things God has in store next. His fingerprints are all over this adoption and I know they will continue.
As we are weary from last week and we embark upon a particularly full upcoming week, please pray for us this week as we get these last documents fixed & we wait for our homestudy to be done. We are praying specifically for our homestudy to be sent off for approval at their main office this week.
We are so close...but yet still not quite there yet. Godspeed...
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
After submitting our documents to our agency to look over, we received some feedback on some things that need to be fixed first before we get them apostilled. Now I was a little bit bummed about this because I wanted it to all come back perfect and have everything be on its way to the Secretary of State. However, I had to look at the bright side. Most of the documents were fine and those that need to be fixed are relatively easy fixes. I also had to be thankful that these things were caught before we spent the money to apostille them. Oh and yes, I did finally get a chance to confirm the price for apostilling these documents. Good thing I had overly prepared myself because at $20 per document, it's going to be a pretty penny to get everything over the next hump, but as much as I can find a reason to worry every step of the way, I have to continually remind myself what an awesome opportunity I have to be in the front row of seeing what amazing things God has in store next. His fingerprints are all over this adoption and I know they will continue.
As we are weary from last week and we embark upon a particularly full upcoming week, please pray for us this week as we get these last documents fixed & we wait for our homestudy to be done. We are praying specifically for our homestudy to be sent off for approval at their main office this week.
We are so close...but yet still not quite there yet. Godspeed...
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Pullin' Up My Bootstraps
Today I had to pull up my bootstraps and do what had to be done. I didn't like it, but I had to do it. After staying up into the wee hours of the morning preparing 46 documents to be notarized tonight, I learned this morning (after I took a little nap to get through this day) from our agency that all 46 documents would have to be re-done.
The reason? As of January 1st, California tightened up their notary rules and has now required that the wording on each notary be exact, we must be ID'd by our notary (even if they know us) and we must give our thumbprint each time. I "just happened" to be with one of our notary friends yesterday getting the psychiatrist letter notarized. She was aware of the changes and was prepared with an attachment for our document with the correct wording. No problem or so we thought. We would just attach that new wording to all 46 documents and be good to go. Right? Wrong...
As I talked through it with our agency this morning, they felt that 46 documents being done "differently" in such a manner that we crossed out the original notary wording and attached another paper would wave a big red flag at Russia. So they had to make the very tough decision that they would e-mail me all of the documents in Word, instead of PDF and I would need to go through every document and replace the original notary wording with the new California standard wording. Lucky me!
I have a friend that I can never say enough thank you to because she gladly watched my kids for the day so that I could push through and get everything ready for that notary appointment tonight. All I can say is that she rocks because four hours later I finally printed out the last document. Oh...and I can't forget to brag on my husband because he stepped up and made sure the kids got to their activities at church tonight. He rocks too!
It is now 2 1/2 hours later since I had to re-fill out every blank in BLUE INK! I have literally crossed my "T"s and dotted my "I"s and now I have a hand cramp. Off to rest before the notary gets here so my hand doesn't totally freeze up on me while I sign my life away!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
The reason? As of January 1st, California tightened up their notary rules and has now required that the wording on each notary be exact, we must be ID'd by our notary (even if they know us) and we must give our thumbprint each time. I "just happened" to be with one of our notary friends yesterday getting the psychiatrist letter notarized. She was aware of the changes and was prepared with an attachment for our document with the correct wording. No problem or so we thought. We would just attach that new wording to all 46 documents and be good to go. Right? Wrong...
As I talked through it with our agency this morning, they felt that 46 documents being done "differently" in such a manner that we crossed out the original notary wording and attached another paper would wave a big red flag at Russia. So they had to make the very tough decision that they would e-mail me all of the documents in Word, instead of PDF and I would need to go through every document and replace the original notary wording with the new California standard wording. Lucky me!
I have a friend that I can never say enough thank you to because she gladly watched my kids for the day so that I could push through and get everything ready for that notary appointment tonight. All I can say is that she rocks because four hours later I finally printed out the last document. Oh...and I can't forget to brag on my husband because he stepped up and made sure the kids got to their activities at church tonight. He rocks too!
It is now 2 1/2 hours later since I had to re-fill out every blank in BLUE INK! I have literally crossed my "T"s and dotted my "I"s and now I have a hand cramp. Off to rest before the notary gets here so my hand doesn't totally freeze up on me while I sign my life away!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
A Harvest of Documents
Praises! Yesterday, after a little pushing with the psychiatrist, I was able to get the letter from him. I also was able to pick up the letter from the CPA. Woo hoo!
I was up until 12:30 am getting everything ready for the notaries that Nathan and I need to do tonight. There are 46 of them. Wow! I knew there were alot, but I didn't realize how many!
After we complete these documents, they will be on their merry way to be approved by our agency before they get sent to the Secretary of State for another level of authentication called apostille. That will be done while we wait for our homestudy to be completed.
Once the homestudy is completed, we are on our way! So pray for that homestudy to be finished up soon!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
I was up until 12:30 am getting everything ready for the notaries that Nathan and I need to do tonight. There are 46 of them. Wow! I knew there were alot, but I didn't realize how many!
After we complete these documents, they will be on their merry way to be approved by our agency before they get sent to the Secretary of State for another level of authentication called apostille. That will be done while we wait for our homestudy to be completed.
Once the homestudy is completed, we are on our way! So pray for that homestudy to be finished up soon!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Friday, January 11, 2008
Hot Chocolate Anyone?
Don't forget that today is the Hot Chocolate Stand fundraiser that our friends are putting on for our adoption. They will also be out tomorrow. Contact me if you want more info.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Speaking of...
Speaking of getting clearance to bring an orphan into the country...a very important document that we have to obtain in order to bring our daughter into our country is called an I-171H. We have to receive an invitation from BCIS to go to their office and to be fingerprinted. We've already done this once, but because our clearance is about to expire in February, we are getting an extension so therefore, we have to go through the process again (at least the extension is free). It's a very interesting appointment. If you don't have your "invitation", you won't get in the door. Some day I'll have to tell you about our first appointment there. Like I said, it was interesting--a little bit funny actually.
Something to pray for in regards to this is, again, swiftness. We learned this week that they are back logged with orphan petitions. However, a praise is that our domestic agency has talked with the head guy in the local BCIS office and explained the urgency of our daughter's situation--we want to get her out of Russia so her hip surgery can be done here. That is a praise to have the opportunity to ask for our application to be expedited, however it doesn't promise anything. Please be praying that he would take her situation to heart and be willing to issue us an appointment ASAP.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Something to pray for in regards to this is, again, swiftness. We learned this week that they are back logged with orphan petitions. However, a praise is that our domestic agency has talked with the head guy in the local BCIS office and explained the urgency of our daughter's situation--we want to get her out of Russia so her hip surgery can be done here. That is a praise to have the opportunity to ask for our application to be expedited, however it doesn't promise anything. Please be praying that he would take her situation to heart and be willing to issue us an appointment ASAP.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
The Visit
Whew! The home visit with our social worker went well and it's over--yeah! It was actually quite enjoyable. We really like our social worker. She will have to visit our home at different time increments over the next 3 years to write post-placement reports for the Russian government. She was very helpful at telling us when she would be coming next and what to expect at that visit--the questions she would be asking of us. We got along well with her so we are glad she is who we will be working with over the next few years.
After she talked with me and Nathan, she took a tour of the house and chatted with the kids as she went along. We really appreciated that about her. She didn't freak out the kids by pulling them individually aside and trying to get them to talk with her--a stranger. She has kids of her own so I think that gives her a greater understanding of how to get kids to talk--when they are comfortable. She asked them if they were excited about getting a new sister and of course they said, "Yes!"
So the big visit is done and it's back to finishing up paperwork. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! For now, the next 2 big things to pray for is the psychiatrist to finish his letter (he said he'd have it done by today) and the CPA to do his paperwork.
Other than that, we just sit and wait for the Homestudy to be done and to get a fingerprint appointment with BCIS so we can get clearance from our government to bring an orphan into the country.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
After she talked with me and Nathan, she took a tour of the house and chatted with the kids as she went along. We really appreciated that about her. She didn't freak out the kids by pulling them individually aside and trying to get them to talk with her--a stranger. She has kids of her own so I think that gives her a greater understanding of how to get kids to talk--when they are comfortable. She asked them if they were excited about getting a new sister and of course they said, "Yes!"
So the big visit is done and it's back to finishing up paperwork. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! For now, the next 2 big things to pray for is the psychiatrist to finish his letter (he said he'd have it done by today) and the CPA to do his paperwork.
Other than that, we just sit and wait for the Homestudy to be done and to get a fingerprint appointment with BCIS so we can get clearance from our government to bring an orphan into the country.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
God's Orchestration
I love to sit back and see the amazing way God orchestrates things. In the spring of 2007, as my oldest daughter played T-ball, we started to notice that there was something not right about her feet. They not only splayed out like a duck, but they also rolled inward quite a bit. My husband and I thought it was just us that noticed, but when others began to notice, we thought we'd better get it checked out.
We did just that and it ended her up at an Orthopedic Surgeon at the Children's Hospital. The initial thought was that she was going to need surgery because some of the bones in her feet were fusing together. However, after a CT Scan of her feet, the Orthopedic Surgeon decided to not do surgery--at least not yet. He told us that the surgery was for pain management and since she was not having any pain at this point, it was pointless to do the surgery. In fact, it may end up causing her pain she wasn't having previous.
Now how does this relate to our adoption? When we began this journey, we never would've thought we'd be where we are today--getting ready to adopt a "special needs" child. But through our oldest daughter, God prepared us for what He had in store. He prepared our hearts to be open to a child that may need an Orthopedic Surgeon. Funny how that works. Previous to our oldest daughter and her foot issues, I don't think we would've even considered a child with orthopedic needs and we certainly wouldn't have known an Orthopedic Surgeon in which to consult with.
Amazing how God sets us up for what He has in store for us, isn't it?
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
We did just that and it ended her up at an Orthopedic Surgeon at the Children's Hospital. The initial thought was that she was going to need surgery because some of the bones in her feet were fusing together. However, after a CT Scan of her feet, the Orthopedic Surgeon decided to not do surgery--at least not yet. He told us that the surgery was for pain management and since she was not having any pain at this point, it was pointless to do the surgery. In fact, it may end up causing her pain she wasn't having previous.
Now how does this relate to our adoption? When we began this journey, we never would've thought we'd be where we are today--getting ready to adopt a "special needs" child. But through our oldest daughter, God prepared us for what He had in store. He prepared our hearts to be open to a child that may need an Orthopedic Surgeon. Funny how that works. Previous to our oldest daughter and her foot issues, I don't think we would've even considered a child with orthopedic needs and we certainly wouldn't have known an Orthopedic Surgeon in which to consult with.
Amazing how God sets us up for what He has in store for us, isn't it?
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Re-scheduled Visit
Our adoption social worker visit has been re-scheduled for this Thursday, January 10th at 3:00pm. We would appreciate prayer coverage. Thanks!
Also, continue to pray for 1 document that needs to be done and 2 that need to be wrapped up.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Also, continue to pray for 1 document that needs to be done and 2 that need to be wrapped up.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Cancellation
Yesterday, our social worker's boss called to let us know that she would be unable to make her appointment with us. It's quite frustrating, but I think my kids were relieved since I had them in the "don't touch and don't move mode" for fear they'd mess up something before she came! I don't know if it was a relief or a bummer to them because now we have to clean everything up again!
Our social worker should be calling this morning to reschedule. I will post again when I know the new time to pray.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Our social worker should be calling this morning to reschedule. I will post again when I know the new time to pray.
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The Paperchase
Happy New Year to everyone! Now that our holidays are over and Russia's two week holiday has just begun, meaning everything is shut down over there, I've put my running shoes back on. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel in regards to our paperwork, but yet we are not quite there yet. At this point, there are a few things you can pray specifically for.
First, we have a few documents that need to be returned to us from professionals that are writing them. We also have one specific document we are hoping will come in the mail each day. It is that elusive document that was sent away as a shot in the dark. Pray for it to come to light--right into our mailbox!
Secondly, we had a CPA set up to put together some documents for us. He backed out recently because he felt uncomfortable with being required to word things in a specific way for the Russian Federation. He didn't want to end up legally liable for something in the future. It's frustrating that he's backed out, but yet we respect his decision. Nathan has two more tools in his pocket for these documents so he will be contacting them tomorrow. Pray for one of his CPA friends to be willing to do this for us, for free and quickly!
Third, we are still going back and forth with our original agency. At this point, it looks like they are willing to apply our money anywhere within their own agency, but are not willing to refund anything. God can do amazing things. Please pray for Nathan as he carefully words each response. At this point, we know we are released from their contract, we just want our money back!
Lastly, our homestudy. Please pray for it to be done at rabbit's pace and not the snail's pace that it is currently moving at. Their usual timeline would put it at being done at the end of January, if we are lucky. We need it done much faster than that. Only God's mighty right hand could get it done sooner.
Also, please remember that our adoption social worker comes to our home on Monday, January 7th at 3:00 pm. Prayer coverage during that time would be greatly appreciated!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
First, we have a few documents that need to be returned to us from professionals that are writing them. We also have one specific document we are hoping will come in the mail each day. It is that elusive document that was sent away as a shot in the dark. Pray for it to come to light--right into our mailbox!
Secondly, we had a CPA set up to put together some documents for us. He backed out recently because he felt uncomfortable with being required to word things in a specific way for the Russian Federation. He didn't want to end up legally liable for something in the future. It's frustrating that he's backed out, but yet we respect his decision. Nathan has two more tools in his pocket for these documents so he will be contacting them tomorrow. Pray for one of his CPA friends to be willing to do this for us, for free and quickly!
Third, we are still going back and forth with our original agency. At this point, it looks like they are willing to apply our money anywhere within their own agency, but are not willing to refund anything. God can do amazing things. Please pray for Nathan as he carefully words each response. At this point, we know we are released from their contract, we just want our money back!
Lastly, our homestudy. Please pray for it to be done at rabbit's pace and not the snail's pace that it is currently moving at. Their usual timeline would put it at being done at the end of January, if we are lucky. We need it done much faster than that. Only God's mighty right hand could get it done sooner.
Also, please remember that our adoption social worker comes to our home on Monday, January 7th at 3:00 pm. Prayer coverage during that time would be greatly appreciated!
II Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
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