We were given the go-ahead to get our plane tickets! They are now officially in our hands (as much as e-tickets can be, I guess).
We leave next Friday, May 9, early in the morning from Orlando. Our local friends can fight over who wants to drive us there :) From there, we fly to JFK in New York and wait for part of the day until our direct flight to Moscow, which arrives there Saturday morning. Then we'll be in the car (don't worry, someone else will be driving) for 4-5 hours to get to the region where we will be staying. We'll have Sunday to recover/explore and on Monday, May 12, we will meet the baby boy who is waiting for us! If all goes well, we will sign off and submit paperwork so that the wait between trips will be as short as possible - it will be so hard to leave without him.
We'll be arriving back in town on Saturday night, May 17, around 10 pm in Orlando. Our local friends can fight over who gets to pick us up :)
Please pray for our planning details - lots to do and a week to do it!
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
update
Well, we fixed one paperwork glitch, then the Russian Department of Education (which runs the orphanage system) found another. We have hopefully fixed it today and the document is in the mail. It involved Rob taking the day off to drive to Tallahassee, so we sure hope this will be the last of the re-doing paperwork for our initial application in the region.
Unfortunately, this may mean we need to wait one more week before we travel -- so we'd leave around May 16 instead of May 9. This is disappointing, but buying tickets this late would also be really expensive so maybe there is some advantage to waiting a week. (I'm just trying to convince myself - you know we would leave TOMORROW if we could!).
Meanwhile, we are finalizing the last few documents for bringing on our trip. The travel process will roughly go like this:
day 1: travel all day, including a 4-5 hour car ride from Moscow after we fly in
day 2: sleep/recover all day
day 3: meet our baby boy!!
day 4: visit him again!
day 5: hopefully visit him again and "sign on the dotted line" to request his name to be removed from the list of available children for adoption
day 6: travel back to Moscow (without our boy) and get our medical exam there
day 7: head home
There may be another day of buffer in there, but that is basically what the trip will look like.
I have heard the time after we get home is the worst - we will know our son and yet we will not be able to get him until we have a court date in Russia. Heart-wrenching! The wait is usually 1-2 months, so we hope to return in mid-late summer. However, you may remember that Russians take long summer vacations, so it will depend on what the judge's vacation schedule looks like. Friends of ours traveled on their first trip in late May last year and didn't get to go back until early August. We hope ours will go faster, but there are no guarantees.
I'll update the blog when our travel dates are finalized or when there is any news!
Unfortunately, this may mean we need to wait one more week before we travel -- so we'd leave around May 16 instead of May 9. This is disappointing, but buying tickets this late would also be really expensive so maybe there is some advantage to waiting a week. (I'm just trying to convince myself - you know we would leave TOMORROW if we could!).
Meanwhile, we are finalizing the last few documents for bringing on our trip. The travel process will roughly go like this:
day 1: travel all day, including a 4-5 hour car ride from Moscow after we fly in
day 2: sleep/recover all day
day 3: meet our baby boy!!
day 4: visit him again!
day 5: hopefully visit him again and "sign on the dotted line" to request his name to be removed from the list of available children for adoption
day 6: travel back to Moscow (without our boy) and get our medical exam there
day 7: head home
There may be another day of buffer in there, but that is basically what the trip will look like.
I have heard the time after we get home is the worst - we will know our son and yet we will not be able to get him until we have a court date in Russia. Heart-wrenching! The wait is usually 1-2 months, so we hope to return in mid-late summer. However, you may remember that Russians take long summer vacations, so it will depend on what the judge's vacation schedule looks like. Friends of ours traveled on their first trip in late May last year and didn't get to go back until early August. We hope ours will go faster, but there are no guarantees.
I'll update the blog when our travel dates are finalized or when there is any news!
Monday, April 28, 2008
GOD IS GOOD!
We finally have some good news to share - it is REALLY good news. Brace yourself!!
The last-ditch effort in Russia has been successful! On Friday we were told that we will be invited to travel in May to meet a baby boy. He is 10 months old right now!! In fact, we were told to plan to leave on May 9! We will provide you more details as we finalize the trip, but for now just REJOICE with us!!!
However, this is Russian adoption, so there has already been one glitch - one form that needs updating - so we may be delayed by a week or so if we're not able to get it in time (yes, it's from the old home study agency - argh!). Please pray for that to work out easily this week. I have sent them a pleading email and will call tomorrow :) Please also pray for all the documents to work out that we need to bring with us.
We will post all kinds of details soon. Thanks for your prayers! God is faithful and he is opening a door for us!
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
The last-ditch effort in Russia has been successful! On Friday we were told that we will be invited to travel in May to meet a baby boy. He is 10 months old right now!! In fact, we were told to plan to leave on May 9! We will provide you more details as we finalize the trip, but for now just REJOICE with us!!!
However, this is Russian adoption, so there has already been one glitch - one form that needs updating - so we may be delayed by a week or so if we're not able to get it in time (yes, it's from the old home study agency - argh!). Please pray for that to work out easily this week. I have sent them a pleading email and will call tomorrow :) Please also pray for all the documents to work out that we need to bring with us.
We will post all kinds of details soon. Thanks for your prayers! God is faithful and he is opening a door for us!
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
moving along
We are feeling optimistic these days that something is going to work out for us. There may be more waiting involved, but we are gradually getting used to the idea.
There is a small chance that one last-ditch effort in Russia could work out. It is in a different region (one that allows adoption of children with minor/no health issues) and our paperwork has been moved there. We should know in about a week whether our case might move forward there.
The more likely scenario is that we will switch gears and seek a domestic adoption. We have been investigating many different options, and have found one very positive thing: we can get on waiting lists at several different attorney's offices and agencies at the same time. We have selected a few attorney's offices in Florida (all specializing in adoptions) and have also narrowed down to a couple of agencies (which have higher up-front fees, so we will probably just pick one). Getting on these waiting lists is very simple compared to the Russian paperwork, so we will be able to be set up within a matter of a couple of weeks.
How long of a wait will we be talking about? Well, in domestic adoption there is not really a "line" that we stand in. Instead, when a prospective birthmother meets with an adoption attorney/agency, she tells them what she prioritizes in an adoptive family and the attorney/agency gives her information about several families that might interest her. Then she can choose who she would like. Our hope is that we will be an appealing family so that we don't have to wait much more than a year or so. It can happen faster, but typical estimates are 12-18 months. We would probably be matched to the birthmother during her pregnancy and then bring home the baby from the hospital once she has signed her relinquishment (if she decides for sure to do it). Florida law is strong on making sure no adoptive family takes home a baby until it is certain that they will be allowed to keep him/her, so we have some comfort in that.
We'd appreciate your prayers on a few fronts:
* We need sound sleep. Both of us have had some trouble in the last couple of weeks as we've had to think about so many things as well as the regular daily commitments of life.
* We need a final answer on Russia within a week, and we need the strength to fully cut ties if this last effort does not succeed.
* We need wisdom in choosing a domestic adoption agency. We have met with one that we really like, but we're concerned because they are very new. There is a more established one that we could use, but we don't have a really great feeling about them.
* I need energy for these last 2 weeks of teaching/writing exams/grading exams/grading projects. Making decisions about the adoption takes a lot of energy and time, and I want to be sure to serve my students well. Similarly with research - I need to be keeping up better with coauthors on some projects that aren't moving forward at the pace I'd like.
Thanks so much for your encouragement and prayers! We will let you know when we take our next steps.
There is a small chance that one last-ditch effort in Russia could work out. It is in a different region (one that allows adoption of children with minor/no health issues) and our paperwork has been moved there. We should know in about a week whether our case might move forward there.
The more likely scenario is that we will switch gears and seek a domestic adoption. We have been investigating many different options, and have found one very positive thing: we can get on waiting lists at several different attorney's offices and agencies at the same time. We have selected a few attorney's offices in Florida (all specializing in adoptions) and have also narrowed down to a couple of agencies (which have higher up-front fees, so we will probably just pick one). Getting on these waiting lists is very simple compared to the Russian paperwork, so we will be able to be set up within a matter of a couple of weeks.
How long of a wait will we be talking about? Well, in domestic adoption there is not really a "line" that we stand in. Instead, when a prospective birthmother meets with an adoption attorney/agency, she tells them what she prioritizes in an adoptive family and the attorney/agency gives her information about several families that might interest her. Then she can choose who she would like. Our hope is that we will be an appealing family so that we don't have to wait much more than a year or so. It can happen faster, but typical estimates are 12-18 months. We would probably be matched to the birthmother during her pregnancy and then bring home the baby from the hospital once she has signed her relinquishment (if she decides for sure to do it). Florida law is strong on making sure no adoptive family takes home a baby until it is certain that they will be allowed to keep him/her, so we have some comfort in that.
We'd appreciate your prayers on a few fronts:
* We need sound sleep. Both of us have had some trouble in the last couple of weeks as we've had to think about so many things as well as the regular daily commitments of life.
* We need a final answer on Russia within a week, and we need the strength to fully cut ties if this last effort does not succeed.
* We need wisdom in choosing a domestic adoption agency. We have met with one that we really like, but we're concerned because they are very new. There is a more established one that we could use, but we don't have a really great feeling about them.
* I need energy for these last 2 weeks of teaching/writing exams/grading exams/grading projects. Making decisions about the adoption takes a lot of energy and time, and I want to be sure to serve my students well. Similarly with research - I need to be keeping up better with coauthors on some projects that aren't moving forward at the pace I'd like.
Thanks so much for your encouragement and prayers! We will let you know when we take our next steps.
Monday, April 07, 2008
in case you're waiting for an update...
...we don't have too much to say. We have been exploring some possible open doors, but I don't want to give details here since nothing is set in stone. Suffice it to say, it looks like we are changing directions, and in some ways this is a big relief!
I'll post here when we have made any official decisions...for now, we are researching options while letting our current process sit where it is. Our alternatives look better than we expected, I think, and it is encouraging for us to know that there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks for keeping up with us on our slooooowwwwwww journey.
I'll post here when we have made any official decisions...for now, we are researching options while letting our current process sit where it is. Our alternatives look better than we expected, I think, and it is encouraging for us to know that there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks for keeping up with us on our slooooowwwwwww journey.
Friday, March 28, 2008
short update
Well, no referral yet.
However, the plot has thickened and the news is not good. At least one family that has now traveled to our region, with our agency, has found that the government there will not refer any healthy children to foreigners - so they had the heartbreaking experience of declining two separate referrals who were very severely sick. They were not told about the illness of the first child until they arrived. They are home now - please keep them in your prayers as they mourn this experience and decide what to do next.
As for us - we need to talk to our agency, but obviously it's not looking good. Please pray as we likely make a decision about our next step. We would like to see where God might be opening a door for us.
It's a good thing our optimism is always cautious - it seems we continue to be tested right now.
However, the plot has thickened and the news is not good. At least one family that has now traveled to our region, with our agency, has found that the government there will not refer any healthy children to foreigners - so they had the heartbreaking experience of declining two separate referrals who were very severely sick. They were not told about the illness of the first child until they arrived. They are home now - please keep them in your prayers as they mourn this experience and decide what to do next.
As for us - we need to talk to our agency, but obviously it's not looking good. Please pray as we likely make a decision about our next step. We would like to see where God might be opening a door for us.
It's a good thing our optimism is always cautious - it seems we continue to be tested right now.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Continuing to move forward
About a week ago, our caseworker sent us an email saying that now that our first set of paperwork is there, registered with the Russian government, we should start preparing the paperwork that will be needed to arrange the 2nd trip. The idea is that we will bring that paperwork with us on the first trip, so that we can submit it in person to the court system as soon as we accept a child, hopefully shortening the gap between trips. The reason we didn't prepare it earlier is that some of this paperwork expires within 3 months of the signature - which means she thinks we are likely to be completely done within 3 months. That would be glorious!
So let me tell you a bit about the last week to give you the picture of what we've been up to, and to explain why we haven't had time to blog:
1) contacted county property appraiser's office to get a form listing characteristics of our home - needed to be signed and notarized. Received it on Thursday but the notary stamp was not strong enough (couldn't quite read the name). Asked for a new one and got it on Saturday!
2) contacted our doctors to get appointments (earliest available were this coming Monday for Rob and Wednesday for me) - they'll need to do bloodwork (HIV test, etc) and then we will have them sign our forms ASAP
3) got proof of employment forms from our employers - signed and notarized
4) got fingerprints done at the University Police Department to send to the FBI for a new background check - sent on Wednesday
5) sent an order form to MN for new certified copies of our marriage license on Monday, received them back on Friday (amazing!), sent them back to MN Secretary of State for Apostilles (approval notices that the copies are truly certified)
6) sent a request to our home study agency (the old one) for 4 forms on Monday - received them on Saturday and ALL OF THEM WERE PERFECT!! Praise God.
7) got a few other forms notarized by my office manager (thanks Laura!)
8) sent request to FL Department of Health for a letter verifying that licensed doctors in the state of Florida are qualified to do adoption-related physicals (!)
9) made an appointment with a psychiatrist to get a letter attesting to our mental health (our two exams by psychologists are not good enough, since they don't have MD degrees and our region of Siberia requires this) - that will be Monday the 31st.
We have experienced so much help and cooperation from so many people this week! Please pray for the last few particulars to be taken care of in a timely manner: letter from Secretary of State, letter from Dep't of Health, Apostilled marriage certificates from MN, and doctor/psychiatrist letters. It's a lot to ask, but God is powerful. We hope to bring all of these with us on our first trip to Russia.
There is another family with our agency who became registered in the region just before us (within a week) while we were waiting for the one additional document we had to send. They received a call 2 days after their application was submitted with a referral and travel date; they were asked to show up in Russia 9 days later (they arrived there yesterday!). Our application is only a few days behind theirs, so it looks like big news might be right around the corner. It's tricky to balance the excitement and nerves, and yet have the appropriate caution and reasonable expectations.
We are hanging in there and will update you with whatever we hear!
So let me tell you a bit about the last week to give you the picture of what we've been up to, and to explain why we haven't had time to blog:
1) contacted county property appraiser's office to get a form listing characteristics of our home - needed to be signed and notarized. Received it on Thursday but the notary stamp was not strong enough (couldn't quite read the name). Asked for a new one and got it on Saturday!
2) contacted our doctors to get appointments (earliest available were this coming Monday for Rob and Wednesday for me) - they'll need to do bloodwork (HIV test, etc) and then we will have them sign our forms ASAP
3) got proof of employment forms from our employers - signed and notarized
4) got fingerprints done at the University Police Department to send to the FBI for a new background check - sent on Wednesday
5) sent an order form to MN for new certified copies of our marriage license on Monday, received them back on Friday (amazing!), sent them back to MN Secretary of State for Apostilles (approval notices that the copies are truly certified)
6) sent a request to our home study agency (the old one) for 4 forms on Monday - received them on Saturday and ALL OF THEM WERE PERFECT!! Praise God.
7) got a few other forms notarized by my office manager (thanks Laura!)
8) sent request to FL Department of Health for a letter verifying that licensed doctors in the state of Florida are qualified to do adoption-related physicals (!)
9) made an appointment with a psychiatrist to get a letter attesting to our mental health (our two exams by psychologists are not good enough, since they don't have MD degrees and our region of Siberia requires this) - that will be Monday the 31st.
We have experienced so much help and cooperation from so many people this week! Please pray for the last few particulars to be taken care of in a timely manner: letter from Secretary of State, letter from Dep't of Health, Apostilled marriage certificates from MN, and doctor/psychiatrist letters. It's a lot to ask, but God is powerful. We hope to bring all of these with us on our first trip to Russia.
There is another family with our agency who became registered in the region just before us (within a week) while we were waiting for the one additional document we had to send. They received a call 2 days after their application was submitted with a referral and travel date; they were asked to show up in Russia 9 days later (they arrived there yesterday!). Our application is only a few days behind theirs, so it looks like big news might be right around the corner. It's tricky to balance the excitement and nerves, and yet have the appropriate caution and reasonable expectations.
We are hanging in there and will update you with whatever we hear!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Document submitted in Russia today!
We got word from our caseworker that our new form arrived in Russia yesterday and is being submitted today!
I asked for a timeline for a referral of a child, expecting to be told it would be totally unpredictable, and she seems to think it will be a matter of weeks (not months). I have become cautious about getting excited about things too early, but I am optimistic that it won't be too much longer now!
I asked for a timeline for a referral of a child, expecting to be told it would be totally unpredictable, and she seems to think it will be a matter of weeks (not months). I have become cautious about getting excited about things too early, but I am optimistic that it won't be too much longer now!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Document is on its way
Just a quick update - our agency director received the form that Rob sent, and as of Monday he had already sent it on to Russia. We hope it will arrive there by the end of the week, and then next week we will inquire with our agency to see if they have an update on the status of our dossier (since it will then be fully ready for a referral). Our only sense of the time frame here is that it shouldn't be too long. In my mind, I'm thinking we might hear something in April and travel for our first trip in May. But it could be quicker or slower....this is just my current guesstimate.
As soon as we know more, you will too!
As soon as we know more, you will too!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Looks like we are moving in the right directions
Amazingly, in less than 10 business days (9 to be exact) we heard back from our caseworker on Wednesday. We learned that there was only one document that the Department of Education in Russia wanted us to redo! It is a really silly one too - they wanted something reworded that was a complete technicality. They didn't seem to mind the other forms that do not have the right region's name on them.
The timing on this was a little hectic, because I was heading out of town on Thursday and we suddenly had this document to redo, plus a bunch of other little stuff I needed to finish before leaving town. Luckily we were able to get the new form done (we just needed to sign and get notarized) and then Rob drove to Tallassee yesterday to get it apostilled and sent to our agency. It will arrive there this morning, and they will be sending it along to Russia! Talk about quick turnaround on our end - we had the form to them in about 40 hours from when we heard we needed it. Hope we never have to try to break that record!
Our caseworker also said that it would be a good idea if we signed region-appropriate versions of a couple of forms that the Department of Education had not rejected, but that our facilitator in Russia thought we should have on hand. We did these as well, but unfortunately one of them needs to come from our home study agency (the old one, since their home study is in our packet that has been - almost - accepted now). Rob is going to deal with them and hopefully we can get that form next week sometime and send it along. But it is not as urgent, thank goodness.
So while we do not yet have a referral of a child, the caseworker basically said "They are still searching for a referral for you, they just want this one form done differently." So we are on the radar!
I expect our fixed-up document will get to Russia by the end of next week, so perhaps we'll have more news by early the following week. I'll keep you all in the loop!
Sarah
The timing on this was a little hectic, because I was heading out of town on Thursday and we suddenly had this document to redo, plus a bunch of other little stuff I needed to finish before leaving town. Luckily we were able to get the new form done (we just needed to sign and get notarized) and then Rob drove to Tallassee yesterday to get it apostilled and sent to our agency. It will arrive there this morning, and they will be sending it along to Russia! Talk about quick turnaround on our end - we had the form to them in about 40 hours from when we heard we needed it. Hope we never have to try to break that record!
Our caseworker also said that it would be a good idea if we signed region-appropriate versions of a couple of forms that the Department of Education had not rejected, but that our facilitator in Russia thought we should have on hand. We did these as well, but unfortunately one of them needs to come from our home study agency (the old one, since their home study is in our packet that has been - almost - accepted now). Rob is going to deal with them and hopefully we can get that form next week sometime and send it along. But it is not as urgent, thank goodness.
So while we do not yet have a referral of a child, the caseworker basically said "They are still searching for a referral for you, they just want this one form done differently." So we are on the radar!
I expect our fixed-up document will get to Russia by the end of next week, so perhaps we'll have more news by early the following week. I'll keep you all in the loop!
Sarah
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