Well, as of today it's been 5 weeks since our dossier was sent to Russia. We're so anxious to hear anything regarding travel dates. We are really hoping to travel at least once this summer as it would be so much easier on us and for the kids...but summer is quickly fading and the whole month of June is almost behind us! When we do travel, we're told our first trip will only be 4-7 days. My parents have agreed to keep the kids while we're gone. If it's during the school year, mom and dad volunteered to come stay at our house and keep them in order to make it easier on everybody!
In the meantime, my sweet mom has been helping with the redecorating process! Hadley is changing rooms and will now occupy the former guest room. Although it's smaller than her original bedroom, it's closer to our room and she'll have her own bathroom so she's really excited. She chose a paint color called green gecko and so Mom and I (mostly mom) painted it last week. If you've ever seen a granny smith apple, then you can imagine what green gecko looks like. For those of you who ever come to visit Hadley, wear your sunglasses - you'll need them inside her room! The crown moulding should be complete by today and we'll get her furniture moved in hopefully tomorrow.
Once her old room is cleared out, we'll start redecorating it for Seth. He's chosen a lovely CAMO theme to go along with his all-camo, all-the-time mentality! I have to give him credit - when he finds something he loves, he sticks with it! Even though I hate wallpaper, I think this will be the best option for his room and I'm trying to convince him that less is more in the camo department and that we should only cover one wall! My multi-talented mom wallpapers too so she'll be helping with this project as well!
When Seth's new room is finished, we'll redo his former room for "Baby Russ." I'm not sure that Seth or Hadley realize it, but Baby Russ will now have the biggest bedroom with the best view! I'm so excited for him and I think he'll love it. We're thinking about a cowboy theme since we already have a complete rustic cedar bedroom suite!
So...that's what we've been up to lately. How's your summer so far?
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Notice of Favorable Determination
Well, we're back from our vacation and there in our big pile of mail was a document we've been waiting on for four months! It's called the Notice of Favorable Determination and it's regarding our Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. Basically, it means that somebody, somewhere has determined that we are "able to furnish proper care to an orphan or orphans..." It's a very important document and we're glad it finally came!
Today I had to get it notarized, certified by the County Clerk, and apostilled by the Secretary of State's office. So I made yet another trip to Frankfort. I grabbed a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, a diet Dr. Pepper and off I went. To offset the all-time-high gas prices, I decided to ride with my windows down and no air-conditioning. For those of you who know me, I'm always cold, so I must say, the 90 degree breeze actually felt nice. I sang along to the music on my favorite radio station Air1 - 95.3 - and had a rather enjoyable afternoon. (Thanks Bobbi T. for keeping Hadley for me today!) Personally, I'm just thankful that we live so close to the State Capital and that I can run these documents over myself. For some people, it takes several extra days of waiting b/c it's too far of a drive to their capital and the documents must be mailed.
It's been four weeks now since our dossier went over and still no word on travel dates! It can take up to 12 weeks so I'm not concerned, just anxious! At one point I was told that on average, it takes about 4 weeks to hear anything, so we're hoping for some news any day now! Of course I'll keep you updated.
I was hoping to post more pictures from our vacation, but so far, I haven't been able to figure out how. Daren and Seth get back from FL tomorrow so maybe Daren can help me!
Hope everyone is still having a great summer!
Today I had to get it notarized, certified by the County Clerk, and apostilled by the Secretary of State's office. So I made yet another trip to Frankfort. I grabbed a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, a diet Dr. Pepper and off I went. To offset the all-time-high gas prices, I decided to ride with my windows down and no air-conditioning. For those of you who know me, I'm always cold, so I must say, the 90 degree breeze actually felt nice. I sang along to the music on my favorite radio station Air1 - 95.3 - and had a rather enjoyable afternoon. (Thanks Bobbi T. for keeping Hadley for me today!) Personally, I'm just thankful that we live so close to the State Capital and that I can run these documents over myself. For some people, it takes several extra days of waiting b/c it's too far of a drive to their capital and the documents must be mailed.
It's been four weeks now since our dossier went over and still no word on travel dates! It can take up to 12 weeks so I'm not concerned, just anxious! At one point I was told that on average, it takes about 4 weeks to hear anything, so we're hoping for some news any day now! Of course I'll keep you updated.
I was hoping to post more pictures from our vacation, but so far, I haven't been able to figure out how. Daren and Seth get back from FL tomorrow so maybe Daren can help me!
Hope everyone is still having a great summer!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Snow in June
Hello family and friends! We're having a great time in Colorado. The weather is beautiful. Saturday, we spent the afternoon hiking around Maroon Lake in the shadow of Maroon Bells, a beautiful mountain formation named for its color and shape! It was gorgeous. The kids even had a snowball fight as there was still some snow at this elevation.
Father's Day was relaxing as we spent the afternoon strolling around downtown Aspen. It was a wonderful day, but of course, our thoughts were with our little one in Russia and Father's Day wasn't complete without him! Next year, we certainly hope to have him with us on this special day. Still no word on travel dates, so we continue to wait as patiently as possible.
Today, we visited Glenwood Springs Adventure Park and tested our strength against a mechanical bull. It was very comical and we were all impressed to see our 65 year old Grandaddy "take that bull by the horns" and show him what he was made of! Seth, Hadley and even Abby all gave it a shot! Grams gave us all a laugh whooping it up on the Bungee Trampoline. She and Grandaddy were both very good sports throughout the day, tunneling through the Fairy Caves and barreling down the Alpine Slide!
Tomorrow, we're looking forward to Whitewater Rafting down the Colorado River and the guys will try their hand at fly fishing on Thursday!
We miss everyone back home! Hope you're having a great summer break.
Father's Day was relaxing as we spent the afternoon strolling around downtown Aspen. It was a wonderful day, but of course, our thoughts were with our little one in Russia and Father's Day wasn't complete without him! Next year, we certainly hope to have him with us on this special day. Still no word on travel dates, so we continue to wait as patiently as possible.
Today, we visited Glenwood Springs Adventure Park and tested our strength against a mechanical bull. It was very comical and we were all impressed to see our 65 year old Grandaddy "take that bull by the horns" and show him what he was made of! Seth, Hadley and even Abby all gave it a shot! Grams gave us all a laugh whooping it up on the Bungee Trampoline. She and Grandaddy were both very good sports throughout the day, tunneling through the Fairy Caves and barreling down the Alpine Slide!
Tomorrow, we're looking forward to Whitewater Rafting down the Colorado River and the guys will try their hand at fly fishing on Thursday!
We miss everyone back home! Hope you're having a great summer break.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Heading to Colorado
Well, today we leave for the cool mountains of Colorado! We'll be there through June 22. My parents, sister and brother-in-law along with their 2 kids are all going with us. We haven't taken a family trip like this in years, so we're looking very forward to it. We're excited to get away, but of course we were hoping to have heard some news by now. Adoption is truly a lesson in patience!
Hope everyone out there is enjoying your summer! We'll try to post some pics while we're gone. Hopefully this is the last family vacation we'll take without our newest addition!
Hope everyone out there is enjoying your summer! We'll try to post some pics while we're gone. Hopefully this is the last family vacation we'll take without our newest addition!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
About 2 years ago, God began to work very strongly on my heart about the possibility of adoption for our family. He crossed my path with that of our neighbor who had already adopted a little boy from Siberia. He spoke to me through a sermon at our church regarding international adoption. Over time, the urge to adopt became even stronger and clear that it was God's will for our family.
During that time, my husband Daren was involved in a plane crash. On September 19, 2007, at 8:00 in the evening, a small plane my husband, his father and uncle were aboard, fell from the Chatanooga sky. After skimming a parking lot and crushing three cars, the plane came to rest on the edge of a busy highway. All three passengers and the pilot survived the crash with Daren suffering from three cracked vertebrae.
For the moment, ideas about adoption took a backseat to recovery.
Fast forward four months to January, 2008. Christmas had passed and the New Year was just beginning . That's when Daren came to me to say he too was ready to adopt! He had been given a second chance and truly desired to extend that grace to someone else!
Without delay, that evening we registered online with our adoption agency. In just a few short months, we've completed our fingerprinting, Home Study and dossier and have received a referral for a three-year-old boy!
Our family is so excited and axiously awaiting travel dates to Russia, which we've been told will probably come some time within the next 9 weeks or so. Of course we're hoping it's very soon! We'd love to travel this summer and meet our little boy for the first time!
Our two biological children are thrilled as well. They can't wait for the day our family is finally complete.
Since January, I've been following a few adoption blogs and found that it's a great way to follow the process, know what to expect and keep others updated as well. That's why I've started my own. I'm new to this whole process so I'm learning as I go, but hopefully this will serve as a way to connect and stay in touch with those of you who are interested!
Stay tuned - there is so much more to come!
During that time, my husband Daren was involved in a plane crash. On September 19, 2007, at 8:00 in the evening, a small plane my husband, his father and uncle were aboard, fell from the Chatanooga sky. After skimming a parking lot and crushing three cars, the plane came to rest on the edge of a busy highway. All three passengers and the pilot survived the crash with Daren suffering from three cracked vertebrae.
For the moment, ideas about adoption took a backseat to recovery.
Fast forward four months to January, 2008. Christmas had passed and the New Year was just beginning . That's when Daren came to me to say he too was ready to adopt! He had been given a second chance and truly desired to extend that grace to someone else!
Without delay, that evening we registered online with our adoption agency. In just a few short months, we've completed our fingerprinting, Home Study and dossier and have received a referral for a three-year-old boy!
Our family is so excited and axiously awaiting travel dates to Russia, which we've been told will probably come some time within the next 9 weeks or so. Of course we're hoping it's very soon! We'd love to travel this summer and meet our little boy for the first time!
Our two biological children are thrilled as well. They can't wait for the day our family is finally complete.
Since January, I've been following a few adoption blogs and found that it's a great way to follow the process, know what to expect and keep others updated as well. That's why I've started my own. I'm new to this whole process so I'm learning as I go, but hopefully this will serve as a way to connect and stay in touch with those of you who are interested!
Stay tuned - there is so much more to come!
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