We Are Getting There

This has been a productive week!  We got our fingerprints taken locally and sent off to get the ok from the FBI.  We slid in a day early at USCIS (Immigration)  and got those fingerprints done.  I got a document from the accountant that I had needed.  We have an appointment next week to get Peyton's passport.  So our next step will be to get all the documents notarized.   A sweet friend from the bank has offered to do the notarizing.  Praise God things are going smoothly.

I have been wondering a lot lately about what it's like living in an orphanage when the holidays come around.  I think Thanksgiving is an American holiday so Ukraine doesn't celebrate that and they celebrate Christmas in January.  I asked Peyton if they celebrate birthdays at the orphanage.  She said at the boarding school the director gave her a chocolate bar (and I have to add, Ukraine has the best chocolate bars) and said Happy Birthday but no one sang Happy Birthday.  At the orphanage where we found her, they did not celebrate birthdays or acknowledge that it was even their birthday. That just makes me so sad.  When I asked her about Christmas she said they did a performance for the teachers and other children at the orphanage and they each got a box of candy. No mention of the true meaning of Christmas.  

Sooo, we have decided that since A can't be with us for Christmas, we are going to send a piece of our family Christmas to her.  The kids are going to make cards for her and we will send some pictures and a few small gifts.  We are going to pray over that box and know that when it arrives and she opens it, that she will feel the love that we already have for her.

No more Thanksgiving, Christmas or birthday alone.   We are on our way sweet girl and you will never be alone again.

~Tina

   

                   

November 15

It's the 15th again.  It seems like the months are flying by.  It is time draw another name from our Adoption Puzzle Fundraiser.

And the winner this month is BS.

She wins this cool bird whistle, handmade in Ukraine.

Just a reminder that next month we will be doing 2 drawings on the 15th.  One of those will be for those who donated $50 or more to our Adoption Puzzle Fundraiser.  And that prize will be the large matryoshka doll.

Here is our puzzle showing the pieces that have been spoken for on the black box.  We have quite a ways to go but I know we serve an awesome God that provides for our needs and He knows.

Thank you to all that have donated.  I hope that you are as blessed as you have blessed us.

~Tina

I love the words to the following song.  So I ask, what fire has God started in you that you need to pursue?

Another Step

Today we received a letter from USCIS that we have our fingerprint appointment on Nov. 23, just a little over 3 weeks after we mailed our documents to them.  Awesomeness!  So what I thought would be our last document to receive is coming early.  Yaaa, but that means we have to get moving on getting our FBI clearance, which is a new document this time. We have to go to our local police station and get our fingerprints done on fingerprint cards (not electronically).  Then mail those off to a company in Chicago that does FBI background checks.  When we receive that letter back from them, then we send that to the US Department of State in VA to get it authenticated and returned to us.  

It is all coming together and we are getting so excited to think that in a few short months we will be there to see her.  We are hoping that when our documents do get to Ukraine, that the Ministry of Social Policy (formally the State Department of Adoption) will still be open and taking applications as they close down some in Dec/Jan.  I keep reminding myself, God's timing is perfect timing!  I repeat that to myself a lot these days.

All is well on the home front and I am still sooo enjoying this stay at home mom thing.  I know my kids are so much better for it!  It is nice waking up in the morning during the week knowing I am doing what I was called to do.  Thank you God for this life you have given me!

~Tina

Another picture of A.