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