Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Homestudy Draft

We already got our first homestudy draft yesterday. Boy, is our social worker awesome! I have sent it to God's Waiting Children (the ministry that is facilitating our adoption) to review. They are so wonderful to work with. Always quick to return my calls, give me up to date info, and encourage me through the endless dossier preparation, I can't say enough good things about who we are using for this adoption.

Some things have changed since our last adoption-- but I am confident that we will get through them. Once again, I see God's hand in many little things that have already gone effortlessly well. Some would just call it good luck, but I know that it is God who has placed some amazing people in our lives to assist us in our adoption.

Praising God today for everything.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Hat and Scarf 2


Here is a soft, beigey-yellow and black hat/scarf set. Suggested donation $25.
Please leave a comment or email. From now on I will update with who got the set.
Thank you again!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Hat and Scarf

For our last adoption, our daughter Julia with the help of Rachel crocheted her way to Ukraine-- so to speak. They made dishcloths, scarves, and baby bibs and sold them to raise money for Julia's plane ticket.

Rachel is going with us this time, and she wants to do the same thing--- this time with Julia's help. A reader asked if they could make beanie hats-- and so we all thought that it would be nice to make a matching set with a hat and scarf. Here is the very first set.

The suggested donation is $25. Please leave a comment with your email if you would like this cute, warm, green and white hat & scarf set.

This scarf set is going to Shari who emailed me about the set. Thank you!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Homestudy Being Written As We Speak

This past week we finished up all of our homestudy paperwork. Now it is being updated and could be done as early as next week! This is awesome news for us since that means our immigration paperwork can begin. The rest of the paperwork that we need for our dossier is fairly simple.

Other than that, I do not have much to report--- however much excitement is going on for Haitian adoptive parents who after many years of being in the process are finally being united with their new children! I am so excited for Kathy, her children, and all the others who have endured delay after delay. Praise the Lord that there will be many less orphans tonight!

Recently the comment was made about us adopting from Haiti. This is something that we wish we could at least consider but due to family size restrictions we do not qualify. The same with many other countries. Door closed. Period.

Large family friendly countries to adopt from include Ukraine, Russia, and Bulgaria. Are there any others?

Also, someone was wondering why we decided on Ukraine again. Frankly, I have fallen in love with the country-- and everything about it. I think of it as a little Russia that is more friendly, affordable, and inviting. Plus the dossier is much easier, you don't need visas, and the cost of adopting from Ukraine is almost half that of Russia. To put it simply... my heart is in Ukraine.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Why Wouldn't I?

This is a wonderful video explaining how one family made the decision to adopt. I could relate to them on so many levels because we not only can't have more children biologically, but we also did not adopt just one. Thanks Lisa for posting this on your blog so I could see it and share it.

So, why did you decide to adopt? If you haven't adopted yet but have thought about it--- would you mind sharing what is preventing you?

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Few Questions Answered

At this time John and I have decided to adopt an older unknown child--- keyword older. We will most likely not be adopting a child listed on Reece's Rainbow like we did with Alex and Dennis-- this time we are venturing out into the unknown. More like an adventure that we can't wait to see where God takes us. There is a region or two that we would love to adopt from, but only time will tell if that is where we will end up.

We are planning on taking our beautiful Ukrainian born daughter Rachel (age 14) who is jumping out of her seat with excitement at the mere thought of traveling back to her birth country. Bless her heart--- she wants to start knitting scarves like Julia did last time so that she can help earn her own plane ticket. So, she wanted me to ask if any of you are in need of scarves, blankets or anything knitted for that matter. Julia has offered to crochet too! :)

We are nearly done with our homestudy update-- who knew a new social worker could be such a blessing) and would love for us to be able to travel this summer. That is ideal since the kids are out of school-- but we will have to just wait and see.

Though you might think that we are fairly familiar with what to expect and how the process goes, we are pretty certain there will be many surprises along the way. Aren't there always in the world of adoption?

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Pregnant.....

At least that is what John calls it when we are expecting.

Yes, we have decided to adopt again.

Why?

Why not?

The social worker came today.

The visit went well.

We are excited!