Step by Step

It has been an exciting couple of days. We got a call at 6:30 last night from Linda at Adoption Ark telling us that they could do our adoption. She emailed me the application and contract for us to sign. I will be sending it to Adoption Ark tomorrow priority mail. We finished our home study visits this past Saturday and I just got off the phone with Jennifer our social worker and she is finishing our home study this weekend and then it will go to the main office for processing and approval. She expects us to have a completed home study prior to Christmas. Our whole process with Adoption Ark so far has been wonderful. The first email response the I received back from Linda was very prompt and then when she sent me an email that said she would be praying for us I had confirmation that they were the ones that we needed to work with. There are still many questions that we would like answers to. We really don't know anything about Tanya. We are hoping that they can get us some basic information. We have many hopes and dreams for these girls. What an awesome gift to be able to share our God, family, friends and love of life with them. We are starting to share with more people that we have once again began this journey. Grandma Pat told her choir family last night and many were surprised because they thought it was done when it ended last time. We did too but it looks like God has other plans for our family. We are walking forward in faith and praying that we continue to let God guide our steps.

Home Study

We had our first home study visit today. Our social worker Jennifer expects to get it all done prior to Christmas. We will meet with Jennifer next Saturday and then she will be able to complete it. I think that we have made the decision to work with Adoption Ark instead of Baker Victory. There has been too much procrastination with Baker Victory and I just started dealing with Adoption Ark this week and already have all of the documents that I have been waiting over a month to get from Baker Victory.

Progress

I received a call today from the social worker that's going to do our home study. It is scheduled for November 22nd. Yeah, we are making progress. We also received clarification from Alma about the "challenge". She has to get Igor and Sasha to sign documents saying it's OK for us to adopt the girls. I think I know where they are and Igor had volunteered to do this the first time we had problems so I think it's just a matter of getting the documents to him and Sasha to sign. I am hoping that we will have the opportunity to meet and spend some time with the boys when we get to Ust.

Home Study

Well, I called our home study agency to see if everything was in order. They informed me they need more documents. I got a little upset because they've had our file for 10 days and no one had called to tell me they needed additional info. I talked to a Theresa and she was right on top of things and really helped me out. I am overnighting the documents to her today and she will give our file to the agency director on Monday. We should have an appointment for our home study by the end of next week.

News from Judy O'Mara says that our adoption might be challenging because there is additional work that needs to be done to separate Tanya and Galina from their brothers. I have sent an email to Dee and she's going to ask Alma (our coordinator in Ust) for clarification. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about Alma. It sounds like she's the one to get this adoption done for us if anyone is able. My goal is to get to Kaz by March 10th which is Galina's 13th birthday. Are all of you thinking what are they doing wanting two more teenagers? LOL!!!! As many of you know we have felt like Galina was ours since she stepped off the plane in 2003. We can't wait to meet Tanya!!

Another Step Closer

Today we mailed in the FBI fingerprint cards and the physicals are finished. We're waiting for a call to schedule our home study. One step closer.

NO??? or WAIT????

Well, we took a three year detour. A year ago we received some news that Galina was once again available. We called Judy at Baker Victory but she told us that she couldn't find out for sure if Galina was indeed available. We had decided that if we didn't get a "yes" we wouldn't proceed. Well, two weeks ago we received a random call from one of the families in Detroit that had adopted Kiril. She just was calling to see if we had ever gotten Galina home. We had never had phone contact with her before. Mark and I both said "that was weird". I had also been in contact with a family that was going to travel to get two boys that had traveled with Galina. They had their LOI and were going on October 9th. Dee offered to check on Galina while she was in country. I received an email a week ago from Dee telling me that she had Almagul check on Galina and she is available for adoption. I then sent Dee the information I had on all of the children. I received an email back 4 days ago and was told....get your documents ready NOW. Galina and Tonya are available for adoption together. We are VERY excited but also scared since things fell through before. We have to start all of our document over. The agency that did our homestudy is no longer in business. We have contacted an agency in Kalamazoo and spent the weekend filling out paperwork. Mark and I are both getting blood work done today for our physicals and have them scheduled in the next few days. I will be mailing all of our "stuff" to the home study agency tomorrow. I have all of our documents from our previous journey so we will be able to follow them as an example of what we need. On Saturday Grandma Pat told me that she wants to come with us to get the girls. Wow! and Lacey told us on Sunday that she also wants to. This is really stepping out for these two ladies. Grandma Pat has always been scared to go and Lacey went once and said the plane ride was too long and she had no desire to go again. The hope of getting Galina home is just overwhelming! Will she be mad at us when she sees us or will she forgive us for taking so long and just welcome our love????? We are hoping that Tanya wants to be adopted. Our friends went and visited her and told us that she was a nice young lady. Soooo, the journey continues.