We are at the point of our adoption where there is little we can do except wait. We are waiting for the courts in Claudia's country to be functional again and we are waiting for our Article 5's to be issued so that we can get a travel date. We would love to know the date that we will get to meet our daughter for the first time!
Once we get our date we can begin booking flights and a hotel. We are hoping to be able to book flights soon so the prices do not keep going up. We are about $7500 short of being fully funded for Claudia's adoption and most of that money is going directly towards travel. We will need to purchase two round trip tickets and one one-way ticket. Unfortunately Claudia's country requires that we purchase round trip tickets even though we are unsure of when we will be returning home. This is to prove our intentions of leaving her country. We will inevitably be required to pay additional fees for changing the return flights.
As far as hotels go, we are looking into a few at this time. We will be staying in Claudia's region for the majority of our stay but will be required to travel and stay a few nights in the capital city. Hotels run about $100/night in Claudia's region although we are hoping to find something a little cheaper. Jason and I will both travel to meet and bond with Claudia, I will stay for as long as I can before I have to return for school. Jason will have to stay for a total of 4-8 weeks. The hotel could become very expensive!
We are getting excited about the prospect of traveling to Latin America. Neither of us has left the country besides going to Canada. It will be a great experience. Besides the obvious of meeting our daughter, we are looking forward to eating the native cuisine and hopefully learning how to cook it so that we can do so at home. We look forward to implementing meals and traditions from Claudia's country and region into our lives.
Please pray for our adoption and if you feel led, please use our tax deductible donation link on the right hand side of the page to help us become funded for our Claudia's adoption.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Confessions...
I have a confession to make, these last couple of months have been HARD. I have been an emotional train wreck (I really do feel bad for my husband)!
Between not knowing when we were traveling, hoping Claudia could be home for Christmas, the judicial strike in her country, knowing she would NOT be home for Christmas, false hopes, financial setbacks, thinking the strike was over, learning it is still ongoing... I am emotionally drained. This is just the stuff in our adoption that has been causing stress, on top of that I have been having a very difficult time this semester in school. Getting up to go to work has been tougher than usual as well.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? I tell you all of this not to whine and complain but to tell you that even through these times of intense struggles God has been there for me.
Many mornings, especially when my motivation has been lacking, God shows me that He is there. I don't know if any of you have seen these beautiful sunrises lately but I have felt God's presence in each and every one. On my way to school or work several times over the last month or two, God has been blessing me with these gorgeous sunrises. I keep telling myself that I need to bring a camera in my car with me. (I also need to remind myself to drive carefully and pay attention to the road as I find myself turning my head view them.) I was leaving my house a couple of days ago I was finally able to snap a picture of the sun coming up. It is not a great picture compared to the ones I could get if I were actually on the road, some of those views are absolutely breathtaking, but I got a picture none-the-less. Enjoy!
So, I am thankful for small blessings, for God's daily reminders of His love for me. No matter how you are feeling, always know that God is there. This is something I need to be reminded of frequently as of late.
Have a happy Thanksgiving to all of my US friends. Count your blessings and be a blessing to others this holiday season. Safe travels to you all!
Between not knowing when we were traveling, hoping Claudia could be home for Christmas, the judicial strike in her country, knowing she would NOT be home for Christmas, false hopes, financial setbacks, thinking the strike was over, learning it is still ongoing... I am emotionally drained. This is just the stuff in our adoption that has been causing stress, on top of that I have been having a very difficult time this semester in school. Getting up to go to work has been tougher than usual as well.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? I tell you all of this not to whine and complain but to tell you that even through these times of intense struggles God has been there for me.
Many mornings, especially when my motivation has been lacking, God shows me that He is there. I don't know if any of you have seen these beautiful sunrises lately but I have felt God's presence in each and every one. On my way to school or work several times over the last month or two, God has been blessing me with these gorgeous sunrises. I keep telling myself that I need to bring a camera in my car with me. (I also need to remind myself to drive carefully and pay attention to the road as I find myself turning my head view them.) I was leaving my house a couple of days ago I was finally able to snap a picture of the sun coming up. It is not a great picture compared to the ones I could get if I were actually on the road, some of those views are absolutely breathtaking, but I got a picture none-the-less. Enjoy!
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| Taken from outside of my house |
So, I am thankful for small blessings, for God's daily reminders of His love for me. No matter how you are feeling, always know that God is there. This is something I need to be reminded of frequently as of late.
Have a happy Thanksgiving to all of my US friends. Count your blessings and be a blessing to others this holiday season. Safe travels to you all!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Getting closer...
We just got an email from USCIS saying the they issued our provisional approval on 11/2, that was Friday. Hopefully it will be in the mail soon! This means that we just need to wait for Claudia's country to send our Article 5 and give us an official travel date.
Unfortunately the judges in her country are still on strike... 29 days now and no one really knows when it will end. Because of this they have stopped issuing the Article 5 fro the time being. We are not yet worried about this though since most people seem to think the issues will be resolved shortly and we will get travel dates for early January still.
This is our hope and our prayer, that we can leave for her country the second week of January, meet our daughter and have the mandatory "five business day" bonding period before court. Claudia could be home in early to mid February if it all goes well. We know how that goes though.
Please pray that the judges are back to work soon and that the adoption goes smoothly from here on out. We had to have several things re-done since we will not be completing the adoption this year which included FBI background checks. Those are taking 2-3 months to come back and we need them back before that. Please pray that they will be back in a speedy manner.
More to come as it is available :)
Unfortunately the judges in her country are still on strike... 29 days now and no one really knows when it will end. Because of this they have stopped issuing the Article 5 fro the time being. We are not yet worried about this though since most people seem to think the issues will be resolved shortly and we will get travel dates for early January still.
This is our hope and our prayer, that we can leave for her country the second week of January, meet our daughter and have the mandatory "five business day" bonding period before court. Claudia could be home in early to mid February if it all goes well. We know how that goes though.
Please pray that the judges are back to work soon and that the adoption goes smoothly from here on out. We had to have several things re-done since we will not be completing the adoption this year which included FBI background checks. Those are taking 2-3 months to come back and we need them back before that. Please pray that they will be back in a speedy manner.
More to come as it is available :)
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Orphan Sunday
Today is Orphan Sunday, it takes place the first Sunday each November. Have you participated today?
If you are a Christian, you are called to help the orphans. You may not be called to adopt, but there are so any other ways that you can help out. You can donate to adoption grant funds or to families adopting, you can help spread the word about the 143million orphans in the world. Perhaps you can do foster care. Perhaps you have been called to volunteer at an orphanage. There are so many different ways you can help the orphans of this world. After all, we were all orphans until God adopted us into His family. What will you do? What need can you fill today?
Reeces Rainbow, the advocacy organization that we found Claudia through is doing their yearly Angel Tree fundraiser now through Dec 31st. Jason and I actually sponsored Claudia through this last year and now have a precious ornament with her picture on it. The Angel Tree has a few hundred orphans in need of families. The goal for the Angel Tree is to get each of these children $1000 in grant money before the end of the year. It has been very successful in years past but it takes a lot of donors to make that happen. If you donate $35 or more to any one specific child, you will receive an ornament with that childs picture on it.
Please consider donating to the fund of a child today, you can do so HERE
Need help finding a child to donate to, how about James? He is from the same country as Claudia. Often times the children from Latin American countries are overlooked for many reasons. Can you help fund his grant? Here is his page: http://reecesrainbow.org/31691/james-la
As for our adoption of Claudia, we are still waiting to hear back from USICS, hopefully we will get our pre-authorization tomorrow. We still need approx. $7500 to be funded for this adoption. It is a lot, but we have come such a long way! Thank you all for your donations, prayers and support. You really have no idea how much they mean to us.
If you are a Christian, you are called to help the orphans. You may not be called to adopt, but there are so any other ways that you can help out. You can donate to adoption grant funds or to families adopting, you can help spread the word about the 143million orphans in the world. Perhaps you can do foster care. Perhaps you have been called to volunteer at an orphanage. There are so many different ways you can help the orphans of this world. After all, we were all orphans until God adopted us into His family. What will you do? What need can you fill today?
Reeces Rainbow, the advocacy organization that we found Claudia through is doing their yearly Angel Tree fundraiser now through Dec 31st. Jason and I actually sponsored Claudia through this last year and now have a precious ornament with her picture on it. The Angel Tree has a few hundred orphans in need of families. The goal for the Angel Tree is to get each of these children $1000 in grant money before the end of the year. It has been very successful in years past but it takes a lot of donors to make that happen. If you donate $35 or more to any one specific child, you will receive an ornament with that childs picture on it.
Please consider donating to the fund of a child today, you can do so HERE
Need help finding a child to donate to, how about James? He is from the same country as Claudia. Often times the children from Latin American countries are overlooked for many reasons. Can you help fund his grant? Here is his page: http://reecesrainbow.org/31691/james-la
As for our adoption of Claudia, we are still waiting to hear back from USICS, hopefully we will get our pre-authorization tomorrow. We still need approx. $7500 to be funded for this adoption. It is a lot, but we have come such a long way! Thank you all for your donations, prayers and support. You really have no idea how much they mean to us.
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| This picture just brightens my day. I can't wait to have her smiling at me for real! |
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Crazy Week
What a week! The weather here in Upstate NY is pretty awful but that cannot compare to what they got in Downstate! Please pray for all of the families affected by Sandy. As I type this we have a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain outside. Ever since before Sandy hit it has been ugly and gray. They pretty much matches my feelings for the week as well. We still have not heard from our immigrations officer that we have our preauthorization to get Claudia. HOPEFULLY this will come on Monday.
Even if it does come on Monday our chances for traveling this year are now gone. The judges in Claudia's country are still on strike and it would not be wise to travel right now. We are looking at early January now. It stinks but it will be for the best.
I wanted to let everyone who bid on our auction that I have now sent out all of the invoices. If you did not get one and were expecting one, please check in your "other" messages folder on facebook.
Hopefully I will have a more clear date for travel soon. I will keep you updated!
Even if it does come on Monday our chances for traveling this year are now gone. The judges in Claudia's country are still on strike and it would not be wise to travel right now. We are looking at early January now. It stinks but it will be for the best.
I wanted to let everyone who bid on our auction that I have now sent out all of the invoices. If you did not get one and were expecting one, please check in your "other" messages folder on facebook.
Hopefully I will have a more clear date for travel soon. I will keep you updated!
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