My Joy Is Full

Big day today. Yesterday our home study came in the mail! Yay. This means I can now mail off the immigration paperwork and fee and can also start applying for grants. No guarantee that we will be accepted for any of them, but I have to try.

After I mail off the forms today, next comes the waiting game. We will be scheduled for government fingerprinting, hopefully in about 10 days and then we have to wait for about another 3-4 weeks for approval of our application to adopt from overseas. This will be hard for me. I am really trying hard to be on top of all the paperwork. I am sure that I am annoying our agency worker, David, with all my questions. I keep asking him to send me more paperwork to fill out so it can all be ready to go as soon as it's time. He is doing a great job keeping up with me and I really appreciate his willingness to hurry things a long. But now comes the first of many waiting periods. We do have a lot of documents (22 all together) to prepare before our immigration approval comes back, but most of them need my passport information on them and I am waiting for that to arrive! So until I get that, I am kind of on hold! Which sucks. I hate the idea of not doing anything. I hate sitting around waiting for someone else to do the work. But unfortunately that is where we are at.

This morning the kids and I were reading scriptures together, (The Mr had to leave for work before we started this morning) and I came across a few verses that touched me. We were reading in Alma about Ammon glorifying the Lord. In verse 30 in says "And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some."
We, our family and all of you that have helped and will help us along our journey, are the means in which to save someone! Our joy will be full when we can bring her home and know she is safe and loved. I feel grateful to know that my Heavenly Father knows me and my struggles. It is evident when I read things like this! I know that there are many that have worse afflictions then I do and I know that this struggle we are having to find the money to pay for the adoption, isn't the worst thing that can happen. But, it is a struggle and I know he knows about it and understands and hears my prayers. We already feel so blessed. I know we will find a way. I know, because I know this is what we are meant to be doing. It will work out in the end. My joy is full.

The Home Study

Our Monday sale didn't turn out quite as well as the rainy Saturday. But we did manage to sell a few things, and every little bit counts toward our goal. We are going to try it one more time this coming Saturday the 8th and see how much of our stuff we can sell this week. So once again tell your friends about it and come check it out. Sorry if you are getting sick of hearing that! :)

Tuesday was a very big day for me. I had planned to get our house clean over the weekend, but the weekend ended up being kind of consumed with the yard sale. So I woke up very stressed and very anxious and very emotional. Not a very good combination for the Mr!!! I tried to take his advice and just clean one room at a time. I literally work all day and with the help of my wonderful kids, after they got home from school, all but my bedroom got scrubbed! The stress was really unnecessary, because when the wonderful social worker came over all we did was sit in the living room and chat. We had a great conversation about my memories of childhood and  how being in my family has helped me to be a better parent. Also we talked about how the Mr and I met and what drew me to him and made me want to date him. She asked each of the children what loved to do most with their family and what they liked to do at school and what their hobbies are. She asked the Mr and I to describe our parents in a few words and other family related stuff. She also talked with us about the issues that might arise from adopting children out of the system. She related many stories of the 11 children she has adopted and the struggles she has had with many of them. She offered great insight into helping a child fit into our family and helping our own children adjust to a new family member. Over all it was not the scary experience I had imagined it would be. And I got a beautifully clean home, at least for a few hours! It's not so great today :( Suzanne, the social worker told us she would try and get it done quickly for us and she really did. Today I received a copy of the home study in my email to proof read. I am assuming that she now just needs to get it notarized and then she will mail it to us. Which means we passed and it was a success! I am so excited about this because now with a current home study we are eligible to apply for adoption grants! This is wonderful because we really need them now that things are properly underway.

The next step is to get our immigration documents sent out. Then comes about a 4 week wait while they process them. Lets hope they are feeling generous and rush them through!

A Rainy Saturday

Yesterday was our yard sale. We were all ready to get up at about 5am to start setting stuff up. We had been given SO many donations, ( a huge thank you to EVERYONE that so graciously donated their things to us) that I knew it would take a long time to get everything out of the garage. But when I woke up at 5 am, I heard and saw a huge thunder storm! Normally I would be excited to have a day in the house with my family, reading my book, but not yesterday. I was sure that we were not going to be able to have our yard sale at all. The weather was terrible. I prayed that it would clear up and that people would still come. By 7am, (the time I had posted on line that we were starting) it seemed to have cleared up, so we opened the garage and started pulling things out. Just as we started, people started arriving and we couldn't get the stuff our fast enough. It was such a great feeling to know that even though it had been raining that the Lord was blessing our efforts.
With the help of our fabulous neighbors Shandee, Joey and Jason and Joeys dad Larry, Maren, and our other friend Lillian we were able to get the sale underway. Thank you so much guys! You really helped us a lot.

The rain didn't stay away like we had hoped, in fact we, and all of our stuff, got pretty good and wet 3 times during the day. The rain chased away many potential customers, but we pushed on. Maren even made a window sale to an elderly couple that didn't want to get out of the car while it was raining! But, after each storm came some sun and each time people came back! We even had people tell us that they had already come once and because we had so much stuff, had to come back again. So despite the weather and my thoughts that it wasn't going to happen at all, we were able to make the best of a bad weather day! The yard sale was pretty successful! I really feel like the Lord answered our prayers and we feel very blessed.

But we do have tons of stuff left over and a few more things that have been donated today. So we decided that we would try again tomorrow and see what else we can sell. Come on by and see if there is anything you like, or just come on by and say hi to us as we hopefully sit in the sun!!!

We were also able to catch up with an old friend that stopped by on the last day of his vacation. J.M it was great to see you and see how you have grown and to hear how things are going in Australia. Thanks for making the effort to come by and see us. We always really appreciate it when people take time out to visit with us. Lets hope we can catch up again soon, maybe in Australia this time, but if not next year!

Things Are Officially Underway

Things are underway! Today I filled out and sent off our forms to officially start the process with the agency. It is a scary thing. It feels a lot like signing our life away. The Mr and I also had our physicals for our home study and for the Ukraine government, which involved being tested for HIV and Syphilis. I know, clearly we don't have either of these, but I guess we have to be safe. Plus its just fun to tell people that we were tested for them! I also prepared all the paper work that we need for our home study appointment on Tuesday. I am a little nervous about this. I know that we have a safe home, but it feels like everything is dependent on this one meeting. It is a lot of pressure on me!! Especially since our house is in such a huge mess trying to prepare for our yard sale tomorrow. I am hoping that the lady doing the study will be able to look past a some of it!, But, in reality I will probably lose my mind trying to get it all clean!

Today I also applied for my very first US passport. I am excited about this mostly because it means I can travel places, and I am not stuck. I hate to feel stuck!! Hopefully it doesn't take too long to get here.

Today is the Mr's birthday. He turns the Big 40. The kids have been asking him what he wants to do, but I think he just wants to try and forget it, so he tells them he want s to donate the money that would be spent on him to our adoption fund. Pretty selfless act, but I think I am still going to get him a little something :)

Like I mentioned, our yard sale is tomorrow September 1st. The weather isn't great right now and I am praying (please help us out and pray for us) that the rain will hold off for us in the morning! It is a long holiday weekend so I am also praying that we will get some people showing up! Come on by and help us out or at least pray that we get a good turn out! Thanks :)

Our Phone Call

Last night at midnight, we had a chance to talk with O. It was really great to speak with her. We only got to speak to her for about 10 minutes, but we loved it. The communication part was a little difficult and she struggled a little. At one point she even said "ugh, I can't speak English!" To which Mike responded " YES you can!"
She asked to speak to M, but we had to tell her how late it was here and that M was asleep. We asked her if she had been practicing her English and she laughed ans said no. So we told her she better do that. She told us she starts school next week, so will probably start English classes again then. She wished the Mr a Happy Birthday (he will be 40 on Friday) and we tried to get her to sing to him, but she got out of it by telling us she didn't understand. Hmmmmm, that might just be an excuse that we wont let her use for long hehe. The Mr asked her how her trip back was and if she was happy to be back in Ukraine, to which she replied a very definite NO! So we asked her if she missed America and she of course said YES.

The best part of the whole conversation was that she called us both Mom and Dad. She did this without any hesitation. It was great to know that she already thinks of us that way. She sounded very happy to be speaking to us, which just mad the Mr and I so happy. We wish it was easier to communicate, but the fact is we feel very lucky to be able to talk to her at all. Her orphanage director is very nice and will allow us to talk to her whenever we like. I think next time we will try and do it at a more reasonable hour so the children can participate.

A Week Of Excitment

It's only Wednesday and I am already tired! It's been an emotional week.
I haven't posted for a few days because my brother and sister in law and their beautiful daughter came to visit us. It was so fun to meet my niece Summer for the first time and see my kids play with their cousin. They haven't had a chance to play with a cousin in about 6 years!

The Mr and I were able to participate in a really fun relay on the weekend. We were part of the best team ever, and had so much fun! It was nice to be able to break from the stress of this adoption and just have a great time with friends. 

On Tuesday, C started school. He has waited for Kindergarten to start for a long time. He was so excited to walk to school with his Uncle. He raced inside so quickly I had to literally chase him down to say goodbye. I tried to make him feel a little sad to make me, his more lonely old mother, feel better about him missing me, but it didn't work. He just wanted to be left at school alone. Oh well, I am told I should be glad that I raised self sufficient children. I guess I am.

On Tuesday night The family left to go home to Australia. I am always so sad to see my family leave. I don't get enough chances to spend time with them. It has been 7 years since I have been home and it makes me feel so homesick when they leave. I hope that they had as good a time visiting with us as we had with them.

Today M got her braces on. This has been something that we have argued about for a while and finally I talked her into it. She did a great job with not getting upset and I am proud of her for her decision.

The most exciting part of today is that I received an email this afternoon from the orphanage director in the Ukraine. She told me that she had passed our messages onto O and that she would love to talk to us. She gave us her phone number and told us when to call. I am so excited to be able to talk with her. I am not exactly sure how it will work since we don't speak Russian, but we are willing to give it a try so she knows that we are thinking her. I will let you all know how the call goes tomorrow.

Also on Saturday we will be having our first fundraiser. We are having a yard sale. I have already received many donations from fabulous people. Thank you all again. If there is anyone else that has anything that they would be willing to donate to our sale please let me know. I will be happy to come and pick it up from you. Just let me know!

P.S It seems I am a little computer illiterate and the pages I made are not working yet. Sorry to anyone that may have tried clicking on them. I will info posted as soon as I can.

Facts about Ukrainian Orphans

Our future daughter is from an orphanage in Odessa, Ukraine. We have been told that this is a tourist town in the Ukraine and from what we can tell she is taken care of well in the orphanage that she lives in. However, as well taken care of as she seems, nothing compares to having a family around you that loves you unconditionally. Having a home and a family,  people that will tuck you in at night and  hug you when you are sad, all the small things that we take for granted, can mean the difference between success and failure in a child life. Here are some facts about Orphans in the Ukraine for you to think about:

• Ukrainian orphans “graduate” from the orphanage system at the age of 16 (This means that our sweet O only has a few years before she will be on her own. SO we would like to get her home with us as soon as possible!)

• Many orphans, after they graduate, will become homeless and alone. They will lack the education necessary to provide for themselves.

• 10% of orphans will commit suicide by their 18th birthday.

• 60% of the girls will end up in prostitution.

• 70% of the boys will enter a life of crime.

• Only 20% of orphans will find work.

• Orphans are the kids that human traffickers target and exploit.

• Typically, after the age of 5, a Ukraine orphan only has a 20% chance of being adopted (So our amazing kids have a very small chance of being adopted if we are unable to bring them into our home.)

This is O and her best friend Svetlana with M and L and their Orphanage director Melaniya.

We understand that we can not help all of the orphans in the many Ukrainian orphanages. If only life was that easy! We can however, with your help, change the life of one of them. It only takes each of us to do a little to help these kids. By donating time, money or even just your love and prayers, you make it possible for us to change the destiny of this young girl.  So Thank YOU!