The Visa Saga Continues

Here's the latest. For simplicity I'm going to call the 2 groups in the consulate the old and the new. The new group doesn't like the way visas for adoptions have been done in the past so they are trying to change the process -- thus the new invitation. However, the old group has not yet approved nor does it recognize this new procedure. The new group doesn't want to do it the old way, and the old group doesn't want to do it the new way, and our visa is stuck in the middle while the powers that be try to sort this all out. Olga (our agency) is going to call Andrei (in Moscow) tonight (tomorrow morning for him) to see if he can get the old invitation through the Russian Migration Service using our court letter. Maybe if we inundate them with old paperwork and new paperwork, the consulate will just throw in the white flag and let us go. What do you think? At least we are not having to wait until the consulate comes to a decision before Olga and Andrei do something. The best news that we have is that Olga has been in constant communication with Albina (the one who is actually getting the visas for us) and the consulate over this issue, and she has been emailing us updates as soon as she knows anything. At least we're not in the dark about what's going on. We can't do anything about it, and we can't really prepare for our trip, but at least we're informed. Honestly, though, I think I'd rather be ignorant, have my visa, and know my travel dates!

Steve had a good point tonight. In the 11 1/2 years that we have spent building our family, the one word that can be used to describe this journey is "wait." More than 7 of these 11 1/2 years has been spent waiting for one of our children. 7 years. How appropriate, then, is it that for the last trip for our last child we have one last unexpected wait. You know that God is up in heaven laughing hysterically at our attempts to know what is going on, but we just can't help it. We know that all of this is according to God's plan, and we know that God's timing is far superior to our own, and that everything happens for a reason. We just want to bring Katie home now. Period.