Hold on, Katie. We're Coming!!

Well, the boys and I had a great time at the lake with my parents. We rode go-karts and played arcade games on the strip, and we rode the boat and went tubing. It was nice to get away for awhile, but poor Steve got dumped with everything that happened.

We weren't supposed to hear anything until Wednesday, which is why we decided to go ahead and go to the lake. Instead, Steve got an email Monday from Olga stating that Andrei had gone here, there, and yonder on Monday and discovered that Moscow City no longer requires adoption visas; a regular tourist visa is all they need. Therefore, we don't need any letter and nothing has to be processed through migration services. We can leave for Moscow whenever we want to. This was good news, but we were a little irritated at the fact that we lost a week -- not because we had to wait 7 more days, but because of the timing of everything. We had wanted to travel Aug 2-9 because it just fit perfectly in our schedule even down to the fact that it was a bye week in Steve's softball league. I would have had to change one doctor's appointment, but that would have been fine. Instead, we will miss seeing my aunt and cousin from Texas, who are coming for a visit (haven't seen them in months/years), and they won't be able to see Katie. My parents' church is having a 50th anniversary celebration for the church, and many people who used to attend will be coming back for that. We planned on going and taking Katie, but now we won't be back in time for it. We should return home on a Sunday, Derek starts school on Monday, and Alex starts school on Tuesday. We were hoping for some nice family bonding time before the boys went back to school, but instead we're going to hit the ground running. Fortunately, Steve will be taking a few days off after we get home so we can try and establish some sort of routine with all the craziness. I'm thrilled that we have our travel dates, but I wish there hadn't been all this confusion with the visas so that we could be leaving this Saturday. I know God's timing is perfect and mine is not, but I gotta tell ya -- I'm just not seeing it right now. However, all griping aside, we are thrilled to be bringing Katie home, and we'll do whatever it takes to make this work. Big Picture!

Soooo, we leave on August 9, and we will return on August 17. We would return on the 16th, but the rates were ridiculously high, so we'll stay in Moscow one more day and come home on Sunday. If all goes according to plan (which it rarely does, but it's always nice to pretend that it will), we will arrive in Moscow Sunday afternoon, and go pick up Katie from the orphanage. That will be her last day in the orphanage forever! Then on Monday, we will go to the Department of Education and get a letter (which is in lieu of the adoption visa) that we will take to the passport office and apply for her passport. This takes 3 days to process, and we do not know of any work that needs to be done during that time, so we plan on going sight-seeing with Katie around Moscow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then on Thursday, the passport should be ready, but there's no guarantee. Assuming it's ready, we'll go throught the U.S. Embassy on Friday, get her visa, and register her with the Russian Consulate. Then Saturday will be another free day before we fly home on Sunday. Yea! However, if the passport is NOT ready on Thursday, then we won't be able to fly home on Sunday. We'll have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to fly home.

So while I was tubing, go-karting, and boating with my boys, Steve was on the phone and the computer getting everything squared away. Getting the visas started was no problem because we sent the passports and the visa application last week. Getting the apartment wasn't a problem either; the one Albina recommended sounded great. Getting the plane tickets was a nightmare, which included more phone calls and hold time than I can remember, and 2 trips to the airport. He couldn't get Katie's ticket over the phone like he could ours; he had to purchase it from the ticket counter at the airport. We could have just gone through Albina, but Delta gave us a better rate than they gave her so we went through Delta. Steve told me today that as soon as I got home from my vacation, he wanted to take a break. He was TIRED! I joked that he should try doing all that while taking care of two boys. He didn't find the humor in that. :-)

Now that all the particulars are taken care of, we have 10 days before we leave. We have alot to do, but we should have enough time to get everything done. We are excited to be going, but also a little overwhelmed at all that needs to be done. All we can say is that we have the BEST parents in the world who have put their lives on hold the same way we have so that they are available to watch our boys whenever we need them. We could not be going through this process if it weren't for them. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, in this case, it's taking a village just to GET our child. This has been one of the most emotionally draining processes we have ever been through, but it will all be worth it once we get her home. Hold on, Katie. We're coming!

Derek's T Ball Banquet

Last Monday, we had Derek's T Ball Banquet. Derek plays with the Exceptionals, a special needs T Ball and Coach Pitch league. This was Derek's 3rd year to play with them, and he just loves it. The kids range from 5-21, with any sort of physical, mental, or emotional challenge, and I think every one of them absolutely loves playing. There are "buddies" that volunteer their time and energy to be one-on-one with these kids. Usually they are boy scouts, girls softball teams, or individuals that want to help. Sterling Farber, the man who started it, was honored at a Royal's game in April, and many of the families went to the game in support. The league is completely underwritten so the families don't have to pay anything. It's just wonderful what people will do.

Here is Derek with his trophy

And here's the "love fest" I mentioned in an earlier post. Derek was on my lap, and Alex was on Derek's lap, and they were both so tickled at the whole thing.



We are so blessed to have the children that God has given us, and we appreciate them every day!

On another note, the boys and I are heading down to Table Rock Lake with my parents for a few days. We won't hear anything about the adoption until Wednesday, so we decided to get out of KC while we know we can. Therefore, I won't be writing any posts until at least Wednesday, hopefully with an update. Stay tuned...

Some More of Our Favorite Pictures

Here is Katie sitting in her chair next to her bed. There were 8 beds in this room, and each one had a little chair with pajamas on the back. The room was very bright and cheery. Here, Katie is holding the bear we gave her on the first trip, the bear we gave her on the second trip, and she's wearing the outfit we gave her.

Walking with Daddy
Happy
The day of our court hearing. Our first picture with her as our daughter
A Mother's Love

Some of Our Favorite Pictures

While we're waiting for next Wednesday to arrive with information, we thought we'd post some of our favorite pictures of Katie. We had to wait until Monday when she legally became ours. These pictures are all from our first trip in May.

We call this one the portrait picture

Daddy's Little Girl
It's a Stare-Down!
So Sweet!
I Love My Mommy

Spinning Our Wheels

There is an exasperated sound that I want to make, but I don't know how to type it.

Olga found out yesterday from the Russian consulate that they will accept an invitation, not directly from the court, but processed the old way through Migration services. Only Russian consulates located in Europe are taking direct letter invitations from the judges, not processed by Migration Services due to the latest European -Russian governmental agreement. The US doesn't have that same agreement with Russia, so invitations should only be coming the old way, processed by Migration services. In order to process the invitation, Migration service should have a letter from the Department of Education (this was the old way), but the Department of Education doesn't want to issue these letters. They feel that since the courts issue letters, it is unnecessary for them to do it as well. Also, the court-issued letters don't require any further processing with Migration services and work perfectly for European adopters. So, Andrei has an appointment with the Migration Services on Wednesday, July 30, to ask them to process an invitation using not the letter from the DOE, who doesn't want to issue such letters anymore, but the letter from the judge we already have. If the Migration Services refuse to process the invitation without the letter from the DOE, and if the DOE refuses to issue the letter, then I don't know what is going to happen.

Olga says that hopefully the delay will be a "short" one. Keep in mind that "short" in Russia means a month or less. This means that departing on August 2 is out, and it's possible that even the 9th is out if this can't get figured out. If we leave on the 16th, we'll miss Derek's first day of school and Alex's first day of Kindergarten. Also, the grandparents will have to work harder because they won't be able to just go down to the lake with the boys for the week. Any later than that, and we'll just be irritated that we can't go get Katie. Technically, we were able to take custody of her last Monday...and we can't get to her.

At this point, I don't know what you should pray for except maybe sanity for Steve and me. We know this is all part of God's plan, but this not knowing is driving us crazy! We are so close, and yet we are stuck. The way we understand it is we are "on hold" until Wednesday when we hope to get more information.

These are the Days of our Lives ...

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.

Stuck in Limbo

Well, it's always something, isn't it? The worst part is we just don't know anything. Russia is moving towards requiring adoption visas for the final trip instead of the normal tourist visa. This requires a different invitation to be included with the visa applications. Well, Albina (travel agency in Seattle that also takes care of the visas) took the letter across the street to the Russian Consulate to make sure everything would be okay. Since this is very new, the people at the consulate don't know how to process it. They say there's not enough information on the invitation to process the visa, but since it's all so new, .... Albina is hoping to find out today or tomorrow if that invitation is enough. If it's not, then whatever is needed will have to come from Andrei in Moscow. Depending on what that is will determine how long it will take to get it. If we need something extra and it takes too long, then we won't be able to travel on August 2, because we won't have our visas and passports back yet. Therefore, we can't buy airfare, or reserve our apartment, or make arrangements for the boys, or update the "manual" the accompanies them, or reschedule doctor appointments that may or may not be missed, etc. I can't do ANYTHING ... except try to live a normal life without checking my email every 2 seconds. Poor Alex is getting the brunt of it, because Derek is in summer school all day. I'm a planner who is potentially leaving the country in 11 days, and I am unable to plan anything. For those of you who are also planners, you know how frustrating this is for me. Also, the pump at our neighborhood pool is broken so we can't even go swimming -- which isn't at all relevant to the adoption except that it's one more annoyance.

OK. I feel better. On a positive note, Derek had his T Ball banquet last night and the boys were having a love fest with each other, which made for some ADORABLE pictures. I'll send them in another post.