Today marks exactly one year since our paperwork was registered in Russia...and God surprised us with our son's referral!!! We knew it would be here this week and he is GORGEOUS!!!! We aren't allowed to post pictures until he is legally ours, but you better believe we will have a ton to show when we can! He is an infant....the youngest age that can be referred for adoption in Russia. We are so excited & the next step is to apply for our Russia travel visas & make travel plans for trip #1!!! We are hoping to be on our way by mid-April or sooner if possible.
The kids are very excited & he looks SO MUCH like Tara when she was a baby it's crazy!! They look like they are biological brother & sister. God is so good & we are so thankful for this gift. To think that if we weren't adopting him he would be on his own at age 15....no family, no future, nothing. What a blessing to be chosen as his mom & dad!! The kids are going with us on trip #1 & we know this experience will be life-changing for our whole family. God has been preparing us & nudging us to get things accomplished in the last few months so we would be ready....now it's time to collect court documents so we can hand-deliver them on trip #1. WOW....we are almost there! I am DYING to squeeze him!
Please continue to pray for us!
1. We sent off our fingerprints to FBI for state police clearnace yesterday...pray the letter from FBI gets here soon! It's taking 10-12 weeks.
2. FINANCES!! God has been SO GOOD to provide the funds to get us through trip #1, but trip #2 is yet to be covered. Our fundraising account with Lifesong for Orphans is still open for donations which are tax deductable. Please pray God will lead people to give or provide in another way. Andrew & I will be in Russia for about 25 days to finalize the adoption in court & take care of all the paperwork needed for both countries. When we land in the U.S. he will be a citizen!
3. USCIS renewal was sent on Saturday. This allows us to get him a U.S. visa at embassy in Moscow & bring him home! Pray that gets processed quickly & we get updated approval soon!
4. Preparation for all 5 of us to travel for trip #1....we are going to Russia for a week with 3 kids. Enough said. All of the details of trip #2...leaving kids here, babysitters, being apart for so long, court, FINALLY bringing our son home!!!! It's overwhelming!
5. Collection of documents required for court....we will be running all over So Cal for this. Everything is time sensitive & must be stamped & sealed by the right people.
6. God will prepare our baby for us & that he will accept us & bond! Remember, we are strangers to him & babies are aware of what's going on.
7. Leaving him at the end of trip #1 will be devastating for us. We come home & wait to go back a few days before our court date. The average time between trips is about 6 weeks. That will be the longest, hardest wait ever!!!
PRAISE-the weather is warming up! It's been about 20 degrees this week...that's fabulous compared to the negative temps of the last 3 months.
That's it for now! THANK YOU to everyone who has been a support to us through this process!!!! We are so grateful to you & can't wait for you to meet him! I will update when we have travel plans :)
Charity
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