Things we need for our trip!

Hello Friends and Family,

We have 5 days until we leave for Russia and are still working through a mountain of paper, tasks and our list of things to pack. We have most of what we need to travel, but are in need of the items below. To avoid the extra expense of having to purchase them on top of our travel expenses, we are asking if anyone can loan or donate any of the following items to us on short notice (on or before Wednesday). If you live out of town, there are still a few items on the list (like phone minutes or frequent flyer miles) you can help us with. Please let us know if you can help!

Phone minutes (Verizon)
Frequent Flyer Miles (Delta, Air France, Aeroflot)
Digital Camera (ours just stopped working unexpectedly this week!!!)
Digital storage (SD card 4 GB or more, preferrably 8 GB)
***need to use digital camera for videos and photos to send to international doctor while we are there so it needs to be good quality and large storage***
Luggage (2 carry on size with wheels and pull handles) -- we are going to try to travel light with carry on bags only!
***each bag must be no more than 55cm x 35cm x 25 cm***
200-watt auto adjust converter for converting power on our devices to 220-volt (we have one but two would be great as it only has one outlet)
Ink cartridges HP 56 (black) and HP 57 (color) for an HP 1200 printer (we have been going through lots of ink printing documents)
Marriott rewards (for one night hotel stay in Moscow)
Cash

We have one more really unusual item that we need. We are looking for a dual micro usb cable to charge both cell phones at the same time. Since our outlet capacity will be limited, we thought bringing something that could charge both cell phones at once would be a great way to consolidate. If you have one you are willing to loan (or donate to) us or if you know where we can find one quickly and cheaply, please let us know.

Also, please pray for our visas and passports to get back in time. I literally walked into Fedex at 8:57 p.m. (three minutes before they closed) to overnight our visa applications on Thursday so we have them back in time for our departure this week. I called on Friday to confirm that everything was done correctly and they said it looked good and that they would take it to the consulate on Monday. However, I noticed last night that I made a mistake on Chad's. I am hoping I caught it in time and can have it corrected! I am calling in the morning to try and fix it. Please pray there would be no delays in the processing and delivery/return of our visas and passports due to my error!!!

Thank you to anyone who can help us with any of these items and to everyone who is, was and will be praying for our trip! We appreciate it so very, very much!!

We are going to Russia!!!

It's official: We are going to Russia! We got the call this morning and have spent most of the day on the phone, working on our travel arrangements, and completing our visa applications. WE LEAVE IN 9 DAYS ... AHHHHHH!!! Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind of a day and my head is already spinning with all the things we need to do!

We will post updates as often as we can over the coming weeks. Right now, though, we are simply basking in the joy of this moment and thanking God for His faithfulness. If all goes well, we could have Hope home by Christmas. And what a Christmas present she would be ...

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." ~ Proverbs 13:12

Bilateral Agreement Has Been Signed!

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/green-light-for-adoptions-yellow-light-for-visas/440497.html

New Region Assignment!!

Well, it is official! After six long months, we finally have a new region assignment! You may recall in January that we lost our region assignment because the region we were assigned to closed. We had been watching the region's progress last fall/winter very closely as the waiting list got shorter and shorter until we were next in line to receive an invitation to travel and receive our referral. Instead, we were placed back in the general waiting pool (with those without a region assignment) behind 4-5 other families to wait for our dossier to be requested by another region, which we were told could take 3-6 months.

Then, last month (May), we were asked if we were willing to increase the age limit in our dossier and possibly meet a little girl in June. At first, we wanted to do it because it meant we could travel sooner. But we quickly realized that we had our hearts set on a younger child so we declined. I expected it would take a long time since we declined a possible referral of an older child, but apparently not! If the new region where our dossier is now finds our paperwork in order, it looks like we will be invited on our first trip in July!

Anyway, we are soooooooo excited!! And even though we know that having a region assignment is no guarantee that we will travel now, or that we will even be able to accept this referral when we get there, we are still celebrating being one step closer to meeting and bringing home our little girl!!!

Update on Bilateral Treaty

Here's the latest news from the Russian perspective on the bilateral adoption treaty between Russia and the United States ...

Russian-U.S. adoptions to adhere to Hague convention

Note: Regardless of what the article says, international adoptions between Russia and the United States were not suspended last year. I know many parents through our agency who have successfully completed their adoptions in the last 14 months.

Just a little update ...

Well, we have been waiting almomst 23 months now and are well into the window of time when a referral can be expected. Typically it is taking 20-26 months for the referral for a girl, so we should hear something any day!

For those of you unfamiliar with the international adoption process, a referral is when an agency matches what they know about you and your family with what they have learned about a child from an orphanage and the caregivers. Most regions in Russia do not give out referrals, rather, they invite you to visit an orphanage where a referral is given to you in person. You have the opportunity to meet the child and send information back to your international doctor in the U.S. for review and then make a petition with the court to adopt while you are in Russia (if you accept the referral you are given).

So, we are waiting for our invitation! In the meantime, we have been having a fun spring of baseball and finishing up the school year, which ended last week. We are going to help with a weekly Bible camp over the summer and are looking forward to a trip to Washington D.C. in June! Lots to keep us busy while we wait.

Chapman Family Leads Push To Adopt

I absolutely love this family and their story. They have inspired and encouraged me in so many ways through my own journey of grief, loss and adoption. We were blessed with a Show Hope grant in 2009 and I got to meet and thank Mary Beth in person at a women's banquet in 2010. She is such a precious woman of God. This video stirred my heart so much, I had to share it. I hope you are as inspired by the Chapman family as we have been ...