The Elijah Joseph Benefit

We are completely humbled and also blown away by the tremendous amount of support we have found in our church family!  We can not say thank you enough, and words just do not even convey the gratitude we feel. Our church family is spearheading a huge benefit for our family to help bring Elijah home. We are SO incredibly blessed to be members of this church!!! A beautiful flier was developed and printed (it is retyped below w/ a few "internet" edits). If you are local, please come by and say "Hi!". We would love to see you!


WCF is coming alongside the Pat and Jill B Family to help bring Elijah Joseph Home!

The Elijah Joseph Benefit

October 10th, 2010

American Legion Hall (in our town)

11AM Start

Raffles

Silent Auction

Sports Memorabilia

Baked Goods

"Handiwork For Elijah"

(Handcrafted Items by Big Sister Sarah)

FOOD/FUN

PACKER GAME

on a Big Screen TV

Green Bay Packers

vs.

Washington Redskins

NOON KickOff

(on the side bar)

Elijah Joseph (under his precious face)

Coming Home to HIS Forever Family

More than anything, Elijah needs your prayers -

for health, expediting documents, safe travel.

If you find it in your heart to share a monetary gift, please make out your check to WCF - Elijah.

Isn't that amazing?!? If you are a Packer fan, you will want to see this photo! These are some of the items that were donated and will be raffled off.

 

The large framed photo was taken before Favre's last home game in the green and gold!

I look forward to seeing so many of you there on 10-10-10!  If you are local and on Facebook, please feel free to share this with your friends.  Thank you again to our church family and especially Pastor Dan for blessing us so much and more importantly, helping to bring Elijah HOME!



GREAT NEWS!!!

As part of my morning routine, I called USCIS this morning to find out if I had an officer assigned yet to process my I-600A application. To my shock, she said YES and transferred me! Oh my - what was I going to say??? I explained to my officer that we are adopting a boy with special needs from EE (I told her the country) and that I need to have my dossier over to them by Nov. 1st before they shut down for 3 months. I asked if she could give me an idea about how long it might take for approval. So, she looked for my file...for a long time...I was starting to get a bit nervous. :-)  But as I was on the phone, someone stopped by her office and handed her a pile of applications. Ours was in there! Whew! She said she had 35-40 applications in front of ours, but she would move ours up to the pile she was hoping to get to this week!!!!  Can you believe it?!?!  What an answer to prayer!!!! Thank you Lord!!!!  (I didn't even have to beg. :-))

After discussing when our fingerprint appts are (a week from today), she said she would look at our file on Monday since she can't approve it before then anyway. Fair enough. :-) So, hopefully, we will be approved within a few days after our fingerprints. That still gives us a few days of breathing room to get our dossier over to Elijah's country! Thank you to all of you that have prayed for this. Please don't stop!

Thank you God for the favor you granted us with this officer. Glory to your Name!

The Beast is Done...almost...

We are officially DONE with our dossier a.k.a. "The Beast"!  YAY! Well, almost done.  We are still waiting on the elusive I-171H immigration approval (our Golden Ticket). But on Friday, we got our last 2 "easy" documents redone, notarized, and approved. So, our official status is "Dossier Complete - Awaiting USCIS Approval". The documents still need to be apostilled at the state level, but we will wait on that until we know when about we will be getting our Golden Ticket.

Back here in this post about completing our home study paperwork, I made this comment it: "But as I worked through it little by little, it wasn't bad at all. I'm hoping I can say that for the dossier paperwork when I'm done." (Man, that seems like ages ago!) The dossier list was overwhelming, and it was a lot of work, but again, when I worked through it bit by bit, it was manageable and not as horribly difficult as I thought it might be. The Lord granted us much favor in compiling it as I've posted about...no cranky, uncooperative local gov't officials, no uncooperative employees in our doctor's office, etc that so many others have had problems with. It was all just the opposite of that. Everyone has been so willing to help and to get the paperwork correct. The Lord has truly blessed us through these people we worked with locally. 

Now...to the best of my knowledge, we have not been assigned an officer at USCIS. I will call again tomorrow and check of course. Please pray that we are assigned SOON and to someone that has a heart for special needs children and is willing to help us get Elijah ASAP. Thank you!

USCIS Update

Well, I wish I had some news to share, but I don't. I've called 3x this week to ask if we have an officer assigned yet to process our I-600A application, but I don't. (Remember we need our I-600A application approval as the last piece of our dossier to send over to EE before they close at the end of Nov.) They aren't giving any estimates on when we will get an officer assigned, but she told me today they are working as fast as they can. Everyone I've talked to has been very nice, but still can't tell me anything...just that we are "in queue". So, we pray and we wait and pray some more...(She did know that I've called before though. :-) I'm going for that "squeaky wheel gets the grease" thing!)

I'm so very thankful that a very nice lady that works with Congressman Petri's office has also called on our behalf. They told her the same thing. Imagine that!?! :-)

Our fingerprint appt is October 4th in Milwaukee. I asked today if I could be issued an earlier one and they can't do that. She didn't think it would help anyway. She said I could try going to the office itself and ask to be printed early. Been there - done that. :-) She said it was good for her to know that Milw does not allow early fingerprints. Hopefully, that little tidbit of info will save another family an extra trip there.

Praise the Lord!!!!

The vote in Elijah's country to stop international adoptions has been postponed indefinitely!!!!!

Can I hear an "AMEN!"? :-) GOD IS GOOD!!!!! Thank you for praying!

Please Pray Now...

As I posted last week, the gov't in Elijah's country is taking a vote on whether or not to stop international adoptions. This vote is happening this Tuesday - tomorrow. Well, actually it will be while we are sleeping tonight. Please pray now and before going to bed tonight that this proposal doesn't even get up for a vote, and if it does, that is defeated mightily! Not only would it be devastating for our family and Elijah, it would be devastating for all the other RR families in process and ALL of the 125,000+ orphans in this country that would lose the love of a family and a chance at a life outside of institutional walls. These orphans are the ones that will lose out. I can't fathom the thought of it...

MARATHON RESULTS!!!!

HE DID IT!!!!!!!  Pat finished the marathon!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so incredibly proud of him!!!!!! He did great!!!!!

He started out at a great pace. The marathon has a deal where I can get text messages on his progress at the 5, 10, 13.1 (half way), 15, 20, and 25 mile markers. He wears a computer chip on his shoe and then when he crosses those points, the sensor scans his chip and texts me. Cool, huh? Anyway, I was having fun receiving the texts during church. (Sorry Pastor Dan, I was listening. :-) )  His pace was less than 9 1/2 minute miles up until the 15 mile point. Exactly where he wanted to be! He was doing really well! Go Pat! But, the 20 and 25 mile text were slower coming in. Unfortunately, as I found out later, he ended up with really bad cramps in his calves and had to walk about half of the last 7-8 miles. :-(  He talked with a medical person along the way, and he said the cramping was from lack of salt. Who knew? There is always something to learn, especially about running marathons! More bananas might have helped too. Pat was very glad that the cramps subsided as he walked though. And he did end up running most of the last mile too. Yay! Edited to add: His final time was 4 hrs. 40 minutes. A personal best! :-)

We are so VERY thankful to all of you that have pledged in the comments and also by email and checks already delivered! We are very blessed and humbled by your generosity, and they were a huge encouragement to Pat. Pat said a few people commented on his shirt, including one dad that adopted from Ethiopia last year. :-) I was also worried about the shirt being black and being too hot for him. When we were discussing it, Pat said he thought he could suffer for 4-5 hours as it was nothing compared to what Elijah has dealt with the first 3 years of his life. What a great perspective! But, it was a beautiful, cool morning, so the heat wasn't a problem.

If you pledged, feel free to use the chip-in gadget on the right side bar. This will go directly to our Reece's Rainbow Family Sponsorship Page and is 100% tax deductible. Be sure to put "Birschbach Family - Aloysha" in the comment field. The amount pledged was just under a $1000! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF PAT'S MARATHON AND ELIJAH!

Enjoy a few photos of the days event!

Coming down the home stretch! Less than a mile to go!

Just a few more feet to the finish line!



Wrapped up in his foil thingy - and smiling!
Edited to add: Sarah googled it and it's not called a "foil thingy". Go figure... The proper name is a "space age blanket". It helps prevent the runner from cooling down too quickly. Whatever it's called, it made a lot of noise and the baby loved it!



He received a beautiful medal and a t-shirt (not in photo) that says he finished!



Anna made a beautiful certificate for him. It says, "Congratulations, Daddy!" She is so thoughtful. :-)



Daddy, our hero, and all the kids with their signs. Sarah (12) holding Rachel (11 mo. and getting hungry), Isaac (6 - can you tell by his goofy face?), Rebekah (almost 4) and Anna (8)




Yes, this is the same people, but I thought it was hilarious how Rebekah is giving HERSELF bunny ears! :-) She's got lots of personality!

Running to Bring Elijah Home!

OK, I've been way too serious around here. Time to lighten things up a bit! :-)

Tomorrow, Sunday at 8AM, Pat will start his very first marathon!!! I'm so excited for him and so very proud! He has worked very, very hard to get to this point. He is feeling good about it and I can't wait to see him cross the finish line and realize one of his long-time goals. 

As you may know, Pat is running in honor of Elijah and his 3rd birthday. To commemorate the occasion, I thought he needed a new t-shirt!

The front

The back

How fun is that??? :-)  Our prayer is that as Pat passes people during the race (LOL - he says as they pass him) they will see his shirt and maybe a seed or two will be planted. Perhaps a spectator might remember the blog address, come here and find out about Reece's Rainbow.  Did you know there were 147 million orphans in the world? I didn't until we started this process. It's staggering to think about (but this is supposed to be a "light" post, so we won't go there right now). Where did I get this awesome shirt?  So glad you asked. My new blogging friend, Mel, is selling them to help bring her precious Timothy home. (She has some other beautiful shirts as well.) They will be traveling VERY soon. I'm so excited for them!  (I added the message on the back myself with the help of Hobby Lobby iron-on letters.)

Come back for updates from the marathon tomorrow afternoon!!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Elijah!!!

Today, September 17th, is Elijah's 3rd birthday! A bittersweet day indeed. Exactly one year from now is the day he would have been transferred to "facility" (mental institution/home for the invalids - whatever you want to call it, the result is the same.) If he wasn't walking on his own yet, chances are he would have spent the rest of his days in a crib. BUT, enter God! God was able to push through all of my fears and doubts and busyness to call us to adopt Elijah now so he doesn't have to face a life in an institution. He will know the love of two very caring parents that will love him unconditionally. He will know the love of at least 5 siblings who already adore him very much. And most importantly, he will learn to know the infinite and boundless love of Jesus!  Happy Birthday my precious son!

I have so many things I want to say, but not sure how to say them all. I'm not very good at expressing all my feelings. So I will "plagiarize" a very, very sweet letter that was sent to Elijah in a birthday card today. You know who you are. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for remembering him and praying for him and us. (Just as a warning, Sarah said to me after I read this something to the effect of "I wonder if you should count the number of tears you've shed during this adoption process. One million-one, one million-two...". Ha ha, very funny, my dear. :-)  Here's the letter:

Dear Sweet Elijah,

Today is your 3rd birthday. You have NO idea of how many people are praying for you or that your life is about to be changed! Your life has already touched SO many, including ours! This will be your last birthday apart from your forever family. Stay strong, Little Man. Listen to the heartbeat of God - as he enfolds you against his chest. You are deeply loved by so many!

See you soon! We love you!

One million - twenty, one million - twenty-one...where's that new box of Kleenex?!? :-)

Photos of our birthday party in honor of Elijah last weekend coming soon!

"Do you trust me?"

This is a personal, spiritual post. If you don't feel like reading it, I won't be offended. Just being vulnerable and sharing my heart...

"Do you trust me?" the Lord asked me.

"Yes, of course," I said.

"DO you trust me?" the Lord asked again.

"Yes, I do," I said.

"Do you TRUST me?" the Lord asked the third time.

"Umm...umm...yes, I do Lord," I said, although somewhat hesitantly, not sure why we were having this conversation.  I found out later.

I had this "conversation" with the Lord yesterday afternoon when I laid down for a rare nap on the couch. The baby was still asleep in her carseat from our field trip and the other kids were outside playing. It was short lived, but long enough for me to clear my mind and pray and listen to the gentle whispers of my loving Father in my heart. (I did get about 10 minutes of sleep in too.)

Not long after this, I received a call back from USCIS. I had called and left a message in the morning asking who my officer handling my I-600A application was. (Remember the I-600A leads to the I-171H approval, which is the last piece of paperwork we need to get submitted before Elijah's country shuts down for 3 months over the winter.) I wanted to find out what we were looking at for processing times and see if I could get an earlier fingerprinting appt. Well...as it turns out, we don't have an officer assigned to our case yet! To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I was so choked up on the phone I could hardly say thank you and good-bye. So, I let myself have a good cry...in fact, it was so good my eyelids are still puffy tonight. LOL You see, when we get our fingerprints done on the 4th, if no one has even looked at our file yet, we are looking at weeks for approval. The nice USCIS lady on the phone was very apologetic and explained they are still backlogged from bringing in the files from the field offices. (This change was supposed to "streamline" the process and it happened in April...need I say more.) In order to expedite for medical reasons, they need documentation from the doctor in country. She said I should call back in a few weeks as we are still "in queue" to be assigned. We don't have weeks if we are going to try and get submitted by the end of November. Our dossier needs to be in the mail by the first week in Nov to allow time for translation and the I-171H takes about 7-10 days to arrive AFTER approval.

Over and over last night (and today) I was thinking about this conversation. It has brought me a tremendous amount of comfort.

"Do you trust me?" Yes, Lord, I do. Lord, I fully admit that is a struggle for me. I want Elijah home ASAP, but I know YOU have a plan. Your timing is perfect. You know what the future holds for us and for Elijah. You have ordained and called us to this adoption and you love us so much that you want nothing but the best for us. Help us to trust in that. Lord, you know every detail about Elijah and this adoption. We ask that you to continue to protect him with your mighty hand. Please give us peace and the ability to rest in You. We turn it all over to you. Lord, we do ask in the powerful name of Jesus that you expedite this paperwork.  We know and believe you can move paper mountains!  Thank you, Jesus!

By the way, I will continue to do everything humanly possible to get this approval in time so we can be submitted by the end of November. I've contacted our congressman's office for help in expediting our case. Still waiting for a response...Please pray they will be favorable to helping us.

Update on Sweet Baby Lyla

Thank you all that have been praying for sweet little Lyla! Summer received word today that Lyla is still indeed alive and is in "rehab". Please pray that she continues to fight and hangs on long enough for her parents to get her home and get her the medical helps she needs. Also, please pray for Lyla's paperwork.

Thank you!!!

Fingerprints are a no-go in Milwaukee

Yep. It didn't work out as I had hoped. The lady we talked to at the Dept of Homeland Security was very sweet and nice. After we explained our situation, she felt bad she could do nothing for us. But their policy is to not allow any early fingerprint appointments. They weren't busy, it just isn't done. Fair enough. I understand. We had to try though, otherwise I would have always wondered. I knew it was a long shot. The only way we can get in earlier is if we contact USCIS and have them issue a new, earlier date. I'm not sure how that will work, but I will try tomorrow! I'm going to keep fighting to bring Elijah home - the sooner the better.

A big thank you to my mother-in-law who rearranged several appointments to ride down with us to sit with the kids in the van while we went into our appointment. I guess the bright side of the day is that I got a chance to show the kids where I lived for 4 years of my life! The office is just a block away from the dorms and apartment that I lived in while I attended college. :-) They were a little overwhelmed with the busyness of the city and campus. A far cry from our quiet 5 acres in the country! (I was a little overwhelmed when I started school there too after growing up on a farm near a small town...)

ANYWAY...that's the update for tonight. God is Good! God's ways are the best! God is sovereign!

P.S. Pat is getting very excited to run his marathon on Sunday. See the details here.

Three Prayer Requests

We have been so blessed to have so many people praying for us throughout this journey. Thank you!!! Today, I have 3 prayer requests.

1. We received word last week from Reece's Rainbow about our country in EE about an upcoming vote about a moratorium (break or stopping) of adoptions.  This vote is supposed to happen in a couple of weeks. I'll admit my first response was to panic.  The leadership of RR is not able to speculate on what might happen with this vote. But, some of the "old-timers" that have adopted more than once from this country tell us that this issue comes up once or twice a year and hasn't passed.  So, I just ask that you pray about this issue that it doesn't even get up for a vote and if it does, that is defeated mightily. Also, please pray for the orphans of this country. Their lives are the ones in limbo.

2. Also last week, one of the adoptive moms from RR received word that their sweet little girl, Lyla, is in the hospital and is not doing well! :-( She hasn't gotten an update yet and is not sure she is still even alive at this point. Please pray for Summer and her family as they rest in HIS arms while they wait for news. I can't imagine what they are going through!

3. The two preceding prayer requests put this request in perspective for me. Yes, we want Elijah home as soon as possible, and I've found it has become very easy to get wrapped up in the whole process and become a bit "self-centered" with my prayer requests. But, I still need to ask for you to please pray for another piece of this journey.  I hope you'll "indulge" me yet again. As I posted below, our fingerprint appts aren't until scheduled until October 4th. When I went on the website to find a phone number for the USCIS office (which doesn't exist), I found out I can make an "Info Pass" appointment in order to talk to someone at the office. So, I scheduled it for this Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 14th, at 2:45PM Central Time.  Please pray that God works in the heart of the person we will be talking to and that this person is favorable to allowing us to get our fingerprints done TOMORROW!!! By getting them done tomorrow, it could potentially save us several weeks of time on the I-171H approval.  Oh, Lord, please give me peace too.

Thanks so much for seeking the Father on our behalf, as well as on behalf of Summer and Lyla, and for the gov't in Elijah's country to a continue adoptions. I really, really appreciate it!

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." James 5:16 NLT

(I love it! I knew I wanted to put this verse at the bottom of this post, but I had to search for it. And guess what the VERY next verses say... "Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops." James 5:17-18 NLT  Wow!  A reference to Elijah RIGHT next to the verse I wanted. :-) God never ceases to amaze me!  It also makes me wonder about what kind of prayer warrior our little Elijah will grow into. Oh, I can hardly wait! Thank you Lord for your Word and your promises.)

Fingerprints...

We got our fingerprint appointment letters in the mail today! We need to head down to the largest city in our state (2 hour drive) to get biometric fingerprints taken at the Dept of Homeland Security. This is a big step in our I-171H ("Golden Ticket") approval. So, things are moving and we know they have at least looked at our file. Unfortunately, the appointments are not until October 4th.  My new friend, Amanda, that is adopting from the same place as us and also lives in the same state, told me they do not let anyone come in early for fingerprinting appointments. :-(  But, our boy needs outta there ASAP, so I will call and try. Please pray for God's favor in this situation and QUICK processing of our I-171H approval. We are almost completely done with our dossier and the I-171H is the last piece.

A Birthday Marathon Fundraiser

Our sweet Elijah will be three years old on September 17th. It will be a day just like any other day for him. No cake, no presents, no nothing. Will the caregivers even know? Or care? But, this will be the LAST birthday he spends alone and sick in the infirmary. September 17, 2011 will be a happy day in our house! You see, if Elijah didn't find his forever family by his 4th birthday, he would be immediately transferred to a mental institution. I shudder to think about his fate there. I'm SO THANKFUL the Lord has called us to bring him home before that happens.

My dear husband, Pat, has been working very, very hard at training to run a FULL MARATHON this fall! It will be his first full marathon. I am so very proud of him for how hard he has worked so far and the diligence he has shown in training. He often gets up very early in the morning to go running before he has to be at work by 6 AM. He does this so his time spent training doesn't interfere with family time. Whatta guy, huh? Some of his training runs have been over 3 hours long! Can you even imagine running for that long? I sure can't! (I can hardly imagine running for 3 minutes these days.)  The marathon is September 19th - just 2 days after Elijah's birthday!

So, Pat is running the marathon in honor of Elijah's 3rd birthday! In an effort to raise funds for our adoption costs, we thought it would be fun to have anyone interested to pledge money per mile that Pat runs in the marathon. Just as a reminder, a marathon is 26.2 miles, but to keep the math easy, we'll just figure 26 miles. (That last 0.2 miles is still very important though!) I remember doing fundraisers like this when I was a kid, only with biking. It gave me lots of extra motivation to push myself. Pat is very determined to finish, but I know this will help him push through the pain a bit more.

This is how it will work if you are interested in participating: Please leave a comment with your pledge per mile. 5 or 10 cents, or $1 or $10 - any size is fine! Or if you would rather email it to me, that's great too. Then after the race, I will post his results. At that time, I'll put a chip-in gadget on the side bar and you can use that to honor your pledge. Sound fun??? I hope so. :-) Plus I think it will be very encouraging to Pat too! Thanks so much!!!

Pat after he finished the Half Marathon - Fall 2009

Pat and his cheering section
Anna, Isaac behind the sign, Sarah and Rebekah in the stroller

We continue to be truly blessed!

My 12 year old blogging daughter tells me my blog is boring because there are very few photos on my posts. Hmmm...I suppose she's right. I'll have to admit though I'm pretty hard up for photos right now to post, but I did find one. (Maybe I'll post some photos of the other kiddos sometime soon.) Don't worry, once we get over to EE, there will be LOTS!

Many of the RR bloggers take photos of their completely apostilled dossier spread out on their table. All those shiny gold stars! :-) Can't wait!!! Well, in the middle of August, we sent our first apostilled papers over to EE. These documents let our facilitators know which child we are coming for and also give them power of attorney to act on our behalf. So, I took a photo of my little pile of documents. Aren't they pretty? Yes, I know, so very exciting...ho hum...they're exciting to me though. LOL

Now, back to the title of this post. Back when I posted about our medical reports being done, I mentioned how God had placed our pastor's wife as the nurse for our new doctor. She went above and beyond to help us get the forms right. Well, God has blessed us tremendously again! In our small town, there is only about one place you can get a color copy made and only about one place you can send things via FedEx. (No "Brown" store here, so the FedEx vs. UPS decision was easy. FedEx rocks! It only took our package 4 days to arrive in EE via International Economy.) A new, dear friend from church works at this most wonderful print shop that is also a FedEx "distributor". I've known her for a few years when I've gotten color fliers made and our Christmas letters printed. (In fact, one year I forgot to go pick up my Christmas letters on a Friday afternoon, and she called me to ask if I wanted them for the weekend to mail them out. Yes, I did - it was like Dec. 22nd - and she volunteered to bring them home to her house because the shop was closed, so I could pick them up there! Now, talk about customer service!)

Anyway, I've gotten to know her better over the past few months when we started attending her church. So, when I went in to get the forms sent over to EE, she would NOT let me pay for the shipping!  She said that was going to be her contribution to our adoption. That's huge! It's not cheap shipping overseas. Have you ever started crying in your FedEx store???  No? Well, I have! :-)  Pat and I are completely humbled by this very Christ-like act of generosity. And when I stopped by to send our I-600A overnight down to TX ...Same thing...more tears.  We are truly, truly blessed. She shared how this means so much to her mommy's heart. You see...she has a child with Down Syndrome too. Isn't God just so good?

Home Ownership and Mortgage Document - Check!

I have to celebrate and share when I get some of the "bigger" dossier documents done. Last week, we knocked off the proof of home ownership and mortgage document!  I've heard of several families that have had a very hard time with this document. We live in a small country township and our local gov't official was very willing and happy to work with me to get this document right. Mrs. Julia R went above and beyond, going out of her way to meet at the town hall, revamping the letter a few times and then meeting me at 2 different banks to get the document notarized. Why two? The notary at the first bank was a relative of hers with the same last name, so she thought it would be best to go to a different bank. Wise choice! We certainly don't need any red flags! So, a HUGE thank you, Julia!  We all really appreciate it and couldn't have done this without you!!! May the Lord bless you for your willingness to help the "least of these". I'll bring Elijah in with me next time I come to vote so you can meet our sweet little boy. :-)

FAQ: How Long Will You be Gone to EE?

Much longer than I EVER thought I would leave my kids for! :-)

Quick answer: We will leave together (2nd honeymoon?) and Pat will stay the first 2-3 weeks. I will stay and be gone 5-6 consecutive weeks .

Long answer: From what I understand, typically for adoptions from this EE country, both parents must travel over and have their court date with the gov't and receive the official referral to be matched with the child. Then, a day or so later after completing some paperwork, the parents can travel to the child's region, meet with the powers-to-be at the orphanage (social worker, lawyer, director, etc), and then meet the child! (I can't wait for that day!!!) Then after more paperwork, a court date is assigned. Depending on the region, this date can be 2-4 weeks out. The last family that was in our region had 2 weeks between their first court date to be matched and the second date. (I think this was on the quicker side for this region.) This second court date is when the child officially becomes a member of the family! Happy Day!

However...this country then has a 10-day waiting period before the next round of paperwork can begin. This 10-day waiting period is written into law so that the family of the child has a chance to come and claim the child. I've never heard of this happening with a RR family. Once the waiting period is over, the paper chase starts again for the child's birth certificate, passport, visa, embassy medical exams, etc. This can take a couple weeks too. Then home! :-)

So...long answer to a simple question. Right now, we are planning on us both going over together for 2-3 weeks. Pat will come home right after court. Then, I plan to stay for the waiting period and do whatever it takes to get home ASAP. I'm planning on being gone 5-6 weeks. Gulp! That was hard to type. I will rely on the Lord to get all of us through this. It definitely will not be easy. My parents have very graciously volunteered to come and watch the kids for us while we travel! What a blessing! There is no way we could have done this without their support. (My mom is even more excited now that I told her I would buy disposable diapers for the baby instead of insisting she use cloth. :-) Can't blame her!)