Well, I know at least one thing for certain - I'm not a dedicated blogger!
It's really hard for me to believe that it has been so long since we made the announcement about bringing 5 more into our family. A lot has happened during that time, and considering that the adoption journey in general is a roller coaster ride, you could say that for the past month we have been on one crazy, long, rickety ride - filled with many of the emotions that a person can experience during all the twists and turns and really steep hills, where you can't see the rest of the track and you feel like your falling into the unknown and then when you finally see the end your stomach can start to settle back into place and you are so very happy to get off the coaster (at least, that's the way it is for me when I ride one!)
I know, I'm being vague and I'm sorry that I can't be more straight forward, but the important thing is that our home study update approving us for the children is, as we speak, being fed-ex'd to USCIS so we can now get the approval from our government for 5 children instead of 4. I'm not positive how long this will take so I'll have to hop on over to China Adopt Talk, a website with a forum that tracks the paperwork process of adopting from China (among other things adoption related) and let you know what I find out. Our last update took about 3 weeks, but a friend said they just did theirs and it took just over a week (but they are not adopting from a Hague country, so I'm thinking it will take longer for us).
After we get the approval from our government, we will then be waiting for the official referral for the children from Colombia. There has been a really big slowdown in Colombia recently due to an investigation into the files of children who can be referred for adoption. We aren't sure if that will effect us or not. We are getting kind-of used to this adoption taking way longer than we expected so I figure if we plan on it taking months to get the referral than we may just be pleasantly surprised :)
Tomorrow is a day that will be filled with applying for grants. There are a couple that are due at the end of this month, and I didn't feel we should apply for them until our update was complete - so I'm going to be pretty busy!
Thank you to all who have been praying for us and the children this past month. We really, really appreciate it and know that God has heard you.
In His name,
Karen
Thank you for visiting! This blog is a hodgepodge of things that interest me such as writing about our family and our new adventure into soap making, advocating for orphans & adoption, providing links for freezer meals we like etc. etc. We are a Christian, homeschooling family with 9 children: 1 was born in China, 5 in Colombia 3 are biological. Welcome! I hope you find something that interests you :)
Good to see your blog post, Karen! I've been wondering how things are going.
ReplyDeleteContinuing to pray as you ride this ride. Know that God is in control! :) Ami
www.walkingbytheway.com
So, we are in Bogota and I am pretty sure that someone was scoping out hotels for your family. They said there was a family adopting 5 from the US. (I am pretty sure they also said they had four kids too). At our hotel a lady was looking at different rooms where we are at. Be encouraged, in speaking with different incountry reps and lawyers, (things have slowed down unless it is a lg sibling group, older child or special needs). And we have def seen there, barely any babies, but a lot of older kids. Just wanted to give you that encouragement!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement! Even if it isn't us, it was perfect timing on your end b/c I am sitting here applying for grants, which is a bit tedious :)
DeleteAlso, thank you so much for letting me know about the slow down and how it doesn't seem to be effecting lg sibling groups/special needs.
So happy for you and your family - excited for you to be all together again!
Great blog. We're about to travel for Colombia on Tuesday after our own roller coaster. We'll keep you guys in our thoughts and prayers as you continue in your journey.
ReplyDelete