Sept. 26th

With the date actually within view, we contacted Golden Rule Travel to find out about flights to and from. We have been quoted good rates with free date changes and upfront refundable fees and exchanges. This company was recommended to us by another couple who adopted Internationally. We're so glad they did. Unfortunately for us, we did not expect them to responded so quickly. By the time we called them to lock in the flights, they had closed for the day (half days on Saturday). We'll lock the flights in on Monday.

John and I feel a bit overwhelmed at the magnitude of all that will need to be accomplished in the next 18 days before we leave. Can you believe it???!!!?? 18 DAYS! That is a mighty thing indeed. It has taken us 9 months to get to this point, 10 months by the time we leave for Ukraine. We can't believe the day is almost here when we get to meet our daughters in person. It feels very much like a pregnancy. What will they be like? Will they be feisty and wild? or very sweet and kind? Will they be quiet and calm? or love commotion and loud noises? Every child is different, special and unique in the way God made them. Our daughters will bring with them 14-16 years of life experiences that has helped make them who they are. They are survivors we know for sure. They intend on living, thriving and making a life for themselves. We are so honored to be chosen to be their parents and help guide them the rest of their lives. We are excited for their future and our future together.

God bless you and yours,

Jenn & John

Sept. 23rd

Last night some women and young ladies came to our house to see Ola and Vala's beds, snack on cookies & iced tea (yum!), and spending time chatting. The evening closed with everyone joining in prayer for Ola, Vala, our family, those who will be managing our family and business while we are gone, and everyone & everything involved with the remainder of this adoption process! It was a sweet time that meant so much to John & I. Thank you. You are a blessing to me and definitely my sisters in Christ. Thank you for going through this with us.

Many blessings to you and yours,

Jenn

INVITATION is finally here!

Our Invitation is finally here!

We have an appointment with SDA 12 noon Thursday October 15th! WOW!

We can hardly believe it! The day of meeting the girls is almost here! We will need to leave probably the 13th to allow for travel time and to get there a day ahead to take care of business with Sergiy.

Sergiy has told us we will probably get clearance to meet with only one girl at a time. This means we'll have to meet at SDA, get clearance for one girl, travel to Makeevka, meet her and spend perhaps 2 weeks with her. THEN we'll have to travel back to SDA, get the other clearance, go back to Makeevka, etc. That would be positively horrible! Can you imagine how the girl we did not get clearance to see would feel? We're in the orphanage but can not see her????!!?? They have waited just as long to meet us, as we have them. That seems horribly cruel. Sergiy will try his best to get both clearances at the same time. But because they are not related, this is the way they do things in Ukraine. Ugh!

Please pray things go smoothly as we transition to leave. Pray for our children we leave here in the States. Pray for our business that it too will run smoothly while we are gone. Pray for Sue & her family, who will be caring for our home & daughters while we are gone (her family will be doing without her for the entire time we are in Ukraine!). Pray for our ministries in our absence (we love them and will miss all those we work with!). Pray for Sergiy and his family. And of course, please pray for Ola and Vala - they are meeting strangers they are planning, with great faith, to spend the rest of their lives with! How terribly frightened they must be! They are told how to act and what to say and not to say. We actually will meet the "real" girls a couple of weeks after we get home. Pray the trust us and will learn to rely on us as parents and guardians. We're sure they have had very few they can trust in many, many years.

We are excited about the future days and weeks! Thanks for following along!

God bless you and yours,

John & Jenn

Sept. 22nd

GREAT NEWS! We have received information that we have been APPROVED as prospective adoptive parents in Ukraine! We also will be receiving our official invitation which will be for somewhere in the middle of October. We will have an accurate date in the next day or two.

Thanks for praying everyone - the day is getting closer! We will be sending a card to Ola and Vala telling them we are thinking of them and praying for them. Sergiy will translate them for the girls and forward them on to them.

Wishing you a blessed day,

John & Jenn

Sept. 16th

OUR DOCUMENTS WERE ACCEPTED! Praise God!

Sergiy e-mailed us that they accepted our medical documents. He will go back next week to see if they need more work done or if they will be extending us an invitation. We will be going soon!

To say we are excited, is an understatement!

Love you to all! Jenn & John

Sept. 14th

It's Monday evening and I am finally able to Post...

Last Thursday we were able to overcome many challenges but obtained the medical documents with all the necessary wordings, signatures, notaries and apostilles. We shipped them off DHL (our first with this company internationally) and it was scheduled to arrive Tuesday (tomorrow), a day before Sergiy needs it for submission.

Great news! Sergiy received the package this morning - a day early!!! He said they all look good and will start his translation to submit on Wednesday. I'm thankful for the extra day.

I'll let you all know more when we know more.

God bless,

Jenn

Sept. 9th

Hello my friends and family!

We successfully sent off our Dossiers with all the paperwork necessary for submission to the SDA. Sergiy's appointed time was today (Wednesday) to submit them. The SDA accepted all the documents but the Medical Certificate. They need some changes made to it, including one type of physician. As I have to head into Boise again, I am trying to not get frustrated over all these little details. The Medical Certificate is one Ukraine sent to us to use! It's not even an American form! So that it was rejected and needing wording changed is frustrating, to say the least. Things change fast in Ukraine and I believe they just can't keep up with them - especially when an adoption takes so many months.

The great news is they liked everything else and kept the other documents. My understanding is they are processing the Request to Adopt a Special Child which names Vala and Ola specifically. This is our ticket to seeing them specifically once we enter the country. If this is denied, we will not get the opportunity to adopt them. We are praying the SDA approves us to meet both girls. To be allowed only one of them would be absolutely heartbreaking! God knows and understands.

Please pray for endurance for John and I and our family. Please pray for the necessary funds to be received in just the right time. Pray for those who will be helping run our business stateside and taking care of our daughters while we are away - and their families too.

Until the next update! Happy trails! God bless you and yours.

Sincerely,
Jenn

Sept. 1st

The dossiers and partial funds have arrived safely to Ukraine! Praise God!

It's been a little nerve racking to wait for all the documents (that took us months to compile) to arrive safely into Sergiy's hands. The package could only be insured for $1.00 as it was just paper documents. The Apostille stamps alone cost $480.00! Not to mention how much time and energy it would take to obtain them all again should it have gotten lost or damaged. I especially, am so thankful it has arrived there safely.

Sergiy will now review the original documents and put his translations on them. From there he will submit them to the appropriate governmental department and then we wait.

Please pray that the documents are acceptable and none have to be redone or more added to the dossiers. Sergiy has close advisers who are working with him to make sure these are as perfect as possible before submission. It has gotten very dicey in the world of international adoption there and everything has to be just right. Frankly, Ola is too close to 'aging out' that we can not possibly afford another delay.

Thanks for keeping up with us! Have a wonderful week. I pray all your surprises this week will be pleasant and fun.

Much love to you and yours,

Jenn & John