An Actual "Target Date"!!

Hi All,

We just received news that our homestudy was registered with the Ukraine SDA today. Even though they are closed for the holidays, they are accepting homestudies and issuing dossier submission dates. Thus means that in mid-February, our facilitator will submit our dossiers for consideration and within a few weeks the SDA will invite us to meet with them. Typically the meeting date is a few weeks from the date they issue the invitation. So this is in keeping with our previously adjusted April timeframe to travel to Ukraine.

The next obvious question is "when will we return home with the kids?". Our situation is complex (not that everyone's isn't for a variety of reasons!) because we are adopting two children in different orphanages in completely different regions of the country. In other words, the only things their adoptions have in common is that they will both take place in Ukraine and they will both end up with the same parents! Otherwise, the whole "in country" experience is likely to be a BIG puzzle!! And the parts may not reveals themselves up front. We are thankful to have THE BEST TEAM we could ask for and we are entrusting the details to them.

Typically speaking, uncomplicated (haha) adoptions of a single child take three to four weeks for court approval of the adoption followed by a ten-day waiting period (during which most families return to the US) and then another ten days to two weeks (only one parents is required for this part) to wrap up Ukrainian & US paperwork. Optimistically, we can add two weeks to the initial three to four weeks to get court approval for both adoptions (obviously this will require some creative "weaving" of activities). We will not likely have the ten-day "down time" which means we will not returns home until ALL IS SAID AND DONE! And while this might not seem ideal at first glance, I'm not the strongest of closers. I do my best work right out of the gates and before I come up for air. So returning the the US for a "break" could put "round two" in Ukraine at risk!! :) So I'll consider it a good thing that I won't be traveling twice. But the reality is we will likely be in Ukraine for eight weeks (and thats an optimistic guestimate!). So, without firm dates or a calendar in hand, my best guess is that we will return home with out children in mid-June. Wow...it almost feels real. But still a long ways off...

Still looming is the proposed legislation that was due to go to a second vote but did not make the agenda and has been delayed until next week. It's hard to draw any real conclusions about what that means. This truly is the dark cloud that casts a shadow on our dreams that are finally taking shape. What I know for sure is that God brought the four of us together and He will see this through. If our plan doesn't look like His plan...well then, shame on us for planning!!

Real quickly, I'd like to thank the many families who have gone before us for sharing your journeys and being my window to the future. Your blogs are truly God's way of preparing me for what would have most certainly otherwise been a disaster. In fact, I "practiced" today for my trip to Ukraine. I went to a large Asia market with scary looking food and where no one could help me even if they wanted to!! Of course, I realize that the fact that I wasn't there to get my children made the whole experience feel falsely secure (well, that and I was in Cary, NC!) but you gotta start somewhere!!

Anyway, I wanted to share our bit of good news!!!

Merry Christmas to all!