Here is our beautiful Annah!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
It's almost December! All I really want for Christmas is my two little girls.
All I really want for Christmas by Stephen Curtis Chapman
The perfect song for what I am feeling right now. If you have time, listen to it. Maybe it will inspire you to adopt one of the 750,000 orphans in Russia. Christians need to be doing more!
Monday, September 27, 2010
It's Been along time since my last posting!
Our paperwork is finished and now we are waiting to go. The Lord picked Annah and Katie for us and we are soooo thankful! Yelp those are our daughters that you see on the page. They are soo beautiful and sweet. I just can't wait to have them in my arms. Austin is thrilled and wants to see them everyday! It's hard to believe that as much as we already love them they don't even know that we are over here. They don't know how much we are praying for them! They have know idea how much their world is about to be ROCKED, of course, neither do we. LOL! Talking to Austin today I was asking him if he could remember living in the orphanage without us. He said no that he didn't think he could remember ever being without us. How God heals our memories. I pray he will heal Annah's quickly and Katie's. If mommy and daddy could have come quicker to get you we would have but it was in God's hands not ours. WE will be there as soon as they tell us we can go! LOVE YOU so much!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Education Minister of Russia votes NO to a STOP of US adoptions!
GOOD NEWS!
The following is a letter sent to us by our agency.
Dear Families,
Just a short report. I called Tanya today to find out if there is
anything new regarding adoptions.They are all aware that Duma voted
against moratorium. So now everyone is waiting for May 12th.
That seems to be date that hopefully judges will resume adoptions. No
word yet, but tomorrow I will call again and see if there is something
positive to report.
We need to continue to pray and believe that our Father will give us
desires of our hearts.
Blessings..
Alexandra and George
The following is a letter sent to us by our agency.
Dear Families,
Just a short report. I called Tanya today to find out if there is
anything new regarding adoptions.They are all aware that Duma voted
against moratorium. So now everyone is waiting for May 12th.
That seems to be date that hopefully judges will resume adoptions. No
word yet, but tomorrow I will call again and see if there is something
positive to report.
We need to continue to pray and believe that our Father will give us
desires of our hearts.
Blessings..
Alexandra and George
Monday, May 10, 2010
Latest Adoption News
Russia – U.S. Dept of State Announcement
30 04 2010
The U.S. Dept of State, Office of Children’s Issues has issued the following announcement regarding adoptions from Russia. Joint Council commends the collaborative efforts of the two governments, as well as the efforts of adoptive families, prospective adoptive families, and NGO’s in Russia and the United States in ensuring that intercountry adoptions between Russia and the United States continues. This announcement can also be viewed on The Office of Children’s Issues website at http://adoption.state.gov/news/russia.html.
April 29, 2010
There has been no official suspension in adoptions of Russian orphans by American parents. However, in some parts of Russia, we are aware that adoptions are being slowed down or delayed. The United States and Russia held their first round of talks on adoption issues in Moscow on April 29. The discussions focused on the U.S. and Russian concerns regarding protecting the welfare and rights of children being adopted internationally. The talks were productive and an expert-level working group will travel to Moscow for further discussions on an adoption agreement on May 12, 2010.
If you have completed an adoption in Russia and have an immigrant visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow:
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is continuing to schedule and issue immigrant visas for adopted children using normal processing procedures. Contact the Embassy at MoscowConsularR@state.gov to schedule an appointment. Please also stay in close touch with your adoption service provider.
If you have a court appointment to finalize your child’s adoption in Russia:
Many adoption cases are continuing to move forward in the courts. We have heard of cases in which a court appointment has been postponed. If your court appointment is postponed by the court, please provide this information to us by email at RussiaAdoption@state.gov and MoscowConsularR@state.gov. We will work with the Russian authorities to try to resolve any problems.
If you do not yet have a court date to finalize an adoption in Russia, but are in the process of adopting from Russia:
Please stay in close contact with your adoption service provider, and check the adoption.state.gov website regularly for current information about intercountry adoption from Russia.
The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues has established a special
e-mail box for inquiries or comments about adoptions from Russia. Prospective adoptive parents and others with concerns about adoptions from Russia may send their questions to RussiaAdoption@state.gov. Prospective adoptive parents may also provide complete contact information for themselves, including full address, phone number, and e-mail information, the name of their adoption service provider (if available) and details about the child they are planning to adop
30 04 2010
The U.S. Dept of State, Office of Children’s Issues has issued the following announcement regarding adoptions from Russia. Joint Council commends the collaborative efforts of the two governments, as well as the efforts of adoptive families, prospective adoptive families, and NGO’s in Russia and the United States in ensuring that intercountry adoptions between Russia and the United States continues. This announcement can also be viewed on The Office of Children’s Issues website at http://adoption.state.gov/news/russia.html.
April 29, 2010
There has been no official suspension in adoptions of Russian orphans by American parents. However, in some parts of Russia, we are aware that adoptions are being slowed down or delayed. The United States and Russia held their first round of talks on adoption issues in Moscow on April 29. The discussions focused on the U.S. and Russian concerns regarding protecting the welfare and rights of children being adopted internationally. The talks were productive and an expert-level working group will travel to Moscow for further discussions on an adoption agreement on May 12, 2010.
If you have completed an adoption in Russia and have an immigrant visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow:
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow is continuing to schedule and issue immigrant visas for adopted children using normal processing procedures. Contact the Embassy at MoscowConsularR@state.gov to schedule an appointment. Please also stay in close touch with your adoption service provider.
If you have a court appointment to finalize your child’s adoption in Russia:
Many adoption cases are continuing to move forward in the courts. We have heard of cases in which a court appointment has been postponed. If your court appointment is postponed by the court, please provide this information to us by email at RussiaAdoption@state.gov and MoscowConsularR@state.gov. We will work with the Russian authorities to try to resolve any problems.
If you do not yet have a court date to finalize an adoption in Russia, but are in the process of adopting from Russia:
Please stay in close contact with your adoption service provider, and check the adoption.state.gov website regularly for current information about intercountry adoption from Russia.
The Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues has established a special
e-mail box for inquiries or comments about adoptions from Russia. Prospective adoptive parents and others with concerns about adoptions from Russia may send their questions to RussiaAdoption@state.gov. Prospective adoptive parents may also provide complete contact information for themselves, including full address, phone number, and e-mail information, the name of their adoption service provider (if available) and details about the child they are planning to adop
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Prayers Have Been Answered!!!
Dear Family and Friends,
Once again God has answered our prayers! He is soooo good. Please read the following letter sent to us by our adoption agency (International Guardian Angel Adoptions- George and Alexandra Goode). The family that I mentioned in my past blog was able to adopt their little one and the US adoption freeze will only last till May. In May the court in Penza will start opening up court dates for adoptions to take place. Praise God! I told you my God was bigger than Russia!! ~ Jera
April 15, 2010
Dear Pre-Adoptive Families,
Yesterday we had good news from Penza -- the David & Karin Owens
Family's adoption of precious Jake (Artem, almost 5), scheduled for
yesterday, went through with flying colors! Little Jake is now officially
adopted. That was an answer to many prayers!
However, the shocking news about the American adoptive mom in Tennessee
who sent her 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia last week on a plane by himself . . . has been most disturbing and caused much trouble in both
Russia and here. Just this morning we heard the news that Russia has
suspended temporarily all adoptions to U.S. families as of this date until the two countries can agree on some procedures, the Foreign Ministry said.
Regarding the court dates for those families that have submitted their
dossiers and are waiting, we have been told by the judge that she will not
set any new court dates until further notice.
A Representative from the Penza Ministry of Education visited with the
judge after the court and was told that some changes needed to be made in
the adoptive family dossiers. Tanya Voronkova will write to us what the
changes will be -- nothing major we were told.
The Judge also advised him that whatever changes are to be made should be
made as soon as possible, so that when she is ready to resume courts, the
papers should be ready. She felt that she will set new court dates again
probably in May. Lets keep that in our prayers that it will be in May.
We will be in touch as we are given new instructions to pass them on to
you. Again, we Praise our Lord for hearing our prayers. He is in charge
we know that. We should all keep praying.
Lord's blessings and love to all of you,
Alexandra and George
Once again God has answered our prayers! He is soooo good. Please read the following letter sent to us by our adoption agency (International Guardian Angel Adoptions- George and Alexandra Goode). The family that I mentioned in my past blog was able to adopt their little one and the US adoption freeze will only last till May. In May the court in Penza will start opening up court dates for adoptions to take place. Praise God! I told you my God was bigger than Russia!! ~ Jera
April 15, 2010
Dear Pre-Adoptive Families,
Yesterday we had good news from Penza -- the David & Karin Owens
Family's adoption of precious Jake (Artem, almost 5), scheduled for
yesterday, went through with flying colors! Little Jake is now officially
adopted. That was an answer to many prayers!
However, the shocking news about the American adoptive mom in Tennessee
who sent her 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia last week on a plane by himself . . . has been most disturbing and caused much trouble in both
Russia and here. Just this morning we heard the news that Russia has
suspended temporarily all adoptions to U.S. families as of this date until the two countries can agree on some procedures, the Foreign Ministry said.
Regarding the court dates for those families that have submitted their
dossiers and are waiting, we have been told by the judge that she will not
set any new court dates until further notice.
A Representative from the Penza Ministry of Education visited with the
judge after the court and was told that some changes needed to be made in
the adoptive family dossiers. Tanya Voronkova will write to us what the
changes will be -- nothing major we were told.
The Judge also advised him that whatever changes are to be made should be
made as soon as possible, so that when she is ready to resume courts, the
papers should be ready. She felt that she will set new court dates again
probably in May. Lets keep that in our prayers that it will be in May.
We will be in touch as we are given new instructions to pass them on to
you. Again, we Praise our Lord for hearing our prayers. He is in charge
we know that. We should all keep praying.
Lord's blessings and love to all of you,
Alexandra and George
Monday, April 12, 2010
My God is Bigger than the Russian Federation!
As for me and my house we are adopting two babies. My GOD is BIGGER than Russia! The doors won't be shut forever and will be ready when they open! HOMESTUDY Interview is scheduled for Sunday May 2nd. Lots to do! I need a doctor's note, financial statements, reference letters, a statement from my employer, a background check, a marriage license, pics of my family and pics of my house. Lots to still do! Keep praying for my growing family!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Will Russia Freeze Adoptions for all US Families???
My dear friends and loving family we are deeply saddened by the lastest news of another person mistreating a child. Every child matters regardless if they were brought into this world in a biological way or an adoptive way. At this time we have no official word of Russia closing adoptions down for American families. No news, in this case, is good news. Please keep us in your prayers and our children that are waiting to come home. They are the real heroes in this tradgedy!
Here is a letter sent to us by our adoption agency:
Dear Adoptive Families,
We are sure that by now you have heard in the news about the unfortunate action taken by one American adoptive single mother who adopted her little boy from Russia last September. This adoptive mother had a problem with her son and, apparently without seeking proper counsel, sent her little seven year old boy back to Moscow alone. The reason she stated was that the boy was not an emotionally healthy child.
This is tragic and very cruel on the part of this parent to handle the child in this manner. We are all very upset by this and, needless to say, the Russia government and media is reacting very strongly toward adoptions at this time. We have been in contact with our people in Penza. They too are very upset because they know what that could mean to those kids waiting to be adopted.
Nothing has been decided yet, and we pray that the outcome will not be negative. We are very concerned and will stay in touch with our Penza associate, Tanya, and other contacts we have in Russia . . . and keep in touch with all of you.
Right now we have a family in Penza ready for their court hearing which is to take place next Wednesday. Please include David and Karin Owen and their little Jake to be adopted in your prayers that nothing will hinder that process for them. In fact, we all need to pray that this incident will not result in any delay for our adoptive families, many of whom have submitted their dossiers and are awaiting referral(s) and a court date.
Again, please keep the Owen family and all other waiting families in your prayers. We all know that our Lord loves those kids more than we do and He is in control. We will be in contact with all of you as we hear anything significant regarding this incident.
Our love and Lord's blessings to all,
Alexandra and George
Here is a letter sent to us by our adoption agency:
Dear Adoptive Families,
We are sure that by now you have heard in the news about the unfortunate action taken by one American adoptive single mother who adopted her little boy from Russia last September. This adoptive mother had a problem with her son and, apparently without seeking proper counsel, sent her little seven year old boy back to Moscow alone. The reason she stated was that the boy was not an emotionally healthy child.
This is tragic and very cruel on the part of this parent to handle the child in this manner. We are all very upset by this and, needless to say, the Russia government and media is reacting very strongly toward adoptions at this time. We have been in contact with our people in Penza. They too are very upset because they know what that could mean to those kids waiting to be adopted.
Nothing has been decided yet, and we pray that the outcome will not be negative. We are very concerned and will stay in touch with our Penza associate, Tanya, and other contacts we have in Russia . . . and keep in touch with all of you.
Right now we have a family in Penza ready for their court hearing which is to take place next Wednesday. Please include David and Karin Owen and their little Jake to be adopted in your prayers that nothing will hinder that process for them. In fact, we all need to pray that this incident will not result in any delay for our adoptive families, many of whom have submitted their dossiers and are awaiting referral(s) and a court date.
Again, please keep the Owen family and all other waiting families in your prayers. We all know that our Lord loves those kids more than we do and He is in control. We will be in contact with all of you as we hear anything significant regarding this incident.
Our love and Lord's blessings to all,
Alexandra and George
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Opening up about a very private matter!
It hasn't been easy telling you all about the financial aspects of this adoption. I don't want anyone to think that we are just throwing dollar signs out to the wind just for people to hear. This is not a lame attempt for attention this is our attempt to be humble, grateful, and to express our faith in the Lord that He will provide the way for Vince, Austin, and I to extend our family. I also want to explain why I am telling you how much everything cost. Vince and I prayed about our decision to adopt again and through our prayers the Lord reminded us that many people wanted to know more about the adoption process when we adopted Austin. In fact some felt last time we had been "too private". Last time we intentionally were "private" because we felt that our lack of fertility was a "private matter" so we didn't allow anyone to know some of the many ups and downs in this process.
This time we vowed to be painfully open about the financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical burden this adoption will be on us. The Lord commands us to share in one another burdens and to call on one another in his name. Vince and I are sharing with you our labor. It's much longer than the usual 24 hours. It's longer than the typical 9 months. But it is our labor. Our insurance company will not pay for this birth. But I wish they would. LOL! This must be done in cash! Vince and I have set aside this year(so embarassing to say but..)$20,000 that the Lord has blessed us with to adopt our next two children. We have been blessed greatly with this little extra. This will cover our adoption of our two children but this will not cover the travel expenses. So we are currently seeking fundraising opportunities. Vince is putting in many extra hours, I am tutoring four times a week, I am going to teach summer school for the first time ever, and we are planning a huge garage sale,professional photography pics, and benefit dinner. TBA soon. We are needing to raise a whopping $19,000 for travel expenses. I know that the Lord will provide. I have no doubts. I prayed for a baby for ten years and the LOrd answered my prayer, not the way I expected, but he answered it! I can't imagine my life without Austin. Not for even one minute! He was meant for us! That was the way it was suppose to be! Faith is trusting and believeing that the Lord is, was, and is to be. That He will make all things possible for them that love the Lord. Please join us in prayer for our labor of love. I can't wait to bring our babies home!
This time we vowed to be painfully open about the financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical burden this adoption will be on us. The Lord commands us to share in one another burdens and to call on one another in his name. Vince and I are sharing with you our labor. It's much longer than the usual 24 hours. It's longer than the typical 9 months. But it is our labor. Our insurance company will not pay for this birth. But I wish they would. LOL! This must be done in cash! Vince and I have set aside this year(so embarassing to say but..)$20,000 that the Lord has blessed us with to adopt our next two children. We have been blessed greatly with this little extra. This will cover our adoption of our two children but this will not cover the travel expenses. So we are currently seeking fundraising opportunities. Vince is putting in many extra hours, I am tutoring four times a week, I am going to teach summer school for the first time ever, and we are planning a huge garage sale,professional photography pics, and benefit dinner. TBA soon. We are needing to raise a whopping $19,000 for travel expenses. I know that the Lord will provide. I have no doubts. I prayed for a baby for ten years and the LOrd answered my prayer, not the way I expected, but he answered it! I can't imagine my life without Austin. Not for even one minute! He was meant for us! That was the way it was suppose to be! Faith is trusting and believeing that the Lord is, was, and is to be. That He will make all things possible for them that love the Lord. Please join us in prayer for our labor of love. I can't wait to bring our babies home!
Home Study questionaire is done!
I haven't updated for awhile and I have had so many ask about my blog. I guess I am feeling a little guilty for not writing more. Honestly, we really haven't had much to write. Vince and I needed to update our passports before we could start most of the paperwork. Just about every piece of adoption paperwork wants your passport number so that had to be finished. Austin needed an American passport even though he has a Russian passport we certainly didn't want to take Austin to Russia with that. So we made him more official with his very own American passport. Fun! Vince and I sent our questionaires to our social worker, Collette Kim. She has worked with us for the passed four years. We have paid our $1200 to start the homestudy process but now we are waiting to hear from our George and Alexandra (adoption agency - Internation Guardian Angel Adoptions) and schedule the actual home visit. Our next steps that are coming VERY soon are finishing up all the rest of the homestudy paperwork and interviewing process and paying them $3500 to finish their part. We also will be sending off for our I-600A form (permission to bring orphans back to America) this cost $830. This might be more since we are getting two but I am not sure. I'll let you know!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
HOME STUDY TIME and PASSPORTS
We are finally here! I know I have said it before but Spring Break starts tomorrow and this will allow me to spend some much needed time planning and preparing paperwork. We are sending away our home study paperwork and have an appointment in Rockwall for our passports to be renewed. Austin is getting a passport as well. This is a different process since he is a citizen by paperwork not birth. I'm sure it want be a huge deal though! Just wanted to let everyone know. Onward we go...
God never will ask us to bare more than we can bare. Comforting! Thanks God for believeing in me so much!
God never will ask us to bare more than we can bare. Comforting! Thanks God for believeing in me so much!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Adoption Process is Official
Yes, we have started the process officially! We are paper pregnant!! YIPPEE! We sent $250 in with our application to adopt two children. We specified that we wanted to adopt two children. We also specified that one of the children must be a little girl. We have already named her Annah Kay. The second child, we did not specify a gender. We are considering the names Katie Ann if it is a girl and Jack Michael if it is a boy.
Tonight, I have worked on my questionaire sheet for our homestudy, that is yet to be scheduled. The questionaire sheet is nine pages long so you can imagine that this took awhile to do.
Last night we worked on cleaning our office out so we could make room for the new babies. We are far from being done. It's a disaster in their!!!
Our next step in the process is the homestudy process which will cost $1200. We will gather up our marriage license, pictures of our house, pics of each other, birth certificates, financial statements, proof of employment documents, medical letters from our doctors, and recommendations from our friends for the homestudy.
Lots more work to do but what a joy it is to be able to adopt two more children. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful work and a desire to bring up our children in the Lord. Thank you for your support and prayers! Jera
Tonight, I have worked on my questionaire sheet for our homestudy, that is yet to be scheduled. The questionaire sheet is nine pages long so you can imagine that this took awhile to do.
Last night we worked on cleaning our office out so we could make room for the new babies. We are far from being done. It's a disaster in their!!!
Our next step in the process is the homestudy process which will cost $1200. We will gather up our marriage license, pictures of our house, pics of each other, birth certificates, financial statements, proof of employment documents, medical letters from our doctors, and recommendations from our friends for the homestudy.
Lots more work to do but what a joy it is to be able to adopt two more children. The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful work and a desire to bring up our children in the Lord. Thank you for your support and prayers! Jera
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