While we are still waiting to here about our referral and travel dates, it's interesting to read about others that are also going through this experience.
Check out this post from a blog we follow of another family from Tennessee adopting from Lat^ia. She just got back from her 2nd trip...
http://www.dofrogshaveteeth.com/2013/05/court-2-adoption-is-final.html
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Waiting...
We would love to know who is reading our blog. We welcome everyone to use the "comment" feature at the end of each post.
This week, we got word that our dossier paperwork is moving slowly. The translation of our paperwork is not even complete. And as a result, its not been submitted to the Lat^ian Ministry.
We know of many other families that are in the same boat that we are. We are part of a closed Facebook network of "Lat Fams" who are either in the process or have completed the adoption process from Lat^via.
After the winter hosting, there was a flood of dossiers submitted to the Ministry at about the same time. Unfortunately for the younger kids waiting for adoption, the focus is put on the older kids that are close to "aging-out" of the system.
So, we wait and we wait for word from Lat^via. We'll have more yard sales and sell more Warrior Necklaces (please email us your order). Here we are in Late May, and I don't see us travelling in June or July. Perhaps August or September. This just makes the day that we see our Warrior that much more exciting!
This week, we got word that our dossier paperwork is moving slowly. The translation of our paperwork is not even complete. And as a result, its not been submitted to the Lat^ian Ministry. We know of many other families that are in the same boat that we are. We are part of a closed Facebook network of "Lat Fams" who are either in the process or have completed the adoption process from Lat^via.
After the winter hosting, there was a flood of dossiers submitted to the Ministry at about the same time. Unfortunately for the younger kids waiting for adoption, the focus is put on the older kids that are close to "aging-out" of the system.
So, we wait and we wait for word from Lat^via. We'll have more yard sales and sell more Warrior Necklaces (please email us your order). Here we are in Late May, and I don't see us travelling in June or July. Perhaps August or September. This just makes the day that we see our Warrior that much more exciting!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Help Us Reach Our Goal of 100 Warrior Necklaces...!
Help us reach 100 Warrior Necklaces! Please email us your order. Let us know the following:
1. Warrior Design Number
2. Necklace Color (White, Black, Brown or Tan)
3. Quantity
4. Shipping Address
Single Washer Necklaces: $5 minimum donation
Double Washer Necklaces: $7 minimum donation
Use the "Donate" PayPal button on our blog, or a personal check is fine. All donations go directly into Warrior's adoption bank account.
Single Washer Necklaces: $5 minimum donation
Double Washer Necklaces: $7 minimum donation
Use the "Donate" PayPal button on our blog, or a personal check is fine. All donations go directly into Warrior's adoption bank account.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Cienījamie Warrior
Cienījamie Warrior,
Mēs ceram, ka jums patīk karti, mēs nosūtām jums. Mums pietrūks. Mēs tevi ļoti mīlu.
mīlestība,
Mama, Papa, Beka, Rachel, Sarah, Seth
Monday, May 13, 2013
Thank You!
Thank you to the generous family who made a donation to our adoption directly to our agency, An Open Door! This is much appreciated...
Friday, May 10, 2013
Q&A
Here are some common questions that we get and their answers:
Question: Why are you adopting from Europe? Why can't you adopt locally?
Answer: There are orphans all over the world. The United States has orphans as well in the foster care system. There are no longer any orphanages in the United States. God calls some people to adopt from Africa, others to adopt from Asia and others to adopt domestically. God has called us to adopt Warrior.
Question: Don't you have enough kids?
Answer: How many kids is "enough kids"? By whose standards? God has blessed us with four incredible children. And if His will be done, we will be blessed with a fifth.
Question: Where are you going to put a fifth child?
Answer: Seth and Warrior will share a room. Bunkbeds are already set up. The girls share a room. Our spare bedroom is our homeschool room. Warrior will ride between Sarah and Seth in a car seat - the same way he rode in our van while we hosted him.
Question: Why are you adopting from Europe? Why can't you adopt locally?
Answer: There are orphans all over the world. The United States has orphans as well in the foster care system. There are no longer any orphanages in the United States. God calls some people to adopt from Africa, others to adopt from Asia and others to adopt domestically. God has called us to adopt Warrior.
Question: Don't you have enough kids?
Answer: How many kids is "enough kids"? By whose standards? God has blessed us with four incredible children. And if His will be done, we will be blessed with a fifth.
Question: Where are you going to put a fifth child?
Answer: Seth and Warrior will share a room. Bunkbeds are already set up. The girls share a room. Our spare bedroom is our homeschool room. Warrior will ride between Sarah and Seth in a car seat - the same way he rode in our van while we hosted him.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Lat^ian Independence
On May 4, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Lat^ian Soviet Socialist Republic declared their independence from the USSR and was renamed the Republic of Lat^ia. So today being a Monday, Lat^ians celebrated this momentous date. Needless to say, I am sure that not much was being done on our paperwork in the Lat^ian Ministry!
I don't think it was coincidence, but in the kids' history lesson for today they read about this historic day of independence in their textbook:
On a separate note, please read this fantastic blog post by a fellow NHFC host family who is adopting their host daughter: summer4anastasia.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/my-warrior-king/ This is an insight into the difficulties that many teenagers face leading up to their adoption.
I don't think it was coincidence, but in the kids' history lesson for today they read about this historic day of independence in their textbook:
On a separate note, please read this fantastic blog post by a fellow NHFC host family who is adopting their host daughter: summer4anastasia.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/my-warrior-king/ This is an insight into the difficulties that many teenagers face leading up to their adoption.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
When you say YES
"When you say YES to adoption, you are saying YES to enter the suffering of the orphan, and that suffering includes WAITING FOR YOU TO GET TO THEM. I promise you, their suffering is worse than yours. We say YES to the tears, YES to the longing, YES to the maddening process, YES to the money, YES to hope, YES to the screaming frustration of it all, YES to going the distance through every unforeseen discouragement and delay. Do not imagine that something outside of "your perfect plan" means you heard God wrong. There is NO perfect adoption. EVERY adoption has snags. We Americans invented the "show me a sign" or "this is a sign" or "this must mean God is closing a door" or "God must not be in this because it is hard," but all that is garbage. You know what's hard? Being an orphan. They need us to be champions and heroes for them, fighting like mad to get them home. So we will. We may cry and rage and scream and wail in the process, but get them home we will."
--Jen Hatmaker
Kristie, the kids and I would like to thank everyone who participated, organized, sorted, donated, bought and stopped by to encourage us during our two day yard/garage/porch sale. Friday was rain-free. Saturday rained the whole time, so we opened the garage, and we put kids' stuff on the front porch. I manned the garage while Kristie handled the porch. We were texting each other back and forth with updates. Sarah sold snacks in the rain. Rebekah helped out the whole time as well. Rachel spent the night with a friend. And Seth played cars. Overall, it was a huge success! We had some customers tell us to keep the change from their purchases, while we had others write generous checks. Thank you to those that did that for us and Warrior.
Total, we netted over $1150 dollars (and sold 9 Warrior Necklaces) in those two days. Every dollar will be turned in to our matching grant, which will be doubled to over $2300. Our agency will invoice the grant organization directly for our next round of fees in a few weeks.
While we still have lots of stuff remaining, at least I can walk in my garage now. We will be opening up our garage again perhaps next week to raise additional funds.
I was able to have dinner last night with a friend and former coworker who lost his daughter on Christmas Day of last year. What a blessing to catch up with him after the terrible tragedy that his family went through a few months ago.
I was home in time to watch Orb win the Kentucky Derby with the family.
--Jen Hatmaker
Kristie, the kids and I would like to thank everyone who participated, organized, sorted, donated, bought and stopped by to encourage us during our two day yard/garage/porch sale. Friday was rain-free. Saturday rained the whole time, so we opened the garage, and we put kids' stuff on the front porch. I manned the garage while Kristie handled the porch. We were texting each other back and forth with updates. Sarah sold snacks in the rain. Rebekah helped out the whole time as well. Rachel spent the night with a friend. And Seth played cars. Overall, it was a huge success! We had some customers tell us to keep the change from their purchases, while we had others write generous checks. Thank you to those that did that for us and Warrior.
Total, we netted over $1150 dollars (and sold 9 Warrior Necklaces) in those two days. Every dollar will be turned in to our matching grant, which will be doubled to over $2300. Our agency will invoice the grant organization directly for our next round of fees in a few weeks.
While we still have lots of stuff remaining, at least I can walk in my garage now. We will be opening up our garage again perhaps next week to raise additional funds.
I was able to have dinner last night with a friend and former coworker who lost his daughter on Christmas Day of last year. What a blessing to catch up with him after the terrible tragedy that his family went through a few months ago.
I was home in time to watch Orb win the Kentucky Derby with the family.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Today, the rain held off and we were able to have Day #1 of our yard sale to raise money for the Warrior Fund. We had a huge turn-out and were blown away by people's support.
Most of the items we sold were items that had been donated to us. Thanks to those that donated some very nice clothing and household items.
We found out last night that we have been approved for a matching grant - up to $3,000 which will be doubled by the grant to $6,000. The $6,000 will completely cover our next round of agency fees for Trip #1 (actual travel costs are another story). For those that are interested, the agency fees for Trip #1 are as follows:
Facilitator Fees ................................ $2,264
Child Clearance Fee ........................... $188
Interpreter for Court ........................... $129
Document Translations After Court .. $1,682
Ground Transportation pre-paid ..........$799
Visitor's Visa ...................................... $180
Immigrant Visa ................................... $230
First Trip total fees .......................... $5,472
As a result of this great week, I've updated "Total Funds Raised to Date" to include the yard-sale proceeds and the matching grant. The Lord has provided in a big way!
Most of the items we sold were items that had been donated to us. Thanks to those that donated some very nice clothing and household items.
We found out last night that we have been approved for a matching grant - up to $3,000 which will be doubled by the grant to $6,000. The $6,000 will completely cover our next round of agency fees for Trip #1 (actual travel costs are another story). For those that are interested, the agency fees for Trip #1 are as follows:
Facilitator Fees ................................ $2,264
Child Clearance Fee ........................... $188
Interpreter for Court ........................... $129
Document Translations After Court .. $1,682
Ground Transportation pre-paid ..........$799
Visitor's Visa ...................................... $180
Immigrant Visa ................................... $230
First Trip total fees .......................... $5,472
As a result of this great week, I've updated "Total Funds Raised to Date" to include the yard-sale proceeds and the matching grant. The Lord has provided in a big way!
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