Timeline

For those of you keeping track of any type of timeline, we thought we would sketch out what our adoption journey has been like:

·                     July 2010 Met Samantha

·                     Sept 2010 finished home study

·                     Oct 2010 received word from the SDA that she was not registered           
(began registration)

·                     August 2011 Renewed Dossier (2^nd time)

·                     Oct 11, 2011 Dossier Submitted

·                     Oct 18, 2011 SDA closure

·                     Nov 30, 2011 Received appointment date

·                     Dec 9^th, 2011 Departed for Ukraine

·                     Dec 15^th, 2011 SDA appointment

·                     Dec 16^th Received referral

·                     Dec 28^th, Received Ministry of Social Policy approval to proceed (new 10 day potential process)

·                     Dec 29^th, Court proceeding

·                     Jan10^th Adoption process resumes after holidays

·                     Jan11^th Birth Certificate obtained

·                     Awaiting “ID-Code” with Ukraine Immigrations (has been a week long process)

·                     Upon receipt of ID-Code we can apply for passport – predict 17^th/18^th

·                     Passport likely 20^th or 22^nd

·                     Medical and Visa by 25^th

Since our news of this ID Code delay, we have been trying to focus on sight seeing, meeting with friends in the process, traveling to Liviv, and spending some time with our friend Sara who is on a trip to Kiev while studying in St. Petersburg for her second year. Sara is a super adventurous girl, traveling Europe on her own and taking a Political Science Class in Russian! Yikes!

Enjoying the rare Blue Skies!

 We had a wonderful opera experience at the Kiev Opera House enjoying the musicians and signers performing Macbeth.  We were so appreciative of this quality performance for the price of a movie ticket back home, and can understand why being a performer in Ukraine is not necessarily financially rewarding.

Steve, Clarke, Kris and Kristi

On Friday we had lunch with Steve and Kristi Weber and enjoyed hearing a true visionary getting all ramped up for an up and coming movement called "Ukraine Without Orphans."  This is growing and Steve hopes will blossom into a World Without Orphans. What an inspiration the two are for dedicating their lives to orphan care.  Steve is the Director of the Christian Broadcast Network for the CIS. (Commonwealth of Independant States - former Soviet)

We ate at a Sushi house with Ty and Michelle Wells, of Florida who are here to adopt two beautiful teenage daughters from the Kiev area.  Please visit their blog at www.wellsfamilyadoption2.blogspot.com  to learn more about this wonderful family and their love of our Lord and childrenJ