Ok, A little More Coherent here now!

I guess this would be day 3 of our trip, since we left on Monday, so the day 3 report.  We left on Monday at 3.  Now if you have ever flown out of KC you know it is about the easiest and fastest airport ever.  You don't have to arrive 2-3 hours early, an hour is sufficent, even when checking bags, because you go through security at your gate, not with every person flying at the airport that day.  So we get on the plane, taxi, and seems like we are taxing forever, like I said, easiest airport ever to fly from.  After about 25 minutes of waiting and taxing, the pilot come on and said that the 1 of the primary runways was shut down for repairs, and the other primary was shut down because a bird hit a plane in the engine, so the plane was on the runway broken down.  So we were going to the alternate runways, 1 for landing, 1 for taking off.  Lots of planes. 

We arrive in Chicago, grab some dinner, and board for the long flight.  They close the doors, and they say that we are leaving, but we never leave.  Finally the pilot comes over and says that there is a problem with a bag and they are trying to fix it.  An hour later we finally leave.  Camden slept about 5 hours of the 8 hour flight.  He did amazing.  I, on the other hand didn't sleep a wink.  I didn't want to take sleeping pills because I didn't want to be passed out if Camden needed anything.  We arrive in Frankfurt, have to take a bus to the terminal, get through security again, and then off for our last flight.  I tell you what, Lufthansa doesn't mess around.  I took Camden to the bathroom before we took off, because he says it's too loud when the plane is flying.  Well we were in the bathroom and the plane starts moving, not a pleasant experience with a little boy who has aiming problems anyway. 

We get to Moscow, go through security, and we go get our bags, all three bags were there, and go find our driver.  Then goes our 1+ hour drive to our apartment.  I think our driver got lost a few times, he kept googling where we were.  Camden passed out after about 5 minutes, which is a miracle, he NEVER sleeps in cars.  We get to our apartment, Randy had to go get a phone, TP, and some water, we made contact with ur agency, and we are leaving at 11:30 am for our medicals, and then overnight train to Kirov.  Luckly we get to leave a bag here at the apartment, because we have so much for Peanut, we thought it was crazy to drag it all there, bring it back, drag it back, etc. 

We are getting rid of most of our gifts when we are in Kirov for court, so that will empty an entire suitcase!  Can't wait to get rid of that stuff.  So last night we went to bed at 11ish, and I woke up wide awake at 2:30, the sleeping pills were in the diaper bag in Camden's room, and I didn't want to risk waking him up, so I just tossed and turned for a while.  Went back to sleep and woke at 7.  The sun rises about 9:15 and is suppose to set at about 4:15.  Short days!  Well until tomorrow, have a great day!

Moscow

We are here, tired, exhusted beyond belief, no sleep at all for me, but Camden did awesome!  What a trooper.  I will type more when I can keep my eyes open without them burning.

Travel Plans

So tomorrow we leave to go get Peanut! Our travel is going to look something like this:

We leave Kc at 3:00
KC to Chicago,
Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany
Frankfort to Moscow. We arrive in Moscow the 29th at 7:30 p.m.

We have our medicals in Moscow the 30th, and then we hop an overnight train to Kirov.
Arrive in Kirov, on the 1st, and go visit Little Miss on the First.
Court on the 2nd, overnight train back to Moscow, arriving in the morning on the 3rd.
Hang out in Moscow the 3rd to the 12th.

Overnight train back to Kirov the 12th arrive on the 13th. Visit Little Miss on the 13th, and pick-up on the 14th. Immediate overnight train back to Moscow arriving on the 15th.
Peanut's medical on the 15th,
Embassy on the 16th,
Leave Moscow the 17th, arrive in Dulles, where we only have a 1.5 hour layover, I have a feeling we will miss our connecting flight, but I don't care, we will be back in the US, so we will either get home on the 17th or the 18th.

Very fast, very whirlwind. I really don't know when the next time we will get Internet access, we will have it in Moscow, but we might pass out from exhaustion! So for sure we will post on the 1st from Kirov after our visit with Little Miss.

Thanks for all the encouragement and kind words, all of my blogger friends have been wonderful! I hope that I get to meet more of you as time go by!

Divorce from Agency A

There had been so much stress from trying to get all our court documents done that I completely forgot to tell about divorcing Agency A.

I had all these scenarios in my head on how it would go, and it did not happen at ALL how I imagined.  I called them and asked to speak with the director, and of course he was not in the office, and so I asked to speak with our coordinator.  Guess what, she was gone also.  Just confirms our decision to not use them.  So I was transferred to our coordinators voicemail.  I left a very nice message saying that they are not the agency for us, and they can't help us anymore, and I asked if they would mail us our receipts.  I also stated how disappointed in them that they stuck us in a region that refuses to give out referrals. 

Didn't hear back all that day, but the next, I got an email from the coordinator stating that she didn't know if she could give us any receipts, as no one had ever asked for them before who had left the program, and would have to ask permission.  About 20 minutes later, I got another email with the receipts, no goodbye, no sorry we dropped the ball, just here are your receipts.

Later on that day I got an email from the director saying that he was sorry we were leaving, but then said that if he was in our shoes, he would of probably of done the same thing!  Wow, even he does not have confidence in his own agency.  I also posted a message on the agency yahoo message board, saying we were leaving and if anyone had questions they could email us.  About an hour later, we were removed from the yahoo group, probably the agency.

I did get a few emails, and I told them our story, and gave them Agency B's information.  Hopefully they get some good info.  So needless to say, I didn't "stick it" to them like I wanted to, but it was probably better this way.

On a positive note, we got our new washer and dryer installed today, and I am already doing laundry!  LOVE THEM!!! 

Wahoo!

I got the visas today, and they were all there!  I have been having horrible dreams the past two nights that I get the envelope and open them, and there are only 2 visas, not 3!  Crazy I know, but you know things just go through your head and you can't stop them.  We also got our letter from the doctor who evaluated Peanut for the USCIS saying that they feel she is great to come to the US. 
I now feel like we have everything we need, and possibly the kitchen sink accounted for, for our 21 days away.  I got the car seat installed, and I am really confused as to how our suburban is set up.  For those of you who have ever been in a suburban, to access the 3rd seat, you have to move one seat.  Well for our 2nd row, there are only 2 sets of hooks for the car seats, one in the middle, and one on the seat that has to move.  That seems really odd to me, wouldn't you want it on the seat that doesn't move?  Well I have just decided to use the seat belt instead of the hooks, because I don't want to have to move the car seat to get to the 3rd row.  It will all be much better when we can buy the new(er) car. 

Thanks to everyone who has made such nice comments, and who have prayed for us.  You have no idea how much that means to us in this endeavor.  Tomorrow we have to go get our new washer and dryer, (don't ask, just Murphy's Law in effect), finish getting the house decorated for Christmas, and get laundry done so we can pack.  Still don't know what I am going to do for a tree, we always go cut down a tree, but getting home 1 week before Christmas might pose a problem there.  Oh, well, small problem in a big picture!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and if you went shopping, hope you got some great deals!

Not Drama Free Yet

Well this wouldn't be a Russian adoption without some Visa drama.  Monday the 14th I shipped off our Visas overnight to New York for 3 business day service.  They should of been done Thursday, and I had them in my hand on Friday.  Guess what, still no visas.  Thursday I called to find out why they hadn't been shipped yet, and was informed that they didn't get submitted until Wednesday, and didn't explain why, and that they wouldn't be done until Monday.  They said the submission day doesn't count in the 3 business day aspect.  Though last time it did.  Confusing.  So they should of been ready Monday, and shipped out Monday, received on Tuesday.  Still okay with this.  Well guess what, they didn't go out on Monday either.  Now I am a little upset.  I called on Tuesday, and they promised they were going out Tuesday.  They did get picked up, so I should of had them today.  So I get up and look up the tracking and guess what, they are still in New York.....

I called FedEx and was informed that due to weather and mechanical issues, they couldn't leave and now because of Thanksgiving I won't get them until Friday.  Now we don't leave until Monday, but this still freaks me out, I sent them out so early just so I wouldn't have to stress about them.   

Oh, yeah, and my washing machine broke today, so guess who get to possibly go buy a new washer?  Hopefully Randy can fix ours though...

On a good note though, both kids are done with Christmas, presents bought, gift are bought for all people that we need in Russia, and I have a coat and snowsuit for little miss.  Shoes are bought, and I think I am ready to go, I don't need anything else.  Praying anyway, I am tired of shopping.

3rd Times a Charm?

The good news is that our court documents are in the mail to our agency and we have no more paperwork to gather!  The bad new is, it literally took all day to get it done.  After the fiasco on Saturday at the Pediatricians office, I was positive that everything was going to be okay.  Well we went in to get the paperwork, and took it out and it looked great, and then I looked at the second "copy" of all the documents, they were literally photocopies.  I looked at Randy and was like Oh No!  We had just seen the notary leave.  So we had a few testy moments there, where I was told that it would of been nice if I would of just typed everything up and emailed the forms to them.  I had specifically went in before trip 1 and asked if I could of done that and was told no, they don't have email.  The lady was like What? who told you that!  Anyway, we were meeting a traveling notary at the Psychiatrists office, so we asked her if she would go to the Pediatricians office and do the forms there.  So it got done the 3rd time.  We booked it home, made scans, and then went to go get Camden from school.

After picking Camden up from school, it was pajama day, so he was in his PJ's and we went to Topeka.  He looked pretty cute running around in his PJ's.  I just have to say they are so fast in Topeka, we had 30 documents for them and they were literally done in 20 minutes.  Headed to FedEx, and then the package was out of our hands. Now I just hope that It makes it to Russia before we do!

Car Seat

Bought the car seat today!  Loving this car seat, wish they made these when we got Camden's.  It is a Graco Nautilus, 3-in-1 car seat.  It has the 5 point harness, then converts to a seat belt booster, and then converts to a backless booster! Plus it is PINK!!! It is a little heavy, but really how often do you take the car seat out?

Wow, what a week

I am so emotionally spent right now it isn't even funny.  Everything is falling into place, I just feel like I live in the car running from this place to the next.  Everyone has been so nice, minus the PD, but it has all worked out.  Today though, I hit rock bottom.  I had just left the Psychologists office, after my personal interview, we get to pick up out letter from him on Monday, and I went to the Pediatricians office to get Camden's letters.  On Tuesday Randy had dropped off all 3 forms that we needed his doctor to do.  2 different letters, and a cover page for her medical license.  Yesterday I called and they said I could come in on Saturday and get them.  Well the receptionist gave me the envelope and I knew immediately that something was not right, the envelope was not thick enough.  There should of been 8 pages in there.  I opened it and there were only 2 copies of 1 of the forms Randy left.  Ok, I wasn't panicking yet, I simply said I am missing 2 of the forms.  So they called a nurse, who then went searching for the missing forms.  Couldn't find them.  So they called the lady who typed them up and then my world started getting crazy.

She informed them that the doctor said that since she had never done any forms like the two missing ones, that she didn't need to do them!!!!!  I was like WHAT!?!  I wouldn't of brought them if you didn't need to do them!  The lady then said, don't worry, we will get them done on Monday, and then said, "Does Dr. Pediatrician work on Monday?"  The receptionist looked and I could tell by the look on her face that it was not good news.  My sons doctor was on vacation next week due to the holidays.  That is when I started crying.  They all started freaking out then, and I was like, WHY didn't you call me!  You should of asked if you had a question!  Then I asked if another pediatrician would be willing to sign the letters?  So they went looking.  Since they are a cooperative practice, Camden has seen most of the doctors in the practice, and luckily one of them agreed to sign the forms on Monday when the notary comes in.  BTW the one form that was done was incorrect anyway, they had Camden's birth date wrong!  So Monday we SHOULD have everything and we can go to Topeka and get everything apostilled and FedExed to California.  I will be so happy to be done with everything, and then maybe I can concentrate of Peanut coming home.  I haven't even been shopping for her yet, I have got to get that done!

And I though yesterday was bad

Wow, today was 3 times worse.  Randy left first thing this morning to go to the psychologist's office to take his test.  He took my car since we don't drive his truck except for him to go to work and back.  About 20 minutes after he left the lady from the Visa office called and said that since Camden was a minor we needed to fax her a copy of his birth certificate.  Camden and I were still in our pj's, so we quickly changed, put the spare car seat in Randy's truck, and took off to the grocery store to send the fax.  Meanwhile Randy finished, went to the home study agency and picked up our lost document, and then to the Pediatrician's office to drop off Camden's paperwork.

When he got home he said that we were going to have problems with the PD clearance.  He called and told them what we needed, and they said nope they can't do it that way.  All they do is run a report, but what we needed was the results written in a letter form and notarized.  So he called the legal department and of course they were at lunch.  So we went to run a few more errands, then went to legal.  We told her what we needed, and she was like no problem, I will send the form to the captain of records, head on over and they will have it done.  We stopped by the fire department to get Randy's employment verification, then to the PD we went.  2 hours later we left!  It was insane, it took soooo long!  The bad thing was, they brought the forms out and they had my birthday wrong, and they misspelled City in Kansas City on both forms, so all of them had to be redone!  We left right before 5, right before they closed.  I can't wait for the rush rush to be done.  But we are almost done with the difficult stuff.  I have my doctor appt. tomorrow, so we are on the home stretch.  Can't believe it is all falling into place!

I hope tomorrow is a lot calmer!  On a positive note, our small group that we are involved in have made us dinner this week, it has been so nice to not have to worry about cooking meals, especially when we get home right at dinner time!
Denise

What did you do today?

Well today I....
Took Camden to school, then I went to the Psychologist's office to take my personality test, took the 567 T/F test and I just had to laugh at question #496 Are you stressed right now?  Ummmm, YES!!!  TRUE!!!  But it only took me 1.5 hours to do it.

Left there went to the Credit Union withdrew the $$ for the plane tickets and the visas.  Went to our bank deposited that money, and then ordered our money for our trip.  Meanwhile Randy was at work today he reserved our apartment in Moscow, and booked our flights.  We found a guy who lived in Moscow for 20 years and has about 20 flats that he rents out, he is going to accommodate us for all 12 nights we need in Moscow. 1 night for our medicals, 9 nights later for the 10 day wait, and then 2 nights for the Embassy visit.  He is giving us an adoption discount and we don't have to pay the 18% tax that all the hotels charge.

Anyway, after the bank, I went home and started the visa applications, got Randy's done in time to go get Camden, we then stopped by the fire station and had Randy sign his application.  We then went home and I filled out Camden and my application.  Loaded the boy up and we went to FedEx.  I tried setting up an account, but it wouldn't let me print off any labels.  So I went to the store to see if they could help, and of course they said no, so they charged me their new "holiday" rate which was quite a bit more than what I paid last time.  Now I was adding Camden's passport and application so I knew I would pay a little more, but wow, that was a big mark-up! 

So we leave November 28th. Arrive in Moscow the 29th.  Our 8 doctor medicals on the 30th.  Overnight train to Kirov, arrive on the 1st.  Visit Peanut the first, Court on the 2nd.  Overnight train back to Moscow on the 2nd.  There is NOTHING to do in Kirov.  Up until about a year ago, foreigners were not allowed to stay in Kirov overnight, so the 10 day waiting period was always waived.  After Torry Hansen, they started enforcing the 10 day wait, so they changed the laws concerning foreigners, but the city is NOT English friendly.  We also can't visit Peanut during that time. 

So then we wait out the 10 days in Moscow, then overnight train to Kirov on Dec. 12th.  Visit on the 13th, and pick-up on the 14th.  Overnight train again on the 14th, Peanut medical on the 15th, Embassy on the 16th, and home on the 17th!  3 weeks!  Wahoo, I love our new agency!

Tomorrow, Randy is taking his personality test, I am taking Camden's doctor her paperwork to fill out, we are going to the police station to get our Police Clearance, and I have to go pick up a form from our home study agency that got lost somewhere between KC, California, and Russia.  Busy days all week this week!  Hopefully we will be done on Friday!

Moscow??

Where did you stay in Moscow?  Apartment, Hotel?  Any suggestions?

Home Sweet Home

It was so nice to be home and sleep in my bed last night!  So on Wednesday night we left Kirov at 8 p.m. on the overnight train, and we slept pretty well.  We got into Moscow right around 10 a.m. Thursday morning where we were picked up and taken to the airport.  We found a TGI Fridays and had a wonderful meal.  It was a good thing that we stuffed ourselves because the food options on the plane were NOT wonderful at all.  Our flight left at 3:30 and we got to New York at 5 p.m.  It was a long flight with little sleep.  There were some very "happy" Russians who were passing a bottle among themselves sitting in front of us.  We got through immigration pretty fast and got our bags and rechecked them to KC.

Then the fun started, we had to leave Terminal 1 and go to Terminal 2, we had right around 1:10 until our next flight.  We walked into Terminal 2 and there were probably about 400 people waiting to go through security.  I looked at Randy and said that we were going to miss our flight.  They were so disorganized and had no clue what to do with all of us.  Finally they asked for all people who had 7-7:15 flights to follow them.  We left Terminal 2 and went to Terminal 3, went to the basement and went through security there, we got through with 20 minutes until our flight.  We started power walking/running. We got to our gate with 5 minutes to spare, and they were calling our name overhead! 

We then had a short flight to Cincinnati, where we had to stay overnight.  We caught our shuttle to our airport, and ordered a pizza, and then slept in some of the most comfortable beds ever!  The best 7 hours of sleep.  With our experience with JFK earlier, we opted to arrive very early at Cincinnati.  Not necessary, we were very early and got through security in about 5 minutes!  Oh well, better to be safe than sorry.  We had one more short flight and then we were home.  When we went to get our bags, we found out that our bags didn't make the plane in JFK, but they expedited them overnight to Cincinnati, and they were waiting for us in MCI. 

My mom and Camden picked us up and it was so good to see the little mans smiling face!  We had some friends bring us dinner last night, and it was so nice to not have to worry about dinner that night!

Visits 3 & 4

Wow, another whirlwind day for the Densons.  It started with us waking up at 6:30, and hanging out for about 3 hours before we had to leave to go to the orphanage.  We went to the playroom and they brought us the girls one by one.  In marches our little peanut wearing these neon green tights, a green sundress and a hand knitted sweather that was all different colors crazy!  It was too funny.  We had a good morning and I got to try on the clothes that we brought.  She is definately a 24 month top and a 18 month bottom.  She has a little belly on her.  But I did realize she is not a pink girl, with her complexion she is a red, blue and green girl.  We got to go up to her groupa room and meet all her little playmates.  Let me just tell you it broke my heart.  There was one little girl that just clung to Randy and I like there was no tomorrow.  We got to see where she sleeps and where she plays.  I got her schedule and we got to see her interact with the other kids.  She really livened up around the other kiddos.  After that we went back to the playroom and played for a while until her caregiver came to take her for lunch.  Shortly after that we went to lunch and then came back to the orphanage where we got....................................

COURT DATES!!!  December 2nd, let me tell you I freaked out a little!

So for the next hour we went over court details and stuff we have to do. 

Then Peanut came back and we got to play for another 2 hours before we had to take her to her room.  I dropped off her photo album, clothes we bought, cameras for the caretakers to use and her bear that we bought her.  It was sad to leave, but we will be back in 3 weeks, so that is all that matters!

We have to leave to go catch the train, so until we are back in the states,

Paka!
Denise

Visits 1 and 2

Well we got to the orphanage this morning and we were led to a small room, all 3 of us couples, told to take off our shoes and wait and they would bring us our little girls.  After about 5 minutes Lena came in and said mama and dada for "peanuts name"  I was like here, here, she's ours!  She was perfect.  She was wearing a purple shirt and skirt and Turquoise tights.  What a combo!  But she was so somber and quiet but went right to me and molded into my arms.  What a wonderful feeling!  We just stood there and held her while the other little girls were brought in.  It took quite a while, but we finally got her to break out of her shell a little, with the help of some puffs and yogurt melts.  We got to play with our little ones for right about an hour and a half and then I got to take Peanut back to her room, she had missed lunch but the caretaker promised that she would get fed.  We also got to talk to the doctor and she had all postive things to say about her.  Her one medical that we knew about from the beginning, and nothing else. 

We then went to lunch were we met 5 families that were picking up their little ones today, and had some insight for us.  It was nice to talk to people who have been through it!  After lunch we went back to the orphanage and I was told that Peanut was still napping but we could get some paperwork done while we wait.  We signed our intent to Adopt and gave her her new name.  And no we are not telling!  Peanut came in and you could tell she was still sleepy but she let me pick her up and she just molded again, it was perfect.  She quickly woke up and she went right into play mode.  She ran and hid from us and ran, and we got some great giggles from her.  It was priceless.  The only complaint I would have was I was down to my short-sleeved shirt and I was still sweating.  One family opened the window and she quickly got scolded by Lena that the babies would get a cold.  So it was closed.  She really latched onto us, and would bring me things she found, and really wanted us to play with her.  We had about 3 hours with her, but it was so hot it was not the greatest quality time.  We get to go back tomorrow to visit, and then we hop back on the train to head back to Moscow.  I don't know if we will get to blog tomorrow, but will from the airport.  Have a great day!

Again, excuse the typos. 

Travel for Trip 1

Okay here we go! 

We left KC at 8 am on Sunday morning, flew to Cincinatti and I had the biggest letdown ever.  I saw a Chick-Fil-A and I went over to see what time they opened, only to realize that they were closed on Sundays!  Oh well, so we then get on our plane to New York, we were flying these really tiny airplanes, the ones where if you bring a carry on bag, you have to check it at the gate because it can't fit.  There is about enough room in the overhead bins for a purse and that is it.  So I get on and I try to put my bag in the overhead bin, because we were in the bulkhead and there was no seat in front of me to put my bag.  Well there was this purse sitting longways, so I went to move it sideways so I could get my bag in, well the lady whose purse it was started yelling at me to not touch her purse there were delicate items in there.  I told her I was just moving it and she got so angry at me  The bad thing was she was sitting right across the aisle from me so that was a LONG hour and a half flight!

So we get to JFK and we try to go through security for our international flight.  They tell us we have to go get a new ticket from Aeroflot, but that they don't open until 4.  It was about 2:30.  We were both starving, but people were already lining up in Aeroflots line, so we went to get in line.  We started asking around what there was to eat inside the secured area and were told to go eat in the food court instead.  This HUGE airport had 3 options for eating, chinese, McDonalds, and Sbarros.  What good choices.  So we ate, and then went through security, and waited for our flight.  While we were waiting, we ran into another couple adopting from our region Kirov, but they were going to an orphanage outside the city, and ours was in Kirov.  Still it was very nice to talk to them. 

Then the 9 hour flight commenced, it was ok, but the seats were hard and very close together, but I did sleep with the help of sleeping pills!  We arrived late to Moscow, got our bags, and caught the shuttle to the hotel where our coordinator  then grabbed us and we headed for the train station.  We had a little time to kill so we went to a cafe to order drinks, since neither Randy nor I drink coffee we ordered Hot Chocolate.  What the brought us was LITERALLY hot melted chocolate.  It was very good, but very rich.  

We then hopped on the train, still in the clothes we left in on Sunday, and we were starting to smell a little mind you :-)  We teamed up with a couple from Ireland, and a single lady from Florida.  With the help of some more sleeping pills I actually slept pretty well.  13 hours later, we arrived in Kirov!  Very cold and snowing.  We met our driver and translator, and they took us to the hotel where we checked in and we had 50 minutes to take a MUCH needed shower and have a light breakfast.  Then off to the orphanage we went.  Details to follow in the next post.

P.S. I apologize for any misspellings, spell check is highlighting every word since we are in Russia!

Greetings from JFK

We are sitting here at the airport getting ready to skype with Camden and then hop on the plane and sit for the next 9 hours!  We have been going since 8 this morning Central time and still have 1 plane and 1 train to go.  Just wanted to say hello, have a great day! 

Orphan Sunday

It almost seems fitting that we are leaving to go meet our daughter on Orphan Sunday.  She is not going to be an orphan much longer if I have anything to do with it!  Since I don't know if I will be able to blog tomorrow, I am writing this post today.

There are estimates that there are anywhere from 147-163 million orphans in the world.  Some are orphaned because their parents are deceased, some are orphans because of social issues.  For example, China has a 1 child policy, if you chose to have more than one child you pay a very hefty fine, or you don't have the finances to take care of another child.  Other children are orphans because they are deemed to be defected.  Whether they are missing a limb, have crossed eyes, or was born with Downs Syndrome.  In some countries, it is not okay to have special needs, so the children are given to the orphanages.  I am glad that we live in a country where ALL our needs are able to be met to the best of our abilities. 

We are commanded by God to take care of the widows and orphans.

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.

Psalms 68:5-6

This does not mean that you have to go out and adopt a child.  It is not in the cards for every person, but there are things that you can do to help orphans.  You can sponsor an orphan, ask your church, if they don't have a program, contact our church, Westside Family Church in Lenexa, KS.  They sponsor children in India, Thailand, and South Africa. 

You can foster children, children caught up in the Foster care system can get lost.  They need strong people to help them and support them.

You can give to an organization that helps parents adopt children.  For example, we got a grant through Hand in Hand Adoption.  It is a matching grant organization.  They match whatever we are able to raise from family and friends.  They rely solely on donations!  Without this organization, we wouldn't of had the money to complete our adoption.  We are so grateful for them.  There are a lot of grant organizations out there.  ShowHope, Helpusadopt.org, Adoption Resources Foundation, and many more.

Or if you hear of a family adopting, you can pray for them!  You can be a rock for them to lean upon.  You can be a blessing in their lives.   

As we leave tomorrow, I can't wait to meet my future daughter, I know she is going to be perfect for us.  Since we will be on the run so much while we are gone, I really don't know if I will be able to blog while we are gone, but I will take great notes and will post as soon as we get back in the states!  Thanks for your prayers.

Got the Visas!

I am ready to go now, we got the visas bright and early this morning! I was a little disappointed though in the beginning, when we opened them it was our passports and a piece of paper, with our registration on it.  I was like wow, we paid $300 a piece for these? Then Randy opened the passports and we saw the stickers!  The real visa!

We have all our paperwork together and now we just have to wait for Sunday to come!  I also got a call from our Agency today to see if we would hand carry some dossiers over to Moscow with us, I gladly said yes!  Glad I get to help out another family. 

Paka for now!
Denise

It's all coming together

We are almost there, the best part is, when we got back from picking Camden up from school I check our bank acct. online and FedEx had debited our account which means our visas are on their way back to KC.  Yesterday I went to go pick up our money, and they assured me that all the money was good.  I took their word on it.  Never again.  When I got home I went through it all. Our agency stated that we had to have money printed after the year 2000 and no stamps, writing, marks etc on it.  Well when I went through it, 1 bill was printed in 1996, and 6 bills had little smiley faces stamped on the back of them.

So today after Randy and I dropped off Camden at school we went to a different branch and exchanged out our bad bills and also got a medical Power of Attorney signed for my mom since she is taking Camden next week.  Then we went to Nebraska Furniture Mart and bought a backpack laptop carrier to put the laptop in.  I also have room to put the camera and video camera in it.  So no camera bag to lug around.  Then we went and picked up a money belt and electric converter from Trisha from Adventures!  Thanks again.  We also went to Wal-Mart and got all our travel size everything we need.  I did forget the Tylenol PM though.  I will need that, since we will be traveling SOOOOO much, I don't sleep well if I am not in a bed.  Planes, trains and cars, forget about it.  I have to be drugged to sleep. 

It is all falling into place, now I just need to figure out what I am taking!  I am a last minute packer, and so is Randy, we will probably be packing at Midnight Saturday for our Sunday A.M. flight. :-)

Happy All Saints Day

Yep, this is the holiday that is delaying our visa by a day.  Don't know anything about this holiday, but oh well.