In Which a Soccer Star is Born

Nothing like 4 year olds playing soccer to brighten one's dampened spirits.  

Isaac's first ever soccer game was Saturday.  

Unfortunately, it was in the 40s and raining, which made for some chilly little players.

(Take note of The Game Face.  This kid means Business.)

I'm proud to report that Isaac scored the first goal of the season.

Too bad it was in the other team's goal box.

(He later scored one for his own team as well.  Just to keep things fair.)

They run in packs.

"Isaac, don't just stand there!  Go run after the ball!"

Discussing game strategy.

"Which one is our goal?  That one over there!"

(And having now watched a couple of practices and a game, 

I can say with a high degree of certainty that there is a lot more 

dandelion-picking involved than I originally anticipated.  

But then, I've never played soccer.  So who am I to say?)

 

Looks like he's about to steal it from his teammate.

Go Red Team!

(Next week if I'm not running so late, I hope to bring my video camera.  

Good times Ahead, Folks!)

A Change of Plans

So... we aren't leaving imminently after all.

Stephanie (from my agency) called yesterday afternoon, and apparently our adoption decrees have some small error on them*, and need to be corrected by the judge before we can appear at the embassy. The judge knows about this, and has agreed that he will sign it, no problem, but btw he's leaving for 10 days starting now, and he's the only adoption judge in our region. In short, the papers aren't going to be there for our previously scheduled visa appointment.

Supposedly this will only take a couple of days (which may or may not be an "African time" estimate) to get the paper and my agency had contacted the embassy, and if they would let us just walk in whenever our papers are ready, then we could have still left as scheduled and prayed for fast papers. (Of course, the risk in this is that the papers would be slow, and I'd be in Kinshasa for an extended time.) But she never heard back from the Embassy. And if we'd left, the best case scenario would be put us in Kinshasa 10 days before we were even submitted to the Embassy, and who knows how long it would have been, because it was all dependent on how long the papers took.

In the end, we decided it was too many unknowns, and too long away from Isaac. So we cancelled our tickets. I don't really know what the plan is as of right now. Stephanie said she'd basically support whatever we wanted to do, we could re-schedule as soon as 3ish weeks from now, which would be a 2 week window for the papers to be signed once the judge returns, but her "official professional recommendation" was for the visa date 4ish weeks out. Gives plenty of time for the papers. And there's another family hopefully traveling then, (who, incidentally, were also supposed to travel this week, but also had document problems and had to cancel) which would be nice.

Trusting that God's got a good plan for all this, but still feeling pretty disappointed.

In the whole scheme of things, it could be much worse. It's only a 3-4 week delay, and a couple thousand dollars (gulp) in airline cancellation fees and re-booking price differentials.
BUT. No one is sick. No one is injured. No one is dying.
The kids had not yet been transitioned to Kinshasa.
It is not an un-fixable problem. My kids WILL still come home. Just not when I thought.
But sadly, I think I'm going to miss Eli's 2nd birthday. :(


* Why was this not discovered before now? Well, that is a good question. From what I understand there is a very subtle but crucial wording problem that should have been caught by the lawyer in our region, back in January when we passed court. But, he was "sloppy" (their words, not mine) and didn't catch it. He no longer works for my agency. Which I suppose should make future families breathe a sigh of relief, but doesn't help me now. Anyway. I suppose because it was something subtle and not noticed by the lawyer it also went overlooked by everyone else until the last minute.

Homage to the Home Land

Last weekend we cruised to the Homeland for a very eventful weekend.

We were having an open house for my Grandma's 90th birthday.

We met my brother's girlfriend.

We got our yellow fever shots.

And here's the best part (at least according to Isaac).

We got to see the fire trucks!

Aunt Amber (who works for the local EMS) got us in to see the trucks up close. 

And let us wear her helmet.

This is The Girlfriend.  Isaac calls her Crocodile.  

Because everyone needs a good nickname.

Just ask Master Chief, Colonel, and Doc.  :)

And then we actually got around to setting up for Granny's party.

Happy Birthday Granny!

So here's the fam, minus Nathaniel's branch.  

(We missed you guys!)

And of course my babies not quite yet home from the Congo. 

(Soon, Lovies!  I'm coming soon!)

Ask me Again (An Adoption Update)

We have a confirmed Visa Appointment!  

We have Plane Tickets!

We have booked a Guesthouse!

We are almost ready!

And I got the cutest little passports (ok, copies of them) today.

Feast your eyes:

So... ask me again.

When are we gonna get the babies?

Less than 2 weeks!

Less than 2 weeks, and I will be smoochin' those cute little cheeks

in person!

I CAN. NOT. WAIT.

When are you going to get your kids? (An Adoption Update)

Short Answer:  We don't know yet exactly.  We hope to know soon.
It's looking like it's gonna be late April or Early May.  (Wahoo!)

Long answer:  Here's what a DRC adoption looks like, generally speaking:  (I made a visual aid!)

Our timeline thus far has looked like this:

9/28/11 Saw Pierre's picture on a waiting list and emailed about him.

9/29/11 Found out he was in the DRC, not Ethiopia

10/4/11 Decide to switch to the DRC and accept Eli Pierre's Referral!

11/19/11 Home Study and Dossier redone and mailed to agency

(Translating, Authenticating at DRC Embassy in Washington DC, etc)

12/27/11 Receive Raya Francisc's referral!

1/9/12 Papers Received by attorney in DRC

1/31/12 Passed Court

2/5/12 Learned we Passed Court

2/29/12 30 Day Wait Ended

3/5/12 Certificates of Non-Appeal Issued

3/12/12 (ish) Applied for Passports

3/20/12 Passports Received
??? Travel
??? Get my Babies!
??? Visa Appointment
??? Home

I believe our papers are all ready.  There could be a few last translations or something we are waiting on, but they should be ready anytime.  Mostly we are waiting on a visa appointment, so we can submit our I600 (immigration) papers at the US Embassy in Kinshasa.  The Consular (a lady at the USE who is integral in approving of said papers) is on vacation til around the end of the month.  Our visa appt should be shortly after she returns.  So, last of April, or early May!

There are a few families there now picking up their kids, and this process took 2 weeks in Kinshasa.   They are headed home with their children in the next few days. (Hooray!  They thought it was going to take 4 weeks!!)
For us, it will look like this: John will come with me at first, and will be there to meet the kids, and come for the appointments. He will stay for about a week, and then go home to be with Isaac and work and be normal.  My sister will come for the last week (ish) to hang out and be moral support and help on the plane ride home.  My brother might be coming along too, for bodyguarding and miscellaneous heavy lifting, but that all depends on timing and availability.  We haven't worked out the details.  Heck, we don't even know when we're leaving.  One thing at a time then.  :)

So thankful for the encouraging news!  :)  Can't wait to get those babies!  

In Which there are Sent some Care Packages

Our agency does this cool this cool thing where they send packages at the end of every month, on behalf of any family who wants to send one (then the families split the shipping charge).  

Back in January I sent my lovies these: 

Sadly, the camera in their region was not working when they arrived, so I don't have pictures.

And in March I sent these:

So they should be getting them any day now, and maybe there will be pictures then??

I heard today that I should at least be getting a picture very soon of Eli holding his picture book.

Waiting "patiently" for that!

There's a conference call tomorrow.  

I'll update on the anticipated timeline more after that.

Hang on babies, I'm coming!!

Joyous Easter

He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  Isaiah 53:5


"The wrath of God was satisfied with the suffering and death of Jesus. The holy curse against sin was fully absorbed. The obedience of Christ was completed to the fullest measure. The price of forgiveness was totally paid. The righteousness of God was completely vindicated. All that was left to accomplish was the public declaration of God's endorsement. This he gave by raising Jesus from the dead."  Piper

Hallelujah!  What a Savior!  

Hope you all had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday.

In Which I Attempt to Take Isaac's Picture

I admit I've been very lax about taking pictures lately, which is probably why there hasn't been much on the blog.  These two activities seem to go hand in hand.  Anyway, I decided I would attempt to take some pictures lest someday I have no memory of him being 4.  

These are some of my best: 

  

Also note that if you ask him to smile, you will get something that looks like this:

or this: 

Which is pretty much The Awesome in human form.

But seriously.

Where's Emily when I need her?!