Sad Update

My dossier along with one other I believe did not get submitted today.  It was bitter news after all the effort for this moment.  Many prayers have been voiced and God knows the plans for this little boy.  We will stay obedient and do what He asks.  I am waiting to hear word if there will be one more submission day before the country closes.  Right now it is unclear if there will in fact be another day.  My family is leaving this 110 degree heat wave and going to the mountains where today's temp is 72.  Woo Hoo  !  Please keep our little boy in your prayers as we seek His wisdom.  Thank you for all your prayers.  I was going to make a big blog post and introduce his name but I think now is the time.  Please pray for him using the name "Josiah". It means 'God will Save'.

It's There!

Wooo Hooooo! Delivered!!!

My dossier was signed for at 8:30pm!  They are eight hours ahead so it was dropped off late this evening.  Submissions are tomorrow!  That would mean someone would have to stay up all night and translate approximately 75 pages of documents including the home study.  I don't know if EVERY document has to be translated but in any event it sounds like a lot of work.  It would be a miracle approaching the magnitude of the one at the USCIS office if it were to get submitted by tomorrow.  Pray, Pray Pray!!!

Wouldn't you know it!

My dossier sits in France while the country that is closing in a few days is celebrating 'Constitution Day' and no work is getting done to bring us any closer to getting this little guy a chance for a family.  So so frustrating.  We are now sitting on ONE yes I said it, ONE possible day left to get our dossier submitted before the country closes.  That will be next Thursday.  And that will be IF they allow submissions that close to the shut down and IF it is translated and ready.  Pray, Pray Pray!!!

Family Reunion

So nice to spend the day with family.  And extra special that I finally got a picture with all of the Sanders Seven together.  Cason came home to work Saturday and it just happened that the yearly reunion was on Sunday.  Chloe and Chi love getting to spend time with their Big Brother.  It was nice letting Chloe and Chi get acquainted with cousins.  This family has been getting together for so many years I hate to say just what the number would be.  We talked about not having it next year.  The older generation is just that, ‘getting older’ and many are no longer able to make it.  This is sad to me, the younger generation sees no real reason to have it.  We have become unconnected as family in the world we live in.  I might just have to insist on one more year so everyone can meet ‘little cottontail’.

Watching, Watching, Waiting, Waiting

I have looked at this screen a million times waiting for some movement.  My dossier is in Paris, France.  I do feel good that it is getting closer but oh how sweet when I see delivered light up!  The SDA is no longer issuing travel dates.  This means that we will not be traveling until they open back up.  They stopped issuing these dates on June 22 so now we just hope and pray that our dossier will be submitted before they stop those as well.  I am hoping and praying that we will be 'grandfathered in' and will not have to do all the paperwork over.  At this time we need prayers that his special need will be added to the list to even make him 'adoptable'.  I can't imagine that brittle bone would not make the SN list but then many others have not made it either.  These kids have no hope without the chance for adoption.  They will spend the remainder of their lives in an institution locked away from the rest of the world, or just as bad sent out at age 16, homeless, untrained, and penniless.  Pray for them all.

Dossier is en route!

It was an enormous feeling putting that dossier into the hands of the fedex man and walking off.  If he had known the work that went into that package he would have handled it like 'gold'.  We got to the Sec. of State's office to apostile the last two documents.  One was the homestudy letter that she did not need a license.  The notary forgot to stamp it!!  We had to drive 30 miles back to her house and get that done.  Then we put the last two documents in the envelope and off it went.  It is scheduled to be dropped off in country on June 30.  That leaves a window of 12 days to get it translated, submitted, looked over and an appt. issued to travel.  Not a likely thing to happen.  I don't know where things will go from here.  Will they hold the dossier until the new department opens up?  Will it get 'grandfathered in? Will it get trashed?  Will he still qualify under the new laws? Will the country in fact even open back up in three months?  All these are questions that will be unanswered for a long time.   It just might be a very looonnnnggg summer.  God is in control.  I just wish my hands and feet weren't getting worked so hard!! 

As Suz would say.. Continental Drift was in motion today

I don't know what to say right now.  Favor? Blessing? Miracle? It is just  hard to believe.  We got our I171H today.  We filed on June 14 and received it on June 22.  I didn't know it was possible.  I did know God would have to move mountains and grant favor to the ones handling the case.  It is obvious it was out of my hands and in the hands of someone else.  This guarantees nothing, but it IS the most that could have ever been done to bring him home.  Tomorrow I will apostle two documents, kiss them good bye and mail them to the country.  The I171H has been sent to the country and received.  The COS I think is the name, was asked to be filed yesterday.  Now the dossier must travel for about five days until it gets to the country, it will have to be translated, then submitted to the SDA.  They will have to review and grant an appt. all before the shut down on July 11. Sounds impossible and in fact it is, BUT so was the issuance of the I171h.  This journey has been grueling but ssoooo worth every second.  Watching God move is an amazing thing. 

Let me Just say............ We did all we could

Monday was a day that will live in my mind for a very long time.  Four A.M. came all too soon.  Jeff had to load cattle at Benjamin, TX.  That is a loooonng way from home.  Chi wanted to go so he could ride the truck that loaded the cattle.  I got him up at 5:00 and he was ready to work.  They left at 5:15.  Then it was time to wake Kade and Kelissa and get them to the bus to leave for church camp in Dallas, TX.  I dropped them off at 7:15 and went home to work on adoption stuff.  After a VERRRYYYY long weekend of waiting to call USCIS to check on the status of our case, I got up my nerve at 8:15.  I got a very nice lady who said she would try to get us fingerprint appts. for today!!!  Well Kelissa had to be fingerprinted since she is 18.  Wow!  I couldn't even wait for the faxes to come in before I had to leave in hot pursuit of the chartered bus!  I tried to no avail to call both my children on the bus.  Music must have been too loud!  After calling two more wrong numbers for the leaders I finally got hold of someone.  They were over 40 miles in front of me!  They did pull over at the XXX store to wait on me, but later we decided it might be better if they backtracked to the previous town and meet me.  I have to pay charter bus mileage for this but I captured Kelissa at about 9:00 and we started home.  Jeff and Chi were still in Benjamin, TX.  I called him and told him what was going on and about that time the USCIS officer also called him. She said our appts were at the INS office in OKC and we had to be there before 2:00!  Ouch!  we live three hours from the city and both of us were in Texas!  With much speeding and calling to make babysitting arrangements, we actually left our house at 11:30 to be in OKC by 1:45! We took off not believing this day!  Well we were making really good time, but as fate would have it we met Mr. black and white. He pulled us over and yes, he said we were going 92!  Ouch!  All we could do was laugh.  He needing a full explanation and of course a mommy adopting can be were persuasive.  He let us go!  We got to the INS office as a 'walk-in'. They were not going to let us be fingerprinted!  We threw a couple of names around that the USCIS lady gave us and finally we made it through.  Whoooo!  After the appt. we had to go to my SW and get one more form.  She ended up living 35 miles north of the INS office.  We got that and then had to take Kelissa to Dallas for church camp.  I never realized how far Dallas was from OKC when you have to drive on I35. We got her there at exactly 7:00pm which was when evening worship started.  We grabbed a hotel slept til 4:00am and then headed back to Oklahoma. What a day.  Will it help to bring home our little guy?  I don't know, but I can say we did ALL we could.  Thank you to the youth group for praying for us.

Holding out Hope

Just to catch everyone up to speed.  We are still waiting for the one document that we need to send the dossier off to EE.  This is the I171H and it usually takes approximately 30-60 days just guessing on the processing time.  We sent our I600A last week.  That is the paper that asks for our country to grant permission for us to adopt and requires many processes including fingerprinting.  In an amazing effort by a very nice USCIS worker we were able to be fingerprinted yesterday.  That process had to complete before any determination could follow.  That is done.  Usually from there it takes approx. 30 days to receive the I171H.  SO I am hoping to get ths paper before the courts close and get my dossier submitted in the event that it will be 'grandfathered in" when adoptions resume. I also need 'osteogenesis imperfecta' to be added to the list of special needs that will make him 'adoptable' when the country does open back up or he will have to wait until after the age of five which makes no sense to me because that is the age that many are transferred to institutions.  Pray with us in bringing him home.

mountains moved today!!

I'm on a blackberry but just had to post that God moved mountains today!! We got our fingerprints done!!!

I'm Having a Bit of a Heartbreak :(

Many have asked several questions about our adoption of "Baby Cottontail". I have not shared much information.  Well here goes.......... He is two and will be three in July.  He is of Roma heritage.  He is adorable!  He is affectionate and well-mannered according to his caregivers.  He has Osteogenesis Imperfecta.  He has had three broken bones in his little life.  I was told today that new laws go into effect and the adoption unit will close July 12th.  His special need at this time will not be considered for adoption under these new laws.  As of July 12, the government office that processes adoptions closes.  There will be no staff, no office, no anything, but after three months the government of this country say there will be a new and improved process.  This scares me.  That is what Guatemala said four years ago and no adoptions have started since.  The only thing holding up my adoption is ONE paper I need from our government and it will not be done in time for my adoption to complete at this time.  I went into this adoption with the full intention of letting God handle all the details.  I was not going to get wrapped up in the details.  I was going to execute 'faith' through it all.  I don't know ......... I'm so sad....................

Totally Random Pics, no time for updates!!!

Meet Sanders Number Eight

We are so excited to be on this journey to bring home this little guy.  We met him on the Reece's Rainbow website.  We have just begun the mountain of paperwork but if all goes well he "could" be here by Christmas!!!  We have a big learning curve to conquer before he arrives as he will be bringing the challenges of Osteogenesis Imperfecta with him.  We have a special name picked out for him but for now we are calling him "Baby Cottontail".  Yes I know it's funny but that is what Chi named him and we pray for Baby Cottontail every night.  I will try to post often as we journey onward so visit in anytime! God Bless!

Breakable girl has unbreakable spirit

Breakable girl has unbreakable spirit: "Mara Jade Taylor is only 8 years old, but she's already had more broken bones than she can count."

Terri shared this with me.  You can click on the title and watch the video.

This is the diagnosis of our Emilio.