Well those five weeks of summer came and went in almost a blur. The days flew by and our house was very busy with lots of noise but without even knowing it that chaos became a comfort.
D and A flew home on Thursday morning. Leaving them at that airport and watching them walk through security while they kept looking back to see if we were still there was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I was a blubbering mess that day. Not much could be said that wouldn’t make me tear up.
It’s been two days now without them and our house is quieter but it’s a sad quiet. Not the quiet that I begged for some times during those summer weeks. The stillness is a reminder that my little girls are gone. We’ve closed the door to their room because walking by and seeing it empty is hard. Watching my four year old sit sadly and tell me that he misses the girls and wants them back is hard. Sean fought with them like they’d been siblings their whole lives while they were here and he’s missing them so much too, he says it’s boring here without them. That’s hard on my heart. Watching my husband cry is hard. We are praying for God to sustain us during these hard times.
We are now focusing on finishing up our dossier and hope to have it completed by the time we get our approval from USCIS. Burying myself in the paperwork is the easiest way to cope as I know it’s going to bring them back sooner. The good news is that we had a good head start because we’d finished our homestudy and filed our i800A before they even got here. Once our dossier is submitted things tend to move pretty quickly so I hear. We’d get our referral and then a travel date usually within one to two months. The girls will be able to return with us after the first court date as “hosting” again but will have to return for final court on the third trip.
That’s both wonderful and scary because while we want it to go fast so we can bring them back sooner that means we need to move fast with our fundraising. Prior to being able to submit the dossier we have to send $1500 to our agency for casework fees (paid), the remaining agency fee of $3000 (paid), a $2300 translation fee for the attorney in Latvia, and a $1000 post placement retainer ($500 remaining).
I’ve got a couple of ideas in the works but in the meantime if you’d like to make a donation to help us reach this present goal of $2800 you can do so either via the PayPal button on the right side of our blog or if you’d like your donation to be tax deductible you can send it to our agency and put our family name in the memo line of your check. Our agency is not 501c accredited at the moment but their application has been submitted and should be approved this year so all donations made in this year will be deductible (They will be retro approved to January 1). The address is:
Adoption Related Services
8 South Main Street
P.O. Box 201
Shrewsbury, PA 17361
There have been so many clear signs through this time that we know we are following God’s direction and that He is going to provide what is needed to get them here. We are so thankful to be part of His great plan for these children. Please continue praying for Dajana and Adelina and for our family and the finances as we work towards bringing them back to us.
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