God is so powerful :)

Wouldn't she fit so great right in the middle?

I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who are praying for us right now. Dut to recent donations and our chip ins that are coming in we currently have $4669.70 in our fsp. I have 1k here at home and I ordered our visas the other day (came to $800-I used money from the yard sale :)) We are now just a little over $3000 away from our first trip. God bless you all and please keep on praying that our grants come through!!!

Harsh Reality...

We committed to Yana back in February. It has been six months since then. There have been so many roadblocks. First, there was an agency issue. Her region only allows 35 referrals per agency per year. Once that was resolved, our homestudy took awhile to get done. Once we received it, there were errors. We were able to apply for our I600A and have been approved, but not without that dreaded pink letter. When we went to have our first set of documents for our first trip apostilled, our documents were notarized here in our city and we didn't realize they had to be certified. So, we had to have them re-notarized, certified, and then apostilled. All,snafu's, but able to be fixed.
Money has always been an issue for us. We knew about five years ago that things would get tight when we decided to have one of us stay home to take care of our children. Our boys had some health issues that needed a stay at home parent, plus, we just didn't trust anyone with them. Our Anthony cannot talk. The thought of someone doing something to him made me just sick. It makes me sick to think of anyone doing anything to any of my kids, but Anthony could never tell us if they did. So, I work full time and my husband stays at home with our babies. Plus, this year we have had some not so great things happen. Gabby got in an accident with a semi in January. We are still battling them to pay the bills (yes it was the semi's fault.) Our basement flooded. Our fridge died. Our air conditioner went out of our truck...etc.
When we committed to Yana, I knew money would be an issue, but not once have I doubted that God would provide for us and for her. I stepped out in full faith. I told my husband just to be her Dad and I would worry about the money. We have had two yardsales and raised a decent amount of money. Most of it has went to help pay for the beginning stuff. Today I ordered our visas for travel. Yes, we have been able to pay some things by ourselves, but not a great deal of it. I mean, a few dollars here and a few hundred there, but not thousands.
Today while talking to Andrea, she made that harsh reality real. She told me that we couldn't make Yana wait forever. I know this and she is right. At that moment though, I could feel my heart in my throat and I was scared. The thought of losing her made me ill. Afterall, I know God knows how much this child means to us. He knows my heart and the tears I cry all the time for her. A few weeks ago, I applied for Show Hope and then The Abba Fund and Lifesong. All I can do is pray that they come through. I don't want to lose her, but I can't expect her to wait forever. Harsh realities stink. I am going to do my best to think of some other ways to fundraise while we wait on answers from them. We still have some fundraisers on this blog.
If you know my family you know that we have lost our Carmen two years ago after open heart surgery. I am not ready to lose a child again. Yana is ours in my heart and mind. All I can say is that right now I am at my weakest. My heart and soul is open to God and his works. I give myself to him. I am begging our God to show me the way. I firmly believe that he showed us this angel for a reason. She is meant for us...Please God-I need you now.

One Step Forward....

Do you see the tears in those eyes??

Received a letter in the mail today& it was from the NVC in NH. It stated that in 3-5 business days our petition for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition will be forwarded to the visa-issuing post where the adoption interview will take place....We have a case number& the name of the person it is forwarded to. In just a few short days...they will know we are coming for her :) Please God, let them approve us.

Positive News

Her big sister Gabby picked this out for her. Gabby said, "Mom, you have to get this for Yana. It is so cute!!"



This is Yana's angel...she is so loved!!



I received the actual letter today that states we have been approved and our information has been sent to the National Visa Center in NH!!

We are still short on funds for our first trip. We have applied for Show Hope and are waiting on that to see if we get it. Andrea is busy updating our FSP page. I have filled out the pre ap for A Child Waits and I am currently filling out the Abba Fund application. I took out a loan on my 403b on Tuesday. It won't be more than 3k-the amount depends on the market the day it is done. I will let everyone know how much when I get it. We are about 4-4500 away from our first trip-give or take-so the 403b check should help some. I have changed the email address for our Puzzle Pieces and our chances below for the Quilt, DS lite and Tara Bella Jewelry~so they go directly to our FSP. Prayers are always welcome!!

~I600A Appointment~

The door to our daughters future! One of the many :)

This building was huge-not only in size, but in importance!

Looking up I realized how surreal this was. We are moving forward. We are closer to bringing Yana home. We couldn't have cameras inside, but at the hallway on the second floor, there was a huge window at the end by the cafe. I looked out the window and there was a beautiful view. I looked out that window at the sights and I could feel myself holding her. What a beautiful thought :) It was meaningful to me to see all the different nationalities in that building. It was like knowing that Yana's freedom is near. Just like those people, she will soon have the freedom to walk about (or be carried-which I REALLY DON'T MIND.) We then went to the Secretary of States office to have our documents apostilled. In my ignorance, I didn't realize that all the documents had to be certified then apostilled. Since all of Yana's documents were notarized in our city, we had to have them renotarized, then certified and then apostilled. So, we went to the law library to have them notarized-then to the Clerk of Courts office for certification and finally back to the Secretary of States office to have them apostilled. Nothing is easy...they say nothing worth fighting for is, so I guess I should expect it. Yana is so worth it. I wouldn't lie though, I wouldn't mind it being easy.

Buy A Chance-Give Our Angel A Chance!

We have six different pieces of Tara Bella Jewelry to sell chances for. They are $1 a chance or 6 for $5. You can see pictures of her work at www.tarabellajewelry.com. This is our beautiful quilt donated by the Dueck Family. This quilt was specifically made for the love of a Eastern European child. The quilt squares were donated by thier family members from all over the United States. When thier own adoption fell through (she was placed into foster care) they decided it was important for a fellow adoptive family to have it to help raise funds. They also donated these beautiful fleece blankets. The quilt is $5 a chance or 6 for $25. The fleece blankets are $1 a chance or 6 for $5. We are also selling chances for a DS Lite Crimson Red and Black~brand new with the game Brain Age. The system and game are $1 a chance or 6 for $5. Last day for this is August 31st! Please help us to save our girl!! >

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GOOD LUCK!! HELP US TO GIVE OUR YANA A CHANCE!!

Yard Sale for Yana 2-The Results

I want to say thank you for all your support. I often struggle with the glass half empty/glass half full thing. We went into this Yard Sale hoping to make a decent amount, praying for at least the amount we need to travel. Needless to say, we didn't make the $8,000 we needed for the first trip. We did however, raise approximately $1800 this yard sale and topped it off by selling the piano for $400. So that is about $2200!! We also were in the paper and we were on the news. So, we added the bonus of bringing awareness to the plight of our angels. We did not sell nearly enough tickets for the quilt, blankets and DS we had that we were selling chances for. So, I will be adding a post to relist them (of course keeping the tickets already sold.)