Updated homestudy required for Florida

It is a good thing we had to update our homestudy for FL because when I was copying all official documents, I learned that our certified copy of our marriage certificate was missing. Since we'll need this when we travel, I have ordered new ones. They should be arriving here this week and then we'll have our portion of the paperwork done for the updated homestudy. Then we can sit and wait some more.

I spoke with Rachel at AOH and found out that our kids are still at the orphanage. It has been so long that I was beginning to fear that their dad came back to get them since the Liberian deputy minister issued some bad press about adoptions and child trafficking in January. However, they are still waiting for us. We sent a card along with another family so that the kids know we haven't forgotten about them.

Until next time....

Back on track

It has been almost a month since we've moved in. Isn't it surprising how fast time goes and yet, it seems like we just got here. Anyway, most of the boxes are emptied and legal things done to move in. Now we start on updating our homestudy and getting all the addresses changed on the necessary adoption forms. The group of families from AOH that received referrals about the same time as we did has started to see some movement in the arduous process of bringing home the kids. A couple of families unfortunately lost their referrals when the birthparents changed their minds and a couple of families have received news that the children's adoption was finalized in Liberia. That leaves about four families left to have their adoptions finalized and that's where we are.

After the adoptions are finalized we still have to wait for the passports and visas but those processes seem to be starting to move again as well now that the holidays are over. There doesn't seem to be any way to predict with any accuracy how fast the process will take for us. Therefore we meet with the homestudy lady from Florida on Thursday to get our update done as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, we're visiting churches and homeschool groups. We've met a lot of interesting people and even went on a field trip. I want to take the kids to see the manatees and the butterfly forest and the botanical gardens and the big sink hole..... We had our first out of state visitors over the weekend which was great. Most importantly :-} we got our library cards!

I get to go back to Wisconsin this coming weekend to see my grandma and for my youngest granddaughter's first birthday. The weather is predicted to be nicer than it was for Icebowl II (the playoff game between the Packer's and the Giant's). It is supposed to be in the teens the last I heard. I'm glad I didn't give away ALL my sweaters. Take care everyone.

We're in Florida

Well we made it to the south. We are waiting for phone and internet service so this is a quick update from the local library. We are all experiencing culture and weather shock. We left Wisconsin in a snowstorm that dumped 6-8 inches the last day we were loading the moving van. It has been 75 here in Florida except for a couple of days when the high was only 45. I'll write more as soon as I can.

We found a house....moving in 3 weeks..

We finally have an accepted offer on a nice home in Florida. It is only a year old. The previous owners had a job transfer also and had only lived in the home for six months. He was a general manager for Lowe's so the house has lots of upgrades. The kitchen is awesome! I'm looking forward to working in that area with all the kids.

However, we're all going through the realization that we are really moving. Pack and load dates are scheduled for the day after Christmas. We expect to be celebrating New Year's in the new place. With that in mind I've found myself being pulled between being excited to be moving into a new place and very sad and weepy to be leaving our oldest three girls and their families.

Regarding the timeframes for the adoption.... since we don't know if we'll travel within the 30 day window it takes to establish residency in the new state, we'll have to get an updated homestudy done and our address updated on the necessary papers. We'll be starting that as soon as we get moved in so that we'll be ready when we get the call to pickup Abraham, Kindness and Diamond.

Looking for a home in Florida

Del and I are in sunny Florida now (have been for a week) looking at houses around Gainesville. Although it is beautiful weather, I'm having a hard time turning on the car AC in December!!! for pete's sake. We spoke with the kids today and they had about 6 inches of snow last night and then rain this morning that is turning to ice.

We've put in an offer on one house that was rejected last week. Then we put in an offer on another house on Friday night that is held by a relocation property. We're waiting for Monday morning to hear back on the status of our offer. It is a nice home with enough room for us. We're supposed to go home on Wednesday so getting an accepted offer is our goal. So pray for our success.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. A few things I'm thankful for are our wonderful bio kids and their families, our three Liberians waiting for us, our health and the health of our extended family and our farm buyer. We signed the papers to sell our farm yesterday and will travel Sunday to go househunting. The move date is set for after Christmas so the countdown has begun.

The adoption has been slowed down in the US Embassy in Liberia. Evidently the recent passport/visa issues in the USA caused the new consular's helpers to be delayed in getting to their new Liberian post. I did my civic duty along with many other parents adopting from Liberian and contacted my government officials, including the state dept., to find out if there was anything we as parents needed to do to advocate for our kids in getting the adoptions back up to speed. The number of families traveling to get kids per month has slowed by 2/3 since this summer due to a number of issues. This caused our case to be delayed, too. However, according to the lady in charge of children's issues in the US State Dept., help is on the way to Liberia and should be in place by early December. Good news!

So, our time line is first week in December - find a new home in Florida, December 26 - the movers come to start packing what we have left, New Year's Eve - be in Florida, January 2 or 3 - deliver household goods to new home.

We Sold Our Farm!!!

We finally sold our farm!! Our renter that has been using our farmland came to us with an offer that we couldn't refuse. The closing date is set for November 26. After that Del and I travel to Florida to find a new home. We are full of mixed emotions for leaving behind our family. Yet we know that we will be visiting often. I have lots of respect for missionaries!