When all of me is overwhelmed, I will cling to the Rock!

Yep, that's what I'm doing. As our travel date becomes closer and closer, there is simply more and more to do and think about! We are taking one day at a time in preparing for Victoria and our trip to India. As I plan, I am surprised at how truly multifaceted this trip is. I'm thankful we have experience traveling with small children before, but never a girl, whom we don't know, who speaks little English, who likely will be grieving, whose paperwork cannot be lost, in India of all places!

Preparations still include, but are not limited to, finishing her room (wall paper is down, have yet to sand and paint), gathering together all the needed paperwork (still waiting for some), reading over the highlighted parts of "The Connected Child", getting shots, doing two rummage sales to help on the financial end and general packing. Which brings us to an exciting milestone. I officially began packing tonight! So, since I've seen blue for the past 7, almost 8, years, do I pack all pink just to get it out of my system???

I'm thankful for my God who has continually given us peace over every step of this process and even though at times I am overwhelmed with all of it, I know He will continue to wrap up the loose ends before we travel and won't let me forget a single document. He's just good like that!

We are truly praying we can travel in mid-July. It simply works really good with our schedule here. Please believe with us that we can go then. We do know God's timing is perfect and He will send us when He's ready.

Pray as well that I can be focused and organized as we make travel plans and for favor in getting great deals at hotels and on our airline tickets. We are using a travel agent Holt recommends.

As much as we love to travel and are looking forward to the trip itself, we can't wait to simply get Victoria home and begin our lives together. Those cheeks need some kisses from her mama, those toes some tickles from her dada and that head rubbed by her big brothers. We were all standing in the kitchen one evening and we showed the boys how tall Victoria was and where the top of her head would be. So they pretended to rub and pat the top of her head. They do it when they watch her video, too. What a gift she will be to them and they to her!

Victoria's Update

We got Victoria's update, but I had to wait until after school on Friday to get it. Oh, the wait! She continues to be healthy. She is 24# and 32" - about a size 2T. Her growth seems to have plateaued. She gained only 1 1/2 pounds between Jan. 19 and March 25. I wish I had more information to pass along. There's just no additional news. No news is good news with her progress reports. We are now applying for her immigrant visa. We received our I-800 provisional approval - simply another paperwork hurdle crossed. God gave us favor once again.

Today in Sunday School Will and Logan each made Victoria a necklace. They are so excited for their little sister to come home. Logan also had kindergarten round-up this week and his first T-ball game. He played 1st base and was very determined to catch any ball coming his way. Unfortunately, the throws weren't so good, and well, he's still learning to catch. Very fun to watch.

VERBALS HAVE BEEN GRANTED!!!

We got a call from Mary at Holt today and she told us the judge in Bangalore gave us verbal guardianship of Victoria - on the last day before the courts closed for the month of May!!! Is God at work or what?! Now we complete more paperwork on our end. Our timeline looks like:

Beginning of June - Courts in Bangalore open
1-2 weeks for written guardianship to be issued
2-4 weeks to obtain Victoria's passport
mid - July - TRAVEL!!!!! (give or take a few weeks as always)

I can't believe how fast this is all happening. Mary said, "Your case has been processed quick for Bangalore courts." I know people are praying and God has His hand upon our family and the process.

Please pray for perfect travel timing, care for Will and Logan back at home, and continued financial provision.

I'd say this is all to good to be true, but our God is THAT GOOD!

We will be posting an update on Victoria very soon as well. It just hasn't come through the e-mail yet.

Court update

We received our first update on the court processing in Bangalore. The quoted part below is from the orphanage with explanation to follow.

"...and Victoria Rani- The dates for the 1st hearing has not been given but they have been seen by the scrutiny officer for her report. Since court closes on the 24th of April it does look like it may not pass before that. However I am trying to think positive:-))"--end of VCT email.

The Bangalore court closes for Summer Recess from 24 April-25 May. While the courts don't always close completely, we are hearing from VCT not to expect any movement during summer recess this year. We are hearing the same thing from BSSK regarding the Summer Recess in Pune which is from 5 May-7 June.

The scrutiny officer has to review each case prior to the 1st hearing. Often times, this does not happen before the first hearing and the hearing gets postponed. It is good news that at least the scrutiny officer has reviewed our case, but it does take a while for the order to be given so that may not happen before the court closure.

Continue to pray for speedy processing!

NOC Received!!!!!!

We received CARA's NOC (India's central government's No-Objection Certificate)!!!!! That means that the central government has approved us to adopt. Now VCT (Victoria's orphanage that oversees her foster care) will file with the local attorney/courts. We will know when the first hearing will be in a couple weeks. Our case has to go through 3-5 hearings each scheduled about 4 weeks apart. Unfortunately, the courts are closed in June for holiday. :(

Now we complete yet more paperwork, the I-800 to be specific, and some attachments with it.

This is such good news and our NOC came sooner than we expected!!!

We were pretending to pat Victoria's head in the kitchen the other day - at the height she is..... and Will and Logan keep saying, "I can't wait to rub her head!"

Victoria's Video of Her Forever Family

We have enjoyed putting together a video for Victoria this weekend. The boys did most of the narrating. They gave her a tour of our home and showed her where her shoes and toothbrush are. It was fun putting the little pink Dora toothbrush in with the two Spongebob ones. We showed her around the yard, the boys riding bikes and jumping on the trampoline and took her down to the swings on the lake. We couldn't yet film her room because it's far from being finished. It still has a double bed in it and we haven't painted it yet, so even if we did film it, she wouldn't recognize it when she comes home. We'll send her snapshots of it soon. We have a friend who will edit the video for us next week and add some music to some snapshots we plan to add at the end. What a blessing that will be! I am praying that God will guard her heart and give her understanding beyond her years - that when she sees pictures of us and watches the video, she will begin to understand we are her forever family.

The Papers Made It!

Our papers made it to India. Mary from Holt e-mailed me and said VCT is filing at CARA for NOC. Sounds like the military or something. They sent our paperwork to the Indian government and we will receive a Non-Objection Certificate in 4-6 weeks. Then our paperwork will go through the local Bangalore courts.

Also, Mary confirmed that they do inform the children of their new families when they receive the acceptance papers and that they have most likely shared our pictures with Victoria. :) :) :)

Pray for speedy NOC for us!