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!"
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
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.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Our Papers are Going to India!
Our papers were sent to India on Friday, Feb. 20th (which was Melissa's Grandma's birthday)!!! The papers are sent to VCT (the orphanage that manages Victoria's foster care) and they will forward a copy to CARA (the Indian government) for their review and approval. CARA's approval is in the form of a Non Objection Certificate. This typically takes 1-4 months. Then we do yet more paperwork and then will wait for court processing.
Having our papers finally sent off is a huge relief! Holt carefully reviews them for accuracy and congruency, so knowing that they sent simply means "All's good to go!"
We also sent a small photo album - laminated pages with pictures on them - of our immediate family and our home for Victoria to see. I think she will get to see it shortly after VCT receives our papers. We wish we could be there to see her "see" us!!! Will and Logan drew her pictures as well. We will also be working on a video to send to her. She will finally see her goofy big brothers in action!
We can send Victoria anything that resembles a document - stickers, cards, coloring pages and anything else creative we can think of. Maybe I can find a "paper thin" blankie. :)
On a financial note, God provided all we needed before our papers were mailed in! We serve a wonderful loving God and have wonderful loving friends and family, too! You know who you are and we thank you! We are now saving for our travel expenses which will be upwards of $7,000.00. However, that is pocket change to God and we know He has brought us this far and he won't leave us hanging! We continue to save Melissa's teaching money, are planning for more rummage sales and praying for a grant. We refinanced our home which lowered our monthly payment. God is good. "Whatever we ask in His name ~ He will do it!"
Having our papers finally sent off is a huge relief! Holt carefully reviews them for accuracy and congruency, so knowing that they sent simply means "All's good to go!"
We also sent a small photo album - laminated pages with pictures on them - of our immediate family and our home for Victoria to see. I think she will get to see it shortly after VCT receives our papers. We wish we could be there to see her "see" us!!! Will and Logan drew her pictures as well. We will also be working on a video to send to her. She will finally see her goofy big brothers in action!
We can send Victoria anything that resembles a document - stickers, cards, coloring pages and anything else creative we can think of. Maybe I can find a "paper thin" blankie. :)
On a financial note, God provided all we needed before our papers were mailed in! We serve a wonderful loving God and have wonderful loving friends and family, too! You know who you are and we thank you! We are now saving for our travel expenses which will be upwards of $7,000.00. However, that is pocket change to God and we know He has brought us this far and he won't leave us hanging! We continue to save Melissa's teaching money, are planning for more rummage sales and praying for a grant. We refinanced our home which lowered our monthly payment. God is good. "Whatever we ask in His name ~ He will do it!"
Friday, February 6, 2009
Our I-800a has been approved!!!!!!!!
We got our I-800a approval notice in the mail today!!! This means that the US has approved us to adopt. This is an incredible mountain conquered in our adoption process and I feel like a burden has been lifted. All of our paperwork will be sent from Holt to India early next week and then we, yep, you may have guessed it, wait some more. It will take 6-9 months (give or take a month or so - this process is quite unpredictable) for our case to go through the courts in Bangalore.
We have also had truly amazing financial provision and are able to pay Holt's India Program Fee. This had to be paid before Holt could send our documents to India. God is always on time! We continue to raise funds, save and pray hard for the next steps of the process.
I, Melissa, dropped my brother Kevin, his wife Julie, and another couple, Steve and JoAnn Ulery, off at the airport today as they embark on a missions trip to Tanzania, Africa. I am so excited for what God is doing in each of their lives. Pray for them the next two weeks.
We have also had truly amazing financial provision and are able to pay Holt's India Program Fee. This had to be paid before Holt could send our documents to India. God is always on time! We continue to raise funds, save and pray hard for the next steps of the process.
I, Melissa, dropped my brother Kevin, his wife Julie, and another couple, Steve and JoAnn Ulery, off at the airport today as they embark on a missions trip to Tanzania, Africa. I am so excited for what God is doing in each of their lives. Pray for them the next two weeks.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Our girl is growing!
We received our quarterly update on Victoria with a new picture which I will post on here at some point. She was 12# in August when she arrived at VCT and now she's 22#. Growing - just wish we could watch her grow! We are thankful she is thriving in her environment. There wasn't any other big news in the update. Just that she's healthy and attending speech therapy twice a week. Her motor skills are listed as "good" too. She must be gaining some muscles on those little bones. All the better to run from her big brothers.
We are expecting our paperwork to be processed here in the US in the next week or two. We received correspondence from USCIS and they want an addendum to our home study from our social worker. Mary from Holt said we should receive approval within two weeks after the addendum is received. Then our dossier will be couriered to India and we'll wait 6-9 months for the courts to process it.....
Life has been a bit hectic here. We are in the process of refinancing our house which will lower our payment. As soon as we began the refinancing, we had a pipe break in our basement and flood part of it, so we had to quickly get some remodeling completed down there. In the midst of that, Billy fell 9' off a ladder and broke his ankle and has to be off it for 6 weeks. We are learning much through all of it and can see God at work as well. What the enemy means for destruction, we will turn around for God's glory!
Tomorrow is Logan's 5th birthday. It's bitter sweet as we believe 4 is the perfect age. Logan had a blast at his birthday party at the fire station yesterday and is looking forward to more presents tomorrow. Both boys have literally been bouncing off the walls this weekend!
We are expecting our paperwork to be processed here in the US in the next week or two. We received correspondence from USCIS and they want an addendum to our home study from our social worker. Mary from Holt said we should receive approval within two weeks after the addendum is received. Then our dossier will be couriered to India and we'll wait 6-9 months for the courts to process it.....
Life has been a bit hectic here. We are in the process of refinancing our house which will lower our payment. As soon as we began the refinancing, we had a pipe break in our basement and flood part of it, so we had to quickly get some remodeling completed down there. In the midst of that, Billy fell 9' off a ladder and broke his ankle and has to be off it for 6 weeks. We are learning much through all of it and can see God at work as well. What the enemy means for destruction, we will turn around for God's glory!
Tomorrow is Logan's 5th birthday. It's bitter sweet as we believe 4 is the perfect age. Logan had a blast at his birthday party at the fire station yesterday and is looking forward to more presents tomorrow. Both boys have literally been bouncing off the walls this weekend!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
We accepted a referral!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It has truly been a Merry Christmas for our family! We are pleased to introduce you to our daughter, Victoria Rani. She is 3 years old and is in a foster home in Bangalore.
We did not expect to get a referral of a child until our paperwork had been processed here in the US, but we got "the call" on November 20th. :) When I heard Dean from Holt say her name, my heart just soared!
"Rani" in the Hindi version of the original Sanskrit means "Queen". In its Hebrew form it is derived from an expression meaning "She is singing." And every time we speak her name, Victoria, we will be speaking victory into her life. As broken and fragile as she is now, she will rise up with confidence in her Lord and strong in stature as a queen and will sing songs of victory in the "rain of the Spirit"!!!!
As a result of her life circumstances and malnourishment, Victoria has mild speech and motor skill delays. She is also very small. As of October 28th, she was only about 19#. But she is growing and already playing "catch-up" with her foster family. She has speech and language therapy once a week.
We are amazed at the gift God has given us for Christmas this year. He is soooooo good! She should be home for Christmas next year. We expect to travel to pick up our small package sometime this summer or fall.
We will be able to visit our missionary friends in Mysore, Tim and Karla Shamala. Again, God is so good and simply wants to bless His children. There are two orphanages we could have received a child from. One is in Pune which is far away from Mysore and the other is in Bangalore which is within reasonable driving distance from Mysore. We always believed God would make a way for us to visit with them and He has!
Please begin praying for Victoria and continue to pray for our family. Stay tuned for many more updates!
We did not expect to get a referral of a child until our paperwork had been processed here in the US, but we got "the call" on November 20th. :) When I heard Dean from Holt say her name, my heart just soared!
"Rani" in the Hindi version of the original Sanskrit means "Queen". In its Hebrew form it is derived from an expression meaning "She is singing." And every time we speak her name, Victoria, we will be speaking victory into her life. As broken and fragile as she is now, she will rise up with confidence in her Lord and strong in stature as a queen and will sing songs of victory in the "rain of the Spirit"!!!!
As a result of her life circumstances and malnourishment, Victoria has mild speech and motor skill delays. She is also very small. As of October 28th, she was only about 19#. But she is growing and already playing "catch-up" with her foster family. She has speech and language therapy once a week.
We are amazed at the gift God has given us for Christmas this year. He is soooooo good! She should be home for Christmas next year. We expect to travel to pick up our small package sometime this summer or fall.
We will be able to visit our missionary friends in Mysore, Tim and Karla Shamala. Again, God is so good and simply wants to bless His children. There are two orphanages we could have received a child from. One is in Pune which is far away from Mysore and the other is in Bangalore which is within reasonable driving distance from Mysore. We always believed God would make a way for us to visit with them and He has!
Please begin praying for Victoria and continue to pray for our family. Stay tuned for many more updates!
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