We are officially done!!!!!

Our Home Study is Officially Done!!!!!!!

After all this time, paperwork and patience ~ we are able to say that this chapter of our journey is done! We were blessed with a great Home Study agency and Social Worker. This past week we were sending emails back and forth to each other re: the HS! You see, the lead Social Worker on our HS got married yesterday, IN HAWAII! So, before she left, she diligently worked to get it done. She made calls to expedite clearances, she retyped things to comply with the Hague Convention, she was constantly on the phone or in email on our behalf. Thank you Emily!!!!

Now, the next chapter begins, it actually is two parted!

1) I800A ~ the immigration "stuff"

2) Grants!

This week I will be busy filling out the I800A paperwork to send to immigration. This is the documentation, along with 0ur HS, that they review and decide if they a child from Latvia can come over to the USA!

We will also be finishing the last couple blanks on grants to be sent out to several organizations and foundations. We will be sending out 4 this week and more if I get on the ball. Show Hope is one of the grants we are applying for ~ this is the one started by Steven Curtis Chapman. Another grant is to a foundation out of Kansas ~ one of their requirements was that we either have to live in or have connections to Kansas (I grew up & graduated from there and my family still lives there). Two of the grants offer a substantial amount and we have requested their max amount. We are not trying to be greedy or selfish, it's just what we are needing. We know that this adoption is God's will and we don't have the financial resources to come up with that $$$, so we are trusting in God to lay it on their hearts to help us. We have looked into a 2nd mortgage or home equity loan but we haven't lived in our home for at least a year (that will be in late August) and therefore do not qualify!

Both of these things are a huge matter of prayer! Please, Please, Please go before the Lord on our behalf. Specifically, that the turn-around for immigration is quick and that we are able to receive the grant $ amount that we have requested from all four places. If we don't receive $$ from these grants, we will continue to send in other grants as they are due. We have 12 more that we could qualify for.

We have several more fundraisers & a garage sale (that is growing bigger every day)! God will provide!!!

***Meggie Update: We continue to write to Meggie several times a week. She gets an email from both Joe and me almost daily. She addresses it to Mommy & Daddy, she signs it "love your Meggie", she said the other day "I love me Mommy, Daddy, 2 brothers and sister!" In every email we tell her what we are doing in our daily lives and also remind that want her!

***Prayer Requests:

~Grants

~Immigration

~For all the families that are currently involved in Russian adoptions. The Russian gov't has closed all adoptions between Russian and America. This will possibly affect the surrounding countries. Latvia is a border country. Kazikstan is a country that will possible feel the pains of Russia's decision.