We Have A DATE!!!!!!!!!

Hey! We received word on July 12th that we have an appointment with the SDA (which is the adoption center) on October 1st!!!! What wonderful news! We are so excited, but have sooooo much to do to prepare for our trip. Our friends, the Doves, also received great news.... their dosssier has been submitted! So, they should find out when their appointment with the SDA will be, within the next month. Please continue to pray for us, the Dove's, and all other families that are adopting.... and don't forget to pray for the precious children who are waiting for their "forever families"!!! I'll post more later... just wanted to share the news!!!

The Magic of Disney....

Hey Everyone!!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while.... no real news, BUT... we did get to go on a wonderful family vacation at the end of June. Well, Zachary and I were on vacation, but Kelly was in classes all week b/c it was a business trip, but he got to enjoy some time with us!!! We were in Orlando at the Royal Pacific Resort and got to go to Disney a couple of days! Zachary loved Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom... although he didn't care for the characters... they were a little scary to him to say the least! Kelly's parents joined us the last weekend in Orlando, and we all had a great time. I'll share some pictures so you all can see for yourselves:)!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIGGY!!!

We want to wish Giggy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY:) (For those of you that don't know, Giggy is what Zachary calls Amanda's mom) We can't wait to see you this weekend, Giggy, so we can CELEBRATE!!! On Sunday, Giggy turned the BIG 60.... but when I asked Zachary how old he thought Giggy was, he said...."um....4!"

But his biggest concern is that he get to have some of her birthday cake! He asked "Is Giggy going to have a Chuck E. Cheese cake?"... So, what do you think Giggy?

On a different note, we want to CONGRATULATE my brother, who Zachary calls "JJ" (short for Jason)!! JJ completed his 1st half marathon on Saturday in Nashville... He ran the 13 miles in 1hour and 48minutes!!!!! Pretty impressive, JJ!!! Wish we would have been there to cheer you on :)!!

Also, I have mentioned our friends, the Dove's, who are adopting a little boy... I have added a link to their blog on the right. Please continue to pray for them and their little boy!

More on Ukraine

Well, today, I have some good news about our friends, the Dove's...., they have also received their INS approval and their dossier will possibly be submitted in May.... please continue to pray for them and their little boy:)!!


I thought you all might like to learn a little about Ukraine....
So here are a few facts:


Capital
Kiev (Kyyiv)
Total Area
233,089.87 sq mi603,700.00 sq km(slightly smaller than Texas)
Population
48,760,474 (July 2001 est.)
Estimated Population in 2050
37,726,401
Languages
Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Literacy
98.0% total, 100.0% male, 97% female (1989 est.)
Religions
Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox - Kiev Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate), Protestant, Jewish
Life Expectancy
60.62 male, 71.96 female (2001 est.)
Government Type
republic
Currency
1 hryvna = 100 kopiykas
GDP (per capita)
$3,850 (2000 est.)
Industry
coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food-processing (especially sugar)
Agriculture
grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk
Arable Land
58%
Natural Resources
iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land

Ukraine?!?

SO.. exactly where is Ukraine... Take a look.. It's located between Romania and Russia

Dossier Submitted!!!!

HOORAAY!!!!! We found out today that our dossier was submitted yesterday to the SDA (which is the adoption center) in Kyiv, Ukraine! American dossiers are only allowed to be submitted on Mondays and facilitators have to stand in line to do the submission. This is a HUGE step in the process... now, the adoption officials will review our paperwork and hopefully assign us an appointment to go to Ukraine for a referral. So now, we just wait and pray.... I know that God has our little girl safely in His care.... we just can't wait to meet her and welcome her into our family! We still have a long journey ahead, but our paperwork stage is complete, for the most part!:) Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray!!
love,
Amanda, Kelly, and Zachary

Our Blog

Hello everyone! Kelly and I wanted to create a blog to keep everyone up to date as we journey through our 2nd adoption! For those of you that don't know.... we are in the process of adopting from Ukraine... this time, praying for a little girl. God has so richly blessed us with Zachary(who we adopted from Volgograd, Russia in Nov. 2004); Zachary was 10&1/2 months old when we brought him home and now he is 3!! My, how time flies. He is a wonderful, smart, and loving little boy. And he is VERY excited about having a little sister; in fact, just today, he said,"My little sister is going to be little and I will be 'avle' to carry her and give her a bottle" He also says her name is going to be "Charlotte".... (that's b/c our good friends, Adam and Steph, have a new baby Charlotte).... This age is so fun, yet challenging at the same time!
We are truly in the middle of our adoption, so I'll try to bring you up to date...
Why Ukraine? well, we thought we would be going back to Russia, but God had different plans for us...(long story, maybe I'll share in another posting)
01/07- officially decided to adopt from Ukraine and started homestudy paperwork
02/27/07 - mailed INS application
03/22/07 - received INS fingerprint appointment letter/working on dossier paperwork!
03/29/07- Amanda fingerprinted
03/31/07 - Kelly fingerprinted
04/02/07 - most of dossier travels to Ukraine with another adoptive family
04/14/07 - received I-797 (INS APPROVAL!!!)
04/17/07 - rest of dossier/INS approval FedEx'd to Ukraine!

So that's where we are.....now it's the "hurry up and wait" phase! I will keep you all up to date and we'd love to hear from everyone! Please pray for us, the baby girl that God has chosen for us, all of the orphans and caretakers in Ukraine and Ukraine's governing officials. Also, please pray for the other families that are on their own adoption journeys. We have met a wonderful family, the Doves, who are adopting a baby boy from Ukraine. I know the God intentionally had our paths to cross and I am so thankful!