Whew..leaving in 15 hours!!!

Hello everybody!
This is Karen this time. I am figuring out how to post on our blog for the first time. Hopefully together we can keep this up almost daily.
Well, today has been busy with church, visiting with family and last minute shopping. Oh, let us not forget the process of packing, weighing the bags, repacking, and repeat numerous times. We eventually added a smaller bag just to avoid extra fees and hassle. All we have left to do is cut John Michael's hair and we will be ready for the trip. We even packed the car already to avoid hysteria with our dogs in the morning. (Don't worry they will be spoiled at my parents.)
I just wanted to check in for our loyal family and friends. We love you guys. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Also, specifically pray that we will be able to get through Washington Dulles tomorrow with the storms in the north right now.
We will most likely not be able to post for another couple of days due to travel time. I look forward to hearing from everyone.
:o) Karen

Itinerary

We just wanted to post an itinerary of our travels. This is just a rough estimate of when and what well be doing and when we might possibly be heading back.

April 16th - Leave Austin, TX->Washington D.C.->Frankfurt, Germany->Kiev, Ukraine
April 17th - Arrive 1:05 p.m. Ukraine time. FYI: Ukraine time is 8 hours ahead.
April 18th - Kick it with Chris in Kiev.
April 19th - Appointment at SDA. This day or the next we hope to get our referral and go to the orphanage via 15 hour train ride over the weekend to meet our son!! Karen's 3rd time and my first.
Next 5 Business Days - After we make it to the orphanage we'll be doing paperwork and visiting Lance twice a day. Once all the necessary paperwork for this phase is done it will be sent to the SDA, probably within the week. Paperwork arrives and five day wait begins. Papers are then returned to us after the five days.
May 1-2 - Ukraine Holiday We won't be able to get anything done on the holidays and it could possibly delay their productivity.
May 9th - Ukraine Holiday
We should have court within the next couple of days to become official parents!! Ten day waiting period for anyone to refute our adoption of Lance. Next 1-2 business days we'll be doing more paperwork in the region for birth certificates, etc. Take another 15 hour overnight train to Kiev. Next day or two will be used to get Lance's medical exam, visa interview, and pick up visa.
May 18th?-31st? Fly out next day!!

As you can see it will be very difficult to predict how fast the process will go. We won't be able to give any straight forward answers on dates.....especially when we will be flying back. We will post when something happens that might give us better indication of timing. Hope this gives ya'll some idea of whats going on.
It has kinda begun already b/c Chris has departed as of this afternoon. He's starting his stay and will be waiting for us over in crazyland!! See you next time.

Just Thanks

In light of the journey we are about to embark on I wanted to send out a thank you. This process has gone obstacle free, besides slight delays. And I would still chalk that up to God's timing. We have been incredibley blessed and supported throughout the adoption. We are happy to report that we had enough given to us to make this trip worry free on the financial side of things. Believe us your gifts will be used wisely. Please continue throughout with your prayers and moral support. You are all unbelievable and we think it is so awesome that so many of our great friends and family (and even a few strangers) will have a hand in bringing Lance Ivan here to our family. Its just too bad we will recieve all the benefits of living with and learning from him 24/7! ;-) Thank you for serving and working for our Lord.

JM

BONUS LANCE IVAN Pics!!

This is The Big One!!

The wheels on this thing have been turning since the moment Karen laid eyes on Ivan. However, this is one of the big steps we've been waiting on!

Hello Karen,

I reached the SDA. The date of your official appointment in the SDA is April 19, 2007.
I didn’t specify the exact time of the appointment. But tonight I go to Kyiv to get your official letter of invitation. I have an appointment there. I’ll keep you informed.

Olga.

This is a little less than a month away so we will have plenty of time to prepare but, I know the 15th-16th will be here before we know it. We'll drive down to Texas to leave the dogs with Karen's parents so we'll fly out of Austin. Another great bonus is that Karen's cousin Chris will be making his way to Ukraine sometime while we are there! It will be really great to have someone so close and in our support group there with us. So much to do!!! Can't wait!

Ivan's Room

A couple of weeks ago we finally got after our "Lance Ivan Room Project." A couple of long nights for these weekend warriors and a little spot work got it done. The walls are done and we have it somewhat furnished. We just need a few more things and it will be Lance-ready! The pics are a little out of order but, you get the idea.
This is Mattie's usual spot while we were working in the room. The trim and paint is already done in this shot.











This would be the semi-finished product. We're goin' with the whole moose-bear-forest look. No reason in particular we do really like the color scheme.














Karen likes the paint a little too much. This shot was taken after 20 hours of no sleep. Delirium had set in.















The before shot of where the chalkboard painted 1/4 " Birch plywood was going.















This looks like one of the last pics before we started moving things in.















Me filling the gaps around the chalkboard frame. It looks weird cuz I'm actually standing in the hall...on my tippy toes...not really.

Who Likes Molasses?!

Just like every other part of this adoption our wait is increasing. More delays and what not from our Eastern European friends. We've got to give the the benefit of the doubt but, we've got to get Lance Ivan here now!!!!! We actually have more we could be doing to prepare but, the room was the big thing and that has been done now for weeks. Okay God, we're ready!.....well...we thought we we're ready. But since we haven't gotten the call maybe You think we aren't....or maybe you're not ready. Patience will be with us.

Hi Karen,
Your dossier was registered. It has incoming registered number. But we need to know the registered number for the process. I called the SDA on Monday, March 12. They are very sorry but there was an epidemic of influenza in Kyiv. A lot of people in the SDA didn’t work that time. I was asked to call them in 2-4 days. They will do all their best to give me more information and I hope to find out the date where I will have to come to Kyiv to get the official letter of invitation. Please, don’t worry. I control the situation and I inform you as
soon as I have any news.

I’ll keep you informed. I will let you know as soon as I have information.

Love,
Olga.

I didn't get this posted Monday after it came. If it would have been big then I would have gotten it up quickly though.

Nothing Big

Just wanted to put up the latest email we got from Olga. Its nothing huge but, at least its something.

Dear Karen,

I called the SDA and I talked to the Director of Department of international adoptions. Her name is Valentina. She personally works with your process. She was very kind and we were very polite to each other J

The dossier was registered and all the documents are in order. They have 20 days to study the dossier and made a decision. But it’s formality. They have to study dossier during 20 days in accordance with legislation. I was asked to get in touch with Valentina in 20 days. The dossier was submitted in February 19. I am going to call the SDA in March 12. But if they call me earlier I will let you know. They have all my contact information and as I understand they remember me well.

Olga.

That is it. It now seems like we won't hear something big quite as fast as we thought before this email. Still sounds like it will be soon though!!