Timeline

UPDATED 08/03/2012

MISSION 2 - "Nash"

  • 07/25/2012 - Made a decision to seek a formal commitment to "Nash".
  • 08/02/2012 - Initial meeting with social worker; Application for home study renewal submitted.  Paperwork starts.
  • 08/03/2012 - Commitment to "Nash" official! FSP up and running.



    • MISSION 1 - "Kathleen" and "Gayle"
    • 04/02/2011 - Stephanie attends a YCOW (Your Church and the Orphan Workshop) event in order to gain insight into how to start an orphan care ministry within our local congregation.
    • 04/10/2011 - Corey told about Reece's Rainbow.  Initial "plan" was to sponsor a child and/or a family.  As we looked over the waiting children and the stories of those families already engaged in the process, the Lord began opening our eyes to the possibility of adopting.
    • 04/10/2011 - 04/22/2011 - went through the bittersweet process of prayerfully reviewing (and agonizing over) the many faces and stories of the orphans; pleading with God for direction. 
    • 04/23/2011 - Made a decision to seek a formal commitment to Kathleen.
    • 04/26/2011 - Application for Home study submitted.  Paperwork starts...
    • 04/27/2011 - Commitment to Kathleen official!   FSP up and running.
    • 05/02/2011 - First set of donations ($240) recorded.  Praise God for leading those who donated to us!
    • 05/05/2011 - Initial meeting with agency social worker!  It is now up to us to "git 'er done".
    • 05/10/2011 - Passport application processing day (since we procrastinated in doing this, we will pay to have them expedited).  We were told that we should have them by the end of May!
    • 05/23/2011 - Passport books delivered! (less than 2 weeks; worth that expediting fee)
    • 05/26/2011 - Scheduled doctor visits for Corey and Steph.
    • 05/31/2011 - Home visit by social worker.
    • 06/24/2011 - Home Study report completed!
    • 06/27/2011 - Start preparing USCIS application and $$ for app fee.
    • 07/08/2011 - I-600A makes it to Texas.  Next wait....
    • 07/11/2011 - Kathleen's country scheduled to shut down for governmental re-organization :-(
    • 07/11/2011 - **MIRACLE ALERT** - Found out Kathleen's country will keep on processing adoptiions of children with "special needs" (per their list)!  Praise the Lord!
    • 07/12/2011 - Answering the Lord's call to add to our adventure.  More to come on that...
    • 07/13/2011 - USCIS Acceptance Confirmation email received - this means our USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing.
    • 07/13/2011 - Commitment to Gayle 'official" - promise trust fund donation paid.  2nd full dossier under construction...
    • 08/08/2011 - Found out we have been assigned a USCIS officer!!
    • 08/15/2011 - USCIS Biometrics Appointment (Fingerprinting) Completed!!
    • 09/12/2011 - Dossiers on their way, via UPS, to EE !! (This was delayed from 8/26 due to a couple documents needing re-apostilled and a few days due to the flooding in Harrisburg PA)
    • 09/15/2011 - Dossiers have been delivered to the relevant office in EE!
    • 09/22/2011 - Dossiers submitted to governing agency!!
    • 10/14/2011 - HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON!  Due to administrative changes within the governing authority that oversees adoptions in the girls' home country, our hope for an appointment date by the end of October looks to be delayed until the first week of December at the earliest. (Should this event not have occurred, we would have expected an appointment date by the end of October).
    • 11/30/2011 - HIT THE PLAY BUTTON!  We have been granted an appointment date - MON, DEC 12, 2011 at 9am! 
    • 12/09/2011 - Left for EE from PHL Airport
    • 12/10/2011 - Arrived safely in EE
    • 12/12/2011 - 1st Appointment with Dept. of Adoptions
    • 12/13/2011 - Received referral to go to Gayle's orphanage.  Take the night train to her city.
    • 12/14/2011 - First visit with Gayle!  Complete paperwork that states we "officially accept her" for adoption.
    • 12/15/2011 - Court documents submitted; Gayle's new name provided.
    • 12/19/2011 - Taking day express train back to capital city in order to go to 2nd appointment with Dept. of Adoptions (to request referral to see Kathleen).
    • 12/20/2011 - 2nd appointment with Dept. of Adoptions completed
    • 12/21/2011 - Referral picked up at Dept. of Adoption.  Left for Kathleen's city on overnight train
    • 12/22/2011 - Met Kathleen for first time!!  Of course, we sign papers stating we "officially accept her".  Court document preparation underway; new name provided.
    • 12/25/2011 - Taking train back to Gayle's region
    • 12/28/2011 - Court session for Gayle's adoption - SHE IS NOW OUR DAUGHTER (pending 10 day appeal period)
    • 01/07/2012 - Took train back to Kathleen's region so we can visit her before court.  We wanted to leave on 01/05, but no train tickets were available due to Orthodox Christmas (01/07) travel rush...so we travel on (Orthodox) Christmas Day.  A nice Christmas present! 
    • 01/10/2012 - Court session for Kathleen's adoption (this could have happened sooner except for the holiday "shutdown" the courts take between New Years and Orthodox Christmas).  By God's Grace, the Judge ruled in favor of our petition!  SHE IS NOW OUR DAUGHTER (pending 10 day appeal period)
    • 01/11/2012 - Court decree available for Gayle's court session.  Took train back to Gayle's region; arrived late evening.
    • 01/12/2012 - Started administrative paperwork (passport, birth certificate, etc) to finalize adoption of Gayle.
    • 01/13/2012 - Closed Mila's bank account, and finalized paperwork at orphanage.  We met her birthparents.
    • 01/17/2012 - Mila's passport ready.
    • 01/19/2012 - Returned to Yana Kathleen's region (with Mila Gayle, of course).
    • 01/21/2012 - 10 day appeal period ends for Yana Kathleen.  Since this is a Saturday, we cannot get court decree until Monday, 1/23
    • 01/24/2012 - Mila starts displaying signs of a cold with fever (uh-oh).
    • 01/24/2012 - Trip (~1.5 hours one way by car) to Yana Kathleen's birth city to do birth certificate paper work.
    • 01/25/2012 - "Gotcha day" for Yana Kathleen.  She is now officially out of the institution (or "boarding school", as they call it here). 
    • 01/25/2012 - Trip to capital city of Yana's region to apply for passport.
    • 01/26/2012 - Make trip back to capital city, via night train, to prepare for US Embassy appointments.
    • 01/27/2012 - Take Mila to American Medical Center in capital city for exam and treatment of infection.  She will not be able to be evaluated for travel Visa for 5 days (until Wednesday 2/1)
    • 01/30/2012 - Obtained photos (QTY=4 for each girl) to be used for travel visa and medical report (plus one at the end to send to Ukrainian Embassy in DC when we register girls)
    • 01/31/2012 - Yana's passport ready; to be send on evening express train to capital city.
    • 01/31/2012 - US Embassy appointment Day 1 - document intake
    • 02/01/2012 - Trip to medical clinic for girls' travel visa examination (DON'T open that white envelope the doctor gives you!)
    • 02/01/2012 - US Embassy appointment #2 to obtain travel visas for Mila and Yana; took about 75 minutes (DON'T let anybody other than a USCIS agent open that brown envelope the embassy agent gives you!)
    • 02/03/2012 - "Get Outta Dodge" Day
    • 02/04/2012 - Arrived Home after delays
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