Homestudy Addendum

As a result of moving in the middle of this adoption jouney, it was necessary that we have an addendum prepared for our homestudy. We schduled this for Tuesday September 13th. Our Social Worker arrived at 5:00 PM. It was uneventful. She simply toured our new house and noted the number of rooms. She wanted to know how many smoke detectors and fire extinguishers we have. She also wanted to know how we intend to secure our pool area to limit children's access. She was here about 45 minutes and then was gone. She will send this addendum to the BCIS and we will have it forwarded to Ukraine. It should not create a problem since we already have our registration number.

We have heard that for the last few months the process in Ukraine has been very slow. We know of three families who experienced delays while in country. In fact one family decided to return home without a child. Oh, we hope and pray that we do not have this experience, it would be quite painful. The positive is that it seems that 'things' have started moving again in Ukraine. No one knows why there are such periods of delay, there is no apparent reason except that the government just puts on the brakes occasionally.

We are Registered

Last Saturday, September the 3rd, it was a horrible day - it was an awesome day.

Steph discovered that our water heater had decided that it didn't want to hold that water any longer, it had been holding it since 1984 and it was tired. So, it just let all the water out the bottom and created a wonderful 4" pool of water. I feel bad complaining about 4" of water in my basement when so many are dealing with 12' of water in what was once their homes, nonetheless, it was a burden that frustrated me (and would soon frustrate me even more when I discovered that sweating copper lines is not as easy as it looks!)

I was speaking to my brother David on the phone trying to find a pump to get rid of the water and Steph came in from the mailbox. She said, " Hey, there is a letter here from a foreign country." I asked what country and she said, "I don't know I can't read it." I nearly hung up on David and with a great deal of excitement I told her to open the letter. The conversation when something like this:

Joe: Open it!
Steph: I can't, I need a knife
Joe: Rip it open!
Steph: I don't want to rip it.
Joe: Just rip it open!
Steph: OK, I'm ripping!
Joe: Where is it from?
Steph: Ukraine
Joe: What does it say?
Steph: I can't read it, its in Ukrainian
Joe: Give it to me! (as Joe reaches and grabs for the letter)
Steph: What does it say?
Joe: I don't know I can't read it, its in Ukrainian!

After the shaking stopped and I took a couple of breaths, I realized that not only was it written in Ukrainian, but it was also translated into English.

It was 2 paragraphs letting us know that we are approved as prospective adopting parents in Ukraine and that we have a registration number. It informed us that we must now request an appointment. It seems that our appointment will not be until 2006. We don't know when.

So the Great Wait continues. But, at this point it seems we have worked off half of our wait. Thanks for your continued prayers. The waiting is tough, but in the end it will be worth it.

Also, on the homefront, we will have our homestudy updated next week. Our Social Worker will be visiting on Tuesday to prepare an addendum to our homestudy since we have moved.