Making progress ...,

My dossier is currently in country awaiting translation.  I'm scrambling to pull together the initial fee required for translation.  The weather this winter has resulted in higher heating costs than expected so I haven't been able to set aside as much as I anticipated. The funds available via Reece's Rainbow will be available for adoption costs once I receive the travel invitation.  That can't come until the translation of my dossier is complete.   Our family has a gofundme site for donations and all of those made to that site will be accessible immediately and will help to cover the initial $2,000.  The in-country agency has been so patient as we waited for the new home study. The original home study was for a non-Hague country and the requirements are different for the new nation, so I had to start over. 

Oksana's adoption costs included the initial agency fees ($7,000), the home study fee ($2250), and all of the miscellaneous document fees for marriage and divorce certificates, birth certificates, medical exams, fingerprinting and background clearances, and then apostille fees to verify notary validity.  The apostille fees for Russia were about $800 total. The foreign program fee was $15,500 and travel costs were about $3000 for the first trip.  Immigration approval was about $900. All of those costs were covered by savings, fundraising, yard sales, selling furniture out of my house, and  donations.  Some of the initial agency fees were credited to my new adoption, but all of the documentation had to be replaced. Most of it remained in Russia and was sealed for that nation. Those for which I had maintained copies required recertification as if they had never been done.  The new home study was also not covered by any of the previous fees.  Because the new country requires Hague approval, we had to request immigration approval again with a different form and another $900 check.  

We are in the home stretch of this adoption! When I receive the travel invitation, we will visit with the boys, spend time getting to know them, and accomplish in-country business required to facilitate the adoption.   After my return home, the court process will be managed by the agency. As soon as that is done, we will receive permission to return to pick the boys up and bring them home.   The older boy is aware that a family is coming for him. He must be on pins and needles waiting to see if it is really true. His heart has already been broken by family members unable to care for him.  He is eleven years old and desperately wants to belong to a family.  The sooner I can get there and show him that there are people who love him and people he can trust, the sooner we can begin to establish a bond that builds confidence and eases transition. 

How brave are these older children who hold so much hope that they are willing commit to trust a stranger enough to move across the world to an unknown future in which the possibilities are endless? I know adults who aren't brave enough to venture from their home towns.  I am amazed and so proud of this boy for being willing to trust me to keep my word. 

Here is the link to our gofundme site. http://funds.gofundme.com/index.php?route=fundmanager

Please consider donating to the translation costs. It is the main delay in scheduling travel. 

If you prefer, a tax deductible donation can be made to our Reece's Rainbow account and will help to cover the remaining $9,000 in foreign fees and travel costs for my first trip and then trip two for the boys to come home! 

Please help by praying for us as we complete this adoption and the transition period that follows.