12-30-08

My dear father is now free to join my mother. He passed today, Tuesday morning. In a way, I feel a sense of relief knowing his suffering has now come to an end. He had spent five days in ICU before myself, brother and sister made the painful decision to let him go and move him to Hospice for his remaining three days.

My father was a sweet, sweet man who dearly loved his sports. He also was a great father to three children and will surely be missed. Many precious, wonderful memories is now a gift we all share of him.

Ahhh....to breathe a sigh of relief. The most difficult times are behind us and now begins the healing process. We're actually doing "okay". Doing the best we can considering the circumstances, for we knew my fathers passing was near.

Again, I want to thank so many of my dear, dear friends and wonderful blog supporters for all the heartwarming, encouraging sentiments, cards and flowers.

I have great hope for a wonderful 2009. (And a CALL for a referral very soon!) :-)

All my best,
Joanne

12-20-08

The date that my dear mother of 80 years passed on in loving memory. Her passing was unexpected and sudden. She passed quickly and without suffering for which the family is blessed. There are hundreds of precious moments myself and my family will have that will forever remain in our hearts. She was a strong-willed woman at times, and definitely lived her life as she wanted.

Sadly...my sweet father has been in ICU for the past 36 hours and has been hospitalized now for 10 days. We pray for his strength and that he is as comfortable and as peaceful as can be.

This, of course, has been a difficult week for my family, but have somehow managed through by being there for one another. I also thank so many of my dear friends for all of their concern and wonderful sentiments this past week.

We wish for peace and comfort in the days ahead.

Really....it's not all doom and gloom.

Well...I've re-read the last few of my posts (which have all been about the wait) and I have to say they come off as a bit down. Honestly, I have a very wonderful, cherished life and there is nothing difficult about it. Especially when difficult times is what so many people around the world are sadly experiencing these days. "Anxious" is a better word to describe how we feel about the waiting process rather than "hard" or "difficult". I must say it's also been somewhat reflective and therapeutic. We know, without a doubt, 100%, that we are on the right path to our child and it will be worth the wait. Besides, time does pass by quickly. It really seems to me that high school was not that long ago, but dare I say, it's been 25 years--Yikes! Time flies and we will gladly/patiently wait for our "new" joy to touch our already wonderful life.

Roger and I also would like to say, since Christmas is 1 week away and New Year's is a mere 2 weeks away, that we wish you all the gifts of peace, hope and love for the remainder of 2008 and for 2009!

Joy to ALL!

Love,
Roger & Joanne

I'm going to quote Tom Petty....

"The waiting is the hardest part". That title was inspired by my husband, Roger.

Yes, while it is true, we do know (as so many fellow bloggers have said so) that it will be worth the wait. It's hard not to think about it all the time. All the "wondering". So to take a break from that, my husband and I flew to San Francisco on Tuesday morning and spent a day walking around/shopping and having a fabulous lunch at the Ferry Building. We then flew home that night. If something that fun and exhausting doesn't take your mind off things, I'm not sure what will.

My hubbie had a nasty accident while road cycling (bicycle, not motorcycle) with some friends here about 10 days ago. He cracked two ribs. It was a frightening call to hear your husband is being taken by paramedics to the hospital, but I'm very grateful as it could have been much more serious. Another (new rider) in the group accidentally "t-boned" his bike as they were turning left and off they went flying. The first week was very painful for him, but he's doing better and so we decided a fun-filled day is just what was needed.

We did call our agency today to check up on the packet of apostilled documents we sent them last week. They did receive it and today they said they'd be sending it out to Russia. We asked about the rumors we've been hearing in the blog world of adoption about things shutting down in Russia during the holidays. She had said that they actually celebrate New Years Day and then their Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7th and that things re-open (so to speak) around the 12th. So they do still work in December. It's doubtful we will hear of a referral before New Year's though. She did say again that little girls are very hard to come by, but they are continuing to search. And, February is more likely the earliest we'd hear. I'm hoping for a miracle and that they do find our healthy daughter sooner rather than later. :-) I also caught a news post about how Russia is continuing to encourage domestic Russians to not only adopt, but to foster the children in the orphanages, as the government will pay them to do so. They said that for that reason, international adoption numbers were down for last year. The hope has faded a bit for us...., but we will be as hopeful as we can for as long as we can that our child is there waiting for us.

Time

It's a strange thing...time. Sometimes it passes by so quickly we wondered where all the time went. Then there are cases where time moves so slowly...you can't believe you're still waiting. That's where I am. I can't believe time has passed so quickly and we've been registered in Vlad for over 3 months now, but then again time is passing so slowly....each and every day I wonder if my phone will ring. It's creeping by.
I've just checked in with my adoption agency and NO they do not have any new information or even a prospect at this time for a girl. I have gotten to know one of the adoptive couples who just brought their little boy home who are with the same agency as us. They couldn't be happier with the agency and shared many wonderful things. They also said they would use them again. So, it makes me feel better that they actually are working on getting referrals for families. I know that is their wish, too. Anybody who knows me, knows that I'm always cold and traveling to Russia in the middle of their winter was the furthest thing from my wishes, but now I'm wishing for that more than anything. How strange...because of the time that has passed it has even had an affect on how I feel. I will continue to hope and pray for traveling this winter...yikes! :-)
On a super happy note...yesterday was my prince charming's birthday. I love this man more than I could ever express, I'll gladly celebrate ALL of his birthdays with him.

Any News?

I've seen lots of people lately that have asked me if we've gotten any news. So I decided I would write an update on the blog for everyone. Well, unfortunately we really don't have much new information and are still on the waiting list. There must be many parents ahead of us registered in Vlad awaiting a girl. We have, however, changed our age range from 2 - 4 years to 18 months - 5 years old. I guess that's the biggest change. Waiting for the call is difficult at times. I'm learning the art of patience along with other emotions that may creep up. Like doubt...I doubt this will ever happen, I might doubt if we're on the correct path. Fear...I fear what will be if this doesn't happen and also fear what will be when this does happen. :-) Most days, though, are filled with positive thoughts and energy.
In the mist of the roller coaster of emotions, we are continuing to gather and work on the next set of documents that will be required to bring our little one home. We are trying to find the AZ State International Adoption Laws, which are a requirement. We thought we had it, but our agency says it didn't look quite right. So, they are now trying to help us in the search. The agency also sent us another form we need to fill out. Then there's the letter our tax accountant has to write on our behalf stating we own our home and the details of it. Then there's the employment verification letter from the CPA of Roger's company which also needs to be written, and we're also contacting our mortgage company to write a letter, as well, about our house and our ownership. Then finally for now, there's the financial statement Roger and I need to write up ourselves. After we gather all those docs, along with our psych evaluation, we'll get them notarized and go to the Secretary of State to have them apostilled and sent to our agency. Please keep positive thoughts for us that we will receive a referral soon. Thanks to everyone for your care and concern for us thus far. It means a lot to us.

I'm "IT"

OK...so come to find out there's a game in the blog world where if "tagged" you have to tell six random things about yourself. Hmmm... here goes:

1. I was a flight attendant for America West Airlines (now US Airways) for 13 1/2 years and then retired at the age of 35. And my husband and I and soon to be child/children have lifetime free flight privileges on that airline. The thing is...at that time AWA was looking to get rid of some senior flight attendants because our union had negotiated for AWA to give a nice pay raise to flight attendants, and thus the reason for wanting the senior f/a's who would have made more money out. I took it!

2. There are a few people who know this, but I have to sleep with "white noise". Like the sound of a fan. If I travel, I have a sound machine of the ocean I bring with me. Roger gives me grief for this, but I've tried sleeping w/o and just can't now. I believe it may have been caused by many years of sleeping in hotels with all kinds of sounds happening (they didn't put us up in the cream of the crop hotels) around and the white noise cancels that out so I can sleep.

3. I like to exercise...gym, hiking, tennis, yoga, etc...

4. I also like to shop. For anyone or anything. It's hard to hold back and not purchase something I see for my daughter, but just can't until I meet her. (OK...I bought a couple of things...) :-)

5. I'm currently hooked on this app for the iPhone called Wurdle. My husband is beating me at the moment.

6. As someone else had also posted on their blog...my husband and I never wanted children, never thought we would...and here we are in our 40's ready, willing, able and very eager to become parents. :-)

So now I have to list the rules and list six others to be "tagged".

If I have tagged you, here are the rules!
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
Heidi

2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random facts about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the taggers know when your entry is up.

To be tagged: (sorry if you've already been tagged)

1. Shannon
2. Shelly
3. Amy
4. Clarion
5. Katie
6. Smith - AL

Whewwww..

Well we've completed our psychiatrist evaluation test. Wow, 567 questions. All I'll say is that in the end...we are "normal", but I wouldn't wish this test on anybody. Enough said.
We still have not heard of anything from our agency. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's soon.
In the meantime we had a fabulous dinner party here last week with my wonderful neighbors. We do a monthly rotating dinner and September was our turn. My friend, Rosemary, graciously gave me 8 lbs. of fresh Alaskan salmon she had just caught fishing in Alaska. Beyond kind! Thank you, Rosemary! And, of course my neighbors are the best. So supportive and kind, as well. We all had a wonderful time.

Waiting Longer

Well, I received an update from our adoption agency rep. Sadly, she said their coordinator in Russia said there are no toddlers available at this time. I am so bummed. This means an even longer wait than I was expecting. Actually, I don't know why I thought we would get a referral so quickly--I just did. I had a great feeling about it. Boy was I wrong. Sooo our wait now becomes 3, 6 or even 9 months until we hear of a referral. I really hope it won't take longer than that because after the first trip there's still the 4 - 6 month wait again before we go back to bring her home on trip 2.

What else do you do while you wait...

You go to Disneyland, of course.  Well...my sister and her husband had recently decided to take their little boy (my nephew Ryan) to Disney for his 8th birthday.  We decided to tag along.  And what better way to practice becoming parents.  Although he is a bit older than a toddler, he still cannot independently do as he pleases.  Needs to be entertained and watched over to a degree.  We all had a great time. Ryan was a champ and went on practically all the rides.  And a big shout out goes to my sister for FINALLY being brave enough to also go on most of the rides.  Yea sis!  It was a quick weekend but a good one.  Hopefully next time we go, we'll be able to bring "our daughter" with us.  No information to update on the adoption, although I do have a call in to our adoption agency rep. I'll just leave with a few pictures of the weekend.



Ryan LOVED his Birthday balloon hat!


3D glasses for the new Toy Story ride

Welcome To Our 1st Blog

In addition to keeping in touch with many of those we don't see on a regular basis, we also thought we would start this blog as a keepsake for our daughter.  She'll have a chronological, emotional and factual account of our journey to her.

As we've discovered over the months, an adoption is a bit more complicated than we originally thought.  Frightening at times because we have no control over it  (especially now with tensions between our countries mounting).  Russia changes its requirements almost daily it seems when it comes to the requirements of paperwork (ok, a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point). Everyone's experience there seems to be somewhat different, but nonetheless they seem to find new paperwork that needs to be done or documents that need to be updated or changed.  Those not familiar with an adoption from Russia, well...it kinda goes like this... our preference is for a girl between the ages of 2 and 4.  We would also accept siblings between the ages of 2 and 5.  With Russian adoptions there are two trips required.  Our first trip will take place when we receive "The Call" (a referral).  We will only have 3-4 weeks notice before we travel to meet her.  If all goes "ok" medically, we sign the petition of acceptance and fly home to wait for the judge to petition us to come back to court (meanwhile filling out more paperwork).  In our region, it typically takes 3 - 6 months after we arrive home from Trip 1.  Then after receiving the next call, we fly back (this time 2 - 3 weeks notice) to appear in front of a judge.  We get drilled with questions then wait for his approval.  If granted, there is a 10-day waiting period before we can take the child out of the orphanage.  However, we can visit her daily at the orphanage.  THEN, we finally get to pick her up and fly to Moscow for a few days in order to go to the US Embassy for her passport and visa to fly home.  Whew! There it is in a nutshell!