Change of plan

Yesterday as Tyler and I were going about on adoption errands, we received a phone call from Victoria stating that on Thursday (just the day before) the US made a law requiring another form to be in the dossier. So when Sveta showed up at court yesterday, the judge asked for this form (only one day after this was passed, people). Of course Sveta didn't have the form. We don't know what the form is, actually, but we were told to get the form, fill it out, notarize/apostille it and if Sveta receives it by next Friday then we could be guaranteed the court date of January 23rd. That's right - JANUARY.

The issue is that we can't get it there by Friday, as it takes almost a week for FedEx to get it to Russia from here and we don't even have the form yet, not to mention notarizing it and apostilling it (that takes a day in and of itself). So, most likely we won't be able to count on the January 23rd court date and we have to change our flights ($250 per flight change) before Tuesday (our original date to fly to Russia) but we don't know when to schedule them in January - if it will be January at all. And we don't want to have to pay $250 per ticket AGAIN. Frustrating. Plus this may affect our visas, as they are single entry and expire on March 10th - more on why that may be a problem further in this post.

I do not doubt our decision to buy the visas and plane tickets. We were asked to do so by God and we did it. I do not know the reason, but I can think of many examples in the scriptures of people asked by God to do things that didn't make sense to them. We do not always understand things, but I want to be faithful in all things. A favorite quote that I came up with is this: "A test of faith requires a test." And this is a test, but my faith is strong. We will make it through this.

Today I was shown this link which talks about the 10 day waiting period becoming a 30 day waiting period. If we go mid February and have to wait for 30 days, we will be in country longer than March 10th, hence messing up our visas and requiring new ones (more $). So we would most likely go to the court date, fly home and then fly back - but our visas are single entry, so we would have to get another one. Ugh.

Since we were planning to leave on Tuesday, we had called Santa Claus and asked him to come last night. We decided to keep our appointment with him so last night was technically Christmas Eve for our little family and this morning we opened presents and have had such a great day. I think we needed a little Christmas to raise our spirits. So, Merry Christmas from Tyler, Jill, Anna, Keith, & Iryna!

Let the countdown begin!

We have less than 3 weeks until we leave for Russia. My head is beginning to spin with all the last minute things we need to do. I just applied for my visas. What a pain they are! Ukraine didn't require visas, so this is new for me. I am ready to get out the suitcases and start packing them up! Why wait, right? I've thought about doing a little supply checklist and trying to put together some things for the orphanage. Still debating on whether to do that before this trip or before the second trip, when I will know more of what the orphanage needs. You know? Thoughts?

I ordered myself a warm jacket for the trip. It's 70 degrees outside my window here in FL, but it's 21 degrees in Nizhny Novgorod. Wow. It's hard for me to imagine being cold in a few weeks!

We are looking for a family from church to stay with during our time in Russia. I hope we can stay with a family and help them out financially, rather than just pay a hotel. Times are tough everywhere right now, why not help someone else out other than just our kiddos in Russia?

Question on visas

After making a list of pros and cons and praying about it - we have decided to take our children with us on the first trip to Russia. We are now looking at visas to enter Russia. They have single entry, double entry, and multiple entry visas. Victoria at AAC has recommended that Tyler & I get the multiple entry visa for ourselves, but I'm wondering if the kids could just get the single entry visa? Also, since Keith & Iryna have dual citizenship with the US and Ukraine, do they need a visa to enter Russia? Anyone know?