As May Draws to a Close...

So here we are at the end of May. I can't believe how quickly this month slipped through my fingers. In May we celebrate graduations and the ending of another school year. A celebration that we are hoping to celebrate one year is the birth of sweet Yana.

 

May is her birthday month. I am not sure the day, but she will have turned two this month. Had everything gone as planned, we knew were would not be with her on this birthday this year....but we had hoped it would have been her last birthday without a mommy and a daddy.

 

I did get a present though....a new picture of her.

 

This picture was from a story the LA Times did about the adoption ban and it highlighted a family that is fighting for a little boy in Yana's baby house. Yana must catch everyone's eye because the news media loves her. We get lots of pics just from these articles.

 

Here is the article if you would like to read it.

http://www.latimes.com/news/columnone/la-fg-russian-adoptions-20130521-dto,0,135831.htmlstory

 

Despite our sadness for not moving forward with Russia, there is joy this month as well.

 

WE ARE APPROVED!

The state of AZ has approved us to adopt. This typically takes a minimum of 6-8 weeks to gain court approval following a completed homestudy; however, it only took a short while for ours. We mailed our homestudy to the court on April 20th and the judge signed it May 10th! What a blessing!

 

We are now a HUGE step closer to bringing home our little man from Eastern Europe. We are now waiting for our FBI clearance and our USCIS appointment. Once that is complete, we will be able to submit!

 

We were hoping to be traveling earlier in the summer. It looks like our traveling will come late summer/early fall now. I know that time will fly by so quickly.

 

And now I can look forward to one more day of school....and then I get to spend my summer with two of my favorite people! Happy summer everyone!!

 

Tonight is the night!

Tonight is the night, our Rita's ice cream fundraiser to help us bring home our little boy. Is it weird that I am nervous?? Can't really pinpoint why. Maybe it is more excitement then nervousness. We are getting so close to being able to send off all our paperwork.

(Many of you have all seen this pic cropped, but I had to share the complete pic. Seeing his little legs  and feet makes me want to squeeze him even more. )

 

Most of our waiting currently is out of our control. Our dossier is almost complete, only missing two vital components...our home study (which is sitting on the desk of an AZ judge waiting to be signed) and our FBI fingerprints (being processed in West Virginia). We are working on submitting all our USCIS paperwork which I am hoping is in the mail by the middle of this week.

 

Once we have all the pieces, we will send everything off to Eastern Europe and pray that they are quick to give us an appointment. Once we have an appointment date, we will be ready to start planning out our lengthy stay over there. (I will provide more details on how long once we know when, so much is undecided at this point.)

 

I am so anxious to see our sweet boy and to know more about him. Having such little info is hard, stretching our faith as hopeful parents to this little one. But we will push on.

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone tonight!

Anyone for Ice Cream????

 

"I scream, you scream...we all scream for ice cream....right????

 

First off, how many of you do not know what Rita's is?? Let me fill you in...Rita's is AMAZING!! We were first introduced to Rita's when we would visit my sisters on the East Coast. A few years ago, that was the only place you could get this wonderful treat.

 

When we saw that there was a Rita's opening up in AZ...and it was right down the road, we were pretty excited.

 

Their slogan is a great representation of what they are..."Ice-Custard-Happiness"!

 

We are so blessed that they are willing to help us out with some fundraising!

 

As you can see on the flyer, our fundraiser is on May 20th. We have a two hour window to get in as many people we can. Depending on the sales, a percentage of the profits will be going to us!!

 

I think eating ice cream and getting the opportunity to help orphans is a pretty "sweet" thing !! Come join us!

 

(If you live in the vicintiy and want some flyers to pass out, let me know!)

May Fundraiser-Usborne Books!

We were so blessed by all who bought t-shirts to help with bringing "Nigel" home. Thank you everyone! email me pictures with your shirts, and I will post you on our blog!

 

Our paperwork is actually drawing to a close, which means we are nearing the time for us to travel to meet our son! We are hoping to be traveling as early as June! Please keep us in your prayers. There is so much to do and prepare for, we are starting to feel some of the pressure.

 

We are starting a new fundraiser this month!

We have been blessed with another sweet soul that wants to help us bring our little one home. She is going to be donating her commision of the sale of these books to our adoption!

 

Here is the link to the online store. Once you are there, just click on "shop" and then choose my name (Reagan Turley) as the party. It will then go towards us! Currently it is scheduled to close on May 12th, but it can be extended if needed.

 

These books look amazing! My kiddos love books, and if I wasn't saving for an adoption, I would be having a hard time refraining from buying some.



 

Also, if your order is totaling more then $75, you will receive a free coloring/sticker book (girl or boy themed)!

 

Happy book shopping everyone!





God is there...

This song makes my heart ache for all the little lights of the world, especially in Russia. The thought of so many faces not even provided with the chance to have a family breaks my heart. We are so blessed to be able to continue our adoption journey down an alternate path, but still grieve for our little one that is out of reach. God is there, little one....along with our hearts.

A Long Road to Resolve...Update on Negotiations

Following the two day meeting that took place between America and Russia concerning the adoption ban, we participated in a conference call from the Department of State. This phone conference was to provide everyone with details about the meeting. Unfortunately, it was not a positive meeting.

 

Russia is not wanting to budge. They stated "the law is the law". Even the members of the DOS were distraught by the lack of willingness to compromise.

 

So it is "nyet" for now.

 

One thing that was mentioned was that this law will probably not be around forever, so it will now be a long term waiting game for many...including us. Sweet Yana turns 2 next months. We are hoping and praying that she will not have too many birthdays without us.

 

 



A Step in the Right Direction!

We were recently made aware of an official meeting going on today and tomorrow between Russia and America. They will be discussing the adoption ban. This is the first "offical" meeting to be set up between the two governments since the ban was signed on December 28th. Please be in prayer that this meeting is a postive gathering where important government officials are able to look at what is best for the children, and come up with a solution that both countries can agree upon. Thank you for your prayers!