The Weinmeisters' Adoption Journey

The big trip and the return home! (Part 2)

2010-01-24T06:46:00.000-08:00

On with the trip! Here's what we woke up to on day 2:

After a first day of screaming and crying (mostly all from just one of our children...the older one!), the day started quietly, as you can see. The kids quickly got their energy back, though :)

That day, the other family from our adoption agency that was staying at our guest house was scheduled to pick up their new boy. We were going to tag along and take care of some paperwork at the agency's office, so we all jumped in the same van that we were in the day before and headed over to the agency office.

That day was a complete roller coaster. We were so excited to see even a little progress with Tarik already. However, he was still pushing Amy away. The experience at the office made things even harder. Let me say that we are completely happy with our agency and really have no complaints. I think what happened this day was more of an individual thing. Well, basically, the social worker that Tarik clinged to on our Gotcha Day was there. That was fine. The problem was that she was intervening and trying to meet all of Tarik's needs that day instead of allowing the bond between parents and son happen. As you can guess, it quickly felt like all of the progress from the day before was lost. By the end of our time there, he was pushing me away and only wanting her again. I understood that she cared for Tarik, too, but it was time for her to step back and let this new relationship develop. I know I'm not crazy because of one the other employees actually apologized and said they would talk to the social worker (and we hadn't said anything to them about it). There is absolutely no other emotion that is like that one...it's a feeling of helplessness, of brokenheartedness...I just wanted to be there for him so bad and I couldn't. The situation ended up okay, however. I'm not sure if anyone talked to her or not, but it was absolutely clear that when we saw her two days later (I'll post more about that excursion later), she was completely conscious of her actions and basically just stayed away from Tarik to let us bond with him. It was very thoughtful and appreciated.

The paperwork was pretty fast. Basically, we talked to an employee about the kids for bit, then we talked to the nurse and counselor about Tarik and Sophie. They basically said Sophie is no problem and Tarik has a hard time adjusting. Oh, and he hates fried egg :) After that, we signed some documents and, to our surprise, we were given pictures of the children's birth parents. Those will be nice to have down the road when we talk to our kids about adoption.

After the paperwork was done, we spent the rest of the time at the office playing with the kids and partaking in a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. That was so cool!! It is crazy how long it is...not a bad thing, just different than American style. It took about 45 minutes for the first "round" of coffees and they were the size of espressos! They served the coffee with popcorn, but it was really more like kettle corn. Delicious! Here are some pics from the day after Gotcha Day:

More to come soon!!

Phil

The big trip and the return home! (Part 1)

2010-01-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry for the delay on the updates. As you can imagine, going from no kids to 2 overnight causes just a bit of change in the ol' daily habits :) We are doing well and the kids are happy and healthy (most of the time...), although Amy has really been nailed by 4 weeks in a row of bad colds. Add in the lack of sleep for new parents and it makes it tough. She's amazing though, and is the awesome mother I knew she'd be.

So, where to start...well, the trip was only 5 days long, but was chock full of tears, smiles, love, and adventure! We waited until the last minute to pack and head to DC, so we literally got 1.5 hours of sleep after the 11 hour drive. We got in at 3:30 and got up at 5 to head to the airport. When I say "we waited", it was because we were fixing up the house for Amy's mom so she could move in and that took every spare second we had.

Here's a clip during our short stopover in Rome. Clearly, I'm tired as can be...

The first day was basically catching up on our rest. Other than that, we took a short trip to some shops to get some Christmas presents for our families and got to know the other families at our guest house. The guest house (Ethiopia Guest House) was awesome. It's a Christian accommodation designed for missionaries and adoptive families. It's very comfortable and has a bed and breakfast feel more than a hotel feel, which is perfect for an adoption trip. Here are some photos of views from the guest house (you'll have to wait until later in this series of blogs for photos of the guest house itself...all of those pics have our kids in them! :) )

There were two other families staying there that were adopting as well; one family from Seattle was adopting a 2 year-old boy and a family from Sydney, Australia was adopting a 5 year-old girl. Both of them were back to adopt for the second time from Ethiopia. It was great to share stories and just have each other for support in general. Here are some pics of the other families:

The second day was the day to pick up the kids! We went to bed that night just thinking about how our lives were going to change so dramatically. I know all first-time parents go through that to some degree...but it was a strange feeling. The next morning, we were nervous, but ready. We really didn't know what to expect. We were thinking that it could be either extreme with Tarik - he might recognize us and be excited or he would freak out.

Well...he freaked out! The little guy did not want to let go of his nanny. The funny thing was that he was clinging to the photo book with our pictures the whole time. He cried and screamed and was just an upset little boy. We spent a while at the boy's orphanage waiting for him to calm down.

The only thing that got him to calm down was when his nanny suggested we go over to the girl's orphanage to see Fasika (Sophie), which was extremely sweet to hear. They had been introduced a week or two before we arrived and he had started to feel drawn to her before "Gotcha Day". Apparently, he hugged and kissed her the day before!

So, we headed over to the girl's orphanage with buddy boy still crying and upset. Sophie was just a bit of a different story...she was just pure sweetness from the beginning. We held her, kissed her, and fed her for a while before she passed out in Amy's arms. Tarik was still sad, but seemed to be getting a little more comfortable with us.

We spent a while there with the kiddos before we finally headed back to the guest house. I'm sure you can imagine how things went then...

The drive back was fine, but Tarik really had a hard time when the social worker got back in the van. Pretty much for the rest of the day, Tarik would point to the front gate about every 10 minutes hoping that the van would pull up and take him back. Little sweetie...We ate lunch and then went back to our room. Tarik threw a huge tantrum that lasted about an hour before he passed out on the floor. It was really cute...he was clinging to the only things he owned in the world: his photo album, his blanket, and his shoes. I think Sophie was still up...she was just hangin' out with Mommy and Daddy.

Even on that first day with our babies, we could really feel a bond starting. I'll admit, it was kinda hard to go from living for myself (and Amy) to having a (very loud) screaming child the next! Tarik probably cried for 5 hours that first day, but we did have some beautiful, sweet moments where Tarik just seemed to relax and understand that we were there to help and care for him.

More coming soon... Like always, thank you for all the prayer and support you have given our family!

More Details Coming!!

2009-12-24T07:05:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the lack of updates, but family life has been crazy! :) I am planning on a big post detailing our trip to Ethiopia and back...we have plenty of stories to tell about Tarik and Sophie!

God Bless,
Phil

PS - Photos are coming, too!

Back in the US, back in the USA.

2009-12-18T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We are officially back in the US with our kids. We are so happy! We love our kids and God definitely matched us with the right children. I am dead tired, so I really can't write too much more. However, we will post one more detailed email with everything that happened near the end of of the trip in the next few days.

Thanks for the support and prayers!

Phil & Amy

The Adventure Continues!

2009-12-16T03:33:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a crazy week! Sophie is an absolute angel and Tariku is a miniature version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! But we love them both already... :)

Tarik is very shy and he is still adjusting...he goes through spells of tantrums and pure joy. Not having ever experienced parenting before, it is definitely challenging at times, but it's just part of loving these little children. The day after we picked up the kids, Tarik's old social worker was present and she was highly involved with him...it was very, very tough. We felt like we lost all of the gains from the first 24 hours...by the time we left, he wanted to be back with her and didn't want us. We know to look ahead and we do, but these things are difficult in the moment. The same social worker was with us today on a trip to Acacia Village (our agency's new foster home here) and she was much better about understanding the need to not encourage too much reattachment (I think after my feedback...).

I am learning how to say many things in Amharic to communicate with Tarik. It seems to help a bit. So far, he has bonded more with me and Sophie more with Amy, but Sophie is really pretty good with everyone, so it's not a big deal. We're just trying to get him acclimated with Amy before I go back to work.

Oh - and we are officially/legally parents now!! We went to the embassy yesterday and there were no problems! They did ask if Sophie was married, though... :) They also said "no givebacks". We both were expecting a 6-month return policy...but we'll make it through this. haha.

Thanks again for all your prayers and we will be flying back home tomorrow!!

Love,
Phil & Amy

Phone Call Today

2009-12-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: Phone connection was hard to hear over, so the events described are to the best of my memory and ability to hear what was being said. Plus I’m not getting any younger you know.

I talked to Amy and Phil today. Terrik had a difficult time leaving the orphanage today. He was actually refusing to leave until he found out they were going to see Sophie. Phil said he cried and screamed for a couple hours, till he wore himself out and fell asleep clutching his prized possessions (blanket a lady had made him, sneakers, and photo album Amy and Phil had sent him). He woke up in the same state. Phil said it was like he started crying before he woke up.

He seems to be bonding with them now and is imitating everything they do. I could hear him laughing in the background while Amy was playing with him. He said hello to us a couple times and goodbye (waterworks started for grandpa). This has been an exciting day!

Phil said Sophie has really taken to Amy. I could hear her in the background as well. Please pray for them that Terrik will continue to bond with them and for a safe trip. It has been a rough go for the little guy, he has been moved a couple time so I’m sure it will take some patience on Phil’s and Amy’s parts. But God is able and your prayers are very much appreciated. I know they will be wonderful parents and in time they will become a family.

Amy’s Dad

2009-12-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

It's the big day!! Needless to say, it was a little hard to sleep last night... Amy woke up at least once an hour thinking it was about time to get up :) What a unique adventure this has been so far. I wish we could adequately describe all the sights and sounds. For example, being a partially Muslim country, there are constantly sounds of Muslim chanting and praying outside of our room. All through the night we heard the chants/prayers and the local poultry. :)

We just had some French Toast at the Guest Home and are just waiting at this point! We'll be heading over to the orphanage in about an hour to meet our children in person for the first time. We are ready for whatever happens...we know that Tarik has been through a lot and he is slow to warm up to some people. We have been praying that he responds to us well, but we know that he might not. Please pray for our little guy. We try to imagine what he must be thinking and feeling and we know this will be a scary event for him.

We still can't believe this is really happening! We've been in this process for so long, but it's very different to be here about to have our lives changed dramatically in an instant. We will try to post later today, but please understand that we might be just a little busy with our kids!! :)

Love,
Phil & Amy

FYI: Buy the time I posted this tyey have meet thier childern. I cant wait to meet them.

Amy's Dad

They made it!!

2009-12-12T14:26:00.001-08:00

We made it! The flight was long, but, relatively, it went smoothly. We met about 4 other adoptive couples that are also here to pick up their babies this week. Very exciting!

We received our visas and made it through customs without an issue...and all of our bags showed up! The adoption agency bus came to pick us up and we were surprised to see our coordinator (from the US) at the airport to get us! Ben has been helping us through the process the entire way and it was awesome to see him.

The experience here has been what we expected and not what we expected...we knew that poverty was rampant here, but it's different when you see it so deep and widespread everywhere you look. Addis Ababa is such a different place...animals and people are mixed on the streets...there are essentially no stoplights in a city of 5+ million...you can find farms in the middle of the big city. Our cab driver (whose car seemed to be on its last leg, like most cabs) didn't even have windshield wipers for our cab while it was raining! But we made it and we are seeing a different perspective on life over here. Definitely sobering...

The Guest Home is amazing. It's a small compound and there are other adoptive families here. The employees are all locals and they are extremely friendly (most all of the local people we have met have been very friendly, actually). It's very cool - they have our room set up for Sophie and Tarik! Of course, that produced some waterworks from Amy :)

We are picking up Sophie and Tarik in the morning (about 2am US Eastern time on Sunday). As the moment creeps closer, we find ourselves in awe of God and a little nervous!! We are so excited and we know that all those initial kinks and challenges will get worked out, but it's those little things that parents learn that we are nervous about! :) .

One huge blessing to us was the news Ben gave us...we had asked about a week ago if they have introduced Sophie and Tarik yet. Apparently, we are the first couple from our agency to adopt two unrelated children from Ethiopia, because they hadn't thought about introducing them before we asked! They went ahead and started getting the two acquainted and will do that going forward for other children in that situation. The blessing came when Ben told us that the counselor told Tarik that Sophie is his sister and, after a few days, he hugged and kissed her!!! From what we've heard, it takes a while for Tarik to warm up to people, so that is just awesome!

FYI - The Internet connection is extremely slow and we've already experienced the infamous Addis Ababa power outages, so we may not have such luck with emails like this over the next few days. We will try, though! Dad R - please post this today if you can. Pastor Keith and Sandra - you don't have to send these updates out via email, but please pass on the updates if you want to or if anyone asks.

Love you guys and we'll update you as soon as possible!

Amy & Phil

Amy & Phil on their way.

2009-12-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

This is Amy's dad, updating their blog while they are away getting my grandbabies. They made it to Washington and last I talked to them they had checked in and were waiting to board the plane. They should arrive in Ethopia @ 9:30 am their time (or 1:30 am ours).

Hopefully they will be able to email letting us know when they get settled.

Dan

Unbelievable....

2009-11-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

Our babies will be home for Christmas (Lord willing)!!!!! Yup, that's right, we'll be off to Ethiopia in less than two weeks!! We found out Thursday that we are cleared to travel for an embassy date of December 15th, which means we have to be in Ethiopia by December 13th. We didn't want to blog about it until we had our flights booked- with Christmas so close, fairs were extremely high and we wanted to make sure we could make it to ET for the Dec 15th embassy date. After two intense days of searching for reasonable fairs, we were able to find something! We'll have to fly out of DC, but it's not too bad of a drive... We'll be leaving here Dec 10th and flying to ET on the 11th (it was cheaper to fly on the 11th than on the 12th, so we'll have an extra day there).

This is so unreal... we have so much to do before we leave, but we are beyond thrilled that everything came together so quickly and Sophie and Tarik will be spending Christmas with their family. Praise God! We are blown away...

Love,
Phil & Amy

Birth Certificates are in! Travel dates coming soon!

2009-11-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We got some great news today - the birth certificates have been completed for both Tarik and Sophie! :) That means that we will be getting embassy dates soon...and THAT means we will be traveling soon! Don't worry, we will post as soon as we know.

God is pretty amazing...

Thanks to everyone for their support and prayers!
Phil & Amy

The kids are in Addis Ababa!!

2009-11-17T10:26:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone!

Our sweet babies have been moved to the capital city, Addis Ababa, where we will pick them up! We're not sure if Tarik knows Sophie is his new sister, but we do know they made the trip together. And the new photos of them are taken in the same room... This is so exciting!

Right now we're waiting for their birth certificates to be issued so we can get our Embassy date assigned. No word on the birth certificates yet. Though we did get their birthdays! Tarik's is April 29 (2006) and Sophie's is April 1 (2009).

Still looking like we'll be travelling around January 1 (could be sooner, could be later). We'll keep you all posted!

Love,
Amy & Phil

THEY ARE OURS!!!! WE PASSED COURT!!!!!

2009-11-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

UNBELIEVABLE... That's the only way I can think to describe this morning. PRAISE GOD!

Last night I told my sweet husband that I wished he would be home to answer the phone tomorrow (today)... I really didn't want to get the call that we failed court.... He just said "you don't have to worry about that..." He had told our adoption coordinator to call him with bad news and me with good. Of course he had... This is Phil.

Before we went to bed (7:30 AM Addis Ababa time) we prayed that God would stir the hearts of the MoWA workers to go in early and complete our paperwork. After talking with our case manager yesterday, and learning more about what the MoWA closing meant, we knew this was the only way we were going to make it through court...

So there I am this morning, wrapped in a blanket on the couch, staring at my home phone and my cell phone (Phil would be calling on the cell phone). Just waiting for one to ring. I was sure it would be the cell phone after yesterday's news. But on the other hand, I knew how many people we had praying for us......

Then it happened.... THE HOME PHONE RANG!!!!

So, of course, I thought our coordinator must have forgotten Phil's instructions.

WRONG AGAIN!

It was our coordinator. He said "Well, I have some good news for you!" Which is when the water works started. Well, I actually can't remember exactly WHAT he said, because I was IN SHOCK! But, basically, God answered our prayer last night. Here's the email the attorney in Ethiopia sent our coordinator this morning:

I have a little surprise....

We heard MoWA experts went early into their office and wrote recommendations only for six children. Apparently, the Weinmeister family were among the few lucky families. Their adoption has been approved following MoWA'a supportive recommendation.

The Lord is good

You can say that again! The Lord is good!

And now.... introducing the two newest additions to the Weinmeister family......

Tarik Joseph Weinmeister

and Sophie Fasika Weinmeister

Not great news.... Please keep praying!!

2009-11-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2

Hey Everyone,

As many of you are already aware, the court date to legally finalize the adoption of our beautiful little babies in Ethiopia is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday, November 6th). We are full of emotion and I'm sure we'll have some trouble sleeping tonight. We just received an update that I wanted to share. All of the court cases to be heard today were postponed due to the Ministry of Women's Affairs unexpectedly closing today. This is sad news, since it affects a number of children awaiting their "forever families". This unexpected closing is something that's hard to understand as Americans; it's not clear exactly why the entire office closed and it's something that they can do at the last minute. The real tough news is that the rescheduled date is December 7th for all of those cases. Our case manager called us today to let us know that our agency's lawyer in Ethiopia thought that the same thing would happen to tomorrow's court cases. However, nothing has been officially announced, so, until we hear otherwise, our court case is still scheduled for tomorrow.

We know God is watching this situation and He has all of us -- our children, their biological families, and us-- on His mind. We know He will make this happen at the appointed time. Still - we are called to pray! I know you guys have been praying for these children for a while now and it is really an amazing thing you're doing. In light of this latest piece of news, please continue to pray - pray that the adoption court cases scheduled for tomorrow in Ethiopia are heard and that all obstacles that are not of God are moved aside.

Love,

Phil & Amy

Good News from October Court Cases!

2009-10-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick update- we just heard from our agency that 5 out of the 6 cases our agency presented in court in October were approved!! Looks like our chances will be even better than 50/50 next Friday!

Is it Really Just One Week Away???

2009-10-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

In just one week our adoption cases for both baby S and little T will be heard in court! Can this really be happening???

I can't sleep at night.... haven't been able to since we got our date... I just keep thinking about their little faces....

I'm trying to be prepared for the possibility of not making it through court... but it's so hard to not get excited at the prospect of having 2 new Weinmeisters next week. NEXT WEEK!

Yikes.

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!

2009-10-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

We just found out yesterday that we have a court date!!!!! It's November 6- only two weeks from tomorrow!!! It's so hard to believe it's all actually happening!

We don't travel to Ethiopia for court- an attorney goes on our behalf. But we need a lot of prayer. Court cases are only successful about 50% of the time. And we have 2 different families involved (since the kids aren't related.... YET!). If we don't pass court for whatever reason (paperwork isn't complete, family members don't show up for court, etc.) we'll get rescheduled and have more waiting to do. BUT, if we DO pass court, we should be able to travel to pick them up about 8 weeks later.... maybe even by the end of the year!!

SOOOOOO EXCITING!!!!!!!

Love,
Amy & Phil

Court Opening Delayed...

2009-10-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick update- courts will not be opening until Oct. 12. It's only a small delay, but we're just so anxious to get this show on the road!

Many Blessings,
Amy

Still waiting for court to open...

2009-09-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I know it's been a while since we posted, but we're still waiting for courts to open up after the rainy season recess. They re-open on Oct 6, so we're almost there! Soon thereafter, we should receive our court date :) We will keep you all posted!

Many Blessings,
Amy & Phil

OUR DAUGHTER!!

2009-08-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

We got the call!! Around noon on Friday, Amy got a call on our house phone...it was our adoption agency coordinator. He said he had some info for us -- that was quite the understatement! :) We received the referral for our daughter!

Just like with T (her soon-to-be-brother), we can't share any real details yet, so we'll just call her S. She is from the same region as T (which is a blessing, they are coincidentally in the same orphanage right now) and she is about 3 months old.

It's amazing how you can feel the effects of prayer sometimes. This was definitely one of those occasions. We know a number of people - friends, family, our church - have been praying for our children recently and it's just awesome how things have moved along so quickly in the past few months.

Now that we're getting so close to meeting our babies face-to-face, I've been thinking about this long waiting period and it's much easier to see God's perfect timing from this end. It's easy to look at something you're anticipating so much and not realize all of the other work God is doing around you. There is so much he has done in our lives during this time. I am so grateful that He gives us more than we even know to ask for...

So, now what? :) We have been told that the average duration from referral to bringing the children home is about 6 months. The next steps are the completion of all the paperwork required to request a court date, the court date request itself, and the scheduling of a court date. Since the courts will close for the rainy season, we won't even be able to request a date until after 10/6. It's conceivable that we could get an October court date, although, like every step of international adoption, nothing is guaranteed...we'll just have to wait and see.

Please pray that everyone involved in the request process completes their portion accurately and in a timely manner and, of course, please pray for T and S...that their hearts may be calmed in such a tough time, that they continue to receive love and care from the orphanage staff, and that may be under God's hand of protection as we prepare to bring them into our family.

Thanks again for all your prayers. They do have eternal significance and we are extremely blessed to have all of you in our lives.

Love,
Phil & Amy

Who is Baby Girl Weinmeister?

2009-07-25T18:36:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

We're still here waiting to find out who T's little sister is... We did find out Thursday that all the families ahead of us on the baby girl list are getting referrals right now. Sooo.... that will make us #1!!

We've also received a few updated pictures of our little guy :) He's growing like a weed!! Please keep little T in your prayers... we have yet to see a photo of him smiling. And in the last photo, you could see tear streaks on his sweet little face... I can't even imagine what he's thinking and feeling right now...

Thanks for all your love and support. It means the world to our family.

Love,
Amy & Phil

IT'S A BOY!!!

2009-06-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

It actually happened!! 831 days after we first submitted our application to adopt (when we were adopting from Kazakhstan) and 155 days after our dossier was sent to Ethiopia to bring home our two little ones...just as it looked like another week had come and gone...we got a call at 4pm on Friday to tell us that our agency had matched us with a little boy!

We can't share any real details until the court date is completed, so we'll just call him "T" :) He is 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 (birthdates are not well-documented in Ethiopia) and he's a handsome little guy. It is absolutely amazing how much he has already become embedded in our hearts in less than one day. We received a few photos and some basic information about his well-being and his background. What we can share is that he has been through a very tough situation and we can imagine that he's having a hard time at the orphanage right now.

The fact that we received a referral for our son before our daughter was completely unexpected...we have been 1st on the list for a boy and 3rd or 4th on the list for a girl for a while. Since the wait is longer for a girl, the plan was to wait until a girl was available for referral and then to match us up with boy right around the same time. However, our agency decided to go ahead and match us with T on the hope and faith that we will be referred a girl by the end of summer.

It is such a major blessing to finally see the face of one of our children! Of course, this will make the wait that much harder, knowing that T is in an orphanage without the rest of his family.

We will definitely post more details as soon as we are allowed. Until then, there's not much more we can share. That includes photos... :(

Above all, we are counting our blessings and thanking God for continuing to guide us and open doors along the path to adoption. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers and we will hopefully have another update soon. Please pray for T's situation as well as for his birth mother.

God Bless,
The Weinmeisters

2009-04-29T09:05:00.001-07:00

Eek.

2009-04-28T22:26:00.001-07:00

Well, It's 1:30 AM and I can't sleep. Yesterday's call has me shaken. Seriously, I'm not a cryer, but the flood gates are now open!! I think I cried 5 or 6 times today... Everything that has to do with adoption sets me off. And of course, I can't seem to tear myself away from the blogs and message boards :) Just wanted to share...

A call...but not the call :)

2009-04-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

Amy got a call at home today from our adoption agency. I think that every other conversation we've had with them has been over my cell phone, so Amy was a bit surprised. She actually was thinking that this was THE call...

It turned out that our coordinator needed a copy of a form and nothing more. It was a very hard day for Amy, to say the least. She is so ready to be a mother and this long period of waiting has definitely not been easy. This process can feel like a roller coaster, at times. We don't know our babies' names or faces yet, but we know they're there and waiting to be loved. We just want to go bring them home!

To follow with the roller coaster analogy, things did pick back up! I called our coordinator to see if just maybe the reason for needing the form had something to do with an upcoming match. Well, we're not quite there yet, but things are really moving along! I had called on Friday and was told that we had moved from 7th to 6th on the list for a referral for a young girl. Somehow, after we talked that day, 2 more referrals happened! So we are 4th! And, I was told that another couple is probably going to accept a referral in the next few days, which makes us 3rd! This is a blessing. Like I said, we are ready and we want to start taking care of those babies!

For any of you that don't know our exact referral situation....we are on a few waiting lists. Our request is for one girl and one other child of either gender. The children can be siblings or unrelated. So, we are in a wait list for siblings and, at the same time, one for unrelated children. Since referrals for girls take longer, they would hold off on a referral for a boy until there's a referral for the girl. Another awesome piece of news is that we're already at the front of the wait list for a boy...this whole time we've been thinking that we'd have to wait 2-3 more months for that referral to happen once we were matched with our daughter...so this really could be soon :)

Did I just make that clear as mud? I hope it makes sense.

Thank you for the prayers and the words of support. It truly does mean a lot to us.

God Bless,
Phil & Amy

I had a dream...

2009-04-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Last night I had my first dream that involved specific child ages and genders...

We visited our agency in NC to check in on our progress. When we got there we were told that everyone had to redo their dossiers and that Ethiopia wasn't going to give any referrals for a few months. While we were in the office, we saw two children in a room - a 1 year old girl and a 2 year old girl... Just then, the other Ethiopia coordinator walked by and said "Oh, these two will be the last referrals for a few months... and I'm pretty sure they're yours..." I started crying and scooped up the little one.

A few minutes later, our coordinator came into the room and shut the door. "I'm sorry...." he said, "we had to refer these two out quickly and your paperwork has all been misplaced. We had to go with the next couple on the list."

I couldn't believe it.... Well I could (since the adoption process seems to be full of crazy ups and downs), but that didn't stop me from laying into him about his incompetence (by the way... this IS just a dream... I don't really feel like our coordinator is incompetent... haha). Then I just cried.

Well, that was it... my first dream with ages and genders. Kinda funny my brain chose two girls, since I've pretty much thought it would be one of each... Guess only time will tell :)

Some thoughts...

2009-03-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight I decided to sit down and read back through our blog.... what a trip it's been so far...

I know there are family members out there who are still questioning this decision and may not truly understand our motivation, or may just be frustrated by the wait, or may not agree with our decision to go to Africa. I have to admit this makes me very sad. Though reading back through our blog, I realize we haven't truly adequately expressed all our thoughts and feeling on these topics. It's hard to do in a blog, especially knowing the kind of comments and backlash sharing your true feelings and beliefs can cause (both from those we love and the public at large). Believe me, we've heard many shocking things over the past two years...

I guess I'm writing to try to make this a little more real, a little more personal to those who have these doubts/criticisms.

1. Our decision to adopt - Phil and I both love children. We love all ages, we love all types, we love all races. It breaks our hearts to know there are children in the world who are alone. It breaks our hearts to know there are children who don't have enough to eat, who don't have clean water, and who don't even cry anymore because they know no one is there to answer. Of course I have a biological clock, of course we have the same desires as most couples to mix our genes and see what comes out, of course I want to know what it's like to carry a child. But these personal desires are not enough for me to forget about these orphans. Someday we might have a biological child... or we might not. We believe God put this burden for these children on our hearts and we intend to see this adoption through unless he directs us to do otherwise. It IS hard to wait this long when I've wanted to be a mother all my life.... but even after 2 years of waiting, I don't wish we'd made a different decision.

2. Why International adoption when there are so many children in the US? - We live in the greatest country in the world. Americans have more opportunities than those in third, second, and most other first world countries have ever dreamed of. While our desire would be for all children to experience a safe, stable, loving home, it's just not within our reach to make that a reality. We chose to adopt internationally because we felt that was where the biggest need was. While American orphans are afforded opportunities to go to school (even college), their counterparts in some other nations are lucky to survive to the age of 8. Please understand, we have the utmost respect and admiration for those who foster and adopt from the US. These are just our own, very personal reasons for going overseas.

3. Why Africa? - I'm actually going to address the underlying question here, as we have already addressed the literal question in previous posts. While many have asked this question, truly meaning exactly what they say, it's clear there have been others who are actually questioning our decision to adopt black children. As it would not be PC to ask what they're really wanting to ask, I do understand why they would phrase the question in this manner. However, since they cannot truly ask what they want to, they never actually get the answer they are looking for. Well here it is- children are children. I'm going to admit something here, and this is part of what I was alluding to earlier when I said I wanted to make this more real, I wasn't really open to going to Africa at first. Of course I always knew the orphan situation was the most dire in Africa. I just didn't know if we were equipped to raise black children in the south. We all faced peer pressure in school, so just trying to imagine what it would be like for our kids, who might not ever feel like they really "fit in," scared me. And it still scares me. But when you stop and think about these small things American teens deal with, and you begin to contrast them with the struggles of teenage orphans in Africa, you realize those fears are just excuses. I believe Africa was always God's plan for our family, I was just clinging to my own understanding. I'm not going to claim to know for a fact this was God's plan, but knowing all this, it's not surprising our Kazakh adoption didn't work out. My will just took a year and a half to bend...

4. What if they have HIV/AIDS? First I'll give the logical answer: most orphans don't. They are also tested. To bring an HIV/AIDS orphan into the US you also need a lot of additional documentation, so safeguards are in place. Now I'll give the answer my heart is screaming: we'll deal with it! At least we have access to ARVs in this country that make HIV more of a chronic condition than a fatal one. Better they live in a place where they can be cared for than die in a place where they can't. We know some believe it's "not our fight," but we feel this adoption is God ordained and that he won't give us more than we can handle.

5. Two babies/toddlers at once, are you crazy???? Haha. This one isn't so serious. But I do want to assure all those mothers out there that I'm not floating around in a dream world thinking everyday will be non-stop laughter and hugging (though if you know Phil well, it's kinda hard to believe it WON'T be :) ). We just seem to get a lot of "You'll see when you're parents.." and "just wait...." comments. Yes, ladies. I understand how hard this will be and I'm hoping to have your support rather than "I told you so..." I know I will be exhausted, I know I won't be able to even go to the bathroom on my own- that's why I'm trying to enjoy my sleep and personal space now. Got it? :)

Well, I hope this helped. I know it helped me. And thank you so much to all of those who have shown us unwavering support and love. Our babies are so blessed to have such an amazing support group already in place.

We love you all!

Amy (& Phil)

Hugs from God

2009-03-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Well, we called our agency on Friday to check in and see if we've moved up the waiting list and........ we're first in line for a sibling group!! And since we are open to the possibility of adopting 2 unrelated children, we are also on the infant girl list. Basically, if we get matched with an infant girl before we get matched with a sibling group, we'll accept that referral then be placed on the boy list (which moves considerably faster). We're currently 7th on the infant girl list!

So, what does this mean? It means we could get our referral call any day now! Phil actually called our coordinator back after we got the news to make sure we heard him right and that we truly, literally, could get the call any day... It's true!

Of course, along with this news came the realization that at this very moment, our children could be losing their parents... It's a sobering thought, and tough to handle. Please pray for our children and their birth parents; that this transition will be as painless as possible and that they feel God's love through the pain. Please pray that their birth parents have a sense of calm about their children's futures.

As for the "hugs from God"- Phil and I received something very special and timely in the mail Saturday. We have sponsored a little boy in Sudan for about three years now and wrote him a letter about a year ago. Well, wouldn't you know, the day after we received news that we're next in line, we not only received our final document needed for travel (I-797), but a beautifully colored picture of the Baby Jesus with an angel watching over him and a letter from this sweet boy in Africa. I felt like God was saying- "Look, I haven't forgotten about you and my angels are watching over your kids in Africa, just as they watched over mine."

Thanks for all your prayers!

Love,
Amy & Phil

1 Month of Waiting

2009-02-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Well, we've officially been waiting for 1 month for our referrals! No news, but please keep us in your prayers. We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything.

All the Best,
Amy & Phil

Our documents are on their way to Ethiopia!!

2009-01-26T04:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! It seems our documents have made it through all the crazy steps in the US and are now on their way to Ethiopia! We can't believe we've finally reached this important milestone.

Now all we can do is wait for the referrals and pray.

Thanks to all of you for following along in our journey with us!

Love,
A&P

Paperwork is A-OK!

2009-01-12T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that our paperwork has all been approved by our agency! They have mailed us the final form we need before we can send our dossier on to Washington DC, where it will be authenticated. Acorrding to UPS, it should arrive tomorrow! Once the dossier is authenticated in DC, it will then travel back to our agency then on to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. We'll keep you posted!

Many Blessings,
Amy & Phil

So Sorry!

2008-12-15T08:16:00.001-08:00

Oh my. I just checked our blog to see what Phil's last post was... I am so sorry we just left everyone hanging like that!! Anyway, here's the news...... We've changed countries to ETHIOPIA and now we're adopting TWO!!! There's quite a long story behind the switch, but basically here's what happened:

As many of you know, our motivation to begin our family through adoption is to give a child (now children!) in an impoverished country a home. Our first thoughts were of Russia, because the two main people who brought adoption to the forefront of our minds were connected to Russian adoption. As we got into the process, we found that Russia (and Ukraine) couldn't handle the number of families interested in adopting their orphans. The truly sad part is that there ARE orphans in these countries. The government just can't process families quickly enough.

We then moved on to Kazakhstan. Unfortunately the Kazakhstan officials also became overloaded as families who were trying to adopt from China, Russia, and Ukraine, spilled over into the Kaz program.

While we were waiting for our docs to be processed for Kaz, Phil began reading a book by Vernon Brewer, who had spoken at our church a few months back. His book, "Children of Hope", is about the millions of African children who have been abandoned to fend completely for themselves after watching their parents die of HIV/AIDS. (You actually can get the book for free- just pay shipping- by visiting his website http://www.worldhelp.org/). Phil's heart was broken for the children of Africa. He then read John Ortberg's book "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat" and was inspired to pray continuously that God might provide a way for us to help the orphans in Africa. This probably should have been a clue to us that God might want us adopting from Africa, but we just kept on with Kaz. A bunch of other amazing things happened shortly after, all connected to Phil's desire to help orphans in Africa.

Meanwhile, our docs were still at a standstill with Kaz. One night in November, Phil asked me if I thought maybe we should consider changing to Ethiopia (one of only 2 African countries that allow American adoptions). At first I was hesitant. We had been waiting SO LONG already, and starting the process over was certainly not what I wanted to do! But I told him I'd pray about it, which I did. The next day I picked up "Children of Hope".... That night Phil had his answer- LET'S GO TO AFRICA!! We also both felt we would LOVE to adopt 2 while we were there. We would have considered two from Kaz, but the cost would have been astronomical (around $65,000), but we can adopt two from Africa for slightly less than adopting 1 from Kaz!

So we're back in the paper-chase phase (though, we actually should be ready to send our docs off this week! ). After spending a year and a half in the adoption process already, we're a little gun-shy with guessing when we'll meet our two little ones. But if all goes well, we should have a referral sometime before next summer, and we should travel by late fall '09. Oh, and we're expecting either a girl and a boy or 2 girls under 3 1/2 years old :)

So, again, I apologize for the month-long teaser on our news. I think Phil just wanted to make sure he had adequate time to blog about such a huge change! Thank you all so much for following along with us and supporting us with your prayers!

Love, Amy & Phil

News??

2008-11-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

We do have some big adoption news...

We're not about to travel and we don't yet have a referral, but it is very happy news!

Stay tuned - we'll post a big update soon!

Love,
Phil & Amy

Still Here Waiting

2008-08-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we are still waiting for the Kaz Consulates to start accepting dossiers again... Our agency estimates this will occur the middle of next month (but could be longer). Please continue to pray for our patience. We know there is a reason for this delay, but it is still difficult. We just can't wait to meet our baby girl!

Love,
Amy & Phil

Not in this alone

2008-07-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Update: Apparently, they removed the article from the URL I have posted...I'll re-post the new one when and if they put it back up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I prayed that I'd be given the opportunity to spread the word about adoption, I had no idea what was in store! Not only were there the 2 TV clips (see below), but now this:

http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/paulding/ (the content on this link will probably change around 7/20/08)

http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/298/10309047.txt

Blessings,
Phil

Waiting for Baby Weinmeister...

2008-07-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we found out some more information about what's going on with the Kazakhstan consulate; probably not to anyone's surprise, this means more waiting!

I post the exclamation point with a smile...obviously, we'd love to hear that our process is quickly moving along through each phase. Since that's not the case, we're having to not only be patient, but to get aligned with God's timing and will. That's definitely a blessing of this adoption process...the nature of it and our original reason for making this decision forces us to continually look back to Him in these times and realize that it's not about just getting it done quickly and that there's probably much more going on with the matching of our child with us than we could ever imagine.

We will post more later, but the details provided to us actually mean significant changes to the dossier submission process going forward. Kazakhstan is apparently overloaded with dossiers due to various factors, including the cutoff of all Vietnamese adoptions and the ability for families adopting from China to initiate a parallel adoption in Kazakhstan during the wait. Because they have way more dossiers then they are staffed to handle, the consulate has suspended incoming dossiers. This suspension is indefinite and we are hoping to be able to submit again in August at the earliest.

We will keep you updated with anything else we know. Please do keep us and our baby in your prayers.

Thanks so much again for following this journey with us - it means the world to us!!

Phil & Amy

Try, try again!

2008-06-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

That will be the theme until we come home with our girl! :)

We just sent OAA updated paperwork that will arrive by Monday. They are going to resubmit our dossier in the next week or two.

We're hoping and praying that it gets accepted this time. We'll let you know as soon as we hear something.

God bless,
Phil & Amy

Not an easy process...

2008-06-03T04:56:00.000-07:00

We just heard from OAA yesterday that our dossier was rejected by the Kazakhstan consulate in NY. Not only that, but every single dossier OAA sent to the consulate in May was rejected. Apparently, they are significantly reducing their flexibility on inconsistencies to minimize the number of newly accepted dossiers.

Not happy news, but we're patient and we know this will happen. What's really tough is that we have a ton of paperwork to redo now...gotta love that :)

Thanks for continuing to read our blog and God bless!

Phil & Amy

Another chance to talk about adoption...

2008-05-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in the last story that CNN interviewed me to talk about my commute and how one of the deciding factors to switch from driving to mass transit was the cost savings, which would directly go toward our baby. Well, here it is! It aired this AM on CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/05/30/holmes.alternative.commuting.cnn

Phil

One step (and 2 TV appearances) closer to bringing home our baby!

2008-05-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Quite a bit has happened over the past few weeks. First off, we went eBay-crazy to sell items that had been previously donated or failed to sell in the garage sale (see last post about that). Well, we raised about $200 from the garage sale and we've already raised $350 online since then! Plus, we have about 5 more things posted now (including a boat) and they're at about $400. We might raise about $1000 total this month. Praise God for that one :)

For anyone else raising money for their adoption (or any reason, really) - as long as you have some time pack and ship out items, you should definitely look into the eBay sales (or half.com if you primarily have books, CDs, and/or movies). You would be absolutely amazed at how many things you have sitting around that you can let go of that have serious value to others. Here's an example...someone donated a LeapFrog Leapster to us and included the case. When I posted the Leapster system, I forgot about the case and just mentioned the system. Turns out, people want this case! The thing is light as can be, but it's probably going to sell for $10-15. That's what I mean...you just never know.

So, the other updates... :) We had some changes happen at OAA (our adoption agency) and we now have a new contact. She has been great. Right after she started working for us, I set up a call with her and went through a few things that are on our minds. Specifically, we had been in translation for 8 weeks (!) and hadn't received one actual update on progress yet, other than the fact that new forms were needed. Well, she jumped on it and got an update from our translation contact. TRANSLATION IS DONE!!! Yes, that's right! Well, we did need to update 4 more forms, but, thank God, it only took us one day to get all the forms notarized, apostilled, and mailed out. We are so happy to hear progress...it's been a while.

We finally have some idea of a timeline. BUT...we have been informed that Kazakhstan views adoption as a very private matter. As a result, we can't post dates while this is still a public blog.

However, we will soon make this a private blog. That's really for your benefit as well as ours, so we can post all possible information without having to worry about posting too much. PLEASE EMAIL US (philweinmeister@yahoo.com) IF YOU WOULD LIKE ACCESS TO THIS BLOG ONCE IT'S PRIVATE. If you forget, no big deal, you can request it after the changeover. However, we'd like to be able to give you access without you ever having to ask for it :)

By now, you're probably wondering what I was referring to in the title of this blog. Well, take a look for yourself!

http://www.cbs46.com/video/16077222/?taf=lnta

Here's what happened...

First, I prayed many times that God would give a voice to share the wonderful story of adoption with others. Then, a few months ago, I saw a link on www.14thstreetbridge.com that suggested sending in a few words about how my commute has changed. I decided to send them a few sentences on how I decided to start taking the bus after we realized how much we'd be able to save for the adoption as a result. I got an email a few weeks later asking if I minded my story being passed to the organization's public relations team, as they really enjoyed the story. Of course, I didn't mind. Soon after, I got a call from the PR team letting me know that CBS46 wanted to interview my wife and me! Within about 5 hours, we had done the interview and it aired. That's what you see above. Pretty cool! :)

That's it. That is, until I got a call from the PR team letting me know that CNN wanted to cover the story as well! Craziness!! Just a couple days later, CNN came to my workplace (EarthLink) and spent the afternoon filming and interviewing me. This is definitely a clear answer to prayer. It's just not a cute saying that prayer and a bit of faith can make miracles happen. And I do see this as a miracle...having a voice to others to show our joy in changing our lives to be able to bring home a little girl without a family to comfort and love her...

I'm not sure when the CNN video/article will appear, but I'll post it immediately!

Thanks to all for your prayers and your interest in our adoption journey. I'm constantly overwhelmed by strangers' interest in this little girl. I met a bunch of people at my work through the interview and they sincerely wanted to know about this...What will her name be? How old is she? Do we have a photo?

I think our baby has been adopted by my work family as well!

God bless,
Phil and Amy

Yard Sale - Again!

2008-05-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Most of you probably know that we had another fundraiser yard sale last week. Well - it was a complete blessing in an unexpected way.

First off - our friends were amazing. It's really touching when people give up something for friends. People gave up things for us to sell and people gave up their time. Our friends Doak and Vanessa gave up Friday night and all of Saturday for us.

Things started off slow, but picked up around 9am. We were getting a steady stream of people until 11 or 12...then the rain came. That pretty much ran off anyone else that had planned on stopping by. We found out later that 3 or 4 other (bigger) neighborhoods were having yard sales the same day. Altogether, we raised a few hundred dollars.

However - that's not it. At the end of the day, a truck came by to pick up anything not sold that we wanted to donate. We were so happy to find out that the remaining things went to a Christian ministry set up to help men recovering from substance abuse. They told us that everything we had for them was extremely needed, even down to an old, stained couch. They said the couch would be gone right when it hit the floor. They have a thrift store and all proceeds go to help the recovering men I mentioned. We were fortunate that day to clearly see His plan unfold in front of us.

Plus...there were a bunch of things that we kept from the sale that we'll be able to sell online. So...a few hundred dollars might turn into a few hundred more!

We want to thank everyone who was connected (in any way) to the yard sale...Thanks!! We really appreciate it.

Quick adoption update - There is no update :( We are still in translation and still patient. We'll let you know when we hear something!!

Love,
Phil & Amy

GREAT NEWS!!!

2008-03-27T03:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I don't have much time, so this post will be short. This past week has truly been a roller coaster of adoption news. Emotionally, it hasn't been as tough as it could have been and all that credit goes upward :)

We found about a week ago that the Kazakhstan consulates have stopped accepting new dossiers due to an internal review. That's about the last thing you want to hear during this process - that some step along the way is completely blocked. We prayed about it and had a calmness, knowing that God is completely aware of the situation and completely aware of who He wants to bring to our family.

Exactly one week later...we find out that the consulates have reopened or will be reopening soon. That is awesome!!

Oh yeah - if I hadn't mentioned it already - we got confirmation that our dossier is currently being translated.

This is really happening! :)

Love,
Phil & Amy

Delayed (again)...but not discouraged!

2008-03-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Believe it or not, we ran into another paperwork delay. Three weeks after submitting our "final" paperwork, our OAA informed us that the translator and/or the consulate want five additional documents updated to ensure they won't expire. It's definitely frustrating, since it seems like we just completed them (and we did - it's only been about 4 months). We could let it get us down, but we're not. Amy's a bit bummed, since she is just so ready to be a mother today. I love that she is overflowing with that love and I have tried hard to be a point of stability and comfort for her throughout these delays.

We have been praying for God's will and we both know that he is ultimately in control of things. Put those together and it means that we have no reason to be upset or stressed out right now. I'll admit - we both want to bring home our baby more than anything - but there's no possible way that our idea of the perfect path matches God's. :)

We continue to be blessed with documents coming and going much faster than expected. For example - we needed to get a new marriage license (which stinks, since it costs $65 for just the document....then add to/from shipping plus $10 for the apostille!) and we were told that it would take 5-10 business days. I ordered it on a Tuesday afternoon. It arrived on Thursday morning!!! I have no idea how that's even possible, but it's awesome.

Our friends have been so supportive recently and that has been awesome, too. We have had a few fundraisers recently (which I'll probably get into more in another post) and people have been so giving and selfless!

Thank you for continuing to read this blog and share a part in our lives. Please know that even though we may not talk to you often (or ever, if you happen to be reading this and you've never met us), we appreciate your interest in this child's life so much.

God bless you,
Phil

Back on Track :)

2008-02-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my awesome husband and what must have been some divine intervention, our updated forms arrived at OAA today!!! We have no idea how it all happened so quickly... The estimate for the FBI processing of our fingerprints alone was 3-4 weeks. And here we are, 3 weeks after OAA received our docs the first time, with the updates already submitted. Yay!!!! Our coordinator is reviewing the new docs today then we're off to translation!!

Thank you all so much for all your prayers. Every day we're one day closer to meeting our angel.

Many Blessings,
Amy

Still Working on it

2008-01-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

Well, we did have to redo some forms for our dossier... I guess everything has to be less than 5 months old when we turn it in to the agency, so we have 5 docs that have expired. Unfortunately two were our FBI clearance letters. We had to get re-fingerprinted and everything! But Phil was awesome this week. He got on the phone and called everybody that could possibly help us get through the process faster. It turns out the detention center in our area does fingerprinting for free 24/7! We just had to find fingerprint cards... Luckily our homestudy agency had some, which they gave us for free too! They also allowed us to send our completed cards through their agency. Since they have a process already worked out, we should get them back much faster than if we had sent them on our own. Yay!

The other forms are easy, so we should be back on track soon...

Many Blessings,
Amy

It's Out of Our Hands....

2008-01-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

I dropped the dossier off at UPS today. Yikes! It's such a crazy feeling. It's scheduled to arrive at OAA Tuesday afternoon. Please pray that all of our forms look good and that they can send it off to be translated immediatley!!

I also wanted to share an email that we received from our agency this week... could mean a delay in the process....

------
Dear Kazakhstan Families,

I have received word from one of our contacts in Kazakhstan that currently the Ministry of Education has requested from all regional Department of Education’s an accounting of post placement reports. The facilitator staff in the regions has heard from the regional Department of Education staff that there are many post placement reports missing from each of the regions we have heard from. The review is still in process, so this is preliminary information. Many of the missing post placement reports are reportedly from independent adoptions. Since the government of Kazakhstan does not officially recognize agencies through a registration or accreditation process, tracking post placement reports is difficult. In the past, there was less accountability through agencies then there is now.

At this point, the above information is confirmed through the staff in Kazakhstan. What we do not know, but there are rumors regarding, is the consequences of missing post placement reports. At this point, the rumor is that the regions will stop providing referrals until the missing post placements are received. This would be done regionally. They would still be processing dossiers through the process, but dossiers would be waiting in their assigned region. Again, these are rumors. There has been no official information on the consequences of missing post placement reports
----

We're praying this doesn't cause any delays, but it very well could... For those who don't know what "Post-Placement Reports" are, they're the updates adoptive parents are required to send back to Kaz once they return home with their children... Currently, adoptive families are required to send reports written by their social worker 6, 12, 24, and 36 months post adoption and yearly parent written reports after that until the child turns 18! So the paperwork really doesn't end til the child is in college :) Unfortunately, some families don't follow through with their duties once they get the child home and it affects everyone else who comes along after them.

Please continue to pray for our patience. And more importantly, please pray that our daughter is loved and protected while her parents are on the other side of the globe.

Many Blessings,
Amy

We're submitting our dossier!

2008-01-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

Well, Phil took our last few documents down to Atlanta today to have them apostilled and everything looks good!!! Tomorrow morning I'm shipping the dossier off to OAA. Yay!! It seems like we've been saying we're "almost done" with paperwork for so long now... it's so hard to believe this actually might be it for a while!

I'm sure some of you are wondering what the next steps look like... Well, if all of our paperwork looks good to OAA, they'll get it all translated. Then they'll submit it to the Kazakhstan Consulate in NY, who will then send it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kazakhstan, who will then send it on to a region. Then the region issues an invitation and we travel! I think that's how it goes, at least :) Of course, it's looking like our invitiation to travel will probably be late summer at the earliest...

Please pray for patience for both me and Phil as we begin the next leg of this journey...

Love to all,
Amy

Update!!

2008-01-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I am so sorry we haven't updated this in a while, but things have been moving along!

This period of the process has definitely been a trial and we have been praying for patience, wisdom, and guidance all along the way. Somehow, the paperwork has taken much longer than we expected. But...we *think* we have all of it ready to submit to our agency. We've used about 5 notaries and visited doctor's offices about 5 times, but we're finally there. Of course, the agency could send it back to us and need more updates, so we'll see. We should definitely know within a week or so.

The main focus for us right now is the money. In the big picture, I'm not worried. God has confirmed His support of this adoption multiple times and we know that He will provide if something is in His will. However, the reality is that we are still about $20,000 short. We have been looking at various methods for raising this last portion (the adoption will cost about $43,000 overall). Unfortunately, we aren't having success with grants or funds. Still, we are looking around. My job is a blessing and I'll be getting two unexpected bonuses over the next year; this will help us to pay off any balances or loans by next year.

In the meantime, we've been undertaking another fundraising effort - we've done about 5 different things now :) . We are selling used books, CDs, and DVDs on half.com. It's going great! We have raised about $750 so far! It's a lot of work, actually, but we love doing this. We have asked our friends and family to help by donating any books or music they aren't attached to. We post the stuff online and just wait for a buyer to come along. Please let us know if you have any books or CDs to donate to help us pay for this adoption!

So, overall, things are moving along again. We should have an update for you about the submission of the paperwork in about one week.

God bless!
Phil

One Truly Amazing Day

2007-10-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

About a month ago, Amy's friend Keely suggested that we have a yard sale to raise funds for our adoption. She encouraged us to ask family and friends to donate items that would help raise the funds.

Well, we followed her advice and truly saw God work through the whole experience. Right from the beginning, Keely was doing everything she could do help us. She sent out an email to her entire neighborhood to share our adoption story with them and ask them to help us bring home our baby. The response was amazing. People donated items left and right.

In addition to the donation of goods, others were supporting us in thought and prayer. After my softball game last week, I stopped by to say hi to our church's other softball team and ask their coach to pray that our upcoming fundraiser would bring our daughter closer to having a home. The coach, always modest, said he already knew about it and would pray for it after his game.

Only later did I find out that he had sent out a "post message" (a voice mail sent to multiple cell phones) to a bunch of people he knew about our yard sale before that! He didn't even mention it to me... That type of modest caring truly moves me. This quiet generosity is one form of obedience to the Lord:

"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:2-4)

I realize this wasn't directly "giving to the needy," but keep in mind that my friend was doing this for a young, orphaned girl on the other side of the world whom he has never met. God clearly directs us to pray and give without boasting or announcing and it's inspiring to see others living for Him that way.

One person we know from our church got that message and went right over to Keely's to drop off some items and a check... :)

By the time the day finally came, Keely's basement and garage were completely full of donated goods. Amy couldn't sleep, so she got up and read some verses given to us by Keely's husband a few weeks ago. I woke up and ended up reading with Amy for about an hour before we got ready and headed over to Keely's.

God's love shone through again that morning. Our friend Jason showed up at 7am that morning to help. He never even said anything beforehand...just came over with a smile and a helping hand while it was still dark outside. Jason and his wife have 4 children, of whom 2 are adopted from China. I can't really describe how awesome it is to know their family. They adopted children with severe medical conditions and have truly changed the world as a result. Both of them require costly, significant surgeries that would almost definitely have not been paid for by their country's government. You won't ever see them boasting about saving lives, though...you'll just see them loving their children.

Once the yard sale started, there were absolutely no lulls until we wrapped up in the afternoon. We had hundreds of people streaming through the thousands of items all day long. Keely's friend Jean showed up and helped us out the entire day...just another example of someone giving so much so quietly. We had never even met her before.

Amy and I were able to share bits and pieces of our adoption story with the shoppers. We had set up a table for donations that had one sheet about Kazakhstan adoptions and one sheet about the related costs. Not surprisingly, very few people realize that the estimated total surpasses $40,000...

By the time 3pm came around, we were exhausted. Keely again was extremely helpful and said that we could keep all the leftover items in her garage until an organization comes to pick up all the goods in a week or two.

We counted the money when we got home. We were thinking that we had possibly raised around $500 (which would be a huge success!)...Well, we had to count twice. On that day, at 1122 Gate Post Ct, we raised....$1122!!! Our jaws probably dropped a few inches right then... We can't help but think of Jesus feeding the thousands with just five loaves of bread and two fish:

When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?" (Mark 8:19-21)

There's one more story I have to tell that really wraps up the whole event. On the day before the sale, Amy and I went to pick up a Christmas tree that someone had donated to us. We threw it in the back and headed to Keely's. We were just a minute from her place when someone pulled up behind us and waved frantically. I had no idea who the person was, but I figured it was because I wasn't wearing glasses...Amy and I looked at each other, I shrugged my shoulders, and waved back. They continued to wave and honk. After another quarter mile, I finally realized that they weren't saying hi. I pulled over. A woman got out of a van and told me that a tree had flown from my truck and possibly scratched up the side of her vehicle. The Christmas tree had jumped loose! Keep in mind that it was still sitting where it had fallen, in the middle of a major road right at 5pm on Friday.

Fortunately, the car hadn't been scratched. However...as our eyes turned toward the back of the van, we noticed some bad news. Her tire was completely flat. She was very friendly and we ended up having a nice chat while her husband arrived to put on the spare. We were kinda hoping that, after hearing about why we were carrying the tree, she might forgive us the tire debt and let it go. No such luck. We gave her our info and then waited for the bill.

We got the call about the bill the next day. It just so happened that she had a lifetime warranty on the tire...she said that we didn't owe her a thing!

God Bless,
Phil & Amy

Home Study........APPROVED!

2007-09-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

We are counting our blessings...the home study has been approved! We are one step closer to bringing home our baby from Kazakhstan. Thanks so much to all of you for your support this far.

Overall, the process went very smoothly. It took 4 1/2 months from start to finish. For the other families adopting -- don't let the length of the home study throw you off. We definitely could have finished this sooner, but we took it at a more natural pace to make sure we stay energized throughout this process. Both Amy and I had a few months of crazy schedules at work and very little free time. The timing is actually perfect, as we are now in a much better financial situation to adopt. All the credit goes to God there...we had been praying about this regularly. We knew we could get the funds, but, obviously, the less debt the better when you're starting a family.

The past few days have been a real whirlwind of blessings. I don't know why everything is happening at once, but it is.

Now it's dossier time! We're off to an awesome start. Amy applied for her passport about a month ago with non-expedited service, since we figured that it was only needed to travel. Right after she applied, we realized that all of our dossier documents need a passport number! We spent a few weeks searching around on the Web and making calls without any luck. We had been given an expected date of November, so it was looking like we were headed for a bit of delay. Out of nowhere, they completed it and mailed it to us! I got an email on Friday that they were processing it, then got another email a few minutes later that it was done and on its way :)

Please continue to pray for us and our baby.

Thanks everyone and God bless...

Love,
Phil & Amy

3 Interviews Later...

2007-08-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

Quite a bit of activity since our last post! We met with our social worker on July 26th and had our individual interviews that night. We weren't too nervous and it turned out we definitely had nothing to fret about. Our social worker is a very thoughtful person who clearly understands our motivation behind adopting and that has made the process very smooth. Not getting into legal trouble while we were younger has also helped :). The interviews essentially served as follow-ups to the autobiographies we wrote - they cleared up any remaining gaps and addressed any issues we discussed in our writings. When we were done, our social worker asked if we could meet on Saturday for our in-house, final meeting...

Of course we decided to jump on the opportunity and have her over two days later. That meant one thing though...a LOT of cleaning :). We were a little concerned about the house (Amy much more than me) and we ended up cleaning until 4am the night before she came over. Like the other interviews, it ended up being no big deal and we "passed" our test :). The in-house interview was really to check that we used common sense in our house and it was fit for a new child.

So, here we are, almost done with the Home Study. The meetings/interviews are now done; what's left is some reading and documentation. We will keep you posted...we are getting close to the final stretch!!

Love,
Phil & Amy

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live." John 14:15-19

Busy, busy, busy...

2007-07-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We know it's been a LONG time since our last blog, and we apologize... June just flew by!

Well, since our last update, we have officially begun the homestudy process! We were assigned our social worker shortly after the last blog was posted. She is WONDERFUL!! Back when we were selecting our homestudy agency, Phil and I were praying we'd be assigned someone who would understand God's call to adopt, and we were!

We will have to have four meetings with our SW (Social Worker) to fulfill OAA's requirements. Our first meeting was a few weeks ago at her house. We basically discussed the overall process, how we're paying for the adoption, and our family's support. The meeting went great and she made us both feel very comfortable.

Our next assignmant was to write individual autobiographies. They were to be 4-6 pages each, covering family history, motivation to adopt, views on child rearing, our marriage, our finances, our home & community, etc... Wow, there was a lot to say!! Mine ended up being 6 1/2 pages and Phil's was 6 (after he adjusted margins and font sizes...)!

The funniest part about the autobiographies was that we wrote them completely independently from one another (except the finance section), finished within five minutes of one another, then switched computers to read them and found that some of our phrases were identical and that we had covered almost exactly the same points!! For example, we both said we "generally have a lean meat and vegetable for dinner" and that we'd be "completely transparent with our daughter about her adoption." It was almost spooky!

We sent the autobiographies off to our SW last week and are having our second meeting with her in a few weeks. This will be the meeting where we're interviewed seperately at her home. then the next meeting is at our home.

We've also started preparing the nursery! Since we don't have any extra money, I thought it would be a good idea to begin preparing as soon as possible, so I could get good deals but still make everything flow together. I'm having so much fun!

We wanted to thank all of you who have ordered items from us, sent donations, or prayed for us. Your support has been awesome and has really touched us. Just a few weeks ago, we received a Father's Day card from a little boy in our Sunday School class. His mother said they were making cards for all the fathers in their life and 3-year-old Judah said "Wait! We forgot Mr. Phil & Amy!" He told his mom he "wants to give a baby to (us)" and tried to draw us a picture of a baby (which came out a "funny robot", according to Judah) and a picture of me with a lizard :) His mom says he leads his family in praying for us every night without being prompted. And with a cute little guy like Judah interceding for us, I don't know how Satan stands a chance :) How great is our God!

Many Blessings,
Amy & Phil

journeytokazakhstan.com

2007-05-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

We finally have our website up! Check out www.journeytokazakhstan.com. The site shows a few ways that friends, family, and anyone can help out. We are selling various goods, including hand-beaded jewelry, hand-painted birdhouses, homemade fudge, and more to come. I give Amy all the credit for the crafts (the fudge is Mom's own, just like it says on the site...).

There are also a few other ways to help. First - I work for EarthLink in their Voice Operations department. If you didn't already know, we sell a VOIP similar to (but better than :) ) the product you all know from Vonage. It's called EarthLink trueVoice. If you are interested in unlimited local and long-distance for $25/month, email me and I can set up a referral signup. We both get a Visa Virtual Account if you decide to stay with the product for more than 60 days.

Second - Amy is a real estate agent. Like I mention on the website, she is skilled, friendly, precise, thoughtful, and precise in her profession. I did forget thorough...she is that, too :) Anyway, people who don't live in our area (Atlanta metro) can still help us! If you are reading this and you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a house and they aren't currently represented by an agent, definitely email Amy (amy@nwatlrealty.com). She will research agents in your area and find someone for you that is friendly and competent to help you with your search. The referral costs you absolutely nothing, but you will be helping to contribute in a big way to our adoption! All of Amy's income this year is going toward the adoption.

Lastly, donations to help us cover the costs of the adoption are always welcome and appreciated. Every little bit counts! You can send any monetary donations to the address posted on our site - journeytokazakhstan.com.

Thanks everyone for your support and God Bless!
Amy & Phil

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

The Home Study Begins

2007-05-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

So...we are really starting to feel that things are moving along!

We just had our home study orientation and it was awesome. The director of the program was extremely versed on international adoption, down to minute details specific to each country. We just knew immediately that this was the right place.

I have been wondering for weeks what to expect of a home study. You hear various things from different people...one person told me that it was "horrible" for their friend, while another couple said it was no problem at all...Well, it doesn't sound too bad. A social worker will have to come out to our place, but they're mostly looking for common sense things, like making sure we don't have guns or knives lying around. They also make sure there is "ample" space in the house for our child.

Amy and I will be interviewed separately, too. I'm not sure, but there may be reference letters needed, as well.

The best news is that it might only take a month! It's crazy because our agency told us that it would take 3-5 months...

We will keep you updated. We're just excited!

Last piece of news - we're working on our fundraising website. We'll post the URL soon!

God Bless,
Phil

USCIS form submitted...

2007-04-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

So, we are moving right along in the process to go get our daughter! Today, we sent in an initial deposit to our agency and submitted the I-600A form to US Citizenship and Immigrations Services.

What's next for us? Well...right now Amy is reading an adoption book called "Two Little Girls: A Memoir of Adoption", we are sorting through a bunch of baby names for our daughter, and we're planning on getting some parenting books soon. We're also about to start the Home Study process (once our contact is back from vacation).

Please pray for strength for Amy and me as well as the continued focus on God's will throughout this process.

Talk to you soon!
Phil & Amy

Paper Pregnant!

2007-04-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

We are officially paper pregnant! We just got word that our application for adopting our girl from Kazakhstan was accepted. We are so excited!!

At this point, the paperwork starts. We have a lot of work in front of us and we know that it will be challenging. I think the biggest obstacle will be finding/making the available time to complete it all. Both Amy and I have been working fairly long hours recently. Still, we're not worried about it...it's one of the many opportunities to give Him our burdens during this whole process.

Next steps: contracting a Home Study agency, filing our I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition), and getting assigned a Family Coordinator from OAA.

On another note - today is Easter! My friend Mike was in town and we all had a lot of fun eating an early dinner and hanging out at Amy's parents' place after church.

God Bless,
Phil & Amy

Kazakhstan?

2007-03-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over a week since we applied and we are anxiously awaiting a response from OAA. In the meantime, though, God hasn't been silent :)

We have been praying regularly about where our daughter is and, after a weekend full of adoption events, we may be changing the country on our application to Kazakhstan. Originally, we shied away from Kazakhstan because we kept hearing about the great care and attention that their orphaned babies received. All other things being equal, we felt that the need for adoption would be greater in Russia or Ukraine, considering the orphanage situation in these three countries.

However, we spent a long time Friday night talking with a adoptive mother of a Kazakh boy, Pam, and, by the end of the night, realized that the need for adoption in Kazakhstan is no less. It really came down to one question I asked: "How is the outlook for Kazakhstani orphans upon their "release" from the orphanage?" The answer was direct - it's the same. Children are turned out from the orphanages at 14 and they face the same drugs, same desperate need for income that can lead to prostitution, and many other similar issues. (BTW - Kazakh means of Kazakh ethnic descent and Kazakhstani means born in / a citizen of Kazakhstan).

Other recent news has us looking at Kazakhstan much more seriously. Ukraine is now limiting 2007 US adoptions to 580, a number that is much lower than the 2005 count of actual adoptions (723). No such quota exists in Kazakstan. It's possible that us adopting from Ukraine would essentially bump someone else from there, since we know the quota will be met even if we don't adopt there.

I sent an email off to our agency contact tonight and should hear back soon. We'll keep you updated!

God Bless,
Phil and Amy

We have applied!

2007-03-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

We just submitted our application. We are so excited!

We knew this day was coming, but we didn't know it would be so soon. We went to an information session today with Our Adoption Agency (OAA) and knew instantly that we'd found the right agency. God is definitely working through this agency and that was probably the main factor for us in narrowing down our final choices to one agency.

This is the start of a long adventure that we know won't be smooth or easy, but our child is out there and we need to bring her home.

We put in the application for a Ukrainian girl between the ages of 0 and 2. We felt a pull to Eastern Europe after learning about the orphanage situation over there. As for choosing a female, we didn't necessarily feel a calling either way...we just both wanted a girl :) Of course, we're still open to adopting a boy if that's what God has in store for us.

We will be posting all the details here for YOU (our friends and family) and hope that you will share in this wonderful adventure with us.

Psalms 139:14-16 - "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

God knows our child by name; this child has not been forgotten. This is all part of His plan and we simply want to obey Him and follow His Word. Please pray for us and our child.

Love,
Phil and Amy