What was with yesterday?

When I read people's blogs yesterday, it seemed as if everyone was having a  rough day.  There were really sick kiddos & husbands, cars breaking down, dead batteries, lots of rain, tantrums, etc., Well I thought our day was really uneventful; other than our translator calling the orphanage to talk to our girl and not being successful.  The nurse explained our girl was not able to talk on the phone because of ..., should I call it a disagreement with the nurse or maybe it would fall under "tantrum".  So we will try again next week.
  But here is where our day got weird!!  We got in the car late yesterday evening (it was dark) and as we were driving, I felt something brush against my neck.  I thought it was my seatbelt and adjusted it.  A few seconds later it happened again, along my jawline and I when I reach up to swat "whatever" away -- it STINGS me.., IT was a BEE!!  What is a bee doing in our car, at night, in February??   I think I have only been stung twice in my entire life by a bee.  Well, I get a nice big red welt on my jaw, my face swells up on one side and it hurt a lot.  When I looked in the mirror, I just had to laugh at how ridiculous I looked!!  And this morning I thought...,
WHAT was with YESTERDAY?

Dossier Delievered!! .., & DHL

Here is a little advertising for using DHL shipping.  I was going to Fed-Ex our dossier to Ukraine and our facilitator suggested using DHL.  Since I had never used that company, I was a little leery about putting this "priceless" set of documents in their hands.  I contacted a person that had adopted from Ukraine last fall, and she said she used them and it was faster and cheaper.  So I went to one of those mail annex centers and WOW it worked.  Our dossier left our town on Tuesday at 4:00p.m. and 41 hours later it was in the hands of our facilitator in Ukraine.  I did not pay to have it delivered 2 day or overnight or anything.  Even more good news is that it was actually $10.00 cheaper than Fed Ex and $30.00 cheaper than UPS.

Dossier Is On Its Way!!

I got all the documents apostilled today and now our dossier is on the way to Ukraine!!  For all of you that have done this before, you know this is a BIG PRAISE!!  Now we wait.., we are hoping & praying that we will get to travel to Ukraine in early or mid-May (if not sooner).  Please pray that our dossier makes it there safely, that it is successfully submitted to the SDA,  and that the SDA gives us an appointment as soon as our girl is available!!
 

Dossier Complete!!!

Woo-Hoo!!!  Our dossier is completed, all notarized and was scanned to our facilitator.  Just a few minutes ago, I got an e-mail that says it looks GREAT!!  Next step is to get all documents apostilled and sent to Ukraine for translation!!  So early next week,  I will head up to Austin to the Secretary of State's office and get that done!!  I know we still have so much ahead of us, but this is such a relief to have this step done.  I was so overwhelmed in the beginning,  looking at the list of all the documents needed and how they needed to be done in such a exact way. So..., Woo-Hoo!!

Now, I can start thinking about what to pack, even though we have about 2 months until we will travel.  Does anyone know how they dress in Ukraine in April/May?  We were there last year in January, and the color was BLACK..., I just don't want to stick out like a neon light.  Also, any suggestions on how to  pack light for a 4 - 6 week stay would  be appreciated!!  I am the type to pack two of everything..., just in case.

What a story of love!!

I always try to put into words, why Mike and I continue to wait for this one child.  Why we feel we need to fight for her, and only stop if God shuts the door on her adoption.  I never feel I have the right words..., but this family's story says it all  Day 16, Incandescently Happy

Snow in Texas!!

On a cheerier note.., we had snow outside this morning and in central Texas no less!!  My first thought was,  I wish our son and daughter (Alona) were here they would love this!!  Then I started laughing to myself because one is in Washington D.C. and the other in Ukraine!!  I guess our dusting of snow probably would not have excited them like it did me.  Aleast our dogs enjoyed it!!

171h mistake.., Uggh

I was just going to type up the "True and Exact Copy" form for our amended 171h and guess what?  At the bottom of the form where it lists petitioners..., it has my husband, me and 1 (one) additional household member!!  Now why I do not know.  Because on our original 171h, it lists my husband, me and no additional household members -- which is correct.  Our son was living away at college and now has moved to Washington D.C.  The only thing we had requested amended was increasing the number of children and age range of children.  So now what?  I guess I will e-mail our facilitator.  I don't want this to pose a problem down the line, but hate the thought of trying to figure out how to correct it with USICS.  Any advice?

Great Idea

This might be common knowledge, but it was new to me, so I thought I would share it!!  I just read on another family's adoption blog that there is a company called sharedbook.com  that will take your blog and print it into a book.  You select the posts and pictures you want to include.  What a great way to save your "journey or adventure".  I have a friend who has teasingly told me that I should write a book about our Ukrainian roller coaster ride. Well I do not intend to publish a book, but this will definitely encourage me to write more of it down.  What a wonderful keepsake it would be for our girl..., well really our whole family!!