Where will we be adopting from this time?

Many friends have asked about where we'll adopt from this time. We have decided to explore a different region in Russia and we'll be traveling to Vladivostok this time. Here is some information about it.

Vladivostok is Russia's largest port city on the Pacific Ocean and the administrative center of the Primorsky Kraj region. It is situated at the head of the Golden Horn Bay not far from Russia's border with China and North Korea. It is also the home port of the Russian Pacific fleet. Their time zone is 15 hours ahead of eastern time.

Average temperature in January: −13.2 °C (8.2 °F)
Average temperature in August: 20.6 °C (69.1 °F)


In 2012, Vladivostok will host the 24th Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. In preparation for the event, the infrastructure of the city is being renovated and improved. Two giant cable-stayed bridges are currently under construction in Vladivostok, namely the Zolotoy Rog bridge over the Zolotoy Rog Bay in the center of the city, and the Russky Island Bridge from the mainland to Russky Island, where the summit will take place. The latter bridge will become the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world upon completion.

i600A Sent Off

Once again, FedEx is our favorite friend right now. We have sent off our i600A to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Now we must wait 2 months to hear back from them and receive their acceptance. Once we get this, we're given a date and time for our official fingerprints.

All of the initial paperwork is complete and I'm so glass that I have the summer off to accomplish that. It always feels good to be at this point of the process and have time to take a deep breath and relax. We hope to hear news about a little brother or sister soon. It would be nice to travel in October or November for our first trip.

Off to enjoy more of the summer...

Happy Fourth of July

Luke enjoyed being with our family in Nebraska. He hadn't been to a parade like this yet and it was fun to see him so excited. He caught lots of candy with his cousins and had a huge smile all day long. Fireworks are one of his favorite things and we got a great show in Waverly!

Here We Go Again!

Scott and I decided to begin another adoption and our home study is now complete! We would love any prayers as we enter this process again. We are hoping that we are just as blessed as we were with the first adoption with Luke. He is such a joy to our family and he longs to have a brother or sister. Yes, we are open to having a boy or a girl this time. We are asking for a child that Luke can play with and a 4-5 year old would be ideal!

Luke prays each night and tells me that he is ok with sharing his bed. He even scoots over and tells me that his brother is going to sleep their one day. He has such a big heart!

This week we're working on filling out over 13 papers to send off to be apostilled! This sure is easier the second time around when we know how to do all of this and how to get all of the documents needed. Having the summer off is also very helpful when running to the notary at the bank and the doctor visits.

We'll keep you posted on any news!!