Administrative Review

Our children had their visa interviews this morning. Unfortunately, their cases have been placed in "administrative review". This is becoming the norm for families adopting from Ghana. Since the National Minister issued a moratorium on all adoptions in April we believe that the U.S. Department of State is respecting the National Minister by asking for a special clearance letter before approving any visas for cases that went to court after the moratorium. Our placement letter was issued before the moratorium but our court date was after. Our lovely congressman, Phil Gingrey, is working on our behalf to find out more. Hopefully, it will not take long and we can get them home soon! Not the news we were hoping for today but God is still in control and we are trusting His perfect timing.

On a separate note, Gabriel seems to be doing much better following his hospital stay last week.  He was admitted on Thursday and diagnosed with Stage 4 malaria.  Apparently, he was quite weak and sick. They treated him with intravenous antibiotics and shots. He has to continue with the shots for a total of 7 days. Unfortunately, the shots are causing his blood sugar to drop. Poor kid has had a pretty rough week. I heard that he was discharged from the hospital and he was "all smiles". Thankfully, he was able to make it to the visa interview early this morning in Ghana. I wish the results were more favorable but at least we are one step closer to bringing them home.

On a positive note, I did get a sweet picture of Debo's growing hair this weekend. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all your prayers and support. We are very blessed!

Also, sweet Liz has been doing some great cheering this Fall.  The 6th grade Junior Hoya team is winning a lot of games and I'm pretty sure that is because they have the best cheerleaders! ;-)

Hair!

So one of the topics of conversation that always seems to come up when you are a white girl adopting an African child is...hair. Everyone wants to know your plan.

Well...this white girl barely thinks about her own hair so trying to think about someone else's hair is almost beyond me. Thankfully, there are some very lovely well experienced mamas around me who have been and will be helping me out...ALOT! (Feel free to give me some tips!)

The thing is...Debo doesn't even have hair yet. They shave their heads in the orphanage and keep it very short for many practical reasons. It makes total sense. But, because of this, I have never seen my daughter's hair.



Until today!!!!

I had no idea that they were going to start growing out Debo's hair in anticipation of her homecoming! I wanted to ask them to, but that seemed so selfish since it is more work for the staff.  Because of this, you can imagine my gratitude when I saw this picture on facebook this morning.  My girl is growing hair!!! I imagine this is very exciting for her because she is totally a girly-girl. This is just one more sign to her that she really is getting ready to make a change. It is a confirmation to her (and her brother) that we are, indeed, coming and that we are coming soon. 

I really hope that hair doesn't have a lot longer to grow before we get there! ;-)

Here are a few more photos I got today. Enjoy! 

She is learning to write the letter "B" while rocking her new hair!

Love that smile!

This is Gabriel loving on one of the only babies at the orphanage, sweet baby Dougie! He is VERY well loved by everyone there! How could you not love that face?!?

Getting Closer

Our POA was able to pick up the visa packets for our kids on Wednesday. Yay!  Now they are getting their medicals done.

On October 21st at 7:30am they will have a visa interview. If they pass and our case is not put under a review then their visas should print that Friday and we will fly to Ghana on October 26th.

There is a possibility that our case will be placed under review for no specific reason and that could delay our travel by a few weeks.

I will keep you posted as we know more. We will not know anything else now until the 21st.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. We are closer than ever and feeling very excited!

Dear Lord,
Thank you for the peace you have given us during this waiting period. Thank you for consistently reminding us that these children are first and foremost yours and that you love them even more then we can imagine. Thank you for taking care of them and putting them in a loving orphanage filled with beautiful children, staff and volunteers. Thank you for all the photos that we have been able to enjoy.

Please be with Gabe and Debo as they go for their medical appointments. Calm any of their fears and hold them close. I pray that they both remain healthy and well and strong.

Please be with the US Embassy workers and the visa process.  I pray for an immediate pass at the interview stage and for a smooth process in the remaining steps.

Thank you for being in control and caring about all the details and for giving us glimpses at your big picture. We trust you and look forward enthusiastically to the remainder of the journey.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

A year older....

I am very happy to be a year older! On October 4th my wombmate (a.k.a twin) and I celebrated our 36th birthday. Some think we are old, others think we are young. I think it is great! I am extremely grateful for my life and I feel VERY blessed for all of you who are walking life's journey with me.

I just spent 4 days with my twin sister and our children. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories. We barely squeeze our current brood into the minivan and when we arrive where we are going we look like a small circus. What will everyone think when we arrive in two minivans and we add a couple of cute Ghanian kiddos to the brood?!?! Welcome to the big top!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our time together.

As far as the adoption goes, things are moving along. We received approval for our Power of Attorney to pick up the visa packets for our children from the US Embassy in Ghana. Hopefully he was able to get those today. Then the children will be taken for a medical exam, including some immunizations and a TB test. After those are completed they will be given a date for a visa interview (which always happens on a Monday or Tuesday.) I am hoping our children will have their interviews on October 21st and then if they pass their visas will print on Friday and we can go get them and bring them home. Unfortunately, since there was a stop placed on all adoptions in Ghana right before our court date many of the cases are being placed in "administrative review". That has happened to two of our friends that are right before us in the process. There is usually no explanation or set time frame for the "review" so it continues to leave our travel date very much up in the air. We are hoping and praying for October 26th but we recognize God's sovereignty in the timing and ultimately trust that.  I'll keep you posted. 

Thanks so much for all your prayers and love!!! I look forward to the day when these cuties will join us!!! It won't be long now!