Saving Sofia: It's a DATE!!!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

It's a DATE!!!

APRIL 22nd at 9 AM!!!

That is when we will meet with the State Department of Adoptions in Sofia's home country and where we will accept the referral and be authorized to begin the process of meeting Sofia at her orphanage and then initiating the court process to adopt her.

Oh...my...goodness...

Words cannot describe the feelings running through me right now. Thrilled, excited, nervous, scared, anxious...WOW!

Time to kick it into HIGH gear. There is SO much to do!

25 comments:

Kristin FergusonApril 6, 2010 at 5:39 AM
Excellent news! Wow! 4 weeks from submission to SDA appt. date. I'd better kick it into a higher gear as well. So happy for you Jen! Go get that sweetie pie!

Kristin
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JuliaApril 6, 2010 at 6:15 AM
PRAISE THE LORD - PRAISE THE LORD... SOFIA GETS A FAMILY!!
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DeniseApril 6, 2010 at 7:37 AM
You guys continue to amaze me with the efficiency in which you have been able to move through this process. I will literally be waiting on the edge of my seat waiting for you guys to get there and to hear EVERY little detail about your trip and of course PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES!!! Congratulations!!!
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CathyApril 6, 2010 at 8:22 AM
This is so awesome!!! I didn't know any of this could go so quickly. God is great!!!!
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Michelle ZApril 6, 2010 at 8:24 AM
Congratulations!! I'm so excited for you!!
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TinaApril 6, 2010 at 8:38 AM
Excellent! So very happy for your family!

:)

JTHTL
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StephanieApril 6, 2010 at 8:55 AM
Crying tears of joy for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it's happening so fast. I am sooooo happy for you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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KelliApril 6, 2010 at 9:06 AM
I'm so happy for you!! We will be thinking about you and your family in the next few weeks!! You guys are doing such an amazing thing!!
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heatherbrownApril 6, 2010 at 9:26 AM
I am so happy and excited for you! I can't wait to hear and see that she is doing well, and that she will be home with you soon!!!
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CheriApril 6, 2010 at 9:33 AM
Wow.....tears over here. So excited for you and so excited for Sofia! xoxo
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KelliApril 6, 2010 at 9:59 AM
Sooo exciting!
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StephanieApril 6, 2010 at 11:00 AM
So happy for you!
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LaurieApril 6, 2010 at 11:24 AM
AHHH! I thought I already commented!

Jen - I am just beyond thrilled!!!! I can not wait to see pics of you w. your sweet girl...

xoxo
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Susan AApril 6, 2010 at 2:05 PM
Tears of joy from me too. God is clearing your path! How wonderful to hear of all the other families adopting too!
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MarianneApril 6, 2010 at 4:44 PM
AMAZING!!! Like someone else posted, we want pictures!! I am so excited for you guys!!!!
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Life with an Angel from AboveApril 6, 2010 at 4:52 PM
Congrats!! Very exciting, can't wait to hear all the exciting adventures. Kim & Tom Baumann, Adopting Vanya #11
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EmilyApril 6, 2010 at 7:19 PM
Fantastic news! So happy for your darling family!
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LisaApril 6, 2010 at 8:23 PM
SO. FRIGGIN. EXCITING. Almost peed my pants when I read this :)
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kangfamilyApril 6, 2010 at 9:00 PM
I am so excited for you...I can't even imagine what you must be feeling right now. You are so close to getting to hold that sweet girl in your arms!
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Kelly StephanApril 6, 2010 at 10:50 PM
That is such great news! I can't wait for you to be able to hold that sweet baby!
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JodiApril 7, 2010 at 6:48 AM
So happy for you! It won't be long now :)
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Derek, Kenzee and GageApril 8, 2010 at 9:15 AM
Congratulations! How exciting for your family!
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JocelynApril 8, 2010 at 2:58 PM
Congrats! I love to see updates on your progress to becoming a family of 6!
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AdeyeApril 9, 2010 at 11:58 AM
Oh I am soooooooes excited for you. Yes, it sure would be wonderful if we could meet up in Kiev. We'll see how things unfold for me in the next few days. Still no court date :(
I can hardly wait to see her in your arms. She is BEAUTIFUL.
So excited that I get to follow along.
Hugs from the Ukraine.
Adeye
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AnonymousApril 9, 2010 at 5:31 PM
AMAZING. I can't believe the swiftness with you have moved through this so far. My, oh my. I wish I knew how you did it. Keep on going... you're almost there!!! God Bless little Sofia. May God keep her happy, healthy, and safe until you get to her!
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Adoption Timeline

12-13-09- Grandma Esther passed away. Discovered Sofia at www.reecesrainbow.com and decided to donate to her grant fund in honor of Grandma and the Christmas Angel Tree Project. Couldn't get her off my mind.

1-1-10- Received Sofia's Christmas Angel Tree ornament and put it on our Christmas Tree. Still constantly thinking about her.

1-24-10- Hector and I decided to commit to adopting Sofia. Contacted Andrea at Reece's Rainbow.

1-25-10- Contacted Across the World Adoptions to begin the Home Study.

1-26-10- Sent our application to Reece's Rainbow and sent a check for the FSP Donation, Love Offering and Promise Trust.

1-27-10- Jen's physical completed. Vaccines administered. FBI and DOJ/Child Abuse fingerprinting completed.

1-28-10- Faxed Home Study Application and Agreement. Mailed hard copy.

1-29-10- Hector's fingerprints completed for FBI and DOJ/Child Abuse. Completed the required 10 hours of International Adoption education credits.

1-31-10- Mailed USCIS our I-600A application and fees.

2-1-10- Employment verifications completed for Home Study. School evaluations completed on Diego and Mateo. Received dossier paperwork from Reece's Rainbow.

2-4-10- Assigned a social worker for our Home Study at Across the World Adoptions. Had over 15 documents notarized.

2-5-10- Hector's physical completed. Vaccines administered. Child Specific Petition and Power of Attorney's notarized and ready for apostille.

2-8-10- CSP and POA's apostilled and shipped to Sofia's home country! First home study visit is scheduled for 2/15.

2-10-10- ALL paperwork completed for Home Study! YEAH! Working on gathering the rest of the dossier paperwork.

2-15-10- 1st Home Study Visit completed.

2-16-10- 2nd Home Study Visit completed.

2-22-10- Received our I-797C Notice of Action for our Orphan Petition.

2-25-10- State Police clearance fingerprinting done. Apostilled 20 documents at Secretary of State office.

3-1-10- Final revisions completed on Home Study.

3-2-10- Jennifer fingerprinted a third time for USCIS. Hector's police clearance letter received.

3-3-10- Hector fingerprinted a third time for USCIS.

3-4-10- Home Study, Agency License and Social Worker Licence notarized and mailed to us today.

3-11-10- USCIS Approval!

3-12-10- Dossier shipped out to Sofia's home country!

3-15-10- Dossier arrived in Sofia's home country!

3-25-10- Dossier officially submitted. Approximately 10 day wait to get travel date!

4-6-10- Received our SDA appointment for 4/22 at 9am! Booked our plane tickets for 4/19 arriving on 4/20.

4-14-10- Volcano erupts in Iceland causing flights to be grounded throughout Europe!

4-19-10- Flight is cancelled. No alternative routes are available. Requested new SDA appointment.

4-20-10- Got a last minute flight to Kiev through Vienna, Austria.

4-21-10- Arrived in Kiev, Ukraine!

4-22-10- Completed SDA appointment at 9am. Received referral at 6pm. Hopped on a midnight train to Dnep.

4-23-10-Arrived in Dnep at 7am and ran around Dnep for 11 hours today with our facilitator Marina gathering papers and getting notaries. Met Sofia!

4-26-10-Took Sofia out of the orphanage to get her picture taken for Visa immigration, US Embassy and the SDA. 7 day wait begins for court date.

4-27-10-Prosecutor says our documents are complete and ready for the judge and court proceedings.

4-29-10-Still waiting for interpol clearance so court date is set for 5/13.

4-30-10-Interpol clearance arrives. Court date moved to 5/6!

5-6-10- Court completed and Sofia Andrea Sanchez is officially adopted! 10 day wait begins.

5-16-10- Return trip is set for 6/6 and we'll arrive in Dnep on 6/8 to begin the process of bringing Sofia home, hopefully on or before 6/17.

6-8-10- Arrived in Sofia's region and completed all necessary paperwork for her new birth certificate and for her Ukraine passport.

6-10-10-GOTCHA day! Took Sofia out of the orphanage and home to our apartment.

6-11-10- Got Sofia's Ukrainian Passport and took overnight train back to Kiev. Changed return flight home to 6/15.

6-14-10- Got Sofia's Visa at the U.S. Embassy.

6-15-10- Going HOME!

6-16-10-Applied for Sofia's Social Security Card.

7-15-10- Received Sofia's official certificate of U.S. Citizenship in the mail.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

It's a DATE!!!

25 comments:

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