Saving Sofia: Let Freedom Ring

Monday, July 5, 2010

Let Freedom Ring

We celebrated the 4th of July in our hometown of Sacramento which included a neighborhood parade, swimming, block party complete with dunk tank, cupcake walk, watermelon eating contest, water balloon contest, seed spitting contest, neighborhood potluck and BBQ, music and of course a fireworks show.

This year was especially meaningful as it was Sofia's first 4th of July, her first American holiday and one that symbolizes so much for her. She has a brand new life here in the United States. She has a future that is bright, so much brighter than the four walls of the orphanage that she lived in just 3 weeks ago. We are so happy to have her home now and settled into her new life...full of freedom!

More pictures to follow soon. We finally got the camera out since returning home from Ukraine a couple weeks ago!

I also promise an update on all the "goings on" since we've returned. It's been a busy couple weeks and I'm still adjusting to life with four children. We are truly blessed. The house is full and happy and lively...and sometimes crazy but it's all good.

6 comments:

KarenJuly 5, 2010 at 11:31 AM
You've summed it up beautifully Jennifer! By the way, I've been wondering where the pictures were.
I'll be watching. ºoº
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Anne and Whitney: Up, Down and All AroundJuly 5, 2010 at 12:14 PM
sounds like a "perfect" way to spend the fourth of july - glad you guys were able to enjoy it so much!!! can't wait to see more pictures :)
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GretchenJuly 5, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Aaaaaah! Let FREEDOM ring! Amen!
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shereeJuly 5, 2010 at 3:38 PM
yay! Happy 4th to sweet Sofia (and the rest of you, too!)

Can't wait for more pics!
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KellyJuly 5, 2010 at 5:41 PM
FREEDOM indeed!! So happy that all has fallen into place since your return....and yes, the craziness too:) Glad that you all had a fabulous 4th!!!
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Maria and FamilyJuly 6, 2010 at 7:15 AM
beautiful. she is just so darn cute !
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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.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Let Freedom Ring

6 comments:

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