Saving Sofia: Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Our REAL LIVE angel under our Christmas tree! She was ALL smiles this Christmas...her FIRST Christmas with her forever family. We are so lucky to have her. She is PURE joy!

18 comments:

Looking UpDecember 27, 2010 at 2:03 AM
Best gift ever! :)
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ShellyDecember 27, 2010 at 6:06 AM
An Adorable Angel with a contagious smile and joy surrounding her. Precious
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LisaDecember 27, 2010 at 6:33 AM
Merry Christmas, sweet girl! So happy you are here!
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The Tam FamilyDecember 27, 2010 at 7:19 AM
What a joy!
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Scrappy quilterDecember 27, 2010 at 7:34 AM
What a delightful little one. Glad you had a wonderful Christmas with her.
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TinaDecember 27, 2010 at 8:14 AM
Merry Christmas....how wonderful a real life angel which she certainly is. God Bless
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MarianneDecember 27, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Beautiful! I remember just a year ago praying fervently for her and looking at her ornament on my tree. Now she is HOME!!
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TaraDecember 27, 2010 at 9:48 AM
This just warms my heart. What a blessing, all the way around! :)
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AdeyeDecember 27, 2010 at 4:22 PM
Aaaahhhhhhhhh....just precious!
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DeniseDecember 27, 2010 at 5:29 PM
Simply the best blessing ever!! I hope you don't mind that I am going to snag this photo for a post on my blog in the next day or two. I have such a happy heart to see her home with a family this year!! Merry Christmas to you all!!
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KellyDecember 27, 2010 at 7:13 PM
The perfect GIFT:) Absolutely BEAUTIFUL:) Happy Holidays!
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Grizzly BearDecember 27, 2010 at 8:07 PM
Awww she is simply adorable!
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GretchenDecember 27, 2010 at 8:50 PM
Is it just me...or are her pictures always stunning??? Wow, she is gorgeous!

Merry Christmas!
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DanielleDecember 27, 2010 at 9:58 PM
Best Christmas present, ever, huh? I was thinking the same thing this year. I appreciate Christmas more this year than I ever have. God has blessed us all so much. I am so happy for you all and so very, very glad for how much good your story has done for other children. Sofia is a Christmas angel!
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annieDecember 28, 2010 at 1:06 PM
Merry Christmas to you and your family! Sofia is such a beauty.
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LeahDecember 28, 2010 at 6:24 PM
such a lovely angel! just in case you don't know 3 RR kiddos from orphange 2 have commited families now!
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AnonymousDecember 31, 2010 at 1:42 PM
Now THAT'S what I call a great gift to find under the tree Christmas morning!!! ;)
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MeganJanuary 12, 2011 at 7:07 PM
Your daughter is beautiful. I am adopting Sophia C. I so hope to have her home by Christmas this year! Congratulstions on having your sweetie home!
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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.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas!

18 comments:

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