Addition

Adding another cutie!

This little love has been on my heart for over three years, and we are finally in a place where we feel we can bring him home too!

He and Katarina are from two different regions of their country, so costs will be a bit higher.  However, it's not the first time we have adopted from two different regions.  In fact, Katarina is from the same region as Leza, Nico and Emily, and this little fellow, whose pseudonym is Dalton, is from the exact same orphanage as Mikhail.  Go figure!  =)

We're looking forward to bringing them both home and watching them grow into the amazing people God created them to be!  The rest of our children are very excited about their new brother and sister as well!  This is gonna be fun!

Here's our updated family page.

God Bless!
Kelley

Adoption Update

I wanted to give y'all an adoption update.

As of today, our home study is as complete as we can get it. Everything required from us is in the hands of the agency and we are just waiting on our final visit, which is May 3. Once that is complete it will go to our facilitation team and then to our primary provider for final approval.

Our dossier encountered a hiccup which will be easily rectified. We should have it complete, sans the home study and USCIS approval within the next week. We will be sending everything we have to Ukraine for translation by the end of next week.

Once we have the final approved home study and USCIS approval, they will be sent to Ukraine for translation and then submission to Ukraine for approval. At that point, we wait for an appointment to come review the children's files and visit them.

It's a very quick program. We hope to be there by summer's end, but we have learned to be patient in the waiting.

Thank you so much for helping us pray this through. 

Your prayers are invaluable!

Cooking with Gas

I love cooking on a gas stove. It's instantly hot, not waiting for things to warm up.  Food gets cooked quicker, more efficient.  Just like our paper chase for this adoption!

Folks, this thing is going a lot faster than I thought it would.  I'm totally flabbergasted that everything for our home study has been turned in, and that we already have 29 documents for our dossier.

In order to finalize our home study, which will then be included in our dossier, we have one more visit with our social worker.  It is scheduled for May 3.  Once that's done and the final draft is written, it will be submitted to Hand of Help in Adoption (our facilitation team) for review and then to Joshua Tree ( our primary provider that provides Hague oversight) for final approval.  That's the next step in this journey, finalizing the home study and getting it approved. 

Although we have already paid an application fee to Joshua Tree, we still need to pay the rest of their fees.  They will not approve the home study until their fee is paid.  Makes sense.  This a layer of accountability established after we finalized our last international adoption and with the layer come additional fees.  As if adoption wasn't already expensive.  I understand their role in this and I get it. 

I'm glad we know Who our provider is! 

Think I'll turn the flames down for tonight and get some sleep.  The real Cook in this never sleeps or slumbers.  He's got the watch. 

How do you eat an Elephant? UPDATE

ONE BITE AT A TIME!

Yes, an international adoption is a HUGE undertaking, and since I am a goal oriented person, I love my check lists.  They give me positive reinforcement and continue to keep me focused on that which has been accomplished and that which remains.  Each entity we deal with has their own check list and to keep up with them, I have to create mine!

In this adoption we are currently dealing with 5 different entities -

1. Hand of Help in Adoption - our facilitation team
2. Option4Adoption - our home study team
3. Joshua Tree - our primary provider that provides Hague oversight
4. Funds2Orgs - a fund raising organization
5. Reece's Rainbow - Adoption Support for children with special needs.

That's a lot of check lists!

Our most recent entity, Reece's Rainbow, and the first one, Hand of Help in Adoption, has been with us through all five of our international adoptions.  We trust them and are thankful to be making this journey with them again. 

Reece's Rainbow is a 501c3 agency that has, through grants, been financially helping adoptive families bring home their adoptive children since 2006.  These grants are created through donations from people like you and are TAX DEDUCTABLE!  Inasmuch, we are creating a Family Sponsorship Page (FSP), grant page, through them so that all donations to our adoption are tax deductible.  Basically, they hold the money until all preliminary costs have been paid - things like the home study, immigration costs and dossier preparation, submission and approval - and we are ready to travel.  If for some reason we are not able to finalize the adoption, the donated funds would remain with the child's grant funds in hopes that someone is able to bring them home.  It's a great way to keep everyone honest don't ya think? =)  I'll let you know as soon as it's active!

UPDATE: OUR REECE'S RAINBOW FSP IS LIVE!

Anyway, as an update, we have completed all the documentation for our home study and are now just waiting for inquiries to return so we can finalize the home study.  Our application to USCIS, immigrations, has been submitted and we have begun compiling our dossier.  How are we eating this elephant?  One bite at a time!

Thanks for coming along!
Kelley
http://www.handofhelpinadoption.org/2019/03/robinson3.html

God's grace and favor are AMAZING

OUR HOME STUDY IS ALMOST COMPLETE!

God's grace and favor are AMAZING!

We have encountered so much favor during our home study process.  The paper work is moving along at an amazing pace, and we are so thankful! 

Now begins the process of creating our dossier and raising the funds to complete this. 

I think I have finally allowed myself to breath and accept that this is really, finally, happening again. 



Katarina for the Robinsons

 

 

For those of you who know us, you know that Jode, the children and I have felt for years that our family is not yet complete.  I know, I hear you, we have seven children at home!  However, when God lays it upon your heart, it's hard to ignore, at least not for long!  

Inasmuch, we are once again pursuing a child (or two) from an Eastern European country, one which we love and have missed.   We look forward to going back and seeing those who have become like our second family.

As you know, adoption is expensive.  Not many families have $35,000 extra laying around.  We defiantly don't, but we know our God is faithful, and experience has told us that what He leads us to, He will also supply all that we need to accomplish it.  

If you would like to come along on this journey, and support our adoption efforts, please hit that donate button.  Your help, and prayers, are greatly appreciated.  

We will be adding updated posts as we go along.  For now, we are about half way through our home study, which are the initial documents, huge bundle of documents, which have to be amassed to prove that we, our home and everything about us makes us good candidates to adopt again.  Our next step will be to send our I600a documents and fees to USCIS, the department of Immigration.  We need to do that ASAP since they seem to be taking a bit longer than usual to review and approve.  

Thank you in advance for following along! 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to You and Yours

Merry Christmas to You and Yours 

I know, it's early, but with a house full of children, and a mother who loves to decorate, we've begun turning our home into a Christmas Wonder Land.  Although that's wonderful and much fun, it's also a little sad thinking of the children which cannot enjoy as much as ours will.  I guess it's all a matter of perspective really.

 

Inasmuch my heart is turned toward the children I visited, and fell in love with, two years ago.  Sierra Leone is far from a Winter Wonder Land, it's sweltering heat and lots of rain. The children subsist on rice and occasional chicken.  They haven't much and what they do have is shared among all that live at the orphanage.  But, they sing and dance  and smile the biggest smiles.  They are a blessing to behold! Being with them, spending time with them, helped me better realize just how prosperous we are as a nation and how much we take for granted.

 

This year, rather than purchase more for our children who lack nothing, we are going to take a little extra and bless those who truly need it.  Won't you join us in donating to the Children's Christmas Fund for Mama Mayila's Cradle? This isn't a large organization which has multiple churches competing to see who can raise the most funds.  This is a small nonprofit that has individuals like me routing for it because I have held these children, loved on them and know them by name.  I talk to them and have watched them grow.  They are orphans of the Ebola Plague which unlike many in their country have a safe roof over their heads, someone to feed them and school to attend.  This is all provided by people like you and me with private donations.

 

You can contribute to by sending funds via paypal and annotating “Christmas Fund” in the “Add a Note” section. The email to use for paypal is contact@hope4ebolaorphans.org or https://www.paypal.me/Hope4EbolaOrphans or by credit card: http://bit.ly/ChristmasAngelTree

 

What we plan to purchase with the money is something they want, something they need, something the wear and something to read.  Believe it or not, all that would only cost about $20-$30 dollars US.  Can you help us?  Will help us? Your gift would be much appreciated.   

 

Merry Christmas with Love