First of all, we received great news from our agency a couple of weeks ago! Russia’s president has signed the adoption treaty into effect and the Ministry of Education is ready to work with our international agency like normal! Praise God, we were so excited to receive this news!  That means, once all of our paperwork is in order, there shouldn’t be any delays outside of the normal waiting period.

Speaking of paperwork, we have finished all of our requirements for the home study.  We had our final two home study meetings in July.  On the 16th, our social worker came to the house for our home inspection, and we met her at the agency on the 18th for our final interviews.  Since then we’ve been playing the waiting game….waiting for the home study draft to be written, waiting for the office to do a file review and confirm they have everything they need. We should have the first draft of the home study in our hands any day now.  Once we confirm that everything is correct, the home study will be sent on to our international agency.  They will make sure it meets all of the requirements for Russia, and then we’ll be ready to send it along with our registration dossier to Russia to be translated and submitted to the MOE.  If all goes well, we could be headed to Russia for our first trip in the next 2 months!

In the meantime, we’re working hard on the financial end of things.  Chris has been designing some websites on the side, and even did some free lance work at one of our local rodeos.  He also won a small bonus at work in a competition between the sister TV stations! He received an Honorable Mention for Most Innovative Employee!

Fundraising has been a little slow lately, but as soon as the home study is finalized, we can start applying for grants.  We’re up to 28 puzzle pieces, which is awesome!!!

28 Pieces Sold!

To learn more about our Puzzle Fundraiser, CLICK HERE!