Still Waiting

We still don't have any word on our 171H. I spoke to Carolyn at Senator Hutchinson's office today and their congressional liaison has contacted the SA USCIS office but has not been able to make contact with them. Carolyn thinks it might be Monday that we hear something. Carolyn did go on to say that she made a phone call to Officer Torres' boss who happens to be an old, personal friend of Carolyn's. Apparently Carolyn has 3 families right now with time sensitive issues and they all are being held up by one person at the SA USCIS office. Hmmm....

When I spoke to Carolyn yesterday I reiterated that Torres will tell them our home study was incomplete but assured her it wasn't. I told her one of the issues Torres has with our home study is that our recommendation from our social worker did not state what nationality we are approved for. Carolyn's words were, "What the heck does nationality matter?" I told her that it clearly states on our application that we are going to Russia so wouldn't common sense tell you the nationality of the child would be Russian? I mean we aren't going to Russia to adopt a Korean baby!! The people at the Senator's office are truly shaking their heads on this one.

Onto the good news for the day...my visa arrived today and my name is spelled right and there are no errors on it. This time I only paid for 6-10 business days which only costs $131 and they got it back to me within 6 business day. Hopefully we'll be able to travel as scheduled and I won't have to waste that visa and apply for a new one.

And for the super good news of the day...after finding out about the Robeez Heart and Sole program from Carrie and Michael's blog, I contacted Robeez to see if they would donate some shoes for Artem's baby home and I found out today I got approved! Twenty brand new pairs of Robeez are on their way to our house for us to take along on trip 3 and give to the baby home. The Robeez rep got our credit card information today to charge us for shipping and she said it should be about $15. What a small price to pay for twenty brand new pairs of shoes for the children. I'm so excited to take these shoes to the children. For all of you that have purchased Robeez shoes, you can take comfort in the fact that this company truly has a heart for charity and takes care of these babies in need.

Finally, I really appreciate all the emails, phone calls, prayers, and support during our battle with the USCIS office. I have tried to stay calm about everything and remind myself that everything happens for a reason. I have begged God this week, been mad at Him this week, and have taken comfort in Him this week. Randy and I have a peace about this situation and we know that all things happen for a reason and even though we don't understand that reasoning right now and we want everything to go our way NOW, we know God's plan for our family will be revealed the way it is meant to be.