I-800 Received!

I know it's been quite a while since we posted anything, so here's the latest. We received our I-800 approval in the mail the week of March 4th (the actual I-800 approval date was March 1st).  Since then, there's been a lot of waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting - for a travel date.  Lenna worked feverishly to put other paperwork together so we could get our visas from the Colombian consulate, but we can't send for those until we get the travel date.

As we've waited we have put together a "care package" for Laura and sent it off to her.  Among other things, the package included a Fallon Greenwave t-shirt, two photo albums of our family and friends, a camera for her to take pictures of her friends, a DVD of our family and home, some candy and art supplies for her foster family, and some letters we wrote for her.  We sent that off and Martha, our "on-the-ground" person in Bogota, received it within a couple days.  She translated the letters for us and then sent it off to the Huila region (where Laura lives).

(Let's call this next paragraph the "delay paragraph", shall we?) In God's providence, it turns out there was a strike in the Huila region, which shut down all the roadways within the region.  Therefore, the care package was delayed, which delayed the delivery of some visa photos of Laura that were needed in Bogota.  These delays have resulted in our travel to Colombia being delayed until everything is delivered.  While we hoped to travel in March, it's probably going to be mid-April before we get to go.  We know this is the Lord's timing and He's helping us grow in the area of patience.  We also know this means we will still be here for Rebecca's 17th birthday on April 4th, and we are very excited about that!

Also, beginning in February, we were able to re-connect with Laura via video chat.  We hadn't had any communication with her since November, so that was a welcome opportunity.  We still are not allowed to mention the adoption to her, so the video chats result in a lot of small talk, but we get to see her smiling face and she even tries to speak a little English to us.  Back in September, in an earlier video chat, she had asked if we would be coming to Colombia any time soon.  I told her we planned to, probably in six months or so, and she was very excited about that.  When we chatted with her again about a week ago, she asked when we'd be coming to Colombia.  I told her that we don't know for sure.  We think she knows we will be adopting her, but we can't talk about it.  Talk about dancing around the elephant in the room!  One of these days, soon, she will be receiving the care package and then we can talk about adoption.

So, that's the update for now.  We appreciate your prayers - for patience for us, that we would trust in the Lord's timing rather than our own, for Laura's preparation for adoption and the transition that it involves, for us as we prepare to travel, and for our transition to having a new, Spanish-speaking teenager in our home.