We're Packed!

As you can see, all our bags are packed - 11 pieces of luggage and counting - I think only six will need to be checked. I don't think there is such a thing as "traveling light" when you're going to another country to adopt a child. You feel like you have to be prepared for every eventuality.

The excitement is building as we prepare to meet our youngest daughter again. We'll be heading out of town at 3 AM tomorrow - thank you, Amiee, for your early-morning dedication to get us to the airport bright and early. By 7 PM Pacific time (9 PM in Bogota) on the 15th, we'll be on the ground in Colombia. Hopefully we'll get a good night's sleep tonight so we'll be well-rested for our travel day. Or ... maybe we'll get some sleep on the plane.

Updated Photo

Here is a more recent photo we received of Yamile in July. She already looks so much older. We can't wait to be with her! (Aurora and Gonzalo, can you believe how grown up she looks?!!)

We're going to Colombia!!

For those of you who haven't heard, we've got a travel date to go to Colombia! We will be united as a family on August 18th, almost a full week before Yamile's birthday. We appreciate your prayers on our behalf. In fact, the day we found out when we'd get to be with Yamile, Lenna and I had just prayed that the Lord would allow us to travel on or before August 20th. The Lord answered our prayer in an amazing way!

We have now made our travel reservations - we'll be leaving the US on August 15th and arriving in Bogota that evening. After two nights in Bogota we'll fly to Neiva and then get Yamile the next day.

Our year-long process, which has felt like a slow but determined march toward a final destination, now feels like a mad dash to the finish. So little time and so many loose ends to tie up. Stay tuned for more details as our adventure continues.

I-800 Application Going in today!

Just this morning, via email, we received our referral documents translated to English, which allows us to send in our I-800 application. This is the last major bureaucratic step before we can plan to travel to pick up Yamile. This approval can take anywhere from two to four weeks; we've been told it's taking about three weeks right now. (We can pray that it goes faster!)

Once the approval comes, we could travel as soon as two weeks after that. That would get us to Colombia before Yamile's tenth birthday - a goal we've been shooting for.

Heading up to this translation of documents, this week we received copies the referral materials in Spanish. They included a couple more recent photos of Yamile - she is so pretty! (Of course, I'm not biased or anything.) And she looks older (imagine that!). Sometimes you get caught up in a "time warp" kind of thing and keep imagining she is the same as she was when we met her last August. But she keeps growing up. All the more reason for us to get to Colombia ASAP and have her in her forever family here in Fallon.

Another Step in the Process

We found out on July 2nd that our "contact" on the ground in Colombia has now received Yamile's referral paperwork so she can begin translating it into English now. This information is critical - until we have it we can't apply for our I800. And we know the I800 takes probably four weeks to process. We're hoping the translation will be done by July 9th so we can keep moving forward. Yamile's birthday is August 24th and we'd sure like to be there to celebrate it with her!

We are now pulling items together for a care package for Yamile. We've been given the go-ahead to get the package ready. We'll be putting together a DVD that she can view about her new home and family. Lenna's already made a photo album for her as well. We'll probably send her a couple small stuffed animals and some clothes. And Rebecca (and the rest of us) is getting her room set up to be shared with a sister.

Every little thing we do now makes the adoption that much more tangible as the "Gotcha" day comes closer.

Learning Spanish

Well, it's been a month since I wrote anything. During that time we've been extremely busy. We decided that the four of us would take a semester of college Spanish in a five-week period during the summer. That meant driving to Reno four nights a week, sitting in class for two and a half hours, and driving home. Tack that on to whatever else we were doing each day, and it doesn't leave much time for anything else.

The class only had eleven students, so we got pretty comfortable with each other during the class. Believe it or not, our instructor was adopted from Colombia when she was 16 months old. She was a great encouragement to us throughout the class and we appreciated her work in helping us pick up the language.

Spanish class ended on July 1st - and it appears that all the Starks received A's for the class. I think it's provided us a great foundation for talking with Yamile and for our time in Colombia.

Because of where we are in the adoption process, we think we're going to "pass" on the second semester (and another five weeks of busy life) of Spanish. We'll continue to work on the language on our own and our girls are very motivated to continue on officially and receive more college credit. We need to use our time to continue our adoption preparation.

Already? - APPROVAL!!!!

We got the call today from our adoption agency while I was home for lunch with Lenna. Only 15 days after receiving our completed and translated dossier, ICBF (the government agency in Colombia that oversees the protection of children) approved us for the adoption of Yamile! We were told this approval could take 1-3 months! Needless to say, we were excited to receive the call - I had goosebumps all over.

Lenna and I were able to hear the news together and had wide smiles on our faces. We immediately told Rebecca, and then the three of us proceeded to Subway to tell Annalisa while she was working. We had a mini-celebration right there in the restaurant, even splurging for some warm cookies.

Now it feels like things may actually start rolling along. The next step is to await the official referral from ICBF. We've been told that may take 2-3 weeks. Once we receive it, we will need to apply with U.S. Immigration (USCIS) for an I800. This takes about 3-4 weeks to process. Following that, we will then establish a travel date, go to the Colombian embassy in San Francisco for a visa that allows us to conduct business in Colombia, and prepare for our trip. If it all goes quickly, we may be traveling as soon as early August. With Yamile's birthday on August 24th, we have a strong chance to celebrate her 10th birthday with her. The Lord has great timing!

So ... the countdown begins (continues?).

New Friends in Atlanta

Well, it's certainly been a while since we posted anything. We've had the pleasure of making some new friends in Atlanta. A couple weeks ago we contacted a couple who had adopted from the same region (Huila) in Colombia where we will be adopting from. Furthermore, the girl they adopted actually is from the same city (La Plata) as Yamile.

We thought we'd give them a quick call, knowing it was 8:30 in the evening where they live. We ended up hanging up the phone nearly 4 hours later. Thank you, Leon and Jan, for giving us your time that way and sharing your adoption stories with us. It has helped to paint the picture of what Neiva will be like and has given us an understanding of some of the challenges, surprises, and celebrations we will encounter once we're home with our daughter.

As it turns out, their daughter looked at the picture of Yamile on the blog and says she remembers her! It's a small world, which is under God's sovereignty.