FINALLY HOME!!

We are so happy to finally be home as a family!  Thank you all for your support and prayers!  We still have several t-shirts to sell, as we are $9,000 over on our adoption costs:(  So let me know if your interested and I'll get you a good deal!

One Less Orphan In the World

     After 2 hours of court the Judge said, "and Diana will have a new birth certificate.  Her mother will be named Lisa Rene Scharosch and her father will be named John David Scharosch and she will be called Macy Diana Scharosch".  Please listen to our new song...it's all we hoped and prayed for.

Finally Got a Court Date!

Macy will legally be ours on June 15 when we go to court in Kharkiv.  In the Ukraine there is a law that we must wait 10 days before we are allowed to take her out of the orphanage.  So we will be able to pick her up on July 26th.  After that, we will take a train to Kiev for her physical and then the last step of our appointment with the American Embassy.  THEN we will be allowed to come home! 

Latest Ukraine Information

Today we met Macy's mother, sister (who looks just like her) and grandmother.  It was the first time Macy's mother has been to the orphanage.  We understand their desire to receive information as Macy grows up and have promised to do so.  They are happy that she will have a family, be cared for and have an education.  After they left, we enjoyed taking Macy to a park.  She is starting to like car rides and we are getting to know each other.  She likes to copy the actions of songs I'm teaching her like 'The wheels on the Bus' and 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'.  It's been a few years since I've used that part of my brain, but it seems to be coming back:)  

 

We are hoping to go to court to finish the legal paperwork tomorrow and then hear how many days we need to wait until we can bring Macy home.  She got her picture taken for her passport on Friday.  The Nanny at the orphanage had her all dressed up.  She was singing and smiling, but not really holding still so below is the picture that we had to go with. She looks like a little doll.

  We are hoping to have some good news to share on Monday.  Thank you all for your prayers...we can feel them.

Mixed Blessings...

     We went to the orphanage to visit Macy today and were taken to another building.  When we arrived Macy's grandmother was there to meet us.  She was sad and surprised, as she had just learned of our adopting Macy and never thought that anyone would choose to adopt her, because of the Down Syndrome.  She is happy for Macy to have a family, but wishes that she could have raised her.  Macy's father and paternal grandparents were the ones who insisted on placing Macy in the orphanage.  Macy was confused and not wanting to show her grandma the photo album and didn't calm down until after her grandmother left.  We were glad to get to meet her and tell her that Macy would be loved by many and have all she needed to live a full life.  This helped the grandmother to say goodbye.  It was an emotional day.
     Also, Yulia called from Kiev and when she tried to turn in the paperwork they told her that there was yet another "new form" that must be turned in also.  We went back to the notary and sent the form on a bus going to Kiev where Yulia will pick it up in the morning and try again.  Meanwhile, we are finishing up more papers and speaking with people who can get our court date set.  Yulia is hoping for Friday now with the paperwork delay.
     We are so ready to come home and keep praying that God has this mess worked out, as it seems like there is no end in sight!  We continue to see ways He is blessing our trip and will continue to rely on the fact that God knows the best path for us to take.  

We Found Our Little Ukrainian Princess!!!

John and I are here in the Ukraine working through the adoption paperwork.  We started in Kiev and took a train to Kharkiv (east of Kiev), where the child we chose to visit, as a result of our appointment with the SDA, lives.  Diana is in an orphanage in a wooded area and is blessed with many trees and flowers at the orphanage.  Also, she is loved by all the staff, as she is their delight.  Diana just turned 4 years old, has Down Syndrome and is very healthy.  She sings and speaks, although we can't understand her of course.  On our second visit with her I used the sign for "more" when she wanted me to push her again on the swing.  When she wanted another push, she looked at me and signed "more"!  She is so smart!  We are working through the paperwork as fast as possible and are hoping to return home in 1 to 2 weeks.  Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

TRUST IS A FUNNY THING....

I find it much easier to trust in "God's plan" when His is aligning with mine!  When I can't see God's hands I need to remember to trust his heart.

Each time we turn in more forms we hope it's the last time and we will get our date to travel next.  But yet again, we were told we needed to update forms again!  Our forms are actually 6 months old now, the Ukraine likes to have several updated at the half way mark.  Most of them were easy enough to redo, drive to Salem to apostille and then up to Vancouver to drop them off at our agency.  A few of the forms are going to be difficult to get and I'm trying to work on that.  The good news is that because our forms only are good for one year, we are supposed to be moved up to the top on the "pile" once we submit our updates.

I was trying to fall asleep the other night and a poem that I learned in high school came to mind.  It's a very famous poem by Robert Frost called "The Road Not Taken" and it ends:  

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.  

Looking back in high school I could not imagine how my son would have been born with Down Syndrome and how I would grow to love him and this path that God put us on so much that I would want to travel it again with another child who needs a mother.  I know I'm not the only one on this path, as I follow several families who are adopting children with DS in the Ukraine and Russia.  One family particularly is facing a huge roadblock as the judge denied their adoption of a little boy with DS on the opinion that he is "not socially adaptable" and "would be better off in an institution instead of with a family".  They have appealed to the Russian Supreme Courts and are fighting the ruling.  If you'd like to follow this Alabama family go to:  http://oureyesopened.blogspot.com/2011/03/kirills-story.html   

Trusting God is a moment by moment choice for me at this point on our path, but I will continue choosing to trust in Him.  

I will say of the Lord, 

"He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

Psalm 91:2