Update

Our Financial Plan to fund Larkins Family Adoption has been accepted by our caseworker, Irina. She said that she still needs to run it by the director, but thought it was really well thought out and planned. Since it took me about a month to put it all together, it was really well thought out!

We are still waiting to hear back from Wal-Mart about the part-time job for Chris. Apparently, they need to contact someone higher up in Human Services to 'drop' his name in the system from Tier 2 to Tier 1 so the management at the Sugarland store can call him in for interviews and hire him! Gotta love this technology....

Liz and I had a booth at a craft fair in the Heights last week and we did really well. Other than about 10 minutes of sprinkling rain (covered the stuff with tarps), it was a good day. We are going to be at the First United Methodist Church in Missouri City on Saturday, November 14. They have had a craft fair/festival for quite a few years now, and we are praying for a great success. Most of the vendors are selling jewelry, and our items are rather unique and we didn't see anyone last year that had stuff close to what we make. The lady that I talked with about the booth, was really excited to hear that we have baby & children's stuff. I have lots more blankets to make before the craft fair on November 14!

I have made baked goods for several people at school and will make a Chocolate Marble Cheesecake this week for our cafeteria manager.

We sold my car on October 5!!! Yeah!!! That money went straight to the savings account (Adoption Fund). Now we just need about $38,000 more......

I am working on a grant application right now; need to find papers that I thought I knew where they were filed...

Our Wish List with Wal-Mart is basically complete. Check it out sometime! I think we picked out really cute stuff for the kiddos bedroom & bathroom. Not too much out there is not gender specific! You can find it at the store or on-line under Wish List and both my name & Chris' is listed.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us and our children as we go through this process of adoption.

Still planning, working, etc

We are still working on paperwork! It never seems to end! I haven't finished our written financial plan for Buckner yet (I am still waiting to here that Chris got the part time job at Wal-Mart - it's been a month and he has been assured that they want to hire him, they just haven't called him in for the interviews & finalization yet!!). Please continue to pray for this situation. We really need this second income for Chris to go towards the adoption expenses.

I have been working on a Wish List at Wal-Mart. I think most of the things we need for the kiddos is listed. It is a work in progress (like the adoption!). You can access it through my name or Chris' name. It is registered as a Wish List, not a registry. I put our anniversary next year as the 'event date' for lack of a better date. It will change as we get closer to bringing our children home.

I talked with Donita Potts a few weeks ago and got some great ideas for fundraising! I was originally told that they fundraised both of their adoptions. Apparently that is not the case. She said that they fundraised the first adoption 100% through donations & activities. The second adoption was a gift from God. They prayed and said "God, if you want these children to join our family, you will provide the money". They didn't do any fundraising at all!! Just goes to show how great God is and how He provides for His children.

I heard from Amy Norton, a friend of our pastor's wife, and got some suggestions for agencies that we can contact about financial assistance (scholarships, grants, etc). I will be working on that this week.

Please continue to pray for us: stress levels are lowered (especially for me), we get clear direction on fundraising ideas, our children as they wait for us.

On a side note, my sister and I will be participating in a craft show at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in the Heights area here in Houston on Saturday, October 3. Feel free to stop by if you are in the area. Money from the items that I make goes toward our adoption expenses. Also, I make homemade goodies (desserts, enchiladas, lasagnas, etc) and the money from that also goes towards our adoption expenses. So if you don't bake or cook ......

Oh, the car is still for sale if you know someone who is looking.....

Life is settling down...

Okay, life is finally settling back to 'normal'. School has been in session for a week and a day and we can get back to doing what we need to in regards to bringing our children home. We have been given the phone number of a family that fundraised 100% of two separate adoptions from Russia, both of them being sibling groups. I called and left a message this afternoon to get ideas and talk with them about their experiences. I am looking forward to getting some great ideas!

On another note, we have decided to put my car up for sale and use the Dodge minivan God gave us back in May. It is an older model than my car, but will hold more people and stuff. If you know anyone who would be interested in a 2000 Chevrolet Prizm, let me know (rlarkins@pdq.net).

Please continue to pray for our children and their caregivers, our fundraising and the paperwork that we need to complete. Right now, we need $680 for Buckner (Home Study part 2), $750 for US Immigration, $160 for fingerprinting, $3,500 for Buckner (Agency fee part 1). Overall, we estimate that we will need $40,000 before we can send our Dossier to Russia (that includes all fees and travel & hotels/meals/etc in Russia)

We are OFFICIAL!!

I got THE PHONE CALL today around 1:45 this afternoon from Joy, our Home Study social worker informing us that we are Officially Approved to Adopt up to 2 siblings from Russia!!!

After some crying, writing information down and trying not to break down, I called Chris at work to tell him the GREAT NEWS!! Since he could tell I was (or at least had been) crying, he thought something was wrong, but was excited once I told him about Joy's phone call.

We have been waiting and praying for this day for about a year and God has been faithful. We really appreciate all of our family and friends that have been praying with and for us during this time. Please, Please continue to pray for and with us as we begin the next step.

From here, we need to submit a written financial plan (just saying that God will provide isn't good enough) for financing this adoption process. We estimate that we will need about $40,000 by the time we are ready to go pick up our children. Yes, that is a huge amount of money! And no, we are not exactly sure where it will come from. The nice thing about Buckner is that you pay as you go. If you don't have the funds for the next step, you wait until you do. The down side is that most of the paperwork that we will need to complete is time sensitive. So, we need to have as much of the money as possible (or all of it) collected before we begin the Dossier paperwork. Once we send the Dossier to Russia, it could be as quick as 4-6 weeks to get the referral from Russia. Apparently the referral process is not as long as we had originally been told!!

Right now, we need about $7,000 to start the next step: submitting the USCIS (immigration) form and get fingerprinted, paying the first half of Buckner's agency fee and several other miscellaneous fees. Now that our Home Study is complete, we can start applying for grants with various organizations (unfortunately most of them prefer stay-at-home, homeschooling moms).

Anyway, we are really excited!

Please continue to pray for our children and their current caregivers; our financial situation; school (starts on Monday and I am NOT ready yet); we have patience during the rest of this process.

Post Office Issues

Okay, I am really frustrated with the United States Post Office. The envelope (with the last of our Home Study papers) that I sent out on August 6, 2009 (at 10:10 am) has not arrived at Buckner's office and the online tracking system has not updated since the envelope was 'accepted' at the Richmond Post Office. Yesterday I sent out copies (made from the copies I kept before sending the originals on the 6th) via Fed Ex Priority Overnight. When I checked their online tracking system this morning, it showed that the envelope was delivered at 8:35 am to Buckner.

Let this be a lesson to me (and anyone else who has to send papers in the mail) to NOT use the Post Office and send EVERYTHING via Fed Ex. It does get expensive, but it is SOOO worth it!!! (It also helps that Chris' stepfather is letting us use his account!)

Now, we get to wait some more, but at least I know the papers are at Buckner!

Please continue to pray for us during this time as we wait for our Official Approval.

Papers are in the mail

I sent out the last of the papers this morning! Yeah!! I even paid to send the envelope via certified, return receipt. Don't want them to get lost or misplaced! I email our social worker (Joy) last night to let her know that they were going out today and she said that she would get back to us in the next week or two. It is going to be a very loooong week or two! At least I go back to school (in-services for the first 6 days) next Wednesday. I am really praying that we hear that we are "Officially Approved" before my birthday (August 25). That would be the Bestest Gift Ever!

Please continue to pray for us as we wait during these next 2 weeks (or so). Also keep the Wal-Mart job for Chris in your prayers (haven't heard from them yet for the interviews). We know the next set of fees to pay are: travel for Joy to visit the house ($117) and the second half of the Home Study ($500).

Required Reading is Done!!!! (for now)

I have finally finished reading the last book! I have written my report; put it in the envelope with the rest of the papers; typed, printed and signed the cover letter; and put the cover letter in the envelope. Tomorrow, I will make copies of all the papers and mail the envelope to Buckner. YEAH!!!! This is a huge weight off my shoulders. Now we just get to wait, pray and wait some more.

Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we wait. Also keep our finances in your prayers. Chris has applied for a part-time job with Wal-Mart to help with our finances, but hasn't heard anything from them yet.