Jan 20th Court

I simply can not believe how fast time flies. Tomorrow marks a week since we had court for Gavin and Jazmine. Everything went smooth and almost everything was settled without anyone taking the stand, including me! We now have set visits instead of them changing from week to week or even day to day which is great for us. Gavin's surgery is now court ordered and will take place on Feb 9th. The morning before court I called the Dr and asked him to write a letter to the judge stating what he found and why he felt the surgery was necessary and he did it. One perk about knowing the Dr and living in a small town. The kiddos will remain in our home and our next court hearing with me March 29th at 2pm.

We received word from our agency last Friday that their Russian staff was working on our official referral and we should hear something by the end of the month. I found out through another agency that Smolensk isn't "closed" they just aren't giving out referrals until after the meeting that is suppose to be held tomorrow. They had some people change positions right before Christmas and before they start to process International adoptions again they want to hold a meeting with the Adoption Center and all the agencies that work in the region. After 2 lost referrals a meeting to get their ducks in a row sounds like a good plan to me. So we wait and hope to hear soon.

God is working. When we leave we can't just leave Gavin and Jazmine with any family, they need to be a licensed foster home. We have friends that only foster and don't have an adoption licenses. We wanted the kids there but they are only licenced for 2 kids and they had a placement so I was worried where they'd be placed. She called this past Sat and their little guy found his forever family so they have room for 2 and are going to take them while we travel. It gets better, they only live 1 mile from the daycare that they currently go to so that part of their life will stay normal. We plan to have their family over here a few times and also visit at their home so they aren't scared to stay there when the time comes.

Now just let us see updated pics and a medical so we can catch the 1st flight outta here!!