We wait, we wait, we wait.....

Hello to all! We hope this long and overdue post has found you all doing well and enjoying 2009. It's been awhile since our last post, frankly because there hasn't been much to say! We are still waiting! And it looks like we will be waiting some more. We had a conference call last week with Gladney on some things that are occurring. First, some of our paperwork has expired during this process, so we are currently updating things like fingerprints, medical work and our homestudy. Not a big deal and it's kind of nice to be doing "something" again. Second, on the conference call Gladney discussed the current situation in Russia and how that is affecting adoptions. We will try to explain it as easy as possible: 1) Two years ago, Russia closed down international adoptions and required all agencies to get re-accredited. Since there were no international adoptions occuring, Russia opened up orphanages within the country and Russian citizens began adopting. So, when agencies began to get reaccredited again, it's not like there was a ton of children waiting because they weren't begin adopted - there was actually less. 2) So, with that being said Gladney is no longer taking any new applicants to the Russia program. 3) They will continue to work with the 40 families who are currently in the process 4) They have told us not to expect to get referrals for children under the age of 2 and probably with more developmental/health issues. So, where does that leave us? We continue to wait, keep our paperwork updated and PRAY PRAY PRAY. We have known from the time we began the process that it was going to be a long and trying one and it was all going to happen in God's time. Even though we may think we have a plan, we know in reality He has THE plan for us. So, we look at it as His way to make sure that we are ready, it is the right time, we are able to save the remainder of the money that we need to complete the adoption (THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED US WITH YOUR "CONTRIBUTION" - it means more to us than you will EVER know) and we use this time to become the best parents we can for our Russian angel. All we ask from our friends and family is to keep us in your prayers and continue giving us the love and support that you have from the beginning of our journey. As we have said many times, we wouldn't be able to do this without all of you and are so grateful for the love that our child will one day receive from you. We love you all!