Adoption update - Court, EPs, and Travel Requirements

I decided it was time I do an adoption update on here. I know this is where so many of our friends and family come to read the latest on where we are in the process. And unfortunately, there have been few updates because there has been little to no news.

However, last week, news started trickling in that courts were actually setting some court dates for a few of the families that have were submitted to court earlier in the year.

Let me back up just a little bit and review the steps of the process with you. After you are matched with a referral, you are put in a really long of families who are waiting to bring their babies home. Our ATK (Acceptance to Korea) date, or the date we were placed in this long line, is December 7, 2012. This is the big important date that we go by in this process. Ok, the next steps in the process are EP (emigration permission) submission, EP approval, court submission, court approval (this is the newly added step), visa issuance, then TRAVEL!

There were a group of families submitted to court earlier this year....and then we heard pretty much nothing for about 3 months. Then finally, last week the courts began to set a few court dates for families. The court dates are set for late May. Now, granted, these families accepted referrals in late 2011, so a whole year ahead of us. But, nonetheless, we are thankful to see some movement within the courts! Our agency tells us that since these are the first cases of international adoption to go through the courts in Korea, that the judges have just taken this time to familiarize themselves with the process, learn what all of the documentation means, and make certain all cases of relinquishment have been/are ethical and legal in all aspects. That's where the hold-up has been.

Then, yesterday, more good news came rolling in. Each year the Korean government sets a quota, or a limit, on the number of EP's they will approve each year. Yesterday, we received news that MOHW (Ministry of Health and Welfare) released the 2013 quota! They also announced that they are getting ready to accept the first batch of cases for 2013 to review and issue EPs! Praise The Lord! The families that have been notified that their case will be submitted in the first batch include ATKs from Dec 2011 to early March 2012 (remember we are Dec 2012). So actually a pretty big group for the first batch! We never thought it would take this long to get the ball rolling in 2013, so we welcomed this news with much excitement! The group is expected to be submitted for EP in early May, then approval should happen within the month. Then, as stated above, the families will be submitted to court. That's where all of the big unknowns lie, but speculation is that the judges will have it down to more of a process, and that they will issue court approvals in a more timely manner. This is our prayer.

What does this mean for our time frame? We still have no clue. The movement we learned of yesterday is very encouraging, but until the courts show some consistency with how quickly they will issue approvals in the future, there is no way to predict. Unless things speed up drastically (which we are praying they do!), I really can't see us traveling before next Spring or Summer. But you never know. Our God is bigger than timelines and predictions and fear. And we are praying for big things.

Speaking of travel, as of right now, there is still the possibility of us having to either make one really long trip (3+ weeks) or two shorter trips about 2 weeks apart. That isn't for certain yet, but a big possibility. If that IS required of us, this is how that could play out. Once our case is submitted to court, and birth mother relinquishment is confirmed, the judge will issue us a court date. We will fly to Korea to meet Lennox, his foster family, and appear in court. Within a few days the judge will make a ruling on our case. If all is well and it is approved, a 14 day grace period begins. This period is standard for all court cases, not just adoption, and is something the judges are not considering waiving right now. At this point, there are two possible scenarios.

One, Brent could fly home to wait out the 14 day grace period, so that he could work and take care of the boys (with the help of grandparents, of course :) ), while I stayed in Korea during this time to visit with Lennox. After the 14 days (calendar days, not business days) have passed, Brent will fly back to Korea, they will issue Lennox a visa (this will take a few days), and we will be free to bring him home

Scenario two, Brent and I would both fly home to wait out the 14 days, then both fly back to bring him home.

So, there you have it. I didn't intend for this post to be so drawn out, but I wanted to cover what I could while I was here updating. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and learning more about our journey, and thank you for praying.

And as a fellow adoptive mom wrote this morning...

May compassion and diligence be in the judges’ hearts and minds...
May the hands of the judges work swiftly and fluidly...
May we see many children find their forever families and homes. 

The Creek

We had a great time Saturday riding the four wheeler and gator on my dad's land! We rode down trails, did a little hiking, and even made our way down the most beautiful rock bottom creek I've ever seen in south Arkansas! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

10 Month Care Package

I mailed Lennox his 10 month care package last week! Hopefully we will get pictures of him with it next week sometime. As always, we had fun gathering a few items to send over to our boy. I love being able to feel like I'm helping take care of him, even if I'm thousands of miles away.

After reading that he loves the snacks we've been sending, we were sure to include plenty of puffs and yogurt melts. Don't want that boy to be hungry - and by the looks of those cheeks - he likes to eat! :) We also sent over a pair of jeans and a few shirts that Beckett helped pick out, the Korean flag that Brody drew, pajamas and a puzzle board that didn't fit in the last package, a cute little scrapbook that Aunt Tara made with pictures of our family and house, and (not pictured) a really cute little soft taxi car toy (his foster dads owns a taxi service in Seoul). Levi helped me pack it all in, and we sent it on its way!

A camping we will go...

What a great weekend we had.The forecast called for beautiful weather, and since Brent had to work a little Saturday, Mom and I planned on taking the kiddos to the lake. The water, of course, was too chilly to swim in, but they kept busy playing in the sand, catching minnows, burying each other neck deep, and just running free!

This sweet baby wasn't a fan of the sand for some reason, but he was perfectly content perched in this chair or playing in the grass behind the beach. He will get used to it, I am sure!

Mom is always our grill master, and we enjoyed yummy grilled hotdogs for lunch!

Yum!

We took a drive through the campground just for fun, and got the itch to set up our tent and spend the night. Mom and I are always up for an impromptu adventure, and of course the kids were on board! We drove home (perfect timing for kids to nap while we drove), packed up our tent and a few other quick supplies, left Levi with Brent for the night (I was afraid it would be too cool for him during the night), and headed back to the lake!

We quickly got our tent set up, got a fire blazing, and enjoyed the rest of our evening roasting wieners and sitting around the campfire telling stories and laughing.

I have SO many wonderful memories of camping at Lake Claiborne with my family. Sometimes we would stay in tents, and sometimes we would stay in my grandparents motor home. And the whole family was always there - cousins, aunts, uncles, friends - and we would ride bicycles, stay up late laughing and playing games, and spend our days playing in the sand and floating around in the water. I can close my eyes and imagine it just like it was yesterday.

And now I am taking my kids there. I love seeing them run up and down the same hills I rode my bike on, and it's so fun to see them playing in the same campsites where we always camped.

The kids loved sleeping in the tent, and surprisingly, I think everyone slept pretty good. It's so refreshing to wake up in the woods with nothing but the sound of birds chirping and fellow campers beginning to stir.

And I got some fabulous one on one time with my big boys. They are growing so big so fast, and something about camping seems to make time slow down for just a bit.

Brooke, Brody, and I took a little walk in the woods behind our tent on Sunday morning. It was so peaceful, with just the trees as my canopy and the fallen leaves as my floor. It was out there where I realized that I needed this little getaway more than I knew. I have been so consumed with Lennox's adoption lately, checking my email and the forums constantly, desperate for a little piece of good news assuring me that things are moving over there. There has not been one family travel this year to get their baby, and we are nearing mid-April. I have been feeling peace lately that good news is coming, but I'm just on edge waiting for it happen. Watching my baby boy grow older month after month, and feeling like we are no closer to getting him than we were the day we first saw his face, can be emotionally exhausting.

But being out there, with nothing but nature - no cell service, no internet - was so refreshing. So very much needed.

We were home by early Sunday afternoon, with sun-kissed faces, sandy toes, and hearts full of joy and fun memories.

This was our home away from home for the night, and you would have thought it was a castle as much fun as those boys had inside. Love being a mom to boys!

Our Journey to Financial Freedom

Brent wrote this post last week, as we prepared to make the very last payment on his student loan. The payment cleared yesterday, so I am so happy to finally share our Journey to Freedom :)

Written by Brent:

If you are reading this, old lady Sallie Mae has finally left our home forever.  She was the last one hanging on and keeping us from our freedom.  Now we have officially paid off all of our debt except our house.  We struggled about whether or not we should tell our debt free story or keep it to ourselves.  We decided that we should be proud of our accomplishments, and we know reading the stories in The Total Money Makeover kept us motivated. Our lives are not perfect and there are many situations in our lives that can and should be better.   

We started our journey over four years ago, not really knowing why, but knowing we needed to get out of debt.  We started out with debt on an SUV, truck, land, student loan, and credit card.  We used the Dave Ramsey snowball method to attack this debt.  The first step to the process was getting on the same page and creating a budget.  As we slowly paid off debt in the beginning, we felt as if we were not making any progress.  Once we would get one thing paid off, we would add that payment to something else, and debt would melt away a little faster.   We made the most progress when we finally realized that brand new cars are not necessary, they are just modes of transportation.  We traded in or sold our cars, and we found used ones that get us from point A to point B. Adding the car payments to the debt snowball jump started paying off the debt a lot faster.  Just to make things interesting, we decided to throw in a couple of kids and a few surgeries to pay for along the way. 

As we paid off debt, our lives changed together.  We are closer as a couple than when we started this journey.  As we accomplished this task together, it helped us communicate more.  Because of this process, Laura has been able quit work and stay at home with the kids.  There are numerous blessings that come with her being at home with the kids. It also allowed us to grow spiritually and changed our lives forever.  When money, or worry about money, does not consume your life, it allows other areas of your life to grow. 

We talked about not knowing why we started the process, but we know now.  There is a little guy in South Korea that never would have had a chance to grow up with three brothers without us getting out of debt.  Dave Ramsey always talks about changing your family tree financially.  Little did we know that part of our family tree would be a branch from South Korea.  It will still be months or even a year before Lennox will come home, but we will be ready to go get him when the time comes.

We did not accomplish these things alone.  God has blessed us throughout this journey in many different ways. Family members have helped us out whether they knew it or not.  If you mysteriously stopped getting Christmas presents, you were a blessing to us.  If you received a gift, they will eventually be nicer gifts.  Thank you to everyone that has helped us out with fundraisers for the adoption.  Thanks to your help, we were also able to pay for all of our adoption fees during this time.  Thank you to everyone that has encouraged us through the adoption process.   Thanks again and we are ready to start the next step in our lives being debt free.

Easter - Part 4

Finally wrapping up Easter! On Monday, the day after Easter, Tara and I took the kids to a city-wide egg hunt at the Arboretum.  It was pretty much just chaos...seemed like there were 900 kids there. Not ideal when I had the three kids by myself...I was in constant fear of losing someone. We stood in line to get a pic with the Easter bunny, but there was a huge line behind me, so I just snapped a quick picture and moved on. Poor Brody had the sun in his eyes, Levi wasn't worried about anything but that sucker in his mouth, and Beckett tried to smile, although I can tell he a bit uncomfortable beside that giant rabbit. Lol. Oh well. The kids probably had fun :)

Easter - Part 3

I just love Easter. Seeing all of the little boys and girls running around in their fancy clothes is just so sweet. I love celebrating our Risen Savior. I love the family, food, and fellowship. It's just a special time.

Levi and I didn't make it to Sunday school that morning...he had run a little fever the day before, and I wanted to make sure he was well before I brought him to church. Brent took Brody and Beckett on to Sunday school (I sure missed having my sweet little 2-3 year olds in SS Easter morning!), then Levi and I came to church.

We had a great Resurrection service, then proceeded on with our busy afternoon. We had lunch at my grandmothers, then on to my mom's for a few hours, then to Brent's parents for dinner! It was a stormy day, and the electricity was on and off, but we had fun anyway. The kids hunted eggs in my grandmother's living room and then it was piñata time on the front porch! At my moms, the storms had stopped, so the boys pulled on their rubber boots and tromped around outside in a stream for a few hours. They had a blast. Can't wait to get those pics from my moms camera! :) At my in-laws, the kids pretty much stayed outside until dinner time. Brody and Beckett wanted to target shoot (they are southern boys through and through...and I could've be any more proud), and Levi just wanted to go wherever his Poppy went.

They were all three worn completely out, so I'd say the day was a success! Praying we have another pair of little rubber boots to pack next year. And a dark headed little boy spending his first Easter with his forever family.