Tortoise and Hare

Hello All -

Here it is, the post you've been waiting for . . .  We have travel dates and court appointments!  We heard on Friday that our Latvian attorney Daina let us know that we'd probably hear very soon from the  Children's Ministry, and then on Sunday night we got an email including our Referral from them!  So on Tuesday we talked to our agency head, Barbara, and she told us it would probably be another month before we received a court date, and travel dates.  Then THIS MORNING we received our court date and travel dates!!  Wow, we went from going as slow as the tortoise, to going as fast as the hare!  I can hardly believe this is finally actually going to happen!  Our travel date is September 14, and our first court date is September 16 (my sister's birthday!).  So now we have flight and lodging reservations to make, and we're so excited!  Yesterday we we made our weekly phone call to Vita, she sounded so happy, but we only knew then that it might be in September.  Just at the end of the conversation she said "I love you!"

So, now it's going to be a lot of planning, packing, etc.  So glad we hadn't really made any big plans for the weekend!    Thank you again everyone, for caring, and for praying.  One really cool thing that was written about Vita in the referral document is that she loves singing, reciting poetry, and drama.  For those of you who've known Mike & I for a while, you can see this is really amazing, so similar to both of us!  But nothing is too difficult for God . . . He's the Matchmaker here  ;-).

Voice Recognition

                        I have some good news to share today - we finally got to talk to Vita!
     Our translated dossier was received at the Latvian Children's Ministry and we are now permitted to contact her.  Our first attempts found her unavailable, but when we finally caught up to her, it was so great to hear her voice!  We were able to explain that we've been working through a long process and following the rules, and that we are working to adopt her and waiting now for the Children's Ministry to contact us to set up our appointment for our first trip.  We understand that we will be required to stay for approximately two to three weeks, but then be able to bring her home with us for "hosting" and then have to bring her back for two more visits/court appointments.  After trying to communicate all that we could she was quiet so I asked "Are you happy?!"  She replied excitedly "Yes, yes, yes!!"  She also responded very happily when we mentioned each of our family members & pets.  I'm just so struck by the sound of her voice - it's definitely our girl!  (Isn't it cool that God made us each with such a unique voice that it can be distinctly recognized?!)  One thing she told us is that she looks at her photo album from her time with us in Dec./Jan EVERY night, so I was very happy to hear that!
     Now we are waiting to hear from the Latvian Children's Ministry so we hope that will be coming up soon!  Thanks to all of you who remember to pray for Vita.  Only The Lord knows what goes on for her each day, so we ask Him to continue to protect her and keep her encouraged!  💌