Almost Off!

You may have already heard that we got our dates! Anido is going to send the application for Sofie's passport in on July 18th and should receive it in about a week. They will then send off the application for Citizenship on the 24th-ish... which is when they suggest we come!!! They expect Citizenship and the Facilitation Visa to be approved within a week or two, so they suggested we stay for about 2 weeks.

Our Agency contact suggested we not leave to be there on the 24th but wait a week because she was worried that waiting for the Citizenship to be approved in Bulgaria would be cutting it too close for comfort. We've been desperately trying to decide between going for 10-14 days with out Livi or 3 weeks with her. Anido thinks it would be a little too stressful trying to stay in country with two little ones for too long. I've already contacted a travel agent and I think we have made the final decision!!!!

We are going to leave for Bulgaria on July 29th and return on August 9th with out Livi! The more we thought about it we really wanted to be as stress free as possible and have some precious alone time getting to know Sofie. Some of you also knew that we were thinking of stopping in Istanbul, Turkey before going to get Sofie as well, but we have decided not to do that either. Although it is Jon's dream to see the Hagia Sofia and it would only cost us about $1000 to add that on to our trip, he doesn't think it is the right time. We will be jet lagged and anxious to see Sofie. Hopefully we can make it over there one day with enough time to relax and enjoy it.

It is all but paid for. I have to go in to do that. Our flights are reserved! Jon and I will be heading in to the airport around 5:40pm ready for our flight to depart at 8:40pm on July 29! We have a 9 hour flight to London, a 9 hour lay over, then a 3 hour flight to Sofia, Bulgaria! We will be arriving at 3:45 am Sunday morning in Sofia. I'm assuming that is local Bulgarian time. They are 10 hours ahead of us.

I assume we will be taken directly to Plovdiv, an hour and a half out of Sofia, to where we will be staying for two days. We have been asked to spend time with Sofie in her environment for two days, which I am really happy about. I wasn't sure if we'd even be able to go see where she slept let alone where she spent her time. It will be hard meeting her then having to leave her in the orphanage for a night and seeing all the other kids, but I really think this will be good for us and help us catch up on our sleep before taking her to the hotel room! I'm hoping we get to meet her on the Sunday and then take her back to Sofia with us on the Monday, although they might prolong this until the Tuesday... I hope not.  We will spend the rest of our time with her in Sofia, bonding, sight seeing and finishing up some paperwork. We get on the 3.5 hour plane ride to London on Tuesday August 9th at 2:15pm, only have 1.5 hour layover before the 9.5 hour flight to Vancouver. We'll be arriving 6:40pm Tuesday, August 9th!

So, that is the latest! Those are our plans so far. I still have a list of 27 things to do yet before we go... I think I'm going to have to prioritize. Thank you for all your prayers and support. One last request is that you pray for the passport and visa to be issued promptly and smoothly. We are booking our travel before it is all actually done which is a little disconcerting. We decided that a little extra anxiety and prayer over paperwork was worth it to get Sofie out of the orphanage sooner. And of course pray for safe and smooth travels :)

2011 Vacation Pt. 2

We enjoyed one of the best vacations in recent memory and not just because we started it off with the most amazing news :) This week was the first time we really got to enjoy the property in Summerland for a substantial amount of time since Dad died. The first year the wound was still too raw and the second year we went up with friends and the weather was terrible. This year we went up alone, we were at peace and had pretty decent weather!

Within five minutes of getting to the lake, Livi was naked and in the water. 

She loved it so much there. She thought it was so funny that we encouraged her to pee in the lake! When she finally tried, she couldn't go for a few minutes... stage fright? When I asked her at the end of our trip what her favorite part of camping was, she answered "Peeing in the lake!"  That's my girl!

I bought sugary cereal from a box for her to carry on the tradition my mom started!

We camped at the property from Monday to Friday. Most of the time was pretty decent weather in the mid twenties with partial sun and clouds. I think next year we are going to try to go closer to August so we get the really hot weather. We stayed in the tent trailer so we had slightly better accommodations than tenting... although bed times still sucked for Livi! She finally fell asleep at 10pm the first night and 9:30pm all the other nights. Jon and I tried to sleep in the tiny bed together the first night but between the shortness of the mattress and the joints poking at me it was not a good fit. I took Livi's bed and Jon shared the other bed with Livi. We were all much more comfortable. It was good that Livi was sharing a bed with some one the last night because with the clear sky it was freezing cold!

The first full day we were there we ventured in to Penticton so Jon could peruse his favorite book store and we could all enjoy our favorite cafe, The Gypsy Dream Cafe. It is seriously delicious. We also spent some time at the camp site, on the dock, eating smores and watching Livi play catch with the dogs who live at the cabin! She really needs a dog one of these years :)

Livi LOVED the Baba Ganouj at The Dream Cafe... so did Mommy and Daddy!

Chillaxin' on the dock :)

The wind was making waves which was making the floating dock wobbly!

Never to young for chores!

Smores! Yummy! Livi actually didn't love the smores together. 

She'd rather eat the chocolate, marshmallow, cookie separate. 

Wednesday morning we went to visit Jon's Grandparents from his Dad's side. This visit was a colossal disappointment. I know I should be understanding and have grace because they are old and from a different era but honestly should that be an excuse for such inappropriate attitudes, responses, and beliefs? With out going in to too much detail, upon hearing that we legally have a second child and made them great-grandparents again they (mainly Jon's Grandma) did not give any congratulations but seemed to try and talk us out of it, said it was not worth it and too big a commitment, doted on Livi and said they only wanted more birth children from us. We only see them once a year but I am having a really hard time even entertaining the idea of seeing them again, let alone introducing them to Sofie. 

In order to salvage part of Wednesday, Livi and I went on a date to Summerland Sweets 

for ice cream and I got to do a fruit wine tasting. Fun!

Putting our feet up after a long day!

We always seem to get a family picture on the dock, and this year was no exception! 

This is the first family picture where there is legally four of us! 

Now if only we could just get the fourth one in the picture :)

My little angel... 

who may have gotten away with way too much while on vacation and wasn't quite an angel :)

Cuddling up with Daddy after getting cold in the water.

Ewww... Livi thought the dog "getting her wet" was so funny. 

She played with this girl every night for hours! 

Topless sunbathing!

Thursday was the warmest and sunniest day out of the week... so what do you do when you are at a private beach on a sunny day? Topless sunbathing of course! Livi and I also went exploring up the hill to the vineyard before nap time. After naps we all went in to Penticton again so Jon could make one last stop at the book store and I could do a little more window shopping. Then we went to the playground that is on the boardwalk. Livi had such a blast the entire week. I loved seeing how happy she was!

Monkeying around!

Friday morning we packed everything up and went for our annual brunch at Santorini's. We used to always go there as a family with Dad whenever we were there together. We have unconsciously continued the tradition. This trip was so wonderful for so many reasons. Jon had a much needed 4 hour nap one day, Livi had so much to explore and learn and play with, and I just loved seeing how happy everyone was. Next year we will have two little girls with us! Can't wait!

Breakfast at Santorini's

How We Became Parents... Again.

So, if you've read my previous post you know that we have just had the best vacation ever! We went thinking we would enjoy a peaceful distraction from our disappointing news the week before. Instead we found out we have become parents again! My head was filled with excitement, dreams, and plans the entire week!

I guess I should start at the beginning. A lot of people want to know what changed. Honestly, it can't be explained by anything short of a miracle. Last Tuesday we got the heartbreaking news that the although the judge had looked at our file she had not granted the adoption order and was asking for more documents. These original documents were going to take about 4 weeks to be legalized and authenticated in Ottawa before getting to Bulgaria for a new court date. On June 22, our Canadian agency received the documents and scanned copies to our Bulgarian agency before sending them to Ottawa. Anido, our Bulgarian agency  forwarded them to the judge who took a look at them and issued the adoption order! I don't know exactly what date this took place but the adoption order takes a week to come in to effect so I'm guessing it was June 22nd or 23rd since the order took effect on June 28th!!! We had been parents again for an entire week with out even knowing it!

Monday afternoon we arrived at the property in Summerland that we have access to. It is so perfect there, despite the lady who now lives in the cabin and has kind of taken over the whole area. We had just finished setting up our camp and roasting hot dogs for dinner over the fire and starting to relax for the evening. Livi was down by the water throwing rocks when I just happened to check my email before turning my phone off. I got the email! My eyes got so wide and filled up with tears... happy of course. I just looked up at Jon and said "It's Sofie. She's ours." He must have been a little confused since I was crying, but I held up my phone to him and it all made sense. Livi came up to see what was going on. I gave her a big hug and tried to explain that these were happy tears and that Sofie was officially her sister... I think she was more confused than anything though. Jon immediately started calling people. I had to stop him to give me a kiss before he called his mom. He was so excited :)

I need to thank all of you who prayed for the judge to reconsider our application. It was truly a miracle that he did so early. Apparently this is not normal practice. Judges usually wait for the legalized and authenticated documents. I feel so blessed! The fact that we got the information at the lake where we have so many happy memories, but where Dad actually died too seemed so fitting. We haven't spent much time at the lake since Dad died and this was the first trip we were planning to spend a substantial amount of time there. We also used the money we got from Dad's life insurance to pay for the Home Study and start the adoption process. Getting the news at the lake seemed to bring things full circle and truly affirmed for me that we are doing the right thing. It was perfect. Even Jon said "It makes me almost believe in a God again!"... Jon actually does believe in God they just have some issues they need to work out.

So, what's next? Anido, our Bulgarian agency should have sent in the application for Sofie's new birth certificate with the name we have given her and us marked as her parents this past week. That should take about a week. Then they can apply for her Bulgarian passport. About ten days. Once that is received they can send in the rest of the application for Citizenship. This should take a few weeks. We are looking at 6-8 weeks before we can actually bring her home yet. 

Jon and I are actually thinking of going to Bulgaria earlier though. We can pick her up now, we just can't get her her in to Canada until citizenship is done. Jon also get pre-adoption leave, so he would get paid while we are in Bulgaria! We are thinking of going for 3-4 weeks with Livi! Not sure how much fun the flight home will be with two three year olds but how perfect would it be to explore Sofie's birth country with our whole family! Plus we'd get to be with her sooner! This idea still needs some researching, talking about and juggling of dates, but we could be leaving in a month! EeeeK!

There you have it... I'll hopefully post about the rest of our vacation later today, so stay tuned!