Dossier Translation Complete :) !

Now just awaiting for the consulate to reopen from the holidays and for our turn to submit. Should be sometime in Janurary/February. I can't believe it's been 18 months since we began this journey.

Happy new Year to all!

A Completed Dossier!

This past Thursday I took my whole dossier to the state capitol in Nashville, TN to have it apostilled. It is finished! Thank goodness. From start to finish it has been 17 months and 5 days. Now we will send it off to our agency for translation and consulate submission.
We have had such a difficult time with hold ups of various reasons that I decided to get both my main dossier apostilled and my back up dossier apostilled and probably obtained way more seals (of every sort) than I needed. :) Since the trip to Nashville is 6 hours round trip., I wasn't taking any chances!
The timing was good, however, as my apostilling fell at the same time as my National Teachers of Mathematics Convention that happened to be in Nashville this year. It was refreshing and enlightening! I loved learning all about where the teaching of math seems to be "going" these days.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Hollands

Miss Lilliana's Questions :)

7/09 All tucked into bed b/w mommy and daddy, Miss Lilliana props herself up on her little tummy and elbows while kicking her feet, places her little hands under her sweet chin, looks at her daddy and asks,

"Daddy, why doesn't God have a wife?"

And Dean looks at me laughing and says, "Now how do you answer that?!"

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7/09 Cuddling up with mommy at bedtime last night, Lilliana gets all comfortable near my shoulder and says,

"Mmmm, you're so soft and warm and fat. You feel so cozy!"

(laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh!) I'm really not overweight - she just happened to have found my chest to use as a pillow :) She is soooo fun!

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7/09 Today when leaving the park, I told the children we would go get something sweet and it would be a surprise. Lilliana takes my hand and asks,

"Really, mommy? Not just hugs and kisses? Something we can really eat?"

We don't make a big habit of eating "junk" around our house. :)

While We're Waiting

Truly Blessed! Sunset Beach, St. George Island,
We had a lightning/thunderstorm one night.




St. George Island, Family Vacation
2009 (Linz and Best Friend Megan)

Linz and "Daddy" touring the sites of
Philadelphia and The Liberty Bell
June 2009

We also got to spend Fathers' Day with both of our dads which was an added blessing. And the first picture is my eldest, Lindsay, playing with a dolphin. She had an adventure she will never forget. This dolphin played with her and her best friend for several minutes, coming up to the boat where they were patting the water. Linz even fed the sweet dolphin a fish. I wish I could post more of those pics, but as most of you know, it's quite time-consuming. (Especially when you have to take the time to edit out the skin parts that shouldn't be posted) :)

If anyone is looking for a great, family-friendly place to vacation, I highly recommend St. George Island, off the coast of northwest Florida. The bike trail extends the entire length of the Island (minus the state park). And yes, you can even camp there in the Park, although you have to reserve way in advance. (www.reserveamerica.com)
There are not many fast food type things and you have to take a bridge out to the island so it's really a nice, safe, family place. The only down side: It's not cheap. We always rent a place together to be able to continue our vacations there.
I know most of us are really concentrating on saving money for our adoptions, and we should. But I also had some good advice given to me this past spring when I made the comment that I didn't want to put my "life on hold" for this adoption. The lady sitting with me said, "And God doesn't want you to." He wants us to keep enjoying these moments with our family while we have them and let Him provide our finances. Of course, we have to be faithful, but also not feel guilty when we spend money to spend time with the ones we have with us now.

The video I have added is actually a compilation of pictures from this same vacation spot from previous years. You can really see how much these precious nieces and nephews of mine have changed in just a few short years. And would you believe, we have 9 girls and 3 boys. Nine extremely beautiful girls I might add! .......Boy are we in for it! :)

How time flies!

More USCIS Information???

Well, we have "earned " the "honor" of being the first family for AW in TN to ever be asked for two clarifications from USCIS. So, we are sending a whole new, revised Home Study instead, with USCIS approval, to take care of the two or three items in our Home Study that needed clarification or additional information. Apparently, it's the time of year USCIS reviews policies or something and adds new rules, etc. so we just got lucky I guess at having our paperwork there at this time. Oh Well, I'd rather it be done perfectly under the newer guidelines when it goes to the embassy anyway. Plus, it also gives us more time on our expiration dates for our Orphan Petition. I'm just really glad it has all worked out. Our paperwork has actually been in Memphis since last December, so our agency license page has also expired. But, that will work out as well since we are sending a revised Home Study.
For our family members who are wondering when we are ever going to actually go to Kaz. Well that's in God's hands, but I can say that our agency has actually started moving dossiers through the DC Embassy and we are #12 in line. So, it could be 6-12 months or more before it is our turn to submit our dossier. Then another 4-9 months before we receive an LOI to travel. (Although we are hoping for much quicker timelines.)
After waiting so long for Lilliana (6 years), this isn't really that bad. My only concern comes after having done yard work all day and trying to walk straight at night. Then I wonder how I'll manage carrying a little one or toddler around if I have to wait to much longer :) :) I guess it will just have to make me more determined to stay in shape, huh!?

Miss Lilliana's Headache

"Ooohhh! Mom!!! My head hurts...........................My brain is beating on it."

She is soooo funny!! I needed a good laugh. My sweet little angel is such a joy! I just can't get enough of her! Oh what fun.

Adoption Update

USCIS needs "more information" to process our petition. Since our 18 year old lives in the college dorm, she is still considered living at home. So....now we will have her fingerprinted and hope that will be our final issue with USCIS. USCIS approval will have taken us approx. 6-8 months. (FYI)
As I've said before, it's ok really, as the wait has really worked out for our good so far.
We will officially have been in the paperwork process of our adoption for one full year on June 10, 2009. It will also be approximately five years since the day God put the burden in my heart to adopt. I'm amazed at how time seems to go by so quickly.

Happy Easter To My Precious Babies.....Mom

Dean (Daddy), Uncle Ryan, Aunt Sherry, Garrett, Aunt Sharon, Wyatt, Uncle "Bubby" Vinton, Janie (Mommy), Lilliana, Lee, Lindsay, & Megan.

"Prince Wyatt and Princess Lilliana"

Dean, Janie and our Precious "Eldest", "Princess Lindsay"

Happy Birthday Lilliana!

Lilliana Charlize (short for Lily Annalise Charlotte Elizabeth)

Lili - symbol for purity; Anna - gracious
Charlotte- petite; Elizabeth - consecrated to God

Did we cover all the bases?
Today we celebrated our precious baby's 5th birthday (technically not until Tuesday, but the weekend works better). I can not believe it!!! It took me six long years to have her and she's already been here five very short years! Why do hard times seem to go so much slower than the good ones?
Just like our wait for our child from Kazakhstan. It seems to be taking forever, but at the very same time, our daughters are growing and changing so fast. This really helps us keep things in perspective!!!
The precious little arms that kept finding their way around my neck while that sweet tiny voice kept thanking me for the "dress-up" birthday party was my very favorite part of the day! Oh what fun we had......sigh....smile...
My second and third favorite parts: The whole bunch singing "God Our Father" for blessing as always and seeing my eldest in the beautiful new outfits I bought her and hearing her say, "You did good Mom." (It gets harder and harder to dress girls as they get older! Cute just doesn't always cut it. LOL)
Here are some pictures of our fun day.

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

My sweet, precious baby turned 19 this weekend. Lindsay (peaceful Aisle) Koryn - (I got that part from the wren - a bird). Her needs remain true to her name. She is a child, young lady, that thrives best in peace. And, true to her name, she also wants adventure, just like the birds of the air - she loves to fly and see new places; she loves to travel.
We have been blessed beyond measure with the heart God has given her for others and also in how He has been faithful in helping us raise her.
Happy, Happy Birthday dear daughter! And remember that your deepest peace and your grandest adventures will come while walking with Him.

All my love,

Mom

"In His Hands"

"Mom, If God has the whole world in His hands, does he try and be really, really, really, really, really still?" (Miss Lilliana - almost 5)

"Big Blue Thinking Bubbles"

What a sweet trip to school we had this morning. The lake we pass by was just glistening under the moon and Lilliana's sweet voice just melts my heart. I love her so dearly!!! I wish I could write down just half of the stuff she says. She is so innocent and sweet and hilarious!
She started off the trip by asking me if I had dreams and wanted to know if my dreams ever came true. And then a few minutes later:
Mom, she says, out of the blue, Do you have those "big blue thought bubbles?"
Big Blue Thought Bubbles???????????????? Ok, I'm asking myself what in the world she's talking about.
She says, "You know mom, like Curious George has. I want to have one of those; what you think goes inside them and you get to follow what you put in them and I want to follow mine. It would be fun."

And I laughed heartily.

The mind of a child.... how refreshing.

New Fingerprinting? Again???

Well, I just received a letter in the mail today with a new fingerprint appointment. Yes, Dean and I have already had this done, but apparently mine didn't "take". I guess I just have smooth fingers. I also have an identical twin, but I have no idea if that has anything to do with the problem. She always has the same issue. I only write this as a journal and to let people who may be going through the process know to watch for this. If your prints don't get at least 60 - 70 percent readability, make them keep redoing it while you're there. Mine only registered at 40 - 50 percent and that took a while to get. It wasn't good enough for the FBI to process our paperwork. Now I have to take another day off work and probably spend the night in Atlanta due to an 8 am appointment time. Oh well, maybe my paperwork will have plenty of time left on it when we actually get to submit our dossier.

New Fingerprinting Appointments

Hello to all. Today I found out we are scheduled to be fingerprinted in Atlanta on February 26. I'm glad to get this part completed as it will be one less thing to take care of and one step forward in our journey. Since it had been six weeks since I requested a new appointment, I decided to e-mail uscis to check and make sure they had received our request. They e-mailed back right away with our new date. Although we still have a little over a week until our appointment I was still surprised they had not notified us. I'm glad I checked on it while my husband and I had plenty of time to make arrangements for work and children.

On a different note...Today is a special day for Dean and me. We started dating officially 22 years ago February 13. Our first full day as a couple was Valentines Day 1987. He showed up at my door on valentines day 22 years ago with a stuffed grey Koala Bear. "Koala" is still upstairs in his spot on our guest bed. He still looks much younger then we do. Happy 22 years Husband!

Well, our excitement was short-lived as we had to re-schedule our fingerprinting appointments due to them being right smack in the middle of our Christmas vacation.
It is now six or so weeks later and we have not heard back from USCIS to reschedule, however, it is turning out to be a good thing (for now) as we have no idea when we will be able to submit our dossier to Kazakhstan.
We do have some good news (I think). (Nothing is certain with adoptions) Our agency has begun submitting dossiers to Kazakhstan again. Dean and I are currently in line at Number 12. Our dear friends, Phil and Lanetta Gobble are the first to go. However, they do need our prayers due to potential complications with document expiration dates. I am praying that their dossier will fly through the proper channels and that this precious family will find themselves on their way to get their son or sons very soon. You can find their story and join their journey by viewing their "Gobble Family Adoption" Website.

I had actually gotten to the place last week where I had placed our adoption and the timeline for it in God's hands and am learning to not be so anxious about the future of it. Today in church our Pastor began a series on "waiting". " A season of Waiting. " How perfectly timed his sermons are. God is showing me so many things during this process as well as allowing me to see his hand each step of the way. I am learning more about trusting Him for perfect timing as well as learning to live more by faith. I think these things are harder for a generation like ours as I am not really used to having to wait on much. If I want to call someone, I have a cell phone. If I want food, I eat. Etc... Last fall we planted a lot of bulbs around our yard and I can remember thinking to myself that if would be a long time before I would see the flowers from the bulbs. Now green stalks are peeking through the dirt. We planted strawberry plants and vegetable seeds yesterday and again I thought... I can't wait to see the vegetables ready to pick. I am surprised even now at how impatient I can be over the simplest things.
Although waiting on my flowers, vegetables, and our child is hard, (I know...the three don't even compare do they) , I am thankful for the process of becoming a little less of "I want it now". I am thankful for the process and wonder of God's creation; and I am thankful at how He is teaching me more about Him while we wait.
To Pastor Kelvin: Thank you for heeding God's voice and thank you for today's sermon.
To My Father, my best friend, and my God: Thank you for never giving up on me, for the blessings of a family, for wonderful friends at work and around the world, for the chance to take this journey, and for being who You are. Thank you for your Word. Dear Father...Thank you for your truth. Thank you for loving us so much.