Pictures

Our family is complete!

We left on Sunday at 2:40 from Charlotte with 10 carry-on bags, 4 kids, 2 adults, and a ton of excitement and anticipation.  We had 2 connections, one in Dulles and another in Frankfort before landing in Latvia at 2pm Monday afternoon.  We were trying to get a signal with our cell phones when Scott noticed a guy standing with a sign that said "StayinRiga."  We were surprised because we were supposed to call for our ride when we arrived, but this was great.  Scott and I both walked up to the gentleman with smiles and asked "are you looking for the Beierwaltes family?" The guy sniffed and walked towards the parking lot without saying a word.  Okedoke...welcome to Latvia.

We split into groups of 3 and hopped into two taxis to be taken to our apartment in Riga.  The drive was fun.  The kids were excited because they weren't in car seats and the drivers drove fast and took turns that most of us in America would slow down for.  We put our seat belts on.  Along the roads were billboards and businesses such as grocery stores and car dealers.  Everything is written in Latvian, of course.

We arrived at our apartment and met with our contact Christina, who showed us how to get into the building, and then through the 2 front doors of the apartment, which are less than 12" apart.  Needless to say, it's very secure!  We toured the place and after completing the paperwork, we were on our own.

We unpacked our stuff, walked to the bank to pay our apartment rental and then off to a couple stores for basic items until we could get to a grocery store the next day.  We ordered in from a restaurant downstairs, had dinner, cleaned up, and went to bed.  Or so we thought.

No one was tired except Scott and I.  Scott hadn't slept at all during the plane rides in an effort to watch over us, so he crashed first a little after 6pm.  I put the kids to bed at 6:30pm because I was so tired, surely they would be too.  Nope.  I let them play and watch tv for another hour or so and then put them back to sleep.  I finally went to sleep only to be woken up every so often because someone was hungry, thirsty, couldn't sleep, wanted to lay with me, etc.  I eventually got up and watched a movie with Leah and Annie  because they were wide awake.  I think we all finally fell asleep by 5am (11pm NC time).  Scott woke up with Emma and Jack and I slept in with the two little ones.

When I woke up, Scott said he thought it was around 9 something. We planned to get dressed, go out for breakfast and then grocery shop.  About an hour later while I was finishing getting ready, Jack asked for help on the computer and I noticed I had a new email.  Our court attorney Daina sent an urgent message saying she was outside and couldn't get a hold of me.  I ran downstairs really fast and said "Hi.  I thought we weren't supposed to be ready until 3:10pm," and she said, "You were.  It's 3:45pm!"  Holy cow!  (We still haven't figured out what happened since that would mean Scott slept for 18 hours straight!)  I ran back upstairs, yelled to the kids to get their shoes and socks on, yelled to Scott to get out of the shower and quickly pulled my paperwork together for court.  10 minutes later we all were running down the stairs and into Daina's car to zoom over to court.  The kids were moaning that they were hungry and we were about to go into the courtroom.  No kidding!  We slept through breakfast and lunch and the time was heading into dinner.  Daina gave us all a mint!  :)  LOL.

The court process was quick and easy.  We had a translator and answered a few questions and left with custody of Andris until our next court case on June 26.  Yay!  Now, on to Irlava Children's Home to pick our son up!  The 1.5 hour drive was very nice.  It was beautiful to see the countryside and the simplicity of Latvian living.  Small farms here and there, horses and cows, and an occasional bike rider on the side of the road.

We pulled up to the Children's Home and we were so excited.  We wanted to video tape seeing Andris in person since January, but he surprised us and tapped me on the shoulder and as I turned around, he gave me a big hug.  Oh, it was so nice to finally hug my son.  After months of talking about it, we were finally here and it felt surreal.  Scott and the kids came over and gave him a big hug, too.  We asked him to show us his room and around his home, so we went upstairs to the 3rd floor to see his room and bed.  Andris showed us a couple collages he had made of our family.  We met a few of his friends and teachers, but then Andris was itching to leave.  He was not wanting to stay any longer than necessary.  :)

We drove back to Riga, with the girls playing in the back seat, Scott up front with the driver, and myself and the boys playing on the iPad.  We are complete and anticipate many more adventures ahead!

PS.  We forgot our cable to upload pictures/videos, but assuming we can buy one here, we'll upload them soon.

Travel Dates!

Boo Yah, baby!  Our whole family is leaving on June 10th, arriving in Riga on the 11th and our court date is June 12th.  We are picking up Andris the morning of the 12th and taking him with us to court.  He'll be with us from that point on.  We are so excited!  We will be staying in an apartment in Riga and have so many things we want to see and do.

Many people have asked why we are taking the kids with us if we do not have to.   Here are some reasons:
1. It's a long time away from the kids.
2. What a wonderful way for all of us to spend time together, to bond and learn more about one another.
3.  To give all of us a little perspective on what Andris' life has been like up to this point.

I've said it before, but I need to continue to tell everyone how God has blessed this process.  We were concerned that we would be gone when my family would be down in NC.  My parents are coming Memorial Day weekend, my brother and his family (who we have not seen in 2 years) are coming down the 29-June 11, my sister Kristen and Liz, my cousins Julie, Wes and Katy (who I have not seen in about 6 years) are all going to be in NC the 31-June 3.  We prayed that we could go ASAP and knew there was a chance we would miss our family reunion (including my sister's bridal shower) but we were also hoping to be here as well.  Thankfully, our trip was scheduled around these visits and although Andris won't be here to meet everyone, we'll be able to Skype with him and introduce his new extended family members to him.  I'm so excited.  This is going to be great!

Thank you, Lord, for continuing to pave the way for our adoption of Andris.  We have put all our faith in You because You want this child to come home to his family.  We cannot and will not do this on our own.  Please continue to bless our journey to bring Andris home.  Amen.

WE HAVE THE REFERRAL!!!!

Yes, we just received the referral 10 minutes ago and now are awaiting our travel dates!  Thank you, God!

Still Waiting...

I was hoping not to have a "waiting" blog entry but here it is.  We're still waiting for our dossier (remember that huge stack of papers?), Andris' referral (information about him), a court date, and the amount of time we need to spend in Latvia.  We were told a few weeks ago that we need to be in Latvia by June due to very long vacations taken by key orphan court people.  We told our agency we would like to travel in May so we can bring Andris home by his birthday (the 29th) and so the kids will have a week or so left to finish up school.  They noted it, and we're back to waiting.  Grrr...

On a better note, we still talk with Andris through Facebook almost daily, skype about once a week, and call him sporadically.  We were able to introduce him to my sisters and Scott's parents and aunt via skype in March and April.  I love how he is going to know so many people when he comes home!

Please keep Andris in your prayers.  As tough as this is on us waiting to bring our son home, it's that much tougher waiting to go home to your family.  Thank you so much.

The Dossier has been sent to Latvia!

I am excited to say that our dossier has been sent to Latvia.  It's such a relief to get that thing done.  Whew.  I am so thankful that we were able to get things done so quickly.  I love paperwork but after this...I think I'll stay away from filling out forms for awhile!  :)  Let me just tell you that getting all this done was nothing short of a miracle.  Here is a little timeline of just how fast everything went:

Jan 6th - met and decided to adopt Andris
Jan 7th - spent day with him and host family
Jan 9th - contacted adoption agency
Jan 12th - started home study
Feb 2nd - completed home study
Feb 13th - applied to Dept Homeland Security for adoption clearance
Mar 6th - received approval letter (this normal takes 75-90 days, they returned it to us within 21 days)
Mar 8th - sent off dossier to Latvia!

This part of the process took us 2 months!  Incredible!  Here are a couple pictures of what apostilled documents look like and how big the dossier pile was. (And yes, that's a quarter!)

 

I love Skype!

We just Skyped with Andris this morning!  Our contact in Latvia (missionary that works with older orphans) graciously set this up for us.  It was set for 1pm there which was 5am here.  We didn't have a lot of time because there were a handful of other kids wanting to Skype with their adoptive families and the connection was not very good.  However, we did get to talk for about 6 minutes with Andris and see his smiling face.  All of us were excited to see each other!  At first he didn't see Emma and Jack because they were still sleeping, but when they came downstairs to see Andris, he had a huge smile on his face!  I cannot wait to see him in Latvia!  It will be so much easier to talk to him.  The language barrier is still tough, especially when you have a lot of background noise from the other kids on both ends of the computer.  ;-)  

What a great start to the day.  It helps us to remember that we have been called to bring this orphan boy into our family.  Soon he will live with a mom and dad, a brother and 3 sisters, 2 dogs, a turtle and a fish.  But most importantly, a family that WANTS him and LOVES him.  I just want to give him a big hug.  

Light Saber Action!

Andris & Jack are battling it out.  Who will win?  This is one intense fight!  ;-)

Andris kayaking

Andris was so excited to kayak.  He took a couple kids for a ride with him, probably to extend his turn!  :)  He has told me numerous times that he loves the water and wants to swim when he comes here.

He said "Yes!"

I was driving two of my kids to school when Andris sent me a message saying that he misses me and that he keeps praying to God that he will be adopted.  He had a dream that God told him he would come live to with me in America but when he woke up, he was still there.  He's very sad.  :(   I couldn't stand it.  I had to reply that we want him with us and that I would call him in 2 hours.  Then I looked up from the phone and saw a rainbow in the sky.  God's Promise.  I had tears in my eyes and knew that I would connect with him today.  Two hours later, Scott and I said a prayer before calling Andris and then we picked up the phone.  A lady answered, I asked for Andris, she said something in Latvian (I think). I asked if she spoke English, then a fax machine started beeping.  She hung up.  LOL.  Here we go again.  ;-)  I called again, this time when she answered I just said Andris.  She said something then "Andris."  I said "Andris" and his last name, she put down the phone and yelled "ANDRIS!" (yelling is a universal thing, I think) then I hear a couple voices talking and then a "Hello?"  It was Andris!

I said "Andris!  It's Katie!"
Andris: Oh!  Hello! Hello!
Katie:  Andris, it's so good to hear your voice!  How are you?
Andris: How are you? (at the same time)  We both start laughing.
Scott:  It's Scott too!  We are so happy to talk to you!
Katie: Andris, we want to adopt you.  We would love to have you as part of our family and live in America with us.  What do you think?
Andris:  Oh yes, yes, yes!  (You can hear him smiling.  Scott and I are smiles from ear to ear.)

We talked a few minutes longer telling him we will keep him updated but it will be a few more months before we can come to Latvia for him.  We want to meet his friends, see his home, have him show us around.  We are all very excited.  He asked about Jack, but unfortunately, he was at school.  We told him we will talk to him soon and to have a good night.

What a great start to the day, and a great way to finish.  Thank you, Lord.  Thank you for being with us on this journey.  Thank you for giving us what we need, when we need it most.  And thank you for giving us the opportunity to give this boy a peace of mind and rest his heart.  Thank you.  Amen.

God's timing

I was given the go ahead to ask Andris if he would like to be part of our family!  We want to skype him with the whole family so we can see body language and his face!  However, with Latvia being 7 hours ahead of us and Andris having designated times he can go online, it's a little tricky.  We won't be able to control this, we'll have to rely on God to provide the opportunity.  It's hard though.  I'd like to just pick up the phone and ask him but with the language barrier and all this anticipation, we just have to be patient.  Aah!

Chit Chat

I have really enjoyed the past two mornings that the kids have been off of school.  I have been able to instant chat with Andris through Facebook for about 45 minutes each day.  (Normally, I would have been driving the kids to school when he's online.)  We talk about the kinds of food he likes to eat, what he does at school, and he asks about what we do.  It's crazy that I'm communicating with a boy that will be my son this year.  He'll have a completely different life than what he's living right now.  All 7 of our lives are going to change.  It's going to be wonderful.

Just a few more documents...

When I have been asked how is the adoption process going, I think about all the paperwork that has been completed versus the documents that we are still waiting on.  As of today, we are waiting for our doctor appointments for Scott and I.  We need to have physicals and blood drawn for a few tests.  That will be Wednesday morning.  We need to have one more meeting for our Home Study (paperwork for the US), finish the last 3 of 5 online training courses, and wait for our state child abuse clearance forms.  Not bad for being given a list of 32 items exactly 2 weeks ago today!  I could take all the credit but I have to spread it around.  :-)  I do have this innate gift for filling out paperwork and finishing to-do lists, but Scott has also been very flexible with his schedule.  I gave him a list of things needing signatures, questionnaires to be filled out, documents from his work, etc and he gets it done by the due date on the list!   But, above all else, the credit really belongs to God.  It's true.  How else could that list of 32 items be completed in such a quick time frame? God can move mountains.  Well, I'm going to say that this first pile of paperwork will be considered hills because the road ahead has a lot more in store for us.  After the Home Study has been completed, I have 3 things left for the dossier (paperwork for Latvia) and then that is done as well! Very cool!  God is definitely blessing us.  I'm excited to see how this all plays out.

A Side Note

I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't prayed so much in my life.  I pray daily.  All day.  For everything. Before when I would talk about my prayer life, or lack there of, I would complain because I would forget to pray.  I would pray for my kids when I put them in bed, and before going to bed myself, but I would fall asleep without finishing.  These days, I do not forget to pray.  I feel a real connection to God.  He hears me.  He knows what I need.  His timing is perfect.

From the beginning...

Okay...you all know I do not "blog" but I have been asked a few times to write down this incredible story so I do not forget it.  I will apologize in advance for my poor writing skills and errors in my story.  Ha!  Since this story has so many details from other points of view, I'm going to stick to the story from my prospective.

Alright, here we go!

Thursday, Jan 5th I was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast when Scott told me that he felt God laid on his heart, the night before, to find a way to take care of this 15 yr old Latvian boy named Andris.

Now Andris (pronounced On-drease) was part of New Horizon's For Children hosting program that allowed families in the US to host orphan children for 5 weeks in the winter and 5 weeks in the summer.  The hope is that not only would they get a wonderful break from their "normal" life, but also so they could possibly become adopted by their host families.   Due to the requirements in Latvia's adoption program, Andris' host family could not adopt him.  So there began a quest by Andris' host family to find a family to adopt him.   The sister of the mom of the host family (all names have been kept off due to privacy and because I haven't asked if I could use their names ;-)  brought Andris to our church in hopes that a family would look into his situation.  It wasn't until a few days before Andris was to return to Latvia that Scott and I talked about him.

So, back to the kitchen table.  Scott told me about God laying on his heart to figure out a way to take care of this boy, whether through adoption or finding a family for him.  He then asked if I was open to looking into adopting Andris.  I said "sure."  So that Thursday we contacted the sister of the host family for details on him.  We had to be as informed as possible, this is obviously not a typical situation.  Plus, he's here in the States so if we are going to look into adopting him, what a great way to see what he is like and how he is with our kids!

(Ramble alert!)  I mean, this is not how we envisioned the adoption process to go.  We have really talked about adopting for the last year or so, but never from where, how old, when, etc.  This is totally out of our comfort zone in a way.  Our oldest is 7 1/2 and Andris is 15 1/2, soon to be 16!  Crazy!

Back to the story.  So we prayed about this decision Thursday night and on Friday Jan 6th, I called the lady involved with New Horizon's to get more information on Andris and then we asked if we could meet him.  We had to fill out a form to meet him (some requirement with their program) and brought it with us just in case it didn't get faxed to the correct person.  Then we went to the host family's house for dinner and to "hang out" (aka observe).

The night went really well.  It was comfortable, relaxed and everyone was getting along very well.  (Did I mention the host family has 4 kids: 1 boy and 3 girls, just like ours?)  Jack, our 5 1/2 yr old was wrestling and getting along with Andris right away.  What language barrier?  ;-)  As we were driving home that night, Scott and I decided that we wanted Andris to become part of our family.  It was a simple decision really.  God brought this child all the way from Latvia, to a family who knew they couldn't adopt him due to certain requirements, that led their sister to bring him to our church, and God laid on Scott's heart to take care of him.  Simple.

As we went to bed, (by the way, I haven't said that I hadn't been sleeping for days.  Many, many, many thoughts and plans and ideas were running around about our future family life in my brain.)  Scott and I talked about when would be a good time to let the kids know we were planning on adopting Andris.  They had no idea when we went to meet him because we wanted things to be as natural as possible.  He said he was fine with whatever I decided, but I was unsure.

Saturday morning it hit me.  What a great opportunity this adoption will provide to teach our kids to trust in God and obey His call.  If it's God's will for Andris to be apart of our family, then He will make it so.  We simply need to do what we can each day to make it our reality and trust in Him for the rest.  Now let me back up a bit because here is a HUGE factor that can be a tad scary. Andris turns 16 at the end of May.  If he is to be adopted, the adoptive parents' dossier (all the paperwork that the US and Latvia need to make this process happen) needs to be turned in to the Latvian government BEFORE he turns 16.  If it is not, once he turns 16, he is deemed unadoptable.  That's it.  Very sad.

So we called the kids into the family room and of course, they didn't want to come because they are playing, but I told them it was a very important family meeting.  Everyone then comes right into the room and Emma says, "what, like 'we're adopting' important meeting?"  My jaw dropped and then I said, "yes, that's exactly it."  She starts getting emotional and says she was just guessing but how does that just come out of thin air?  Jack starts getting loud saying "Who? Who is it?" and we tell them that it is Andris, the boy that they met (Emma hadn't because of gymnastics practice) the night before.  Jack had this huge smile on his face and said "Yay!  The brother I always wanted!"  Scott looked over to Annie (3 1/2 yr) playing on a DS and asked her what she thought.  She looked up and said "help him."  Then she came over to me and said "and I'll love him too."  That's when the tears started flowing down my face.  Such a basic but powerful response.  And that's what our family will do.

Right after the family meeting, I called the adoption agency and home study agency recommended by New Horizon's and started the process of adopting Andris.  Our homestudy was the following Friday, one week to the day we decided to adopt!  Isn't it amazing how God works?  And as of right now, two weeks after making a monumental decision, we almost have all of our paperwork done for the homestudy and the dossier.  We just need a couple documents from the government and a few items apostilled.  (no idea how to say it but let's just say it's like having the notary's signature notarized.)  God's hand is all over this.  I fully believe it.