[Waiting4Skip]

It took 2 lawyers, nearly fours years of waiting, 5 separate trips, 5 court hearings, just about all our money, and an unwavering belief that God would answer our prayers, and so with much joy, and relief, we want you all to know that almost 2 weeks ago, we were finally granted the adoption of Skip’s biological brother, Harry, from the Irkutsk region. We were the first American family to successfully adopt a child from this region since late fall of 2005 when a new judge was appointed. It was the most difficult 4 years of our lives, but we put our faith in God, and finally, IN HIS PERFECT TIMING, we are a family.

We are still waiting out our 10 days - it is NEVER waived - and hope to return home in about another 10 days. NOTHING about this region is quick or routine, so 10 more days is just an estimate. Our first court date was Sept. 2008 and it was continued after a full day before the judge. We returned to court 10 days later, and after 4 hours, she stopped the hearing pending interviews with the Russian families who Harry had been referred to. After 7 weeks here, we returned home to spend the holidays with our family, and await a new court date. We returned in early January, and had three more hearings, but finally our adoption was approved. This has been an incredibly painful journey, but it has also strengthened our family, and our relationship with God. Though exhausted emotionally & physically, we never lost sight of the fact that while this journey wasn’t as we had planned, His plan is what matters.

I have not been active on this board since, quite honestly, it was too painful. Seeing everyone bring their kids home so quickly (relatively speaking that is) was difficult, and so we put focus elsewhere.

Here are pictures of my boys – one for our first trip, and one very recent shot.

Brothers separated by circumstances, but reunited forever: