Stop the ride! I want to get off!

Okay, it has been quite a while. A very long while since this blog has been updated. There has been so much going on and so many changes occurring, but I do need to keep up. I was going to title this post "The Roller Coaster Ride, " but then I realized that roller coasters can be fun, especially when you are going downward. So, that was not a good analogy. So lets just say I am on Disneyland's Indiana Jones ride. There are sharp twists and turns, you go slow then fast, you dodge bullets and wild animals. And right at the end, a large rock comes rolling towards you and at the last minute, you avoid being crushed. So, let me sum up the last few months and all the bullets, wild animals and large boulders we have been dodging.

• 1. Our home study agency went under the week we were going to have it signed and notarized. We quickly had to find another agency who was willing to take our existing home study and basically put their letterhead on it. Luckily, we did find a great agency who was flexible and very willing to help us (Adopt Abroad), but we were still delayed quite a few months because of this set back.
• 2. We got a call from our adoption agency. They informed us that Elena (that is what is written on her passport) was very known to them. She was supposed to adopted this past spring by a family who hosted her about 2 years ago. They actually went to Russia, accepted the referral and then after returning home, changed their minds. They found out that Laina was calling her mother on a cell phone and they felt that Laina didn't want to be adopted. This answered a lot of questions we had about her reactions and behaviors. This was just another adult not keeping their promise. The adoption agency strongly encouraged us NOT to pursue adoption.
• 3. We asked New Horizons for Children to find out what the deal was with Laina's mother and did she want to be adopted. We did not want to force her to live here. We waited over a month for an answer, but her answer was, "Yes, 100%!" No stopping us now!
• 4. Gathering all our documents and getting them notarized and apostilled - what a chore. We had to have one document notarized 4 times because there was always something not right or the notary did not sign correctly. They really had a hard time understand that there could be no cross outs, no mistakes.

So, onward we move, trying to avoid the bumps and potholes.