BIG NEWS! Finally moving forward!!

We have great news to share with all of you.  We received the ARC approval AND the NOC approval – BOTH IN ONE DAY!!! We are so incredibly excited! These two steps are very significant for a few reasons:

1. The orphanage director will now tell Abby and Autumn that they have a family and are going to be adopted.
2. Our “match” (or referral for those adoption lingo experts) with Abby and Autumn cannot be taken away at this point. It will not fall through. There are no objections at any level in either country's government.
3. We are allowed to send Abby and Autumn a letter and scrapbook introducing ourselves to them! We are super duper excited about this part – it will be their first ever Christmas present!!

So, I am sure your next questions are “what's next?” and “when are they coming home?”. Here are the steps left in the process:

1. Court – Next up is the court hearing where a judge will grant guardianship of the girls to us. This is where we become a family! They will officially be Fraleys. Our case will be filed in court sometime in the next two weeks. Then we will wait for the hearing to be scheduled. Sometimes only one hearing is necessary, but some judges have 2 or even 3 hearings before they rule on an adoption case. We are praying for one and done!
2. Passports – After court, we will need to wait for the written court orders to be issued. These written orders will be used to file for Abby and Autumn's passports. Passports can be done in as quickly as 2 weeks, but sometimes can take months. You just never know. Every family's story is different.
3. Travel – Once Abby and Autumn's passports are ready, we are free to go pick them up!!

We are really really close now! This means we need to kick our final stage of fundraising into high gear. Our agency estimates that we will need $10,000 to completely finish the adoption from this point. That includes all travel costs. We currently have about $6,000 raised/saved. So, expect to see lots of fundraisers from us in the near future and pray for lots of overtime to be offered :)

Waiting on the world to change....

I wish we had some wonderful news to tell you, but really our adoption status is basically the same. We are still waiting for final state approval (ARC) and final federal approval (NOC) before our case can go to court. We know that our documents have been reviewed at least twice and both times the answer was to request more documents, including a fully updated home study with all the related documents and background checks updated as well, which cost us over $1,000 to complete. That hurdle has been overcome and we are praying that the third time is a charm. Any day now we could hear the news that we have been waiting on for over 7 months. 7 months!! Several families have received their ARC approval in the past few weeks followed by the NOC only days later and are now moving on to court. This is so exciting! We believe this means our turn is coming soon.

Speaking of other families, can I just take a minute to tell you all how thankful we are for the other adoptive families that we have met through this process?! It is a long and difficult road, but Aaron and I share it with some of the most amazing people. The logistical knowledge that a family two steps ahead of us can share is priceless and the emotional and spiritual support that comes from a team of moms and dads all praying together for their children, the adoption process, the orphanage directors, the state committees, finances and fundraising.... I honestly don't know how I would have made it this far without them. And the funny thing is – I have never met any of these people in person, but we are knit together so tightly in our little online community. Ooohhh but we will meet in person one day! Our daughters have no idea yet that there is a family pursuing them. They do not know that they will soon be adopted and leave the orphanage forever. They may even be broken hearted because they watch other children leaving and joining their forever families. One of those little girls shares a bedroom and a nanny with our Abby. She may leave the orphanage before Abby finds out she is being adopted. BUT, the cool thing is that us moms are connected and our girls are going to meet again. And this time, they can introduce each other to their families and their new brothers and sisters!! What a reunion that will be!! We have the privilege of knowing the families of at least 5 other kids who were with our Abby and Autumn in the same orphanage. What a comfort and support these kids will have in each other as they grow up here!

As the holidays approach, we find ourselves looking back to last year and remembering how you, our family and friends, rallied around us and provided the “ransom money” that was needed to secure Abby and Autumn's adoption. We just wanted to take another minute to say thank you again. We feel so loved and supported and grateful. We know that you sacrificed to get us where we are today and your generosity did not go unnoticed. Oh how we wish you could have seen a faster return on your investments (LOL). We could have never imagined then, especially with the time constraints and pressure that was being placed on us, that we would still be waiting for our family to be united this holiday season. It seems crazy! But we sure do wait in good company. You have all been so wonderful in asking about the girls, praying with us, encouraging us, and just sharing in this part of our lives. The words “thank you” don't seem like enough, but please know that they are said with very full hearts and great sincerity.

One last thing - We were recently blessed with some new pictures of our daughters. As you all know, we cannot share these photos online, but we would love to show you the next time we see you, so be sure to ask us!!