I haven't written anything for close to a year because:
1. There's not been much going on.
2. It's been kinda depressing.
3. I'm lazy.
But, we finally have some good news to share!
Here are some (ok, many) updates to bring you up to date:
December 14, 2011 (letter from CAS)
Dear Moldova Families,
We are pleased to inform you that Julie Glandt has returned from Moldova. She was able to assist two families with completing the final phase of their adoption process and returning to the US with their children! The agency’s registration process with the Ministry of Justice continues. The meetings with the Ministry are set at their discretion and they have indicated that they are planning to bring together all representative for an overview of the process and plans. They have just not given a specific date. In speaking with the Director of Child Protection in Chisinau, it was indicated that the rules regarding adoption have not been well defined or explained, so everyone is waiting for responses from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection Adoption Division, including Moldova’s own Child Protection officials.
The US Embassy has also encountered difficulties receiving timely communication from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, so the issue of clear communication and clarity of the process is happening at all levels. At this point families may want to consider what alternatives are available to them or wait to see when the Moldova officials are ready to move forward and how all the new rules and regulations will be implemented. We realize that the wait is frustrating and will continue to do what we can to move adoptions in Moldova forward.
Regards,
Tania Griasnow
Eastern European Program Coordinator
Carolina Adoption Services, Inc.
January 12, 2012
I took Cohen's 1 month pictures today. Nicole and I talked for a long time. It was nice to be able to share my feelings with her. They just adopted a newborn!! In short, it was a miracle story. He is SO sweet, and I was SO happy for them!!! I was also totally disappointed in myself. I actually felt jealous of their adoption story. It seemed like it went so smoothly compared to ours. I felt terrible that I even could have these thoughts! Here, we already have 2 beautiful girls, and they have been trying to conceive for years. What was wrong with me!?
January 18, 2012
(facebook) Nicole shared this video with me today... It is so true! I wanted to share it with the other moms who are waiting for their children to come home too!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGw5sQbcwiI
On January 23rd, I got a phone call in the afternoon from CAS (our referral agency). Tania called to update us on the changes in the adoption program in Moldova. I don't think I'll ever forget this day. I would compare it to the night that I found out that I was going to have to have a C-section with Kylie (and again when they said I had to have one with Ari). All three days were scary and/or depressing.
I remember telling Jas while we were all eating. He didn't want to talk about it, and I was upset because I thought he didn't respond right. Jas felt angry when I first told him, and he needed time to think and pray. I wanted him to assure me that it was going to be ok. I wanted to process everything by talking. I took the girls to swim class, and it all hit me right there alongside the pool. I was trying to hide the tears as I wrote on facebook...
Here's the conversation on Facebook that night. I am SO thankful for friends and family that responded with prayers and encouragement!!! I can't explain how awesome that was to feel their love!!
January 23, 2012 (facebook status)
You know when God allows you to head towards something in your life that is WAY too big for you to be able to handle? - That's today and I'm terrified!! But, I have also seen Him get me through 1 other impossible time; so, I know that if I let Him, He will make it all make sense in the end! And, life will somehow be WAY better!!
Replies:
Becky Kenny Dihrkop Very true sweet girl! Hang in there -January 23 at 6:19pm
Angela Zinz Maggard Thanks Becki!! We just found out that we will have to definitely stay 30 days in Moldova and then go back again for 2 weeks to bring back Newbie... Plus, we won't be able to turn in a dossier until spring, and that's only a maybe... Then, we still have the wait for our referral which used to be up to 9 months... So, we will need 4 tickets on trip one and 3 on trip two... God is bigger than all my fears, but I have to admit im still crying... -January 23 at 6:57pm
Becky Kenny Dihrkop Oh im sorry you have to through all this. It will be so worth it. Have you thought about getting sponsor's to help with cost -January 23 at 7:02pm
Jamie Stafford omg...30days without you guys? idk if it can be done. We might have to go meet newbie with you guys. -January 23 at 7:05pm
Becky Hart-Williams oh wow!! that would be an adventure! praying for you & that God will work in an amazing, unexpected way!! - January 23 at 7:06pm
Andrea Appel Dumalski It will all work out. That I know for sure :). xoxo - January 23 at 7:12pm
Cindy Leininger McCoy What an exciting adventure!!! Good luck. - January 23 at 7:25pm
Linda Zinz Here is your family missions trip and Jason will even be going! Maybe your church could help you out with this? Praying with you. -January 23 at 7:29pm
Angela Zinz Maggard -Thank you for all your encouragement... It was really hard for both Jas and I to digest today, but we feel like God is just wanting us to take a few days and really pray and trust Him... I think it's what we both needed to help us realize that it's all in His hands, and He (not us) is in control... So, I appreciate all your prayers with us... It will all be perfect whatever path He puts us on... :) -January 23 at 8:46pm
Josh Zinz- we feel your pain a little, just no where near that scale. love you, and our whole church will be praying for you. -January 24 at 5:21pm
Angela Zinz Maggard - Thanks, Josh... That means a lot! I know you both know what it's like to wait and wonder where the money is going to come from! We will be praying for our nieces or nephews to come home soon too!!! Love you both! -January 24 at 5:29pm
After I got home, I pretty much fell apart. I just laid in bed and cried. Jas drove to the gas station and came back to tell me that he felt like God just wanted us to not talk a lot about it and just pray for a couple days. We had a lengthy conversation both realizing that God was trying to get us to learn different things. I needed to learn to take my fears to God, not rely on other people to process things. Jas needed to learn that God was in control and to trust Him. Jas said that this adoption was the right thing to do; and, even if it cost a lot of money and he didn't have the days off, God just wanted us to trust Him. Everything would be ok. That was what God knew I needed to hear. Jas and I were again on the same page, and God was going to take us through it all just like He always has.
This cleared up the decision about homeschooling next year! We will be enjoying another year (this time with our own curriculum) together! I'm very happy and excited that this was decided for us! It leaves us flexible to leave whenever we have our referral. We also will definitely take the girls with us for the month trip! I think this will be so exciting! They will learn about another culture, another language, and be able to tell their little sister about where she came from! It's very scary thinking about packing for them for a month and shots and everything, but it will be amazing to have them there with us! When we come back from our second trip, Newbie will also know her sisters already which may help with her huge transition! :)
January 25, 2012 Learning to make a quilt for Newbie. Great Grandma Maggard and Great Aunt Norma are teaching me! :)
January 25, 2012 (facebook) Met another Moldova mom (Staci) at Saxbys for coffee tonight... It was nice to talk to someone else who was waiting for their little girl too! Funny thing is, of the 10 people in the Moldova program with our agency, (and there's only one other main agency that works with this country) God put her less than 30 minutes away from us!! Pretty awesome!!
There is another family in CO that is also adopting a girl from Moldova. We keep in contact through Facebook. It would be so amazing if we all would be able to meet in Moldova during one of our trips!
January 28, 2012 (facebook)
Here's a video of Kylie making part of a hat this morning. She's a lot faster than me!! Lol! She and Ari came up with the idea to make hats for all the kids in their sister's orphanage. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWTd8H0V6qU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
January 29, 2012 (facebook)
Ari teaching Jas how to make a hat... Kylie has to add in a little instruction too... She can't help herself! Lol!
January 29, 2012 Ari made this hat almost entirely by herself! It has hearts and a pinkish top!! :)
Cindy McCoy was so sweet to see what the girls were doing on Facebook and drop off her looms and yarn for us to use! She also bought us a book that I really liked! She gave me a huge happy boost!!
January 30, 2012 (facebook)
Today was the beginning of our fiscal fast. We aren't spending money until next Tuesday... The idea is to save everything you would have spent for the week... Doing this for 5 weeks this year will hopefully save a big chunk of the money needed for plane tickets for our first trip (hopefully we will need tickets in the off season!) jas and I saw this idea on a random show on tv and loved the idea!! :)
February 28, 2012 (facebook)
Kylie said she had a dream last night that her baby sister was here, and she came to us instead of us going there. She had black hair and blue eyes and was four. She said it was weird because she was speaking English. Kylie said that the dream ended with her telling her sister that she would show her what a tv was in the morning ( cause everything was new to her here ). I so wish her dream was true!!!!
March 7, 2012 (email from our homestudy agency)
Dear Jason and Angela,
I will be calling you very soon, and I apologize for sending you this in an e-mail, but I attempted to begin calling each Cherub family individually, and found myself chatting with each for so long that I was not getting through my list! I really love talking to you, and will give you a call this week/weekend. I wanted to at least get this information in your hands without further delay.
Over the past year Cherub has seen so many changes in international adoption rules, country options and wait times. We have also watched as the state of Ohio imposed greater costs to maintaining the agency license. And, we have witnessed the economic conditions that we all face, force families to postpone their adoption dreams.
As the time drew near to renew our agency license, we had to look at each of those conditions. That, coupled with my personal journey this past year, made it clear that Cherub International could not continue to exist as a homestudy agency. Given that we are a small, international-only homestudy agency, the cost of staying in business was too much to overcome.
Since we are not a Hague accredited agency, China homestudies are no longer available to us, and Hauge accreditation does not make sense for a homestudy-only agency our size. The wait times have increase for Ethiopia and many other countries, causing some families to withdraw from those programs, or not attempt them at all. During the year we began exploring new options for families such as Korea and Japan, only to find that those countries were beginning to restrict the number of annual adoptions as well.
And as you may already know, in May of last year my husband had an emergency amputation of his leg. As a survivor of childhood cancer, he had endured massive amounts of radiation and chemo as a child. As an adult he began to suffer radiation disease that caused vascular failure in that leg. He struggled with many surgeries over the past 15 years. In May, a final blockage occurred and the surgeons were unable to save his leg. He has since endured 12 more surgeries…were are quite familiar with just about every hospital, physician and therapy waiting room in the area! We are blessed that God watched over us through the entire journey, just as he has kept a watchful eye on Cherub. One of our doctors was a former Cherub client, and another is a member of our Church, Wonderful friends, family, Cherub families, neighbors and acquaintances have walked with us in great support.
So, I guess what I am trying to tell you, is that Cherub will no longer be conducting homestudies or homestudy updates. We are focusing on consulting, counseling and post adoption services. Since your homestudy is still valid in the state of Ohio, we are able to transfer your file to another agency. We have several agencies that we recommend and we can discuss that when I call. One agency in particular is very willing to help and make it an easy transition. I have attached a transfer form for you to complete. Please complete and e-mail, mail or fax back. We can then begin the transfer of your file. Our Licensing Specialist, Shelly Adams, may send you a letter as well. She is assisting us in the transfer.
Again, I am so sorry that I could not talk to you in person before all of this transpired. If you would like to give me a call before I have gotten to your name on the list, please do. I have truly enjoyed working with you and will keep you and your adoption journey in my prayers.
Ellen Rice
Cherub International Adoption Services, Inc.
March 22, 2012 3:54PM (text)
from Staci Morris (the other Moldova mom that lives near us):
I just got a call from CAS. Looks like there is movement in Moldova! We will have to do a few more documents, easy ones though. Once that is done & USCIS approval renewed, we will be eligible for a referral! WE transferred home study to Adoption Connection in Cinci. I'll let you know how it goes.
I was so excited after getting her text, that I called her! She, the Colorado lady (Suzanne), and one other family will be getting concrete instructions this week from CAS. They will know what papers need to be added to their dossiers (which are already in Moldova). Staci said that Tanya implied that the referrals would probably be immediate after their paperwork was in!!!!!!!!!!! This would make sense because children have been added to the list while we were all waiting! Soooo, maybe we will be hearing soon from Tanya as to what we need to do to turn in our dossier, get it translated, and get our referral!!!!! Could we be vacationing in Moldova this summer or fall?!!!!!!!!!! Things almost never happen like we think they will, but this was SO encouraging! And, the news came before they had told us to anticipate it (April or later). Jas walked in right after I got off the phone with Staci, and he was really happy! I called Mom (who was having a bad day with Grandpa) and Jas' mom! Maybe, if Josh and Laura (my brother and sister-in-law) get good news on their court date (april 2), and we get our referral soon after turning in our dossier, we might have 7 grandkids to celebrate with at Christmas this year!!!!!! 5 new kids in one year! That would be the most amazing Christmas present! I would be an aunt for the first time and a mom to my 3rd little girl! Please keep praying with us... Adoptions are WAY more crazy than we ever anticipated!!! My brother and sister-in-law need your prayers on April 2nd! They love these 3 children that have been staying with them on the weekends and would love to be parents for the first time!!!!!!!! They have waited 12 years, and I want this so badly for them!
Today, March 28, 2012
Worked on the first adoption paper in a LONG time... We need to transfer to a new homestudy agency. It's exciting to be moving again!!!!!
