Still Working on Paperwork and WAITING......

This has been one of the busiest times of the year for us. Thank goodness that March is almost at an end. Bryan has been at a stockshow every weekday and weekend (or so it seems). I have had TAKS testing at school, as well as working on approving bids for the new furniture and needs of the new school I will be opening in August. This month also is busy because I am testing 70 four/five year olds for entrance into my dual language program. I do all the testing to ensure fidelity, but it has been very difficult to squeeze all that must be done within a 12 hour work day. I am close to finishing the dual language testing, I have approved most of the furniture bids, and Bryan is finished with stockshows! Yipee!

This week (Mon-Wed), I will be taking over 100 fifth grade students to an outdoor camp in which we will sleep in rustic cabins in Marble Falls. We have an exciting three days scheduled in which the kids will be able to experience the world as if it were a big science lab. The entire day is scheduled around outdoor science activities as well as self-esteem building by having children experience low and high ropes courses, team building, and demonstrating mutual respect. It is truly a wonderful experience. This is our 5th year attending, and although it is very expensive, it is worth every penny!!!!

The end of this week and all weekend will find me in Los Angeles. My school has received another grant and I will be taking 10 teachers to LA for training. We are all excited, but it will be a difficult grant to implement with lots of teacher training and dedication. (Remember - this is me we are talking about - I can't do anything the easy way!). Bryan will be gone as well. He is going to Happy, Texas to the wedding of the daughter of one of his friends who passed away a few years ago. Bryan has kept in touch with both girls through long distance phone calls and lots of text messaging. He is excited to attend Kendra's wedding. We will be missing our cousin's wedding, also this weekend, so we wish Crystal and her new husband a wonderful wedding and many blessings.

We are still working on the adoption. Our agency in San Antonio has been waiting on the state for the paperwork we need for all of the licensing. Our adoption counselor emailed this week that all the paperwork is in and she will be sending it in the mail. Bryan should get his employment letter from his work this next week. I have my last doctor's form that will be completed on Thursday before I leave for Los Angeles. And, we need the paperwork from our appraisal office and bank (that I hope will be completed this next week). We still have not received any paperwork from the USCIS office. We keep up with other families that blog, and one family had to implement a congressional inquiry into the USCIS office in San Antonio because of the time and paperwork mishaps that have been going on for months. They have already made one trip to Russia, and their little boy is waiting for them. Their court date is only a few days away. They thought that they would have to cancel the court date because they could not get the USCIS office to send their paperwork - and no one would even speak to them. After getting Kay Bailey Hutchison involved - and after several weeks of her office working with USCIS in San Antonio - they finally received the paperwork they needed on Friday. They had to rush it to Russia to get it translated - and hope that it will be in time for their court date in a few days. If not, it will be another month or two before they can get another court date in Russia due to holidays and the judge going on vacation.

So this week, I ask for your prayers for 3 people that you do not know. Randy, Susan, and baby Artem - Say a prayer that their court date is a day of joy - that there are no problems - and that baby Artem comes home with them in the next two weeks. Susan truly believes in the power of prayer, and all the positive thoughts and prayers going her way would be greatly appreciated. Of course, we always welcome your prayers! Pray for us that all of the offices holding our paperwork will send us good news very soon.