Full speed ahead...

Hello everyone,
I hope you all have enjoyed a WONDERFUL, extra long weekend! :) It was a gorgeous weekend here in Indy. We really enjoyed the extra day off. We visited and barbecued with friends, Boomer was in the Danville open horse show on Saturday (I'll post pictures soon, he looked SO handsome!!), we were able to get some spring cleaning done, relaxed, etc. So on to the updates....

VIETNAM:
Well this Vietnam update is short and sweet. Vietnam continues to move right along; contrary to what the MEDIA says. Families continue to travel and receive referrals. FTIA has referred a few children to families in the last few weeks, which is wonderful news!!! We remain cautiously optimistic and will continue to keep you posted on any new information :)

RUSSIA:
Russia is very different than Vietnam. It is a flowing program and therefore every week we hear of families on first and second trips to Russia (yes, Russia requires two trips). The wonderful news that we got this Friday is that FTIA just received their reaccreditation in Russia! It was wonderful news because that means that there are a few more Regions that will be open to placing children to families from the U.S. Prior to the reaccreditation, FTIA was working through 2 Regions only. We are getting very excited because we are rapidly approaching the waiting list!!! We continue to wait for our fingerprint appt from USCIS and then aside to a few last notaries and apostilles to be done (which should take us a couple of days) we are FINISHED! I'm hopeful that we will be on the list by mid June-ish. Our agency continues to project that the wait time (after being placed on the waiting list) is 2-5 months for a referral of a baby and then 1st trip travel to Russia is 5-12 days after we receive our referral (that is when we will meet Hadley Jo). Second trip travel (when we will bring little Hadley home) is approx 2 months after the first trip. We are really hoping and praying that we will be done traveling by October because November in Siberia is -19 degrees!!!! And "I" thought it was cold here in the winter!!! YIKES! All I can say is...UNDER ARMOR here I come!!! I imagine I'd be wearing cold gear upon cold gear upon cold gear ;-)

Last and certainly not least...My sister Kristen is coming in this weekend to visit and help decorate Hadley's room. I promise to include pictures of her room on my next post. Also, Brandon's mom and Auntie Carol are throwing us a baby shower in Chicago this weekend. We are SO excited!!! :)))

As always we ask for prayers for Hadley. We just can't wait to meet her!!! :)

Have a great week!
Love,
Robin & Brandon