In the last week, we have had quite a few people ask if we have heard anything or if anything new has happened. Adoption related – the most “entertaining” thing is that my fingerprints that were sent to the FBI were not readable (never mind the fact that they have been read about 3 times in the last year with no problem). Luckily, we don’t need this immediately, but we certainly want that background check to be done and ready well before we actually need it. Otherwise, our I800 approval (this is the approval that come from the US immigration office) was sent to the National Visa Center. The NVC sends this approval to the US Embassy. There are several steps that happen after that and before our case actually goes to court, but those are the next couple of steps for now.
Unfortunately, there are some interesting, political things going on in-country right now. We are not far enough along, yet, for those issues to cause a delay for us. However, if the judge(s) who is causing the issues don’t get it together, this could potentially cause a delay. We are praying for the families who are just waiting now – they are ready for their case to go to court, but are not for political reasons. They are all anxious to get their kids home!
In other news, Norah and Lucy are playing Upward basketball right now. They are doing a great job! They both went into it really not knowing anything about basketball. They have really picked up so much in the last few weeks. We laugh because their personalities are so different and it really show during the game. Lucy is much more laid back. For the first few weeks, she would run on the opposite side of court. . . as far from the ball as possible. She would only touch the ball if she was throwing it in or if her coach wanted someone else to throw it in to her. She would dribble to mid-court and then throw it as soon as she saw someone even turn toward her. Her throw – straight over everyone’s heads and I think she just hoped someone on her team would catch it. Last week and this week, she was more aggressive in the sense that she would try to get the ball closer to the basket and actually shoot it. She made 2 baskets today – so she was thrilled. We were laughing today because Lucy stops to cheer every time either teams makes a basket – never mind the fact that the game is still going on around her.
Norah is naturally a little more aggressive and she is really competitive with herself. She works hard to get better each week – she is definitely succeeding. The first couple of weeks, Norah wanted in on the action, but was afraid of the ball hitting her in the head and afraid of hurting someone’s feelings. She wasn’t about to take the ball from someone else or even try to rebound. She was, however, instantly a great defender. The girl she is defending rarely gets a shot – regardless of the fact that Norah has been shorter than most of them. Last week, she took her intensity to a new level. Multiple times, she stole the ball from the other team without even hesitating. Today, she also made a basket. Her team has by far shown more improvement than the other teams in that division. They went from losing by 30 something to losing by 8 today. They are working hard and having fun together – even though they aren’t winning.
Daphne is going to Mom’s Day Out this year and loving it. It helps that she has AMAZING teachers. She is enjoying her time away with friends – while the big girls get schoolwork completed. Quite a few of the girls in Daphne’s class also are in her Sunday school class. This makes going to church on Sunday more fun for her.
The girls are all loving watching the Olympics right now. We are doing a whole unit study of the Olympics – it is really fun. I think I am learning as much as the girls! Each day they learn a little something about the ancient Olympic games, a well-known Olympic athlete, a participating country, and a sport. So far, Norah wants to be an Olympic snowboarder and Lucy wants to be an Olympic figure skater. Norah thinks she could be in the 2022 Olympics – ummm, she has never been on a snowboard, though, so she better get going! Ha!