Back in the USA

Hello Everyone!! 

I am so excited to be home from trip number one to visit sweet Wetherby and attend court. 

I was gone for just about 17 days and what a whirlwind of a trip! My appointment for DAP was on January 13th at 10 am. This when I met a few of my team members with Hand of Help which is my facilitation team in country. What an amazing team!! DAP went well and my official referral was available late that afternoon and that night I took the overnight train to Krivoy Rog. 

The following morning I met Wetherby and what a rush of emotions. I was excited and relieved and maybe a little said when I first saw him. Sad by terms he was living there under and relieved he was really there at the same time. It is a very surreal moment to experience.

Over the next 2 weeks I would visit with him for about 2 hours a day and we would just play and laugh and giggle. He seems to be a happy little boy and I think he will thrive and progress so much once he is home! 

Court was on the 26th and after about an hour of questioning, the judge congratulated us on our newest addition. We do have a mandatory wait period of 10 days which is standard in his country. I fly back on the 7th to finish his passport paperwork and embassy papers and then we are homeward bound!! 

Valentine "love" blocks

In an effort to help raise money for us and our fellow 5/5/5 families we are making these festive Valentine's blocks. These are a perfect little decoration for the office desk or the mantle at home. For a donation of $22 to the 5/5/5 link I'll make these up and ship out to you during the first week of February. I will be working on these between trips 1 and 2. Be sure to save a copy of your receipt and email it to me along with your address. 

Hoperenea@rocketmail.com

Please also keep in mind the color background may vary a little depending on our successful our order amounts are! 

January 5/5/5

We received some excellent news today. Those in the RR group with me will already know all about this but for those folks who aren't... The Chinchak's were picked by the 5/5/5 group as a January Family. Each month 5 families are chosen to be entered into a sort of "pot" for fundraising. There is a special link that families can donate ANY amount to one time OR sign up for a monthly payment of your designated amount. This is a wonderful way to support 5 families with one donation. At the end of the month the pot will be split amongst those families. The families chosen are usually days or weeks from traveling and can really use the assistance in their fundraising. Please consider visiting this link and making a donation. Just think... If you sign up to donate $10 a month for 5 months, you're actually helping 25 families and every penny adds up AND I can assure you each family is thankful. 

http://reecesrainbow.org/555families

Happy New Year!

Who kicked of 2016 with a bang?!?! This chick sure did. I am so thrilled to say I officially have my dates for travel to meet my handsome son, Wetherby. I fly out on January 11th and have our DAP appointment on January 13th.

Our file was officially submitted on December 10th so it took exactly 3 weeks to receive our notification. The call came at 3:36 pm on New Year's Eve. I had honestly given up on the idea of being called before Monday. I actually messaged Nancy (my go to Queen) a little earlier in the day and pretty well confirmed there would be no call. The New Year's celebration's are very big in his country and I was sure EVERYONE was happily drinking their Vodka and dancing the night away. 

My family was actually in the midst of getting dressed to drive to Orlando to visit a special family in town. The Karrick Family was in town and they have been a big part in our families adoption. Their daughter, Maria has been our family warrior and has assisted in sharing our story and bumping posts about fundraisers and so forth. 

I had my phone in my hand, scrolling through Facebook as I let my hair dry when my screen changed from FB to a picture of W and the special duck ringtone I assigned to Nancy. For the first few seconds I was confused. Nancy wouldn't be calling me yet. I ran to the bathroom to answer the phone. IDK why, just figured I'd hear better I guess.  My little Olivia followed me. I can't really remember how I greeted her; In my head I was thinking, "holy crap". She said Hello and asked me what I was up to, and I explained we were meeting the Karrick family. Then she said those magic words... "I have your dates". I heard those words and just instantly the tears began to roll. Tears of happiness, my heart felt so big and Olivia asked me why I was crying. It was a brief call, 3 or 4 minutes but man, oh man, it was the single best phone call I've ever received. 

She sent me several e-mails with details and instructions. I got my flight over secured within an hour and now I'm just waiting to get meet our son. This is the best feeling ever! I am excited to share additional details as they come along. 

Peace and Blessings for the New Year!!!!