A Better Talk

Today we talked with Gertrude and she answered the phone much more animated and she also asked "what're you doing?" to me and to Tena when she answered. I am wondering if she might know that things are moving along for her adoption. I'm sure it seems very surreal while they are living day to day in the orphanage, and have seen other kids leave and be adopted but never them. We talked about what sports she is involved in at school and how the weather is in Latvia, and if it dark all the time there yet. We all talk to her over Skype, an internet phone service which costs us 15 cents per minute to talk to Latvia. We speak through a microphone and hear Gertrude through the speakers, so we can all talk and listen together. I am thinking of having a friend's Latvian son come over one day and just tell her some of the things we want to say to her (for example, when we get our court date, that we are coming and she will be staying with us) and such. I may have to pay a small translating fee but I think it would be worth it! Everytime we talk to her we miss her more and can't wait to go on this trip, and especially can't wait till this process is over and she's home. It's amazing how we can love a child so much that we only had for one month, but that just tells me this is God's plan and meant to be.

Moving Fast!

Wow, things seem to moving so fast now that we have contacted our attorney in Latvia. Even though we have not, and cannot officially retain her until our home study is complete and dossier sent in, she has worked and sent me several e-mails updating us on the progress of Gertrude's clearance. The latest is, there is a court date set for October 3 to make the decision to clear her. We do not attend and Gertrude does not attend. Gertrude's relatives have already been interviewed. Unless there is any change in a relative's consent to let her come here, she will be cleared on the 3rd. This is MUCH quicker than expected. The attorney said it is possible we will be able to travel for our first court date as early as the end of October!!

We talked with Gertrude on her birthday. We sang to her (in English) and said Happy Birthday (in Latvian). I told her that next year she will have her birthday in America with us and she said "yes" as she always does, but it was a much more enthusiastic and excited yes. By George, I think she got it!

So, we will continue to pray and keep our fingers crossed that there will be no complications between now and Oct. 3 and she will be free to be adopted internationally after that time. We contacted our social worker to see if she can get our home study completed ASAP so we can get our dossier in around the same time as Gertrude's clearance.

Documents at the Orphan Court!

Agnese spoke with Gertrude's social worker and the orphanage has done their part to start the process to clear Gertrude, which I think is just sending documentation over to the Orphancourt. She also spoke with the orphan court and they have received the documents from the orphanage. Now they can formally start the process to clear Gertrude for international adoption. They did not tell Agnese if they have spoken with any family members yet. Family has to consent for Gertrude to be adopted abroad. Now that we know Gertrude has agreed, we have to wait for the relatives to agree. This is truly a scary and stressful time for us! The whole process of clearing her, if all goes well, should take 1-1.5 months. We could travel to Latvia anytime after that.

Tomorrow is Gertrude's 10th birthday. Our little girl is growing up. Seems like yesterday she was only 9! We will give her a call and hopefully will get to wish her a happy birthday ON her birthday. We talked to her on Monday, and told her that it was Pop's birthday that day. She gave an excited little gasp. I THINK she understood what I said. I did say it in my best Latvian! One of the other families is traveling for their first court date and will be their for their future daughter's 9th birthday. Wish we could be there for Gertrude's but hopefully she knows we are with her in spirit and that we really want to spend her birthday with her. Well, next year we will have that privilige and the next and the next...!

Tidbits of News

We talked with Gertrude again on Sunday, Sept. 10. I really don't think she understood anything we said. The English has all but disappeared it seems, so it was hard to communicate. However, she stayed on the phone with us for almost 10 minutes as we pummelled her with questions and told her we love and miss her. She always responds "I love you." If that's all she can say in English, that will do for now!

I received an e-mail from Ilga Lasmane, one of the chaperones that was here in the summer. I had e-mailed her to ask if she knew anything about the status of Gertrude's clearance for international adoption, and that we hadn't received official word that she had agreed to be adopted. She wrote me right back, and said she talked with Ilga Grintale (Gertrude's orphanage director) that day and she will do "all things for Gertrude and send the documents herself." What I gather from that is that the paperwork had not been started for whatever reason (because she did mention that Kristine, the other girl being adopted, had her papers at the orphan court already). Kristine was interviewed the same day as Gertrude. So, I think somehow the ball may have been dropped with Gertrude but this gives us reason to believe all is well and things will start moving.

We had our last interview yesterday (Wed, Sept. 13) with our social worker and then it will probably be about 2-3 weeks after that and we can get our dossier apostilled and sent over to Latvia! I e-mailed the attorney over there yesterday and she said it will be a pleasure and she will be happy to represent us. We have heard wonderful things about her from the other families. I asked her in the e-mail if she knew anything about Gertrude's status for international adoption and she said that at one time Ilga Grintale had mentioned Gertrude when talking about adoption but they did not talk much about it because it wasn't "actual." I think that means that they didn't consider it "serious enough" since no lawyer had been retained yet or something. Who knows, this is all so complicated when dealing with another country!! The attorney, Agnese, said she will go over to Gertrude's children's home on Monday and gather all the information she can and get the process moving. So, all signs point to everything being a go as far as Gertrude is concerned.

Good Weekend of Communication

Well, the Labor Day weekend has ended and we had a bit of activity for the last couple days. We went home to Michigan for my niece's wedding. We had a great time and some nice cool weather! While we were there, we checked our e-mail and we had one from Gertrude! We were very excited. She said thank you for our letter and she hadn't received her Birthday present from us yet. She said she wore the dress and white shoes we got her while she was here on her first day of school and everyone said she looked very beautiful. She said that she loves and misses us very very very much. It was a very sweet letter and wonderful to hear from her this time instead of us just contacting her. We called her on Sunday and asked her if she would like to come live with us in America. Her answer was a high pitched squeal "yes!" Then I asked if she would like us to adopt her and got the same squeal response then she went off for a minute and was talking with her friends. She came back and said something about telling her friends. I have a feeling she is excited! We haven't gotten formal word back from the Latvian Ministry of Family Affairs but I think that the paperwork is in process to clear her for international adoption. That is what Helen had intimated anyway. We had a great little visit though and this time she was surrounded by her friends who sounded very excited to be there for this phone call from abroad.