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.