Almost there!!!

SEPTEMBER 28TH!!!

We are SO excited to have received a court date after A LOT more waiting this summer for various forms to come back to us with approvals.  Another trip to Richmond for another apostille...  More unexpected delays.... LOTS of rearranging our home to prepare it for a 3rd child... And we are almost there!

Praise the Lord!!!

As we near the finish line, we are praying hard for financial provision.  God has been faithful throughout and we are absolutely confident in how he provides.  For our own records and for those who like to see actual numbers, below is a quick, albeit not totally complete, rundown of the costs associated with our adoption.  There is no fee for this precious boy himself, but as this is a legal process complete with more documentation than we can count (!), the costs add up.

But it is all so totally worth it and we are beyond grateful for the support of those who have committed to walk alongside us financially to bring our son home!!!

The numbers:

I-800 (visa) form and biometrics~ $860

Apostilles ($10 per apostille, over 25 individual Apostilles required)~ $250

New birth certificate for each person~ $20-$30, depending on the state

Agency fees (home study, paperwork, social workers, coordinating with the country) ~$18,000

South Africa fees (legal fees, doctors, shipping fees, social workers and other specialists in country) ~$11,000

Visa fee~ $325

Passports~ $380

Flights ~$5,000

Housing, transportation, living expenses in South Africa~ $10,000

Doctor visits and vaccinations before travel ~$700

Misc costs for mailing, copies, printing things ~$500

Adding all that up gets to over $45,000, and doesn't include several other little things that would bump it up even more. So far, we've raised just over $16,000 - thanks to the generosity of so many! We've also spent another $15,000 from our reserves. This still leaves us over $14,000 short of where we need to be, and we have one of the most expensive parts - travel - coming up! We are praying we can raise close to $10,000 more to get us where we'd hope to be.

What a journey this has been!  It will be amazing to look back on it all some day and we hope our little boy will know just how loved, cherished, chosen, and wanted he is.

We can't wait to hold him in our arms SOON!