Our Options

We wanted to clear up what the rest of our adoption journey could look like from here on out. Of coarse we are never really sure but these are the possibilities:

Option 1: Regional Court Grants us Custody of Ava
Ava has already been shown to one local family and once she is shown to two more (this should happen by the first week in August) we will take this paper work back to regional court to see if they can overturn their decision and Ava would be ours.
This would obviously be the best case scenario and is what we are praying for. It is not likely but we are hoping for a miracle.

Option 2: Begin Again in the City
After Ava is shown to those local families we will begin the whole process again. 15 days of bonding, apply for court, wait out the 15 days, and return home. If we did this it would not be the 4 month journey that we had last time. It would probably take 6-8 weeks like we expected originally.
Our lawyer and coordinator are not crazy about this idea b/c it means we would have to go through the same court system as last time. Our case has had so much drama that we are afraid it would not be smooth.

Option 3: Continue the Process at Kashiri
Since Ava turns 4 in September, she will be moved out to the older orphanage in Kashiri (a village about an hour away from Pavlodar city). If we wait until September 4th when she is moved we can begin the process again in a new court system, with new judges, and have a fresh start.
This seems better than Option 2 but doesn't allow us to start over until the 4th of September. If this is what we end up doing, I would likely go back in the middle of August so that Ava is not without us for longer than a month.

Deep Breathe...Yes, I know it's very confusing. Join us in praying for Option 1. We know we are on countless prayer lists and we can't say how much we value those prayers.


We heard from Emma today that Ava is doing well. The weather there is rainy so the kids are all going a little stir crazy. We miss her so much but are so thankful that Emma is there for her during this time.


Our adorable friends Peggy and Jan had a possitive decision at court after 7 months in Pavlodar. YAY! We couldn't be happier for the three of them!