We Have News

We haven't updated the blog in a while but that doesn't mean that things have not been happening. We have been waiting to share that our agency has presented a slightly older little girl to us. All that we know is that she is a toddler, she is 100% healthy, and that she is of Kazakh ethnicity. She becomes available for adoption on the 19th of October which is less than a month away. We are trying to find a balance between being excited and remembering what happened last time and how quickly things can change. I don't think that either of us will feel certain until we are on a plane (On a plane home that is).
Adopting a Toddler:
Since we've told people about the possibility of adopting a toddler, we have gotten a range of reactions. Some say, "Oh, but didn't you want a baby?" Others have expressed their excitement saying, "Oh great, you get to skip that rough baby period." The bottom line is that we did originally envision Ava as a baby but that didn't mean we were necessarily opposed to an older child. We know of the challenges that adopting an older child could bring. But we also know that God is the one who knits families together and he is capable of doing that with a toddler or an infant. We are in a place of asking God whether or not we are the parents that he has in mind for this girl or if there is another couple who he has prepared to be her forever family. We feel that a huge door was opened for us when we received our letter of invitation. Several families in our agency have been waiting a year longer than us. Since we have this letter we are able to travel as soon as this child comes off the registry which is the 19th of next month. We pray that, if this is not what God has for us, that he would now close the door and not allow us to travel.
Preparing:
It has been impossible to prepare for potentially bringing home a toddler in a few weeks for several reasons. Right now we have no exact age. We were told that she is 3 but have learned that in most Asian cultures, they start counting a child's age "1" at birth. Our agency's information is limited because this particular orphanage is packed with families at this moment. They are really focusing on getting families through before the new year because of all the changes.
Prayer:
- Please pray for us as we are in a time of waiting and in need of great patience, peace, and clarity.
- As a teacher I need sufficient time to prepare sub plans if we are leaving. Without knowing for sure means that, every day I have less time to plan.
- God has good plans for this sweet girl...plans to give her a hope and a future. Pray that God is near to her and that he is working in her life and providing for her needs. We know that it is his will to do so.
- Pray for our family and close friends that they would also feel peace about this possible new family member.
- Pray for James as he is attempting to learn Russian in 4 weeks! He just passed his first lesson this morning :-)
Praise:
- We thank God that he has given us peace about traveling to meet this child.
- We are thankful for the support of our parents.
- We are thankful for the understanding of our employers
- We are thankful for this opportunity to learn how to trust in the Lord and walk by faith.
Love to you all. Thank you for going on this roller coaster with us. We assure you that there will be more!
Kari and James

Happy Fall!

Still Praying for October...

Hello All. We are still looking towards October or early November for our travel date. After the initial disappointment wore off, we are doing well and looking forward to hearing more information in the next few weeks. Just to let you all know, the way our travel information was given was not the norm. Usually a family will get a referral and then will be invited to travel. Our specific region (which is a very small city in Kaz)gave us our invitation before confirming that a baby girl was ready to be adopted. Hopefully this time around things will be done in the correct order.

Although we are doing well now we do ask for prayer that we will receive good news in the next few weeks about an available child. The new year is likely to bring changes to the Kazakhstan adoption system. One reason that we were really drawn to this program was the fact that it hadn't changed in many many years. Well, things will be changing in 2009. It looks like we might just complete our adoption before these changed occur...we pray.

As we were having a difficult time with the changes in our travel plans, my parents treated us to a weekend in Lake Arrowhead which was such a blessing and so much fun. Here are a few pictures. Blessing!
Kari and James

The Family at the Lake. Even Zoe got to come!

Erica and Kari feeding the ducks...and laughing.

We were upgraded to a big room with an awesome view.

Delay in Our Travel Plans.

We just found out today that there won't be any baby girls available until sometime in October, which pushes our trip back to somewhere in the October/November timeframe. We were "in gear" to travel this weekend, so this news was not easy to hear. Please pray for us as we look to refocus on this new time frame; pray that there are no more complications and that we will meet Ava in God's perfect timing. We know that God is sovereign and he has our and Ava's best interest in mind, but still, these setbacks are difficult. We may not hear any big news for a month or so, but we will keep all of you updated in our journey.

We thank all of you who are constantly praying for us and Ava. We could not go through this process without the amazing support system we have.

The Letterneau Family

Waiting for a Referral

Hello All. We are still on track to travel a week from Sunday! God has done some wonderful, miraculous things in these past three weeks. Here's how awesome he is; 1)Our letter of invitation was not faxed on time and we needed that before we could get our visas. On the day we got out letter faxed, we got our visas issued...no delays at all. 2) We think we've found an amazing child care program for the few hours a week that I will be teaching. References have said that the lady who runs the program has made a huge difference in their child's life. Finding someone so wonderful who will take a child part time at a reasonable price is a total blessing. Plus, she's right here in Ladera Ranch.
God has proven himself faithful which is why James and I have faith that we will be leaving on the 24th of August. But...in order to leave on time we will need God to intervene yet again. We cannot travel until we have confirmed that there is a baby girl available in our specific region. Currently, the orphanage director has a very ill son and has not been working for about a week. Our agency cannot check on available children without her there. This is our dilemma. We are praying for the health of this young boy and are also praying that the director can return to work so that we can confirm that we will be traveling on time. We also need to make our flight reservations as soon as is possible. Thanks for your prayers! We'll keep you posted when we hear of a referral...hopefully on Monday or Tuesday.

Preparing to Travel

Hello All,
James and I are just about a week and a half away from leaving the US for Kaz. We have been busy getting all our travel items ready and I have been working around the clock trying to get my class room and lesson plans completed. We are waiting on our letter of invitation to actually be faxed to our agency so that we can get our visas. That is the only big stress at the moment. We can't book our flight until we get that letter. We are also waiting on our referral. We may or may not get a referral before we leave. We might just have to wait till we get to Kaz to see Ava's sweet face.
Praise Reports:
- We praise God that it looks like we will be able to make my cousin's wedding in October with the baby!
- I am feeling very little anxiety about traveling which is a huge deal.
- James should finish up his big project at work just days before we leave.
- We have such wonderful family and friends who are supporting us and praying for us.
- God has taught us so much about himself through these last few weeks...he is sooooo in control.
Prayer Requests:
- That we get our visas and can find a reasonably priced flight to Kaz.
- A safe and smooth experience in Kazakhstan
- That Ava would adjust well to her new Mommy and Daddy.
- I will sadly be missing the wedding of one of my very best friends, Jessica. I pray that she a beautiful day and feels how much I love her and her husband to be.

Love you all...hope you and your families are well.


Brandi made Ava a beautiful quilt. Her son, Sawyer, has a matching one :-)

We're Done!

Today James and I signed our final papers in preparation for leaving to Kaz. After finding out about our travel date on Saturday, we've had to get finger printed, Dr. checkups, visa pictures, marriage license, and the list goes on. James is especially happy that we are done since he deals with all our paper work. We received our Kazakhstan survival guide last night and read over it with much excitement. We are learning more and more about how this adventure is going to play out(And it will be an adventure...I can be sure of that) Our agency still needs to receive the fax of our Letter of Invitation before applying for our visa so pray that they get it very soon. Stay tuned...
Kari and James

Total Miracle!

When our agency called to tell us the wonderful news I was in total and utter shock! I didn't fully hear what our director was saying after he initially told us that our travel date was three weeks away. I called him today just to make sure that I hadn't missed anything. He told us that it is a MIRACLE that we received our letter. They have never seen an LOI (letter of invitation) issued in August for an August travel date. He also said that there were many applications before ours and somehow ours was pushed forward. I am so thankful I can't even express it! What have we done to deserve this amazing blessing? God's grace is so unbelievable. I just wanted to share the goodness of God and his ability to do "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." I know that we are not done with this journey yet, but I do know that whatever happens from here on out is in God's hands one hundred percent. He is so faithful to hear our hearts.