We are getting so close to travel, I can hardly stand it! We received our I-800 provisional which means we are moving along and next week we should be able to apply for our visas! So excited but yet I am so scared. We had thought travel would be around $8,000. We just found out it's going to be more like $17,000!! YIKES! 😁 We are currently doing a shoe fundraiser in hopes to raise some of
that travel cost. So, if you have any new to gently used shoes that you are not in need of, we would love them! I will drive 2-3 hours from our home in central MN. Or you can always send them to me.
If you are a business owner and need a tax deduction, you can donate to our FSP as it is tax deductible. http://reecesrainbow.org/104053/sponsornavratil.
Our agency also asked the orphanage for an update on Jazlyn, it's been almost a month and we have not heard anything. I may or may not be stalking my email. So, to ease some of all the stress we mailed off a package to her. In it is a big stuffed bear wearing a t-shirt with our picture on it, a purse filled with hair accessories, candy and sunglasses. We also included a disposable camera, flash drive, in hopes they will fill it with pictures of her past 5 years, and a little photo album introducing her to her family. As far as we know, she has no idea we are coming for her. I hope they capture a video or at least pictures of her opening it. She will be getting it late next week to early the following week.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we hope to travel late Nivember. Pray that finances are there and Jazlyn is prepared to be taken from all she knows. Thank you, it's greatly appreciated.

Here are the videos we received last Oct. I am sure she has changed and grown so much since then. I love to watch these, I may have watched them a FEW times, like a 100 times or more! I just love how feisty she is. She will fit in just perfectly. I can not wait to hug and kiss her. I hope you enjoy them as much as me.

Video 2

Video 1

So, I haven't posted in quite awhile. Why? Because I have been doing it from my phone and well, that it a bit difficult when I am trying to type a lot and add videos and pictures. But we finally got a new computer and it should make my life easier as far as blogging goes. A lot has happened with our adoption. We finally got our dossier done and it was mailed to China on  July 29th, 2016. It was LID (logged in date in China) on Aug.3rd, 2016. And then we wait to here as it is translated and then reviewed. It feels like forever!!! But we received information from our agency (CCAI) on Sept. 7th, 2016 that our dossier had been translated and then on Sept. 9th, 2016 it had been reviewed and we would be receiving our LOA very soon.(letter of Acceptance). This it the best news ever!! Now we do a little more paperwork and wait for China to say come get her. Our agency says we will probably be traveling in 6-9 WEEKS!! EEK! I have so much to get done, fundraising to help us get closer to our goal of being fully funded, deciding what to pack and bring for Jazlyn. Getting freezer meals together so suppers are easy for Russ as he will be staying home with the other 5 kids to keep some normalcy in the home. I haven't been able to sleep at night as my brain just starts going crazy with everything.

I was also asked to come up with five question that we wanted to ask Jazlyn's orphanage about her, as they are asking for an update so we can get info on her height, weight and foot size to help us prepare for her homecoming and what to pack. I thought we would be packing for winter, now it may be more fall. I need to rethink what we will need. I can't wait for the update and to hopefully get some new pictures and maybe even a video of her. Pray we get something. Not all orphanages give an update. I was going to had some pictures and a video that we have from earlier in the year but I forgot its not on this new computer. so I will go do that now and come back an post them. We would really love that you continue to pray for our family as we move ahead in our adoption journey, such and exciting time for us but also a scary and sad time for Jazlyn as she will soon lose everything she has known. We are about to turn her little world upside down. Pray for an easy transition for her and that she bonds with us without too much trouble.

Thursday, March 3, 2016
Today we met with our Social Worker for the very last time. Now we wait for our homestudy to get written and approved by our agency. Praying this goes quickly so we can get, yet another set of fingerprints done. This time through immigration. It won't be long now, soon our dossier will on its way to China!

Hooray!! We got an update the other day with new pictures!! She is beautiful. She has really grown up. It stated that she had  heart surgery in 2014, and she is doing well. It also said she likes places bustling with noise and excitement and she likes to play games together with other children. Ha! She's going to hit right in to our bustling family. She is 4 yrs and 6 months and weighs 30 pounds. Even though she looks big in her pictures she's still a peanut. We are just finishing our homestudy and should be getting our fingerprints done with immigration in the near future. Once our dossier is in China, things will really start moving. We are hoping to have her home before school starts. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to do fundraisers, to help defer the crazy cost of adoption.