Paypal Donation Link

Here is a direct link to Paypal if someone would like to make a tax deductible donation toward the $4,000 matching grant from promise686. Each dollar you give is matched dollar for dollar up to $4,000. These funds will be used to cover a portion of the cost to adopt Elena.

We Talked to Elena Today!

We all got up at 6:30 am this morning to call Elena via Skype that Jay set up to call her.   We had our Russian script all prepared and ready to go, and after a couple attempts, we called back and were able to talk with Elena.  It only took a few minutes which amazed us.  She was giggling and SO HAPPY and so were we!  Hannah shared a little joke partially in Russian that she remembered from Elena's visit.  Micah was his silly self.   Elena told us she got the "Pasilka" or package we had delivered through New Horizons.   We told Elena we saw her picture at the orphanage school taken a week or so ago by New Horizons.  Elena told us "Family, I Love You" in English!  We reassured her of our love for her and how much we miss her and that we plan to call her at the same time each week. 

Ladies Lunch

Finally I am sitting down to write on this blog that Jay has labored to create.  I haven't started our adoption story yet, but my goal is to complete it before Elena is with us! Saturday was very special for me (Lauren) as I had a chance to spend much of the afternoon with a very sweet group of ladies.  Sue, a dear friend of Flora's, hosted a woman's luncheon in her home which is like being at a lovely retreat center.  It is just a lovely home but not as lovely as the person inside it!   Amy Rider of Promise 686 attended and shared a bit about Promise 686. Among friends I was able to share Elena's story, our story, God's heart for adoption throughout the Scriptures and even three key lessons learned (so far)! For the 3 lessons, please see below.  Additionally, I shared a  wonderful video that Jay worked hard to prepare.   We will send it out  individually when we have completed a letter we have just begun.   I haven't done any public speaking in a very long time, but the ladies were incredibly gracious. A highlight was meeting Flora's sister-in-law (a Greek Jewish woman) and seeing Kim again after way too long.  Actually sitting for a long stretch of time without constant interruptions, with delicious homemade food, sweet fellowship in such a beautiful setting truly was like a retreat for me!   I enjoyed hearing some ladies bare their hearts with me,sharing challenges and prayer requests individually was a joy.  At the end, praying with Julia was a special delight and highlight as well!   Three lessons learned in a nut shell are 1) Submit to the Lord and to your husband (if you are a married woman). Let your husband lead and praise him when he does!  2) When you have prayed for years and years and trusted and waited, keep trusting, and praying!  He IS faithful!  3) There is greater living through faith.........Hebrews 11:1  Often I get questions such as "what if.......", "have you considered.............." and they are good questions, but the equalizer of it all is YES and what if we trust the Lord as we continue to entrust it all to Him!  I have much to thank the Lord for and much to thank three lovely ladies for a very special day; Sue, Flora and Julia.  What strikes me the most about that day also is how amazing these ladies poured out their lives in humble service.  You may ask what is so special about that. Well, besides that being special enough, two of these three ladies are widows.  How incredible it is to me that these widows are eager and excited to bless the orphans!!!    Lauren

Ukraine Orphan Statistics

One Easy Way You Can Help

Over the next few weeks, we will be doing several fund raisers and will post on the different opportunities for you and others to help us bring Elena to her forever home. Amy at promise686 let us know about a fund raising idea that does not cost any money for the participants.  We will be collecting empty computer printer ink cartridges and sending them to empties4cash.com.  They will send us a check which will then be doubled by promise686.  Please consider collecting empty ink cartridge (sorry no laser ink toners are accepted) from people you know and giving them to us.  If you can provide us with inkjet printer cartridges, please let us know.

For cartridges to qualify for payment, they must:

• Be OEM, original manufacturer's brand such as HP, Lexmark, Dell, Canon and Sharp only.
• Have a print head.

Atlanta Snow Storm

Not exactly an adoption post, but a rare event in Atlanta.  Since we moved to Atlanta in February 2005 we have had only two minor snow showers, both were less than an inch and were gone in several hours.   (We did enjoy some snow this past Christmas with Elena when we took her to the Smoky Mountains.)  Well today we got between two and three inches.  While this is nothing like what our friends in the DC area have received over the last week (2 snow storms totaling 45 inches), this is very unusual for the Atlanta area.

We had so much fun with the kids and our next door neighbors.  We built a snowman and had a real snow ball fight.  Micah did not like getting hit by snowballs.  Hannah and our next door neighbor Jakob enjoyed the snowball fight and kept running away from me.  Here are some pictures:

 

 Micah enjoying the snow

 

 

Snow in Atlanta

Our neighbor Jakob and his snowman

Our own snowman

 Hannah making a snow angel

Biometrics Appointment Part 2

Yesterday we went to our biometrics appointment.  Before leaving we had a situation with Lauren's car which is still under warranty.  The day before the car would not start due to the battery not holding a charge  Mazda sent roadside assistance to charge the battery.  The morning of the appointment Lauren and I were going to take separate cars to my office, drop my car off at my office and then go together to the appointment (at 8 am near downtown Atlanta).  Well Lauren's car would not start so we had it towed to the Mazda dealer.  To make a long story short, we got our third car battery installed in less than 26,000.  Not happy, but at least we have a new battery.

When we got to the appointment, we were the second car there at about 7:20 am.  It was cold (for Atlanta) and Jay stood in line until the doors opened at 8 am.  Jay's biometrics seemed to go okay, but they had a hard time getting Lauren's fingerprints.  Please pray that all goes well and both of our fingerprints are accepted.

This is the last step that we need to complete before filing our paperwork to the Ukraine.  If everything goes as planned, we should get our approved I-171H form in about one month.  Within one to two weeks after that our dossier should be submitted in the Ukraine.

promise686 Grant

We are so blessed to have been chosen to receive a matching grant from promise686. They will match dollar for dollar all money we raise up to $4,000 toward Elena's adoption. All gifts are fully tax deductible and are truly a blessing to us and Elena. If you would love to help us bring Elena to her forever home, please either let us know or you can send a check to promise686. For tax purposes all checks need to made out to promise686. Please let them know it should be directed toward the Bockisch's. The address to send the check is:

Promise686, Inc.

3600 River Ferry Drive

Alpharetta, GA 30022

Biometrics Appointment

We received our letters today with the information on our biometric appointment at US Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Our appointment is scheduled for Thursday, February 11th at 8 am.  We are in need of someone to watch our kids since the notice says not to bring anyone with us.  Lauren will be calling several people to see if they can watch our kids that morning.