Our dossier is off!

To Eastern Europe!

And now we wait...

Summertime....

means doing dossier paperwork....

and some extra real estate law work...

and filing our I600A with US Customs and Immigration...

and being assigned to get our Biometric Fingerprints taken...

in Michigan City, Indiana (wha??????)....

which led to...

an impromptu beach afternoon...

where the littles played in the water...

and the bigs stayed close to the shade (well 2 of them did, Brent was sunscreening-up and then went and played in the water with the kiddies!)...

We are expecting our I171H (the document approving us to bring adopted children into the country) any day now...the other 34 documents of our dossier will be Apostilled (getting a State of Illinois stamp to authenticate them to a foreign government) and ready for pick up on Monday...

Then our big package will be kissed goodbye and sent off!

And then we wait...

while we finish out the summer...

Giveaway/Party Wrap Up and Where We Stand....

We started off the month big!!!

Our iPad/Kindle giveaway was a HUGE success and brought in $2500!!

Here is Sabrina picking the winner of the iPad -

And here is Ella picking the winner of the Kindle -

The winners have been notified and have their prizes!!!

We also had a basket raffle that brought in over $600!!

And then our generous guests donated a bit more than $4000 to our adoption fund!!!

Our FSP on Reece's Rainbow right HERE is currently at $15,633!!!!

So what do we still need??

Here are the financial details for the adoption of our newest children....We completed our adoption of Henry for $24,000 in September 2011...

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Illinois Homestudy - $3,300 (we get a discount of $300 off the original $3600 cost because we used the same Agency for Henry)

Fingerprinting, Marriage Licenses, Birth Certificates for Dossier - $ 400

Apostilles - $300 (need for all Dossier documents and issued by State of Illinois)

Postage to Send Dossier (2 batches) to Eastern Europe - $300

US Department of Homeland Security I-600A Processing and Fingerprinting - $ 1,060

Medical Exams needed for all 3 children to leave the Country - $ 800

US Visas for all children - $ 1500

Passport fees for all children (in country) - about $1500 (will not know for sure as differs by region)

Facilitation Fee for adoption of all 3 children (court, translation, representation) in Country - $15,500 TOTAL ($9000 first child, $2500 second child in same orphanage, $4000 child in same region but different orphanage)

Airfares - approximately $5200 (Paul and I to and from at $850 each way, 2 older children one way back to US, baby girl one way back  to US 10%)

Travel in Country - approximately $1000 (the 2 littles are together in the city we will stay in and we will need to hire a driver to get to orphanage where older girl to visit, plus location is 12+ train ride from where we will fly into and will need to get all children to the capital city on the train)

Lodging/Food in Country - Approximately $3500 (renting an apartment will be about $65 a day for the 3 weeks Paul and I will be there and I will stay through the 10 day wait until the court decree is final as flying back and forth would be twice the cost of staying and I will have extra bonding/visiting time with children)
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So there you have it!!

The total comes in at $34,360....

We have already paid out $5,060 of this total...

So $29,300 is our GOAL to be FULLY FUNDED!!!!

With the $15,633 already in our FSP....

We have $13,667 to go!!!!

Which scares me a little....

So when I feel like this....

I know I need to do this....

So I will be "unplugged" from the blog and FB for the next week...

We will be starting our Usborne Books fundraiser then (for a preview you can go HERE and Select "SHOP" and then "Dobrovits Adoption"). We are beyond grateful for all your love and support!!!

6 Months

From my dear friend J today, 6 months after Henry left us for heaven...

Grief is....Forcing nonsense into your brain.
Eventually it sticks in there...all crooked, like a square peg in a round hole. But you'll get it in there in time, and with God's grace.

Our iPad/Kindle Giveaway really could use a last BOOST of entries before our drawing on Sunday, June 2!

Please click HERE to get details and leave a comment after you donate and/or share.

Thank you for sharing in this walk with our whole family.

Picture Packed Friday Post!

Thank you all for accepting my challenge and reaching our goal for entries this week into our -

iPAD/KINDLE GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!

If you don't know what this is click HERE and read all about it first....I'll wait....

But before you get to see the promised Henry pic, I thought I would give you a few bonus ones...

We (and by "we" I mean mostly my amazing husband and our two home-from-college sons!) worked feverishly the last week to "switch" and add to our "boys room" and "girls room" upstairs...

Here is the new and improved "girls room":

We already had the double bunk on the right and added this bunk, where we plan our new big girl will get to sleep on the bottom:

She will also get the drawers on the side of the stairs and under the bed...

My 8yo got this new/old dresser (many thanks to my dear friend K!) which Paul refinished and painted and the girls enhanced with the room's flower motif:

And then we added a new tall but thin bookcase and  re-configured the one closet to fit our 4 year old's dresser and leave hanging room for lovely dresses for 4 lovely girls:

Our girls are BEYOND EXCITED to share their room with their new sister (and with baby sister once she gets old enough to move out of mommy and daddy's room).... and if anyone out there thinks they NEED a separate bedroom for each child in their house, I cannot more emphatically state that your children will be making memories and experiencing JOY beyond compare by sharing a room (and bedtime stories and clothes and hair accessories and secret whispers after prayers) growing up!!!

So now to the main event...a private never seen outside my home Henry picture....

When you go to Henry's country to adopt, you sit in the government office and they take out files, the file of the child you hope to adopt documents his/her medical condition, availability for international adoption, and has actual physical picture(s) of them....we were able to "trade" the picture you see on the header of this blog (one of 3 pictures we had of Henry, all taken at the same time) for 2 pictures in his government file that we had never seen before....

My sweet baby boy....probably about 3 months old...look at his chunky cheeks...The malnourishment and constant aspiration pneumonia had not set in yet...look at the small pic...he looks scared...

I cry every time I see these pictures...if only I could have gotten him home then...if only I could have stopped the severe lung scarring that happened that first year of his life that contributed so much to his death...if only I could have had a few more months with him before I had to say good-bye....

All I can do is work as hard as I can to get our newest children home...as fast as I can...for THEIR sake AND because Henry would want us to....

Please feel free to share this post to share our Giveaway even more! It closes on June 2 and you will have a GREAT chance to win an iPad OR Kindle Fire...

Here is the LINK again.

And here is our final picture for the weekend....God Bless all our men and women who have served, most especially those (and their families) who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

ANNOUNCING the DOBROVITS ADOPTION iPAD/KINDLE GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Our Online Facebook Auction that finished last Sunday was an amazing success!

Here is the whole family celebrating!!

(Actually it was Sabrina's 14th Birthday and we had dinner at Red Robin to celebrate THAT!)

The winning bids for 100+ items totaled $3268....most donations are in our FSP right now but some checks are being mailed so we should be at about $9000 when we get everything in...

What a blessing! So many thanks to Megan Stout who was the driving force behind the Auction and to EVERYONE who shared and bid and WON!!!!

Our next fundraiser is going to be fun and exciting and also has wonderful people making it happen!!!

Children's Therapy Services in Frankfort, Illinois (and its amazing founder Linda), where Henry went for OT (Bernie) and PT (Norah), has donated an iPad...

and the lovely Lauren DeStafano, orphan warrior extraordinaire, has donated a Kindle Fire...

and YOU CAN WIN!!

Here is how it works:

Donate $10 to our FSP and leave a comment below that you gave (no need to advertise amount, I will get this info from Reece's Rainbow) and you get 1 entry to the iPad Drawing...

Donate $25 to our FSP and leave a comment below (same as above, just say you gave and I will keep amount private) and you get 3 entries to the iPad Drawing
AND
1 entry to the Kindle drawing...

Want to be really awesome and donate $50?? You get 6 entries to iPad drawing
PLUS
3 entries to the Kindle drawing...

Just SHARE this Giveaway Extravaganza on YOUR blog or Facebook Status and leave a comment below that your shared (or PM me on FB) and you will get 1 entry to the Kindle drawing...

The iPad drawing will be OVER when we reach 500 entries (the Kindle drawing may have more or less)...Our IRL friends will be donating as well so I will keep you posted every few days on how many more slots are open...

This Extravaganza ENDS on June 2, 2013, at 6pm Central Time when we will draw the winner LIVE in our backyard at our 2nd Annual Dobrovits Summer Celebration for our Ella's First Communion, our Sabrina's 8th Grade Graduation AND the adoption of our newest blessings!

So click here to give:  http://reecesrainbow.org/57151/sponsordobrovits-2

Then COMMENT below (that you gave and if/where you shared)

Then check for updates on our progress...we are moving fast and this coming week I will share where we are in the international adoption process and exactly what our need for funds is and why....

and then, finally...

Have a blessed Mother's Day!

The Next Chapter.

The Facebook and Reece's Rainbow "cyberworld" exploded Wednesday, April 10 beginning at 2:57pm with the news...

3 special children would be orphans no more...

and the Dobrovits family would be blessed beyond belief....

SUSAN, EDMOND and LUCY for the Dobrovits family — IL

It started with Henry. We brought him home in September of 2011 at the age of 1. He was very sick and had a much more severe and rare disability than was originally thought. We loved him through ICU admissions and surgeries and therapies and learning how to eat and clap and laugh. He was our precious youngest of 7 and the treasure of our entire family.
He died on November 28, 2012, a few months after his 2nd birthday.
We grieved. We knew his short life made a difference from the hundreds of emails and cards and Facebook and blog tributes to him. We knew he changed us.
Now God has shown us our next adventure. Not to replace Henry. Never that.
But to give AND receive love and family in a different way. To a sibling group that DESERVES to stay together…
with a baby girl whose who needs a little extra help to figure out exactly what help she needs.
We are up for the challenge and we know Henry is cheering us on from heaven.
Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support to help us bring ALL THREE home.

4/10/13—HOMESTUDY in PROCESS
Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at www.bringinghenryhome.blogspot.com

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We are so grateful...and humbled...and thankful...

to YOU dear readers and family and friends and bloggers and prayer warriors and orphan defenders...

and to Henry for his intercession from heaven....

We are starting off in a big way!!! Please join us as you feel led!!!

http://reecesrainbow.org/57151/sponsordobrovits-2