Fourteen Days

Dear Life,

What will you be doing in fourteen days?
Watching your son play football?
Watching your daughter dance?
Sending your kids off to Homecoming?

In Fourteen Days I will be boarding a plane with my best friend.
Off to the other side of the world.
To Eastern Europe.
To visit Sofi.

It's finally here.
I can't believe it.
And we have had so many people reach out to support us..to help us get to her.
And for that, we are so grateful.

Do you wonder what will happen while I am there?

I will visit her October 7-11 for a few hours a day.
On Wednesday I will sign...agreeing to finalize our adoption.
I will take her to get a picture taken for her Visa.
Then, on Friday, I will leave her.

The very week I get back, I will need to pay the 4000 euros (our FINAL FEES) which translates to about $5500.

Sofi's country will not finalize any paperwork until those fees are completely paid off.

THIS IS SO IMPERATIVE.
We need to get this paid NOW!!!
I don't want her to have to wait.
As soon as the fees are completed, her file will go to court, and we will become her legal parents. 
This process takes between 3-5 months.
Then we will go get her FOR GOOD.
WE ARE ALMOST THERE.

We can't stop now!!!

SHARE SOFI'S STORY.


She needs to come home to her mommy and daddy.
She is 4 1/2 years old.
She currently weighs 22 pounds and does not have adequate medical care.


Help us.
Please.
Here's how:

Used clothing drive.

We are accepting gently used clothing of ALL sorts:
Men's, Women's, Children's, bedding, hats, belts, purses. Clean out your closets and drop them at my house.  My garage was about 1/2 of the way full and we got a check from Angel Bins for $575.  If I can fill up my garage 4 more times...that will make a difference.  


Threads of Hope bracelets:

In Puerta Galero in the Philippines, the families struggle to eat. Through these bracelets, made by the mothers and children in that village, the children no longer have to turn to prostitution to help feed their families. This fundraiser has two parts.... Helping those families and raising money to bring home an orphan. Our little Sofi. One bracelet is $2 and three is $5. For every bracelet sold, we raise one dollar for Sofi and one dollar to feed a family. Best two dollars you could spend today. So buy one.... For every family member. Share this post. Be the change today!
(Email me with your order and I will send you a paypal invoice. fivejensenboyz@gmail.com)

We would love to have more runners on our team "Steps to Sofi" for the Long Beach Marathon or 5K

You can go HERE to join the team:http://www.crowdrise.com/stepstosofi/fundraiser/tracyjensen (the money here goes to our adoption agency Children's House International to pay the rest of the fees and is tax deductible)

You can also choose a runner and sponsor them there as well. 

You also have to go HERE http://runlongbeach.com/ to sign up for the race.  We are having people do half marathon as well as 5K.  

You don't have to actually run to be on the team!  You can virtually sign up for our team and raise money!

Here is a general fund donation page: This will help pay our travel fees and other general expenses.

 

We are doing a Squares for Sofi Fundraiser.  You donate $5 to participate.  You make a quilt square (hand sewn, fabric markers or puffy paint...or whatever you design) to be put together for a quilt for Sofi.  We would love to have all of our close friends and family be a part of this special love fundraiser. 

Plus Stuart thought of this one...so we have to give him props!

So.....there are so many ways. to help.  Pick one.  Pick them all.  Just please look inside your heart and bring home this girl.  One less orphan....

Steps to Sofi update

Dear Life,

We've been incredibly busy.  Not only have we been trying to keep up on getting through our day to day craziness....we've been doing it with one car.  WHY?  It's as if we are going to be challenged....even as we are incredibly blessed.  And that's ok.  My husband's transmission broke.  Little by little and with some assistance from family, we have paid to fix the transmission.  (if you've ever had to replace a transmission you know how much it costs)  This Saturday the transmission was put back in after being rebuilt.  And it still doesn't work.  The stupid truck only drives in reverse.  Somehow I don't think that will work with our local law enforcement.  So...we trudge forward....with one car...figuring out how to get everyone everywhere.  It's working out okay. We will be okay.  (It makes for long days...but at this point I'm grateful for one working car). 
Besides typical family business, we've been visited twice by our Homestudy social worker.  Robert was a fantastic man, very supportive, and very knowledgeable.  He was also very quick.  He has turned in a draft for our Homestudy that is now at CHI (our adoption agency) getting reviewed by their social worker. Once that is done, it will get notarized by our homestudy agency and that step will be complete.  Once that HUGE step is done, we will be able to send it off to USCIS (which is immigration) for our i800a.  The processing fee for that is 720 dollars. It is imperative we figure out a way to fundraise for this asap. Once we pay for that....we will be able to send off our dossier and that approval to Sofi's country...for their courts.  Once they go over it...and hopefully accept us...then we can make plans to see her.  I can't even believe that we are getting that much closer to seeing her.  

 As much of you know, our shoe drive was fantastic...it covered ALL of our fees for our agency and even some for the other country's fees.  Miracle for sure. The diamond pendant helped us pay for our passports, for fingerprinting, for our FBI background checks, and for the costs in ordering birth certificates and our marriage certificate.  Our immediate need is the fee for immigration...so please please pray that we will find a fantastic way to creatively fundraise for that.  Below you will see that our lists is growing smaller.  We have really seen miracles....when we first posted this...I was VERY intimidated and scared.  I really had no idea how we would accomplish it all.  All we knew is that Sofi belongs to us.  Sofi needs to come to our family. And seeing this list shows me that God is helping us achieve the hard things to get her here.  We all pray every night for Sofi...that she can stay healthy, that she can know...somehow feel...how much she is loved.  And we pray that we can get all the things done we need to so that we can get her here.

    

YOUCARING SITE

PROGRAM FEES PAID TO our adoption agency in the US

Application Fee $700 (PAID $700)
Agency Fee $6500 (PAID $6500)   Thank you shoe drive
P.A.R. (Refundable) Deposit – (PAID $500)  Thank you shoe drive

FOUNDATION FEES: 3rd PARTY FEES PAID THROUGH agency – FEES DIFFER BY FOUNDATION

FOUNDATION “A”: 
$1000 EUR due at match, (Received $1000 EUR grant from country agency)  
1000 EUR (Received $1000 deduction from country agency) due at dossier submission, 
4000 EUR due prior to 1 st trip, (Received 1000 EUR deduction from country agency) Have $2872 us dollars (thank you shoe drive) ...how that translates we don't know yet...will probably owe a small amount more)
2000 EUR due prior to 2nd trip 



Additional Expenses incurred by family:

HOMESTUDY/DOSSIER EXPENSES:

Home Study Estimate $2250 (PAID $2250)
Post-adoption/Post-placement Report Estimate (requirements and cost varies from state to state) ($300-$1000)
Adoption Education Internet Courses ($30-$50 each) (PAID $195)
FBI Background check $18.00 x3 $54  (PAID $54)
Fingerprinting for FBI check $20.00 x3 (PAID $60)CIS Filing fee $720 THIS IS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY
Biometric Fingerprint Charge (3 @ 85 each )
Passports (2 @ $170 each) (PAID $340)
Document notarization (cost varies) – estimate only $500 Notarization services being donated
Apostille fees (state certification on dossier documents) $20 per document (Approx $200)
PRE-TRAVEL EXPENSES:

2 Trips - Round Trip airfare for 2 adults (@ approx $1000-$1500 per person, per trip) estimate
only $4000 +
Child’s one-way airfare (cost varies, estimate only) $500 +

IN-COUNTRY EXPENSES/FEES: Estimates will increase due to daily exchange rate for USD to EUR

Lodging and meals (2 people – 5-7 nights each trip) – estimate only $100 - $200/night $1000+
Medical for child’s Visa – estimate only $100
Child’s U.S. Visa $230
Incidentals (amount varies depending on family desires and tastes) varies
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Angels’ Haven Application
Homestudy Fee Agreement
Adoptive Parent Information forms (one for each parent)
Education (10 hours)
Three Signed Releases
Employment Verification for each applicant 
Medical Reports for each applicant
Three Letters of References (No family members please)
FBI and DOJ/Child Abuse Clearances (For all household members 17 and over) (Approx $70-$85 each)
Home Verification Statement
Guardianship Statement
Copy of Birth Certificate for each applicant
Copy of Passport picture page with full names stated
Copy of Marriage Certificate
Divorce Decree (if applicable and certified)
Death Decree (if applicable and certified)
Certificates of completion of required on-line education
Financial Information Form
Most current Tax Return
School Report or report card if any children in the home
Medical form for any children in the home
Criminal Record Statement
Grievance Policies and Procedures
Waiver of Liability