After a more than two years of planning, paperwork, home study, background investigations, and dreaming, we are getting ready to make our first trip to Bulgaria to meet our new daughters. We identified Yanka as a potential good fit for our family shortly after we settled on Bulgaria about a year ago. We requested a match with her and set out to find a second little girl to bring into our family at the same time. The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice found Severina for us in early November, and we got the official referral for both of them a few weeks later. Now we have the chance to meet them and spend a little time getting to know each of them.
A two-week international trip is a pretty big deal to pull off, and doing it on about two weeks notice has been somewhat frantic. There are so many things to pack, so many loose ends to tie up, and so many things to remember, there is no way we'll get everything done in time. We are just trying to manage the crisis so that whatever we end up forgetting doesn't become a major problem -- just get all the big rocks into the jar first.
We fly out of Atlanta tomorrow, layover for about 4 hours in Paris Sunday morning, and get to Sofia around 2:00 Sunday afternoon. From there, we rent a car and drive about 200km north to the town of Lom on the Danube River. Driving in Bulgaria is rumored to be a challenge anyway, and driving through the mountains in the middle of January ought to make it even more interesting. The plan is to spend a week with Yanka in Lom, then head 350km east to Shumen to spend a week with Severina. Then we will have to say goodbye to them for several months while the adoption is finalized. Hopefully, we will be able to go back and get them in late Spring or early Summer.
While we are away, Carolyn's parents, primarily her mother, will be minding the fort, getting the kids to various appointments and activities, and hosting two mock trial practices. I hope she knows what she signed up for. We are eternally grateful. We could never make something like this happen without this level of support from all of our family.
Time to get packing! Next stop, Paris.
So glad you are safely on one leg of the journey. Pray the next two weeks will be confirmation that you are being led step by step. We are thrilled to hear each word and want all of the details. God is ahead of you, so go confidently and with excitement!!
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