Yes, We're in London

Hi everyone!  As you've heard, we DID make it on the plane this morning!  We finished walking through security as they were boarding our flight - nothing like pushing the whole process right to the end!  We had a great flight into London.  Jim and Tracy are down getting some dinner and I am posting this quickly before the bed calls.  We'll all try to get a good nights sleep and then attempt to stay awake all day tomorrow and during most of the flight.  London is 8 hours ahead of you.  Our flight departs here at 5:10 p.m. and is 9 hours.  We arrive in Seattle at 7:05 p.m. Saturday night.  There will never be words to describe this trip or how thankful we are for all of the prayers and support we've received through this process.  Simply put - thank you.  We can't wait to be home - soon enough, soon enough.  I feel so blessed.  Tanya

Its final!!!

Hello this is Tessa! I can hardly type i am so happy. I have just spoken with my parents and they are on there way to the airport, visa in hand! What a miracle. God is so good, and i can not tell you how happy our family is. Thank you for your love and support. We are so excited that Tracy will be getting on the plane with my parents and heading home tonight! There flight lands at Sea-Tac at 7:05pm saturday night. It is an open invitation to anyone who would like to come and welcome her. She would love to see all of the people who have prayed and supported our family through this journey. My parents will not have internet access till they reach London, but they send their blessings. I'm sure they will give us the detailed report later. As for now, God is so good. And this will by far be the best christmas present our family has ever recieved :) We will all sleep in peace tonight! Love, Tessa

You Thought We'd Have an Answer

Can you tell from my title where we're at.  Literally, it's nearly 11:00 p.m. here and I've just finished packing 1 suitcase and 1 backpack.  Jim's packing his right now too.  Our day was LONG, AGAIN.  It started with a 9:00 a.m. call from the girl at the embassy.  She had a question for us that was easy to answer, which Jim did.  After he hung up we looked at each other and got very excited - she was obviously working on our behalf.  At 9:45 she called and asked if we could come and pay for the visa. We said we would do that before going to the court to get the document they needed.  The rest of the day is long.  Did I say long, because I mean really long.  Suffice to say that Jim took one for the team today.  He did EVERYTHING.  I did nothing.  I couldn't.  When the girl at the embassy told him he needed to come up with another plan (because it was 2:00 and the embassy was emptying out for the day), he told her he didn't have another plan.  Our daughter needed to be on that plane with us tomorrow morning.  She agreed to meet us in the morning at 7:00 a.m. (half an hour before the embassy officially opens) to process Tracy's visa as quickly as possible.  She called him back and had reconsidered.  She would wait until 4:30 and if we brought the document (which we had been told for the past 2 hours was coming soon) she would work late and get it done tonight.  4:30 came and went. 5:00, 5:30, 6:00...finally, at 6:30 the justice signed our written ruling.  The fact that the justice was willing to stay this late was indeed a miracle.  For this we were grateful.  But, we had passed the embassy deadline.  Just as frustrated as us was the gal from the embassy.  Graciously, she still agreed to meet us at 7:00.  We are supposed to be at the airport at 7:50 and the embassy is about 45 - 50 minutes away from the airport.  We don't know how long it will take to complete the visa.  We can tell you that all other conditions of the visa have been met - it appears to be a doable deal.  I wish I could tell you that we are all jumping for joy.  Frankly, we're too drained to do so.  We feel really good about tomorrow.  Our bags are packed - for all 3 of us.  Technically, we're not yet done.  We have one more hurdle.  Fortunately it's a low hurdle, although we feel like we need to run the race after completing a marathon!  The morning starts early for us - we leave at 6:00 to be at the embassy early (and yes, I did say early - for those of you who know we're never early)!  Our plane is scheduled to leave at 9:50.  We hope to hear from one of our girls around 8:30 or 9:00p.m. Thursday evening your time when we can confirm that we have received the visa and we will make the flight.  Hopefully they can post it here for you to see.  Jim saved the day for us. Technically, he saved the last 2.  All of my organization and thoroughness got us where we were, but Jim carried us these last 2 days.  He fought for our family and is completely drained.  He stood outside the clerk's office for 7 hours today, waiting for a document that they said was coming and appeared to be out of his grasp.  I stayed in the car and read a book.  I couldn't handle the anxiety of it, so I removed myself from the stress of it.  I can honestly say we would not be at this point if I had been responsible for communicating today.  God made us a team and it has been so evident on this trip how we compliment one another.  His mercy is good and we continue to ask for it and receive it.  One of the last things Tracy said to me before she got in bed was "it will happen.  God would not bring us this far and not complete it".  To that I said "amen sister"!  We can't wait to get on that plane and start the journey home!  Believing in miracles, Tanya

From Tracy

Dear Church,

I miss you and I love you. I would like you to pray that everything works out well so that I can come home with Mom and Dad.  

Tracy

Well....

So, the news today wasn't bad...and it wasn't good.  We did not get the written ruling from the high court, but went ahead to the embassy as scheduled.  We arrived at 12:30 for our 1:00 appt.  We didn't get seen until nearly 4:00.  It was a LONG wait.  We did not see the man who I had previously been communicating with (who by the way is the only person that anyone we've talked to has ever seen).  Instead, we saw a young gal, probably in her mid 20's.  She reviewed all of our paperwork (which was completely in tact) and asked Tracy a couple of questions.  We had been advised to bring Tracy's grandma with us and it proved to be a good call.  She took a few minutes to question Gertrude privately and then finished up with us.  She double checked all of our paperwork to make sure she had all the signatures etc.  Then she told us they would need to do a field investigation, which requires a visit out to Gertrude's place of residence, the purpose being verifying Tracy's orphan status.  She said they would try to get out to the field study early next week.  Jim and I both looked at each other and he took over.  We had already discussed what needed to happen if this was the direction they went.  Jim kindly explained to her our situation - if we didn't have a visa for Tracy by the close of business Thursday, then the 2 of us would have to fly home and we would have to leave Tracy here until we could come back and get her.  Jim was very diplomatic and gracious towards the position we were putting her in.  She looked at us with compassion and said, "I will see what I can do.  I have to go by the book - I have to do everything according to the law, but I'll see what I can do."  After a little more dialogue, we confirmed that she would call us tomorrow to verify the status of Tracy's visa. **On a side note, she is able to move forward with the paperwork without the written ruling.  She will need it to process the visa, but at least it didn't hold us up today.  Actually, I think we need to get it to her asap, because that document spells out how the court came to the determination that Tracy is an orphan**  So, tomorrow we will be at the court house at 11:00 to meet with our atty.  We will stay there until we receive the written ruling.  As soon as it's in our hands we'll get it over to the embassy.  Then we wait...  Please continue with us in prayer.  1) The written ruling needs to be completed and to us very quickly in the morning.  2)  Whatever needs to be investigated by the embassy would be completed tomorrow. 3) We would receive Tracy's visa tomorrow!  Thank you...Tanya

Update

Not much activity today, but here's a brief recap.  1) We spoke with British Airways today.  Because we used frequent flyer miles for our tickets, there are no available dates to change our tickets until at least the middle of January.  We knew this before we came, although hoped that if necessary, they would be able to do something different.  We can still change Tracy's ticket if her visa is not granted in time, but chances are it wouldn't be until mid January.  We're still praying that this information is irrelevant.  2) We spoke to our attorney today.  He believed the justice was writing our written orders today.  We will be at the court house tomorrow at 10:00 waiting to see if it was typed and signed before we need to be at the embassy at 1:00.  I will try to add a new post as soon as possible tomorrow after our embassy appt.   In peace, Tanya

A New Piece of the Puzzle

We met our atty. today to get the last document we needed for our embassy appt. Wed. (or so we thought).  As we were preparing to eat dinner this evening, I showed that document to one of the missionaries here.  He has assisted many people as they have walked through adoptions here and he asked to see the document once we had it.  Upon showing him, he informed us that what we had was the written order, not the written ruling.  Seems the embassy needs both to process the visa.** Here's a little side note ** remember to ask me about this embassy ordeal.  I have tried to make things happen on my own timing and I just keep getting denied!  Last week I tried to make an appt. before we had all the paperwork together (assuming I knew the timing and that our paperwork would be ready when I wanted the appt.), but my phone died just before I got the question out.  I was very upset at that.  Then on Friday when we actually did make the appt., the soonest they gave us was Wed. (which you know).  Of course we were bummed, but it was out of our hands.  So, here we think we've got a few days to wait quietly until Wed., but no, not so fast.  Today's information could be taxing and stressful, but wildly enough, I'm taking it in stride.  The way I figure, it gives us 1 1/2 more work days to get the document we need.  Funny how God sees things we don't!  Despite this new information, we are still surrounded by an amazing amount of peace, and we continue to pray that it will all come together by 1:00 Wed. - and we still have faith for it  **  So, after learning this new info, I immediately got on the phone with our atty.  We discussed this written ruling - he knew it was coming, but didn't realize the embassy would require it.  He immediately went in to his "here's what we need to do" and followed it with his plan for tomorrow.  He will personally go see the judge (assuming she comes in or makes time to see him, hmm...another prayer request) and request that she complete the written ruling on Tuesday so that we can get it registered and in our possession by Wed. at 1:00.  So, for those of you who thought we had a couple of down days in the prayer department, guess again!  There is no possible way that this should all come together - but the faith we have can move a mountain!  We are still believing for God to bring this all together so we can be on that plane on Friday!  Having said that, we will still head to British Airways tomorrow to check on flight availability should we need plan B.  **On another little side note**  Have we told you how blessed we are with the help we have received from the Ugandans that have been working for us over here?  Jim and I have learned so much about the process of adopting here and it's hard to believe that God would have us glean all of this information just for our one child.  While many of you know that our particular adoption is very unique, it has opened our eyes to the thousands of children that live in this country without a family.  With the connections we've made, it appears that doors may be opening here to work with locals who are outstanding people and who are making a difference in their country.  We will wait to see if God stirs the hearts of any who have been touched by our story and see if this may be a new chapter for your story. **  We'll let you know how tomorrow goes...Tanya

Filling You In

So, before I get started, I've got to tell you that I just read Jim's most recent blog entry and it is very clear to me how different he and I are.  I look at my entry's - methodical, detail oriented, informative...  I look at Jim's entry's - thought provoking, contemplative, spiritually filling...  It would be easy to be intimidated by his spirituality and insight, but I won't go there.   God created us each individually and I believe one of His purposes is that we would bring the gifts He gave us to benefit those around us.  It is my hope and prayer that as you ready my blog you would feel like you understand this process - with it's victories and it's challenges - as we walk towards the finish line of this amazing journey God has brought us on.  I try to give you as many details as I can for two reasons. 1) some of you are very detail oriented like me, and 2) hopefully these details cause you to be lead to pray for things that I may not specifically have asked for or mentioned.  So, having said that, here goes:)  The internet has been down since my last entry, so it wasn't that we didn't have any news, we just couldn't share it with you.  Friday morning began with a 10:00 appt. at the courthouse, waiting for the justice to sign our written order.  The judge did show up, although she would only sign 2 orders at that moment and our atty wanted 4 copies.  So, he gave us one copy so we could go to Tracy's school to get her passport and he kept the other copy.  The rest of the day gets pretty long and detailed and I'm going to spare you ALL of it.  Our day actually ended with a WONDERFUL Christmas production put on by former members of the African Children's Choir and it really was enjoyable.  It was a fantastic way to end a very long day.  In between the courthouse and the performance, here's a recap...  We went to Tracy's school to get her passport.  Her grandma did not come with us as she was caring for a small child.  The school requested she come so they could hand everything over to her and properly document Tracy's release from the school.  This was a very fair and reasonable request, so without question or irritation we went and picked up Grandma Gertrude.  The whole process of arriving at the school until we left with the passport was about 3 1/2 hours.  It was another half hour on top of that while we waited at the school to gather her belongings and our little girl.  After that we went to meet our atty to pick up the copy of the document that the Embassy will need.  Turns out there was an important detail left out of our document and the atty. corrected it and had to go back to court to get the judge's signatures on all of the new documents.  After that, it still had to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and be registered.  So, we still don't have this document.  Our atty was expecting it by the end of business Friday, but we were not going to be in town long enough to wait for it.  We will connect with him most likely Monday to get it.  So, due to the length of these events, we did not make it to the Embassy on Friday.  I was able to call them and ask for an appt.  The soonest they would see us is Wed. at 1:00 p.m.  I will tell you that Jim and I both sat silent in the car for a few minutes.  It seems like this will make our desire to leave on Friday nearly impossible.  We have heard from others in our position that the embassy is taking  2- 3 days to process visas, sometimes longer.  Jim is still believing that we may be granted Tracy's visa in time, I'm a little less optimistic (maybe it's because I'm the one who's been making contact with the embassy and I haven't particularly cared for the interactions I've had with the gentleman who we need to see).  None the less, I've left this to the Lord.  I know that so many have been praying that Tracy would be on the plane with us on Friday, Dec. 12th, that there is no doubt how much this has been covered in prayer.  I can tell you that at our appt. on Wed. we will be told what time we can come back to get the visa (what day and hour it will be ready).  While there's a chance it will be ready on Thursday, the most likely time frame will be Friday or Monday - and this is assuming there will not be any delays.  HOWEVER, since we learned of our appt. time, I've had some updated information that gave me a little more hope than I had previously.  I thought our plane left at 8:30 a.m. Friday.  If by chance her visa would be ready early Friday a.m., there would not have been time to pick it up when the embassy opens at 7:30 to get it and then get to the airport.  Now I have rechecked the tickets and our plane doesn't leave until 9:50 a.m.  I realize most of you are thinking there is still not enough time - and technically you're correct.  But you probably haven't travelled with Jim!  All of this to say, there is a hope that has risen in me that we still could all be on the plane together on the 12th.  Don't misunderstand me, I believe that God is capable of miracles - and no doubt this would still be one.  It's also nice when I have a hope in the current understanding of the process' steps and timing.  Today we tried to get in to British Airways to check on the availability of flights for the week following our scheduled time to leave, but they were not open.  Monday is a holiday here, so the soonest we can get in to check on this is Tuesday, which we'll do.  If we do need to change our tickets, we won't do anything until after Wednesday's appt. when they tell us when we can come back to get the visa.  So, I think it goes without saying, please keep praying for Tracy's visa and our ability to get it back in time for us all to come home like we've planned.  We're all about God's perfect timing, and I believe He knows the desires of our hearts Again, thanks for supporting us in this journey.  We are so thankful for you.  Blessings, Tanya.

It's Official - The Romack's are now a Family of 6!!

Well, if Jim thought he was outnumbered before, it just got piled on!  It's official, we were granted legal guardianship of Tracy today by the Ugandan High Court!  It was a great birthday present for Jim and he'd be happy to tell you the same.  Jim's wanting on the computer as well, so my addition today will be short - I'll defer to the birthday boy!  In fact, you might want to check his blog, I think that's where he'll end up!  So, we went to court and received a wonderful gift.  We were given the verbal reading we wanted to hear.  Next, we needed the written ruling.  The judge decided to go home before signing the order, so it gets put off until tomorrow.  We were really hoping for today so we could get the other things taken care of first thing tomorrow morning  and then hopefully get to the Embassy tomorrow to begin the visa process.  In my human  timing, it appears that we will be cutting it really close to get Tracy's visa in the time frame we need to ensure that she can come home with us.  It looks like the embassy will be closed on Monday and they're only open until noon tomorrow (Friday).  So, we're praying for all of the documents necessary to be finalized tomorrow within enough time to get us into the embassy before noon.  I'll be honest with you - that's asking for a miracle!  If it doesn't work, we have to keep moving forward.  And that we will do.  So, we are still so thankful for your prayers.  A really big one was answered today!!  We have a new little girl who is waiting to come home and meet you all!  Thanks to all of you who have sent us comments on the blog.  It's really fun to read your thoughts and well wishes.  Our hearts are rejoicing tonight!  Tanya

One More Checked Off the List!

What a miracle it's been to get these medical appointments in the time frame that we have.  Once again you can not deny the hand of the Lord in this process.  As we told you before, we were able to get Tracy in for her first appt. on Saturday (after saying they couldn't get her in until early this next week).  Saturday's appt. went well and we had the 2nd appt. today.  It went really well and she passed all of her tests.  She was given a clean bill of health for everything the US Embassy will require - YEAH!!!  Now that we can check that off the list, we move on to the next items.  For a recap, here are the things we need to have taken care of this week.  1) Tracy's passport.  This is huge.  We honestly don't know how they're going to pull this one off, but we continue to trust the Lord for his provision.  2) Judges ruling on Thursday. 3) Complete filling out all appropriate forms that the embassy will require (most of which are coming via DHL this week thanks to Tessa and Pastor Damian's help in sending them to us).  Pray for these to arrive in a timely manner.  4) One of our suitcases has not yet arrived and it has some papers that we will need - not to mention things I want.  :)  We believe all of these things will be accomplished by the end of this next week.  Believing for that, tomorrow we will make an appt. with the US Embassy for Monday, Dec. 8th in the early a.m.  At that appt. we will hand in all of our paperwork.  We believe that if we've got everything in order, they should issue her visa by Wednesday or Thursday, and then we turn around to leave on Friday.  So, there you have it.  That's the time frame we're on - we're praying that it falls in line with God's time frame!  We continue to trust God's perfect timing, although I have to tell you that our hearts would completely break if we have to leave here without Tracy.  The bond and connection that we've shared over the past 4 days with her have been so special, I can't imagine having to take a break from it or from her.  She is so ready to go home to three beautiful sisters who are anxiously waiting to share their lives with her.  It would be the most memorable Christmas our family has yet to, or probably ever will, experience. We continue to lift this up to Him and praise Him for the peace that passes all understanding.  I can tell you this, His peace definitely is with us.  I truly believe that Tracy will be with us on that plane when we leave here Dec. 12th...it's all in His hands.  Thank you for playing such a special role in this journey.  We're so privileged to have the love and support of so many family and friends.  We feel so blessed.  Tanya   P.S.  With the lack of activity the early part of this next week, we are taking a few days to regroup and prepare for the next round.  We may not update the blog until we've been to court on Thursday, so please recognize that no news is good news!  

Quick Correction

"The Surgery" is the only approved clinic for Tracy to get her visa qualifying exams.  It is not the only clinic in the country...I'm tired.  Good night.  I caught that after I 'posted' as well as some typos...oops.  But for the mistake, I'll post another photo as my sin offering.  :) 

Jim

"The Surgery"? Is that any way to talk to a kid?

As you can tell this isn't Tanya!  Yep, it's Jim.  I'm taking over for tonight.  Tanya and Tracy are long asleep.  I've been working on her blog and some other communication for the last hour only to lose it all when the internet went down momentarily.  So, nothing like starting over at going on midnight.  But you are all worth it (plus my wife told me I had to do it).  So, here goes my twisted view of another amazing day in Uganda.  

First off, why would you ever name a medical clinic (the only approved one in the country) for children "The Surgery".  Like they aren't scared enough already!  "It'll be okay honey, it's just a little exam...no big deal."  Then you show up and the place is called, "The SURGERY"!  Well, Tracy was a good sport and she was proud to find out that she was 134 1/2 centimeters tall.  Exciting stuff, huh?  Don't ask me how many kilograms she weighed, they lost me at the centimeters.  

Secondly, there are two exams that Tracy needs before we can go before the U.S. Embassy for her visa.  Today was the first.  Half way there, huh?  Not so quick.  After Tracy courageously didn't cry getting her blood drawn (I told her she didn't have to watch) Tanya about cried when we found out that there wasn't an available appointment that worked with our schedule for another week!  That wasn't going to work and jeopardized everything.  I think the look on Tanya's face would've drove any woman (there were three receptionists) to take a harder look at the appointment book.  Thank the Lord they did again and again until they 'created' an appointment for us tomorrow before they open.   Can I just say, "Thank you for praying."  Because that is huge for us.  Now with that last appointment being tomorrow Tracy can go back to school for the week and we can everything lined up waiting for the Judge's ruling on Thursday (my birthday!).   So, as you know, the timing for all of this, is so crucial and that allowed us to stay on track.  It will also give Tanya and I a couple of days off at the beginning of the week which we've really needed and are now looking forward to.  

Well, I have exceeded my liberties on "Tanya's" blog, so if you'd like a few more sordid stories of our day you'll have to bounce over to my blog.  The link should be at the bottom of the page.  Love you all.  

Jim

Our Day in Court

Our day was very productive today.  We were told to be at the courthouse at 9:30, so, due to heavy traffic we left very early (7:30) and made good time.  We arrived at the courthouse at 8:45 and waited for our attorney and magistrate.  Just before 10:00 we made our way to the hall outside of the Chief Justice's office.  She decided to not hear cases until around 11:00 and it was discovered that our file had been misplaced by the clerk.  While the justice was still willing to hear our case, she would need to review it a little.  At noon we were told she was taking a tea break.  We continued to wait.  At 1:00 we were told that she was not going to hear any other cases until 2:00.  We went for a quick lunch and returned to the courthouse just before 2:00.  The justice opened the afternoon session with our case (around 2:15).  We had been prepped all day on how to answer questions the justice may want to ask us.  Tracy and her grandma were being prepped as well.  While we all sat in the justice's chambers, our atty went over our case with her.  She asked questions of him and he was able to answer.  The amazing part of this was that she did not ask questions of anybody else!  I can not explain to you in this format what a gift from God this was!  The atty and magistrate were surprised and we all believe that's a very good sign of how the justice will rule.  Now, until we arrived here, we thought we would receive our final ruling during this court appearance.  We were wrong.  Now the justice will decide how she'll rule and give us those results next Thursday, Dec. 4th at 2:00.  So, we will need to go to court again on Thursday, which just happens to be Jim's birthday!  We are very optimistic about her ruling and we are moving forward with everything else we need to do.  Since we've been here we've got a very good understanding of what else will happen.  There is  another adoptive mom staying here at the guest house and she has given us so much helpful information.  Tomorrow we start the process of a medical exam that is required by the US Embassy in order to obtain Tracy's visa.  She has to have 2 appts and tomorrow will be the first.  We also need Tracy's passport.  This is an area that we need prayer.  While Tracy has a passport, it's currently in the possession of the school and there is some concern about them releasing it.  We are needing to look for an alternate solution for getting her a passport and we don't have much time.  Also, Tracy was supposed to take her final exams these past few days and her grandma had to pull her out before she could take them.  She has to go back and take them this week.  This also poses some challenges for all of the appts needed next week.  I wish I could give you an extremely detailed account of how all of these challenges fit together and where the timing of them fits in, but I'm sorry, it's very difficult to convey in this format.  Please pray for Tracy's passport, the medical exam (which consists of 2 different appts.), the justice's ruling and the visa.  Very importantly, our time is so crunched, that all of our documents MUST be complete without any errors when we turn them in so that we don't lose any time in refiling or correcting any papers.  As of right now, the goal is to take everything in to the US Embassy on Monday Dec. 8th to apply for her visa.  If everything is in order, it should only take 2 - 3 days to finalize, which leaves very little time before our Dec. 12th departure.  Even though there is much left to do, we are seeing God's grace in every area.  This other mom that is here at the guest house has been more helpful than I can convey.  I can honestly tell you that without her, there is no way we would have had a chance to leave here with Tracy.  The information she has given us is more than our atty knew.  She truly has been a gift to us.  I feel bad everytime I ask her as she has been in the country for nearly 12 weeks waiting to finalize her adoption (her case has had some unique problems, most of which we don't anticipate for us, although we continue to cover all aspects of this in prayer).  Having said all that, we have had the privilege of having Tracy with us last night and again tonight.  All of the workers and guests here at the guest house love her.  She brings smiles to everyone.  She's dancing and singing and a true joy to all who see her.  Any fear we may have had about her taking time to bond are non-existent.  Thursday afternoon when she came home with us, I asked her what name she wanted to call Jim (pastor Jim, uncle Jim, Jim) she responded by saying "The other girls in the home call him Dad, so I would like to call him Dad.  I want him to be my Father".  So, right away we are mom and dad, without hesitation.  She speaks to the girls and addresses them by saying "Hi sister".  Her acceptance of us has been very moving and touching.  I find myself at the brink of tears on a constant bases. The Lord just continues to confirm for us how right it is for us to bring her home and to be a part of our family.  For those of you who have not met her, we can't wait to introduce you.  She will touch your heart and be a source of joy!  We continue to thank the Lord for this opportunity and His amazing grace.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  They are so needed!  Tanya

Jim's Blog may prove of interest as well.

Hello everyone, this is Jim again.  Tanya wanted me to let you know that you could access my blog about our current events at the bottom of this page.  If you scroll all of the way down to the bottom of her blog you will see mine.  Africa, adoption and everything else...

We have a half an hour before we are off for court.  Have a great day or "night" as the case may be.  

Happy Thanksgiving

Tanya wanted to type something, but she is out like a light.  We just tucked Tracy in and prayed with her after an amazing day of African life.  I'll let Tanya fill you in on the day tomorrow, but suffice it to say that it was an amazing Thanksgiving.  We truly miss our family and girls, but I think that was one thing that made it special.  Everything important truly came into focus.  Everything we are truly thankful for.  We may never spend another Thanksgiving apart as a family, but we will never forget the one that we had to.  Tanya and Tracy are completely wiped from an exhausting day so I'll leave you with a photo and a hug from the three of us.  

Family, friends, and especially our girls, "Thank you for supporting us while we are gone and Happy Thanksgiving."  

We Arrived

It's 4:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon in Uganda.  I can tell you I'm very, very sleepy.  I've already been taking a nap, which probably isn't the best idea, but my eyes are so heavy.  So this will be short and sweet today.  We arrived here safely this a.m. without any delays.  The flights were long, but uneventful.  It was a 9 hour flight from Seattle to London and a 7 1/2 hour flight from London to Entebbe (for some reason I thought this was only a 5 hour flight), with a 7 hour layover in between.  We have made contact with our atty. and he has said that our court appt. is at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.  We will meet with him and our power of atty tomorrow so we can prepare for the court proceedings.  Sorry I don't have more to give you right now...   Tanya

While We Are Gone

We hope to keep this blog updated while we are in Uganda. Check back frequently to see how our days unfold and how our lives are being changed. We hope to share pictures with you along the way. Stay tuned:)

Friday Update

FINALLY!!! We received a text message at 1:49 this a.m. letting us know that our court date has been confirmed for Friday Nov. 28th! We arrive in the country on Wed. the 26th, so this will give us a couple days to acquaint ourselves with the city and the locations we will need to get to. As you could expect, we are very excited to get to Uganda and continue our process. Please continue to pray for us. There are so many areas that we seek the Lord's blessing and hand upon. 1) Traveling safety for us (we fly out Nov. 24th and return Dec. 13th), as well as the others in Uganda who will need to be traveling while assisting us. 2) That our girls would adapt well while we are gone. They are all being well cared for, but nearly 3 weeks is a long time for our family to be separated. 3) Please pray for Tracy as she will need to say good-bye to her home and people she loves. There will be huge changes in her life, so pray as the Lord would lead you (including her emotional, physical, spiritual and mental health). 4) That our current family of 5 would transition well to the addition of our new family member. We have talked about this for nearly a year, but talking is almost over and being a family of 6 is very near. We know that this adoption is part of God's plan for our family and we can't tell you how exciting it is. We are expecting some transitional situations and our prayer is that we would keep God at the center of our family and seek His wisdom and guidance for the challenges that may occur. 5) Please continue to pray for all of our paperwork to be processed smoothly, quickly and without delay. Without this prayer being answered, there is a very good chance Tracy will not be able to come home with us. If her visa has not been processed in a timely fashion, one of us will need to return to Uganda after the first of the year to get her. Please pray that she will be on the plane with us Dec. 12th when we leave Kampala! Thank you for partnering with us on this amazing journey! Blessings, Tanya

Thursday Update

I seem to be the one who makes these phone calls and Jim is the one waiting, holding his breath to hear how I'm responding to what I'm being told. Today was no different and when I hung up I thought Jim might pass out. He knew the conversation didn't go as well as we wanted, but he couldn't tell to what length our discouragement should be. As much as we trust God's perfect timing, sometimes we wish it was different. This is what we learned today: The paper's that were filed in court were incomplete. They were missing an original document that was needed on their end. The papers did get filed, but the judge was not willing to set a final date until that document was received in the court. (They had a copy, but needed the original to satisfy the courts). The original was retrieved late Thursday and it is now in our attorney's possession. We are told that he will return to court tomorrow, first thing in the morning, to add this document and receive the date. It is VERY important that this be accomplished tomorrow, as it is the last Ugandan business day before we are scheduled to leave. We have the ability to reschedule our flights, but that must be done 24 hours before departure. Our power of attorney felt confident that we can get a court date for next week. We continue to pray for this. Once again, we'll keep you posted... Tanya

Wednesday Update

Patiently we wait... I was able to speak with Juliet (our power of atty.) this morning. She had been presiding in court today and had not heard from Richard (our atty.). I also tried Richard, but was not able to get through. Juliet continued to call him until she thought it was too late. So...we are still waiting. At this point, we will call tonight (Thursday a.m. in Uganda). We trust the Lord and His timing and we are oh so anxious! We feel we are so close... Thank you for your prayers, they are so appreciated. Tanya

Tuesday Update

We finally got through to Uganda this A.M., although we did not get the information we are seeking! Our atty. did go to court, but the registrar was not in, hence he did not receive the date we are waiting for. He asked for us to call him again tomorrow at the same time....one more day! Tanya

Monday Update

We have been trying to call Uganda all morning and of course - we can't get through! It is now too late to call and we will try again tonight (Tuesday morning Uganda time). Thanks for your prayers, we'll keep you posted! Tanya

Documents Arrived

The documents we sent have arrived in Kampala! This was everything our attorney (Richard) needed to file our petition in court. I spoke with him this a.m. and he will go to court on Monday and file them! (They were not delivered directly to him, but to another office. He'll be picking them up tomorrow). When he files them, they will give him the date that we need to be present. We arrive in Kampala on Wed. Nov. 26th, so that is the date he will work for and we will pray for. Here is how you can be praying for us: 1) That there would be nothing preventing Richard from obtaining the documents tomorrow. 2) That we can get into court immediately upon our arrival in Uganda. 3) That we will have favor with the courts and the U.S. Embassy and that our paperwork will be processed quickly and without delay (hence granting us legal guardianship of Tracy and securing her visa so she can come home with us). We appreciate your prayers! We'll update this Monday morning when our court date has been scheduled. Tanya

We've purchased our plane tickets!

Hello friends,  

This is Jim.  If you've come to appreciate my lovely wife's detailed explanations of where we are at in the adoption process.  You are not in for a real treat.  You get ME and my explanation of where we are at! 

We have been in regular contact with our attorney and Juliet our "power of attorney" over the past few days.  They have come to the conclusion that it is time for us to move ahead and purchase our tickets.  Tanya can add to this blog when she gets back from Canada with Emmy and make the needed corrections to what I'm about to say, but I'll do my best.  (Can any guys relate to me out there?  Love you honey.  :) 

We are anticipating an email affidavit in the morning that Tanya and I will sign first thing on Monday have notarized and sent back to Uganda via DHL Mail.  When they receive it they will go to court with the rest of our documentation to present to a judge.  At that time they will receive a court date for Tanya and I to appear before the judge and finalize the transfer of guardianship.  The interesting part of that appointment is that our attorney felt that it would be within a matter of days not weeks before Tanya and I would need to be there!  

Then we would need to go with Tracy "Esther" to our embassy in Kampala and secure an appointment to apply for her visa to come home with us.  We are not sure how long that process should take or what complications may come with that.  We are praying, none.  Then, we would be free to bring her home!  

So, long story short we are flying to Entebbe, Uganda on November 24th!  Thanks to my brother-in-law Brett we only paid for the taxes and fees on his "frequent flier miles". Thanks Brett! The taxes were still $2500, you can only imagine how expensive it would have been without his miles! We owe you bro.

We don't know where we are staying, exactly how we're paying for all of this.  (If anyone would like to buy a house in the next couple of weeks, that would be great!)  But God has met us at every point and his grace has been enough every time.  We aren't worried.  We're thrilled. We haven't been able to talk to Tracy for months, but the timing is perfect because she'll be out of school a few days after we arrive.  

Please be praying for many details that need to fall into place, our children as they eagerly await the adjustment, and for Tracy as she prepares for a pretty big change for a little kid living in an orphanage in downtown Kampala.  Lots of change, but God's heart has not changed.  Thanks for listening and caring.  

Jim and the girls.  

A Bump in the Road

This morning I received a phone call from the judge (Juliet) who is assisting us in Uganda. It seems that the attorney who was hired on our behalf is not working out as well as we had hoped. While the judge is doing as much as she can, we still need an attorney to represent us in court. The judge can not do this for a couple of reasons. 1) She works up in Northern Uganda as a child welfare judge. It takes her about 6 hours by bus to get to Kampala, which is where the Embassy is located and all the court proceedings and filings take place. 2) As a judge, she can not represent us in court. This is not new information for us. We have known this from the beginning. While we knew she could not represent us, she has been very vital to our adoption. You may or may not know that while she was still a lawyer she represented Tracy's grandma (Gertrude), who at the time was seeking legal custody of Tracy. Gertrude was successful in gaining that guardianship, which in turns allows her to turn guardianship over to us. When we first began to discuss the hope of adopting Tracy, Gertrude immediately tracked down Juliet and asked her to assist us. Without her, it seems impossible that we would be where we are today. The fact that we need to hire a new atty. poses a few challenges, none of which can not be overcome. Truth be told, Jim and I have been frustrated by the lack of information our atty. was able to get (or not get) for us. He was selective about the questions he would respond to, and his communication with us was very minimal. Juliet has already spoken with another colleague who is willing to take on our case. He will be in Kampala tomorrow (Tuesday Oct. 21) and has all the necessary paperwork to take care of our first filing. If I understood Juliet correctly, he will send us an affidavit to sign and we will return that to him as soon as possible. By next Friday, he expects to have a court date for us. It will be necessary for Jim and I both to travel to Uganda for that court date. At that time, we will also need to file the additional application that will grant Tracy her visa. We are still waiting for an answer on how long this will take. The previous atty. never specifically addressed this question. We have asked for our new atty. to inquire about this tomorrow when he is in court. Juliet did say that one of us will need to return to Uganda when all of the paperwork is complete and then we can take Tracy home. Of course we are not excited about this at all. We will continue to pray that the document we need can be filed and finalized in the time frame that we are in Uganda for that final court appearance. We have no choice but to wait and see... So, to sum it up, we have 2 main prayer requests today. 1) Finances - Because we need to hire a new attorney, it will cost us a little more money. He is willing to work for less than the previous atty., but still it is more than we had expected. We also have one more installment left to send once the filings have taken place. The Lord has provided for all of our needs so far, and we continue to trust Him for the remaining finances. 2) Please pray that this new atty. will have our best interest in mind and that he will actually move forward with the court proceedings that he is capable of. Of course it goes without saying that we want this to happen as soon as possible. We'll keep you posted... Tanya

Documents Have Arrived

We got a call from Uganda Monday morning letting us know that all of our documents had arrived safely! The next step is for them to be filed in court. We'll keep you posted on when that will happen! Tanya

The Next Application

Still no word on whether or not our documents have arrived in Kampala. Just after we sent them last week, we received a notice in the mail in regards to an I600A application we had turned in about 5 weeks ago. The I600A is the application that approves us to adopt a child from a specific country (in our case, Uganda). To file this app, you must get fingerprinted by Homeland Security. We went to Yakima to turn the application in and get fingerprinted in the middle of August. The good news with this is that not only did our application get approved, they also send a Notice Of Good Conduct to Kampala on our behalf. This was the last document they needed in Uganda to have all of the paperwork. Sometimes it may take up to a couple weeks for that cable to make it's way to the Embassy, but at least we know it should be on it's way. We were very excited about this news...then we talked to our social worker. What we didn't know (or hadn't yet paid much attention to) is that now we need an I600 application. This application is to adopt a SPECIFIC child (Tracy). If I understand correctly (which is questionable at times), this application needs to be filed from the US Embassy in Kampala AND it can not be filed until the court has granted us legal custody of Tracy. We don't know what the time frame for approval of this application is yet. Our social worker has not worked with a Ugandan adoption, although in other countries it's taken anywhere from a few days to a few months. We have asked our team on the Ugandan end to go to the Embassy and try to get answers to this question. Obviously, we would love to go and get these answers ourselves, but that's just not possible. Please pray with us that these questions will get accurate answers and that we would know these answers quickly. The more we know, the better equipped we are to fully understand the process and be prepared for the time it will take to complete the process. We are appreciate all of your prayers. Thanks. Tanya

Getting Started

Thanks for opening up our page. We're glad you're here and we hope you find this to be an informative place to get caught up on our adoption. I created this blog yesterday and intended to send it out yesterday, but I was having difficulties with the layout. I've decided that you'll be more interested in our story than you are in the layout, so here you go. Yesterday's post is the most current news we have. For some of you, you may have missed the middle of the story (maybe even all of the story to this point), but hopefully you can follow us from this point forward. Ideally, one of us will come back and give you some history on our story...please don't hold your breath, life is very busy right now. None the less, thank you for being here. We're glad you came and welcome to the Romack's Road to Adoption! Tanya

Romack's Road to Adoption

We know that this blog is well overdue...please forgive us. So many of you have been praying for us and supporting us in our journey to adopt our little girl from Uganda, Africa. I say our little girl, but she's not really so little. She turned 9 on July 17th. Many of you know her as Esther. We recently spoke with her on the phone and asked what name she wanted to go by when she arrives. She has told us that she would like to go by Tracy. Her given name is Tracy Esther Nakayiza. When she was travelling in the states, there were 2 members of the choir named Tracy, so they called her Esther. She said she is more used to Tracy, so this is the name we will call her. For many of you it has been quite some time since you've received an update on the status of the adoption. It has been fairly quiet for quite awhile. We recently found out that the judge assisting us in Uganda was waiting on our paperwork. Due to some minor roadblocks, it took some time to get all of the information needed and get those documents sent. TODAY (Sept. 16th), I went to the post office and sent all of the necessary paperwork. Please pray for them to arrive safely and intact. We have been told that it will take 8 business days for them to arrive. As we understand it, once our documents arrive in Uganda, they will go to court and file them. At that time, the judge will set a court date for everything to be finalized and that is when we will travel to Uganda. We really have no time frame for this. Previously, we have tried to set time frames in place, but to no avail. So, while we may hope and pray for this to be soon, we really have no idea. We will continue to update this blog so that you can walk with us and know what's happening. We love to answer any questions you may have and we love to talk about Tracy:) Our girls are really excited about the addition of a sister and we are all very excited for her to join us. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We are so blessed to have such a great circle of friends and family surrounding us. Tanya