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