Pack 10 Pinewood Derby Day

Final Exams

We have entered the last week of the second semester. Christian and Carson are still working on multiplication with factors in parentheses and word problems, writing, and reading. Patrick has finals this week - he has finished 2 (History & Geomentry) today, followed by English on Wednesday and finishing with Spanish and Chemistry on Thursday. GOOD LUCK PATRICK!

Post your wishes to Patrick under this post by clicking on "Comments" below.

Counting Until the SDA Opens

Adoption Update

Today, a new announcement was issued by the U.S. Embassy with regards to adoptions in Ukraine. Basically, it states there are 1,453 allowable adoptions for foreign citizens in the year 2008 from Ukraine. They have removed country (number of adoptions per country)and child (age category)restrictions. Once a dossier (official packet of papers) is complete it may be registered with the State Department of Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Chid. (SDAPRC).

This morning we hung out together as a family - the boys built forts out of sheets and blankets using their bunkbeds. Totally so cute. Later, we joined friends for dinner (it was delicious) and some cards while the kids all played Xbox and DS.

Today we visited El Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial in the town of Escorial. It is an extraordinary building here just outside of Madrid; approximately twenty-seven miles north west of Madrid and situated on the south-eastern slopes of the Sierra Guadarrama. El Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial is comprised of a monastery, church, pantheon or royal mausoleum, a palace (intended as the summer and autumn residence of the court), college, library, art galleries and more. The Spaniards refer to this beautiful structure as the eighth wonder of the world. In 1563 and by order of Phillip II, construction began by the architect Juan Bautista de Toledo who was assisted by Lucas de Escalante and Pedro de Tolosa. El Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial is breathtakingly beautiful.

Back to School

The boys started back to school/work today. What will I do with so much quietness? There are numerous projects to begin/finish beginning with cleaning out all the "stuff" we don't need to lug with us when we move this spring.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to our family and friends! We hope 2008 brings you much joy and happiness.

WOW! Christmas is right around the weekend! Can you believe it? It's amazing how fast time passes. The boys are very excited and cannot wait for Santa to arrive. Hang in there boys - it won't be much longer.

Last night we worked on multiplication tables. Christian and Carson are doing so well and we are so proud of them. Their little brains are absorbing so much and everyday they come home with knowledge they are so proud of. Patrick is still growing - I think he grows an inch over night. Also doing well in school and now beginning to think about where he will go to college or if he will choose a service academy.

Have a great day! Merry Christmas!

On December 12, 2007, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine released the following adoption news:

On November 22, 2007 the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports issued Decree #4137. This Decree approves the numbers of the new adoption dossiers from foreign countries that can be accepted by the Ukrainian State Department for Adoption and Protection of the Rights of the Child (SDAPRC) during calendar year 2008.

...460 dossier submissions have been allocated to parents from the U.S. for calendar year 2008. This number was arrived at using a special mathematical formula devised by the SDAPRC, based on the number of delinquent post adoption reports and the number of Ukrainian children who will be eligible for intercountry adoption in 2008. The total number of the dossier submissions is divided among five categories of children, so a specific number of dossiers can be submitted for each category:

children under six years old (with no siblings) - 32 dossiers
children from six to nine years old (with no siblings) - 83 dossiers
children ten years or older (with no siblings) - 115 dossiers
sibling groups (in which one of the children is younger than 6 years) - 92 dossiers
sibling groups (in which all siblings are 6 or more years old) - 138 dossiers
The U.S. again has the highest number of allocations for foreign countries adopting from Ukraine, followed by Italy (381 dossiers) and Spain (285 dossiers).

The SDAPRC will accept the new dossiers from foreign citizens beginning February 4, 2008.

Please keep praying for us and our daughter.

With love,
The Payne Family

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