Biggest news yet! We’re finally heading to Thailand! We leave Saturday, August 27th and will be back home on Wednesday, September 14th. We will be doing a ZOOM call with Sunny for the first time on August 31st. Then we leave early morning on September 1st to catch an hour long flight up to Khon Kaen where Sunny’s orphanage is located. We will be meeting with his orphanage director and then meeting Sunny in person that morning! We’ll be spending the afternoon with Sunny with our Holt liaison who will help with translating and the transition. That night we stay in a hotel in Khon Kaen for the first time as family of six! If there is ever a time to think of us, it will be that evening on September 1st! We will fly back to Bangkok the following day to sign more paperwork and attend board meetings and embassy appointments until our departure home.

We are feeling a range of emotions as we prepare for this monumental trip! We’ve been waiting two years for this moment so we are excited the anticipation is coming to an end; however, the adventure is just beginning! We will have a long road ahead as we transition Sunny to our family and to life in America. We will be taking it slow and meeting him where he’s at – respecting the trauma and grief that comes along with the excitement of joining our family. We won’t be getting together with big groups of family or friends right away, but instead cocooning at home and focusing on bonding and attachment. We look forward to everyone meeting Sunny as the time comes, slowly but surely!

For those reading who are also adopting internationally, we have financial updates on how travel costs have shaped up. Our adoption agency only gives estimates on travel expenses when initially starting the process, so this was always a big question mark for us as we planned on how to financially cover the adoption. Our known trip expenses are below:

Flights (5 round-trip, 1 one-way): $8313.62
Hotel: $3256.00
Flight and Hotel to Khon Kaen: $531.60
Airport transportation: $122.00
Food: ?
Total: $12,223.22 (+ Food costs for 19 days)

We will have incidental costs as well, so we think $14,000 is a realistic estimate for total costs for a family of 5- becoming 6! If you have questions about how we’ve budgeted for the adoption, what grants we applied for (and received), or how we fundraised, please message us! We are happy to share how we took the leap of faith and worked hard to manage the enormous cost that is international adoption.

We will not be posting on the blog during the trip, however we have a private Facebook page for family and friends called “Grodeks in Thailand!” for anyone who wants to follow along during our travel adventures! If you’d like to be added to the private group, send us a message and let us know. We will post an update on the blog once we return home in September! Thank you all for the prayers and good vibes sent our way during this amazing time for our family! We really appreciate all of your love and support!