Good Golly Ms. Molly!

We (actually Lisa has been doing all the trying, I've just been cheer leading) have been trying for quite some time to get a recently notarized copy of our marriage certificate from St. Lucia.  After months of "you call back tomorrow", or "she's not here", or my favorite, "we're working on it right now", we (again, read Lisa), has enlisted the help of a very nice lady at the resort where we got married. Below is a copy of their correspondence with some minor edits:


From: Davis, Lisa
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2011 4:25 PM
To: Molly McDaniel
Subject: Marriage Certificate - Lisa and Mike Davis - May 1, 2004


Thank you so much for agreeing to try and help us get a copy of our marriage certificate.  As I mentioned, my husband and I are adopting a child from the Ukraine and we can not move forward with the adoption without two notarized and apostilled copies of our marriage certificate.  We were married at The Jalousie Plantation on May 1, 2004.

Per our earlier telephone conversation, attached please find a copy of the original letter that was sent via UPS to the Registrar's office in St Lucia.  The package arrived on August 25, 2011.  My first contact with the St. Lucian Registrar was approximately 2.5 weeks later when I was told that they had not received my package.  UPS had confirmed delivery so UPS was forced to put a trace on the package.  Shortly thereafter, the package was discovered on someone's desk who had apparently been out sick.  Approximately 3 days later, I was told that my request for apostilled documents would cost $50 instead of the normal $20.  I quickly sent the new money order for $50 via USPS tracking and the check was confirmed delivered on September 23, 2011.  I was told that the original $20 money order would be returned with my marriage certificates. I called to follow up on my check and was told that they had not cashed it yet and to call the following week.  The following week, I was told that the supervisor was not in and to call back.  When I called back again, I was told that they only processed certificates on Thursday.  From that point forward, I was making daily calls to check on the status of my documents and was either told that the supervisor was out and/or that it wasn't done and to call back.  Finally, I was told two weeks ago that it would be sent by Friday (Oct 21st).  On Tuesday (Oct 25th) when I had not received confirmation from UPS that it had been shipped, I called back.  (In my original UPS package, I had included a prepaid UPS package for a speedy return delivery.)  I was then told that the certificate had not been signed and that it would go out this week.  When I called again this morning, I was told that the supervisor was out again and that I am to call back tomorrow.

I would appreciate anything you can do to help me move my request forward.  Thanks again for your help.

From: MollyMcDaniel
Sent:Monday, October 31, 2011 4:33 PM
To:Davis, Lisa
Subject:RE: Marriage Certificate - Lisa and Mike Davis - May 1, 2004

Hi Lisa,

Letme see what I can do from here. Do you have the name of one or more of theindividuals you spoke to at the Registrar's Office? This would be reallyhelpful moving forward.

Allthe best,
Molly

From: Davis,Lisa
Sent:Monday, October 31, 2011 4:49 PM
To:Molly McDaniel
Subject:RE: Marriage Certificate - Lisa and Mike Davis - May 1, 2004

I believe the supervisors name is Mrs. Felix (??),but I would normally speak with the woman who answered the phone.

From: MollyMcDaniel
Sent:Thursday, November 03, 2011 8:56 AM
To:Davis, Lisa
Subject:RE: Marriage Certificate - Lisa and Mike Davis - May 1, 2004

Good morning Lisa,

Ihave just spoken with Sophia Felix from the Registar's Office and she haspromised me that she is working to get this matter sorted for you as a matterof urgency. I have copied her into this email so she can respond to youdirectly. This also gives you an additional means of contact. Her telephonenumber is: xxx-xxx-xxxx (I removed her number).

Letme know if I can be of any further assistance. Good luck with the adoption!

Allthe best,
Molly

All I can say is, thank you Molly and of course, huge thanks to my wife for her persistence.  We are finally starting to see some movement towards actually receiving our marriage certificate. I will keep you posted on the progress. And for those who are wondering what a wedding in St. Lucia looks like (which will be most people as the wedding party was small), here ya go:

Lots of paperwork!

Let's go ahead and clear this up, since he has gone back to the Ukraine, our little guy's real name is Volodymyr. This is the Ukrainian equivalent to Vladimir. The short version is Vova. BTW- this is the English spelling of his name, my keyboard cannot type in cyrilic. I am no literary genius. I'm an engineer, so usually my writing is short and filled with facts, i.e. dry. So I thought I would try something which will help me to be a tad more creative and open in these updates. I'm going to write letters to Vova, maybe when he is finally here and has learned enough English, he can read these. So here we go...
Vova,

It has been almost three months since you returned to the Ukraine. I miss you so much. Adam is telling all sorts of strangers that he is getting another brother. He is excited to have you come back home. Please do not worry, we are working through the paperwork to come and get you. There's a bunch of it and from a lot of different places. Including St. Lucia where Mommy and I got married (more on this in a separate blog), some from Virginia, North Carolina, & Massachusetts (don't worry, you'll know where these places are soon enough, we like to travel around the US). Right now, we plan to have our documents submitted to the Ukraine by mid-December.  The first part of the paper trail is called a home study. This basically means a person comes to meet with your Mommy and I to ask us a lot of questions about who we are, what we do, and how we were raised. They also get a bunch of information about our finances.

While this has been going on, we have also started work on finishing the attic into another bedroom.  First, we need to add a window. Second, we will need some minor electrical & air conditioning work completed. Once these are finished we are going to have the entire attic area insulated. Next, we begin the manual labor portion of the process, sheetrock, paint, and trim. We plan to have this all completed by year's end. Tyler, Alex, & Adam all started school. I heard you started school too. I want you to work hard and listen to what your teachers say. I have been taking night classes to help me prepare for my engineering exam. The test takes 8 hours! I'm really nervous, but I know if keep doing my homework, I'll be ok.  Mommy Lisa is continuing to excel at her new job. Alex & Adam are taking swimming lessons.

On a sad note, we had to put down Dudley. He was 15 years old and was really struggling these last couple of weeks. Dudley came from Boston with Lisa when she moved to Richmomd. I met her and brought along my dog, Brodie. Dudley came with us to the new house on the east side of Richmond. He moved with us to the townhouse in Raleigh. He moved one last time with us to our current home. Early on, Dudley would sleep with Tyler and all we had to say was "Go sleep with Tyler", and off he went to sleep in Tyler's room. Dudley and I did not always get along, but he did provide comfort and watch over the house. He loved to go swimming and chase any kind of ball. He loved chewing on leather gloves and getting into the trash when we left it accessible. He will be missed.

Well that will about do it for now.  I'll write again and include a bunch of pictures from what your brothers have been up to.

Love ya bunches,
Daddy