...AND WE'RE OFF!!!

Finally, we got the Arkansas form back on Thursday and mailed off our entire dossier (23 State Certified Documents--22 from Missouri and 1 from the lovely state of Arkansas)today to CHI along with our Dossier Fee. It won't head to DC till next week, but it signifies the hopeful end to any more paper chasing. (Although I won't place any wagers!) So grateful to all those supporting us along the way. Next Steps: Wait & Pray and Pray & Wait!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!

Thanks to Gabby who created a story for the WHS Blue Jay Journal about part of our journey. So cool!!!!!

See the story HERE

A long day.....A Step closer, but not exactly.

Today didn't go as planned. After receiving our fingerprint approval and I-171H Form from USCIS, we (since living so close to our agency) decided we would head downtown for a fun "state certification" day. By the end of the day, my plan was to drop of the complete certified dossier so that it could be sent to D.C. at the end of the week in hopes that next week we would be a waiting family. I was so excited.....

But after having to do some forms, and notarizing more forms while downtown, and then realizing that our birth cerificates had to be state certified and Chris' isn't from the state of Missouri, I got discouraged. We had to send his off to Arkansas. I had read our workbook several times, but this just passed me by. I thought we were certifying the entire thing here in MO and I could have had this sent off during these last 5 weeks while I had been waiting so patiently for the form (haha). I was kind of more mad at myself than anything. So needless to say, we were unable to drop off our dossier at CHI today and Lord willing (if the state of Arkansas is cooperative) then perhaps it will get dropped off next week. But at least we have 22 Missouri state certified documents and that tedious job is completed.

Also, while that job was getting done....our hopes were to eat at an Ethiopian restaraunt. We have not tried any Ethiopian cuisine yet, and thought this to be the perfect opportunity. Except that one wasn't opened during lunch hours, one was very pricey, one had poor reviews and the final one was clear across the city. We chose to go to the one clear across the city, since we had a few hours. Well we put in the address into the handy dandy GPS, and lo and behold there was no such address when we drove all the way there, no building even with that street number. We didn't get to eat at a Ethipian restaraunt! Ugh!!!!

Still other things to be grateful for: 3 different lovely friends each took one of my children home for the afternoon. Had we done all that running around with children, it would have been more miserable. Thank you friends. Also, we have the dossier fees covered with the 5K and 30 mile runs that were on Chloe's behalf. We are hoping to hear about one grant in the near future (so please say an extra prayer that we might get it) that would then be a chunk of our referral fee. People continue to ask how things are going. We are grateful for all the prayers & support of friends and family. I am VERY grateful for my VERY supportive husband. Chris let me vent a little and then encouraged me as well. I am so glad we are on this journey together and that we are not alone....Most of all thanks be to God the author and perfector of our faith and the One who holds the universe. (Love 33 Miles new song!!!)

While Im Waiting

Warp speed halted......

So I have had a few people ask me where we are at and thinking they haven't heard anything in a while in regards to our adoption. When you fly at warp speed for 4 months and then come to an abrupt stop---it does seem wierd. I believe this will be the first of our many "waits".

You can always check out our "Adoption Timeline" at the top of the blog to see where we are at. Everything went so fast at first, but now we are waiting on our fingerprint approvals and the all important form that says we have been approved to adopt by the US government. I had a dear friend whose turn around from being fingerprinted to getting this form was 8 days---so of course I was thinking that would happen for us too. Everything else seemed to go so fast. Then I got on our Yahoo group of those adopting from Ethiopia to survey their wait times. It was anywhere from 3 days to 12 weeks! I find that to be a frustratingly large window. Each day I go to the mailbox hoping that paper is in there. (Sort of like waiting for the positive sign on a pregnancy test when you have been trying). We were fingerprinted exactly one month ago--so it has only been 4+ weeks....but I can see where the waiting game can begin to drive a person mad. I can only imagine what that is going to be like in the future as we truly get on the waiting list.....I have friends whose hearts are ripped out of their chest waiting on certain approvals, referrels, court dates, and traveling. Anyways, I had got my hopes up thinking we would be a waiting family by the end of May, then I thought well for sure by Father's Day, and honestly....I am hoping by the time the school year starts we will know what number we are on that list.

So to clarify, once we get this long awaited approval, our already completed dossier will be state certified and then sent to D.C. to be authenticated and THEN we will be officially a waiting family. Then we get to really WAIT as God and the Ethiopian govt./our agency matches us with our little girl. At some point we will receive a referral for us to say yes to---this could be anywhere from 4 months to 12 months. Then we get to WAIT for a court date, WAIT to travel to meet her for the first time, and finally come back home and WAIT for our reconciliation date where we go back to Ethiopia a second time to bring her home. Hope that clears up where we are in the process.....

Encourage me to worship while I am waiting. Here are the lyrics to what is sure to be my mantra for the next year or so....

Video

Thanks for listening & praying & hoping & wishing......