Update

Another document came in the mail today, certified and good to go into the dossier. And the delivery confirmation came for our state background checks, so maybe they are not far behind.

This is a short update, but it's nice to have something to report.

Almost there!

Thursday we had a great meeting with our social worker. We met at the train station over coffee and gave her our background checks. The ONLY thing missing for our home study is the state background check. When that comes in, the home study can be completed and sent to USCIS (immigration) so we can have two more important pieces of the dossier....the I-171H and of course the home study itself.

The dossier documents are looking good too. We are only lacking a few. Still waiting for a document to come back from being certified, and then just some odds and ends to finish up. There is light at the end of the tunnel and we can see it!

Please keep praying for us and for Noah. When I close my eyes I can see the three of us together and it's a beautiful picture.

Marriage License!

Our marriage license came today....certified from the Secretary of State. Yeah! Thanks Mom & Dad!

Tomorrow we meet with our social worker for the final step in the home study. We'll take the background checks to show her.

Today we had snow, hail, sunshine......repeat. Funny stuff!

Busy Week

Well, isn't this a busy blogging week already?

Just wanted to report that Marshall's birth certificate came back certified today. One more piece of the dossier puzzle. :)

Just because I'm still wide awake....

I have to say that we had the most peculiar weather today. Two days ago I was wearing capri pants and flip flops. This morning is was cold. Late this morning the sun tried to peek through, but it was still cold. This afternoon, Marshall called me at work and told me I should look out the window. It was hailing. Then the sun peeked out again. Then it rained. Then it snowed. Then it was still.

Seriously, I'm ready for my flip flops.

Remind me of that this summer when I'm hanging out at the frozen food section at the commissary because there is no air conditioning in Europe. :)

All Clear on the Federal Level

It came today!!! Our FBI background checks!!! Thank you Lord!

Marshall called me at work and asked if I wanted the good news or the bad news? First he told me that the background checks had come. I couldn't believe it. I just knew that it had gotten kicked back again.

So he says, "We forgot to sign the fingerprints and put our social security number on them." I of course swore that we had signed them, but then remembered that was on the set that went to the consulate. My heart sunk.

Then he says, "But I guess it didn't matter. They are processed and good to go!"

I told him that was really mean and next time he should just tell me only the good news. I guess it was funny. Yeah, it was. :)

Now we can take them to show our social worker on Thursday. Please pray that the state check comes soon too, so she can complete our home study.

We know that God's hand is in this. We praise Him for His perfect plan. We are so thankful that He is allowing us this journey. I don't understand how people do life without Him.

I should be in bed now, but I had too much coffee tonight with a group of precious ladies. Maybe that second latte machiatto was a bad idea for sleep purposes, but it was sure good. And the fellowship was even better. Thanks ladies!

I'll go play with Sophie now. She is acting like she had too much coffee too.

Speed Bumps & Almost Complete Homestudy

Well, the home study is almost complete. We are just lacking our FBI background check and state background check. Our agency requires three visits, so we meet with our social worker on Thursday for our last face to face meeting. Yeah!

Speaking of the background checks.....speed bumps. A couple of weeks ago, we got an email from the FBI. I almost put it in the junk mail folder because I didn't recognize the address. I made a mistake....I sent a personal check for the fee instead of a cashier's check or money order. We were able to fax our credit card number so we didn't have to wait for the mail to send it back.

Then.....this week, we got a big envelope from Texas. I thought it was our background check.....until I opened it. It was all that we had sent them: the cover letter, finger prints, and envelope. The other letter was what was incomplete in our request. Can you believe we forgot to sign the fingerprint cards? And put our address and SSN on the fingerprint cards? Well, maybe we didn't forget, just didn't realize that was necessary?

Oh well, the speed bumps are there for a reason. We're just trying to relax and enjoy the ride. God is in control!

On the dossier side of the house, things are going well too. We are waiting for things to come back that we sent back to their respective states to be certified. Pray that they come back timely and correct. Soon we'll need to go to the lawyer to have some things notarized and a power of attorney done for the agency. We have to write a letter to the Ethiopian government saying who we are and why we want to adopt a child from Ethiopia. This is harder than I thought it would be, but almost finished.

Regular life is going well. Thank you for your prayers and checking in on us!

Hopefully there will be more to update soon! :)