HAPPY HAPPY DAY!

FINALLY we received our FINAL homestudy report! Our caseworker quickly approved it and today we mailed in our I-600 form. Basically its the first step in having the good ole' US of A approve our adoption and bringing a foreign child into our country. After they receive the form (we're already obsessed with tracking it on fedex.com) we get mailed a fingerprint appointment and after the really really expensive fingerprinting experience, we wait for the USCIS (United States Child Immigration Services) to approve our adoption. THEN, we can send our paperwork to ETHIOPIA (well, after we get it all notarized and authenticated by the State of Utah). This all sounds like a lot, but we're actually quite far and these steps we hope will go smoothly and quickly. That is, if the US gov't is fast! :) This is all GOOD news. We hope to be paper pregnant ASAP! WE ARE SO CLOSE TO BEING DONE! Actually, we'll never be done, as our parenting journey is just beginning! :) But our part is nearing completion so that is reason to celebrate! The wait for an infant just increased from 4-6 months to 5-8, but that will give us time to save up the next $8000 that we'll need to accept our baby referral. Good news this week is that our agency matched 3 babies and 2 older children with families! A dear friend (you may remember her from a few posts back---I posted her POWERFUL prayer over me and my health) moved up to #3 on the list! :) WOO HOO! She's been waiting 6 months! Anyway, we're super excited that we've overcome such HUGE obstacles, and after 2 years, 2 weeks and 27 days, we're finally turning things over to the government which is a HUGE step! I cannot say enough good things about our agency and caseworker. She is AMAZING! She gets back to my emails immediately, and is just so unbelievably on top of things! I can't get over her grace, tender heart and support. She is just incredible! We have not one ill word to say about our agency. There is some child trafficking going on in Ethiopia which has slowed things down with other agencies and orphanages. But our agency is extending the length of time to referrals because they want to make sure that they are doing everything with as high of standards and morals as possible. They pray over individual families when they make their matches and make sure everything is legal. We believe God's hand is directing our agency as they push through the process for us and match children to families. We trust them implicitly. We HIGHLY recommend them! :)

Please join us in praying for SPEEDY finger print appointment, SPEEDY 171 acceptance form, and SPEEDY state authentication! I am not going to mention a date we're hoping to be DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) by, but I believe if we pray it will go faster! :) We have ALL the money for our initial payments and paperwork transport to Ethiopia! :)

GO GOD!