7 months

7 months.....that is how far we are officially into this adoption process. It seems like forever, but I also feel like I was just asking Evan to pray about us adopting. Crazy how time works like that. At our BBQ this past week many people wanted to know where we currently stand with things. Well, if you keep up with our FB page, you saw that we received our completed home study and sent off our I-600A application aka our immigration paperwork last week. The purpose of this form is to give us approval to adopt a foreign child. It will take 60-90 days for this to be approved. In the mean time, they will make an appointment for us to get our Biometric fingerprints done in New Orleans (fancy sounding huh?)

So, while we wait, we are gathering lots of legal documents that will go in our Dossier (Da-see-A). The Dossier is basically the large packet of everything we have accumulated as far as paperwork goes (including our home study) and is sent to Ethiopia for approval. Once the Dossier is approved, we will be given a wait list number. The wait list consists of every family that is using our agency and adopting from Ethiopia and the specifications of the child they are waiting for. As families receive referrals, we move down the list. This past week someone just got their number and it was #122. That is a long list and a long wait before they ever match us with a child. Can you see why we are so ready to be past paperwork and just be on that list? My hope is that we will be on the wait list before Christmas.

If you follow our FB page, you saw that we received the EXACT amount from our BBQ fundraiser and t-shirt sales this week to pay our 2nd agency fee that is due NOW. It is amazing how God provides so perfectly. When we turn our Dossier in, hopefully within the next 3 months, we will owe another $2,583. So, we will be continuing to fundraise. Be on the lookout soon for our next fundraiser efforts. I already have some great people getting involved and helping out with one of the upcoming fundraisers and we are so excited and grateful.

Thanks for sticking with us and supporting us throughout this journey. It means the world to us that we have all of you rallying alongside us for our son! We cannot wait till he gets home and he gets to see how much he is loved. 7 months down......????? to go....