Fingerprinting DONE

We are happy to say our fingerprinting through US Homeland Security is DONE! Yes! Our appointment was actually scheduled for today but we took our chances and drove down to St. Paul 2 days early and they got us in! (Of course they reminded us they normally don't do them early but since we showed up right away and it wasn't packed yet, they let us in!) In and out in 23 minutes after waiting almost 2 months to get this done. One more step closer! 

Of course the question is now: What's next? We wait with patience again to get our approval back and then we include this with our Dossier (more paperwork) to now be State Certified (which I plan to drive down and "show up" again instead of mail waiting,) then Authenticated in Washington and Ethiopia. Sounds like a lot of processes; well it is, but our job is almost done! (atleast with the paper chase.) I am hoping we will be on the official "wait list" by the end of September. I'm not sure how the Ethiopian raining season will affect all of this? (All courts shut down in Ethiopia from mid August  through September for their raining season.)  
Goal: Focus on the things WE can control and LET GO and have FAITH for all the things we cannot!
Blessings...

Biometrics Appointment Received

Yeah! We received a letter in the mail yesterday from US Home Land Security! Our biometrics (fingerprinting) appointment is set for July 29th! One more step closer. 

Precious

How precious is this? Notes found in Avah's room that were made by her neighbor friends and her. The neighbor girls wrote about which house they lived in and their dogs names welcoming her to the "hood." Avah's note indeed conveys she's excited. Notice on the front: one blond girl and one with black curly hair... precious!

Our first Mehaber

Mehaber Celebration on Saturday went well. It really got us all more excited! Such cute kids and so fun to see all the adopted families. Here's some pictures from the day. Keegan eating Ethiopian food for the first time; and he liked it! Avah wearing her Mehaber African t-shirt (and she'll show you were Ethiopia is.) The kids in line to get their names written in Amharic (Ethiopian language) see picture- quite different from English. I don't think we'll be learning that anytime soon... Big brother Chandler being a good sport and going down the slide with his little sister!  We got to shop in the Merkato, watch some Ethiopian dance and take in all the kids and their families. Next year~ we'll have one more joining us!

Ethiopian Celebration

Updates: 
We have been checking the mailbox daily STILL waiting for our Fingerprinting dates through Immigration... patience, patience. Our dossier papers are all finished and have been approved by our social worker; yeah! We just need to wait for Immigration and our I-171H approval. Next, our dossier papers need State Certification (lets hope the MN Government is up and running soon) and then the Ethiopian embassy authenticates everything. After that- we will be officially on the "Waiting Family List." Everyone asks- how long? Boy if all of us adopting families knew the answer to that question, ha! Everyones story and journey is different. The age request for our daughter, being that she will be older age 3-5, "should" shorten our wait time compared to couples waiting for an infant. Indeed- one step at a time! I am starting to truly believe in Gods path, God's journey, Gods time. For so many years, Allan and I have discussed adoption. After loosing my very missed sister Katlyn, maybe its NOW that we will need each other even more; maybe now is the time intended. (I do believe Katlyn is helping us along this journey by the way.) Keep the children and families waiting in your continued prayers along with my parents and us for strength in grieving for Katlyn!

Coming up! Our family, along with grandma Diane, are attending MEHABER this Saturday, July 9th at the MN State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. Mehaber is an Ethiopian celebration with cultural booths, Ethiopian food, a Merkato with different Ethiopian items for sale, round table discussion for adopting families, dance etc. Should be fun and I'm so excited for the kids to start to learn and see their sisters culture, our new culture in OUR family! We'll post pictures. Blessings to you all and your families!

Test of Patience

Its no new news that I'm not the most patient of all people; blame it on my father. =) We are still waiting to hear from Immigration for our fingerprinting date! It doesn't help our MN state government may be temporarily shutting down due to dissagreements on budget, argh! In the meantime, I'm going back and making small changes on lots of docs that need edits before State Certification. At this time when you start to wonder if and when this will all work out, I remember too when I was biologically having my other children, being pregnant and wondering when this will be done? Funny, as soon as you hold that baby, you don't recall anything. How soon we forgot! Avah continues to "save" everything that no longer fits her for her sister and the boys are always reminding Avah that she will have to "share." =) Very cute. Please keep our family in your prayers.
The good news is- we just got back from a family vacation to Galena IL to visit family, what a great time. The kids and adults had a nice time catching up. How fun for our kids to find out they had some more cousins, and their age! We also spent a few nights in Chicago checking out the city and seeing our nephew Chaz.
We are blessed with great family.

Moving Forward!

Its been sometime since our last update. Everyone asks; "whats happening with the adoption process?" Well indeed its a process and for us basically we've been at the paper chase stage. Honestly I really wonder how many sheets of paper we've done so far? Indeed atleast a small forest... but indeed all worth it! It takes 10 months biologically to have a child, try the legal process of international adoption! =)
We are getting more excited! Our Homestudy has been finalized; praise God! We just sent in our application (I-600) to Immigration and now we wait for a fingerprinting date (FBI level) and approval. In the meantime, I am gathering all the docs needs for our Dossier (more paper.) These docs all need to be notarized, state certified and then authenticated by Ethiopia. The good news- indeed I'm a "do-er" and theres never been a wait for us! Our homestudy guide has said to me " YOU"VE BEEN ON A MISSION." We are getting closer to officially being able to be on the "wait for referral" list! Praise God!
I have tried to imagine what her face will look like- what her age will be- what her history will be- what she's doing now. I cant wait for God to finally connect us as a whole family. We are waiting...
Those willing; please continue to pray for a positive and forward moving journey for ALL of us!