Out of Our Hands, But Still Completely in His!

To say the last forty-eightish hours have been a whirlwind is a total understatement!  If you know me at all, you know that when I get an idea in my head, there is NO STOPPING me!  So, when I came home on Thursday afternoon to our 1-171H (Fingerprinting Approval) and realized that we were ready for the next step in our adoption process, I was BESIDE myself.  No joking...I was shaking with excitement about what that one piece of paper meant for our family!!

So, I loaded the kids back in the Passport and headed to our bank, but...no notary still working.  Bank #2 had a notary, but since Trev wasn't with me (he was supervising a game), she couldn't notarize it.  I was afraid that my sense of urgency was going to be in vain, so I talked with Trev and devised the next day's plan.  He couldn't get off work, and I didn't want to go to Kansas City by myself, so on Friday morning, I asked my friend, Erin, if she and her daughter, Lydia, wanted to join Melia and myself on a quick roadtrip.  And, like the amazing friend that she is, she agreed (seriously, Erin, thank you so much for going with us!!).

I worked the first half of the day and then picked up Melia, Erin, and Lydia and off we went.  After a couple of hours on the road, we made it to this building...

 ...rode the elevator to the 5th floor...

...to this office...

...where the girls found Ethiopia on the globe while I filled out paperwork.

The sort-of kind gentleman told us it would be a couple of hours, so we went to Crown Center, where they were all set up for Christmas.  The girls found some things to climb on...

 ...a fountain to pose sit by and throw coins into...

 ...a really COOL gingerbread village...

 ...and, of course, some ice cream!

 On the way back to the SoS office (they were done with our documents within 45 minutes), we went a little random prehistoric.  *Note the Christmas spirit on this t-rex!*

 Then, this morning, Trev and I went and made copies of all 21 documents, laid them all out to double-check and make sure we had everything exactly like it needed to be...

 ...stuck it in the envelope and went to the CJ Post Office to overnight it to CHI!! :)

And so the paper chase comes to a close.  CHI will check to make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed and if it all looks perfect, they will send it to DC to be authenticated. 

It is SO CRAZY to think that we are at this point.  It is becoming so real that our babies will be home before we know it!!  Please join us in prayer for three specific things: that things go smoothly with the authentication, for patience for us as we wait, and that God would provide the nearly $12,000 we will need to accept our referral when it's time.  It's ALL in His timing, and it's all in His hands!