Last home study visit!!!

We had our fourth and final home study visit with our social worker last night!! We are so excited to almost have another thing checked off our to do list for our dossier. During our last visit, we read over our home study report to check for accuracy, answered a few more questions and diagramed our support system. I have really enjoyed working with our social worker; she has been very helpful at answering a lot of questions and helping us to feel comfortable during our meetings. 

So where do we go from here?? We wait. Half the challenge of adopting internationally is waiting. Over the next week (or two or three), our home study will cycle through the necessary checkpoints to get approved and finalized. Our social worker will make the final changes and revisions and forward the report on to our home study agency. Our social worker is hoping to have her final copy ready for the home study agency by this wednesday.  On Wednesday, our international coordinator at St Elizabeth will review the packet. Once she has approved everything, she will send it off to our adoption agency to review and approve it as well. Once everyone is in agreement that this report meets Ethiopian expectations, it will be signed and notarized. This is a big step to get completed and we are so excited to almost be done!!  :)

At this point we are pretty much at a standstill with moving forward with our dossier paperwork.  However, we still have lots to do to keep us busy. We are currently in the process of applying for grants which require lots of essays and my favorite part... MORE paperwork!! We are also working on several fundraisers and preparing a detailed testimony of what has led us to adopt, how God has been involved, where we are to date and adoption success stories. We are also putting together a presentation on PowerPoint with pictures and videos to go along with our testimony. We also have an orphan walk to prepare for as well as planning a possible chili dinner around November. We are also working on selling t shirts and bracelets.  If anyone is interested in any of these events and/or interested in purchasing a t shirt or bracelet, please let me know. :)

I would also like to take this time to ask for prayers for families who are planning their trip to Ethiopia this month. As you may or may not know, the embassy closes for a few months in Ethiopia due to severe rain. The rain is so intense that it leaves roads untravelable.  Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers as they quickly piece together the last things the need to travel, as well as booking their tickets before the courts shut their doors. 

We want to thank everyone for their support and prayers. Your encouraging words mean a lot to us. Through Gods strength and grace we will soon be a family of 5!!! God bless!!