This is a picture of our dossier envelopes and checks getting ready to be sent to DC.

The "OFFICIAL, NOTARIZED, AUTHENTICATED, ONE-OF-A-KIND" set of papers have been dropped off at PostNet, in the capable hands of Matt. They will be delivered Monday to Washington DC where a courier will pick them up and take them to the Ethiopian Embassy and the US State Dept. where they will be authenticated again. From there Carol The Courier will overnight them to our agency in NC.

Please be praying that everything is in the correct order (I checked it a million times) and that it does not get lost (Matt says that never happens).

It was so strange handing that over to Matt to send for us - it is so strange that now NOTHING is up to us. Before, WE had to get something signed, or order a certified copy of something else. Now, THEY must do the rest...

So now we wait. The ESTIMATED timeline below lets you know what is next.
Monday, 1/14 Papers authenticated
Tuesday, 1/15 Papers sent to NC where they will be checked for completion (again) and sent to Ethiopia for translation.

2-3 weeks later they will be sent to the court so that the Ministry of Womens Affairs can review our file and set a court date.

2 weeks later we anticipate a court date. This is when their mother or some other relative must make the 8 hour drive to Addis to relinquish the parents rights and allow the kids to be adopted. Can you imagine that drive home????????? After a successful court date, the kids will be issued new birth certificates with our last names.

4-6 weeks later we will travel to get the children. We will probably get 2-3 weeks notice before we need to be in Africa.

We will stay in Ethiopia for 5-7 days, during that time we will meet with Embassy officials to finalize our adoption. After that, the kids will be issued passports and visas so that we can bring them to their new home.

We can hardly believe that 4 months ago, we were just going along, minding our own business - and now here we are, getting ready to bring 3 children into our world. Life is crazy... and I like it!