dossier day

Today, came an announcement that made our children squeal with delight.  We went to the bank...

for this...(and some suckers, too)

then we stopped at Starbucks for a celebratory drink.

on to the Post Office.  (I love the Westlake Post Office.  We are tight with the workers.  Jay is awesome!)  This is the stack of papers to be mailed. 

What is a dossier?  I'm so glad you asked.  It is a compilation of papers that are required for adoption from a foreign country.  For us, it included...
...letter of authentication (for the Honduran lawyers to work on our behalf)
...original birth certificates
...marriage certificate
...medical examination forms
...certified bank statement...glad that was a statement of how much we had...before today! :)
...proof of residency statement
...home study
...US Immigration Notice of Favorable Determination
...3 photos depicting family life
...3 copies of each of our passports
...2 passport photos of each of us
...photo of each room or our house including front and back yard
...psychological examination
...certified check to the adoption agency

So Jay, our awesome postal worker, was surprised to see us back again today.  We were there yesterday getting the boys passports.  He decides to share our business with the customer he is helping...telling her that we are adopting.  She looks over at us while we are trying to get the boys to cooperate for a photo and yells "congratulations."  Yes, it was awkward.  She came over to tell us that she has 2 biological children and 2 that they adopted from South Korea.  Dan recognizes her voice and remembers meeting her at the park when we had a missions team here handing out popsicles at the baseball games.  This awkward moment turns out to be a great connection.  We exchanged numbers and she practically made me draw blood and swear that I would call her once we got our referral to show her the photo of our baby girl!  What a fantastic resource she will be as we encounter who knows what on this journey of adoption.  Plus she snapped this photo of our family.  I love it!  Thank you, Lynne!

Sweet baby girl, still un-named (we're working on that, don't worry!)...we are coming for you.  We love you as our precious daughter and we've never laid eyes on you.  We can't wait to hold you, hug you, and smother you with kisses.  We can't wait to tell you of a God who sees you...who knows you...who breathed life into your unformed body...who brought you to our family as a most miraculous gift...and who offers you a second, more precious adoption into the family of God through the gift of eternal life.  Tears fill my eyes as I think of the long 6 months that stand between us.  We are trusting God to care for you and protect you until we bring you home.  We love you, precious one!