But seriously, our summer has been INSANE. Very shortly after my last post (wayyyy back in May), the paperwork end of our process got serious. We were accepted into the program for the new agency (you can read back for those details) and began our home study immediately. We were on a bit of a time restraint to get that finished due to all of our travel in July. We wanted everything as complete as possible when I started back to work. That is yet another example of God's hand in the schedule. We were given the opportunity to complete the entire home study and the vast majority of our other paperwork by the week we started back! Perfect!
For those who don't know, the home study involves a series of visits (at least one actually in our home) and way too many questions about our entire lives. If I got into a fight with you in third grade, the social worker probably knows about it. We also had to turn in every type of document you could ever imagine having that testifies that you are a real person and have not committed any terrible crimes, not hiding a secret family, or have a cold. Our social worker was wonderful and did a great job! We recently got our copies of the completed report...it is crazy to read about your own life like that. Kind of like reading a biography of someone else.
So, that is done. We are currently completing our dossier, which is the paperwork that will actually get sent to Majuro, RMI. We have had some issues getting some of that paperwork and, for today at least, that part of the process is stalled. Hopefully we will wake up tomorrow with news that everyone has decided to cooperate and will send us our stuff!
There is also one unique task for us to complete before we can send in our dossier-our profile book. Our adoption is going to be open, which means that we will have continued contact with the baby's birth family. This is very rare for an international adoption and was one reason that we ultimately decided to adopt from RMI. The agency that we are with now gives the birth mothers/parents profile books for them to look at to choose the family that will adopt their child, much like a domestic adoption happens in the US. We have poured hours upon hours and about a gazillion prayers into creating our book. We know that the family that God has for us will choose us, but it is so hard to put together a short book that really gives a good picture of your life. I'm not going to lie, I cannot wait to be finished with the book. I promised myself I would have it done by today but that hasn't happened.
All in all, that doesn't sound too bad for a summer, right? Just a lot of paperwork. But add in the super fun stuff we did and you can begin to see the craziness! We spent a week at the beach (thanks DeeDee and Papa!), spent way too many hours in the garden/canning/freezing food, and spent two weeks in the Dominican Republic (me and the boys...Brett only got to stay for one week). The trip to the DR was Caleb's first and he loved it! I still hear about the "Minican Public" daily. He can't wait to go back!
So that is the simplified version of our last two months. If you've hung on that long and read all of that, congratulations! You get the chance to buy a brand new t-shirt! Seriously, with everything moving along and us totally taking a break from extra fundraising, it is time for us to start again. We are selling our t-shirts again, in what we believe to be the most beautiful colors on the face of this earth...maroon and gray! Bring on football season!!! Hail State!!! Go Dawgs!!! Sorry, got a little excited there. Anyway, here is a picture. The maroon looks brown-ish in the pic but I promise it's not.
The shirts are Canvas brand (aka the softest shirt on Earth) and are both crew neck (that's the round neck for anyone like my husband who thought that meant v-neck). They are tri-blend maroon and tri-blend gray and come in Adult Small-Adult 2XL. Kids shirts will be regular t-shirts in the same colors. The adult shirts are $20 and kids are $15. $4 for shipping. We are very kindly offering the gray for anyone who has taken the wrong path in life and supports The School Up North ;)...and I guess for anyone who actually likes gray.
We also have a brand new, super special, incredibly-amazing-for-anyone-who-needs-help-waking-up-in-the-morning fundraiser coming in the near future. Stay tuned!
Love y'all!
Ellie
"It is important to realize we adopt not because we are rescuers. No. We adopt because we are rescued." -David Platt
#bcheadoptedme
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