Woo hoo!!! Today was one of those "dancing at the mailbox" kind of days;and yes, we danced!! And squealed a little, too! Today we received the LAST and probably most important piece of our dossier. Remember, our Dossier is the all important formal packet of documents that introduce us, as The Keefer Family, to China. It consists of a 6 page Homestudy report describing every aspect of our home life, 2 complete health physicals, SLED/police clearance reports,financial statements, an Adoption petition (which we wrote, explaining our desire to adopt),employment verifications, birth certificates, marriage certificates, 13 family photos (any excuse to snap pictures!), and lastly, the approval from Customs and Immigration-which after a long 46 day wait (oh yes, I counted as each day passed) we received today!! I loaded the boys in the car and we hurried off to the bank to see our favorite notary, Mrs. Cheryl, who notarized the document for us. Tomorrow I will head to the Secretary of States Office to have them State certify it and then it is headed to the Post Office to be overnighted to our adoption agency. Once it arrives, a courier will drive it to DC, where it will get yet two more seals-one at the US Embassy and one from the Chinese Embassy. It will be driven back to our Adoption agency where everything will be "critically reviewed" one last time and then sent on a plane to China. That is when the BIG celebration begins. Once it is sent to China and they log our paperwork into the system, we can be "matched" with our little girl!!! Ohh, we are SO close!!!
Just hang on people...I know it seems like we are always "celebrating" something in this process, and all the while you're wondering......Is this IT??? It's coming!!! Or should I say, SHE'S coming~soon!! We are so happy that you are patient with us and celebrate our milestones with us. It is a huge,long process to adopt. We kind of see these milestones as "ultrasounds". Remember how excited you would get when you would visit the Dr and get to hear your little ones heartbeat, or even see them on an ultrasound? It was so exciting-proof that your baby was coming. It is the same for us. These milestones remind us that our little Miss IS coming. We are so close to finding her....so close!!!
Goodnight!!,
Angie
