05/21/09 - Our Paperwork is on Its Way to Virginia!

We headed back into Chicago this morning after purchasing a ten ride pass for the train (figuring if we didn't buy it, we'd need it and if we did buy it, we wouldn't need it!). We made the same mile walk as last week and arrived at the Secretary of State Office of Index building on State Street. Mike prayed before we got into the elevator and headed to the 10th floor.

We were momentarily excited to see a different person behind the glass plated window and counter, thinking we might have a chance at using our first dossier cover sheet (the one they wouldn't certify last week). But our excitement wained as the same women who had problems with the wording on our paper last week, took the first woman's place. But Amy had a plan - she would keep her head low (so as to avoid being recognized), pretend like she had never been there the week before, hand over the two pieces of paper, and ask for regular certification for both pieces. This was Plan A, mind you, and plan B, C, and D were in place as back ups if needed. However, they weren't needed because our papers were taken, we were charged four dollars, we waited approximately five minutes (expecting at any minute to hear, "There's a problem), Mike's name was called, and we received our certification (which by the way is a piece of paper verifying that the notary who notarized our paperwork is a recognized notary public in the state of Illinois and stamped with Jesse White's signature. And what does a notary stamp on our papers do? It verifies that indeed it was Mike and Amy who signed the papers!). Mike whispered, jokingly, as we walked out the door, "Run!" The following picture was taken down the hallway from the office:

This would be Amy giving an exuberant thumbs up! Note the fun bag she is carrying - it was a gift from one of her preschoolers, Owen (and family), who left recently for kindergarten. The note on the card said that Amy would need a bigger purse this year! And in a little over a year this bag will hopefully be going international!

We snapped the picture below on the train ride coming out of Union Station. Mike, in his wonderfully gifted creativeness, is planning to Photoshop the Chicago skyline in the background out the window!















After arriving home and getting the rest of our paperwork from the dinning room table, it was off to FedEx!

































NEXT STEPS: Our paperwork will arrive in Virginia at America World, our international agency, on Monday. Hopefully, everything will be in order, but if not, we'll fix whatever is amiss. Once all paperwork is complete, it will be sent to Washington DC for authentication by the U.S. State Department and the Ethiopian Embassy. After that, our precious package is sent over the Atlantic Ocean and we will officially be "Date to Ethiopia" (DTE) and on the waiting list for our children. This leg of the paperwork journey should take approximately 2-3 weeks and referral time (when we receive a phone call saying they have children for us) is ranging from 7-11 months.

PRAISE AND PRAYER: All the glory goes to God for our success in Chicago today! It was a much nicer walk back to the train station as well as a joyful ride home! Please pray that there would be no problems with our paperwork.