Finally, back home and caught up enough with life to sit down at my computer to catch up with my journaling and e-mail. How can a one week vacation get a household so out of whack? But things are finally settling in a bit and I have a few minutes to recount our adventures and dossier progress.
Not only did we survive our trip to California, we had a great time! Thanks to lots of prayer and Dramamine, Mara didn't get sick one time and actually proved to be quite a good traveler once she figured out we would eventually stop. Our first stop was in Salt Lake City where a member of our China travel group had invited us to enjoy a brunch on our way through the state. We had a mini-reunion with two other families with girls from Mara's orphanage. It was a great break from travel and it was also fun to see how the girls had adjusted and matured since we had last seen them in January. A fun visit with their folks as well. Thanks for your hospitality, Janice and Ken!
As usual Disney lived up to our expectations and was in full regalia for it's 50th anniversary celebration. Though we moved much more slowly with a toddler in tow, we managed to get in all the rides we love and quite a few of the kiddie rides we usually skip. Mara quickly figured out that the carousel was her favorite ride of all and joy of joys, there is a carousel at BOTH parks! She learned one sentence and repeated it often and with vigor, "Mara ride ordeese now." (Translation--I want to ride the horsie now.) She managed to get in at least 9 rides between the two carousels, often drafting the entire family to join her. Fortunately, the line for this ride was usually short, so it wasn't too hard to talk us into it. She was a trooper otherwise, willing to try anything Disney would let her ride but not wanting to repeat most of them. She was thrilled with the parades and we sat so close to the route on one of them that the characters were coming right up to her to give her five. (A little scary but she quickly became comfortable with them.) The fireworks were a favorite of hers AND the rest of the family. A wonderful display just for the 50th birthday.
Katelynn and Nikki were also troopers being quite patient as we found that it takes much longer to do the "big" rides with Mara along as one person must wait while the rest ride and then switch off. But Disney has provided for that so there is only one waiting in line and then flashing a pass the next time through. It also meant that somebody always got to ride the ride twice, so that was a bonus! While I can't really recommend taking a two-year-old to Disney on purpose, we did have a good time and found that peak season isn't as bad as we expected it to be. Planning and patience helped lots in this situation. Still, we think next time we'll wait until Mara and her sister-to-come are at least 7 or 8 and then we'll go in the off-season.
Meanwhile, the dossier prep has moved along nicely. While we managed to miss the required orientation because of the vacation, we still got a copy of the dossier guide in our hands in time to take it along as light reading on our trip. (Thanks Lisa!) It is much improved and really will make the remainder of our paper chase fairly easy by comparison with the last go around.
Just before we left our CBI background check returned with a clean record and already notarized. While we were gone the permission to get our fingerprints came back from the federal government as well as Jeff's birth certificate returning from it's first trip to Washington D.C. The agency asks us to hold off for awhile on the fingerprints as they are dated and have a limited shelf-life for some unexplained reason. On Wednesday I sent Jeff's B.C. off for it's very last seal of approval from the Consulate General of the P.R. China. Then we will have ONE document completely ready to head to China with the dossier.
This weekend I have scheduled myself some time to complete all of the many documents we must prepare ourselves such as Financial Statement, Adoption Petition (our official request to China about the age, health and gender of the child we wish to adopt,) Non-Job Verification (this tells China I really don't work for a paycheck), etc. Jeff is waiting for his boss to sign his Job Verification (this tells China that Jeff DOES work for a paycheck.) We have our appts. for our doctor's visits so China can be assured we are healthy enough to take care of TWO little people. Once we have this stack of stuff completed and our homestudy done, we are well on our way. I chatted with our social worker last night and she is confident she'll have ours done by the time we actually attend an orientation in early September. But enough of this tedious detail!
As I read the dossier guide while on vacation, I was reminded just how overwhelmingly detailed this whole process is. Not only are there dozens of documents and hoops we must jump through, but they have to be completed in just the right way by just the right people or all is lost. In order to properly process Jeff's Birth Certificate for this last step it took almost two hours to write the cover letter, collect the correct return postage, arrange the correct type of payment for fees, make the proper copies and get all the right stuff into the envelope and off to the correct address via the appropriate shipping method. And that was just one of 4 steps to get one document ready for the dossier. I just can't help but wonder just how each of the various authorities involved came to the determination of why they needed each document, how they wanted it presented and how they wanted it proved true and accurate. It must have grown over the course of many years, but it really is to the point of ridiculous on the part of both the U.S. Government and the P.R. of China, not to mention various state agencies who like to put in their two cents.
Well, enough of that for now--it is very hard to explain the progress we've made without putting everyone to sleep with the tedious facts. Suffice it to say, we are moving along as hoped and anticipate our dossier will be finished well before our agency is willing to send it to China. Then we can just relax and wait! Despite all the complaining, we know it is infinitely worth all the work it takes to bring home another little girl to join our family. And, after all, it is MUCH more comfortable than being pregnant.
On the down side, Nikki had to start back to school the day after we returned home, Tuesday. Katelynn will be moving back to Boulder tomorrow to start classes on Monday. Where did our summer go?! I don't like it when my girls start back to school. It is so much fun to have them around all summer, relaxed and full of fun with no academic responsibilities to worry them. Once school starts, homework, band, choir and drama activities pull Nikki from us for 9 months. (And this is the last year she'll be home so it is doubly hard for me.) Katelynn calls often from Boulder and comes home when she can, but it isn't the same as living here. I'll miss you guys!
Okay, enough for now--better get back to Mara and household duties. Please join us in prayer that God is protecting our new daughter and preparing her to become a part of this family as seamlessly as Mara has. We are also praying that God will prepare Mara's heart to welcome a new little sister with grace, peace and joy.
