A bad week....

Last week was a bad week.

We were excited, and maybe that was part of why last week was as bad as it was. We were anticipating good news, progress, explanation...and instead received bad news, delays, and answers simply consisting of "Wait."

We mailed our I600A application November 14 and were given our biometrics appointments on December 10. Based on other  people's timelines, this meant we would be receiving our approval letter in early January.  We had hoped it would be waiting for us when we got back from Christmas vacation - it wasn't. We hoped it would be in the mail one of the days in the next week - it wasn't. Finally we got a letter from the Department of Homeland Security. Hurray! Our approval had finally come...except it wasn't our approval.  It was a letter stating that they wanted a new copy of our homestudy before the middle of February.  Why?  Because the dates of our criminal background checks were not included in the first homestudy. Apparently, the presence of these dates in the homestudy is currently up for debate between the agencies and the US government (since we don't use an agency, that information is coming directly from our homestudy provider). I don't really care who is right - but it seems foolish to not have the required information layed out somewhere and for both parties to abide by it until it is changed.  When this doesn't happen, we end up where we are today - with adoptive parents stuck in the middle of the debate waiting for approval from one party that says the dates have to be there and the other party saying they stopped putting them on because of requests further down the road. What does it mean for us - we get delayed. Bad News.

Our attorney in country told us in November that there were kids which she wanted to refer to us. We were excited and wanted to know more. We have been waiting for news, waiting for the actual referral packet of information.  Instead of getting that, we have been told to wait. How long? Another month. I want everything to be done correctly just like everyone else involved, but how long does it take? Just more bad news that we won't know any more about our kids until a month from now, when they once again could say "Wait" or even worse "These kids are not adoptable".

To top off our wonderful week, we went and had our appointment with the travel doctor. Nothing too dramatic, but shots never make it onto my list of things included in a "Good" week. The good news about the shots is that neither Erin or I have seen major side effects of the vaccinations.

We knew there would be bumps in the road, but the potholes never look as deep when they are farther away. Although we may not know his plan for us, and we may not appreciate his timing now, we are comforted in knowing that God's plan is better than our own. For that reason, we are still trusting His plan.

Adoption Pictures

At the end of October we had a local photographer take some pictures for us to use in our announcements. My kids are no strangers to having their pictures taken and they had been to this particular house and photographer many, many times and still it was nearly a disaster. Rachel is a trooper though and has some amazing skills when it comes to capturing my kids. Even when I think a photo shoot has been a complete bust she manages to get images that make my heart melt and breathe a sigh of relief that I did not waste my money!! My four munchkins made her work for it this time and I'm sure she thought we had completely lost our minds for wanting to add two more to the mix of crazy that came to her house that night!

So, for your viewing pleasure.......

Photo Credit: Reflections by Rachel (rbrfoto.com)