It's in the Mail!!

Today was a big day for us in our adoption process.  Our dossier went into the mail!  If you aren't familiar with international adoption this may be a new term for you.

Here's the technical fancy definition:

Dossier: When used in the context of adoption, this term refers to a set of appropriately authenticated and translated legal documents which are used in international adoption cases to process the adoption of a child in its own country by the adoptive parents, or for the adoptive parents to obtain the legal custody or guardianship of the child in the foreign court, so the child can be brought by the adoptive parents to the United States for adoption.

Here's my layman's simple definition:

Dossier: A heck of a lot of paperwork.....all notarized. 

There's not really a way to show how much paper it was.  But trust me....a lot!  Some of the items in this pile include: homestudy, financial statements, reference letters, doctor's health checks, fingerprint clearances, pictures, copies of passports, marriage licenses, birth certificates, copies of driver's licenses and one very large check!

Whew!  I don't know if you can tell but we were pretty excited....

I had a big smile on my face the entire time I was at the post office.  I imagine she thought I was a tad crazy.  : ) 

So what happens next?  All that paperwork is headed to our adoption agency.  Then, the parts that are needed in the Congo will be translated into French.  Then, they'll be off to the government in the Congo.  Once there, we'll be put on the list to wait for our referral.  A referral will be a picture and information on a waiting child.  We will be able to pray about it and decide of this is our son.

After these last few months of everything depending on me and my progress in the process it feels so good, and somewhat hard to believe, that it is out of my hands for the time being.  Prayer is being called into action in a BIG way now. 

Thank you for your help in getting us this far and we look forward to sharing with you during the next steps of this process!