Fingerprints-Check!

Today we got our fingerprinting done- Yeah. Now we wait for that one little piece of paper saying we get to immigrate two children from Ethiopia into the US. I had posted a question on our adoption group bulletin asking how long it takes to get this paper back after the fingerprinting.
The responses I got were so varied. It is pretty amazing that we are all going through the same process but have had such different experiences. Naing and I had to be there at 9 am. We got there about a quarter til thinking there would be a lot of people, but there was not. I was the second person fingerprinted and he was the third. It went fast, I hope the processing goes fast too.
Some people in this adoption group that live in other states talked about walking into the USCIS office with the application and getting an appointment right then. Others said they waited for weeks and months. One lady talked about armed guards being present when they went for their appointment in another state. It is amazing how random and varied things are through this whole process.

We also got to meet the Ethiopian lawyer who will be representing us in court for our adoption. He was in town visiting our agency and they had a couple of functions for him. We went to the dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant. Had great food and got to meet people I have chatted on line with but had not met before Saturday night. It was so interesting to listen to every one's stories of where they are in the process. See pictures of people's children, those that have referrals but haven't traveled yet. And of course see the beautiful children of the families that have come home. That is what keeps me going through this hurry up and wait for the next step.

Finger printing appointment

In the mail today was our official letters for the finger printing appointment. We are scheduled for next Wed the 24Th of Sept. I'm so excited, one more step closer, YEAHHHHH.
Today I also interviewed a woman that I feel could step into my job and handle it. I still feel like I'm abandoning my clinic and my sister who owns the clinic, so meeting someone that could take over my job was a great step for me to get over the guilt. Hell she might even be better at it than me, she sure seemed to be a better Human Resource person than I am. Here is hoping things progress there as well.

There is Green

We have been working on a big yard project and last weekend we finally seeded the yard.

Yes we have grass coming up. This is so exciting, we have been living in a dust bowl since the spring when the bob cat came in to level out the yard. Naing has put many, many hours of back breaking labor into getting the soil just right and the yard level with no dips or craters (thanks to the dogs). In just a few weeks we will have a luscious, thick green lawn and no more layers of dirt every where in the house. I am not the best house cleaner but it was a loosing battle trying to keep the dust level down.

Next summer our back yard will be so lovely with all the plants finally in the ground and flower beds.

Next project is building a brick patio but that can wait until next summer.

New Milestone

Yes, we got our official home study report in the mail yesterday. I sent Naing to the post office to mail it to the USCIS office today while I was at work. We are one more step closer to getting our approval to immigrate two children from Ethiopia. Once we have that paperwork for the US govt our dossier is ready to go to Ethiopia. I just want every thing to speed up and get done faster, but I know it will happen at the pace it is suppose to happen. Our children are waiting for us.
But I can hope that it will be a brisk pace!

The other great thing is the couple we met from Newberg got their referral for twin boys today. 11 month old boys, I'm so excited for them and can't wait to see them.