Paperwork...and More Paperwork

Over the past few weeks, we have completed over 400 pages of questionnaires, profiles, and adoption education materials and compiled most of the documents for our dossier (the packet of material that goes to Ethiopia). The dossier includes everything from birth and marriage certificates, to a letter from us explaining why we are interested in adopting from Ethiopia.

We must now spend several hours with a social worker, who will use our interviews, materials, and references from friends and family to complete a home study (a report on our family) that will become the last piece of our dossier. The home study should be completed by the end of September.

Once the home study is finished, our completed dossier will be sent to Ethiopia. 6 - 8 months later, we should receive a referral (information on the little girl who will become part of our family), and 2 - 3 months after that (about this time next year), we will be traveling to Ethiopia to bring her home!

Minor bumps in the road so far:

• The FBI rejected Jon's request for a criminal background check because the ink-fingerprints he had taken at the sheriff's office were inadequate. Back to the sheriff's office for Jon... (how they manage to get usable fingerprints from criminals is beyond us!)
• The state rejected our request for a certification of a notary (required as part of our dossier) because the notary's signature did not exactly match what they had on file. Back to the notary for Angela...
• Photos. Who knew it would be so difficult to get "good" photos of ourselves for our dossier (that is, photos that Angela would actually share with the outside world).