The Paper Chase and vacation

The "paper chase" part of our adoption has begun. About 1 1/2 weeks ago we received 2 e-mails with over 40 documents including anything and everything we need to do to prepare our dossier for the Ethiopian government. From birth certificates to background checks to physicals from our doctors and writing autobiographies on ourselves, it is a lot. Included in this is the "home study" portion of the adoption, which also means more paper work and interviews with a social worker. This entire process will take approximately 4-6 months but could always take longer. It is definitely all a bit (EXTREMELY) overwhelming, but we continue to pray for guidance (and our own flexibility) during each step of the process. We definitely continue to take things 1 day at a time and know God's timing is perfect.

In the mean time we enjoyed a wonderful vacation to the Smokey mountains with Tami's family. We all piled into 2 vans and headed to our cabin in the mountains. It was a gorgeous cabin with a beautiful view. We spent our time playing games, playing with the kids, walking in downtown Gatlinburg, and hiking in the mountains. Our time together went way too fast, as it always does, but we enjoyed it immensely. A is getting to be a big girl and is saying lots of words now, which is fun (unless she is telling us no!). J, our nephew, is simply precious. He can hug like no 6 month old I've ever held! His smiles and hugs just made our days!