Busy Work

I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated. Life has sure been busy. We are still hot on the adoption trail working hard everyday to collect all of our documents and such. We had our home study on Nov. 1st. I of course kept busy preparing the house and making sure it was clean, warm, and inviting. Exactly the way I would have it all the time if I had all the time in the world. It turned out to not be as big of a deal as I expected. Mike our social worker showed up right on time which impressed me greatly. We sat at the table with chocolate chip cookies and talked for about 2 hours. He asked us a few questions but mostly he just informed us on the process and what documents we need to get to him so he can complete the report. I turned in quite a bit including our biographies to him but we still have several to pull together. He will in turn create a 6 page report on us to send to the adoption agency which in turn will be sent to Russia and is the most important deciding factor for Russia's acceptance of us. It includes information about us, our family, our environment, our life style, our finances, our health, pictures of us and our home, etc. He said the report will take him about 4-6 weeks depending on how long it takes to get our background checks back and how quickly Joey and I can gather the remaining documents.

As far as the adoption agency goes, we have submitted our formal application and first chunk of money. We ended up borrowing from my parents which I absolutely hate to do but felt we had no choice. I am just so grateful that they are so caring and generous. We will pay them back when our 2nd mortgage refinancing is complete. Now we get to start working on chunk #2. It has been difficult as it is the slow season with Joey's job and sometimes our regular finances are of concern but as usual our incredible God has continued to step in and fill the gap. I have been offered two side jobs and have been given some great fundraising advice and Joey has been able to do a few side jobs as well and has begun the process for his motorcycle building business. He is very excited but stressed as well. And of course there is always those incredible miracles God provides along the way. We received a check yesterday for $74 for an overpayment on our home insurance! What? Here it comes out of the blue! God is so good to his children. We are following what we believe to be His will and we trust that He will guide us each step of the way.
So right now we are just rush, rush, rushing to get things done which should take about 2 more months and then we will have to play the dreaded waiting game. We are doing pretty good emotionally and keeping our excitement up but we also aren't stupid and are trying to be prepared for roller coaster to come. Thank you to all of our family and friends who continually show interest, support, and love for us. We are so thankful. Have a great night and I will post at the next step!

Love, Erin