Oh yeah!!!

Getting ready for our first trip to the recycling center...



Dorie was completely surrounded by cans and bottles... thanks to our friends Karalyn Meeh,
Barbara Savage, and Kelly Harbaugh!

It was hard work, and we were sweaty in the hot sun!

But we came home with.....

(drum roll, please!)

$89.98!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for helping us bring Little Sister home! This amount covers my fingerprinting for the Department of Homeland Security. Yippee!

Home Study

Today we had our home study visit. Our agency assigned us a social worker, who came to interview both Dorie and myself, and to do a visual inspection of our home. It sounds more intimidating than it actually is...but I still made sure my house was clean and tidy! The social worker was wonderful and very friendly. We did a tour of my house, and then we sat at the table and talked for 3 hours. I am exhausted!  Sweet Dorie got bored and went up to her room, where she managed to read an entire chapter book...amazing! She made me look good!

So today, we are one step closer!!

The New Catch Phrase

Almost every sentence out of Dorie's mouth now begins with, "When Sissy is home...." Everything is now related to what it will be like when Little Sister is here. Where she will sit. What she will eat. Where she will sleep. What books Dorie will read to her. Everything they will do together.

I love it, and I can't wait to see it all come true.

We are getting closer. Most of our home study paperwork is all done and turned in. Employment verification letter waiting to be notarized. Medical exams tomorrow. Home study visit on Saturday. Then we wait for the home study to be written. Once we have it, we send it to USCIS for approval. They will issue me an appointment to be fingerprinted. After we get that approval notice, my documents can be sent to Uganda to apply for a court date.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that we will finally hear her name and see her face.

And then we'll go get her. And we will be a family. Forever.

AdoptTogether

Rather than buying an item from a fundraiser, I have had several people ask to make a straight cash donation to support our adoption. I found a tax-deductible way for you to do this! We were officially approved today by AdoptTogether!

http://adopttogether.org/minnix/ 

To visit our page or make a donation, click on the link above. But please know that I really do not want anyone to feel obligated in any way. Fundraising is incredibly humbling and I do not enjoy it at all. I hope you realize that it is not for me, but for a little girl who desperately needs to be in a family.

I Can't Sleep

My mind is wandering tonight. It keeps settling somewhere over Africa, where a certain little girl is most likely eagerly awaiting a bowl of posho and beans. She doesn't realize that her mama and sister are half a world away, working hard to bring her home. She doesn't even know that she is desperately wanted. She doesn't know that she is precious. She doesn't know.

She doesn't know who I am. I don't know who she is. But God knows. And He has created her. He has loved her. He has a plan for her. And His plan includes a miracle to fashion a family in a way that only He could dream. And I love that.

So my mind will keep wandering until that little girl is cradled in my arms, snuggled in tight with her big sister.