DTC!!!!!

We have reached a huge milestone.......DTC!!!!! This three letter acronym means Dossier to Chin@. All of our paperwork that we have worked tirelessly on has been sent to the other side of the world! Now we wait to find out our LID (Log In Date)-the date which our dossier is recorded in the "system". Then we wait for our big approval -- LOA (Letter of Acceptance)!

We will still be traveling in December. We just don't know all the details yet. It gets complicated from here. The US Consulate will be closing for a week in early December. Then at the end of the month there are more closures for the holidays. It will be tricky trying to figure this all out. I am certain that we HAVE to finalize our adoption before January 4th.

Much like a pregnancy, I have begun nesting. Last weekend we had our carpets cleaned. We sold a set of furniture from our family room. Our idea is to move our theater room up from the basement since the room is already wired for surround sound. Jeremy's office is moving into the old theater room and our older two boys are getting Jeremy's office for their new bedroom. We have a bit of work to do down there first.

Our kids would rather not move any furniture up there. They love the empty room! But the sectional must be moved!

Who needs furniture?

I caught Jeremy playing Princesses with Mariah. 

Even Mariah is taking advantage of the empty room.

I got up with Mariah on Sunday morning to get ready for church. Poor thing had a fever. It was a long day as her fever rose.

Yes, that thermometer reads 105.0 degrees. She was one very sick little girl.

She seems much better now. Her throat is still yucky but the fever is gone!

Along with our DTC news, we also got something special in the mail.

Her passport came!!!!! Now she is waiting with us for all of the remaining approvals to come. And we will send our passports off for the necessary visas.

Here are a few photos that I took with my phone (not the best quality) but I thought they were sweet photos.

And this one too.

I came out to the kitchen the other day and found Jeremy standing at the window above my sink using Ben's spyglass. Evidently whatever was happening at the cul-de-sac was pretty interesting.

Once again we have been blessed to see how God continues to provide for our Selah to come home. We received a grant from a fund that was such a blessing to our family. We had an interview with them on the phone two weeks ago and we were so blessed by their prayers for our family.  

Here is part of the email we received from them:

"We love your heart and the ways He is creating new ways for you to grow in Him. He loves the way you are listening for Him, not others, that you are living in new ways to grow with Him...so exciting! We are honored to be part of your journey as well and hope it provides even more affirmation that His heart is for adoption and His heart is for you! We will continue praying for your family. Please keep us updated. We look forward to walking with you for years to come."

What a journey we are on. One thing that we have learned through this process is that our faith is continually being refined. We did not expect this to happen. I am glad that I am not in control of this whole thing. I am a miserable failure.

Please continue to pray for our Selah as she waits for us to join her in Chin@. A piece of my heart is in Chin@ this holiday season. It is heartbreaking to think that our daughter has never heard the true meaning of Christmas. We will make sure that changes. We cannot wait to create some memories with her.