What a week!

Amidst the ordinary hustle and bustle of a week, we experienced two moments of unexpected joy.


With another visit to the Index department downtown, our final documents for the dossier were approved by our government and officially authenticated.  We quickly hand-delivered those documents to our agency in Oak Park.    
     
On the heels of feeling the relief of one completed task, we were given our referral for the girls.  In adoption lingo, this means that we are officially matched with the girls!  We wrote our letter of acceptance, and signed on the dotted line.  


While this may seem like just another paper task, this step is our formal commitment to the girls and to becoming a family.  Adoptive families wait for months, and even years, to finally receive word of a child or children who have been referred to them for adoption.  


In all honesty, we are stunned by the fact that we've actually come this far after so many years.  We exist in a world of emotions - relieved happiness, cautious optimism, tempered anxiousness.  As always, our faith, family, and friends are a tremendous support.