CRAZY GOOD Day!!!!

Well we didn't get the magic email from embassy this morning saying we are cleared to travel but should hear some good news tomorrow.  We won't be officially cleared to travel because they don't have our updated 171H yet since we just updated our fingerprints yesterday...BUT we did get some, ummm pretty darn good news from news a few different people. All I can say is there must be a lot of people praying for us and God is listening because so many prayers were answered today and prayers that I haven't even been saying out loud simply because there have been a few other families that need the prayers more than us right now.

So, before 8am, I went from having an okay, no big deal, regular kind of day at work, but from 8am-10am it all changed and my day went to pretty near PERFECT!  I started calling the USCIS adoption line at 8am and was transferred to our officer who was quite possibly the sweetest lady ever!  This is actually the same lady who got us our fingerprint appointment when we were told we wouldn't even have our case looked at until July!  She immediately knew who I was and said she had my updated 171H sitting on her desk just awaiting the fingerprint updates which would be in today or tomorrow morning.  She also told me she could fax me a copy of the updated 171H as soon as she got it complete and I should get it today or tomorrow morning at the latest and then she would be sending it to the embassy in Ethiopia 2 day mail.  I had no idea they did that and was already to ask if somehow I could pay for expedited shipping, no need now!  So the embassy is closed on Friday so they should have our updated 171H in their hands Monday, Praise God for that HUGE step!

As I am on the phone with our officer I receive an email from our case worker saying that although we didn't hear from embassy, she spoke to the staff in Ethiopia and they said the interview went really well.  Honestly I haven't even been worried about that in the least but to hear those words gave me chills and put a pretty big smile on my face.  Then she said we will be doing our travel meeting next Mon or Tues and with another family who is on our same timeline right now and of course it is a family Jason and I are friends with here in OK and have known for probably the majority of our adoption journey so it is pretty cool that we are ending this journey together!

Ashley and I getting ready to welcome another Dillon/Buckner family home with their son!  Soon all 3 of our boys will be home in Oklahoma!

So all this to say that as soon as the embassy has our 171H form in their hands, they will be able to clear us to pick our travel dates (pending the interview did go well, which I just know it did).  At that point, we will pick 3 dates and then they will choose 1 of  those 3 for us. My heart and mind is set on picking the dates of June 25, 26 and 27th so I am praying right now we are given clearance ASAP because that would mean that we would be leaving for Ethiopia on June 23rd or 24th....that is NEXT weekend, 10-11 days away!!!

Okay so if that all wasn't enough to call it a blessed day and move on and be ecstatic, with the good news, I then got some news that about made me break down and cry at work (which I try very hard not too because my eyes turn and stay red when I cry and that's not a pretty sight for a patient to see in their physical therapist for the first time meeting).  What was this news???  Well we have somewhere between $3,000-$4,000 left to save/raise for this adoption depending on what our flights cost but I have been at peace with the fact that after saving and raising over $31,000 that if we had to take out a loan for the remainder it would be okay. The message I got was from a family who means a lot to us, a family who has been very supportive of us and a family we just love.  The message asked how much more we needed because they wanted to cover the balance so we didn't have to worry about it.  After over 2 years of saving and thinking up the next fundraiser, I can't even express in words what it feels like to be FULLY funded!!!!  

So here we are really just waiting on a few things...embassy's full clearance, our embassy date, our final hours of required adoption education and our flights to be booked and THAT IS IT!!!!  Soon, very soon, I will be posting a blog from Ethiopia with my oldest son sitting next to me.