Mountains of paperwork

We signed with our agency two weeks ago - and we've been so impressed. They started to work for us immediately - and they have e-mailed us almost every day to give us status updates and to request additional information. Our homestudy received final approval on June 2nd!

Now, we have entered the "paperwork" phase-this is where we compile a "dossier" of paperwork to send to the Russian government to formally request a referral of a child. The package will consist of 12 documents. However, we must assemble 4 notarized copies of each document, and then we have to have 3 of those copies Apostilled. Apostilling is a process where the State of Texas certifies that the notarization was done by a licensed Notary. We found out that our Bank does notarization for free, but they may change their mind when we bring 48 documents for them to notarize. Ha!

It should take a couple of weeks to get all of this done - and then we will need to ship it to our agency, along with a check for $4,000 to cover the cost of shipping the documents to Russia, having them translated in Russian, and then have them formally filed with the Russian Ministry of Education. Please pray that the Lord will give us the grace to get this paperwork done, and that He will provide the money we need for this first "big chunk". Once we accomplish this step, we'll be on the way to receving a referral of our child! So exciting!

In addition to the "dossier" paperwork, we are also filling out applications for several grant organizations that give grants to families pursuing international adoption. The paperwork is tedious, but we are hopeful that our efforts will bear fruit. On average, these organizations receive 15-20 applications a month, but they only have the funds to approve 3 or 4 grants. So, please pray that the Lord will give us favor to receive some of this grant money.

We'll keep you posted as things move along.