Adoption Update #2

Hello all! Thank you so much for all of your encouraging responses! Our first home study appointment well very well. Our social worker (if you can call her that, we are working with a private organization) is very kind and very knowledgeable. She just looked at the house (I am glad we spend so much time cleaning things up!) and gave us a HUGE stack of paperwork to complete. Crazy! Then we wrote her a big, fat check and that was that. Regarding finances, Chris and I have been saving since we were married and were not quite sure what we were aiming for. Now we know! God has planned this perfectly.

One source of concern, if you would like to pray to specifically for us - three years ago, when we were married, Santa Cruz County neglected to send the state the paperwork necessary for us to receive our marriage certificate. Ethiopia requires an actual copy of this marriage certificate and the waiting time (now that we have sent the proper paperwork to the state) is 3-7 months, which could hold up the adoption process significantly. Thankfully, our social worker knows someone in the Vital Statistics office. Pray that they would somehow expedite the process and send us our marriage certificate quickly. Sorry if that is too much info...but this situation is our most significant source on concern. We are reminding ourselves that God's timing is perfect.

Here is an update that we receive weekly from our adoption agency. I thought it might of interest to you:

"Ethiopia - A Visiting Orphans mission team is currently in Ethiopia visiting some of the orphanages America World either already works with or hopes to work with for the Ethiopia adoption program. The team will return to the States at the end of next week, and another team will leave in August.The Ethiopia program continues to grow. There are currently 66 families in the program. It is a good idea for families whom are new to the Ethiopia program to refer to the Weekly Updates from weeks past, as many of the updates contain pertinent information to the adoption process."

Thanks again for reading our novel!

Love you all,
Anna & Chris

P.S. We are on a month long road trip, so we may be slower than usual in getting back to you. Also, we had a detour in Grants Pass, OR because my grandfather unexpectedly passed away. Please keep my grandmother in your prayers...