We're Registered! (no, not at Target...)

I meant to update my blog long ago, as we have made another BIG step in our adoption. All of our documents have been organized, translated, apostilled/notarized and put together as our official dossier. Last month our dossier was submitted to Russia. We became officially registered in St. Petersburg!

Funny... seeing that phrase "officially registered" comes with a totally different meaning for pre-adoptive parents (PAP) as it does for expectant parents. If only becoming "registered" for us was as easy as taking the scanner gun and magically putting all our essential items together in one simple list. Ha! The hoops we PAPs jump through!

So, what does this mean? Once a dossier is submitted, PAPs can then at ANY TIME be invited to travel to the region in which they are registered and receive an official referral from the Ministry of Education (MoE), a governmental body in Russia. However, many placement agencies share information on potential referrals with PAPs before they travel when they are rather confident that those families might receive that official referral once in-country.

This, too, can happen at ANY TIME...

So... if anyone is still reading this blog, I would recommend you stay tuned. Things may get interesting soon.

Regarding the brief hiatus I had recently taken from the blog, the last several weeks have been rough. We've been ridiculously busy with work and attending/hosting/participating in church events. We're dog-sitting for my parents. I might have had a birthday at some point. But, what affected us the most was grieving over the loss of a dear friend... I have no words to explain this situation via a simple blog. All I can say here is it shook many people's lives. Readers, please be in prayer for my dear friend, Carrie, who lost her husband much too soon and much too suddenly.

I'll say goodnight for now. Thank you all for being a support to Derek and me though our process. Life is a never-ending classroom, with our Lord as the teacher. I've learned a lot in the last few months. I'm grateful to continually be shown just how invaluable good, true friends are. I love you all.