Quick turn around!

Well, that was fast! Yesterday (Friday), when I finally came home from our whirlwind day of school, homeschool co-op, and HUGE church event, there was our amended I-171H laying out on the counter, just as lovely as could be :)! What a great thing to come home to. Tony had made it home before I did, and he was the one who actually opened it. So, now I have reminded him three times (at least) that I WILL be at the hospital on Monday as SOON as he has his cases done, so we can go to the JAG office and get our sweet form notarized. Then it is off to Kinkos/FedEx for the last few copies and an overnighter to AWAA. I already called our family coordinator (well, the coordinator standing in for Duni while she is in Africa this month) to confirm a few things. I am REALLY praying that it works out this way. Tony's schedule is SOOOO unpredictable, and he tends to have a 20 things going at once while he is at work (and home). And after being gone last week???? Well...it could be hairy. But, the good thing is, he is as motivated as me to get this Dossier OUT OF OUR HOUSE!!!!! So, a motivated Tony bodes well for me :)... especially when we are UNITED in our motivation :)!

In other Team Dragovich news... this week has been like a NASCAR race at a short track! I can't even remember doing school-- I think 2 days??? Between illness, errands, and activities, we have just been goin', goin', goin'!! And to top it off, Tony had this wonderful idea to plant a vegetable garden in the back 40 (just kidding, we only have 1/2 an acre :)) and he made it HUGE!! It took me 2 days to get it entirely planted and if the deer and other animals don't get to it first, then I will be feeding the entire neighborhood, besides ourselves this late summer and fall :)!! I'll take pictures once we get up the frame for the vining plants. We designed it in the square foot garden pattern. I also planted a whole slew of herbs between my rose bushes up against the deck. AND two blueberry bushes as well. We'll see. It is my alternative to doing a CSA (community supported agriculture), which I have LOVED doing in the past, but with the cost of gas, I just can't justify the hit we'll take. This spring just about put me under with soccer and paying out every week to keep the tank filled!!! I'm sure you can all relate... So, we planted a rather large garden and hopefully it fills the void-- at least somewhat. I have a feeling I'll learn more than I'll harvest this year, but as my dear hubby says, "You just can't put a price tag on learning!" Hmmm... I'll let that one be :)

Until next time...

Grace and Peace,
Shari

YES!!!!...... but; no.

Well..... IT CAME! The highly sought after I-171H came today!! AND.... they screwed it up. The government messed it up. Can you believe that???? I mean, I didn't think our government COULD mess up!! Okay. That is enough sarcasm. They got the approval wrong. They only approved us for one infant girl, 0-24 months. You know, after all the prayer and discussion and thought that went into making our final request in the first place.... Well, I just sort of had to laugh. So I wouldn't cry :) It really isn't a big deal. At least I don't think it will be. We'll see how long it takes Immigration to get us a new corrected form. They said 3 business days. They also said in the reply email that they rarely make mistakes and not to email back a "thank you". I kind of think that is funny. They DID rewrite the correct approval back to me in the reply email AND they got back to me in the SAME business day, instead of the two they said they were allowed to take up to-- don't ask me what I would get to do if they didn't get back to me in two days... call the "now your not even following your own rules" police??? Okay-- no more sarcasm, I promise.

For all my "non-savvy" adoption friends, let me explain what the I-171H does. I know I've said before that it is our "pass" to bring our kids into the country. It is NOT my ticket to now go to Ethiopia to pick up kids!!! I WISH! All this form does is complete a packet of about 15 or so other documents called a "Dossier" (maybe one day I'll actually count them all up) which is then shipped off to Ethiopia so that we can "get in line" so to speak. Pardon the pun-- that is not how I mean it, but that sort of how it is. At least that is how it feels, right now. But the cool thing is, you know how when your in a really long line-- I mean a REALLY, REALLY long line-- you start to chat with the people around you in the same line and by the end of the wait you have created all these new friendships and have a date to get together next week for coffee at B & N? Well, that is the wonderful thing about waiting in the adoption line. We have the honor of meeting amazing people, making new, lifelong friendships and sharing in all the ups and downs of this unique journey called "adoption". So, when the I-171H came today but it was all messed up... it was okay. Because God is in control and I'm not alone ;)

Grace and Peace,
Shari

Living with Gracious Uncertainty

No... before you have to get any further, the I-171H has not come yet. But that is okay, because I am living in "Gracious Uncertainty". It is the life filled with "breathless expectation" at what God is doing behind the scenes and causing to work for our family's good, even though we do not see it with our eyes. "Wow!" You say... "Why, Shari, that is so profound!!"... well, Friends, it is; but I did not say it or think of it on my own. It was in today's Oswald Chambers devotion. Click on his name to read it yourself. It's good stuff and just what my little pattering heart needed to remember and tuck away as we continue this wait. (Man... and all this paper does is get our stuff to ET-- so we can REALLY start waiting!)

Adoption paperwork isn't the only thing we are waiting to understand. Over the weekend, my middle son was riding in one of those caged-in, go-cart, dune buggy things (that sounds awfully accurate, doesn't it?) and the boy who was driving the go-cart, dune-buggy thing accidentally flipped it over with my almost 7 year old in it (Yes, he was wearing a helmet and buckled in). Yikes!!! Besides the shock factor which took the rest of the day to overcome, he kept his right arm dreadfully close to him at all times and cried continually about it being in pain. He refused to keep ice on it, and when Tony mentioned "hospital" and "x-ray" he about went into shock again-- AAAAAHHHHH!!! So... we opted to wrap it, splint it and wait for the morning. Tony did manage to get him to the ER on post the next morning and the x-rays revealed nothing. No break. But... I'm not so sure. It was VERY sensitive last night still, and swollen in one particular spot on the top of his hand, and puffy all around his wrist. He still can't squeeze anything with that hand. Breaks are so tough in little kiddos-- especially in those parts of the body with tons of bones and lots of space in between them, naturally. It probably isn't broken. All we can do is wait and see. Poor baby. :(

Thank you to everyone who is keeping up with us and praying for us!! Somedays it is hard to remember that we ARE indeed adopting! But, I am confident that in just the right timing, all things will come together and happen. Not just with paperwork, but throughout this roller coaster ride :D

Grace and Peace,
Shari