Brent and I are excited to announce that on July 20, 2013, we mailed off all of our adoption paper work (dossier) to our agency to be forwarded on to Ethiopia!! We feel like this is such a relief and accomplishment as this first process took about 6 months to complete all the paperwork and to gather all the necessary documents. Our dossier has now been reviewed by our family coordinator and staff of our agency. We have been told our official dossier to Ethiopia date (DTE) will be August 9, 2013. This date is significant as this is the date we are officially placed on the waiting list!! The current trend in wait times from DTE to being matched with a child is 24 to 30 months.
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| July 20, 2013 mailing off dossier |
Over the past three months we completed a last few documents that required extra time for processing including home study completion and federal finger prints in order to be approved by the US government to be able to bring our baby back in to the US.
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The last three months while waiting we have been busy with preparing to sell our house. We feel the Lord is leading us to sell our home to prepare financially for the growth of our family. Brent and I originally bought our house as an investment and have spent the last five years making many home improvements, along with many fun memories with our family and friends and have truly found comfort and enjoyment in our home. We will be honest in saying this decision has not been easy. However, we will say it is incredible how over time as we have grown in our faith the Lord continues to show us joy and comfort in Him and has truly changed the desires of our hearts. We are excited and hopeful we will be able to sell our house and are trusting His timing will be perfect!
When we mailed off our dossier there was also a very large fee that was required for all the processing, translation, etc. We are very humbled and grateful to say that with the help of all our families and friends donations and support we had enough money to cover this entire first process!! We cannot express how much this is appreciated to have this covered prior to mailing off our dossier. This has encouraged Brent and I both so much and has helped us to ensure our dossier to arrive to Ethiopia as soon as possible! We want to thank you all again for your continued love and support. We continue to have people to send us donations by mail, online, and through our family members. We are so grateful!
We have had several questions about the best way to send donations. To get a tax deduction on your donation checks can be made payable to AWAA using the form under the tab to the right of our blog "Support Our Journey Mailing Check". Print the form and send along with check to the address located at the bottom of the form.
Or
Click on the "Support our Journey Online" by using credit card choose the link provided and at the drop down box for "Select Fee" scroll down and choose "Eternal Family Program". In the notes section identify our family "Brent and Beth Hardin".
We ask that you continue to pray for our child, this process, and for Brent and I. We realize this process is going to be very long and we have actually learned in the past recent few weeks the process may even continue to be longer due to government issues and additional requirements. We are hopeful as we know and believe our God is sovereign over all things. One step closer.
Love,
Brent and Beth
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| Pictures from the BBQ Benefit April 2013 |
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| Our Dad's |
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| Brandon, Catie, and McKinley friends from our growth group |
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| Beth's co-workers |
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| Brent with his sister Alyson |
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| Our Nieces McClure and Cora |
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| Our Nieces Ada and Millie |
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| Beautiful view of the Melton's barn |
