Hello Ethiopia! We are the Millers

We received an e-mail telling us that CHI has received our referral acceptance packet today. They are now informing our Ethiopian representative and coordinator! Our dossier will next go through more entities for approval before our case goes to court in country. We are told that the process usually takes about 8 weeks. During that time the dossier will be translated, authenticated, reviewed by the MOWA (Ministry of Women's Affairs) and a summary report written. We probably won't find out our court day for several weeks. It is amazing how things are just moving along. Every day is one day closer to meeting our girls. We can't wait to be able to post their pictures so that you can all see how precious they are.

No Longer Homeless

Today we had a successful closing on our home! Yay!!! Now the real work begins. Drywall, electrical wiring, painting, repairs, and LOTS of cleaning, but it is worth it! Our home is a 4BR, 2BA and we already have the girls' room picked out. Raylene's favorite feature is the kitchen - nice and big. Patrick's favorite is the wide 2 car garage. Once we get the inside ready we will have to get an updated home study which we will hand carry with us to Ethiopia. It seems like there is always one more thing to get done! But really, that is a blessing because the time just keeps flying by and we are beginning to think that we will be throwing things in our suitcases as we rush out the door to catch our plane in a few months. When we get the house ready we will start on the yard, it needs more grass and less weeds! We should be getting the keys tomorrow and then it will feel more real. Patrick will be driving back to Logan for his final 4 days working at the University of Utah. We are both looking forward to being able to live in the same house after being separated for almost 7 weeks. We are so very grateful to Raylene's sister, Shiloa, for letting up live in her craft room during the move and while we fix up the house - she is amazing!

We Offically say "YES!!!"

The two beautiful girls that we have been falling more and more in love with everyday are going to be ours! As if any of you doubted, we offically signed the acceptance paperwork today! I still can't believe how fast this is all happening, but I'm sure we will be ready in time. Can you believe it, we have two daughters who are waiting for us in Ethiopia!

On another note, our house that was supposed to be closing today, didn't happen. We are now rescheduled for "sometime" on Monday. Patrick will have to take another day off work and we won't be able to start on any of the projects we had hoped to do this weekend. I have to say that working with the adoption world has made me a little more flexible (not to say that I like it that way or that I enjoy it any better). Here's to praying for good things to happen on Monday.

THE CALL !!!!!! - The Other Side

We decided to share our own experience on this event because it is so significant.

Early Monday afternoon I received a call on my cell phone from an unknown caller id, I usually let them go to voice mail but we were close to finishing up the sale on our new home and I was expecting some calls from potential employers. I recognized Erin's voice from our Adoption Agency and thought, "Now that is odd, we have all of our paper work done. Why would they be calling me?" We exchanged typical greetings and then Erin said, "Can you hold on while I conference Raylene in?" My stomach hit the floor at the same time my heart jumped. This was it! The Call! Now I can not speak from experience what it is like to have my wife go through the stages of pregnancy and then after all the waiting receive a call at work where the caller says, "She's going into labor!" Raylene has joked a couple of times in saying that we are paper pregnant. Anyway, I think that is about how I felt at that moment. Raylene came on the phone about 2 minutes later and when Erin announced the news, Raylene fell apart with giddiness as Erin informed us that we had a referral for two girls ages 5 and 3-1/2 years old. A couple minutes later we received the email with their photos and profiles.

I was useless and un-productive at work for the rest of the day. I went around telling everyone in my office and called my family to share the good news. I finally just took the rest of the afternoon off. On the way home I picked up a bottle of Martinelli's Apple Cider and a half gallon of Dryer's Ice Cream to celebrate with the Darrington's (Raylene's cousins whom I was staying with), I was still in Logan, UT while Raylene was in LaVerkin, UT staying with her sister Shiloa.

I was excited and terrified at the same time because we have been working toward this for about two years and it was finally going to happen, however we still had not closed the sale on our new home, which needed a little more than TLC, and I did not have a job yet in Southern Utah where we were going to live. I do have a temporary job but that won't take care of us in the long run. So to say I was a bit stressed is an understatement. Despite the craziness of it all, it was the happiest day of my life next to our wedding day and I know the day we first meet them will be right up there with the other two, probably even better!

THE CALL !!!!!!

I can't believe it - We are going to be the parents of two beautiful Ethiopian daughters! We got the call today! They are 5 & 3-1/2 years old and absolutely perfect. I am so very excited, words cannot express what I feel, I'm still in shock! We got our call from our adoption consultant, Erin Seigel, at 1:45pm. I was busy at work when the call came. Needless to say, I didn't get any more done the rest of the day! When I saw the (314) area code on my cell phone, I was worried that something was wrong with our paperwork, or that Erin was just calling to get an update on our house situation. As soon as she asked me to hold on for just a second while she got Patrick on the line, I knew it was our referral. My heart started pounding out of my chest and I could hardly breathe. WOW! So very unexpected and so very wonderful. I keep staring at their photos and still can't believe it.

This has taken us completely by surprise! Next Monday would have been our six month mark, about half way there or so we thought. There are many couples with our agency who have been waiting over nine months for a 'singleton' and most of the sibling referral families have waited for at least 10-12 months. I figured that I would start getting anxious around the 10 month mark and that I had plenty of time to finish up on some projects and learn some Amharic. Nope - it's crunch time!

We won't be able to post pictures of the girls until we pass court in Ethiopia, however, we would be happy to share them with anyone that wants to stop by and visit. hint, hint

Home Inspection

Today I got to meet with our home inspector - Frank Ross. He seemed to have done a very thorough job and we now have a very long to-do list. As I look at all the things that we will have to do, several right away so that we can update our adoption homestudy, I am thankful that we didn't go with one of the other more intense fixer-uppers that we looked at. One of the joys of home ownership is making it your own, one of the not so grand things is owning all of the problems! However we are optimistic that we will be able to handle most of the repairs on our own (by this I mean with Dad's help!). The house should be closing in about a week, 3/27. We will keep up updated on the progress.

Spring Break

Shiloa had Spring Break and wanted to do something fun. I was lucky enough to be invited to go along. We left for Mesquite, NV on Monday where Shiloa had a free 2 night stay at the Virgin River Hotel and Casino. We met one of Shiloa's friends, Britney and had lunch and then watched "New in Town." It was really cute and we had a lot of fun. Afterward we went back to the hotel and watched ... more movies! We also worked on stringing beads and watch bands. We ate snacks and had a really fun time. Britney had to go back home that evening.

On Tuesday, Mom and Dad met us at the hotel and we all went to the Lost City Museum which offers a reconstructed Anasazi building that is open to visitors. It was interesting learning about their culture and way of life. We also had a picnic on the grounds before heading farther south to the Valley of Fire. I know that we live in Red Rock country, but this area is really beautiful. We went on several small hikes and saw some amazing rock formations. I think that my favorite was Elephant Rock but it was all so beautiful. I kept thinking to myself that it was such good weather - in the middle of March and we were out hiking in jeans and a t-shirt. Poor Patrick was up in Logan enduring the cold and shoveling the snow - I am going to love living down here again. I can't wait to be able to come back here with Patrick and have another fabulous day. That night we went out to dinner for Chinese - Yum! After Mom and Dad left, Shi and I ... watched more movies and did more beading!

Thursday was a bit of a lazy day, ... we watched movies and beaded! Overall, we had so much fun and relaxed. I recommend taking few days like this every week (if only)! Here are some more pictures from our day in Valley of Fire.