::out of our hands::

I am so glad to have our dossier officially on its way to our agency!

I had only one little hang up when I was ready to finally mail it, and that was only because I had read some directions incorrectly.  We had to quickly get some additional passport size photos made at the last minute because I thought we only needed one for each of us (you get two pics when you have them done--one was sent for our passports, one left over), but in fact, we needed two for the dossier. 

I'm just happy to have it OUT of our hands at this point.  No more waiting on ME to get documents together!  Once the agency receives it, they'll check it over, add some of their documents and send it on its way.  When it is in Ethiopia and all translated and approved, then we'll go on the waiting list.  We could be on the list anywhere from 2 months to 14 months.  There really is no way to know how quickly or slowly it will move.  We have already received one phone call for a possible referral from another African country, but the criteria was not something we were able to commit to, so we said no (which felt like an impossible thing to do, by the way.  I know we'll have more situations like this that arise, and each case will be as difficult to assess and pray about as the last.  This is one part of adoption that is just very hard.).  Who knows what could come once our dossier is actually approved and we're on the list?  Still, we are prepared for a very long wait time on the list as that seems to be the current climate for Ethiopian adoption right now.
We've got plenty to fill our time, though.  We've got our family CD in the works as our main fundraiser, but there is also a local organization that is going to put on a 5K/10K run/walk for us and our friends who are also adopting from Ethiopia.  This event should take place some time in May, and after running their event in Cape last fall, I am really looking forward to it!

(That's me, by the way.  I finished first in my bracket!)

{Although....I am now in the 30-39 age bracket....so, well, let's not talk about that, actually.}

:::::
We went out to dinner last night as a family, and decided to try a Mediterranean restaurant that we'd not heard of before.  A friend had recommended a smaller Italian/Mediterranean place, and we should have tried her recommendation because the place we ended up eating at was extremely disappointing.  William did a month long stint in Jerusalem when he was in college, and he fell in love (no exagerration) for the falafel.  And when he introduced me to it, I quickly became addicted.  I blogged years ago about our love for a certain Mediterranean restaurant with the best falafel EVER that has since closed and reopened in a different location.  After last night's disappointment, I so wish we'd gone back to the place we know and love. 
We did enjoy our time, though.  Isaiah has had a cold and hasn't felt well, but he was totally on board with the Lebanese cheese bread. :)

Happy weekend to you all!