Off to a grand start - maybe not

Dearest Dema,

Well, we are finally home and starting to get back into a routine. It is hard after being gone so long. We have gotten all the paperwork started for the adoption process and in doing so noticed that our passports were expiring soon. Good thing we noticed that as we could have gotten the call and then uh-oh - no passports! So I spent an hour waiting in line to renew the passports (watching a man in front of me get passports for himself, his wife, and their seemingly endless posse of children) only to be told after my paperwork was done that there was another line to wait in to mail them off - even though this was all at the post office, the one part that did the processing of passports would not do the mailing. So I left the office of the passports to walk 5 feet to the next line where I could mail them. Except as I took the first step to the next line, I swear a bus arrived with at least 50 people that had been saving up their mail needs for the past six years. And they all were accompanied by screaming babies. I looked at the line, then looked at the counter where there was one desultory post office employee moving at a snail's pace, and decided that I would come back tomorrow. So, basically I have failed at the very first extremely simple task set before me to get you, one that I had complete control over and required no agency help. Ack - I hope this does not portend of events to come. Next comes fingerprinting and forms for all the states we have lived in. It seems like such a process to go through, but yet people are allowed to just have children all the time without any special forms or background checks. Hmm… maybe that is what we need to institute, a universal parent check system before conception or adoption. Or better yet, maybe a reality TV show….

We are also learning that there are reams of paperwork to be completed in a very precise order with seemingly silly requirements (like blue ink only), but we will persevere and get through it. I am nervous about the homestudy though. It seems like the most important part of the process now but everything I have read from people that have gone through one say don't worry. I guess it is like women that are pregnant. When you are pregnant, all you can think of is the delivery, but women that have already had their babies try to tell you that it will be forgotten in a moment - you need to focus on the lifetime ahead with your new baby. So, while I am sure we will be fussing and worrying about the paperwork and homestudy, we will try to keep our hearts focused on the lifetime ahead with you in our family.

We were reading out loud as a family last night and Amanda made a joke and then followed it up with, "Oh, Dema would like that. I miss him and wish he were here!" So don't forget, we are always thinking of you.

Love,

Bethany, Amanda, G3, and G4