Third and Final Package was sent last week.
The day we sent the final package was the same day as our update and final decree! We posted that received the final decree but I didn't take the time to outline the details of that amazing day. We were out shopping in the morning together when received an update on our little girl from the agency. We were so thrilled to get the first update in months. She was getting so big and eating so many more solid foods. She weighs 18 lbs! We immediately updated our families who all wanted an update on our court status. We still had no updates on that and did not expect to hear much for a few months. We were told that you get an official court date, first decree, and then a final decree. Each step can take quite a bit of time depending on your judge and the additional information they might request. Anyway, we were just excited to share the new pictures and update on how well she was doing in the orphanage.
After updating everyone I had to go teach at Midwestern. About an hour after I got to the school I received the following text from Brian (April 26):
I panicked!!!! I thought for sure something horrible had happened. I immediately thought another dog was injured or worried about our family. I tried calling over and over again but as you can see by the text, it kept going straight to voicemail! Finally he called back in tears, "Did you see? Did you see? We got our Final Decree!" Now I thought he must be crazy or pulling the worst joke of all time. We only received an update hours before and now she is legally a part of our family forever! I immediately left all the students in the middle of class (Sorry!!) and went home to get caught up on the last hour. I found out that Brian was getting the address to send her package off his email when a new email pulled up that said we got our final decree!! He went into shock and started to pace circles around our kitchen island while texting me the 911 messages. Then when I didn't answer his pleading text, he said all he could think to do was to run down to my mom and dad's house in tears so he could share the news with someone and see if they had any idea how to reach me. Yes, my parents knew before me! We have now decided on a different "good emergency" code to text so 911 won't freak me out again!
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| May Package |
She will receive the final package from us in May. There will be no package in June since we will be able to bring everything to her ourselves! We never thought this day would come and yet here it is... 6 weeks away from seeing her for the very first time! We received our travel dates for June. We are able to pick her up on June 18, 2013 and on June 19, 2013 we have an appointment with AIT (American Institute in Taiwan) for her Visa. We will likely stay another week to take her around Taiwan and let her adjust to us before the 14 hour flight home. I am now waking up like clockwork between 2:30 am and 3:00 am panicking about everything that needs to get done in the next few weeks!!! I'm not sure how we will get it all done. We are blessed to have amazing family and friends to help us with all the last minute checklist items. We are so excited and can not wait to hold her for the first time and see her first smile.
