It's a girl!!!

Some of you have already heard me screaming with joy today. Why was I screaming?

The news you have all been waiting for . . . . . . . . . (drum roll please) . . . . .

We have a daughter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
OK - so you know we already have a daughter. What I mean is . . .

We are out of PGN!!

What the heck is PGN? . . . . don't you know? . . . . Haven't you been reading my blog? :) Well, for those that have just been skimming through my lengthy posts . . . it's the Attorney General's court in Guatemala that decides the fate of our adoption. Mr. Barrios (the director/attorney general/whatever his title is) signed off on our case and approved us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But here's the funny thing . . . .

A month ago I put a donation widget on our blog, and I had to list an "end date" for the donations. I looked at the calendar and said "Hmm . . . I bet we'll get out on the 24th. That's a good date." So that's what I put (I later changed it as I started doubting last week). Even yesterday I woke up and said "OK Lord. Today's a good day to get out of PGN". But then I didn't hear anything all day. This morning around 11:10am, the phone rang and I thought "Wouldn't it be nice if that was Mandy calling me" (my case worker). And it was!!! She sounded happy - so I didn't think it was bad news. And it wasn't! Yeah!!!!!!!!!

So - we will travel in 4-6 weeks. Our lawyer needs to get Wendy's new birth certificate (with Wendy Elizabeth West on it!) and her passport. Then he can submit us to the US embassy for her visa appointment. When they make our appointment, they will issue us a PINK slip (our appt date) and we will travel 1 to 1 and a half weeks later!!! Can you believe it?!!! Wendy could be here by mid-August! No wonder I've been "nesting" these last 2 weeks! Our 15th Anniversary is on August 15th, and I can't think of a better present than to be able to travel down and bring our daughter home!!! For our 10th anniversary we got Jacob! :) What priceless gifts!

Please pray for us to travel in 4 weeks (or sooner)- before school starts. 6 weeks will be a crazy time to travel (don't want to miss the kids first days of school and I don't want to take Meg out of school to travel). Also pray for the remaining finances needed for this adoption. I know that God will provide! He has so far! God is good!!!

Well - folks . . . .stay tuned for the departure date! Thank you sooooooooo much for the many, many, many prayers, support and encouragement over these last 17 months. We have totally appreciated it and needed it!! It's still surreal that this part of the journey is almost over! I'm excited for what God will do next in our lives with Wendy home! God has good and perfect plans!

Blessings!
Lori :)