I can't believe it, I mean, I really can't believe it. We finally have our I-171H, in our possession. I could not believe how nervous I was opening the envelope. I was actually sweating. We have waited for this moment since we began this process back in January. In fact, it was on January 2, that Brian and I had contacted Reece's Rainbow regarding being Alyona's forever family. It has been a long experience. We have learned so much. We have completed a mountain of paperwork... twice! It is going to be such a great feeling to be able to send our dossier (some families lovingly call it The Beast) off on Monday! Yet, we are fully aware that our journey is far from over. Some have even said that this is only the halfway point. Fortunately, once we are in Aly's country, we will have a facilitator there to help us with the paperwork.

We knew that at the end of the paperwork trail in this country, we would be receiving USCIS approval, the I-171H. I honestly wasn't expecting it today. I don't know about you, but in our neighborhood, we only receive junk mail on Saturdays. Earlier in the day, I had dropped off a roll of film to be developed. They said it would be ready to be picked up in 30 minutes. I returned for the photos, anxiously waiting to see the memories from a once in a lifetime event, only to be told that they had problems with the machine and the film had been ruined. I was crushed, but it was my daughter, who reminded me that once again we were being spiritually attacked. I have heard that often families who are making a difference, who are in the process of international adoptions have been going through their own spiritual battles. With us it has been mostly with our appliances, so of course when we needed a roll of film developed, they would have problems with their machine. We had not one but two vacuums break (in one week), a dryer that wouldn't dry, a dishwasher that wouldn't wash, sprinklers that wouldn't sprinkle, and currently a washing machine that will not clean. But God is so good. To come home without the photos (sorry honey) and to not even be expecting the I-171H, but finding it in there waiting for my in my mailbox was like God saying, focus on the REAL things that matter. Focus on finishing this task that I have called you to do. Focus on getting Aly home. And that is exactly what we will do.