Passports and something cool

After we arrived home with Maia, we had to send her Ukrainian passport to the Ukraine Embassy in Chicago for processing. I mailed it at the end of February. We've been hearing horror stories about it taking up to 6 months to be returned - ugh!
About 10 days ago, we applied for for a US passport for Maia. We requested that the application be expedited.
Both passports arrived in today's mail  - what's the likelihood?

So... here's my "something cool." For those of you who followed our first journey, you may remember that we met some great families when we were in Kiev. On our second night there, we had dinner with Jeff Hanon and his daughters as well as Pat and Jill Birschbaugh. All of us were on our way to meet our kiddos for the first time. We were able to meet up with Jill and her friend Debbie in Kiev again on our way home. Jill, Jeff's wife Debbie (different Debbie than Jill's friend), and I have kept up with each other via our blogs. It is so fun seeing how their boys are just thriving in their new homes! Well, what is really exciting is that the Hanons and the Birschbaughs are also traveling back to bring home more precious angels! It is possible that we may be in Kiev at the same time as the Birschbaughs again. I'd also been hoping that we would be able to meet up with Jeff, but that seems less likely. AND there was a family who was about a month ahead of us in the journey who adopted their little boy from Maia's orphanage. They stayed in the same apartment that we did and were a huge help for us as we prepared for our trip. Well, this family is also going back for a little girl and we may be traveling at the same time as they are. I just LOVE how God is working!

Our dossier is in Kiev, but for some reason the "shipment is on hold." If it hasn't been delivered by the time we wake up (they are 8 hours ahead), we will call to find out what the problem is. So, we anticipate being submitted next week. Right now, it's looking like about 5-6 weeks from the time of submission to the appointment date. This would put us into June. The pending closure is in the back of our minds, of course. But... I remind myself this is in God's hands. We had similar stresses last year. Just like then, we can't back away from this because of the uncertainty. We have to proceed with each step until there is no longer hope. And I believe that God wants our sweet boy to be home with his forever family as much as we do!! I trust in an all powerful God!