Our dossier is travelling the world!

Today I mailed our dossier to the courier service in Washington, DC. I have to tell you, I hated to stick those precious documents in the mail (via FedEx) in hope that they will ultimately reach their destination... I have been working SO HARD and SO LONG on these papers, that I have almost established a relationship with them. I actually have my paperwork named... Dossie (short for Dossier). I would just melt into a crumpled heap if Dossie gets lost or damaged. Honestly, it really is SUCH an amazing thing that adoptions ever get finalized. If you will remember, a grommet actually came out of my home study after I got it authenticated at the OK Secretary of State. THESE THINGS HAPPEN. If any grommets, staples, paperclips, attachments, etc., are removed (or fall off due to over-handling) the document is considered NULL and VOID and has to be done over again. AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHH! At this point, one might want to slash their wrists. Then again, maybe one should just TRUST that the Lord will oversee the whole process. After all, the kids and I prayed over Dossie before we sent him to FedEx.

Dossie has to go on the following excursion before it is all said and done with...

1. Dossie leaves my loving, careful hands via FedEx to the courier service in Washington DC.
2. The courier service takes Dossie to the US Department of State in Washington, and they rifle through his paperwork and stamp, stamp, stamps him.
3. The courier then takes Dossie to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, DC. OOF! More rifling and stamping.
4. The courier stuffs Dossie in the mail and sends him to my adoption agency in Florida. (This is where Dossie goes on a bumpy trip in a FedEx plane where he rides under literally tons of other mail and packages...)
5. Once arriving in Florida, one or more staff members at CCI tears through his pages, making sure everything is all there.
6. Once he sits on someone's desk at CCI for awhile, Dossie gets stuck in another envelope and sent to Ethiopia.
7. Someone in Ethiopia receives him, and sends him to a company where he will be interpreted from English to Amharic (the official language in Addis, Ababa).
8. Once Dossie is done with interpretation, he will go to the Ethiopian foreign minister, who for authentication. I imagine there is more stamping and rifling. Maybe even some stapling.
9. Then, Dossie gets an appointment in Court, where someone rips through his pages. Paperclips and grommets have taken quite a beating at this point!
10. Once he is out of court, Dossie goes to MOWA (the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs), where he recieves passport approval.
11. If he is not ripped to shreds by this point, Dossie goes to the Embassy and we get to pick up our REAL babies! No more paper babies at this point! (Sorry, Dossie!) CAN'T WAIT!