Big news...

Yesterday afternoon we received the best possible news short of actually receiving our referral (for those not familiar with the lingo yet, a referral is the assignment of children to a family). As I was preparing to leave work, I came across an email from our case worker Sarah. She was giving us the long-awaited update on our paperwork which has been hanging out in the city of Pereira since mid-November. Here is what the email said:

"Great news :) Just spoke with Raul [our agency's Colombian program director] and he thinks you will be getting a referral VERY soon (within the month) from Pereira. SO....he is asking you to look at your documents to see if any need to be redone."

This is not in any way an official promise of children, but it is cause for us to hope big. It may take longer than a month, but it sounds like the powers that be in Pereira may have children in mind for us. In the meantime, we are doing what they are asking of us and getting our paperwork updated. I had already sent off a request letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to get our fingerprints updated (they expire in May). Our next steps include updating our medical and employment letters, as well as our FBI clearances (yes we have to have two separate sets of fingerprints updated). Other than that, we just keep hoping and praying that our official referral will come anyday now!