How is the adoption coming?

We have been hearing the same question a lot.  "How is the adoption coming?"  Depending on who asks, they are looking for certain answers.  Eventually everyone wants the same answer.  When will your kids be here?
Oh how I wish I had a simple, easy answer for that question.  There are a few tangible dates I can give you.  Things for you to keep in mind, pray about, etc.  July 26th is our next (and hopefully final) homestudy meeting.  We will update any paperwork that is outdated from previous meetings.  We will go over the house, finances, and personal notes again.  We will make sure we have dotted all our i-s and crossed all our t-s.  Thankfully we have some incredible adoption specialists at Bethany Christian Services to walk through this with us.
The next big date is our anniversary!  August 28th, we will be celebrating our second anniversary!  Ahhh!  Seriously, though God has taught us so much about each other and ourselves in the past 2 years.  We have grown together and walking through this process together has made us stronger.  The other really exciting thing about August 28th, is Colombia requires 2 years of marriage for their adoptions.  This year our anniversary falls on a Sunday, but the following week our homestudy will be considered complete.  Then off for approval.
Over the next few months, we will apply for grants, do fundraising (because every little bit helps), make payments, submit paperwork, and everything else we can possibly do to prepare.  Hopefully we will be matched in the fall.  This will tell us a little more about the children we know God has already chosen for our family...pictures, stories, medical diagnosis, etc.  I am so excited for that day!
We will then go through some more paperwork, be assigned travel and court dates, arrange travel, and GO TO COLOMBIA.  Our prayer is that this will happen in early 2017.  Since both of us work in food service, winter is the easiest time for us to be away from our jobs.

As we inch closer here are specific things you can pray about:
July 26th - homestudy meeting
Grant applications (I - Kerri - am writing many of these currently)
Finances - Our next payment due will be $5000.  We currently have about 65% of that put away.
Our children - despite not knowing who they are yet, I know God is working in them and us to write this part of our story.
Travel dates

Again, thank you for being a part of our support system.  Y'all are awesome.  We love you and can't imagine doing this without you.