Officially official

Lots of things became official this week.  Yesterday I started feeling crumby as I got rained on at the end of David's soccer game, and this morning I am officially sick with a very bad cold. :(

Tuesday we received our translated copy of our approval from Colombia.  I didn't really think to celebrate just yet because it doesn't mark the end of the process, nor does it give me a date to travel to Colombia to be reunited with our boys.  However, it was a piece of paper that was actually very significant because not only was it the piece of paper we never got the first time around, but it also was officially the very first one to ever be issued after a case was officially closed.  So, that being said, it was a piece of paper worth celebrating, and it sure feels good to know we are no longer that family that couldn't get approved.  It would have been nice to know all the rest of the paperwork for "Juan" came with it, but alas, we still wait. One step at a time.  That's all we can do.

However, Tuesday also marked the end of our extension time with immigration (U.S. side) to include Julian.  I know this is all a confusing mess to all of you that don't have a clue how the international adoption process works, but Julian's case was completely separate from yet completely tied to "Juan's".  We couldn't even petition for Julian to come here without the approval to adopt his younger brother.  With that approval, we needed to submit specific documents for "Juan", the specific documents we're waiting on now.  We were supposed to submit them at the same time as our petition for Julian's visa.  Because of a deadline written into the immigration website, we had to submit Julian's back in November, and immigration was kind enough to give us all the way until March 5th to get "Juan's" paperwork submitted, as well.  That didn't happen, so we were finally forced to drop our case for Julian.  Our immigration officer has been very kind to us through this whole process and was saddened to hear that it didn't work out, but yesterday we got the official paperwork from immigration stating that the case for him was no longer in existence.

I'm not sure how I feel at this moment.  I'm saddened for Julian, yet surprisingly relieved, as well.  Relieved to have some closure and stop wondering if he's coming or not, relieved at not having to face the financial pressure of adding him and his schooling to our already minimal income level, and relieved at not facing the struggles that were inevitably going to come with trying to parent and mentor an adult who has never had such an influence in his life. I love him and adore him, but it looks like his future is in Colombia, not here.  He is currently studying what he is already very passionate about, so it will be good not to interrupt those studies, anyway.  However, with all of that said, I'm still left a bit bewildered at why God had us push forward to try to adopt him, despite all the odds, adding so much extra stress and complication to this whole process, only to officially close the door on the very day we got our official approval to complete his brother's adoption.  I know there was a reason, but for now we're left wondering why.