We've Been Matched!! To God be the Glory!

We have BIG news!

We have been matched with TWINS from AFRICA! HA! Only God knew... :-).

We got an email from a missionary at the orphanage on Wednesday saying there are twins waiting for us! (Totally not expecting this..!) A boy and a girl, about 5 months old. PRAISE OUR GREAT GOD! We were all home, as we got the email before Nathan left for work. (So early....!) Thankfully, at the orphanage, they are 5 hours ahead, so the news was waiting for us when we woke up. We read it together and were just overwhelmed with excitement!

We honestly have no other details about them.  However, a good friend is leaving THIS SUNDAY to go get her little girl from the same orphanage! We were super excited to find out before she left. Now, Lord willing, she gets to take pictures AND video (!) of our babies!! She will hold them and tell them we love them and are coming for them! ALSO, we (very) quickly, mailed her two "stuffed-animal-blankies" with our voices on the inside to take with her and give to them. When the bear's noses are pressed, there is a message with all three of our voices!! This way they can get to know the sound of their family until we can get to them. :)

For those of you who might wonder, we bought the blanket-animals and then went to Build-a-Bear to get a "record-able-sound" to put inside of them. We had 10 seconds to record and this is what we said, "(Nathan) This is your daddy! (Kimberly) This is your mommy! (C) This is your sister! (Nathan) We love you (Kimberly) and can't wait to meet you (C) one day!" We had SO. MUCH. FUN. recording it!

Here are pics of C with them:

Many of our friends and family have asked, "What's next!?"

Here's a quick low-down:

The lawyer in Africa will begin all the paperwork for the twins (gathering birth certificates, death certificates (if applicable), signatures of any living family members, health tests from the doctor, etc) and file that, along with our paperwork in the courts over there. Once we "pass court," the babies will *officially* be ours. At this point, they will get new birth certificates with the "Neely" name on them and passports with their new names. An EXCITING day that will be!

Next, the paperwork will be mailed to our house. Upon receiving it, we will *immediately* =) scan it and send it to get translated into English.

Once we get the translations, off the paperwork will go to USCIS and AL DHR for US/State approval.  When we get their approvals, the information will be sent to the US Embassy in Africa and we can make Embassy appointments. Once we have the appointments, we BOOK FLIGHTS AND TRAVEL!

There is no possible way to know how long this process will take, but it can take as little as 3 months (VERY unlikely) or as long as... well, our guess is 6 or 7 months.

I would love to share more, but I am currently being "dressed up" by a very active 3 year old who *desperately* needs a playmate right now. Haha!

We're so excited and praising God! Praise God with us! To Him be the Glory!

Quick prayer requests:

*The courts will STAY OPEN in Africa (as the government is very, very "shaky" right now..) and our paperwork can be processed quickly.
*DHR will be easier to work with than they were with our friend.
*Our hearts will be content and we will "worship while we wait!"
*Our babies' health, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

THANK you, friends and family for praying for us, being excited with us, and praising our GREAT GOD.

By His Grace,

Kimberly