Over the past few weeks we had FedEx'ed the fourteen documents that make up our dossier to the various Secretaries of State (NC, NY, WI, WY) to have them state certified. That entire process went smoothly with the exception of a couple hick-ups. Our medical forms were not notarized correctly, our criminal check forms did not have the proper seal on them, and I had forgotten to get our marriage license with an issue date within the last year. So, after they were sent back we corrected those problems and sent them back to be certified. Last Friday we received the final certified document.

Two days ago, on Tuesday, Tricia and I jumped in the van and took off for Washington D.C. for the final certification steps. We arrived at our hotel at about 8 p.m. and went to get a quick bite to eat (Chipotles) so we could get to bed fairly early. We got up at 5:30 a.m. (which wasn't too difficult after eating spicy mexican food the night before :-) and prepared for the day since we wanted to be at the Authentication Office of the U.S. State Department when they opened at 7:30 a.m.

Going into the day I envisioned doing business in grand office buildings. I pictured long marble halls that echoed every whispered word with tall dark wooden doors on either side hiding important government officials taking care of vital national interests. So, when we arrived at the Authentications office, I was quite surprised to see that it was tucked back in a strip mall of sorts and was very nondescript. We took a number and within 45 minutes we had our documents certified and were off to our next stop.

I guarded those documents very closely. They represented a lot of time, effort, and money.

We finished our first step much quicker than I expected, and since the Chinese embassy didn't open till 10 a.m., we decided we would walk since the weather was beautiful, and there were no Metro stops close to where we were going. Well, we walked and walked for a very long time and finally reached the Chinese Embassy. Tricia and I were both quite tired and were glad to take a number and sit down. Once again, I expected a large building with Chinese flags flying from brass poles and at least one soldier guarding the entrance. I must have an overactive imagination as the embassy was just a little office within a larger office building across the street from a CVS and Starbucks.

We were quite confused when we went in as to what we should do. So we just stared filling out forms. We filled out our visa forms and our authentication form. I noticed that we were supposed to have a passport photo for our visa application so I had Tricia take a picture of me with our digital camera and I ran over to CVS to get one made (I already had an extra copy of Tricia's passport photo in our "Just In Case" folder). An hour or so later I had a passport photo of my weary face. I decided to call our case worker at our adoption agency to ask a couple questions. I asked about our visas. She said that we shouldn't apply for them yet as they would expire in three months. Aaargh! I felt so stupid.

Well, our number was called (Tricia had actually gotten about four numbers as she waited for me to return from CVS) and we turned in our documents and money order. We were done in about five minutes.

We went to Starbucks and got a drink and then caught a bus (we were too exhausted to walk again) down to the White House. We spent some time sightseeing and then went to lunch at bd's Mongolian Barbecue. After eating lunch we caught the Metro back to our hotel and jumped in our van to head back home.

Overall we had a great trip and accomplished everything we set out to accomplish.

We praise the Lord for my parents sacrifice of time (they were visiting from Wyoming) in keeping our children while we took this trip.

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