ONE WEEK??? [boda scolding]

Alright folks, we've had one whirlwind of a week so far. We've left the house every day before breakfast and not been home till supper-time two of the days. We've driven to several offices, waited in several lines, and skipped several child-naps. This is a recipe for disaster, but our kids have handled it relatively well. They seem to be good at finding things to entertain themselves [this includes what may possibly be the best video of the trip so far].

Today was the miracle we were hoping for :)

We went to the immigration office to see about our passports yesterday. To our dismay, some lady told us we did not have the necessary paperwork and that we needed four more documents. We had all the information they wanted in other supporting documents, just not in their format. So, we went back today - ready to do some work.

First, we needed to stop at the U.S. Embassy. About fifteen minutes down the road to the embassy, we realized we'd forgotten our cell phone. After a successful meeting at the embassy to verify that we're doing everything correctly, we went to the passport office. We got there, hoping that our case worker would be waiting for us, since we had no way of contacting him. We waited and waited and he did not show. Then, I remembered that he had me write down an immigration employee's phone number in my Ipod yesterday. We borrowed someone's phone and called him [and paid the man, of course]. We waited an hour and called him again and this time we were successful! He came out to greet us and take us back to an office.

Another man took the reins from this point. He ushered us into 3 different offices over the next hour, often budging in front of several people. I'm very thankful for him as he was doing all of this without knowing us or having received any extra payment for his efforts. After all of this, he said our passports would be ready in 1 week. We were shocked and upset. However, after some negotiation and some "tangible appreciation," he told us he would have the passports by tomorrow!!! So, we're praying that he sticks to his word and that we actually can go and pick them up tomorrow.

A big reason that this is important is because the immigrant visa office at the U.S. Embassy is open on Friday only until 10 a.m. If we had to get the passports on Friday, we might not make it to the Embassy in time. On Friday, we will make our appointment to process the visas. This means our appointment should be on Monday. Since visas take two days to process, we'll be filling out a request to have them expedited. If granted, this would ensure that the visas be done on Tuesday. This is hugely important.... BECAUSE OUR FLIGHT IS THAT SAME DAY [thankfully, it doesn't leave until 11 p.m.].

So.... the short version for you simple-minded folk:

If the guy at the passport office keeps his word and we get the passports tomorrow and we're granted expedited visas, we'll be in Iowa one week from TODAY!!!!!!

Words can't express how excited we are at the prospect of being home on our scheduled day [well, our second scheduled day]. So keep these processes in your prayers and we'll hopefully see you all soon!

Derek, Kristen, Viola, and Gideon

FYI: "Boda" means motorcycle. Enjoy!