WE ARE OUT!!!!!!

On Wednesday afternoon, we received the phone call we have been waiting for! We are out of PGN! This is one of the last BIG stages of our adoption process. We are overflowing with joy. As many of you know, it's been a difficult past two weeks with two family members in ICU. Wednesday brought some wonderful news during a very difficult time.

It all began on Wednesday morning when we received an email telling us there was a possibility Pearl would be moved to an orphanage. We dreaded the idea of Pearl being taken from the family who has cared for her for five months. Our hearts were hurting with the possibility so we continued praying for Pearl to exit PGN. Around 4:00, we received a phone call from our agency telling us we were out of PGN and Pearl would not be moving to the hogar. What a double blessing! A special thank you to our friends and family who prayed for a quick OUT!

For those who are interested, these are the last stages of our Guatemala adoption:

1. We are currently waiting for Pearl's birthmother to sign off on her last decree and then we begin the 2-3 week wait for a new birth certificate where Pearl will have the last name Townsend!
2. In addition to obtaining a new birth certificate, our attorney also needs to get Pearl a Guatemalan passport so she can leave the country and come home to the USA.
3. Pearl will need another DNA test. This is a new stage in the process that just began on Monday! URGHHHH....this will add an additional two weeks to the process. In the long run, it's a good practice to avoid any corruption.
4. After our case is translated from Spanish to English, it is submitted to the US Embassy (second time in the adoption process) and we wait for them to notify us with our Immigrant Visa appointment, usually known as PINK. This will probably take 2 weeks. Once we have our date and time, we will travel to Guatemala. Pearl will also have a medical review around this time.
5. Our attorney and/or coordinator will bring Pearl to us when we arrive in Guatemala. One day is spent at the US Embassy where we will have our Visa interview. Hopefully our file will be ready and we can pick it up the very next day. We will be in Guatemala approximately 3-4 days and then we will bring Pearl home!

We anticipate Pearl being home in September. There was a time when we were praying for her to be home by Christmas. Isn't it amazing to see God's plan unfold? It was our prayer that Pearl would be able to celebrate her first birthday with her family. Now she'll be home around 6 1/2 months old!

Thank you again to all of our prayer warriors. Please join us in praising God for this awesome praise report. We are so glad to have our friends and family join us on this journey.

We love you,
Jack and Susan