Since I still wasn't feeling good, Heather called Lance, one of our friends in our ward to help move the furniture. Heather also asked Lance if he wouldn't mind staying after and helping Max give me a blessing. I was still feeling quite ill at the time of the blessing, and didn't really anticipate anything immediately happening as a result of the blessing. However, much to my surprise, following the blessing I felt much better. I did proceed downstairs and rest for a few minutes after, but I almost wanted to stay upstairs and visit with everyone before they left. Needless to say this experience was amazing in and of itself. But I had no idea what was about to happen would change my future forever.
I soon advised Heather I felt better, and began snacking as I hadn't eaten for most of the day and the time was about seven o'clock in the evening. Heather then shocked me by saying she had some good news, and proceeded telling me about a situation regarding a potential adoption prospect. Apparently Max home teaches a sister in his ward, Jan, who has a daughter Robin, who helps run an adoption agency, All For Love Adoptions. Jan told Max there was a baby in Alabama who needed parents, and gave him the contact information for the agency. There was another couple who decided it wasn't in their best interest to adopt at this time and backed out at the last minute. The remaining couples currently involved with the agency were only seeking Caucasian children.
Regarding most major decision I prefer a careful, slow approach. I am not really one for adventurous and dynamic changes in life. Because Heather and I had an adoption fail last year, and because we had prayed to be parents frequently since that time, I did not hesitate saying yes. I think the Lord prepared me for this seemingly shocking situation with the failed placement which occurred last year. Before, when Heather presented the potential adoption decision, I felt very skeptical and uneasy. I did some sole-searching and in a few days felt good about the idea. This time was definitely different, but in retrospect I am surprised I didn't question the idea more, as such situational perusal is normal for me.
We contacted the agency that night even though it was holiday to see about the adoption. We gathered information from both Robin and Lisa who work and agency. We filled out what we thought was all of the necessary information. Later we learned that we hadn't filled out everything necessary, which further complicated the process. Heather also found out we needed to be approved through LDS Family Services even though we weren't going through them, so that they would agree to release our home study to the private agency, which would also further complicate the process. I made arrangements with work to take off the next two days to make the trip to Alabama, as Lisa advised we needed to get down there as soon as possible. After getting off work around six o'clock in the evening, Heather and I drove to South Ogden where we met with Lisa to sign the adoption agreement and discuss the situation further. Lisa did advise us of the missing paper work I mentioned before, and let us know that we would need to get this to her before leaving for Alabama. After discussing the adoption and signing just a few documents we drove back to Heather's parents house in Farmington to let them know what was going on and to make travel arrangements, as well as complete the missing paper work. We ran into a snag in filling out the paper work since access to the forms was password protected. Heather couldn't remember the password so we sent an email to Lisa asking for the password. I assumed Lisa would respond since she had just emailed us two mintues prior, but she went to bed without getting the message. Meanwhile Max was talking with Roger Marrett, Julie's brother who thought he could help us get a good deal on some plane tickets. Roger was able to help us out in this manner and booked two flights from Salt Lake to Birmingham, AL. He emailed us the itineraries, and I also looked into reserving a rental car as we would need to travel from Birmingham to Montgomery where the baby was. By this time, we had not heard from Lisa and thought it too late to call her. We really should have put politeness in the back seat and called her because it would have saved us some critical time later if we completed the paper work before departing for Birmingham. Because it was getting late, Heather and I decided to leave and make the hotel reservations upon arriving home. After some deliberation, I reserved rooms at the Comfort Inn, located on the south end of Montgomery. I scheduled the rooms for only three nights as we thought there might be a possibility of finding members of the church willing to let us stay with them due to our plight. After packing our bags we went to bed at a very late hour and arose just in time to make it to the airport and catch our flight.
At the airport everything went well, except I had to surrender my prized leatherman micra to the security personnel, having not removed it from my key chain as I should beforehand. Our flight was uneventful, but I did speak with Rick, the attorney handling the adoption proceedings in Alabama, during our lay over in Atlanta. He wanted to schedule meeting with us after we arrived in Birmingham. We didn't meet with Rick untill Late Thursday evening as one of our bags was delayed in arrival and we weren't sure if we just didn't see it come in on the baggage carousel, or if it had been hijacked by some greedy airline worker looking to make a profit on eBay. We finally figured to check with luggage service and submitted a missing bag claim with them. We then contacted Rick and got directions to his office. The directions were good for the most part, however, somehow we made a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of his street, but eventually found the office. All we did with this initial meeting was receive the paper work we hadn't filled out previously that was actually for the adoption agency. After the meeting and a quick bite to eat we scampered to Montgomery which was about 90 miles away where we had booked our hotel rooms. We had supposed that Rick the attorney was going to be in Montgomery, but with everything happening so quickly, just another bump along the road.
After arriving at our room, we commenced filling out paper work. We were then to return to Birmingham in the morning to meet with Rick @ 8:15. So needless to say we were both really tired at this point. We made the trip and once again had difficulty finding the office because we were approaching for a different direction. We called Rick and he steered us in the right direction. We gave him the paper work, which he examined and said looked okay and advised us that he would contact us if there was anymore paper work needed to be signed. Heather and I didn't eat breakfast before the meeting, we hoped to find the office early and eat at a place nearby, but this plan failed due to our difficulty in locating the office. We ate at an IHOP we found on our way home, also stopping at Wal-Mart to pick up some things for the little one. Shopping for baby stuff really brought a reality check. Were we really ready to be parents? I almost started freaking out right in the store, but somehow found composure and went on with day determined to accomplish as much as possible to make this adoption work.
