Passport Adeventure!

We headed to the passport office at 8:30 and arrived at 9:30. Again we sat under a tent on a wooden bench and waited, except today didn't feel like fall. Today was HOT! So we waited until we were told to move across the parking lot to another building. 

Soon after walking up they called Jude's name.  We got next to the man who called it, telling him that was us.  He never acknowledged us, but walked away, leaving the passport laying on the desk. Andrew was an arms reach away and half joking said, 'should I just grab it?' So from there we (and 3 other families who aren't with Lifeline, but are using the same lawyer) were shuffled inside a small office.  All the passports were tossed on a counter and we were told to go sit back outside.  So outside we went, to the same place we started, except now we were told to sit.  We all squished on a metal bench and every couple of minutes scooted closer to the front.  Once at the front we were told we weren't supposed to be there and to go back inside...where we had come from.  You can imagine our frustration by this point.  We all walked back inside only to be told to go back outside and take a seat! (Not kidding)  Our worker told us all just to stay, so that's what we did. We stood there and waited.  Our name was called first and the guy looking through our file was very insistent that we had to have the written ruling. We knew they preferred to have this, but were told we would be able to get it anyway.  All 4 families were without a written ruling, and we all walked away without a passport.  We watched them take our passport and put it back in a box.  I wish I had a picture of the tables with long skinny boxes filled with hundreds and hundreds of passports.  At this time we went back outside, under the tent where we first started.  Several different workers tried talking to different people without success.  We left the passport office to go to our lawyers office to see what he could do to help.  Honestly, talking with him made the entire process seem less likely to happen today and Andrew and I left disappointed and very frustrated.  We learned that our judge would not be available all next week which meant no written ruling, which meant no passport. We ate a quick lunch across the street, then headed back to the passport office for a second attempt.  This is when I got on Facebook and asked you all to start praying...it was 2:30 here so 7:30 a.m. at home.  We needed Kentucky to wake up and start praying for us!  We waited only 30 or so minutes before they called us (all families) to go inside.  We stood inside and again we were the first family to be called up.  This time there was a lady behind the counter who restated that we were supposed to have the written ruling before getting the passport.  She was friendly though, and talked with us about the states she had visited in the U.S.  She had Andrew sign a large book and handed us the passport! I felt like we should take off running before they change their mind! We headed to IOM to see if we could schedule an appointment, but they had already closed for the day.  We are ecstatic though...we took a giant step forward today! Monday we will head to IOM for a medical appointment and go from there! Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging words!