What Happens at Referral?

This post is for you Lisa, thanks for taking such an interest in how it all goes down.  Here's what happens when the "BIG MOMENT" finally comes.
A week or so before I receive my referral I will hear rumours that China is organizing paperwork, matching files from these particular Log-in Dates and finally that files (referrals) have been mailed.  Once files have been mailed they usually arrive in Canada a day or so later.  I will receive an email from my agency telling me my referral has arrived.
Once it has been translated and reviewed by my agency, I will receive a phone call and be given some basic information:  Child's name, date of birth, which province and Social Welfare Institute (orphanage or foster home) they live in and some basic medical information.
In the next few hours I will receive a photo of my child.  I then wait for the rest of the medical information to be translated and couriered to me, usually a few days later.  Once I have all the information on my child, I will take it to a doctor for review.
I then meet with my Social Worker to go over paperwork and accept my referral.  Over the next few weeks, I have several documents to complete for China and forms to send to my provincial Ministry of Child and Youth Services for approval.  I have already completed most of the immigration paperwork to be able to bring a child into Canada.
Once I have received confirmation from China and my own Ministry I can then begin making travel arrangements.  Most of this is done through my agency.
Once my travel dates are set, I start getting ready!!!!  All of this preparation takes about 8 weeks, mostly due to waiting on China and my Provincial Ministry to send documentation allowing me to bring a child into Canada.
It sounds easy when I write it all down here but I hear people tell me it's a crazy busy time so I may be a little out of the socializing loop when this is happening, sorry folks!