Authentication by U.S. Department of State

[sebastian 1504]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WA

Hi,
we need to get the divorce certificate of my girlfriend authenticated by the U.S. Department of State.
Until now I thought that we would need to get a certified copy of the divorce decree and get it authenticated by the Secretary of State before we send it to Washington D.C. for authentication by the Department of State.

Today I got an Email from the U.S. Department of State wit some general informations about authentication.

Under requirements they write:
"Signed before a notary public"
and
"All dates must follow in chronological order on the notary, clerk of court and Secretary of Stae certifications".

We are both not from the U.S. and we simply don't know what we have to do to fullfill the requirement regarding the "notary public".
As to my informations a notary public cannot notarize a divorce decree. That's why we need to get a certified copy, I am right?
So what do we then have to sign in front of the notary public and when??

Please help us,

Bye