A Special Treat

Guess what we did today!

Super yummy.....

Hope you guys enjoy......
 

 

Peanut Butter Cookies for our church tomorrow!

 

Road Trip

August 25th I went on a road trip

My friend Brandi, her son Talent and I, drove up to Philly on Sunday and turned right around and came back on Monday.

We met some really cool people

 we stayed at the Ronald McDonald House

They really care about these kids and their families.

On Monday, we went to the Shiners Hospital.

Talent had an appointment to check on his leg.

He was born with arthrogryposis in his legs and the Shiners Hospital has been doing his surgeries and therapy.  The appointment went well.  He does not have to come back for one month.

We even went down to Chinatown!

I am praying for them tonight, because they are again making that trip to Philly.

Talent will have surgery on Wednesday morning to have the external fixator removed.

I pray that they will have a safe trip there and back, I also pray that there will be a room at the Ronald McDonald House for them so that they do not have to get a hotel, I pray for the surgeons as they work on Talent, I pray for Talent to endure the procedure, and I pray for peace over Brandi as she waits for her little boy.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

He Is So Good!

"Our family is waiting for One Piece of Paper. This One Piece of Paper is the final approval from China that will allow us to travel to China to adopt our daughter. Until this Document arrives from China to the United States Consulate we wait. Our hope is to board an airplane on October 2nd. We need this One Piece of Paper by Monday October 23rd, or we will have to wait 9 more weeks!
Thank you for praying. I know that The Lord can move mountains, I pray that He will move this One Piece of Paper across the globe."



This is the prayer request that I made on Thursday to all of my friends and to my Sunday School Class.  

Thank you to everyone who prayed!

 

 

HE

 

IS

 

SO

 

GOOD!

We not only have that One Piece of Paper, but we also have a confirmed Consulate Appointment in China!

Praising God right now!

Once you receive your TA - Travel Approval(that One Piece of Paper), there is typically a 24 to 48 hour time frame until you have a confirmed Consulate Appointment.(CA)

Our Consulate Appointment is

Wednesday October 16th!

 

and it is

CONFIRMED!

 

Our plans are to

 

Leave home on Wednesday October 2nd

and have our daughter on Tuesday October 8th

Consulate appointment October 16th

Fly home on October 18th?

 

I will post later with a better timeframe

 

Right now I have to make flight arrangements

book hotels, and a billion other things,

 

oh, and pack.

 

 

 

 

(Almost) Eight is Great!

Today we celebrated my youngest's birthday.

This morning she woke up and said,

"Today is my party, but technically I am still seven."

That's right my baby girl!  Technically you are still seven.

We are really hoping to be at 35,000 feet on her actual birthday!

 

We are praying that next Tuesday we know when our United States Consulate appointment will be and begin to make travel arrangements to China.

We did not want to miss a birthday party, so 

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

We had relay races, long jump, hula hooping

Even a javelin throw

Who could blow the straw paper the furthest

 

We took a break for water and brownies and ice cream

 

The torch was passed to each child

Then they would bring their present 

And sit with the birthday girl while she opened it

Medals were awarded to each participant

 

Then we had the closing ceremonies!

 

Who can resist water balloons!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adoption Steps

Today marks since we started our adoption journey


When you first begin your journey to adopt, you are excited.
you want to tell everyone.
you call your family, your friends,
you stop and tell people you see at the grocery store,
you even tell people you don't know.

You are on cloud nine.

then the paperwork begins.
SEE HERE


there are papers to read:
the pros and cons of adopting
how to make your child feel good about being adopted
how to help your child develop
how to get to know your child
how to discipline your child
how to be the best parent in the world to your child, lol

papers to sign :
contracts with adoption agency
(almost as many as when you close on a house)

papers to notarize:
tax returns
pay stubs

papers to collect:
birth certificates
marriage certificates
health insurance
life insurance


papers that need to be copied and saved

papers that need to be copied and sent to someone else

so many papers!

you feel like you are destroying a small forest.

Then you begin your homestudy
HERE


you talk with a social worker and answer questions about:
how you feel
how your spouse feels
how your kids feel
how your extended family feels
how your pet feels, lol (I actually think our dog is quite happy about the adoption.  There will be another young one around to drop crumbs!)

You feel like this person knows more about you than ANY other person on the earth.

Then the Home Inspection:

social worker makes sure that your house is safe:
fire extinguishers are in place
smoke detectors are working
doors have locks
pets have shots
running water (really?)
and septic tank inspection(like the places these kids are coming from have that now?)

I fully expected her to throw on a white glove and check the INSIDE of the fireplace.  (Just kidding here)

Next comes YOUR inspection
physicals
shots
letters of reference from employers, friends and family members
tax records


You feel totally exposed like there is nothing else anyone could EVER know about you.

AND

THEN


you can't rest yet.........

you still have fingerprints to be done.

you have to be cleared through the state
with fingerprints and a background check

you have to be finger printed through the GBI

and then finger printed through the FBI.


AND
 
THEN
 
........you sit back and wait for the report of your life to be written. (your Dossier)

Whew, home study done.
major hurdle overcome.
 

 
You feel like a huge obstacle has been cleared.

 
All of these documents and papers are compiled and sent to China.  You can rejoice and tell everyone you are officially DTC

 Dossier To China

 

Oh, but did I mention that all of those things cost money?

 

  

 So you begin to do Fundraisers
 
See Survivor
Yard Sale
Yard Sale #2
T-Shirts
Knitting
Yard Sale #3 
iPad Giveaway
Camp Meade
Ice Cream
 
Some of these fundraisers were easy to do.
The knitting was something the girls enjoyed and part of the proceeds went to other families as well.
 
Some of these fundraisers were needed.
The yard sales helped us to clear out and realize that we could live without so many material things.
 
Some of these fundraisers were eye opening.
The Survivor helped us to appreciate the conveniences of grocery stores, refrigerators and realizing that we have plenty of food and will never be hungry.
 
Some of these fundraisers were sacrifices.
Camp Meade WAS our Summer Vacation.
 
Some of these fundraisers were fun.
The Ice Cream Stop was a wonderful way for our community to come out and show their support.
 
Each of these fundraisers were time consuming and some of them backbreaking and hard.
 

Not all of these fundraisers were profitable,

but each one gave us

an opportunity to tell our story

and to talk about adoption.

 
You feel like you have nickel and dimed everyone you know and even some people you don't know. 
 
During this time we became LID
Log In Date - China had received all of our PAPERS!

and then LOI, and PA 
Letter of Intent and Prior Approval.


and then the most grueling wait  our LOA
Must read about our Letter of Acceptance wait.

All of these steps were learning experiences in one way or another.

All of these steps taught us to ask for help

All of these steps showed us a lot about patience

All of these steps made our prayer life stronger

All of these steps gave us opportunities to make new friendships and strengthen old ones

All of these steps were an emotional rollercoaster

But most of all

All of these steps were required to get to the final step

TA - Travel Approval

 

 

This is where we wait right now.

I am asking for prayer. 

 

From everybody.

 

From each person who has come in contact with our family

 

The lady at the checkout at Publix

The UPS man, who by the way thinks I am crazy

All my new FB friends

The neighbors, doctors, bank tellers, teachers,

and those of you who have been to our yard sales

as well as anyone else I have cornered and talked to and about adoption

There is one more piece of paper.  One more document that is required before we can board that plane and bring home our daughter. The TA.

We need this paper by next week.  Our prayers are to board that plane on

October 2nd. 

If that TA paper does not come Monday, we will have to wait 9 more weeks to travel.  Over 2 months!  

 


We ask that you pray for TA - the one piece of paper that is still required for us to travel.

I know that my God can move mountains!