Provisional Approval

Got a call today from our caseworker with Hague that our Provisional Approval had been issued on Tuesday, November 14th-exactly 5 months from the date that we sent our referral in for Andrew. I was thrilled but VERY disappointed that she did not email it to me. She sent it out by "snail" mail so we will not receive it until Saturday. At this point of our wait EVERY day makes a big difference. Our agency will get it on Monday and send it to China with our signed LOA. We need things to move very fast so that we can leave for China on January 19th. Please pray with us that this will happen. If we are not able to leave by then we will have to wait until March to travel because of Chinese New Year. We do not want our sweet boy to be without us until then. Thank you for your prayers.

Hope Project Update

Hope has become a reality for over 60 children from the China Hope Project. Many of these children are already home with their forever families. There are still boys and girls of all ages waiting, with, and without, special needs. You can see their precious faces, watch video, and read about them by requesting access to our password-protected site. The Hope Project is a unique opportunity to choose your child from China. Our hope and prayer is that each child will be placed into a loving family of their own. Also, we anticipate in the first quarter of 2010 that more children will be added to the Hope Project » We rec'd this update from our agency.

This update made "my heart smile" as Anna Grace and Hayne would say. I am so grateful that we are in this process. That God called us to this journey and we get the special privilege of being Andrew's parents. I am so thankful that the other children on the list are also coming home. If you have ever thought about adoption, this is a great opportunity. A new list is coming in the New Year. I am praying that God is preparing families now for these sweet children.

The Stork(aka-UPS) has landed!

Today was a very exciting day. We were thrilled to see the Big Brown Truck pull up at work. Our sweet UPS guy had no idea that he was "delivering" our baby :) What a relief to have that precious piece of paperwork in our hands! Spent the afternoon checking and re-checking that I had completed everything needed to apply for our I800 Provisional. That one package contained 38 pieces of paperwork-WoW! I said alot of prayers over that package(and Nana did too) before I dropped it in the Fed Ex box. Prayers that God will move our paperwork at lightening speed-at such a rate that there could be no other explanation but God! I am perfectly at peace that it is ALL in HIS timing. I just keep praying that HIS timing will have us leaving sooner than anyone imagined:) We have a wonderful agency and they have helped us so much. We were completely prepared for all that had to be done today. We are hoping that we will get an update or another picture of Andrew soon. They are going to ask but a picture will be hard to get. Our last picture is from March of this year. I can't imagine how much he has changed. This mommy is sure ready for that last piece of paperwork to arrive so that I can go get my son!

It is on it's way!! Woo Hoo!

Dear Families,

Your LOA packet is being overnighted to you and you should get it tomorrow before noon.

The best email I have rec'd in a long time! We are so excited. As of tomorrow we will begin a new wait---the wait for TA(Travel Approval) The average wait time is 10-12 weeks. We are praying it is much quicker. We are so thrilled that we are getting so much closer to our sweet Andrew! Thanks for all of your prayers!

Can you hear me shouting HIS praises--I just rec'd an email from our agency that our LOA will be here tomorrow! I am so excited I can barely type-can't quit crying-we are not lost-we are going to China within the next 12 weeks! WOO HOO! Hold on sweet Andrew, your family is getting closer!

Day 62

We have now officially been waiting for our LOA for 62 days-How is it that time seems to go by so quickly yet it seems so slow? We are so ready to have our LOA in our hands. Once we receive it, it will still most likely be 10-12 weeks until we are able to travel to China to meet Andrew. We are praying that it comes so that we can travel in January. We do not want to get held up because of the Chinese New Year. Travel is pretty much out for February because of the celebration. I can't imagine having to wait until March to travel. I am just praying and believing that it will be January. It is going to be sooooooo cold in Beijing in January. Temperatures drop below zero during January. We went this weekend to start looking for gloves, hats and scarves to take with us. It is going to be much harder to pack for cold weather. When we traveled for Anna Grace it was miserably HOT---Like hotter than we had ever experienced. It was easy to carry shorts and tank tops---not so sure about 3 layers of clothing and coats, hats, gloves and scarves for 7 people. I am thinking we are going to have some serious "over the weight limit" charges from the airlines :) All is know for sure is that, if needed, I can be packed and ready to go within 24 hours :) I can't wait to be in China with my sweet boy. Praying that this is OUR week and our LOA arrives soon!