Temporary Home

I can't hear Carrie Underwood's New song "Temporary Home" without crying. It is such a precious song with such true lyrics.
"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary Home."
I am so grateful for the Temporary Home that Andrew has right now. I so want to thank the police officer who found him, the nannies who are taking care of him, the surgeons who did his surgery and those who are responsible for helping get his file together so that he could find his Forever Family. Although it may not be our 1st choice for any child, he is in a place that feels like home to him. I pray that he knows we are coming but I must prepare my self for the fact that he may not be very happy about it in the beginning. One day, he will accept us as his family and I believe with my whole heart that he will be glad that we are together.
The last part of the song talks about an old man that is dying--
Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday
He looks up and says "I can see God's face"

"This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This was just a stop,on the way To where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home."

How true that this is really just a temporary home for all of us. I don't know about you but I find great comfort in seeing God's face. What a joy it will be to be with our love ones in eternity.
We are meeting our Andrew on the day that my Papa Adams met Jesus---Just one of our Red Threads to Andrew. I would truly give up just about anything for one more day with my papa. Meeting Andrew on this day brings me such peace. I know that my papa met Andrew long before we did and I know that he is watching over us and that he will be smiling down on Thursday when we meet our son. I can't wait! I am so grateful that Andrew only has 3 more nights in his Temporary Home-Praising God for our blessings!

5 Days!

I can't believe in 5 days, we will be on our way to China-One week from today, we will have Andrew! Woo Hoo! Can you believe it? After all of this time---piles and piles of paperwork, countless overnight fed ex packages, hundreds of copies, thousands of hours spent waiting to hear and an enormous amount of prayers being said---we are finally going to be a Forever Family with Andrew. God has moved mountains, answered prayers and He is taking us to our son! We are all so very excited! We are in the final countdown. We have notebooks FULL of homework for all 3 kids, 6 suitcases packed to capacity, 6 wheeled carry on bags and 3 backpacks ready to go. Andrew has a family and we have a son. We are thrilled to be traveling with a wonderful group of families. This time next week, there will be 4 less orphans in the world-Oh what a wonderful thing! Andrew, Katie, MollyClaire and Jacob are about to be united with their families and we can't wait!

We're Going To China

We were so excited to receive our itinerary for our trip. Now we know for sure that we will be meeting Andrew on Thursday, January 21st! Woo Hoo! God is good!

January 20^th: Arriving in Beijing by UA851 at 16:25.

Staying in Wang Fu Jing Grand Hotel in Beijing

January 21st: Meet the child.

Sign the document of The Agreement of Taking Care of the Baby for 24 hours.

January 22od: Registration in the Civil Affaire Bureau in the morning.

January 23rd: Local sightseeing: Great Wall

January 24^th: Local sightseeing: Forbidden City

January 25^th: Get the Registration Certificate.

Notarization.

Apply for the child’s passport

January 26^th: Local sightseeing: Capital Museum

January 27^th: Local sightseeing: Summer Palace and the Olympic Park

January 28^th: Local sightseeing: Beijing Zoo

January 29^th: Get the child’s passport

January 30^th: Fly from Beijing to Guangzhou by CA1351 (11:00/14:00).

Stay in White Swan Hotel

January 31st: Local sightseeing: Yuntai Garden (Cloud Terrace Garden)

February 1^st: Take picture and do medical examination

Local sightseeing: Walking Street

February 2^nd: Visa appointment at 10:00am

Local sightseeing: Cruise on the River

February3^rd: Swearing-in ceremony at the Consulate (family need to wait for the call if necessary)

February 4^th: Local sightseeing: the Temple of Six Banyan Trees

February5th: Fly from Guangzhou to Beijing by CA1330 (10:00/ 13:00), and then transfer the flight UA 850 at 17:25 to go home. (The filight from Guangzhou - Beijing tickets are included.)

Hotel information:

1. 北京王府井大饭店 Wang Fu Jing Grand Hotel in Beijing

Tel: 86-10-65221188

Fax: 86-10-65223816

Address: 北京东城区王府井大街57号

57 Wangfujing Street, Beijing, China

Postcode: 100006

2. 广州白天鹅宾馆 White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou

Tel: 86-20-81886968

Fax: 86-20-81861188

Address:广州荔湾区沙面南街1号

Shamian Island, Guangzhou, China

Postcode: 510133

Mountain of God

This song has always brought me comfort. While we were waiting for Anna Grace, I clung to the promise. I must admit that I embarrassed Ashton to death at the Y one day singing out loud with my IPod(had to quit using it while others were around) I got in my car today and it was playing. So many people question-Why China again? Why another child? You have your hands full already-Have you lost your mind? My answer is this------Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend that we don't know----God called us to this-We have been so blessed by adoption. We could have continued our life and never adopted Anna Grace----wow! what a blessing we would have missed out on. God orchestrated this second adoption-It is His will-His plan for our lives. I know that I am "traveling on the road, that He has led me down" just as the song says. He is here and He will provide. That doesn't mean that being mommy to 5 is going to be easy. It just means that at the moments when my hands are full, God will open His hands and help me carry the load. I am confident in that! I know that Andrew is our son and it is by the Grace of God that we are blessed to be his parents. We are truly blessed beyond measure!

Just like the song says "I confess from time to time I lose my way" but this much is true-I know that God will provide and equip our family for whatever the future holds. Finally, the best truth of the song----"Nothing can quite compare with what's in front of me" I can't wait to see what our future holds-In 2 weeks we will be a forever family of 7---I can't imagine how awesome that will be!
"Mountain Of God"

Thought that I was all alone
Broken and afraid
But You were there with me
Yes, You were there with me

And I didn't even know
That I had lost my way
But You were there with me
Yes, You were there with me

'Til You opened up my eyes
I never knew
That I couldn't ever make it
Without You

Even though the journey's long
And I know the road is hard
Well, the One who's gone before me
He will help me carry on
After all that I've been through
Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley
To stand upon the mountain of God

As I travel on the road
That You have lead me down
You are here with me
Yes, You are here with me
I have need for nothing more
Oh, now that I have found
That You are here with me
Yes, You are here with me

I confess from time to time
I lose my way
But You are always there
To bring me back again

Sometimes I think of where it is I've come from
And the things I've left behind
But of all I've had, what I possessed
Nothing can quite compare
With what's in front of me
With what's in front of me

Andrew's Story

We all have a story-Families are formed in so many different ways-Birth, marriage, re-marriage, friendship, adoption, ect. All of my children have their own story-special moments of my pregnancy, paper chasing miracles, gotcha moments, sweet baby moments that I will always treasure. I must admit that it makes me very sad to have missed so much of Andrew's story. When we meet him, he will be almost exactly 3 1/2 years old-42 months of his life have passed and we know so little about those months. Our adoption journey has been so very different this time. Special Needs adoptions are handled much differently than when we were waiting for Anna Grace. We saw her picture only 2 months before we met her. This time we have been looking at our sweet boy's face since May of 2009. We have watched his video repeatedly. We treasure each piece of information we have received. I truly never thought I would be the mother of 5 children-Wow-I am so grateful that God's plans are so much bigger and better than mine. I truly planned to be a mom of 2. Times change and I am so grateful that they do! Our journey to Andrew has truly been orchestrated by the Master's Hand. He has been there each step of the way-from the moment we requested more information up until this moment. He knows All-He knows how these next few weeks are going to play out and He knows how Andrew's life is going to be-In the adoption community, we all look for our "Red Thread" the invisible thread that connects us to our children across the world. There have been so many moments during this adoption that our "Red Thread" has shined through. Most of those moments are very special and I look forward to sharing them with Andrew one day. For now, we are going to keep them to ourselves. We feel strongly that because of his age, Andrew's story of becoming part of our family, should be his to tell. I am keeping a scrapbook for him and I am praying that one day he will enjoy reading all about how be became a part of our family. We so appreciate all of your support and prayers. We cannot wait until we can share his photos here with everyone. You can bet the minute he is ours, we will be posting lots of pictures and videos :) We want the world to see how God has blessed our family. He has answered every prayer and moved every mountain in our path-We are so very blessed.

As we get closer to travel, I would like to ask that you please pray for Andrew. He has a repaired cleft lip & palate. We know that he will require more surgery but we are not sure when. Our prayer is that God touch Andrew and heal his mouth. More importantly, we pray that God will whisper in his ear and prepare his heart for his family. We are one more big bunch to meet. The kids are so excited and I pray that Andrew can feel our love. We are so very happy that you can share in our journey! Thanks again for your prayer and support!

Big News......

We leave on January 19 and will return home February 5!
just in time for the Chinese New Year!

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours-Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. We are praying that Christmas brings us news of when we will travel to China to meet Andrew. It is hard to believe that next year there will be 5 in the picture with Santa. We are so very blessed.