It Has Been A Week Already!

I simply cannot believe that a week has gone by already since we brought Gideon home!  Time really does fly, but already it seems like he has always been here.  He has settled in marvelously and I cannot emphasize enough what a sweet, funny boy he is turning out to be!

He really makes me laugh-- a lot-- every day!  He has such a full and vibrant personality.  SO different from the quiet, reserved boy Evan and I first met when we traveled to China in January.

He is doing so well with trying to learn English too, and he loves teaching us the word for something in Chinese when we tell him the word for it in English.  I wish my brain was younger and better so I could really remember all he is teaching me! 

We have had a full week for sure, but a fun one.  We have rollerskated, been to church a few times, gone to friends' houses for fun and fellowship, eaten out, played soccer, ridden bikes and so much more.  He loves the Wii and the computer too.

It has really been such a joy to have him home with us!  Words truly cannot express how grateful we are to finally have him here.  The kids have all told me how glad they are to have him as a brother, and I hope that love continues to grow. 

I am sure there will be challenges, he is a teenager after all..... and he already loves to tell me "NO!" when there is something he doesn't want to do.  But he is a great kid, and I hope he will enjoy having us as his new family as much as we look forward to many years with him as our son.

Below are a few pictures from our week.  Gideon got to practice soccer with Evan and his teammates yesterday, as well as have a little practice on Thursday with Grayson and Evan too.  He has a great foot!  Can't wait to see him playing in the Fall on Evan's team!! 

Soccer loving brothers!



Gideon is FAST and has a great foot!

And here are some pictures from today when everyone was all gussied up for church...



Had a hard time getting him to pose for this one!  After all, girls are YUCKY!  But they were all in their red, white and blue and I couldn't resist!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun

Memorial Day Weekend!!!





Smooth Sailing So Far!

Just wanted to post a quick update on our lives for the past few days!  Everything is going really, really well so far.  Better than I could have anticipated!  Gideon is really a sweet, sweet boy, just as I had hoped.  He is adjusting really well to having a house full of siblings and we are LOVING having him home!!!!!

I have been trying to cook some foods he would enjoy the past few days to make his transition a little easier.  He has basically been eating noodles for breakfast and lunch, with a little bok choy mixed in that I bought from our local farmer's market.  Even my other kids have been enjoying that for lunch and keep telling me how yummy it is!

He has been good about trying new things though-- some he loves like blueberry milkshakes from Cook Out!  Some not so much, like pickles.  :)

It has been a whirlwind these past few days but oh, so fun.  We are using our handheld translator, as well as Google Translate, a lot.  But he is picking up on a lot so far too.  We have been writing out the alphabet, and a few common words for him to copy.  His handwriting is excellent!!  And we have been doing some simple math too so I can gauge where he is.  He has problems with borrowing and carrying in addition and subtraction, so we need to work on that over the summer.

So far though, all is going well.  My husband cannot wait to get home to see him every night and has been calling me from work during the day more than ever before!  Heehee!  He really wishes he could be home with us every day, especially during this new and wonderful time.  He simply LOVES showing him new things, like our garden or the horses down the street, and loves trying to speak with him and talk to him about our lives.  It is really precious.

He just couldn't wait to get Gideon home, and now that he is he is just so happy!  Tim is the one who showed him around the house the night he got home, and couldn't wait to show him his truck and motorcycle and the Wii-- all that "guy" stuff, and I am sooooo thankful for that.... and for him! 

I think Gideon feels the same way.  Every time we Skyped from China, when Gideon would see Tim in the background he would point excitedly at him and say "Baba!"  It is going to be a wonderful thing to watch their relationship grow.

So, in conclusion--

Some of Gideon's faves so far:
Soccer (he runs SO fast and has a great foot!), milkshakes, noodles, Nerf guns!!, playing the Wii

Some of his not-so-faves:
The dogs, the cats, pickles, flip-flops, sunglasses and rollerskating.
(Brought them all out to rollerskate at the rink the other night.  He really didn't want to do it, but after a few trips around the rink with Baba, he got the hang of it and did great!)

And....... one last picture.  He was ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC after our consulate appointment.  I think he really, truly knew he was ours then!!

God is so good!  Thank you Lord.

We're HOME!

Praise God!  Gideon and I touched down on American soil and he officially became a United States Citizen at 12:50pm today in Detroit, Michigan! It has been a long day, and with delays and missing a flight, we traveled for over 20 hours with only a few teeny naps in between.  So I am pretty tuckered out, but I just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived safely, greeted by a wonderful crowd of friends at the airport. 

We were so grateful for them coming to meet us and bringing balloons and posters and taking pictures so we can remember this great day.  We feel so loved and supported, and although I know he was-- and still is-- a little overwhelmed by all of this, I am sure he feels the love from our family and friends too.

I will post more about our homecoming tomorrow!

Welcome Home Gideon!!

First Family Photo

Heading Home Tomorrow!

Hey! I found a way to access my blog from China! Woohoo!

We are getting ready to fly home tommorow morning, and leaving from the hotel EARLY so I am trying to pack everything up tonight. I have already laid out our clothes and Gideon is showered and in his pj's and lying in bed alternating between playing Angry Birds on my phone, which is his new love, and reading him the Chinese comic book I bought him.

He was VERY excited to learn that we are leaving tomorrow! He was grinning ear to ear and and so visibly happy when I told him. I am glad he is happy instead of apprehensive or anxious. And I wonder if he realizes what a long plane ride it is going to be?? Probably not. Will have to warn him about that one.

Today was a pretty relaxing day. We had our breakfast and then met Elsie for a little sightseeing. We saw the memorial here in Guangzhou, built in the early 1900's to Shao Shen (sp?) who tried to bring Democracy to China but failed. Beautiful building and garden! Then we climbed up the hill-- think steep and a TON of steps like the Great Wall-- to see the monument up there too. I tell you, each time I come to China I seem to climb steps a lot! Heehee! But the garden there was beautiful too, so many nice flowers and trees-- like mango and banana trees, and lots of people out enjoying the garden today too. I wish the US had more people out enjoying its gardens and parks like they do here. Everywhere you look people are playing hacky sack, badminton, or even dancing in the parks as they were today. Couples were ballroom dancing to Let it Snow-- I kid you not-- in the park. Elsie laughed when I told her that it was a Christmas song and a little too warm for that right now-- she said they just like the tune for waltzing and probably don't even know what they are singing. Heehee! Seriously though, the elderly and retired people here are so often out and about, excercising in one way or another, getting together at the parks in large groups for some fun or relaxation. That is probably one of the keys to their longevity and we in the US could use more activity for our elderly, more fresh air and sunshine too!

So after the park and monument we came back to the hotel and went to get some lunch. Then the afternoon was just us hanging around the room, reading and watching some tv in between spirited games of Connect 4. Gideon really loves it!

Tonight we went for dinner and wandered the shops a bit, then came back to get ready to leave. It will be a long day tomorrow, so I need to get to bed early tonight.

I have all our paperwork now in my hot little hands-- my sealed brown envelope that I dare not open before reaching immigration in the US, the copies of his medicals and chest x-ray, his passport and Visa-- all ready to roll! And we didn't have to go back to the medical center for any more vaccinations yesterday after all, thank goodness! Elsie even said that the one doctor there behind the counter that was looking over his record even said that he hoped he didn't have to have it, he didn't recommend it. Well I agree, so I am glad too!

So that is about all for now. I will post pictures at some time when I get home after I put them onto the computer. Right now, just looking forward more than anything to that scene in the airport where my kids and hubby get to lay eyes on him for the first time in person!

One more thing as a sidenote....... on recommendation of a friend and also after watching some of his videos on You Tube, I bought the book Crazy Love by Francis Chen and brought it with me to read on this trip. Well, I am already finished with it because it is such a quick read and a fabulous book! I practically underlined the whole thing there were just so many good points in it, and I plan to do a couple blog posts here about it and how much it has moved me once I get settled at home.

But just in short, the book is really telling us that if we want to be Christians, truly Christians, then we need to give up our lukewarm lives and live radically for Christ. And that whenever anyone says that, they are looked at as "crazy" because in our society, people would rather be comfortable and fit in and just do as everyone else does rather than to stick out or sacrifice anything to make a difference. And he says that is not TRULY what Christ wants. He wants us to love others more than ourselves, to give all that we have of ourselves to make others lives better and spread the message of His love for us. He wants us to step out in faith, not always have everything you are doing so planned, so that you can truly learn to have faith and see God move mountains in your life!

And above all, He wants us to give HIM the glory, not ourselves, so that we and others know that whatever we do is only done because God has enabled it. God is the provider, not ourselves.

Well I have been able to apply so much, if not all of that book to adoption-- especially this one of ours in particular. God is the reason that we came to get Gideon. We weren't prepared, for sure, and it wasn't something we had been planning. God put it in our hearts to go get him and God made sure that HE would get the glory for the adoption's completion, as it should be, by putting certain obstacles in our path that could only be overcome with Him as our guide.

Chan says in the book that some of our greatest joys come out of our previously greatest despairs, and that is true in this instance for us. There were enough obstacles put in our way to make us despair, and they were obstacles that we could have never overcome on our own. Only God could have helped us remove them and He did.

Through this adoption our faith has been strengthened immensely and I feel strongly that this was one way for us to really step out in faith, trust Him completely and let us show His love and compassion and his power. I am so greatful that we decided to take those steps and let God lead.

If you haven't read the book Crazy Love I highly recommend you do so. It really put in context for me what the true meaning of Christian is and gave me a fresh look at how we should be striving to live our lives if we are truly following Christ's teachings.

I ask everyone to pray a little more for us and for our trip home tomorrow, that it is safe and uneventful and that we pass through immigration with no complications! Thanks again!!

Hi Again From China!

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted you all to know that Gideon and I are doing great!  Had our consulate appointment today and everything went smoothly!  Unless of course you count the fact that I was blubbering the whole time from the oath onward!!  Everyone there was very happy to FINALLY see us and congratulated us on completing the process after the big TB setback.  The people there were so helpful to us and our agency and we are so grateful.

 

Afterwards we went for a swim in the pool today at the hotel, or more like I did.  Gideon got in and out fairly quickly shivering and saying that it was way to cold!  heehee!

 

We shopped around on the island for awhile, grabbing a Starbucks and some "big brother"  "little sister" and "mama" t shirts and an early anniversary present for my husband-- actually not early, our 16th wedding anniversary is tomorrow!  What a great gift for the both of us for me to be bringing our 6th child home with me the day after!!

 

Dinner was so much fun!!  We went across the street to the Banana Leaf Thai restaurant and had a wonderful meal and enjoyed some music and fun dancing!  Their entertainment was just that- quite entertaining!  Between them singing selections from Lady Gaga and the Eagles I felt quite at home.  I think Gideon thought I was crazy as he saw me singing along!

 

Tomorrow we get his Visa and then get to tour around Guangzhou a bit with our guide.  Then it is up bright and early at 4:30 on Saturday morning to take the van to Hong Kong and head home!  This whole trip has been a whirlwind so far and is moving still at breakneck speed!  I have grown to really love this country and the plus side of all of this, if there was one, was that I got to return for a second time.  Who knows, maybe again someday in the future!  For now I am trying to soak in every minute and enjoy it before my time here is gone.

 

Can't wait to get home though!  I miss my other kids already and haven't been able to skype with them at all because of the time difference and our commitments thus far.  Hopefully tomorrow so Gideon can say hi to his siblings!  They are SO excited to see him!!

 

That is the update for now!  Thanks again to everyone for your prayers!

Janice

"Gotcha......Again!!"

Well I am happy to report that around 9am on Wed May 18th I got my son back!!  I have Gideon!!!  He is sleeping peacefully in the other room right now as I write this because here it is now 6:48 am on Thurs the 19th.

 

All went really well!  After breakfast I met our Beijing guide-- not George again after all because he got called to a meeting-- but another guide Devin.  We met in the lobby and I talked with George via cell phone about the day's plans and about Devin being our guide instead.  And just then, after I hung up the phone, I watched a black sedan pull up outside the lobby and I just knew he was inside. 

 

I was right!  Out came Gideon along with three of the people from the orphanage that I had met previously.  One was their facilitator who had helped us with getting all the paperwork done last time, one was his teacher coming to say goodbye, and the other was a nanny.  They all walked inside and I rushed over to him smiling and clapping and saying "Yeah!!"  I think I scared him a little  :)  I hugged him and told him how we had been waiting for this day and how happy I was to be back to get him and how sorry I was that it had all taken sooo very long.  That all had to be translated of course, but he smiled and nodded and we all got together for some pictures which I will have to post later since I am sending this post through my husband and email again.  Bloggerjust won't work for me in Guangzhou it seems.  :(

 

So after some discussion on medicines and more paperwork, it was time for him to say goodbye to those familiar faces he had known for so long and head off with me to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou.  He was the first one out the door.

 

The plane ride was great.  Gideon smiled nonstop and loved gazing out the window at the clouds and beautiful blue sky.  I am so glad that he is a good traveler so far and doesn't mind flying.  That would be awful if he did considering the long flights ahead of us!

 

Elsie met us at the airport again after we got our luggage-- no, praise God, it did not get lost again like last time!  I was really scared it would!  Then we all headed out to the van for the ride to the medical center.  We were cutting it close considering the center closes for the day at 4pm and it was already almost 3:30.  But of course-- welcome to China again and their crazy driving-- we made it with time to spare, though almost missing a right mirror and front bumper.  Lol!

 

At the medical center we were remembered well.  I got to speak with the doctor who had worked with us last time.  Such a nice man.  He was wondering how Evan and I were both doing, whether we had been checked out for TB or not, and was very glad to hear that we were both in the clear.  He chatted with me for a bit, and inquired about our other kids at home, and then told me pointing at Gideon to "Go fatten him up!"  I agreed he was quite skinny and told him I would do my best!

 

Considering it was almost closing time there were few other people there besides us, so we had a lot of attention.  I kid you not, there were three doctors hovering around us, reviewing paperwork and talking to Gideon and me the whole time.  Then when it was time to look over his previous vaccination record, there were so many nurses leaning against the counter at one time, I could not even see the man behind it.  I took some pictures because I thought it was so sweet and funny, will have to post those later too. 

 

It was like we were mini-celebrities and so funny that they were all so interested and intrigued in our little situation.  One of the doctors just kept staring at the two of us and smiling any time I would look his way.  Hard to know what he was thinking.  Happy that this child was being adopted or just happy that I came back and didn't abandon him after the TB revelation?  Hard to say.

 

So, we got all that done, will be getting a copy of the new x-ray they took today as well as copies of all the other medical reports to show the doctors in the US.  We might have to go back today for a chicken pox vaccine if the Consulate says they require it, but we will have to see what they say first.  For some reason he missed that one last time.

 

After leaving the medical building we finally got to come to the hotel and check in.  After filling out a few more pieces of paperwork for our upcoming Consulate appt, Elsie was kind enough to walk us to a nearby restaurant for some dinner and help us order.  Ok, I do have to say that right behind getting my child, my most favorite part about traveling to China-- and I think many will agree here-- is the FOOD!  Oh my, so good, and very inexpensive.  This dumpling house that Elsie brought us to was no exception.  Beautiful red lanterns adorned the outside but it wasn't anything special on the inside.  Just a small simple restaurant with a huge menu!  Took us awhile, but we finally settled on some fried dumplings filled with mushrooms and beef, sauteed eggplant and green beans in a sweet sauce, Gideon got a bowl of noodles in broth with egg and tomato for himself, and then to top it off we also shared a plate of sliced bananas which had been dipped into a batter and fried then covered with sesame seeds and a sticky toffee which hardened up and crackled after it sat a while.  Have pictures of that too, it was sooo good!

 

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and took a walk around, going up to the beautiful outdoor pool to take a look.  I am very glad I brought our suits!  The weather is great for a swim at a balmy 88 degrees and the pool is simply gorgeous.  Will have to put that on our itinerary for this afternoon.

 

But this morning, it is on to the Consulate!  Can everyone out there in cyber land just take a moment to say "Thank you God!" and then give three cheers on our behalf??!!  Hip Hip Hooray!!!  And the remarkable part about it is that as Elsie and I were doing that paperwork yesterday, we realized something very interesting-- our appt today is exactly 4 mos to the day from when we adopted him.  January 19th to May 19th.  So long.  But it is finally here and I am grateful!

 

So, on now to the breakfast buffet, then we are to meet Elsie and one other adoptive family from our agency at 8:30 and then on to the CONSULATE!!  People from our agency keep telling us we are going to be getting a mighty big greeting there.  Can't wait!

 

Amen to God who is ALWAYS faithful and keeps His promises.  It shouldn't be expected to be always on our timetable, but on His, and we have seen that time and again in this adoption.  He knows what is best, and he won't forsake us.  Our family is so thankful to God for taking us on this journey, for opening our hearts up to the orphans of this world and making us realize a need we never knew was there.  As a result He has blessed us richly with the gift of an amazing, smart, sweet, soft spoken new son and we are so grateful!

 

Can't wait to post pictures and for everyone at home to meet him!!

Halelujah I'm HERE!!

Just got into the hotel in Beijing a little while ago and I am so glad to say I am finally here!  The flights were all smooth and problem free, with the exception that my first one out of Charlotte was cancelled!  I got a phone call from Delta at 3 in the morning telling me that the flight from Charlotte to JFK was cancelled and they had booked me on a later flight to Atlanta instead.

Well if you want to look on the bright side of things, which I try to do, this allowed me to sleep in later and to avoid JFK which I hate with a passion.  To big, too busy, too much.  Although I suppose Atlanta isn't much better considering it is HUGE and I had to take a train-- yes a train inside the airport for those of you who haven't been-- to get from concourse A to E for my next flight.  At least though busy, it is filled with southerners and not New Yorkers, and yes I can say that because I was one for 23 years.  I love 'em, to an extent, but I would rather deal with an airport in Georgia anytime!  :)

So from there it was on to Japan.  Love that airport!  People are so friendly and sweet, and it isn't huge like the rest of them.  Very easy to get around in.  So that part was great, minus the announcement that the Avian Bird Flu is on the rise in Asian countries again so we better watch out.  Great.  Just what I needed to hear.

So that brings me to Beijing.  I am staying at the Hilton which I have to say is spectacularly FAB!  Even better than the last hotel I stayed at while here.  Gorgeous rooms, huge beautiful lobby.  And I must say, I am just about ready to crash in one of those sumptuous looking beds that seem to be beckoning me right now.  I am wiped.  Didn't sleep to well on the planes this time for some reason.

Extra glad to be here tonight because I thought I would never arrive!  Our plane landed early, so I stood outside in the terminal waiting for our guide to pick us up.  I thought he was going to, that is what happened last time.  Well turns out I was expected to take the shuttle bus to the hotel not far away.  Never got this bit of info because plans were finalized so late in the game by our agency that they never got to formally communicate them to us-- just the basics about where I was staying and who my guides would be.  SO, I called George, our guide-- same one we had last time-- and he said to get the shuttle or a taxi.  Ok.  So I go to the counter to find out where to find said shuttle, oh they don't run this late.  Ok.  Taxi then?  Oh, they won't want to take you there.  Not sure why that was.  Come to find out, that was misinformation and the shuttle did in fact run every 25 min or so, so George called me back and told me where to wait, and the shuttle arrived a few minutes later thankfully.  All I have to say is Thank God for cell phones, because I would still be at that airport wondering what to do if I hadn't been able to call George!!

So, with it being 1:11 am here, and my having a 7 o'clock wake up call in the morning, I best get to bed!  Tomorrow is our big day!!!  I finally get to see my boy again, and then we are off in all sorts of directions hopping a plane to Guangzhou, then racing to our medical appointment.  Then maybe we can relax in the evening and I can try and figure out our new electronic translator so he and I can catch up a bit.

So glad to be here!  Must say I really do love this city with its beautiful buildings and sweet people.

Night for now!  So glad I can post on here this time, hopefully in Guangzhou tomorrow it will work just as well.

I Leave Tomorrow!

I am so excited to say that I am leaving tomorrow to go get Gideon!  It feels surreal to say that really.  It seems like forever ago that I got to meet him for the first time, yet in some ways it just feels like yesterday. 

I can't wait to be back there with him, but I also cannot wait for the trip to be over.  I keep struggling with thinking that I probably won't be back to China for a really long time, if ever, and I get a second chance to go back now, so I need to make the most of it..... and then thinking that I just want the time there to fly by so I can get back on the plane with him and bring him HOME! 

I can't wait to see the look on my husband's face when he sees him for the first time.
I can't wait to see my other children's faces when they meet him.
I just can't wait!

Please, please, please pray for both of us on this trip.  Pray that our flights will be safe and that all will go according to plan.  I just don't think I can handle any more hiccups.  I just really want smooth sailing from here on for this trip.  No surprises.

I hope that I can make posts to this blog while I am there.  Last time however I couldn't so I emailed my posts to my husband and he put them on here for me.  I will try to keep everyone updated on our journey.

China here I come!!!!

Reminded

In the past day I have read two unbelievably heart wrenching stories by two different adopting families who have one thing in common-- their beloved, longed-for children have died. 

It is Awful.
It is Heartbreaking.
It is a Crying Shame.
It is Unacceptable.
.
I am sure that words for them cannot express the loss and grief these families are experiencing right now.  Two children that these families had longed to adopt and save, children who never had the opportunity to experience the love of a family, are now gone forever.  They will never meet them, hold them, kiss them and love on them like they had planned.  That job now is up to our Heavenly Father.  Only He can provide them now with the love they never got to experience in their short time here on earth.

How tragic that these lives have been lost.  How immeasurably sad that despite the best efforts of these families to get to these children, they were just a little too late.

And this is going on all over the world.

So many children are DYING!  Dying without ever knowing the love of a mommy and daddy.  Dying because their basic needs cannot be met.  Dying because they cannot receive a surgery or the proper medical care that they need to get to live.  DYING.

This isn't an every-once-in-awhile thing.  This isn't happening in just one area of the world.

No.

This is an all-the-time thing and these children I speak of today were from different parts of the globe. 

There are children all over the world tonight who need a family. 
Need hope. 
Need someone to wrap their arms around them and tell them they are loved. 
That everything will be ok. 
That they will get what they need.

Please let us not turn our backs on the immense need of the world's children.

God expects us to care for the orphans.  It is not a request, it is a command.  He tells us to do it.  Are we caring for them adequately enough if they are languishing away in orphanages, isolated in laying rooms without a toy in sight, being denied the basic of necessities, being treated like less than human beings and more like animals??

Only you can answer for yourself as to what you feel you must do.  Can everyone adopt?  No.  But everyone CAN do SOMETHING.

So, tonight I am reminded of how important adoption really is.  Reminded of what this journey is really all about.  Reminded that the life of a child is at stake.  This isn't just something to check off your "life's goals" list.  Adoption is important work.  It is God's work.  He is working through adoptive families to save His children, and for many of these children, as you can see, this is life or death we are talking about.  They want to live.  They want to be given a chance! 

Search your heart tonight and ask God to tell you what you can do.
Please.  For the sake of His children.

Ticket is BOOKED!!!!

Just got off the phone with Delta a little while ago and I am now the proud new owner of a round-trip, economy class ticket to CHINA!  Praise the Lord! 

Gideon is also the proud new owner (though he doesn't know it yet) of a one way ticket HOME leaving Hong Kong on Saturday May 21st!!!!!!!

I am so grateful to be going to bring our son home where he belongs.  It has been a long past three months filled with tests, sputum smears, doctor notes, waivers and the like.  I just want my baby home, safe, here with us.

I cannot wait for the moment that my husband and kids see him in the airport for the first time.  My eyes well up just thinking about it.  Heck I cried when just Evan and I returned home just thinking about what it would be like when we finally had Gideon there with us, I know I am going to bawl at the real thing!!

Thank you so much for everyone who has helped pray us through this journey.  It is only by God's grace that we are finally to this point.  He has moved SO MANY mountains for us in this adoption and continues to bless us every single day.  He just makes things happen in the most miraculous way and if nothing else, I want this adoption and our story to be an amazing testimony to His love and provision for His children and His awesome power.

To God give the glory, great things He has done!

Our family has been so strengthened in our faith by this whole journey.  The outpouring of love from His people on our behalf has been overwhelming and we are eternally grateful!

Please keep those prayers coming as Gideon and I travel this next week.  I have to travel through JFK as well as Japan and I am less than thrilled by both of those-- for obvious reasons.  But I know God will protect me.  And the upside of this is that for our return flight, we only have to make one stop rather than two!  That means we get home quicker which is a big plus!

Thank you again for everyone's love, concern and prayers.  It means the world to us!

And if you have ever considered adopting.... jump on in there and do it!  God loves the orphans and He will provide!  Give Him the opportunity to work through your family.  There are so many children out there who need loving homes.  Take that first step.  Make that leap.  Put your faith in Him, and rescue the life of a child.  There is no greater blessing.

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

We got our

consulate appointment!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Can you tell that I am excited!!!!???????

The Chinese consulate granted us our first choice so the official date is May 19th.  That means I might be leaving as soon as this Thursday to go get our son and bring him

HOME!!!!!

If I leave this Thursday I will get there on Friday, pick him up Saturday, fly from Beijing to Guangzhou on Sunday, have his medical appt on Monday, get the TB results (yes they need to do that test again!) on Wednesday and then have our appt on Thursday.  We can then get his visa on Friday and fly out from Hong Kong on Saturday morning.  There aren't any evening flights from Hong Kong to the US unfortunately.  That would put us back home on Sunday night.

Please keep praying that all this planning continues to go well.  The agency is even trying to see if the orphanage will take him ahead of time for his TB test which would knock off a few days for me in country which would be great!

Pray we can get the flight I need, as a lot of them were already starting to fill up and I can't book until tomorrow when we learn whether he will have his TB test before I get there or not.

Pray too that the prices don't go UP!  We are already looking at a lot of money out of pocket for my ticket and extra still for Gideon's as well.

Pray that our boy is safe until I arrive, and is still excited about coming home to his new family!

Pray that the time we spend together in China will be well spent--- good bonding time!

Thanks to you all who have followed us on this incredible journey!  The hard part is almost over and the fun is about to begin.  Thanks for hanging in there for this ride!!



Waiting...

Well, we got another call from our agency yesterday.  The CDC has now submitted all our information to the consulate.  Supposedly this took awhile because since it has been so long, they had to reconvene in a meeting to discuss our situation and Gideon's approval again.  Really?  He is the same kid, it is the same situation, nothing has changed.  But, nonetheless, they needed to meet about it again and they did. 

So now that they have the approval, the consulate is ready to allow us to choose a consulate date!  Yippee!  Oh yeah, that is once they get their waiver fee.

Remember we had to submit that waiver regarding his TB condition.  Well, as with everything, there is a fee.  A pretty hefty one with this, $585.00.  That is for USCIS to review and process the waiver.  Originally they had said that the fee might be waived.  Then they said that if we still had to pay it, we could pay it when we got there.  Now they are saying, nope-- we want you to pay it now before you can choose a date.

Sooooo, we submitted another waiver. This waiver is to ask them to waive the waiver fee.  Confused yet?  Yeah.

They should get back to us on whether we have to pay it or not sometime today-- I hope.  We told our agency that if it were to take them too long to review our application then forget it, we will just pay it.  We want to set a date.  But after reviewing airfares yesterday, any penny we can save will help.  A lot! 

We have a gracious friend who is offering to donate us her airline miles to help pay for my ticket over there.  We were hoping that this would cover the whole ticket, but from the prices I found yesterday it will be about $500 short.  Then of course that also means that Gideon's ticket home will be more expensive too.  Plus there are still the other expenses like hotel, food, and re-doing Gideon's medical exam which he must have again because the previous one is no longer valid.

Oh, and that brings me to another thing-- the doctors there are going to require him to have the TB skin test and x-ray again.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Again.  And for what I ask?  Not sure really since we already know what it will show.  So that means that unless our agency can get the orphanage to take him for that before I arrive, I will have to tack an extra two days onto my stay because you need to wait that long after the test to read the results.  Just ridiculous.

So, again we ask for prayers.  Pray that everything will fall into place for this trip just as God intends it to.  Pray that all the finances will come together and that the trip will be a safe one for both of us.

We have so much to be thankful for in all of this.  The outpouring of love from friends, and strangers, has been awesome.  And finally we can say--

we are ALMOST there! 

We have reached the homestretch now!  It feels like it has been an upward battle and I must admit it has been frustrating and mentally exhausting, but I know it is all worth it.  I just can't wait to see his precious face again.

News!!

Well of course it would happen that I leave the house and our agency calls!  But hey, I'll take any news, any time they want to give it right?

FINALLY the CDC has decided to approve our letter from the state health department!  Praising God big time right now!  They sent it on to Guangzhou and our agency thinks that we should hear back from the Chinese consulate with dates by Friday at the latest.  So, Lord willing, I could be on a plane and China-bound by sometime next week!  Gives me shivers to even contemplate it.  It has been a long time coming and we are ready to have our boy home. 

It should have been months ago that we introduced him to his new dad and brothers and sisters.  It should have been months ago that we showed him his new room.  It should have been months ago that he was introduced to our church family and told by them how earnestly they have been praying for his arrival.  It should have been, but it wasn't.  Maybe now, finally, we can count down the days until we can.

God's timing is always perfect.

Can't wait to give my big boy a huge hug and tell him how much I missed him.  I wish Evan could go with me again too, he misses him a lot. 

I hope Gideon remembers me when I get there!! :)