Catch Up Post

We made it to China and back with no real or should I say scarring issues. Some days were rough but they are behind us. Praise the Lord !!!

So Close

We are moving right along now on October 22 we got our Article 5 letter and today we got Travel Approval YEAH!!!!!!!

Introducing......

Let me introduce you to our newest son.....Ezra FuShan coming home November 2015

NVC Letter

So things are moving along on the adoption. HALLELUJAH!!! We received the NVC letter and I filed the visa info and submitted it , it is being cabled to Guangzhou and we should hear back by October 22 and then get the consulate appointment and then travel dates. All that to say we are on track to travel in November. We are beyond excited to be this close. I have his bedding and some clothes already and will wait on anything else till we have him and know his size. Anything I have purchased can be used for my grandsons who are similar in size. We have decided on his name. In other goings on the strawberry patch is winding down, whew, we will be open another couple of weeks and then closing for the season. We have had a terrible season for 2015 the weather in June really hurt the crop, but Praise God for what we did manage to harvest. The kids are all back in school and off to a good start. Anna is doing well hardly any phone calls home. Elaina is in 10th grade and playing soccer, the season is not been great to say the least. Phoebe is managing really well in 6th grade, and Ava is loving 3rd grade so I am happy. Beth is going fine in Colorado although we all miss her something fierce. Alex is at college and we never see him so no news is good news.

WOW.... Been a long time

I can't believe it has been so long since last posting. Much has happened since then. We have had a great summer vacation. The weather has been great and the strawberry patch has started really producing. YEAH! We have moved along on the adoption front cosiderably Here is the timeline thus far: October 27,2014 saw him on the agency waiting child website November 7,2014 mailed in the pre-approval paper work which was the last possible date we could because our agency was going to have to turn the file back in and have it sent to another agency. November 20,2014 received our pre-appoval YEAH January 7,2015 had our home study and worked at getting the rest of our paperwork together. April 2015 filed for USCIS approval May 2015 got approval and Mailed in dossier to agency June 24, 2015 received our Log in date July 1, 2015 went into translation August 20,2015 we received official letter seeking confirmation, WHEW we have made it this far, I am now working on the rest of the USCIS docs and have it ready to go to the agency I am really hoping that we travel in November that would be awesome

Adoption Update

Well we got our approval 2 weeks ago and it is currently in San Francisco being sealed and then it will go back to the agency and our adoption dossier will be able to go to China. WHEW !!! We have been super busy here trying to plant strawberry plants, feed, water and keep them alive. Memorial Day weekend it got down to 22 degrees and several rows of plants were hit hard. I am praying they will come back but so far it's looking a little bleak. The next weekend we got 4 inches of rain so again, praying and hoping. We have been to the dentist, everyone has had teeth cleanings and fillings and we are good for 6 months, that is a big deal here. Anna wasn't too sure about it so I had to get in the chair and hold her down so they could do a light cleaning and inspect her teeth. I confess to hating the dentist so I know how she feels. We are praying about some big decisions here. Some I really want and feel and Dan is like umm no; don't even want to think about it. So we are at an impasse fortunately God is all about these places and will work it out for His glory and our good. We have had no update on our little guy, I would love to know how big he is now so I could shop for clothes and toys while it is yard sale time. I have been picking up toys and the girls are loving them, they will be well broke in by the time he gets here. :) Our grandson Elijah who was born at 24 weeks gestation has been amazing everyone and is ready to come home from the hospital. HALLELUJAH!!!! He had his surgery today and as soon as he recovers from that he will be coming home. He truly is a miracle baby. When he had to be delivered so early the Drs. told us he would not live but God had other plans and we are so grateful. He is soooo cute. I will upload pics to share in a few days. Because really he is adorable.

Adoption Update

We have been in waiting mode for 6 weeks now. We have filed for USCIS approval been fingerprinted and waiting for the paper in the mail. UGH I hate waiting. (sigh) Once we have it we will send it to the agency and they will get it sealed and our dossier will be complete and able to be sent to China. We did not make the 6 month date from our pre-approval, so our agency asked for an extension, we are waiting to hear back on that. Anyhow back to our little guys story. Phoebe began an all out prayer attack on her parents, but I confess I was an easy target. Dan was much more stubborn but Phoebe never gave up. She prayed at every meal, every bedtime for God to change Dads' heart and let us adopt again. After awhile she just started talking about her little brother, when he get's home we will do this.....he will need such and such....he needs toys...bedding, picking things out she was sure he would need, like, have to have and then she started naming him, try saying no when your "son" has a name and is talked about as if he is part of the family. In October Dan agreed to think about it. SUCCESS!!!! I was looking on an agency website at the waiting child list and saw his face and knew he was my boy. The problem was he was in China and we have never qualified to adopt from there before. So I called the agency about a sibling set I had seen from another country and she was talking and I shared how it had to be a boy and she asked if we would consider China and I told her we didn't qualify and then she explained how the requirements had changed for waiting children and not to give up. So I requested his file and prayed that Dan would be open and willing. He is soooooo cute I can't wait to share his picture but not until his referral is official. When we inquired about him the agency told us that we only had a week before his file would be sent back, ugh no pressure. We knew he was ours so I started the pre-approval paperwork and submitted it on the last day they had his file. On November 20 we received email notification that we were approved. We were so happy and started thinking about his name and working on getting the process started. We have actually not shared much of anything about it , our oldest son was announcing their first baby was due and we didn't want to interfere with their news and baby joy. We are very excited and looking toward the day that we can go to bring him home....but as it is with international adoption...hurry up and wait. We are still deciding on the name, Dan has one which is Ezra, the girls want Boaz, and I want William, so for now we call him any of those names. It gets a little confusing and sometimes people ask "how many are you adopting?" just one; but not sure which name so on any given day it's different.