We're Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Well, we are leaving in 34 minutes for the airport to finally travel to pick up our little girl from Taiwan. I am so excited and nervous all at the same time! I can't believe that it is finally here. We don't arrive in Taiwan until Tuesday morning at 5:30am Taiwan time. We will be seeing her that day, but I don't know if they release her to us then or the next day. We will post pictures as soon as we can. Thank all of you sooo very much for all your prayers. It means so much to know that we have the support of friends, family, and our wonderful church family. Thank you!

Not a Good Time to be in a Fog...or is it?

I apologize in advans if this blog makes absewlutely gno cents. (Just kidding.) I have a horrible cold and have pretty much been sleeping, as much as possible, the last five days. I had no idea I could sleep so much. I'm soaking it up like a sponge. Perhaps I need the rest for the days to come. My nose has been completely congested, although now it seems to have all moved to my ears. I can't hear a thing and driving up and down hills in the car makes my ears hurt. I'm hoping this clears up before our flight on Sunday, or I'm going to be in a world of hurt on the plane. I have a mildly irritating, dry, itchy cough as well. I'm not a good sick person. I'm pretty much a big baby. Sam has it as well, but not as bad, or he just handles it better. I'm not sure which. PLEASE PRAY. PLEASE PRAY. PLEASE PRAY that this cough goes away soon. (told you I'm a big baby) We leave in 6 days, and I'm hoping that I am remembering everything I need to do through this cold that has me in a brain fog. Thanks for listening to me grumble and for all the prayers. They are always so greatly appreciated.

A Very Slight Change of Plans...

We found out that AIT will be closing for Thanksgiving 11/24-11/27 and are even thinking of a half day on 11/23. 11/23 was supposed to be our AIT appointment, and we were originally hoping, but not guaranteed, to have our visa the same day to come home in time for Thanksgiving. We have decided that this is too much of a risk, and it is likely that we would not be able to come home until the following Monday. Therefore, upon our adoption coordinator's recommendation, we have changed our "gotcha day" to 11/29. We will leave 11/27 for Taiwan, and return with our Trina on 12/3. I suppose after this long wait, one more week should be bearable. I was also concerned because we were having a lot of family out for Thanksgiving, and I thought it might be overwhelming for her to come home to all that the very first day. I think this is for the best. I can't wait! It's not long now and I'll have my third precious jewel home and in my arms. Yea!

Visiting an Old Friend...

Little does my Trina know, but yesterday I was able to visit with an old friend of hers from her orphanage. This little girl, who we'll call JP, was just adopted last July and lives about 20 minutes away from our home and 5 minutes away from my daughters' school. Wow!

I went in to talk with our social worker the other day to get tips on travel and those first days home with our daughter. Our social worker is wonderful and always has a wealth of tips to get us going on the right track. Anyways, I will be homeschooling Trina for the rest of this school year, and Rhonda recommended I talk with this other mom who was homeschooling her little girl just brought home from Taiwan. It turns out that this little girl was at the same orphanage as Jing-Qi and that they know each other. She even has a picture of the two of them together! JP is just blossoming with her new family, and it was tremendously helpful to visit with them and glean from JP's mama's experience. I am so excited at the possibility of getting these two together again in the future and sharing their common background and experiences. Lord, you are awesome!

Please continue to pray for the rest of our process, that our travel will go smoothly, that there will be no hiccups with our AIT appointment, and that the Lord will prepare all of our family's hearts as well as Trina's heart to accept and love one another and become one united family. Thanks!

Happy Birthday to Our Little Trina Jing-Qi!

Even though we could not be with our little Trina for her birthday this year as expected, we made the most of it with a love-filled birthday SKYPE party. Grandma and Grandpa came as well as my sister's family-all of whom she had met the summer we hosted her. She seemed to remember everyone and was happy to see them. My wonderful neighbors wrote "Happy Birthday" in Chinese for her on our birthday poster. We had Disney princess cupcakes and sang happy birthday to her before she pretended to blow out her candle. She was even able to open the gifts we had shipped to her while on SKYPE. The shoes were too big, but hopefully we can fix that in a month when she comes home. I can't wait to be reunited with my little one. I feel like I am missing too much time with her. Her favorite color has changed since she came out, and I didn't even know-it was pink, but now it is orange. I can't wait to learn all about her when she comes. She apparently likes to run, too. I'm so excited that we will be able to spend our first Christmas together getting to know one another. Happy Birthday, Trina! Wo men ai ni!

I've got mascara in my eye, and I couldn't be happier!!!

OK. Now that I have cried for the last ten minutes straight, I think I have composed myself enough to spread the news and the news is GREAT.

WE HAVE OUR FINAL ADOPTION DECREE!!!
"GOTCHA DAY" IS SET FOR 11/21!!!
PRAISE GOD!!! HE IS SO FAITHFUL!!!

This is the first morning I didn't check my email when I first woke up. I had finally come to a place where I had accepted that there wasn't going to be news for a while. Then, I got to work and checked my mail, and there it was! I couldn't hold it back anymore. The tears and weeping just came. I'm so grateful and happy that we will be reunited with our Trina Jing-Qi soon.

Our AIT appointment is set for 11/23-the day before Thanksgiving. Our adoption coordinator is checking with AIT to see if they will have our paperwork done in time for us to return home that evening to be home in time for Thanksgiving. Either way, we are sure to be extra thankful this Thanksgiving to have our little girl finally in our arms. Please pray that everything will go smoothly with our AIT appointment and the rest of our trip. We are so thankful for all of you who have been praying for us.

Yea!

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Normally, this is what I would tell my kids when they are having a hard time mastering some skill."Don't worry. Keep practicing and you will master that skill in no time." I am discovering that, while this may be true of most things, this is not true when it comes to learning to wait patiently. When I first started the wait for our final decree, I was quite proud of myself for waiting so patiently with a peace that surpasses all understanding and a smile at the future; however, as I "Practice! Practice! Practice!" this waiting thing, I find a very disturbing picture of myself emerging. The person in this picture seems to have a wrinkle intruding on the space between her brows scattering the peace that I would like to think normally resides there. Also, this person seems to be tapping her foot impatiently at the future instead of smiling at it. Yes, I have to admit it. "Practice! Practice! Practice!" does not always work, especially in this case. I seem to be worse at waiting now than I was at the beginning. I'm sure when the wait is all over, I will look back and say that this experience has made me a better "waiter"-yeah, right!

Anyways... I have asked for some more details from our adoption coordinator as to why the wait is taking SO LONG. She says the courts don't show that there are any problems with any biological relatives stepping forward. Also, the new law in Taiwan stating that a child must be available for adoption to local Taiwan families first before being adopted internationally does not affect us since our case is already in process. OK. This is all good news, so what is taking so long?! Apparently, the social worker that is working on our case over there is just taking a REALLY LONG time to get her reports back to the court. As far as we know, everything else is proceeding as normal. To all of you that have been praying for us, a huge THANK YOU! It means so much to us. Please pray for the social worker as well. ; )