Heading Out

Today is our last day in Zhengzhou.  We are ready.  The last few days have been wonderful.  Lily-an is adjusting well and we are to her.  She is "talking" today and is smiling more and more.  She enjoys being held.  We are giving her as much holding time as she wants.  She tells us when she is done.  It is a pretty big miracle we have here.  We are just starting to fully realize that.  The more and more time we spend with her the more she lets us in.  She is starting to come out of the shell.  Zhengzhou has been interesting.  The people we have met have been very friendly and they speak and understand English.  That is nice.  It is time though.  The next few days will be busy in Guangzhou.  Paperwork for the most part.  Start with a physical tomorrow and then just doing some paperwork everyday until Tuesday.  After that 3 days of relaxing and then back home on Friday.  That is the week.  The last 3 days have been good.  Most of the children are doing very well with their new families.  Some of the adults and few of the children have gotten sick.  Jennifer and I haven't.  We have been careful of what to eat and only drink bottled water.  A 16 oz bottle of water is about $2.50 here.  We were lucky and able to buy 1.5L at Walmart for about .40. So that worked.  Everything you drink here is expensive.  Water or Soda.  Then they always take 15% for a gratuity on everything.  So far this week including laundry and some meals here our bill is about $140.  Not bad from what I have heard others have spent.  There is no laundry mats here.  If you want it done, you have to have the hotel do it.  It cost about $6 for a pair of Jeans.  That is one thing we will be very happy to do at home.  We miss it.  All is good otherwise.  Time to finish packing.  Our flight leaves about 8pm local time and we will be arriving in Guangzhou about 10:20pm tonight.  It might be a difficult night for all the little ones.  Don't know what internet is like in Guangzhou so the postings may be slow.  It was free here but do not know about there.  Take care and will post again soon. Mike and Jennifer

A Relaxing Day

Today was a relaxing day.  We spent most of the day sitting around and spending quality one on one time with Lily-an.  We saw her come out of her shell today.  We had her giggling and smiling.  She was happy and content with us today.  Spent a lot of time with eye to eye contact with her.  She really is full of life.  We just have to work on bringing that out.  A little bit at time is great.  We will take that.  Everyday will be better and everyday she will let us in to her world.  She has that spark in her eye now that we saw in her pictures.  She did not want to take a nap today so she was out by 7pm.  We hope she sleeps most of the night.  Last night, she had us up for about an hour.  She settled down at about 3am and slept until 7:30.  That was nice, that meant we slept until 7:30.  We have completed all paperwork here.  It is nice to have the next few days to relax and spend that much needed quality time.  Tomorrow we will be walking to a park that is about 5 minutes away from the hotel.  It is nice and quiet and will be a nice way to spend a few hours outside with Lily-an.  We are looking forward to it.  We are winding down from the day.  Getting used to being parents.  It is a good thing.  We are truly blessed.  Lily-an is showing and teaching us a lot.  Today was a great day.  She is starting to trust and feel safe with us.  We know it is only a small step but it is starting.  We know this process could take several weeks or months but today was a great day.  She was smiling a lot today.  Took her out for a stroll and she really was looking around.  Looking at the trees, building, bikes and scooters going by.  She seems like she is focusing in on things more than the last two days.  It's great!  Tomorrow will be a fun day.  We will relax and spend that time that is so desperately needed.  Until tomorrow, take care everyone.

It's Official

Good day everyone.  Well, today it is official.  We did the adoption registration which finalizes her adoption here in China.  The notary makes it official.  It has been a very good day so far.  Lily-an is sleeping comfortably and we are relaxing in our room.  We are getting her schedule right and keeping her on it.  She is doing well.  She is bright, alert and always looking around.  After the 3 1/2 hour crying episode during the night, today is going so much better.  We didn't hear what she was trying to tell us.  Now, we get it.  She is content so far.  We are very blessed.  After 4 years it is finished.  Now, a new chapter.  As we sit and watch her while she is sleeping we realize how precious she is and how great is our God.  He has fulfilled his promises.  Some days we wondered, but we hung in there and it was worth it.  All of it, is worth it.  Today, we are going to a place called the Lotus Center.  It is like a 3 story shopping mall.  We would like to get a few things for the rest of the week.  The Walmart that is 3 blocks away doesn't have a whole lot.  It is definately not like the one back home.  The thing I will say that is positive, the workers are very helpful and every 1 or 2 isles has someone there standing to help you find what you are looking for and they do speak some English.  Actually, a lot of people here speak some English.  Better than Beijing.  The smog is no better and we have been advised of what to expect after we get home.  We have been told that Guangzhou is not any better.  We leave for there on Friday night at 8pm and arrive a little after 10pm.  We are done with all paperwork here so that gives us 3 days to bond and relax.  Had best close.  Have a great day everyone!

Long Night

Well, it's about 5:00 a.m. here and we finally have a happy baby!  She did fall asleep fairly early last night, around 8:00, but was up again at 1:30 a.m. and not happy!!  After 10 or 15 minutes we figured out she had a really nasty gas bubble, she was happy for a few minutes, and then she started her angry cry.  You can tell what kind of afternoon I had yesterday while I was waiting for Mike to get back from shopping for formula and cereal for her - I already know her angry cry quite well:-p Checked the big three - diaper, hunger, pain.  Diaper was wet, so changed that, but it just pissed her off more.  One in the morning isn't a normal feeding time, but her whole day was messed up yesterday so we tried a bottle - wanted nothing to do with it.  She was not in pain, she was obviously very angry - I sure you will all get to know that about her soon enough:-)  This little girl definitely knows what she wants and doesn't want - and last night she didn't want us!  So lots of walking and rocking, walking, and rocking.  She likes singing and humming -that calmed her down for a little while, but she refused to sleep, and she would eventually wind herself up again.  Tried a little bit of cereal, and that just seemed to piss her off to, back to walking and rocking.  By 4:30 she was pretty much inconsolable to anything and of course Mike and I are both beyond exhausted.  In a last ditch attempt to at least try to do something, I tried giving her the cold cereal we had mixed up earlier. What do you know - she is actually a little piglet.  The problem before was that we weren't feeding it to her fast enough!!!  No playing around with food for this one.  She is serious about her eating.  She ate two bowls of cereal and topped it off with half a bottle of apple juice - which she wouldn't have anything to do with earlier.  So now she's happy and back to sleep - so is Dad:-)  Mike is catching on fast to the world of babies:-)  I'm goint to try and catch a little sut eye now too.  Later Jennifer

No Words Right Now

Enjoy the photos.  There is nothing that can be put into words that describe this moment.  Nothing.  We have been blessed.  God is good!  We are humbled beyond any words right now.  4 years of hard work, 4 years ups and downs, 4 years later; we won the "race".  We have our daughter in our arms.  God, why did you choose us?  Why do we deserve this precious gift?  I don't think either Jennifer or I will ever know the answer to that question until the day we see Jesus.  I don't think I can even begin to understand the "why".  Thank you everyone for praying, thank you everyone for everything you have done.  All thanks and praise to the Lord.  Glory be to God.  Check back later for updates.  Time for some down time.

Waiting

Soon, a family will be getting their child here in the hotel lobby. That will be an awesome event. They are excited. We are to. With two hours we will be in their shoes. We are eagerly waiting for it. We have everything ready to go. Just not ourselves:). God is in control. We are as ready as we can be. He is giving us a great gift today. Will ost again later. Check back, the next post will be with Lily-an.

Sent from my iPod

2 Days in Beijing

We flew into Beijing at about 3pm on Thursday the 22nd.  After being up for almost 30 hours and a 13 hour flight, we were exhausted.  Met a few of the other couples and then disappeared to our rooms.  Up at 3 am on Friday morning and ready to go.  Had a good breakfast then at 9am we were off.  Stopped a few smaller shops then we went to the Forbidden City.  What a place.  Had no idea of how big it really was.  We only saw a small portion of it and we were there about 2 hours.  There were droves of people.  Too many for us.  We enjoyed it and were amazed at the building and designs.  Then, it was across the street to Tiananmen's Square.  Spent a brief amount of time there.  Got a rickshaw ride and all from a different part of Beijing.  Went to a small village are within Beijing.  It was called the Hutong.  Interesting to see it.  By then most of us were tired so we went for a bite to eat and then back to the hotel.  Slept better the 2nd night but, we were up at 4am this time.  Waited for breakfast and then it was off to a jade factory.  Beautiful work, skilled people.  Then, we all went to the great wall. That was neat.  More people there than I could count.  We climbed hundreds of steps and are feeling the effects yet today.  The smog was terrible in Beijing and made it difficult.  You can see that in the pictures.  It isn't a haze but smog.  Later on in the day, we went to Olympic Village.  We the water cube and the birds nest.  That was fun.  Jennifer and a few of the other ladies stayed in the bus and talked.  Again, we were exhausted but wanted to see it.  What a place.  Then, it was off for supper and then back to the rooms.  Slept better, but up at 5 am this time.  Each night is getting better. Today, we flew here to  Zhengzhou.  Staying at a beautiful hotel.  5 stars plus.  Marble, columns, everywhere you look.  Free internet so that is great. We are getting prepared for tomorrow.  We are all meeting at 9:30 am and then it is off to the Civil Affairs office.  We, along with most of the other families, will then pick up Lily-an. It will be a busy 2 days with a lot of paperwork to finish.  Friday we head out.  At least Thursday and Friday are two days we will be able to rest from the busyness of paperwork.  We will get that much needed quality time with Lily-an.  Tomorrow will be a big day.  Will post an update soon with photo's of Lily-an.  It maybe a bit overwhelming but bare with us, the updates may be delayed over the next few days. Check out the photo's from Beijing.  Until next time everyone.

Count Down

Hey guys!
Only a few hours to go. I can't even describe to you how this moment feels. Even to this moment it doesn't feel real yet. I did get a little bit of a shock when I came back to our room and found that the hotel staff had placed a crib in our room while we were gone.
All I can say about the trip so far is that the other families are the very best part of it. That is the only thing that has been off the charts better than I expected. Everything else I could really have done without. The youngest child in our group will be 11 months old and the oldest will be 5 years. There is only one other family that will be first time parents along with us. Their daughter is 4 years old and she also has hearing loss.
It is hot, hot, hot here and we aren't even all the way south yet! Glad we checked the weather before we left and packed summer clothes for the most part.
We miss you guys so much and we wish you were here to share this with us! We leave the hotel at 9:40 Monday (tomorrow) morning for the Civil Affairs office. Six of our total of 10 families (including us) will receive our children then. Please, please keep us in your prayers, especially for our health (all of us parents) and the health of the children because they are checking temps on everyone at the airports here.
I guess that's all for now. Tomorrow the whole world changes:-) Give my pup a squeeze - I miss my buddy:-(

Jennifer

From China

Hi from China!!!!
Tomorrow is the big day! Can't believe it's here already. Things are going well. Feeling better after the initial exhaustion. The other families are awesome. Two of the other little girls are right around Lily's age. We get the kids around 10:00 a.m. Monday which will be about 11 p.m. Sunday night for you guys.
Alisha -Hope Friday went well for you. Hope you have been talking to Vicky:-)
Can't wait to get home and talk to everyone again! My phone bill is going to be horrendous for the first weeks I'm home just trying to play catch up with everyone.
Got some other emails to send so take care. Hope to post some pictures later tonight of the Great Wall and other things we have seen so far. We will post pictures of Lily as soon as we can.
Keep all of us in your prayers tomorrow. Also pray for our finances. Things are not cheap here at all. Everything is way more expensive than any of us were prepared for. Mike and I are doing o.k., but we have only purchased one "souvenir". Just our meals alone are going to take up most of what we set aside for spending money. All of the other families are in the same boat:-( That's o.k., though, we didn't come here for crappy souvenirs anyway:-)
Gotta go - gotta try and find some supper.

Jennifer

Here We Are

We flew into Beijing at about 3pm on Thursday the 22nd. After being up for almost 30 hours and a 13 hour flight, we were exhausted. Met a few of the other couples and then disappeared to our rooms. Up at 3 am on Friday morning and ready to go. Had a good breakfast then at 9am we were off. Stopped a few smaller shops then we went to the Forbidden City. What a place. Had no idea of how big it really was. We only saw a small portion of it and we were there about 2 hours. There were droves of people. Too many for us. We enjoyed it and were amazed at the building and designs. Then, it was across the street to Tiananmen's Square. Spent a brief amount of time there. Interesting to see it. By then most of us were tired so we went for a bite to eat and then back to the hotel. Slept better the 2nd night but, we were up at 4am this time. Waited for breakfast and then it was off to a jade factory. Beautiful work, skilled people. Then, we all went to the great wall. That was neat. More people there than I could count. We climbed hundreds of steps and are feeling the effects yet today. The smog was terrible in Beijing and made it difficult. You can see that in the pictures. It isn't a haze but smog. Later on in the day, we went to Olympic Village. We the water cube and the birds nest. That was fun. Jennifer and a few of the other ladies stayed in the bus and talked. Again, we were exhausted but wanted to see it. What a place. Then, it was off for supper and then back to the rooms. Slept better, but up at 5 am this time. Each night is getting better. Today, we flew here to Zhengzhou. Staying at a beautiful hotel. 5 stars plus. Marble, columns, everywhere you look. Free internet so that is great. We are getting prepared for tomorrow. We are all meeting at 9:30 am and then it is off to the Civil Affairs office. We, along with most of the other families, will then pick up Lily-an. It will be a busy 2 days with a lot of paperwork to finish. Friday we head out. At least Thursday and Friday are two days we will be able to rest from the busyness of paperwork. We will get that much needed quality time with Lily-an. Tomorrow will be a big day. Will post an update soon with photo's of Lily-an. It maybe a bit overwhelming but bare with us, the updates may be delayed over the next few days. Check out the photo's from Beijing. Until next time everyone.

Update from Beijing

The smog is terrible here. The traffic/people and everything going on seems a little overwhelming right now. Yesterday, we left at 9am and did not get back until 7pm. I think we were in bed by 8. A lot of walking. The vendors are persistant. Today it is off to the Great Wall. I think I will send an email with attachments tomorrow morning before we leave for Henan for an update. All is good. Sleep schedule is screwed up but we are getting "some" good sleep. Just don't like waking up at 3am. Makes for a long day.

Made It!

Well, as you can see we made it. Everything is Great!!! We are getting ready to leave in a few minutes for all day touring. The blog is blocked so we are unable to post it our selves. So we are sending Roy an email with attachments to post. Better go. Talk to you all later.

Mike and Jennifer

P.S. updates may be delayed so check the blog every few days.

Home Stretch

Well, it's finally here. We leave for Chicago tomorrow morning to catch our plane to China tomorrow afternoon! It feels like we should have a lot more to do to actually get ready to make such a big trip, but everything is pretty much done. We managed to get the majority of our packing done last night. All we have left is to throw in the last minute essential stuff. Of course I didn't get to clean the house from top to bottom exactly like I wanted to, but oh well, it will still be here waiting to be cleaned when I get home. The dishes and laundry are done at least, and the fridge is empty so we don't have to worry about growing anything weird while we are gone:-)
So today the big thing on our list is going to the bank. The big thing on my list is getting a massage! I know I really need to relax.
The crazy thing is, that in spite of the place we are actually standing today - I am still facing the monster of fear and doubt. Until going through this whole process I never really understood how deep my fear and mistrust of God ran and still runs. Even after all of the love and good things God has shown us along this journey I am still afraid that He is going to leave me hanging at the last minute - that He won't keep His promises - that He doesn't love me. My brain knows that none of those things are true - I know that God is faithful and true and He keeps every promise. I know that He loves me so much that He sent His only son to die on the cross for me. Mostly, I can't get my head around that kind of love, and all I know is I certainly haven't earned it and don't deserve it.
So the truth be told, I am a little shaky and fragile today, but pointing out the monster is half the battle in overcoming it. I am determined to let go of the reins because God is not going to steer us wrong now. God called us to this very day over four years ago and His word says it best:

1 Thessalonians 5:24
"The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

Stay tuned! Hopefully the next update we make is from the other side of the world!!!:-)

Jennifer

One Week From Today

This time next week we will be in the air and on our way to China! I can hardly believe it's here already. How can that be after waiting so long and so impatiently that now things are moving too fast?! Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to meet our daughter and hold her in my arms. I am just wondering what exactly we spent the last 3 1/2 years doing because we still have a million things to get done before we leave. The problem is that people keep asking me what we need or need help with and I have no idea!!! My mind is full and empty at the same time if that's possible. I think my hard drive is locked up:-) You know - the little hour glass symbol is spinning and spinning and nothing is happening. I am hoping that I can get a grip by this weekend, that once I'm done with work on Friday the cobwebs will clear.
Going shopping for travel supplies tonight I think. Off to find my husband right now and get a move on!

We're going to China!!

Can't believe I haven't updated this since Sept.! Found out yesterday that we do indeed have other families in our travel group. Yay! Looking forward to meeting them and their children and hearing their stories. So much to do - so little time now! Back to work for the moment - trying to get a million things finished before we leave, but having a hard time concetrating:-)

Jennifer

Moving Forward

One step closer! We got our fingerprints done and approved last Wednesday and while we were there we were able to put in a request for them to expedite the paperwork. Because the final piece of paper we need before we can get our travel dates is the all important I-171H which is issued at a later date - basically whenever immigration gets around to it. The way things were trending with our local office, it was taking 3+ months for them to process the I-171H after fingerprints.
After almost a week of not hearing anything back about the expediting process we decided enough was enough and called our congressman. That was on Wednesday and they said we would have a call back yesterday, which we did not get, so Mike called again today, but the lady was out of the office. With in 15 minutes of him leaving a message for her we received a call directly from the head "Orphan Officer" in our local immigration office. He just needed to verify that we had indeed paid for our processing fee and he said he would be processing our paperwork this afternoon or Monday! That should put the I-171H in our hands sometime early next week. Yeah! As long as we get that by next Friday our agency said we will most likely be traveling Oct. 14th. We will be traveling with a group of 8 other families as it stands right now.
A few more days of wait and see, but we are so much closer now! What a difference a day makes. I was pretty down yesterday about the lack of answers and just frustrated with the whole system. But I guess if we didn't have all of these delays and discouragements along the way there wouldn't be any reason for God to show up. And show up He has all along the way. So many times I didn't think I could go another day, and He would show up with exactly what I needed to keep moving forward.
When I chose the name of this blog I did not have any idea how accurate it would be. We have had to walk by faith every step of the way, never knowing timelines, resources, who, how, where, or why. All I can say is every single step has been worth it. Painful, uncomfortable, scary, crazy, exciting, wonderful and horrible all at once. I wouldn't change a single minute of the last 3 1/2 years.
Thanks so much for all of the prayers they have helped to get us this far. Don't quit now - we still need all of the prayers we can get. Tune in next week!:-)

From a Fathers Perspective

It has been a long time since I last posted. Probably too long. It's kind of hard to post on a blog when there is really nothing new to report. As you can see (read), a lot has changed. It has changed fast, it has changed scary, it has just changed and I don't think I want it to go back. Really, take a hard look at everything that has happened in the last 4-6 weeks of our lives. The emotional toll, the physical, the uneasiness, the highs and lows and everything else. All for a child that so wants a family, she just doesn't realize it yet. And, for a couple in the middle of Wisconsin that so desperately wants children. Hell, one would be enough. Just to experience the joys, the downs, the excitement of a child. A dream that is coming true. Oh, to be a dad. To hear "Daddy". What more is there in life than that. Really, when it comes down to it, does anything else really matter? No, but don't get me wrong. There are a lot of things that do matter and I probably can't put my finger on everyone, but are they really that important as raising a child? I am kind of the salty and crusty kind of guy. I have this hard outer shell that is really tough to get through. Well, that is what I am told. I look at my past and things that have happened to me and the things I have done and it all makes sense. I think this little girl is cracking the shell and we don't even have her in our arms yet. God works in such mysterious ways and I don't have a clue as to what they are. Jennifer and I were given a rare gift last week from our agency. They sent us a link of 5 videos of Lily that were taken on Sept 1. This is just something that doesn't happen that often from what we understand. Talk about heart wrenching. First, let me say this out of love to all, but don't ask to see them. Jennifer and I decided that they will remain with us to view with Lily when the time is appropriate. It is something we feel is best. Don't worry, there will be plenty of video and pictures when we get her. Some we will share, some we won't until Lily has viewed them first when the time is right. God gave us a confirmation that day. It is all coming together now. It has taken almost 4 years but it finally coming together. You look into her eyes and you see the soul, her spirit. There is so much life in those eyes. It will be my responsibility as a father for her to live her life and do what I can for her. To care, to nurture, to teach her, to raise her to love the Lord God. Most fathers don't realize the responsibility but it is one that we have. Of course there is the responsibility of the parents to raise a child together and that is all good and well, but, there is a responsibility of the father for raising a child. Some people may not agree with that, but it is true. I have no clue how to raise a daughter but I think I will be learning everyday. I don't even know how to change a diaper-that is the first day. There is so much life in those eyes. To bring you home. To be able to give you a good life. To be able to help you live your dreams. To give you the necessities of life: food, shelter and clothing. To share our Love with you. See you off on your first day of school, high school, college. Walking you down the aisle for your own wedding. To be able to experience that with you and everything in between. To be there for the down times in your life. We will always be there. We will not be perfect parents. That is impossible. But, we will try to do our best. That is our promise. You will hate us at times, you will love us most of the time, and then there will be those times when..... Just so you know, you have a place that will always be there. That will never change. We hope and pray that Lily will build her life on that same Rock as we have. The Rock of Christ. Having children is one of the greatest gifts God can ever give a couple. It isn't the top, but it is up there. We have experienced the greatest gift and that was the gift of life that was given through the death of Jesus on the cross, the gift of eternal life. That is the best. Now we get to experience some of the other gifts. Soon we will be bringing Lily home. Lord, we completely and fully trust you with everything that is going on. With the fingerprinting, with the travel arrangements, with the financial burdens, everything. You are in control. You have not let us down through this process. Yes, you have been there and everything has worked out for good. We may not have liked it, or not have expected it a certain way, but it has always worked out. Your way has been the best, I see it now more clearly than before when I look into Lily's eyes. I see so much more clearly now. You have put a face, a life, to everything that has been going on for the last 5 years. You have answered our prayers. We see it now, we see it now. Praise you Father, praise you. You are good. Yes, you are good. Thank you for everything your are doing and everything you have done. Protect Lily Father God, keep her in your arms until we can have her in ours. Let her know we are coming soon. We will not quit. We are coming. We will be there soon. Keep her safe Lord. Thank you Lord! All this, from my perspective which is blurred sometimes and then it is crystal clear. The love, the emotion, the sacrifice, the late nights. Whatever it is, it will all be worth it. Oh, to be a dad. A dream, a promise, a journey that is ending and another that is just beginning. To hear, Daddy...........

Pray Hard!

We need everyones prayers this week! Wednesday is our fingerprinting appointment with immigration. First of all pray that our prints will be accepted - their machines can be very fussy if you have the tiniest cut or nick on your finger pad your prints can be rejected. Second of all pray that we can get through to someone who can get us the piece of paper we need (the I-171H) immediately or as close to immediately as possible. The way this works normally is that the prints are sent electronically to the FBI and the FBI responds back electronically approving or denying our prints. The actual approval or denial happens very quickly. Then the approval notice sits on someone's desk at our Milwaukee immigration office until they get around to generating the the piece of paper that is the I-171H, that states that yes we are cleared and approved. THAT IS ALL WE NEED!!!! That single piece of paper and we are on our way to China! So pray hard for the people in the immigration office, that the right person at the right time would be available to us and have a heart soft to our situation. Jennifer

And the Wait Goes On

Just waiting now for our fingerprint appointment scheduled for September 9th. Found out today that we may be able to get in earlier than that, but will have to wait and see. It also sounds like we will be able to secure our I-171H quicker than we first thought so that is good news too. There is even a remote possibility that we could still travel sometime in September! What a roller coaster!
Other than that we are busy finishing all of our remodeling projects. Alisha and Josh came down this weekend and helped us gut the bathroom and replace the tub and sink. Alisha painted Lily's room for me - it looks much more like a bedroom now that the new sink and tub are out of there and where they belong:-) Thanks guys, you are awesome!! Mike spent the day working on the ceramic tile surround. Looks like it will probably take him another couple of days, but it is looking good.

It's Officially Official!!!

We were supposed to be packing to leave for a weekend of camping this morning, but nothing was going right. Our week had been crazy busy and we hadn't had a chance to look at any of our camping supplies or get any groceries and on top of that a huge wall of rain was beginning its march across the state. Mike in particular had been looking forward to this weekend since early this spring. It was not just camping, but a car show and camping! Plus, Oscar is still recovering from his surgery. And I have tons, and tons of work in the shop. And Mike has a car he has to get finished for a customer. And Mike got paged out for an EMS call at 8:00 a.m. Get the idea?

So after grumbling to each other about how much both of us wanted to get away but nothing was going according to plan, we decided to call it off. Sleeping in a soggy tent didn't sound like fun to either one of us. I tried to cheer Mike up by saying "Maybe God has a really good reason He wants us to stay home."

About an hour later I check our email and we had an email from our agency saying they had received our LOA or "Letter of Acceptance" from China. They wanted to know if they could Fed Ex us the paperwork so we could get it and sign it tomorrow. They also said they expect us to travel in the next 4-6 weeks!!!!!

The countdown is on! I think once China gets our signed LOA, then they issue our travel dates. Please keep us in your prayers! We still have to get our fingerprints done, and you know how government agencies can be. So much to do and suddenly we have so little time, but we couldn't be happier:-)

Lily-an's Name

I just realized that Mike didn't update the whole story on how we came to the name Lily-an. As he stated, her name came to me in a dream early last July. I had a dream that I was holding our daughter and calling her by name. Then I actually had to write her name down in the dream, which was rather odd and memorable, how often do you write something in a dream? The name I was saying and wrote down was Lillian. I didn't share the dream with Mike right away. I just kind of tucked it away. At that particular time I was struggling to keep my hope and faith alive. I didn't want to share it right away because I was afraid Mike might not like the name and that it would dash the little piece of hope I was hanging onto, that the dream was God's little burst of encouragement to me. But the next Sunday after the dream I just felt God urging me to share the name with Mike. So during the middle of the service I whispered to him "I think I know our baby's name" and passed him a slip of paper with Lily-an written on in. We had both discussed that we would like to give our child an authentic Chinese name. Lillian was not very Chinese:-) So I changed the spelling to Lily-an. At this point, however, I had no idea what the Chinese ending "an" meant. Flowers are very symbolic in Chinese culture, but I didn't know the particulars on the lily either.
Needless to say Mike liked the name. So after church I got out my Chinese name book and started looking up the meanings. I decided to choose a Chinese symbol to represent Lily. There were many types of lilies that had different meanings, but I settled on the Morning Star Lily which symbolizes strength and determination. "an" can mean either peace or white and I thought those were both appropriate as well. Then comes the kicker. I wanted to know what a Morningstar Lily looked like (the gardener in me) so I Googled Morningstar Lily. But instead of a bunch of horticultural websites, the first listing was a Chinese name. You can't imagine the goose bumps I felt when I opened the page.

http://www.guanweixing.com/ychildgal2/ymshandandan.htm

The second listing was also a Chinese name. All I could think of after I listened to the song called "Morningstar Lily" is that God just gave me a glimpse of our daughter's personality. Light and full of joy.

http://www.last.fm/music/Lei+Qiang/_/Morning+Star+Lily

After going through some of the darkest days of this wait, that dream and those two websites confirmed in my heart that God still had his hand in all of this. Now we had a name, and I remember telling Mike that maybe this means our daughter has been born. When I had that dream Xiao Hua would have been about two weeks old.
It is incredible to look back and see how perfectly God has directed every part of this journey.

At Long Last!

The update everyone has been waiting for! We have been matched with a darling 13 month old little girl. Her Chinese name is Xiao Hua. We have had her American name picked out for over a year now (see previous post). It is such a blessing to finally be able to put a face with her name - Lily-an. Her Chinese name actually means "little flower", God's signature on what has truly been a remarkable journey!
Now a little more waiting must take place before we can finally bring her home. It will be two to three months before we will travel to pick her up. Right now we are waiting to get our fingerprints taken for the 3rd and final time (thank goodness). After that is completed we will just be waiting for our travel date assignment.
It is truly difficult to express the jumble of feelings that we are both going through right now. Of course joy and excitement, but also a surreal disbelief that this is finally, really going to happen! Suddenly so many things to do and so little time! We were not expecting to be matched with Lily, we thought she had already been matched with another family, so we were surprised when our agency contacted us to see if we wanted to look at her file. We were prepared to continue waiting into sometime next year according to all of the wait time lines.
But God had a different plan, and when God puts a plan in motion nothing can stand in His way. Many of you have witnessed and shared our struggles through this time. Now we have a testimony to give. This is the what we have been waiting for, more importantly, WHO we have been waiting for. We are so glad God gave us the strength to persevere. All of the tears, anger, discouragement, and frustration were worth it. He has proven Himself faithful and true. We know the truth in our hearts of Philippians 4:6,7 which reads:

"Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

We cannot claim to have carried out God's instructions perfectly. There were many, many days of worrying and thinking that God must not be hearing our prayers. But God fortified us with just enough faith along the way, that no matter how long the wait was dragging out, or how hopeless and endless it seemed, He had a good plan and a good purpose if we would just hang in there.
Now we know the peace of God. The peace that God has given us confirms in our hearts that Lily-an Xiao Hua is indeed the daughter He promised. We are also confident that whatever needs she may have, He will give us the wisdom, strength, and ability to provide for her.
We would just ask for your continue prayers. We will hopefully be making more frequent updates as we get closer to travel time.

It's Christmas, but still waiting

It is Christmas day now and still in the same spot as before. Really don't know anything except they are slowly moving along doing matches. We do know they have matched through the 3rd week of February 2006. At least they are in 2006. However, March 2006 was an extremely busy month with large numbers of dossiers coming into the Chinese gov't. Whatever it is, we are moving along. The only really bad thing to come out of this is that we will need to be fingerprinted again, and this time we will have to pay for it to the tune of $750.00.
On another note; it is Christmas 2008 and we are waiting still. Both Jennifer and I are at peace with it at least but still waiting is difficult. We know it is close but it is like you can not touch it, just out of your grasp. We just keep reminding ourselves that God is in control. We figure this child he has for us will be something very special for us. As I reflect through this Christmas season I keep coming back to a part of scripture in the book of Luke Chapter 2. This is what it says:

Simeon Sees God’s Salvation

25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

33 And Joseph and His mother[a] marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against 35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”


When you read this, your first thought maybe, what does this have to do with waiting or Christmas or whatever. Well, first, it has to do with hope and a lot of it. Read it again. You see Simeon was told by the Lord that he would not see death until he saw the Christ child. Some scholars estimate that Simeon could have been 200 years old when he saw the Christ child. How many years do think he had to wait to see the Christ child so he could die and go to heaven to be with the Lord. Every time he went to the temple, he wondered if today would be the day. And if it wasn't, which was most of the time, he would have to wait for another day. Never knowing when it was supposed to happen. Same for us, we don't know what day. We know it coming, but we have to wait upon God and his timing. Simeon had to wait. You see Christ came into this world when he was needed most. Simeon faith had to be great and trust in the Lord that he would fulfill his promise to Simeon. Simeon knew that it would happen, but when. And when it did happen, can't you see how glorious it was. He could now die and go be with the Lord. Think of it this way, what if Simeon waiting 20 years, how about 40 years, maybe 75 years or longer to see the Christ child. All he knew is that it would happen because God made that promise to him and that was it. Didn't tell him when, how, who the parents were, anything, just that it will happen. Talk about faith, talk about hope. We need to have that same faith and hope in God that it will come, when, who knows, but God will come through. No matter what it is, he will come through. We know this is what he wants for us, so we must remain faithful in him for it.
Imagine what would happen if we started to try and take this into our own hands. It's like I heard on pastor say "we take the nails and boards and try to build it ourselves because we are too impatient to wait. Just doing it. Well, do you think that it would turn out pretty good or do think it would have turned out better if you waited, taken your time, waited for God. God can build anything better than even the best master craftsman here on earth. He is building it up in us. That is something we can not do. He is our Lord and he can be yours if you ask Him. As we go through this Christmas season, remember Simeon, remember God's promise and he never goes back on what he promises. We just need to keep moving forward, even when it is difficult to do. If it isn't today, maybe tomorrow. Hope, Faith, Love all are powerful and comforting. With out hope, what do we have. Just another day. With out Faith, what do we have, nothing. It all means nothing. Without Love, what do we have. Pride, self centered, egos, etc.... But with God.... Merry Christmas to all our family and friends this blessed Christmas!!

Lily-An

The name. After 2 1/2 years we have a name. We haven't really been thinking or talking about one yet, this name came to Jennifer in a dream. We both believe that it came from the God and it was his way of telling us he is in control of this process. He is still with us and walking with us. Even though the time is getting drawn out, we are still holding on to Him and giving it over to Him. He is still blessing us through this process. Now we can feel--somewhat--complete. It is a hard feeling to describe but now that we have a name, it just feels right. The only concern I had was, what do we do if it is a boy or we get twins or something like that. We will cross that bridge when we come to that. Neither one of us feel like we have to be concerned with that as God has already given us a name for our child. I will update this post soon with the meaning of the name, Jennifer is researching that now. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. It is still several months away, but we are trusting in God through this. Our faith is growing stronger through this and we are feeling at peace with the process. We thank God more than ever for this adoption. Check back soon for an update on the meaning.. until then, take care everyone.

Still Hanging In There

It has been a few months since last post, ok maybe many. We are still waiting and waiting. The time line for a match has increased by a few months. That was not expected but then again, it has been happening since the beginning. It is what it is. We keep holding onto our faith in God to see us through this. We know he has a plan and his plan is best for us. That is sometimes hard to understand at times. We are doing well. There have been some changes in our lives in the last 6 months. Jennifer and I made a very difficult decision last fall to leave 5th Ave UMC. With the current leadership it was not a place for us to be. God was calling us away from there. We knew it was time. The hardest part of it was leaving our church family. So many members came along side of us to help with the adoption. We held on as long as we could. That was difficult. We have a deep sadness for the body there. Unfortunately it has become a seeker friendly church. The leadership is not good and not biblical in the teaching. This is what we felt. We did not want to offend anyone or upset anyone by leaving so we only told a few of our close friends and left peacefully. Now that it has been 6 months since we left, we realize it was the best thing. We have been attending a few chuches locally and what a great thing it is to worship. We still have our membership with 5th Ave and are unsure if we will keep it. We are just taking it slow and listening to God and where he wants us. We feel we can never repay the people who have helped. I can tell you this and that is we won't forget. We still talk with our friends from time to time. At this time, we will not return unless leadership changes it direction or leaves. We can not support a church where worldy ways are accepted and biblical truth is not taught to its fullest. I have a feeling God will deal with that on his time. People are leaving and since one pastor is leaving and they are not going to fill that position. That is unfortunate. To all at 5th Ave, thank you, we will not forget.
We had to get new fingerprints in February because our other ones expired. Can you believe it has been 18 months since we were last fingerprinted. No problems this time. In and out in 15 minutes. It was flawless. Now they are good for another 18 months. Hope they don't expire again, then we will have to pay that time. This last time was for a one time extenstion and there was no cost to us.
There are some changes going on with fees while in China for adoption expenses. Some fees are going up. I have a feeling it will be more than we had originally planned with air fair increasing plus the orphanage fee increasing. This was the $3000 that went directly to the orphanage. It has been said the fee could increase to $5000. There in no confirmation of this but we have heard that $3500 is not unlikely by the time we go. Will have to wait and see. We are not worried about it. The CCAA has matched through beginning of January 2006. That is good. They are into 2006, only 11 months to go. We know we made it through the review room. That is the last "approval" we needed. That is like the final look at everything. All is good for now. God will see us through it. We just need to keep trusting him. All thanks and praise go to him.
That is what is going on in our world of adoption. We are hanging in there. Looking forward to Spring and Summer. It was a long cold winter here. We will keep you posted if something changes.

New Years Eve Dance

I have to say that the New Years Eve dance was a blast from the past. Check the pictures. It was a good time with a lot of great food supplied from New China restaraunt. Everyone had a good time and ate a lot of food. The Thoreson punch was a hit. This is normally reserved for Christmas with my side of the family. We went through many pitchers of it. That was a hit. About 30-35 people came. The music was good and the dancing was fun to watch with Kari Smalley giving lessons 2 times during the night. It was good to know that I am not the only one that did not how to swing dance. I learned a few basic dance moves. Thank you to everyone who came. It was fun and I think we have to do it again!

Whoops, where has the time gone.

It has been since August since last post. Nothing has changed. We understand that CCAA has finished reviewing all dossiers through October 31, 2006. Our dossier is logged November 24th. Almost there. This is another step to complete. It really does not mean much, just another step to go. The wait times are still 20-22 months. The way the time line looks, we will either be matched in August or September. We really do not know what will happen because of the Summer Olympics. Most likley, the CCAA will close along with all government agencies in China. That is what we have heard, but do not know for sure. That is ok, I would much rather go after the olympics are over and security, people, and everything else will be more relaxed. Will be "quieter".
We are having another fund raiser on New Years Eve. We are doing a Swing Dance with lessons. The times are from 7:30 to 10:30. We decided on this time because we did not want to keep people late because of all the other "parties" and impaired persons that might be out on the road. This will be fun. We can't wait. We are selling tickets for it as there is a capacity of 90 people. It is being held at Gateway Community Church here in Mayville. So, if you want to come, call us. Tickets are $10/person and $12/person at the door. Kari will be teaching dance lessons. Even if you don't know how, come anyway, lessons are part of the evening. Call us for tickets. Also, appetizers are being served and we asked New China to cater it... Get it... New China. Excellent food. Can't wait for that either. Well, had best close for now. Everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Just think, next year at this time......... Take Care and God Bless.

Time is Moving

It has been along time since the last posting. We made it through the rummage sale with excellent results. We raised $2800.00 from the sale. This year, we did it different. While talking about how to price everything, Roy, Kari, Jennifer and I decided not price the items except for a few larger things. 90% we did not price. It was a success!!! PRAISE GOD! He truly blessed us in that time. People didn't know what to say when we would ask for a donation. There are no prices, just donate what you think is fair. It was a fun outreach for the community. If our numbers are right, we had less sales than the year before, but the amount per sale was more. We all agreed that this is the way to do a rummage. We were able to focus more on set up and preparing than pricing. That saved us a days work. We had a lot of help this year. Marlene kept the clothes organized and folded. That was a blessing. With out her, the clothes would have been a disaster. There were countless others that came and helped with set up and during the sale. Thank you to all for that. We had some of our family come down from Minnesota and help. It was great that they were able to come. I think they had a blast. Found a lot of items and filled the car full. We can not thank our families enough for their support. Next June is only 9 months away....
Nothing new to report on the process. We are waiting, waiting and waiting. It sounds like the CCAA is moving through the dossiers at a steady pace. We are still looking at next summer before we go. But if you think about it, that is is not that far away. We have a lot of work to do here at home to prepare. It is getting done but not as fast as I would like. It will get done though. We ask that you keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. Roy, Kari, Jennifer and I are all so grateful for the support we are receiving from our friends and family. Without them, this process would be a whole lot harder to do. We thank God for what He is doing in our lives. Without him, none of this would be happening. This is His will for us. Thank you God! Until next time... What for an update regarding the Mystery Dinner......soon

Rummage, Rummage, Rummage

Not alot going on since the last posting. Just waiting. We did get some good news in regards to the USCIS fees. We are going to be getting an extension instead of having to go through the process for the 171H paperwork/fingerprinting. This just came out and we don't have a whole lot of details at this time. That is relief. We will not have to pay out another $800.00 for redoing that paperwork/fingerprinting at this time. Thank you God!!!! That affects every couple adopting and more.
We are gearing up for the rummage sale at church. It is next week--June 7-9th. The response we have been receiving is just unbelievable. I have this strange little feeling that it will be bigger and better than last year. Roy and Kari have been receiving a number of items from the members at Gateway Community Church. They are really pitching in to help. What a community of believers. We will start to set up next Monday by sorting than Tuesday and Wednesday will be all out. They will be long days as I am thinking I will be heading in to West Bend early both days to set up. We put an email out for help and we are excited at the response of people. What a great ministry and outreach this will be. We plan to set up coffee, cookies, brochures, etc. We put the ad for the rummage sale in 3 different newspapers and will most likely reach 50,000 people. We hope and pray for a great rummage sale. That people will come and have fun, fellowship and have a cup of coffee also. Will keep you posted on how we do. Until next time--- Take care and God bless all of you!!

New Stuff

It has been a while since the last post. A few things have happened since then that are helping us out. In November Jennifer and I applied for an adoption grant through Shaohannah's Hope to help us with the financials of the adoption. We were told it would be late February or early March before we heard anything. It was mid March when we received a letter from them and they were congratulating us for an adoption grant that we are receiving from them in the amount of $3000.00. Talk about taking your breath away. That was a tremendous boost for us. We thank God for that. Yet, another sign that His hand is working in the adoption. The amount will be sent to our agency through paperwork and they will pay up to that amount for the expenses that will be coming up when we make arrangements to leave. They said if there money left over, it will be given to us and then we can use it for the fees while we are in China. That will make things a lot easier.
We held a fund raiser on April 6 and 7. It was an Antiquities Photo fund raiser. We sold tickets for $10.00 to people/friends/family who wanted to have their child/children photographed in an antique like photo. This was a really neat one because you will get a 10x13 photo for buying the ticket. The photographers will come back next week and then they can purchase packets of pictures. That was 2 long days but let me tell you, after seeing some of the costumes and children, those photo's are going to be adorable. We can't wait to see the photo's. The photographers were excellent and did a great job with the parents/children. We are going to do another one of these later this summer/early fall. I will set a link to the right to their website so you can take a look.
We are planning our next "Mystery Dinner" for May 6th. It is Mystery in the Library. What happened to King George? Looks like a lot of fun. You will get to dress up as a favorite fairy tale character. We are finishing up invitations and hope to send out tomorrow. What for more on that later.
The rummage sale is coming at our church in June. It will be June 7-9. We already are collecting items and people are telling us now that they have items for us. This will be bigger then last year so we are going to need help. If you can help setting up or during the rummage sale, contact us. I have a monetary goal of $2500.00 for this. I know it is a lot, but it can be done.
We have changed our focus on the adoption fund raising. We want to bring awareness of adoption, our journey and tell others of adoption. This journey has been awesome to travel so far. It is only going to get better and when we travel to China, that will the "Highlight" of it. It is like you are just cruising along on an interstate at 90mph and you know the city is coming up, it is there, but you just aren't there yet. That is how it feels to me. It is fairly smooth with only minor road bumps. Some of the road bumps are going to be when we have to redo fingerprinting/immigration paperwork. Fees are going up for these also. That will be a minor inconvenience but we will get through it. I will have to start doctoring those fingers of mine so I can go right through it this time. It will be fine.
We have "teamed" up with Roy and Kari Smalley for the fund raising. Roy and Kari are committed Christians and they are walking this journey like we are. We will be doing the rummage sale with them. There are members from their home church that will be donating items along with members from our home church. They live only a few blocks away from us. We have been spending some time with them and getting to know them even more. We are doing a parenting bible study. It is great. There are good pointers and helpful advise for parents. I hope that will help us give a solid foundation to our children. There are many things to that but it is a tool to help. They are a great couple and we know we have established a life long bond with them.
We felt that the focus of fund raising would be taken off of us and directed towards the process of adoption, adoption it self and everything else that goes with it. It isn't about the money, it is about adoption and the journey God is taking us on. We have submitted to him the adoption and are leaving it in His hands. It is only by His hands that this will be fulfilled. I know that may sound different, but that is how we feel. That is where we are at in our faith journey. It's about growing as we go. And this is helping us with that. When we are all done with the process, what a great ministry about adoption we will be able to tell others. This is only part way into the journey and as we get closer the more there will be able to tell. God Bless all of you.

Update with Upcoming Stuff

It has been almost 2 months since the last posting. There is no change. We are waiting. We maybe waiting even a little longer now. The times are increasing. It will be sometime next spring with the way it is going. That is ok though. That will give us time to get the house finished even more and save even a little more money.
We have some upcoming fundraisers. After some thought and consideration, Jennifer and I along with Roy and Kari Smalley are teaming up with fundraising. They are logged in 3 weeks ahead of us. I know Jennifer and I feel our focus is changing. We want to bring awareness about adoption and how it will change lives. It is so different when you adopt compared to have a child naturally. We feel that as a group of 4 that we can do this. Our goal is to keep awareness out there.
Back to the fundraisers, in a nut shell, we are doing a great one now with antiquities photos. It is really cool. You buy a ticket for $10.00 and you get a photo sitting. This is for children up to age 16. The photo look really neat, especially of young children. Kind of like the ones you would have taken at a county, state fair. Dress up and pose. With the $10.00 you get an 8 x 10 photo. When you pick it up, it is then you buy different packages with different sizes. We are hoping to sell a minimum of 60 tickets (we have to) and want to do it at the end of March. If you want a ticket, see or call Jennifer or myself - SOON.
The next thing we are doing is a MYSTERY DINNER. Hopefully in April. The Library is this one. You can dress up as one of your favorite story book characters. We have the list. Call us if you want to attend. It is alot of fun to do these. Can't wait.
Then in June, the first Thursday - Saturday we doing the Rummage Sale at Fifth Ave. UMC. We did it last year and it was a huge success. This year we doing it on Thursday also. We are under the understanding this is the day the "professional" rummagers are out. I have a sinking feeling we are going to run out of room. Not that is a bad thing. We are collecting boxes already for it from generous people. We are being asked about it and this is going be twice as big as last year. Plus, we have a good time setting up. It is hard work, but is it fun.
That is it right now. There are a few more things we are talking about after the 4th of July. We will post more on that stuff later.
Again, we (all 4 of us) want to THANK everyone who is behind us. All of you are a huge support in your way and I wish we could tell everyone thank you. We forget sometimes. This is going to be a great year. We are going to be ready to go financially, maybe emotionally, and hopefully physically. This is not an easy task. It takes a lot hard work but will it be worth it 10 fold. Check back soon and hopefully we will have an update about the photo shoot and The Library mystery dinner.
Again, THANK YOU TO ALL!!

Mike

A New Year 2007

I truely believe this is going to be a great year. We have so much to do, so little time. A year will go by fast if you are not careful. We have a house to baby proof yet and that will get done once summer comes around. We will start on little things now but the larger stuff will get done when the weather is warmer. As I look back at 2006 it went by in a blur. The adoption paperwork and appointments kept us going. Always to do something. Now, it is different. The paperwork is done, but now it is the house.
We have so many people praying, supporting, helping us in their own way, it is hard to say thank you sometimes. I have the plan, a plan but maybe it will come together, and that is when we get back home with our little one, and after we settle down, we hope to have a party. A GREAT BIG PARTY for everyone that was there to support us in the way that they did. Only one small way to say thank you.
2007 is upon us and we have still alot of work to do. Some fundraising ideas are in the back of our minds. We hope to have the rummage sale again the first weekend in June. We may even team up with the Smalley's and do it together. They are only a few weeks ahead of us. We may even do some other fundraising with them. Geogia from Georgias Bridal deserves a great big THANK YOU for her generousity. She had ordered and sold jewelry with 100% of the proceeds going to our adoption fund and the Smalley's adoption fund. She raised over $200 by doing this. She has been such a supporter for both the Smalley's and us. So, THANK YOU Georgia!!! You are truely a great blessing to us. You are in our prayers. There is going to be some fun times coming up. As always, keep us in your prayers. Thanks

Angel Donor

The day after we got home from our Christmas trip to Minnesota we got a call from Alana our church secretary. She said someone from Mayville had called the church to ask about donating to our adoption fund. This person then contributed $500.00, but asked to remain anonymous.
Mike and I are utterly amazed and humbled by this generosity. Words cannot describe how deeply this whole process has touched us. Whoever you are - I am glad you have remained anonymous because there is no way we can humanly thank you enough. As much as I would like to be able to say thank you face to face, I have complete faith that God will reward you for your generosity and your discretion. Know that we are praying for blessings to reign down on you for God's word says: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured out into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38 And: "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:3-4
Thank you to all of you who have contributed to our adoption fund. We are not worthy of this trust and generosity. Pray for us that we may be good stewards of these God given gifts. We know these gifts are not for Mike and Jennifer, but for God's will to be done through us when we bring home that precious child he has chosen for us.
To God be the glory forever, and ever. - Jennifer

WE ARE LOGGED IN!!!!

We received confirmation today that our LID is November 24. We are officially logged in with CCAA. Now the wait. We count down from this day. About 14-16 months is what the time frame looks like. Keep checking back occasionally for different updates, fundraisers, etc. Thanks!!! Mike
For those of you who don't know - the LID (or Log in Date) is the all important date in Chinese adoption. It means official recognition and exceptence into China's adpotion system. Everything up to this point had been paperwork and approvals on this side of the ocean. So recieving that final piece of approval is very exciting.
The next coorespondence we will be recieving is our pre-travel planning information which I think comes 6-8 months from now. There will then be a couple of other travel info packets before the long awaited "match day" when we recieve the name and picture of our match baby or babies! Match day is about 12-13 months away. After we recieve the match we will have 5-8 weeks until we travel. Of course, keep in mind that all of these dates and times could change at any moment. So now you know as much as we do!! Jennifer

Sucessful cook off

We got to experience another amazing fundraising event today. Our chili cook off got people all fired up:-) We held it jointly with Roy and Kari Smalley who are also adopting from China. Friends, family, and strangers turned out to compete and to buy the chili. Including Roy's and my chili (we didn't compete for the prizes) there were 13 different chilies to choose from. I had no idea there were so many different ways to make chili! There was turkey, venison, pork, beef, sausage, and that was just the meats! We even had a tofu entrant.
My sister Tina captured 1St place with a venison chili that had red wine, cinnamon, and choclate in it.
It was a long day so we will write more tomorrow and hopefullu get a picture up.

Being Translated

As of today October 27, 2006 our dossier is being translated. We were able to get a document changed and overnighted it to our agency. Had to make a minor correction. It is done, the paperwork is done!!!!! For now- we are done, kind of. Once our dossier is translated it will be sent to China. From there it will be about 3-5 weeks before we are "logged" in. That day we are "logged" in is when the countdown begins. It will be about 14 months from that day.
On Saturday November 11 from 1-4 pm a few of the local businesses are sponsoring a chili cook off fundraiser. This is for our adoption and for Roy and Kari Smalley. Their dossier is on it's way to China or already is there. We aren't that far behind them. Keep that Saturday open. Come to Mayville to try some chili and have a visit. We will all be there. This will be a lot of fun. The businesses are Georgia's Bridal, Celtic Crossroad Cafe and Mortgage Central. Thanks to Georgia G., Cyndy B. and Kris Steinbach for doing this and being sponsors. If you can cook a killer chili, enter it. Hot, medium, mild, doesn't matter. Hope there is some for everybodies like. The more chili the better. There will be door prizes and prizes for first, second, and third. Cyndy asked the local radio personalities to judge the chili and they one uped and said they would plus they will promote it on the radio. Can't wait to hear it. Will keep you all posted as the next steps happen. Keep us in your prayers that this next step goes smoothly and we get our log in date. This is a very important step. God bless all of you. Thanks.

We Are There.....Just about

Just about!!!! On October 16 we overnighted our dossier to our CCAI. We finally got enough pictures taken and prepared it and photocopied it all. It is there. Aside from 2 small corrections that we have to make it is approved and ready to be sent to China. We will get the changes made and on Monday we will get the papers and hopefully get them notarized on Monday evening and then overnight them to CCAI so they will get the changes Wednesday. Hopefully by the end of the week, CCAI will have sent it out. Now the waiting begins. The updates will continue but there is only a few left until we receive our match in about 14-16 months. We will try and keep everyone informed as the last few things happen. Thanks to all. Now is the time for patience!!!!

Almost....

Almost there. We have received all documents back from the Chinese Consulates. They all have their approval. We just need to take some pictures and then it is time to mail our dossier to our agency. We have finished all paperwork for now. I don't know of any other paperwork and if there is it will be when it time to go to China. Almost. Will keep you posted.

Another step down, only a few left

On Sept. 11 we mailed out documents to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago and San Fransisco. The documents were returned today from the Consulate in Chicago with their approvals of our documents. We are waiting on the return of the document from San Fransisco. We had to mail Jennifers birth certificate to that one because she was born in the state of Washington. Chicago is the one for the midwest. Once we get the certificate from San Fransisco we will be going through and making sure everything is done and sending to our agency. Almost there.

Finally, we are moving forward!!

Now that we received the 171H approval we have been able to move forward. This next round is going to go fast. We sent for the notary certifications and received that back in 2 days. We now gather our notarized paperwork and the certifications and send them to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. From what I understand they approve the certifications and notarized documents. They return to us their approval and paperwork and then we gather everything up and send it to our agency in Colorado. From that point, we wait. We will have completed all paperwork at that point. Finally, we made it and have completed it. The waits starts but we know there is light at the end of the tunnel. The wait time is about 16 months right now.
We have another round of fees we will need to pay. We are about $1200.00 short for this next round. There is the $2300 adoption agency fee. The $400 dossier prep fee (translation) and about $600 in fees for the Chinese government. After this we will have time to save for when we go. We will need about $10,000 for what is left. $3000.00 of that is already taken care from our Will and Memorials fund at church. The $3000.00 is for the orphanage that we receive the child from and that is given directly to them. The balance could change slightly because of air fare rates and in China accommodations. We are applying for grants this week maybe we will be receiving a few so we can get ahead start on saving for when we go. I feel there is nothing to worry about. So far everything has been met and with no problems.
We have another mystery dinner we are thinking about doing around halloween. It is called "The Library". One would dress as a favorite character from classic books. Huck Fin, Peter Pan, etc. I think it is for 30 people. We don't think we will do this as a fund raiser but more of a "free will". I think we have asked for all the fundraising we can do at this point. It is so hard to ask for help with funding. That's why we think a free will is better. If no money were to be raised, that is fine. Most importantly, we were able to gather as a group and have fun and fellowship. (We are talking about, and have been asked, doing another rummage sale next spring at church. I think we will because it was so much fun and most important a great ministry for our church.) Anyway, the mystery dinner looks like a lot of fun and we think it would be a lot of fun just do with friends and family. Don't know where we would have it but possibly at church or something similar. Need some room. Will keep you posted on that.
We will keep you updated over the next few weeks as we prepare to send everything off.

Just When You Think.......

Just when you think.... about this whole process and the wait, the paperwork, the wait, etc..... Today we received our 171H from USCIS!!!!!! This was supposed to take 60-90 days to get. We got ours in 26 days. This is a very important piece of paperwork. We now have the necessary approval (from the US) for our adoption to continue. Now we have to get our notaries approved by the state of Wisconsin, then send off to the Chinese consulant/embassy for their approval, then we send it off to our agency in Colorado, then they translate and and sent off to China for us to be put in the system.
I guess you can say our USCIS office is quick. The other couple from Mayville that is also adopting from China received their approval on the 90 day mark.
I am sure to say this is an answer to (our and your) prayers and most definately-- it is all Gods timing. Remember this Bible verse from Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.
Just when we were getting ready to start sending off some paperwork to have ready for when we get the 171H to get ahead, we are now alittle behind. It is time to start sending off notary for approvals and for grants. We have to get caught up now. Whan can we say. God is good. Until Next Time.....

And the Wait goes on

Just so you don't think we have fallen off the face of the earth - nothing new to report yet. We are still waiting for our FBI/immigration piece of paper that says our fingerprints have been cleared. We probably won't see that for another 30 to 60 days.
We are just working on things around home. We will be starting the second phase of our remodeling projects in the next couple of weeks. We have a door to replace, a window to put in, and a ceiling to insulate before winter gets here. We still have indoor and outdoor painting to do, but we will get to that when we can.
I just have to say that every day that goes by in this long drawn out process, the more firmly I believe that this is whole thing is covered by God. Everything good that has ever come into my life has been His doing - it is just that it usually takes me quite a while to come around to His way of thinking. I have gotten to the point (after many years of banging my head against the wall) that I can pretty much tell when God wants me to go a certain direction with my life, because I usually do't want anything to do with it. So, defying all logical explinations, I dig in my heals and pitch a fit because God's way is different than mine - even when I know His outcome will be better than mine.
I have to be totally honest - I didn't want to adopt. After Mike got sick and we were told we probably wouldn't be able to have children of our own I decided we would be the exception to that rule. God saw Mike through all of the surgeries and treatments and back to full health. Of course God would provide us with the minor miracle of a child, because I knew was close to God and that we had an understanding. He (God) would save Mike from cancer, Mike and I would dedicate our lives to Him, He would bless our commitment with a baby. Made perfect sense to me.
Have any of you every seen the bungie cord game where you attach yourself to a bungie cord that has a big inflatable air pillow behind it and run full speed ahead as far as you can? Well you know what happens, just when you think you can hold it, the laws of super elastic kick in and wham, splat! Back into the pillow.
I was running full steam ahead with my plan - I never even noticed that as soon as you give your life to Christ you automatically get the bungie cord of the Spirit. I stretched that cord as far as I possibly could this time. I'm still trying to clear my head because I hit that pillow so hard:-)
The first thing I realized when I hit was that even though I didn't understand His plan, I needed to be obedient to what I knew God wanted me to do. And in a moment of reluctant insight I knew he wanted us to adopted a baby. Not just any baby and quite possibly babies plural from China.
I have more to say - but it's getting late and I have to get up very early tomorrow so - to be continued........
Jennifer

Fingerprinting is Complete

Today, I was able to be fingerprinted. My fingers had healed enough to pass. Of course there is always a chance the FBI can reject them but they didn't think so. They viewed them and said have a nice day. In and out within 15 minutes. I am not aware of a government office operating at that type of lightning speed. It was nice. Got there at 8:30am and by the time we walked out it was before 9am. 3rd shift was kicking my butt, am I tired. I should go back to bed but I need to eat. Now we wait. It sounds like it will take the 90 days to receive the 171H paperwork for approval or denial. Once we have that paper we can finish our paper work and send it to our agency. Once they have it, with 2 weeks roughly they will prepare and send it to the Chinese gov't for us to be entered into their system. Once we have been entered (which can take 30-60 days) we will have the ever so need Log In Date. From there the wait begins. Right now it is 12-15 months from that date. So if you add up the time line if we receive the 171H in 90 days that will be November 1st. Allow 1-2 weeks for us to makes sure we have all of our paperwork ready. Mail all our paperwork to our agency and they will prepare it for China. They send it off in 2 weeks. That would be about Thanksgiving. Now you have to allow for the 30-60 days for the Chinese government to enter us into their system. That would put us at about beginning of Febuary. From there we wait the 12-15 months to go. YES, that is a long time but don't forget our heading for this. It is a walk by faith. 90 percent of people would never want to go through this process because it is long. It is grueling. It is frustrating and on and on and on. But with the good Lord doing this we have to understand that it is his timing. Everyone needs to know that there is a child already picked out for us and it has to fall into place. Don't be impatient or frustrated about this process, just understand that God is in control and we will do what we are supposed to do. When we arrive home after all of this, everyone will truely know why it took the amount of time it did. I have heard it said time and time again, "I would rather go through a normal pregnancy than do that". Not us, we prefer the hard path to take. And so far, it isn't hard. We are welcoming this walk of faith for us to grow in Jesus Christ through this process. He is teaching us valuable lesson through this walk. So, in closing, don't lose heart, keep strong for us, and most of all--PRAY for us for this process. The power of prayer is more powerful than anything else. Until next time-- God bless.

Mike

Delayed-- Temporarily

We had a minor setback yesterday for fingerprinting. Being I work with my hands alot and doing alot of assembly work (at work or at home/shop) I usually have nuts and bolts in my hands. Being I use my thumb and index finger (either hand) I have somewhat dried out skin. Well, it was bad enough that they couldn't do my fingerprinting. Jennifer was able to do hers. I will have to go back on July 31st and do it then. The sheet we received from USCIS with our appointment says not to have any cuts, scrapes, etc. Not realizing what they meant. They mean even stuff not visible to the human eye is picked up on these machines. It is high tech. They put my thumb on there and it appeared on the screen in front and you could see any little cut/crack what ever. They suggested that I "nurse" my fingers and soak them and use a lot of hand lotion. They did say the one good thing about it is that we only drove 1 1/2 to get there. They have had to turn people away who have come from Michigan and Iowa. Felt better after hearing that. They even said one gentlemen who is a wood worker took a month off from work for his fingers to heal properly so they could do his fingerprinting. So, I will go back on July 31 at 8am and try again. It's like I almost want to wrap them in some kind of bubble rap to protect them. Even a paper cut the size of a pin head could be rejected. That is it for now. Don't be discouraged about this process. It is going to take awhile. Jennifer and I have a whole lot of faith in this and we are trusting God that this is all part of it. There is a special little boy, girl, siblings, twins etc that he has waiting for us and it has to be on HIS timing. It is a hard thing to understand sometimes but in the end, we will truely understand it and know why we had to do what we had to do. It's up to Him, not us. We would want it now, but this isn't one of those buy it and have it now situations. Have faith, and alot of it. It's easier. Until next time.

Mike