The good news and the bad

Well this morning was a roller coaster of a morning. I received another email from immigration letting me know our file was complete and was being mailed off. Yea!!!! That meant I didn't have to make a 6 hour round trip to pick it up next week. As excited as I was one minute the next minute I was deflated. Our agency called and I could tell by her voice she was saddened with the news she had for me. They tried and tried to get consulate appointments for not only us but several other families, but the Chinese Consulate was completely overbooked. They were completely booked up through Oct 9th. That knocked our September 13th date out of the water. I was dissapointed to say the least. As she talked I kept thinking "God has perfect timing, God has perfect timing". I know that helped relieve some of the pain, momentarily anyways. With all of the closures in China in October due to Chinese holidays and the Trade Fair I knew it was on to our second option for travel. October 25th..Yuck!!! That's another 58 days until I meet Annabel and I was so thinking that 11 days seemed like an eternity. I am not thrilled but after waiting almost 2 years since God layed adoption on our hearts...it's just a few more weeks..a drop in the bucket. At least we finally have a confirmed date of travel. YEA!!! I know I sound so ok with it right now. Believe me I had my deep belly crying episode this morning. I was so glad the kids were at school. They would have thought the world was coming to an end. When I was done and proceeded to pick myself up I felt God nudging me to open my bible. I did and isn't it amazing how He always has the perfect words for our aching hearts? He simply layed the kids on my heart over and over and reminded me that His timing is always perfect. The kids really need us over the next few weeks to help them fall into some patterns with school just starting. Especially with them each starting new schools. And we have some special events that we would have missed had we been gone. So we will dedicate the rest of our wait time to praying for Annabel, working on getting the house baby proofed, painting bathrooms, continue with our responsibilities that God has called us to do at church, working our jobs, holding garage sales to make room for baby, and as I have heard many times...this too shall pass. Before we know it we will be on a plane headed for China. It might be a little colder then it would have been had we left next week...but hey we are use to cold winters right? Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes. Continue to pray for all the families leaving next week. I can't wait to follow their reuinions with their children.

God is answering prayers!!!

Keep those prayers coming. We can feel them. I got an email this morning from the Immigration office that our file would be completed in the next couple of days. I don't see this as a problem any longer. If I have to drive over and pick up my I-171H on Tuesday or Wednesday I can always do that. But I am sure they would over night it to me since they realize the urgency. Mark and I decided if we have to skip the Bejing tour we would do that too. We just don't want to wait until the end of October to travel with the next travel group. Many agencies don't send groups over in October because there are various fairs and such going on in Bejing during that time frame. So our choices were next week or the end of October. Now you see why we are asking for those prayers. So we are just waiting to hear now whether we have a Consulate Appointment. I am confident God will answer that prayer too. He has taken us through so much to get us to today. It has been a tremendous growing experience and we are grateful for all that we have learned. But the simple fact is that it is time for Annabel to have a family. I am packed and it is time to pick her up. It's just that simple. God is more powerful then a piece of paper and more powerful then an appointment. I have faith He will make it happen for her. Not for us...but for her. Well let's be honest....there's a little something in it for us too. hehe. A precious little girl who is going to grow up knowing Jesus and the love of a family. It doesn't get much better then that!!!!

Travel Approval has arrived!!!!!

Oh my goodness I am so thrilled that I can hardly see straight. We got the phone call today that our "TA" arrived. That means "Travel Approval". So now our agency is doing all they can to get us on a plane with the next group which leaves....are you ready for this...... NEXT WEEK!!!!! Please say a special prayer for this to all fall into place. We still need a consulate appointment confirmed as well as one very important piece of paper known as an I-171H to be expedited to us from the immigration office. I am not worried at all. If God's plan is for us to fly out next week then I am confident He will make it happen. I am so glad that I started packing two weeks ago. I actually don't feel as stressed as I thought I would about having everything ready to go. Now I just need to figure out where my kids are going each night after school. If anyone out there wants one or two extra children just let me know. I have tried to fan them out to various friends and family members but I still have a couple empty spots to fill. Thank you so much to everyone who has offered to help already. Be ready because now I will need to take you up on your offers. Your willingness to help us during this time frame means more to us then you can imagine. God Bless, Tamara

Annabel is doing great!!!!

I have to share with you something that happened this morning when I read my email. When you are waiting to receive your TA to travel to get your child...it can be rather grouling. Of course we want to get on a plane tomorrow and get her but God might have a different plan. You hold on to any hope and words of encouragement to know fully that your child is being well cared for until the day you receive her. Anyway, I belong to a chat group for my orphanage and I received the following email from a women this morning who visited our orphanage last week. I have included the parts that pertained to Annabel and our orphanage. I have to tell you that I cried and cried for an hour after reading it. I believe in my heart this is our daughter she is referring to and I feel so blessed that she is being well cared for.....

"Thought you would be interested....I was visiting the orphanage last week with my 7 year old daughter Molly. We spent a couple of hours with the babies,holding and playing with them. Director Chen pointed out a little girl who was to be adopted soon...your description of your daughter fits this little girl we saw. She is small, but was walking and active and fine. This little girl actually looked as if her cleft lip had been somewhat repaired? Either that, or what she has is not too disfiguring to begin with. I wasnt allowed to take alot of pictures, just a couple of my own daughter playing with the babies. ButI figure you're interested in any sightings....The Kunshan orphanage is apparently considered a good example of how an orphanage should be run in China...I was told by the director in the Nanjing orphanage(which we visited prior to our kunshan visit)that caretakers throughout the region get sent to Kunshan for training...and Director Chen was very open with me as to what was in my daughter's files, etc,making it clear that they would send any new information they might ever get on my daughter....I know your own daughter is well cared for,as have been all of our children who have come from there...good luck to yourfamily."

Amber is growing up

Amber then and Amber now. Wow time goes tooooo fast. Cherish every single day of your children's lives. Amber had her first High School dance last week. I just can not believe how time flies. Just yesterday she was sitting on Santas lap asking for barbies for Christmas. She had a great time at the dance. School hasn't even started yet but they had a mixer for all the High School kids to come and just hang out. I am so looking forward to her High School years. She had 2 orientations this past week with parents and then a student only day time event as well. She doesn't offically start until this week but has already spent time at the High School four days last week. She is taking JROTC as one of her electives. She is going to have such a great time. She has already decided she wants to go out for three of the extracurricular teams. Rifle team, Drill team and orienteering. In two weeks they actually have their first overnighter. They call it "Boot Camp". Two days of being trained by the Marines in the way of team building and confidence building. She is especially excited about the dunk tank training they will receive. I am so proud of her boldness and desire to try new things. I believe she is going to have a fabulous time in High School.

Our care package has hit Chinese soil

Now on to a more serious note. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I just checked our USPS tracking number and discovered that our care package to Annabel arrived in China yesterday. It is due to be delivered to Annabel's orphanage tomorrow. I sent her the softest blanket I have ever felt, a baby doll, a photo album with pictures of her new forever family...including the dog and cat, as well as two disposable cameras for the nanny's to take photos of Annabel and her friends, along with instructions on the cameras and a list of questions for them to fill out about her daily habits and schedules. Of course it is all in not only English but in Chinese as well. Just knowing that tomorrow she will be able to look at the photo album and start to familiarize herself with our faces makes me break into tears. I cannot wait to hold her in my arms. We have been staying very very busy the last two weeks trying to get everything together for our trip and the start of a new school year. We spent today shopping for school items and went to the movies. We saw the movie "Hairspray". It was really cute. When Joey found out that John Travolta was the mother in a fat suit and dressed like a women his response was, "That is just so wrong". We laughed our heads off. Leave it to Joey to keep us in stitches. While we were at the mall today we also found a Chinese/Mandarin/English phrase book that is going to be priceless during our trip. Looking over it I couldn't think of anything else that wasn't listed in there. That was the best find of the day. Praise God!!!!

The Wig!!!

Did you all know Mark had a twin sister? Isn't she lovely???? Not!!! This was taken after a long week of final exams. We are very proud of Mark for finishing his education while working full time. He is on track to finish his BA in Religion next summer. Then it is on to his Masters in Divinity. God has a special calling for him and we are very blessed to have him follow that calling. We couldn't let Mark have all the fun. Amber and Chantel got in on the action as well. This was a wig from the playhouse used for an event at Chantel's church for VBS. It was fun to let off some steam. I have pics of me in it too...but since I am the narrator I get to choose all the embarrassing photos. hehe