And we're off.....

I can't believe we are finally going to China. It has already been an adventure. We have ran around for the last four days (after having two and half years to prepare) almost nonstop. But we are about to have 22 hours of sitting around. Oh and for those of you counting (we have 13 1/2 hours from Detroit to Tokyo, not 12 like I thought) Woohoo an hour and half more on the plane(hope no one missed the sarcasm in that last sentence).

After much prayer, many tears, countless paperwork and a wait that seemed to never end, we are on our way to our sweet baby girl. I cannot believe it. Our next post will be from our daughter's homeland. I thought you might like to see the bags all packed. I don't know how we did it but I think we managed to pack the entire local Wal-mart and Babies R Us in our bags. :)

I cannot leave here without thanking each of you that have played such an important part in our adoption. You have loved us, encouraged us, prayed for us, listened to us complain about the wait and been there for us so many times in so many ways.

Over 2 1/2 years ago, God put a dream in our hearts. That we would travel half way around the world, to a land we never dreamed we would visit to pick up the most precious gift....our daughter. And now that dream is finally coming true:

Habakkuk 2:2-3 (Contemporary English Version)

"2Then the LORD told me:"I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance. 3At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting--it will happen!"

God showed that verse to us and WOW how true it is. God is good. I cannot end without thanking our Heavenly Father who has truly been by our side through every step, every tear, every disappointment, every delay and every joy. GOD IS GOOD.

Love,

Scott and Shelley......and soon little Miss Anna

China Itinerary...it's getting more real

So exciting news. We got our schedule for our adoption. We know what we'll be doing everyday, when we'll get Anna and where we'll be each day. Here is the schedule:

February 5, 2009        Arrive in Beijing.  Stay at Days Hotel &
Suites.

February 6, 2009        Orientation meeting at 10:00 a.m.  Acrobatic show
in the afternoon.

February 7, 2009        Visit the Great Wall and Cloisonne Factory;
Tiananman Square & Forbidden City.

February 8, 2009        Flight to Fuzhou; stay at
Lakeside Hotel.  Receive Anna in the afternoon.

February 9, 2009        Adoption registration and notarization.

February 10, 2009       Free day

February 11, 2009       Visit West Lake Park and Fujian Provincial Museum.

February 12, 2009       Visit Old Town Street and Riverside Park.

February 13, 2009       Receive all the documents.   Flight to Guangzhou; stay at
the White Swan Hotel.

February 14, 2009       Meeting at 3:00 p.m. to prepare for the consulate
documents.

February 15, 2009       Free day

February 16, 2009       Medical exam in the morning.

February 17, 2009       Visa appointment.

February 18, 2009       3:00 p.m.  Go to the consulate to take the oath
and pick up visa.

February 19, 2009       Flight to Tokyo.  Connecting
flight to U.S.A. COME HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

So that is our schedule.  We are sooooooooooooooooooo excited.  Only two
more weeks.  Praise the Lord.

Gotcha Day Changed????????

We got an update from our agency that we need to be in Anna's province a day longer so we have no choice but to go a day sooner. So we'll go to the province Sunday, February 8th not Monday, February 9th so I think that would mean we get Anna a day sooner. YEAH but that means we only have 2 days in Beijing instead of 3. Right now they are saying that means we'll miss seeing Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We are going to see if we can skip out on the Cloisonne Factory and go on our own and meet up with the group later. We still get to go to The Great Wall. So we shall see. Only three weeks till we leave :).

UPDATE (TUESDAY):

WE GOT AN EMAIL FROM OUR SOCIAL WORKER AND WE WON'T MISS ANYTHING. WE ARE GOING TO GO TO THE GREAT WALL AND THE CLOISONNE FACTORY SATURDAY MORNING AND THEN OUR GUIDE IS GOING TO TAKE SCOTT AND I TO TIANANMEN SQUARE AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY. SO WE WILL HAVE A JAM PACKED TWO DAYS IN BEIJING. FINE BY ME. THE TIME WILL FLY TILL WE GET ANNA

Travel Dates

Well we have TA. and that means we have our travel dates. We will leave here February 2 or 3rd and return February 19th. We should get Anna February 9th. We are sad that we have to wait six more weeks to get her but happy that we have travel dates and know when we will finally get her. Please pray that the next 6 weeks will go quickly and will be enjoyable.

Here she is Miss America......

Ok not really but she is beautiful enough to win any contest HANDS DOWN!!!! We got updated pictures of our sweet girl today. We sent her a care package through Blessed Kids. We got an email Tuesday letting us know that she got the package. Then we got a second email saying that her contact got updated pictures of Anna and if we wanted them she would give us a quote. Well of course we said yes and here they are. We think she is beautiful. ENJOY-

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. We have a lot to be thankful for. We are thankful for our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are thankful for godly family and friends who love us, pray for us and support us through live. We are thankful for the wonderful blessing of Anna who will be home very soon.

Anna update:

We got two updates on Anna. She is now 20 pounds and 28 inches long. She has 9 teeth. She understands simple terms. She is not talking or walking yet. She will laugh if you tease her. And then we got a second update:

Her lip has been fixed. Praise the Lord. We were praying that she would go ahead and have the surgery....probably the reason for the weight gain.

We are hoping to travel in the next 5-6 weeks. We have been busy with the small details that we have had to wait on. We are working on packing....man does one little girl require a whole lot!!! We are packing and repacking to get it all in. We bought the last of the supplies we need for the trip (or at least we think we have).

We put the Christmas tree up today and I cried a lot..not sad tears but happy tears because when we take it down.......................Anna will be here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are leaving it up till she gets home and then we are going to have Christmas when she gets home since it'll be the first of January or at least we hope. We are waiting for TA (travel approval) to know officially when we'll be traveling. We think it should be the end of December beginning of January. So not too much longer now.

Happy Turkey Day

Here she is

Our beautiful baby girl

Here she is saying "Mom I need a manicure and a pedicure":)

Well everyone ....we have our LOA so we can show her picture. Scott came to work today and surprised me. I thought that he was telling me his granddaddy has passed but he wasn't crying; so then I thought that we got an update. We had asked Monday for an update on her size, if she has had the surgery for her lip etc. Bethany told us that they would get us an update but that it would take a couple of days. So when I saw Scott smiling I asked "Did we get an update?" and he said, "Well we got an update" and I said "Don't tell me we got our LOA?" and he said we did and well then there was much celebration. We are so thrilled that we are officially approved by China to adopt our beautiful daughter.

We are hoping that we will travel by New Years. There isn't enough time to travel by Christmas because there is a group leaving in two and half weeks and we won't be able to get our LOA back and get our travel approval. But we should be able to travel right after Christmas hopefully. It'll depend if there is a Consulate Appointment available. So please pray that we are able to travel by the end of December and early January.

Two happy parents!!!