An Emma doll????

A local adoption friend, Kim Landes, emailed that she had gone to Walmart and saw a doll that had a giraffe like the picture of Emma we have on the right side of the blog. We had to check it out, and here it is.....

Does it look like her? We tried to pose the hands, but couldn't make them stay. Well, almost, but not quite as cute as our baby girl!!!

Got an email today...

We received word today that we will have to formally withdraw our Dossier from China through Living Hope, and resubmit it through A Helping Hand. We have already contacted LH, and they have agreed to fax a withdrawal request and let us know when they receive our Dossier back from CCAA. At that point, they will forward it to A Helping Hand, who will add the updated info that we are now working to complete, and it will then be resubmitted through AHH. We are still faithfully praying that God will work miracles, and that our request to expedite our getting her here is approved once they have the paperwork back.

Please pray with us for this!

Emma is 13 months old today!!

Another month older without mom and dad!! We need to get our baby soon!! Here is a doll she received at our baby shower. We will be sending it to her as soon as we have travel approval - pray we receive good news from CCAA this upcoming week!!

Scriptural reminder for us as we wait

Today is the 11 month anniversary of LID!!

Today, we have been logged in to CCAA for 11 months. Sometimes it seems like forever!! Bobby's sister gave him this scroll with Chinese characters. We thought we would hang it in her room, but wanted to know what it said first. We took it with us to the Chinese New Year celebration, and Pearl Fu read it for us. It says: "Jesus is Lord."

Even in Chinese, He reminds us He is in control! See the picture below. Pretty cool!! It will definitely be a part of her decor!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the Chinese Calendar, 2007 is the Year of the Pig (boar) It is alsoknown by its former name of Ding Hai.

We celebrated Chinese New Year locally with Sister Cities, and our local FCC chapter. It was a festive, and very informative event. Pearl Fu, with Local Colors here in Roanoke announced that there were over 70 families in the area who had adopted children from China. Many of them were in attendance, and it was so wonderful to see all the children!! One day soon, our little Emma will join our group, and have many playmates from her homeland.

Sad news today

We received a call from AHH today that CCAA had notified them that they will no longer approve a joint referral. What this means is that we will now have to get our dossier back from China, update a couple of things, and resubmit it through AHH. This is so sad for us because it means that our daughter will now be delayed in getting the medical attention she needs a bit longer. AHH is requesting CCAA to reconsider, and we hope to have a response sometime tomorrow morning. Please pray that they will reconsider and let us have our baby girl very soon!!!

We do know that God is still in control, and that He loves Emma more than we do. His timing will be perfect, it is just sometimes difficult for us to understand. We have faith that He will keep her well until she is home with us!

Happy Valentine's Day, Emma!!

So many hearts here waiting to love you!! We can't wait to get our baby girl home!!!!

BABY SHOWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT FUN IT WAS...

Our Sunday School class gave us a baby shower on Saturday in the church fellowship hall. It was just wonderful!! We had great food, wonderful fellowship of friends and family, and so many nice things for Emma to wear, play with, sleep on, and ride in!! I am posting a few pics below from the shower.

My husband's step-sister gave us this beautiful blanket made from Chinese silk - she is so talented!!! Emma will just love this, I am sure. We are truly blessed!

One year ago today...

We received the following email from Living Hope, our adoption agency:

CONGRATULATIONS! Your dossiers were sent to China today, Febraury 13th, 2006! I am thrilled for each one of you and it has been great working with each of you! You are now entering the Waiting Phase of the adoption process, which may seem daunting, but please remember that we are always here for you! If you need anything as you wait, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Currently, it is taking 3-4 weeks to get logged into the CCAA, and it will take approximately one month (after you are logged in) for us to receive confirmation regarding your log in date. Once you are logged in, the current referral time is 8-9 months. This time frame has been fluctuating for some time, so it is hard to predict how the time frame will continue to move. I will keep you up to date regarding any changes. Once you receive your referral, it typically takes 7-8 weeks until you travel.

Again…CONGRATULATIONS! We are thrilled to be sending your paperwork to China! You can now take a big sigh of relief and celebrate!

Capture a child's heart, one life at a time...

Sometimes, it seems like it was just yesterday, and at other times, a lifetime ago. Also, at the time, the wait was about half what it currently is.

We are now following the SN route to our daughter, and won't be traveling with some of the people that we have had contact with since the beginning. This is sad for us, as we have become great friends with one family, the Haucks, and really were hoping to travel together. Sometimes God just changes things, and we are so very excited to have found our little Emma!!

Isn't she just gorgeous???

Our one month anniversary of LOI

One month ago today, our LOI (Letter of Intent) to adopt Emma went to China to the CCAA. We are still waiting on either the new SC (Seeking Confirmation) letter to be signed for China, or TA (Travel Approval) - we pray it is the latter, and if we receive it by the end of this week, we will be on our way to China sometime between 2/23, and 2/26

Won't it just be wonderful when we hold our precious little daughter in our arms?

We can't wait!

One year ago today, we were in Washington, DC at the US Department of State at 7:00 am getting our dossier documents sealed, signed by Condolesa Rice, then it was off to the Chinese Consulate for authentication. You had to be in their office with documents handed over by 11:00 in order to get them back the same day. We were there early, about 8:30, even before they opened. However, as we were filling out the forms to give them, counted our documents, and realized we were one short. We had the hotel make copies of all our documents including the state seals, and they had left one, our I-171H on their copy machine. Bobby had to walk back to the car, drive back to the hotel, get the form, and get back by the time they called our number. They called while he was gone, but were wonderful, and said as soon as he returned with the document, to come back to the window and they would take us.

Forms were authenticated, we picked them up at 1:30, and stopped in Harrisonburg at a FedEX, made copies of the Chinese authentications, and FedEx'd all to Living Hope, so our dossier could finally be mailed to China. Then, the wait began!!!

Play mates for Emma!!

Three local families received their referrals this week!!! We now will have two girls and 1 boy added to our local group for Emma to grow up with. Two of the three are just one month older than our girl. Referral time is so exciting, and we are just thrilled for them all!!