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!