From the courier in DC...

"No problem at the U.S. State Dept. with your documents. They are safely at the embassy. I'll be ready to do same day on Tuesday, or whenever I get the I171H document."

YEAH!!! We had the I171H notarized today, and sent it FEDEX to Richmond, with an enclosed FEDEX for her to send it to a wonderful courier in DC. She should receive it on Tuesday, and will have it done "same day" on Tuesday when she picks up the rest of our docs, and will have it back in the FEDEX to us that afternoon!! By the end of next week, we should be sending our documents to our agency, Madison Adoption, and be DTC shortly after - Praise the Lord, we will have Allie soon!!

On a side note, her bed came today, so we put it together and made it up! Of course, Emma says it's her bed - it's starting already!! We hung Allie's two referral pictures up in their room too. When we get everything moved around and the rest of the stuff hung on the walls, (hopefully this weekend) I will post some pics of the "girl's room."

Praise the Lord, It's Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our I171H came in the mail today!!! It only took 4 weeks and one day from the day we mailed it!!! Tomorrow, it will be off to Richmond for the state seal, then on to DC for the US and Chinese authentication!! We should be ready to send everything to China by next Friday!!!

God is good!!!

A day with friends...

We spent the weekend in Pigeon Forge, TN. We went to see friends we made in Nanning while we were there adopting Emma. Stacey, who adopted Savannah was there with her mom, Glenda, and good friend, Sheryl and her children. We had tried to work out a visit several times before, and the timing wasn't good. We are so glad we finally got to do it! All of them were so sweet, and gave Emma such wonderful birthday gifts!

We spent the day Saturday at the Aquarium, and had a wonderful time, then had an early dinner together at the Applewood Restaurant.

Here are some pics of everyone (mostly the girls). Savannah just celebrated her fourth birthday this past Wednesday, Feb. 20. She is such a pretty little girl! We hope to get to see them again soon!!

We sent Allie a care package

Since we have now received pre-approval from China, we sent Allie a care package. We included two really warm outfits, with matching hairbows (maybe her foster family will let her hair grow!!), socks, leggings, gloves, a footed sleeper, a newborn cabbage patch baby with the carrier and birth certificate, two disposable cameras, and some jelly belly jelly beans for the foster family. We also included a picture album with pics of Bobby, me, Josh and Emma so she will be familiar with our faces when she sees us. Here are a few pics of what we included for our sweet Allie, and a few from a photo session with Emma earlier in the day...

22 Days Since Sending our app to Immigration...

and, I heard from the immigration officer today that our new I171H would be issued before NEXT Wednesday!!! That will be just 4 weeks!! We should then be able to be DTC by mid-March at the latest, and should have a very good chance to travel before the Olympics!!! Hang on Allie, mommie and daddy are coming soon!!

The Valentine Banquet

Our women's ministry at church always hosts a Valentine Banquet, and each year, the number of people attending grows - Praise the Lord! This year, there were over 250 people signed up! It was lots of fun for the adults, with a great dinner, door prizes, wonderful music, the Newly Wed Game (always a hoot!) and a wonderful speaker who spoke on God's design for marriage. While the adults enjoyed their fellowship together, the kids had fun too! They were fed pizza and played, and Emma stayed in her room, playing, and having a good time all night - we are so proud of her!! She had a great time playing with the other kids, and the wonderful volunteers who watched the children.

I am attaching a few pictures from the night, but our camera battery died soon after the banquet started, so we didn't get many! And, as always, there are some pics of Emma included!!

Happy Valentines Day - a day early!

Today is 6 months to the day that sweet Emma Grace SiQi was placed in our arms in China. We love her so much! It is amazing how quickly she has just settled right in with us, and sometimes I forget she is adopted! It seems like she has always been a part of our family. This slide show contains one picture for each month we've had her with us. The first, at 18 months, was taken in China about 2 weeks before we were blessed with this most precious gift!!