Travel dates!!!

We have a confirmed consulate date of Sept 28th. We will probably arrive in China on Sept 16 and head home on Sept 30 or Oct 1. We will get our flight info soon. Yay!!! We're coming Adam and Megan!!!

We still need to raise the money for our in country travel (hotels, flights, etc) and we don't know how much that will be but we are estimating between $7-10K. Please keep that in your prayers and we would appreciate any help that anyone can give.

Beth

You know your husband is...

...a great dad when he plays London Bridge in the front yard and even lets himself get "caught"! Oh yeah, and the neighbor was watching!!!

Beth

Let's see what happens with two photos!

Ok, let's try this one!
 
Beth

Test with photo!

Ok, I'm trying to see if I can send a blog post from my email account with a photo....here goes!
 


Let's see what happens!
 
Beth

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!

We have our Travel Approval!!! We should find out our exact travel dates next week, hopefully on Tues or Weds!!!! It looks like we might be in China sometime in late Sept......


Beth

Talking with Adam and Megan...

It turns out it was phone call, not a Skype video call. It was WONDERFUL to hear their voices. They kept asking when we were coming for them. We were told that they were "fighting" over the phone since it wasn't a speakerphone. We had a translator but we did hear them speaking some English. I asked what their favorite colors were and we heard Megan say, "BLUE"! So sweet! It was hard to distinguish which child was talking over the computer speaker.
Abby wasn't shy about talking but Emily didn't talk to them, she was very shy. Brian was having too much fun making friends with the translator's wife! (If you know Brian, that is just "typical Brian".)

I did use some of my Chinese phrases to talk to Megan and Adam and I think it went over well. I tried them out on the translator while we were waiting to make the call and he said that I did well.

What a wonderful end to the day!

Beth

Video call!

We get to Skype with Megan and Adam tonight! At 9:00 pm our time it will be 9:00 am tomorrow morning for Adam and Megan. Please keep us in your prayers and please pray especially for Adam and Megan. We are excited and a bit nervous, I am sure they will be nervous and scared as well.

Beth

Prayer requests

I thought I'd update everyone on our prayer requests.

Our number 1 prayer request is for Megan and Adam to have a peace about the adoption. They are preparing to leave their country, their comfort food, their friends, their caregivers, their language, their culture and everything they know. They will travel with people who don't look like them, talk like them or do things like them. They are being asked to learn to like new foods, learn a new language and learn to live in an entirely different culture. They are probably terrified and they only have each other to rely on. They don't truly understand what a family is or why they need a family. We have been sending letters to Megan and Adam but I know that is not enough to reassure them. We just emailed our adoption agency to ask if we can do a video call with Megan and Adam. We don't know if it will be approved (the orphanage director has to approve it) but we think that this will hopefully ease some of the fear that Adam and Megan must be experiencing.

Our second prayer request is for Emily and Brian. They will be staying at home with my (Beth) parents. Emily is already getting upset about our travel. She has been crying and upset. Brian doesn't seem bothered yet, but he is 4 and it probably isn't "real" to him yet. Emily is such a sensitive child that I know this is going to be very hard on her.

Our third prayer request is for the funds to travel. I really don't know how much it will cost but I am sure it is ALOT!

Our fourth prayer request is for our Travel Approval. We are still waiting for it. We have no idea when it will arrive but nothing can be done until it arrives. Please pray for it's quick arrival.

I think that's all for now. Thank you for your continued prayer support.


Beth