I meant for this to post yesterday... Hello friends and family, Right now, in Hong Kong,  it is 7:20 am. Bucky and I endured the grueling 14 1/2 hour flight from Newark to Hong Kong and so far everything has gone according to plan: all of our flights were on time, the food was good and ALL of our luggage made it Hong Kong. Our flight landed last night around 7:30 pm and by 10 we were fast asleep, however, we have been up since 5 am. So, I imagine we will be napping later. We miss our children terribly, but I am so glad they (the littles especially) were not with us during that long flight. I am getting daily email updates from Bucky's mom and Xan and Brennan are having a blast! Well, tomorrow is the BIG day, the one we have been waiting for. We will fly to Zhengzhou, which is about a 2 hour flight from Hong Kong, and receive Rebecca at our hotel. I still can't believe this is all happening. Thank you for your prayers!

Prayer Requests

I know many of you will be praying for us as we go to China. Here are some specific thing:

Xan and Brennan:

-that they will sleep well while they are away from home

-that God will comfort them when they are missing mama and papa.

-that they would have so much fun with their grandparents that they won't have much time to miss us.

-for God's protection and safety while me and Bucky are so far away.

Sasha:

-that he will be able to keep his grades up and not get overwhelmed with school

-for God's protection and safety

-that he will rest well and be ready for school

-that he will have a wonderful time with the Drake's.

Bucky and Julie:

-safe and peaceful flights

-that we will stay healthy

-that God might give opportunities to share our faith while we are away

-patience, love and long suffering if Rebecca has a hard time with the transition

-that we would be able to win Rebecca's affection quickly

-that God would give us special discernment regarding her special needs and how to care for them

-that God would keep a snow storm from hitting Chicago anytime around Feb. 8th and 9th

-that we would be able to get through Immigration in Chicago on the 9th quickly in order to make our flight home

Rebecca:

We really have no idea what to expect here...

-Her emotions after being taken from all she has ever known and left with strangers

-her health

-for her to sleep peacefully and adjust to USA time quickly once we get home

Thank you for praying!

The Emotional Roller Coaster I have experienced so many emotions this past month and half. I remember right around Christmas standing in my kitchen and saying out loud, "God I really hate your timing. I think it stinks." I can hear the gasp come out of your mouth as you read that, haha! But alas, I am human and people all around me (in the adoption world) were getting their travel approvals and I was not. My baby girl is across the ocean in an orphanage with no heat and I became quite angry with God's timing. I have since thanked God for not giving me a swift kick in the butt and for being patient with me, a sinner. He is a big God and he can handle my honesty and gently guide me back to loving His providence. He is good! Once receiving our travel approval my emotions slowed down because I was so consumed with flights, hotels, paperwork, etc. Yesterday, I jumped back on the coaster. One minute I was so excited about leaving for China and the next I was so sad about leaving my boys. Last night while on a date with my wonderful husband, the first tear fell. I am going to miss my boys so much. I have no doubt that their grandparents and the Drake's are going to take very good care of them and that they are going to have so much fun, but I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my body. I have never been away from them for more than 2 nights. I have warned Bucky that I will likely cry all the way home from dropping our kids off with his parents in Tennessee next Saturday. I will be counting down the days until we can get to Rebecca's province then Skype with the boys and introduce them to their new sister.

We Are Going To CHINA!!!! We have received our travel approval and scheduled our consulate appointment. Rebecca's Gotcha Day is February 2 and we are so excited to finally have her in our arms.

Adoption Update

This week we have had some significant progress with our China adoption. On Monday, we received our I800 approval from USCIS (11/15 approval date). I e-mailed the NVC late Monday evening and I received an e-mail back first thing Tuesday morning saying that we had been cabeled that morning (11/22) and that they would e-mail the pdf file "shortly" I waited several hours before e-mailing again requesting the pdf and it was e-mailed to me within an hour. I immediately forwarded the pdf to our in country coordinator. Several hours later I received an e-mail from the in country coordinator stating that our paperwork would be dropped off to the US Consulate in Guangzhou while we were sleeping (11/23). Our Article 5, which is what the US Consulate will issue after reviewing all of our paperwork will be ready to be picked up in exactly two weeks. Once the Article 5 is picked up, it will be overnighted to Beijing and we will then be waiting for our FINAL approval....Travel Approval aka TA!! We are so close and God has been so good!

My first GIRLY baby shower!

The staff wives at church gave me a "toy shower" tonight. I had a great time opening girly things. Laurel Horton hosted the shower in her beautiful home.

We are all laughing about how fun it will be to play this butterfly game with Bucky (he is terrified of butterflies).

YAY for girly things!

Laura Timmons made the desserts. They were yummy and I especially loved the cupcake decorations.

I800 Receipt Notice

Today we received notice that US Immigration received our I800 application on 10/31/11. Hopefully we will have our I800 approval before Thanksgiving.