Our Gotcha Day Outfits!

As you can see by the take-out box, WE GOT OUR TA TODAY AND LEAVE WITH THE GROUP GOING ON THE 13TH!!! We actually leave on the 15th because we are skipping the Beijing portion of the trip so that we can go to Hong Kong Disneyland at the end of our trip! We leave Saturday, arrive on Sunday, and have Kennedi on Monday St. Patrick's Day!! Whew! Then we stay until Wednesday, the 26th, fly to Hong Kong, visit Disney on the 27th, and return home on the 28th! Yes, this means we'll be spending Easter in China! I think we'll plan a big Easter Egg hunt with the kids (there's 25 families going)! We just wait now until early next week to hear of our consulate appointment and then final details of our trip will be made! I have been so stressed out since last Tuesday about this. Yesterday I woke up and decided "that's enough". I was so tired of worrying over something that we could not control anyway. So for the first time throughout this whole journey I gave it totally, completely to God. I was okay with whatever He chose to do and whatever date he chose to give us. And LOOK! Praise God! Now, need to pack........ :)

No News Today......

For those of you who check in often to see if we have travel dates yet, we did not hear from America World today like we thought we were going to. This has been the longest week ever. The family that is going to go to Hong Kong Disney with us DID get their call today and I have heard from them and some other families that 10-12 came in today and that we will leave together on March 13th. Not the 6th like I originally thought but definately better than the 27th! This means we will leave on the 15th (we are skipping Beijing so we leave a couple days after everyone else), get Kennedi on St. Patrick's Day the 17th, spend Easter in China, and return home on the 27th or so. Good news is with that many that came in, hopefully some of our friends that received their referrals the same time we did will also be getting their call this week and will be going with us! Hopefully tomorrow will be the day we hear of our TA (I know, I keep thinking tomorrow is the day-for a WEEK now!). Stay tuned.......

New Blog Makeover!

I've been admiring my AWAA friends blogs and their new makeovers for awhile and now have a makeover of my own!!! I have to say a very special thank you to Carla Lewter, a fellow AWAA SN mom who is making over blogs to raise money for her China trip (see her link below on the left)! Carla, you are the best, I love it!!! Today is day 30 of our wait for our TA. Two families have received calls that their TAs have arrived and was told that more should arrive today or Monday. Also, if not many are received we may have to wait to travel with the next "healthy" referrals group on March 27th. That adds another 3 weeks to our wait to travel. Please pray that a lot of TAs come in so they can make a small travel group with just SN families! I know at this point it will be what it will be but we all want our children home and before Easter would be wonderful! Will keep you all posted.......

We Have Paint!

After all weekend of painting, we now have both of the new rooms painted and as you can see, the playroom even has the flooring in! Yahooooo! So, the top picture is the playroom so the kids can be in there with their toys and TV (the picture is taken off of the dining area). The second picture is Katelyn's room which is just off the playroom. This is looking standing in her doorway. It's hard to see but the bottom half is chocolate brown and the top half is white with teal, turquoise, and lime green polka-dots to match her bedding. I really like how it all came out! I have to admit, after about 10 hours (it took me 12 hours just to do the polka-dots), I was thinking "what was I thinking"! But it's done and it's cute and Katelyn is happy! Mark is working on her flooring this week and then we can move things in! Praise the Lord! :)

Bradley and Basketball

This coming Saturday is Bradley's last basketball game for the season so I thought I better get the pictures I have of him playing on here! So here it is! He's only in 2nd grade so they still play co-ed and much of the time they are fouling each other by grabing t-shirts or by wrestling each other to get the ball or fouling themselves by traveling! It's quite a site! Bradley is the defense player and each week never makes a shot or even gets the opportunity to do so (he's not aggressive at all) but he says "but I played good defense!". Good job Brad! We love you!

Still Waiting For Our TA!

Hi all! We come to another week and still no TA. The CCAA came back to work on Wednesday from Chinese New Year so we thought maybe we'd hear something this week but we didn't, no one did. Wednesday marked 3 weeks waiting since our RA, today is day 23, and average is about 19 days. There has been word that the next travel group will not be until March 27th (this is when the next non-special needs group will be leaving). I cannot imagine us waiting another 5-6 weeks to travel. I emailed our Family Coordinator and this is what she said:
The date your family can anticipate traveling is dependent upon when your travel approval arrives. If America World receives a large batch of special needs travel approvals next week it is possible for your family to travel at the beginning of March. The tentative date of travel for our next healthy travel group (TG 132) is March 27th. It is possible that your family will be added to this group if your TA arrives at the same time as families in this group. Should special needs TAs arrive prior to receiving the TAs for the healthy group, Kristen will evaluate whether a special needs travel group earlier than the 27th is possible. As soon as your TA arrives Kristen will go over each travel option you family has available. I know it is hard to not have concrete travel plans, but we will get any and all information to you as soon as we have it!
UGGGGHHH! The waiting! We've been studying in our Beth Moore bible study on Psalms this week to WAIT on the LORD. What perfect timing to be reminded of that! There is another family, the Perna's http://www.ourjourneytojael.com/, who are adopting a little 9 year old girl and received their RA the same time we did. They live in New York and we are hoping that we get to travel together. We have plans to fly over to Hong Kong on our way home and visit Hong Kong Disneyland together, that will be a blast! Also, the other families (links posted on the right), who received their referrals the same time we did, we are hoping they receive their TAs with us so we all can be together! Until then, please pray that we hear something this week. Of course, another holiday on Monday, so we have 4 days to maybe hear!
On another note, they are putting the texture on our walls in our new addition today and tomorrow and we should be able to paint maybe on Monday! Poor Katelyn will have her room finally in about a week or so! I will post some pictures of it soon!
Hopefully next time I post will be letting you all know of our offical travel dates!
Have a wonderfully blessed weekend!

Visa's Arrived Today

One more step towards leaving for China, our Visas arrived today via Fed Ex! We feel so important now! Also, congratulations to the families receiving their RAs this week. They are families that received their referrals the same time we did and we are hoping they will be in the travel group with us the beginning of March! :)

Xin Nian Hao!

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone and To Our Sweet Kennedi!

Rooms Are Closer To Being Done!

Another day of work for Mark on Katelyn's bedroom and the Playroom and we are closer to being done! We have all the insulation in now and another inspection on Monday! After that inspection, drywall, tape & texture, paint, and flooring! We'll be done right before we have to leave for China! Talk about cutting it close! Thank you to Mark's dad and my brother for all of their help and hard work!

Prayer Request.....(UPDATED AGAIN!)

If you haven't heard China is going through a bad blizzard (the worst in over 50 years). Please pray that Kennedi and all the other children are kept safe and warm. Most of the orphanages do not have heat and so they are very cold and power has been out for many people. These cold temps are supposed to last for another week. Luckily Kennedi is further south so it is not as bad as other places but still unaccustomed to this cold of weather. They are barely making it into the low 40s when it's usually in the 60s, and they have been having constant rain. The kids all have colds and are sick. They are need many donations to help with the bad weather and there is an organization collecting donations if you want to help. The link is: http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Little+Mouse+Emergency+Fund
The organization also has a page on their website with updates: http://www.halfthesky.org/work/littlemouse.php
Email from Patricia at Half The Sky:
Dear Tina,
I did check and I am happy to report everything is fine in Shenzhen (though it is cold by southern China standards), so your daughter should be fine! I hope you travel soon to bring her home.
Regards,
Patricia
Please keep them and Kennedi in your prayers. Hold on Kennedi, not much longer and you'll be safe and warm here at home!