On Thursday, May 23rd, our Article 5 was picked up! This is a big moment...it was all approved and we are within a week or two from Travel Approval (TA). We are officially in our last step of the adoption. It has been a 22 month adoption journey. Praise God we are in the last stage!
This past weekend we shopped for all of the "gifts" we are to give to the orphanage workers. They love anything made in our region and in the USA. So we have homemade items from Tennessee....taffy, peanut bark, pheasant jerky, licorice, and moon pies. Can we say "southern"? Yes, we are definitely from the south (well Jason has been converted from a yankee to a southerner).
Last week, Jason painted Melanie's room the prettiest powder pink. Her room is so pretty!!!
Thank you Beverly Gann for the luggage for our China trip!!! We appreciate you letting us borrow the new and very nice luggage.
We received a blessing yesterday from Jason's work. Thank you for our Melanie Money Tree!!! The wonderful staff at his work gave $475 cash and a $50 Target card on the money tree. Everyone at Dodson Elementary have been so supportive during our entire Adoption process from supporting our fundraisers, donations, to prayers. They have been so excited for us and have been so encouraging. Tiffany, Jason's Principal, even organized a donation request letter to principals/assistant principals that know me and Jason. We were GREATLY blessed through that earlier in the year. Tiffany has been one of our biggest cheerleaders for our adoption! We greatly appreciate everyone at Dodson...what a blessing you all have been to our family!!! The encouragement you have given us over the past 22 months means more than you will ever know.
We also received a surprise donation through our Lifesong for Orphans fundraising account!
Tomorrow, May 30th, I get my LAST immunization for the trip! Thank goodness...my body has not reacted well to these shots.
So now we just wait and pack! Please continue to pray for our Melanie (her safety/health) and that all our travel plans get worked out. Please pray for my travel anxiety and that the remaining funds are provided. Thank you Jehovah Jirah for being our provider!!!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Shopping for travel supplies!
This week has been a lot of fun...and a lot of shopping! Since we are just waiting on our TA (Travel Approval) from China, our adoption agenda for the next couple weeks is shopping and packing!!
As we are going through our travel workbook in preparation of getting Melanie, we have come to the three page list of "items needed for travel". Wow...I don't think we are going to have any room in our suitcases for our clothing. As someone who enjoys shopping...this week has been a blast. Jason, Cohen and I took our three page list to Babies R Us on Saturday and Target on Sunday (Mother's Day) to start shopping for our "items needed for travel". Even after shopping for more than an hour at Babies R Us and two hours at Target...we did not get everything required. So Cohen and I went back this afternoon to finish most of the list. We have now bought out Target of every travel size item needed for a twelve day trip to China!!! Thank you for Target gift cards from our sweet friends at Melanie's shower. What a blessing!!! Now we are down to a short list of items we need to finish packing our bags for China.
The only moment that has not been fun this week was Monday...when we had to get our Typhoid fever immunization shots. Not fun! We have definitely had some side effects from it...but know it is better than actually getting Typhoid fever. Only one more immunization left before China!
For those prayer warriors out there...we have a prayer request list for our adoption:
1. Melanie's safety and health
2. Jason and Karla - safety during our traveling and that we do not get sick
3. Karla - travel anxiety
4. Cohen - safety, health and adjusting to being away from mom and dad
5. Adoption paperwork and process to go smoothly...no glitches.
5. Adoption finances - We are still in need of $7,100 to complete our adoption process. This money will be due the moment we get our travel approval. The travel approval can come as early as the last week of May.
As we are going through our travel workbook in preparation of getting Melanie, we have come to the three page list of "items needed for travel". Wow...I don't think we are going to have any room in our suitcases for our clothing. As someone who enjoys shopping...this week has been a blast. Jason, Cohen and I took our three page list to Babies R Us on Saturday and Target on Sunday (Mother's Day) to start shopping for our "items needed for travel". Even after shopping for more than an hour at Babies R Us and two hours at Target...we did not get everything required. So Cohen and I went back this afternoon to finish most of the list. We have now bought out Target of every travel size item needed for a twelve day trip to China!!! Thank you for Target gift cards from our sweet friends at Melanie's shower. What a blessing!!! Now we are down to a short list of items we need to finish packing our bags for China.
The only moment that has not been fun this week was Monday...when we had to get our Typhoid fever immunization shots. Not fun! We have definitely had some side effects from it...but know it is better than actually getting Typhoid fever. Only one more immunization left before China!
For those prayer warriors out there...we have a prayer request list for our adoption:
1. Melanie's safety and health
2. Jason and Karla - safety during our traveling and that we do not get sick
3. Karla - travel anxiety
4. Cohen - safety, health and adjusting to being away from mom and dad
5. Adoption paperwork and process to go smoothly...no glitches.
5. Adoption finances - We are still in need of $7,100 to complete our adoption process. This money will be due the moment we get our travel approval. The travel approval can come as early as the last week of May.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Article 5 is complete!!! Waiting on travel approval!!!
Well the time has come...we are on the last step of our adoption process! Praise God for getting us this far.
We had been waiting on our PDF approval from NVC. After a lengthy hold time on Friday, May 3rd at like 11 PM, they immediately sent over our PDF approval via email. Then I sent it over to our agency ASAP. We received official approval that our Article 5 was complete on Monday, May 6th when they sent our PDF to the consulate in China. YEAH!!!!
So now we just wait! We are waiting on our travel approval from China. It can take three to six weeks; depending on how fast our agency and China get all the paperwork worked out.
We received more good news! We found out that we have the option to shorten our trip to 12 days instead of 17. This is good for two reasons. First, we get home quicker. Second, we save $1,250. We have opted out of doing the sightseeing tours and Beijing activities. Jason and I really would like to take Melanie back to China when she is a teenager so that she can see where she came from, the culture, go back to her old orphanage, etc. and to take Cohen. Since we will be taking in the sightseeing tours during that time, we decided saving money and making our trip short would be a better option. Our primary goal in this China trip...to get our Melanie and get home!
We have been truly blessed this past week in so many ways...
...Two sweet families have blessed us so much by donating to our adoption fund. We are so thankful! What a blessing! What awesome friends! At this time, we only have a little over $7,000 left to raise in order to get our Melanie home!
....We also have been blessed with a wonderful shower for Melanie. Friends came out to Lisa Herman's house on Sunday, May 5th to shower Melanie with gifts. What a blessing!!! The food was fabulous (chicken salad croissants, seven layer dip, strawberry salsa and cinnamon chips, and Asian meatballs and Lisa's famous mocha punch). Oh my word was the food good! Not only that, Becky Bowles made one of her fabulous cakes (cherry blossom tree on a baby pink double round white cake). There were two games and prizes. Becky's husband, Robert, painted a tree on a faint turquoise canvas where each guest placed their fingerprint. Each person signed a paper what will be placed on the back. It symbolized those that have prayed for Melanie and supported us in our adoption process. The canvas will hang in her room. There were Chinese lanterns and hand made fortune cookies (by Donetta) that includes the Bible verse: Whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me. Matt. 18:5...along with Melanie written in Chinese on the back. The lovely ladies that hosted my shower were: Lisa Herman, Donetta Little, Becky Bowles, Heath Nichols, Dana Barnes and Leslie Welky. What awesome friends! Melanie was showered with wonderful gifts ranging from clothes, to sippy cups, diapers, adoption books, hair bows and accessories, a stroller, her comforter for her bed, hand made items for her room, gift cards, and a hand-made quilt from my mom. I was truly touched....my heart is so full! Our family has been greatly loved by these friends and we are oh so grateful!
As we can see the finish line in sight, please continue to pray for our family . Please pray for our Melanie to be safe, for our finances to come through, and for the remainder of the process to be smooth! We trust our Jehovah Jirah!
We had been waiting on our PDF approval from NVC. After a lengthy hold time on Friday, May 3rd at like 11 PM, they immediately sent over our PDF approval via email. Then I sent it over to our agency ASAP. We received official approval that our Article 5 was complete on Monday, May 6th when they sent our PDF to the consulate in China. YEAH!!!!
So now we just wait! We are waiting on our travel approval from China. It can take three to six weeks; depending on how fast our agency and China get all the paperwork worked out.
We received more good news! We found out that we have the option to shorten our trip to 12 days instead of 17. This is good for two reasons. First, we get home quicker. Second, we save $1,250. We have opted out of doing the sightseeing tours and Beijing activities. Jason and I really would like to take Melanie back to China when she is a teenager so that she can see where she came from, the culture, go back to her old orphanage, etc. and to take Cohen. Since we will be taking in the sightseeing tours during that time, we decided saving money and making our trip short would be a better option. Our primary goal in this China trip...to get our Melanie and get home!
We have been truly blessed this past week in so many ways...
...Two sweet families have blessed us so much by donating to our adoption fund. We are so thankful! What a blessing! What awesome friends! At this time, we only have a little over $7,000 left to raise in order to get our Melanie home!
....We also have been blessed with a wonderful shower for Melanie. Friends came out to Lisa Herman's house on Sunday, May 5th to shower Melanie with gifts. What a blessing!!! The food was fabulous (chicken salad croissants, seven layer dip, strawberry salsa and cinnamon chips, and Asian meatballs and Lisa's famous mocha punch). Oh my word was the food good! Not only that, Becky Bowles made one of her fabulous cakes (cherry blossom tree on a baby pink double round white cake). There were two games and prizes. Becky's husband, Robert, painted a tree on a faint turquoise canvas where each guest placed their fingerprint. Each person signed a paper what will be placed on the back. It symbolized those that have prayed for Melanie and supported us in our adoption process. The canvas will hang in her room. There were Chinese lanterns and hand made fortune cookies (by Donetta) that includes the Bible verse: Whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me. Matt. 18:5...along with Melanie written in Chinese on the back. The lovely ladies that hosted my shower were: Lisa Herman, Donetta Little, Becky Bowles, Heath Nichols, Dana Barnes and Leslie Welky. What awesome friends! Melanie was showered with wonderful gifts ranging from clothes, to sippy cups, diapers, adoption books, hair bows and accessories, a stroller, her comforter for her bed, hand made items for her room, gift cards, and a hand-made quilt from my mom. I was truly touched....my heart is so full! Our family has been greatly loved by these friends and we are oh so grateful!
As we can see the finish line in sight, please continue to pray for our family . Please pray for our Melanie to be safe, for our finances to come through, and for the remainder of the process to be smooth! We trust our Jehovah Jirah!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Paperwork, Paperwork....Approval! Paperwork, Paperwork...Approval!
The last three weeks have been consumed with paperwork!!!
We finally received our I-800 approval two weeks ago. For some reason our NVC approval took a lot longer than expected to get sent over. Last night I called them requested our PDF of the approval and they immediately sent it over! Praises!
Wednesday, May 1st, we sent another large packet of paperwork to our adoption agency. We sent our I800 approval, passports, new passport photos, visa applications, more money and a few more documents. Now that our NVC approval was received late last night and has been emailed over to our agency...we just wait!
On top of getting our last adoption packet sent off, we were notified that our home study expired. So...we have to do an update on our home study. This past week, along with the other adoption paperwork, we have had to get new fingerprints, new background checks, new employment letters, new medical physicals, and new financial statements. Like I said....paperwork, paperwork!!!
No complaints here! We are thrilled to get the paperwork complete and approvals. It gets us one step closer to getting our Melanie!!!
The next step is our agency has be compile all of our adoption paperwork and get ready for our Article 5. Once that is approved...we get Travel Approval!!! We will be traveling 2-4 weeks after travel approval. So it looks like we will get Melanie sometime this summer!
Please keep praying for our finances to come through! Not only has our monthly income largely decreased unexpectedly, we found out that our travel expenses have increased. Due to the fact we will be traveling over the summer during tourist season, our airline prices and accommodations will increase by $2,000. That will bring our needed funds to around $9,000. We know that God will provide...he has brought us this far!!! Praises to our Jehovah Jirah!
Melanie's first shower will be tomorrow. Some of my very precious friends will be throwing the shower to celebrate Melanie coming into our family. I am so blessed to have such a great group of supportive friends.
We finally received our I-800 approval two weeks ago. For some reason our NVC approval took a lot longer than expected to get sent over. Last night I called them requested our PDF of the approval and they immediately sent it over! Praises!
Wednesday, May 1st, we sent another large packet of paperwork to our adoption agency. We sent our I800 approval, passports, new passport photos, visa applications, more money and a few more documents. Now that our NVC approval was received late last night and has been emailed over to our agency...we just wait!
On top of getting our last adoption packet sent off, we were notified that our home study expired. So...we have to do an update on our home study. This past week, along with the other adoption paperwork, we have had to get new fingerprints, new background checks, new employment letters, new medical physicals, and new financial statements. Like I said....paperwork, paperwork!!!
No complaints here! We are thrilled to get the paperwork complete and approvals. It gets us one step closer to getting our Melanie!!!
The next step is our agency has be compile all of our adoption paperwork and get ready for our Article 5. Once that is approved...we get Travel Approval!!! We will be traveling 2-4 weeks after travel approval. So it looks like we will get Melanie sometime this summer!
Please keep praying for our finances to come through! Not only has our monthly income largely decreased unexpectedly, we found out that our travel expenses have increased. Due to the fact we will be traveling over the summer during tourist season, our airline prices and accommodations will increase by $2,000. That will bring our needed funds to around $9,000. We know that God will provide...he has brought us this far!!! Praises to our Jehovah Jirah!
Melanie's first shower will be tomorrow. Some of my very precious friends will be throwing the shower to celebrate Melanie coming into our family. I am so blessed to have such a great group of supportive friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)