"The Week" Begins!

It's hard to believe that tomorrow begins "the week". The
week we leave to get our precious little boy! It has been
such a long, long journey to this point and yet somehow I
can't help but think we've only just begun. We leave Fri.
Sept. 5th @ 9:58 AM on United flight 7152 and arrive home on
Thurs. Sept 18th @ 11:09 PM on United flight 7261. Somewhere
in the middle of those dates, a miracle will occur! The
miracle of adoption. One little boy, a Mommy, a Daddy, and
a Big Sister's life will be changed forever! We covet your
prayers as we embark upon this life-changing experience.
Please pray for our safety and specifically that Aiden's
transition into our family will be as easy as possible for
him. I keep reminding myself that love is universal and can
easily reach through language and cultural barriers. We are
trusting that he will immediately sense our unconditional
love and that his fears will melt away. We will post to our
blog along the way to keep everyone informed. Thank you to
so many who have walked this journey with us! Your
support has been invaluable!

Planning For Some Fun!!

Rob participated in a safety incentive program at his workplace that allowed him to save "safety points" that could be redeemed for selected merchandise. He has saved his points for a long time and earned enough to get Aiden a Thomas the Tank scooter! Well, it came today and of course Daddy and Big Sister had to put it together! It is too cute...it even has lights that light up on the sides and in front. Rob also had enough points to get Shaelyn a dollhouse, but it has not arrived yet. Shaelyn is excited about getting to play with her little brother and has already been outside "practicing" on the scooter.

We also were very fortunate to be able to get a toddlers first swingset/castle for 50% off at an end of season sale. Daddy and Shaelyn put it together this afternoon while Mommy took pictures. So....we are officially ready to do some playing!! We can't wait to get little Aiden home so we can enjoy him and he can enjoy all of the great toys!

VISAS ARE HERE!

Our visas arrived safe and sound today via Fed-X!
We are about to burst with excitement!! Next week
this time we will be in a plane on our
way to our son!! Yeah!!!

Visa Applications Sent!

We finally received everything
necessary to send our visa applications out
today! We made sure we used the EXPRESS service
for every aspect of the process. We feel good about
having our visas in time! We also received Aiden's
"return home" tickets today! Things are starting to
fall into place.
Yeah!!!!

Our Itinerary!

Arrive in Beijing (Henan Plaza Hotel) - Saturday, Sept 6th

Arrive in Province-Chongqing (Holiday Inn Yangtze Hotel) - Sunday, Sept 7th

GOTCHA DAY - Sunday or Monday??
China adoption Processing - Begin, Monday, Sept 8th thru Saturday, Sept 13

Flight to Guangzhou (White Swan Hotel) - Sunday, Sept 14th

Doctor's Exam - Monday, Sept 15th

U.S.C.I.S processing - Tuesday, Sept 16

Pick up visas - Wednesday, Sept 17

Leave for U.S. (HOME) - Thursday, Sept 18

Arrive in Charlotte 11:09 PM Thursday!

We have Tickets!

We have received our e-tickets and are glad to be one step
closer! Our agency has to provide a printout of our hotel
accommodations before we can get our visas. This
should be interesting. We will have less than 10 days
to get visas!!! YES, WE ARE STRESSED!!!



China now requires that you have tickets, your itinerary, and proof of
hotel accommodations before issuing a visa. Our agency
seems to be dragging their feet with the hotel accommodations
and we are getting very anxious! Please help us pray that
everything works out smoothly and we get our visas in time.

Leaving Earlier!!!

We just received word from our agency that we will be leaving on Friday, Sept 5th instead of the Saturday, Sept 6th. We are thrilled!!!!

We are Packing!!!

We are packing and repacking! Weighing and re-weighing.
Thinking we are "all set", only to remember "one more
thing". We will probably be doing that all the way until
departure day. It has been such a fun time! Rob is a
terrific packer, so I have let him do all the maneuvering
and I am just trying to remember everything we might need.
We are trying to pack as light as possible so we do not
get overage fees slapped on us in China. We are beyond
excited and simply can't wait for departure day!!

We Have Travel Approval!!!

China.....Here we come!!! We received travel approval today! We will be leaving on Sept. 6th and returning on Sept 18th! We are "over the moon" with excitement!

Baby Shower Photo

Baby Shower Today!

Wow! Shaelyn and I are so excited! Our church gave us a baby "gift card" shower today. While some people brought really great presents the majority brought Wal-mart gift cards and/or cash! We were so overwhelmed with how many people came and supported us. We felt very loved! I let Shaelyn open the gifts and I wrote everything down. This made her feel included and very special. After arriving home, showing Daddy our loot and counting our gift cards, we headed to Wal-Mart where we had made a registry of things we needed. I got a shopping cart and Shaelyn got her own. We got everything we needed from car seats, all the way down to outlet covers! It was so much fun! Our carts were so full and Shaelyn could hardly push hers. We kept running into things and giggling like silly kids. It was a special memory made. We then unloaded the car, unpacked everything and put it away. We are exhaused but are marveling in the Goodness and Provision of God. He is so good to us!!

Good and Bad news!

The good news is....we received information that Aiden's care package made it to China!! We have confirmation that it arrived on Aug. 6th! We are hopeful that he has received it, however we will not know for sure until we meet him. We are still awaiting TA (travel approval)and are hoping to receive that within the next few weeks. The bad news....we were notified today that we were not given the adoption grant from Shoahannah's Hope like we were so desperately praying for! We had applied about 4 months ago and received a "denial" letter in the mail today. The letter simply said that there were more applications than funds and they would be unable to assist us. This was very disappointing but we know God is still in control and is going to provide for us. Please keep us in your prayers!!