August 9th 2012

Today we got to visit Tegan's orphanage and where she lived. They first took us on a tour of the orphanages and got to see the babies! I have to say it was a very emotional time for all of us and they told is we could not take pictures of babies because they were "special"(meaning special needs). The orphanage also has apartments where couples can stay and live as foster parents to help take care of some of the children. Tegan stayed with one of the foster families and we were able to meet her foster mother. Tegan had only been there since they moved her from Bethel back in May but we can tell her foster mom made a big impact in her life! She was a very sweet woman and we got to see pictures of Tegan's foster dad along with her brothers and sisters. Tegan showed us around and even showed is where she would sleep. After that we visited the old orphanage to see Tegan's finding spot. We were told by our guide Jane that she was left in front of the gates with no note. They have since then moved the gate to another part of the campus and put up a wall in its place. Melissa took our picture in front of that wall. Stacy

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Here is a collage of pictures that Melissa put together. One of these days Tegan will understand the words dedicated, determined and stubborn. These are three words that describe her mother. I certainly don't mean stubborn in a bad way because it can be an asset to your personality when it is used for good. As you can see here in this case. When Kristin's mind is set on something that is it! I am so proud of her and glad she is my wife! Stacy

Sisters first hug!

Ok! I am running on four hours of sleep and I just noticed my typo on my last post AFTER I uploaded. So I hope my typing teacher is not reading this! Here is a picture of their first hug.

Bronwyn getting to know her sister!

I know bringing Bronwyn with us was a great idea. Of course that was not an option because we can't be away from her for three weeks either! Here she is getting to know her sister. We are blessed!

Tegan's Gotcha Day!

Gotcha Day August 6th, 2012! After months waiting and waiting we finally got our wish. I am so proud of my wife for the hard work and countless hours she put into this adoption and it is not over yet. So the first picture that we must post is a picture of the results from Kristin's hard work. I am so proud of her for the women she is and thankful to be married to her. Stacy

China Here We Come!

We are going to China! We need to be in Hefei by 8/5. Tegan's gotcha day is 8/6. Next stop is Nanchang for Piper's gotcha on 8/12. Then off to Guongzhou. Our CA is on 8/21. What a trip! CRAZY but good!

TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just got our travel approval! We are in the home stretch! Thank you God for your faithfulness and strength through this long process.

Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear or be dismayed, for the LORD God- my God- will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.  1 Chronicles 28:20

Piper's 4th birthday

Piper and a little friend enjoying her bithday cake.

Happy 4th birthday baby girl!

"Let me eat my cake."

Love this picture! She is really studying that cake. :)

I800 approval

We have our I800 approval for our two girls. When we reach this point it is usually 8 weeks until we can leave to go to China! We will be counting down the days!

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10

We praise and exalt you LORD!

LOA

We finally have our letter of acceptance from China after 126 days of waiting! Next step is to get finale approval from our government then travel approval. We are in the home stretch!! Hopefully we will be traveling in the next few months!!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

Prayer needed

My Tegan needs your prayers right now! We just received word from Bethel that Tegan's orphange has come and taken her back there. She has been living at Bethel since 2008 (2yrs old). She is 5 1/2 right now and has to be lost and hurting. This has me so upset for her! Please pray!

New pictures of Piper

The package Ann sent for us.

Cute face!

Look at her dirty knees. She has been playing hard.

Mama can't wait to kiss your crooked mouth!

I sent a package to Piper through Ann at Red Threads and she sent me new pictures of our girl!

Family

This sweet girl loves her family and loves pointing out other families when we are out and about.
She says, "I love my family and my family loves me!

A few weeks ago in AWANA she drew a picture of her family and included Tegan and Piper!
I love this sweet girl and am so blessed to be called her Mama!
Thank you God. :)

I-800A approval for 2 & DTC

I had to file for I-800A approval again because our first was just for 1 child. So we got our approval for 2 children on 12/29/2011. Also our documents have gone to China already so we are officially waiting on our LOA! This is the long wait! We waited for Bronwyn's for 2 1/2 months.

PA for Tegan!

Tegan 10/2011

One of the 1st pictures I saw of her almost a year ago and knew she had to be our next daughter.

We got Pre-approval from China today for Tegan!
 She was 5 years old in November. She was abandoned when she was 2 months old and placed in an orphange. In 2008 she went to live at Bethel home for blind children. She is currently learning English and does really well. Her chinese name "Rong" means aromatic, like a lotus seed paste and "Yuan" means the hope that she is fat and round, favorable.

Matched

We have been matched with Tegan (Rong Yuan) and are now waiting for PA.

We have been waiting months for this news and our daughter has been waiting 5 years to be part of a family. I hate to think if I hadn't seen her picture and persued her paper work to be filed, how much longer would she have waited! I am so glad the wait is coming to an end soon!

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait  for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

Tegan's Paper Work

It has been confirmed with our agency that Tegan's paper work is finally at the CCCWA, after 10 months of waiting!  Now we are waiting to be matched with her and then we can send in letter of intent. Which then China will grant pre-approval and we can finally be documents to China!
Thank you God for answering our prayers for our daughter!

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe in who He says he is and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

PA for Piper

Piper Arabella

Her referral picture that I fell in love with 2 1/2 years ago.

We have PA (pre-approval) for Piper! One down and one to go.

Piper

We are now in the process to adopt 2 girls at once. We have already locked Piper's file and are still waiting for Tegan's paperwork to be processed. They have promised only 1 more month and it will be ready.

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matt 19:26)

Piper is 3 years old, 25 pounds and almost 3 feet tall. She is deaf. Missing her left ear and has right ear deformity. I have been praying for this girl to have a family for 2 &1/2 years. So now she does!

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. (1 Samuel 1:27)

I am sending in LOI tonight! :)

I-800A approval

We just got our approval today in the mail. We had our fingerprints taken on May 11th and the approval date is listed as May 19th (8 days)! When we were adopting Bronwyn our approval took over 1 month so this time was a lot faster!
We do have a problem because the civil affairs office still has not sent her paperwork to the CCAA. The in China liaison has talked with them a couple of times to try to persuade them to send it in but so far nothing!So when our documents go to China in a few weeks everything is going to come to a halt because of this! Please pray that God will get a hold on these people! He can do anything and I have the faith that he will do this! She is my daughter and I will never give up!

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. (Job 5:9)