TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!

Well, after over 4 weeks of waiting, we finally received our TA (travel approval)!! Praise God!! Now, in theory, we should be able to make our appointment to get our son; however, we are not able to make those appointments due to the swine flu scare. UGH!! A lot of provinces have been restricting adoption business, but they seem to have lightened up and are now letting people in...all except for our son's!! Double UGH!! Apparently, the civil affairs offfice will be closed for the rest of the week for holiday, so we are praying that we can get our appointment (and then make travel plans) next week!! Please pray with us! There are so many families that are waiting to go and get their children but they are stuck! Very frustrating! But, I have been praying (and continue to pray) that God gets us to China at the time He wants us to be there...it is just so hard to be patient! We are also looking into a housing situation...we would love your prayers for that to work out as well (if it does, I will be sure to tell you!). Thank you for all of your prayers! Stay tuned...things will hopefully start moving so we can bring our son home soon!!!!

Lots Going On

I know that it has been a while since I posted, but things have been a little crazy! We had been a little thrown that our LOA (Letter Of Acceptance) had come so quickly! We were expecting at least a 3 month wait, instead of 1 1/2 months. So, as you can imagine, we were busy trying to "guess" when our travel dates would be and plan accordingly. I was a little sad, because technically, we shouldn't leave until June 19th (because of child care), and I want to get to China ASAP. Well, let's just say that a few things have cropped up that may make it virtually impossible to leave before then. Obviously, the swine flu is a possible hindrance! It is going to take a little bit longer to receive our visas - apparently they are slowing down that process, probaby to stall people from traveling into China. I have also been hearing rumors that our son's orphanage has closed it's doors, which I can't say that I am surprised about. So, swine flu may definitely impact our ability to leave before June 19.

Before we received our LOA, we had been praying for our "leaving" date to be June 19 - that is my mom's last day of work for the summer, and she is going to watch Stef and Liz while we are gone. Once we got such an early LOA, we were trying to figure out a way to leave earlier than planned. Well, another road block presented itself about a week and a half ago....my mom was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. She is scheduled for a lumpectomy on Friday but they won't know for sure how much tissue will have to be removed until the surgery. After that they are planning on doing 6 weeks of radiation. My mom is in good spirits and truly believes that everything will be just fine (so do I). In fact, she still wants to watch our girls, but I definitely don't want to take them to her house before she finishes work and radiation. She doesn't need anything extra on her plate right now. Luckily, my dad may be able to take some extra time off from work to help out. I ask all of you to please put my mom in your prayers. I am sure that most, if not all of you know someone with cancer, and how scary it is. Thank you for your support and prayers!

So now we are still waiting for permission to travel, and as you can see, even if we get TA soon, we may have to wait. In some ways that is okay - I am desperately trying to get my house in order before we leave - and I have a whole lot to do!! Next Friday (May 15) will be my last day of work at my daughters' preschool, and frankly, I am relieved. I can't wait to be able to stay home and take care of my children! I have enjoyed working this year - I have made a lot of great friends, but I am totally ready to be home 24/7 with my kiddos. In fact, I just bought the curriculum that I am going to use next year when I homeschool Stephanie (kindergarten) and Elizabeth (pre-k)!! I went to a homeschool conference this past weekend, and I am totally excited about next year! I was a little worried about homeschooling, but now that I have my curriculum, I am good to go! I can't wait to get started! I will wait - but it will be hard. Between now and when we leave for China, I am trying to clean out closets and toys so that we can be more organized for life and for school. I must admit that whenever I start to feel good about the stuff that I get rid of, then friends give us clothes or more toys! UGH! However, most of the toys have been for Michael and who can resist free clothes, so I am TOTALLY grateful...I am just a little overwhelmed at times! Hopefully things will get better after this weekend - I have put it on our calendar to clean out the garage! YEAH!! Closets are next!!

Anyway, that is about it for now - isn't that enough?! I have a HUGE to-do list of things that need to be completed before we travel, and I am starting to make a dent in it - which is great, but sometimes I start to have a mild panic attack (sort of joking) when I realize that we could be traveling in about 6 1/2 weeks!!! WOW!! So close and yet so far...now if China doesn't close it's doors, we will be good! Please pray for our son. We pray continually for his health - physically and emotionally. His little world is about to be rocked. Poor little guy has no idea that his life is about to change forever. Thank you for your prayers for Michael, our family, and my mom - I truly appreciate it!! God bless!