Count Down to China!

The count down begins! We received our Letter of Acceptance, signed it saying we accept Ren as our son, and sent it on to our agency who then sends it to China. Once China receives it they can then send us our Travel approval giving us permission to come to China and get Ren. When our appointment is made at the American Consulate we then know we travel 2 weeks before this date. Does that make sense, ha ha?! This means we will travel in about 5 to 8 weeks time. Hopefully closer to 5!

We will be busy this month applying for Visa's, checking into travel arrangements, finalizing details and such. This few weeks wait will be nothing compared to our past years wait. There is a light at the end of our tunnel now.

Please pray that God prepares Ren's heart for our family. Being 3 and adopted can be hard. He knows enough to know things are changing but not enough to understand it all. It will be so wonderful to meet him and learn all about our little guy. I had to bump his picture to the top of the page again.

“There are starfish stranded on the sands as far as the eye can see, for
miles up the beach. What difference does it make to save just a few?”
Smiling, she bends down and tosses another starfish out over the water
saying serenely, “It makes a difference to that one.”

WE'RE GOING TO CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We received word that we should be getting our LOSC next week. We are so excited!!!!! There is a light at the end of our tunnel! Praise God! That puts us traveling maybe around the first of March. Ohhh I need to go pack!!!!! Ren we are coming!!! I'm doing the happy dance again!

I Finally Lost It!

Well it's official, as you can tell by my latest photo, the wait has finally short circuited my brain and pushed me over the edge. I am beginning to believe that LOSC (approval from China) is another term for an animal we used to hunt as a child called a "Snipe." I used to think the snipe was a real animal, and that things like LOSCs and TAs were real too! Now I am not so sure. Tomorrow will be day 150 in our wait to receive final approval from China. This is my first post to our Blog, and I needed to e-vent my frustration at the process. I know eventually we will go to China to bring home our Son, Ren. I only hope that our LOSC and TA come soon, and that my face will go back to some state of normallcy. Mark

Well today is day 143 of our wait for our LOSC (letter of seeking confirmation). I have had days of emotional highs and days of emotional lows waiting on this little letter. Today is a good day. It is with great excitement that I wait for the phone to ring or even get an e-mail stating it has arrived. I figure that after 143 days of waiting we have to be on the tail end of this wait and it can't be long now. Sooo hopefully I will have some good news soon. In the mean time it is a good excuse to bump Ren's picture back up to the top of this blog so I can see his smiling little face. I love this picture a good friend took for me while in China. He just looks so sweet and guileless here. I can't wait to meet him!

The Chinese New Year is January 26th this year, maybe China will be working to get out letters out before they take their break for their holiday. This is the year of the Ox. Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Rachel is going to Uganda Africa!!

My baby girl is going to Africa!! Rachel was chosen out of a group of students to work on a research project in the country of Uganda. She is a Biomedical Engineer student at the University of Georgia going into her fourth year. My how time flies. Wasn't it only yesterday that she was so little and needed me? Now she is off traveling around the world.

She has always marched to her own drum and followed her dreams. She loves Jesus and has a heart for helping others. She is the President of the UGA chapter of Engineers Without Borders. They are currently planning a project in Mexico maybe for next year.

This summer Rachel will travel with another student and a Professor to an area near the capital of Kampala. They will work on a renewable energy source to keep milk cold for local dairy farmers that have to transport their milk into town to sell. She will be over there for 8 weeks. Wow how our children grow up so fast. I am very excited about this opportunity for her and so proud of her. Why then is it so bittersweet to watch our children grow up and let them go?

You can keep track of Rachel's trip this summer here on her blog.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

I wish you all a Happy New Year! Wow 2009! I remember watching Sci Fi movies as a kid that were set in 2010!! That just seemed so far away, ha ha ha! It is with excitement that I enter into this year. Our family is looking at many changes. I think I can say with certainty that we will go get Ren this year ;-).

Of course I had thought that we were going to get him in 2008 but God had other plans. God's timing is always perfect, we don't know why it is taking so long to go get him, but God does! I have kept telling myself that everyday is a day closer! I hope Everyone's New Year is awesome and may 2009 be blessed!