We're baaack ... with news.

It is with great joy that we bring you some exciting adoption news …

Last Wednesday morning (10/21) at 4:30am, we awoke to a phone call from our agency telling us we had been matched with a little 10 month-old girl in China. In a daze we stumbled across the hall towards the glow of our computer to open an e-mail, and through our bleary eyes saw the sweetest, most beautiful face of a little girl named Jinwen, born on December 14, 2008 in the city of Kunming, Yunnan province.

Our hearts instantly melted.

We anxiously submitted a formal “Letter of Intent” to bring her into our family forever. We now have a series of steps we must take (formalities), and hope to travel to China in January or February to meet our daughter and bring her home (please pray for a smooth process!). We have been asked by our agency not to send pictures over the internet until we receive our official approval. So, unfortunately, it might be a couple of weeks before we can share a picture on-line. We have chosen the name Anna and will keep Jinwen as her middle name.

When we started this adoption process nearly four years ago, we felt deeply that this was GOD’s will for us to grow our family … though, at times, our persistence has felt more like stubbornness than faith. The journey hasn’t been an easy one. But last week we were humbled, discovering how worthy GOD is of our obedience and trust. When we already had so much to be thankful for, we were given the ultimate gift … a child to call our own.

Over the years, so many of you reached out to us in such significant ways, and gave us the boost that we needed to hang in there. On a few occasions in particular, during some of our most fragile times, we were blessed with experiences that served as powerful reminders that GOD was present … and we were loved. HE has prepared us for this very moment and for that we give our thanks and praise.

We will do our best to keep everyone updated. Thanks again for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Greg & Laura

Kisses in the Wind

We hold you in our hearts and touch you in our dreams.
You are here each day with us, at least that’s how it seems.
I know you wonder where we are … what’s taking us so long.
But remember child, We love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin…
Because tonight, just as always, We blow you kisses in the wind.
May God hold you in His hand until we can be with you.
We promise you, our sweet girl, we are doing all we can do.

Very soon, you’ll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, we blow you kisses in the wind.
May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that we send to you each night.

~Unknown Author~

Signing Off (for now)

With not much happening in our adoption world for a while now, the blogging tank is running a bit empty... So, after much consideration, we have decided to take an indefinite hiatus. Our plan is to return when the time feels right.

We want everyone to know how much we appreciate you keeping up with us through this journey so far and for all the love and encouragement you've given us along the way.

Have a good summer and take care! Until we blog again...

Greg & Laura

Rain, rain go away...

Here is what our backyard looks like this afternoon....



The rain gauge reads 4.5" so far today...

21 Months

Our paperwork has been logged in for 21 months now.

This month the CCAA referred 8 days, from 1/13/06-1/20/06. This brings the current wait up to about 29 months...the wait is basically increasing a half a month to a full month each month.

Here is a great graph by another blogger showing the trends over the last few years...you can see how drastically things have changed .

The next couple of months should be interesting. The Olympics start in August and there is still no clear answer with what is going to happen with adoptions during that time. Some agencies are telling their clients that everything will continue on as normal just no travel to Beijing during the Olympics. Other agencies are telling their clients that there will be no travel during August. Some agencies are even staying that travel approvals and referrals will be affected in the months surrounding the Olympics. It's probably safe to say that the Olympics will have some effect but since the CCAA has not given any official word, we still don't know how it will affect the waiting parents.

Now then, where did I place that crystal ball....

8 Years Ago Today...

Home again, home again....

We made it back from our trip and had a wonderful time!! We weren't at all ready to leave and are already talking about when we can go again. Some of the highlights were seeing the Mayan ruins, swimming in a cave (looked like a scene straight out of The Goonies), and taking a wave runner out on the ocean. Click here if you would like to check out a few of our pictures.

Hope you all are doing well and had a nice Memorial Day weekend. We're looking forward to this Sunday when our friends Joel & Misty will have Garrett & Isabel baptized!

Gone fishin'

Our flight leaves at 6am in the morning...

Talk to you all when we return next week!

This time next week...

we'll be here....

The China Earthquake

I'm sure that you have all heard about the horrible earthquake in China. We've been getting email updates through Half the Sky. Here are some highlights from their latest update:

Dear friends,I know you have been waiting eagerly for more news of how the children are faring during the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake in Sichuan. We have now set up a procedure whereby we can get an update from the Ministry of Civil affairs each day. They are supervising all relief efforts so have the most complete and accurate information available. We also now have contact information for all affected welfare institutions and have begun the process of reaching out to them directly to see if they need help.

As of now, Wednesday afternoon in China, there are 12,012 people dead and 7,841 missing in Sichuan alone, and the numbers continue to rise. 26,206 people are living in temporary shelters. Only 30 children of 900 have been rescued from the collapsed high school in Dujiangyan, Sichuan. At least 20 children were buried in the collapse of a primary school in Liangping, Chongqing.What follows are the welfare institutions closest to the epicenter:Mianyang, Zitong County, Dujiangyan, Deyang and Guanguan. The following is a preliminary, and not necessarily complete, list of institutions which are also potentially affected: Wenjiang County,Neijiang, Rongxian, Zigong, Ganzizhou, Panzhihua, Luzhou, Santai County,Leshan, Suining, Nanchong, Guang'an. We will have a full list later today or early tomorrow. While we've heard rumors about some of the above, we won't pass on that information until we've made direct contact and verified. I want to stress that we've heard no reports of children in the welfare institutions being injured, only that some have been relocated for their safety.

In cooperation with China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, Half the Sky has set up the Children's Earthquake Fund. The Fund will provide direct aid to the thousands of children who are suffering in the wake of the earthquake and aftershocks. Donations will be used to provide emergency and long-term relief to children affected by the disaster, including emergency shelter, food, and medical care for children orphaned or separated from their families, as well as temporary or long-term fostercare or, if necessary, temporary institutional care. The ministry has guaranteed that the funds will be used only to help the children.

If you'd like to donate to the Children's Earthquake Fund mentioned above, just click here.

Twenty Months

Today marks our 20 month LID anniversary. This month the CCAA sent referrals for families logged in from 1/10/06-1/12/06....yep, 3 days! Not great, not great at all. These families waited 28ish months. We are still expecting to wait another 2 years based on the current rate of referrals...and still praying for a miracle speed-up after the Olympics in August.

In better news, we leave next Thursday for the Riviera Maya! We are super excited to relax on the beach for 5 days!!

Happy Earth Day

We have been trying to "go green" little by little over the last couple years. During that time I've made my way through a lot of green websites, so I thought today would be a good day to share some of our favorites.

One of our very favorite products is Method - last year we changed all of our household cleaning, laundry products, and air fresheners to Method. All of their products are non-toxic, made with naturally derived, biodegradable ingredients. You can order off of the internet, but the really great thing is that Target carries almost all of the Method products! We've also tried some of the Seventh Generation products. Most are comparable to Method - but I do like Method's laundry products better.

We love using these bottles instead of buying bottled water . Our latest purchase just came in the mail this weekend - great for packing a sandwich.

I've been trying to sort my way through this website to learn about safe skin care products. Speaking of personal care products - I love Burt's Bees and Jason.

And, here is just a great site site for general green shopping.

These are some of our favorites and I'm always on the hunt for more, so please share.

**update: I was just at my favorite natural food store and they had their reusable grocery bags 20% off, so I thought it would be a good time to give it a try - I picked up 4 of the ChicoBags . After loading up my groceries and carrying them home - I'm pretty convinced already that they'll be great!!

Send a net, save a life.

We first learned about a campaign called Nothing But Nets about 2 years ago when Greg was reading a column by Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated. Nothing But Nets is an organization that was formed to help stop the spread of malaria in Africa by distributing mosquito nets. Malaria is the leading killer of children in Africa, killing nearly 3,000 children every year. For just $10 you can buy a net and quite possibly save the life of a child.

Here is a video that talks a little more about Nothing But Nets.


Next Friday, April 25 is World Malaria Day - if you would like to help this great organization and buy a net, we have added a logo to the right side of the blog that will take you to the Nothing But Nets website to learn more.

19 Month LID Anniversary

We've been logged in 19 months today. This month the CCAA referred only 5 days - from 1/4/06-1/9/06. Rumors are still out there that things might speed up a bit after the Olympics...we can only hope!! Have a great weekend!

Shoot for the Clouds!

I guess you could say we have a sort of love-hate relationship with China... a country that is both fascinating - with their rich culture and history - and utterly baffling sometimes in their rationale (thus, why we can't even begin to understand what their logic is with adoptions right now).

If you haven't heard, what we're about to tell you may sound like a punchline to a joke, or perhaps part of the dramatic conclusion to Armageddon II, but no... it's real. Here's the latest head-shaker out of China:

In order to ensure the opening ceremony for the upcoming Beijing Olympics doesn't get rained out, China is apparently readying an arsenal of weapons [clearing throat] to shoot the clouds.

You can't make this stuff up, folks. Go ahead... read the article for yourself.

I guess we should realize by now that with China, anything is within the realm of possibility, however off-the-(great)wall. Kinda makes you wonder what China ISN'T capable of when they put their minds to it.

So, next time you spy a threatening cloud about ready to soak your outdoor gathering... unlock the gun cabinet, grab your favorite rifle loaded with silver iodide bullets (available soon at your local sporting goods store) and open fire on those stinkin' rain clouds. "DIE!! YOU FLUFFY SUCKERS!!"

Oh, China... what will you think of next?

By popular demand...

Fun with folding - the English version.