Until we leave for CHINA!!!
I am about 90% packed. I have got all of Lily's stuff in a bag, and the boys' stuff packed as well. Still have to pack carry ons, charge up our electronics, and finish packing up Dave's and my suitcase (he is the weakest link).
I have really felt the love of God through His body. We had dinner with some friends tonight, and at the end they spent some time (with all the kids as well - we have 10 boys between our 3 families - Lily will be the first girl!) praying for our journey to Lily. I felt so encouraged! One of the moms at the boys' Chinese school also spent time a morning this past week to take my hands in hers and pray for our family. I praise the Lord for this family of believers. There is just NO WAY I could do this on my own. I am so grateful I don't have to!
Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am so excited and nervous that I don't have time to do something like download and upload photos!!!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
The Baby Blanket
We bought our tickets and pretty much everything is set as far as our itinerary.
We leave here on Wednesday 9/14, but really it is Tuesday because it is a red-eye flight. We fly via Hong Kong to Tianjin, CHINA. We are going to have the privilege of spending a couple of days with our dear dear friends there before going to Changsha to meet Lily. I have to tell you about our friends. This is a wonderful family - the Changs. Lorden and Sophia have 5 children. We met them when Dave was doing his residency at UCSD. I only had Matthew at that time, and Sophia only had her two oldest children then - Caleb and Jeremy.
We had just moved into an apartment complex near campus called Whispering Pines. We had an upstairs unit that was the farthest from the parking lot and laundry machines. Not very convenient with a baby! Anyway, one day after unloading Matthew and other stuff from the car, we had returned to our apartment. I heard a knock at the door. It was a lovely woman with a baby blanket in her hand, asking us, "Is this yours? I think it fell on the ground in the parking lot." It was Matthew's baby blanket (he was 4 months old at the time), and that woman was Sophia. From that day a deep friendship began. We had only been in San Diego for a few weeks - and I remember when I moved there that I asked the Lord for a friend. This was His answer to my prayer. It is a reminder to me of the Lord's faithfulness, and how kind He is to me.
Sophia and Lorden and their family have been such a blessing to our family. They are Chinese-American, but live in China. They have an adopted daughter. They are such a loving and faith-filled family. We love them dearly, and look forward to spending a little time with them in their home and seeing their life there.
From Tianjin, we will fly on the 18th to Changsha, Hunan. We meet Lily on the 19th!!!!! On the 23rd, we fly to Guangzhou where the American consulate is.
We fly home on the 27th.
It will be a big trip.
I am packing and getting ready!
Many things left to do =).
Thank you for praying for us. We truly need your prayers and depend on them. We wait upon the Lord, and are excited to see how He will bring us through this journey to Lily!
We leave here on Wednesday 9/14, but really it is Tuesday because it is a red-eye flight. We fly via Hong Kong to Tianjin, CHINA. We are going to have the privilege of spending a couple of days with our dear dear friends there before going to Changsha to meet Lily. I have to tell you about our friends. This is a wonderful family - the Changs. Lorden and Sophia have 5 children. We met them when Dave was doing his residency at UCSD. I only had Matthew at that time, and Sophia only had her two oldest children then - Caleb and Jeremy.
We had just moved into an apartment complex near campus called Whispering Pines. We had an upstairs unit that was the farthest from the parking lot and laundry machines. Not very convenient with a baby! Anyway, one day after unloading Matthew and other stuff from the car, we had returned to our apartment. I heard a knock at the door. It was a lovely woman with a baby blanket in her hand, asking us, "Is this yours? I think it fell on the ground in the parking lot." It was Matthew's baby blanket (he was 4 months old at the time), and that woman was Sophia. From that day a deep friendship began. We had only been in San Diego for a few weeks - and I remember when I moved there that I asked the Lord for a friend. This was His answer to my prayer. It is a reminder to me of the Lord's faithfulness, and how kind He is to me.
Sophia and Lorden and their family have been such a blessing to our family. They are Chinese-American, but live in China. They have an adopted daughter. They are such a loving and faith-filled family. We love them dearly, and look forward to spending a little time with them in their home and seeing their life there.
From Tianjin, we will fly on the 18th to Changsha, Hunan. We meet Lily on the 19th!!!!! On the 23rd, we fly to Guangzhou where the American consulate is.
We fly home on the 27th.
It will be a big trip.
I am packing and getting ready!
Many things left to do =).
Thank you for praying for us. We truly need your prayers and depend on them. We wait upon the Lord, and are excited to see how He will bring us through this journey to Lily!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!!
This has to be short. . .
But I had to share - our T.A. arrived at our adoption agency on Tuesday, 8/24!
Our confirmed day that we meet LIly Claire is 9/19!
We are still awaiting our consulate appointment. It was originally scheduled for 9/28 - but Xiaoqing is trying to move it to 8/26 if possible.
We are perusing flight options!
Getting very very excited, but also nervous and a bit stressed!
Thank You, Lord!
But I had to share - our T.A. arrived at our adoption agency on Tuesday, 8/24!
Our confirmed day that we meet LIly Claire is 9/19!
We are still awaiting our consulate appointment. It was originally scheduled for 9/28 - but Xiaoqing is trying to move it to 8/26 if possible.
We are perusing flight options!
Getting very very excited, but also nervous and a bit stressed!
Thank You, Lord!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
In Which I Finally Chronicle Phil's Eye Saga In Pictures
Scary globe of carnage (this is the day of surgery in front of the vet's office). Ugh, I shudder just looking at it!
Phil must have been in so. much. pain. Poor thing.
When I picked him up that day! Stitches, bruising, only one eye left. And that black band on his leg is where his IV was.
Getting his stitches removed!
Recovered! Still cute! Much MUCH better!
Phil must have been in so. much. pain. Poor thing.
When I picked him up that day! Stitches, bruising, only one eye left. And that black band on his leg is where his IV was.
Getting his stitches removed!
Recovered! Still cute! Much MUCH better!
Our Care Package to Lily Claire
Finally I am posting the photos that Ann of The Red Thread sent me. This is the care package we sent to Lily Claire about a month ago that came with the updated photos. Pretty, huh? I would love to see our little lamb in that dress :-).
Sigh - still not much to report. Waiting. . . waiting. . .
I trust that our Article 5 was picked up last Friday (8/5/11) and now the wait for TA!
Xiaoqing will pick up our visas on Friday from the consulate in San Fransisco.
Sigh - still not much to report. Waiting. . . waiting. . .
I trust that our Article 5 was picked up last Friday (8/5/11) and now the wait for TA!
Xiaoqing will pick up our visas on Friday from the consulate in San Fransisco.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Closer. . .
We are getting so close to our TA (travel approval)!
Our Article 5 was dropped off two days ago. It takes two weeks for that to be approved before it can be picked up again. After that we wait for TA.
I sent off our visa applications and our passports to Xiaoqing via FedEx on Friday.
We have appointments at the travel clinic next week for vaccinations (Nathan and Aaron got their Hep A shots last week already, but we will check to see if there is anything else advisable for a trip to Asia).
Our Article 5 was dropped off two days ago. It takes two weeks for that to be approved before it can be picked up again. After that we wait for TA.
I sent off our visa applications and our passports to Xiaoqing via FedEx on Friday.
We have appointments at the travel clinic next week for vaccinations (Nathan and Aaron got their Hep A shots last week already, but we will check to see if there is anything else advisable for a trip to Asia).
Thursday, July 14, 2011
New photos and I-800 Approval! Yippee!
Couple of big adoption related things. . .
First off, I found out that our I-800 and our Supplement 3 were approved last Friday! We got the hard copies today in the mail, which I immediately scanned and forwarded to Xiaoqing as we were instructed. Now we have to wait for a letter from the National Visa Center.
And. . . I sent another care package to Lily :-). This time, it was a silk baby Chinese baby outfit, some hair clips, and some cookies for her foster family. I also wrote a letter which Ann from the Red Thread translated for me. Here's my letter:
Dear Orphanage Director or Foster Family,
Thank you again for caring for our daughter, Jiang Manling. Please tell Manling that her Mama, Baba, and three older brothers cannot wait to meet and hold her! We are hurrying just as fast as we can to complete the last part of the adoption process. Manling is always in our thoughts and prayers. All of us love her already. We cannot wait to play with her, read to her, take care of her, and give her lots and lots of hugs and kisses.
We are already looking ahead to making medical appointments to repair her cleft palate and hernia. Her Baba is a physician and has been asking around for recommendations for excellent craniofacial doctors and surgeons.
Can we trouble you with a few more questions about our baby girl? Is she staying with a foster family, or is she living at the SWI? Who is she closest to? What is her favorite food? How many naps is she taking during the day? If you have any any other information that you feel would help us as we prepare for her to join our family, we would appreciate that. And lastly, may we please trouble you for another photo of Manling? We all loved the photos that you sent us with our last care package. It is wonderful to see that Manling is growing up, but also a bit sad for us because we wish that we could be with her even now. We miss her so much.
Please tell Manling that Mama and Baba love her! We eagerly look forward to bringing her home. She is our precious treasure.
Sincerely,
David Peng (Baba)
Chenning Peng (Mama)
Anyway, yesterday we got an answer to our letter and updated pictures!
Here is the reply to our letter:
Jiang Man Ling has been living with her foster family all the time ,she has her own child bed .
Her favorite people are her foster mom and foster mom`s grandson .
She likes to eat soft food such as bread and cake .
she takes nap one/day,12-14:00,sleeps at 20:00 gets up at 7:00
Her personality is very gentle ,loving ,she is not scared of strangers ,she is very happy to live with her foster family .
And updated photos!!!
Oh, sweet baby girl - we love to see your smile! And you are wearing shoes! I wonder if that means you are walking. Also, so nice to know that she has been living with her foster family this whole time. And she has kind of a foster "brother" which is her foster mom's grandson. Hope this means she is used to playing with boys :-).
I am hoping that we will have travel approval within the next month.
First off, I found out that our I-800 and our Supplement 3 were approved last Friday! We got the hard copies today in the mail, which I immediately scanned and forwarded to Xiaoqing as we were instructed. Now we have to wait for a letter from the National Visa Center.
And. . . I sent another care package to Lily :-). This time, it was a silk baby Chinese baby outfit, some hair clips, and some cookies for her foster family. I also wrote a letter which Ann from the Red Thread translated for me. Here's my letter:
Dear Orphanage Director or Foster Family,
Thank you again for caring for our daughter, Jiang Manling. Please tell Manling that her Mama, Baba, and three older brothers cannot wait to meet and hold her! We are hurrying just as fast as we can to complete the last part of the adoption process. Manling is always in our thoughts and prayers. All of us love her already. We cannot wait to play with her, read to her, take care of her, and give her lots and lots of hugs and kisses.
We are already looking ahead to making medical appointments to repair her cleft palate and hernia. Her Baba is a physician and has been asking around for recommendations for excellent craniofacial doctors and surgeons.
Can we trouble you with a few more questions about our baby girl? Is she staying with a foster family, or is she living at the SWI? Who is she closest to? What is her favorite food? How many naps is she taking during the day? If you have any any other information that you feel would help us as we prepare for her to join our family, we would appreciate that. And lastly, may we please trouble you for another photo of Manling? We all loved the photos that you sent us with our last care package. It is wonderful to see that Manling is growing up, but also a bit sad for us because we wish that we could be with her even now. We miss her so much.
Please tell Manling that Mama and Baba love her! We eagerly look forward to bringing her home. She is our precious treasure.
Sincerely,
David Peng (Baba)
Chenning Peng (Mama)
Anyway, yesterday we got an answer to our letter and updated pictures!
Here is the reply to our letter:
Jiang Man Ling has been living with her foster family all the time ,she has her own child bed .
Her favorite people are her foster mom and foster mom`s grandson .
She likes to eat soft food such as bread and cake .
she takes nap one/day,12-14:00,sleeps at 20:00 gets up at 7:00
Her personality is very gentle ,loving ,she is not scared of strangers ,she is very happy to live with her foster family .
And updated photos!!!
Oh, sweet baby girl - we love to see your smile! And you are wearing shoes! I wonder if that means you are walking. Also, so nice to know that she has been living with her foster family this whole time. And she has kind of a foster "brother" which is her foster mom's grandson. Hope this means she is used to playing with boys :-).
I am hoping that we will have travel approval within the next month.
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