A Little Closer

Well when I wrote to you last we were hoping Officer Lam would be in a good mood Monday morning when I talked to him about our I800 paperwork.  He was a typical person and didn't like Mondays so he issued us the RFE :(  That was July 11 and we then had to wait to get the paper in the mail because they will not email.  Well let me just say it takes SIX days to get a paper through our mail from Kansas.  SIX very long days.  I then had to send the copy of the official LOA to him with a copy of the RFE.  I of course overnighted it and put it to his attention so he would have it Monday morning.  . 




In the midst of all this craziness July 13, Ciara had to have tubes put back in her ears.  She had them at 8 and then had to have them removed when she was 10 because they said the holes from them wouldn't close if they stayed in any longer.  She has been fine until this past April when she had a burst eardrum and then 6 weeks later her ears started filling up with fluid again.  At her first check up with the ENT she had already lost 30% of her hearing in her right ear.  So we scheduled the surgery.  Knew we can't be dealing with ear issues with flying and she needs to have her hearing back.

Before surgery
The little guy I babysit had to have tubes put in his ears so Ciara gave him her bear
from when she had her tubes put in the first time to help comfort him.  The day before
 we went to have Ciara's tubes put in again he showed up with the bear for Ciara :)

They were trying to get her IV in.  She is a really hard stick and once they hit 10 years
old then it has to be in before they go to the OR.  That took longer than the surgery.

 I had a friend that kept asking me if they could have a shower for us and I kept saying NO.  We have had so much support already that I didn't want people to feel obligated to participate in a shower.  Another friend said I needed to remember that if someone didn't want to they wouldn't but that there were a lot of people asking if they were going to do something.  And yet another said in order to be a blessing someone needs to be blessed. Finally I said it can be the ladies at church and that is all. I also didn't want the attention to be on me.  I LOVE blessing others but hate when the attention is on me.  So July 18, they planned to go out to eat at SaLa Thai and she had shared the list of first aide items we are encouraged to take along to China.  We were Blessed with almost all of those items and many, many gift cards to help with the girls, groceries, diapers or dinners when we come home.  I had ask for no clothing because we really don't know what size the girls are and I didn't want to have to exchange a lot when we come home and we are focusing on attachment and bonding with the girls. One of the best Blessing for the shower was that when Ciara heard they were doing this for me she asked if she could take dessert for everyone.  The friend asked and the restaurant said Yes!  She had been watching Cupcake Wars and wanted to try one out.  So she baked Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes and finished decorating them at the restaurant before she served them.

She is quite the Hostess :)
Made this Mama proud!



Officer Lam still took his good old time and didn't approve us until Wednesday!  And the only reason I even knew we were approved was because I sent him an email asking him to let us know when we were approved.  His answer was, "I did that on Wednesday July 20."  REALLY!!!  So my thoughts were, Praise the Lord we are finished with officer Lam. Then I remembered that I needed the girls identification numbers "SIM" numbers in order to move to the next step.  So I emailed DEAR Officer Lam again and told him I would quit bothering him if he would be so kind as to give me the numbers I needed.  You know what, HE DID IT!!! :)  So we received provisional approval that Wed.  Not sure when we are truly approved.

Friday July 22 I started calling for our next set of numbers we would need.  No answer that day.  You know how everyone lives for the weekends?  Well  we are to the point that we don't really like weekends.  That just means 2 days that we can't move forward in our process :)  Anyway I then emailed Monday and Tuesday and did not get any response so I decided to call on Wed.  I couldn't start the girls Visa applications without these numbers.  I got an Officer that told me that she had the numbers we needed but because I am not the petitioner for the girls and Darvin is that she couldn't take my email information and that we weren't truly through the review process but if Darvin called back Friday she would email us the papers.  I was just about ready to hang up and she said the numbers you will need are "XXX". Oh my word I can do the girls visas now!!!  I was told this is a very long grueling process, some have a hard time even getting in the system and some have said it takes them hours so I was NOT looking forward to it.  So Thursday July 28 Ciara needed to be at work by 6 AM so I decided I would get on the computer right after I drop her off and hope not many people were on that early so I could get right in.  Well I did get right in and it only took me about 2 hours to do both of them.  Had a few questions for our social worker and had hit "submit" on both of them by 9:30 that morning.  This is to be the LAST piece of paperwork we have to do!!!!  Did you hear that THE LAST!!! I really wonder how many trees we have killed for paperwork the last 6 years?


Got the email from the Nation Visa Center Friday saying they had forward our information onto the Consulate in China where it will be put with all of our other paperwork that is there.  Monday Aug. 1 we will have what they call Article 5 drop off which is when all of our paperwork will start to be reviewed again by the Chinese Consulate .  They say this takes 10 business days and we should have pick up by Aug.15.  Drop off can only be done on Mon., Tues. and Thurs.  So we are praying that our paperwork is done by Aug. 11 for pick up.  This is when all of our paperwork is picked up and sent to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. Praying for favor in this step also.  They say approx. 2 weeks :(  Then when they are finished with what they need to do the  paperwork will go back to the Chinese government and the will give us our travel approval.  This can take days to weeks.  Of course we want it to only take days. 




So when I asked our social worker the hard question.......What is the earliest we can be on a plane for our girls?  Her best guess is Aug. 31 and that is if her contacts in China can get everything set up for us.  I told her to tell them, "WE ARE COMING!" so get ready. We would really like to leave Aug.24.  That would mean Ciara would only miss 8 days of school instead of 10.  It is going to be challenging enough for her when we do return.  She will probably only have 2 days to rest from jetlag before she needs to head back to school and she will be in full swing with volleyball also.




As you see we are getting closer and we have been busy just trying to finish this leg of our journey well.  Had a time this week when fear tried to sweep in and ask me what we think we are doing?  Bringing these TWO little girls to our home?  Then in the next second I heard a saying in my mind that a friend has hanging in her kitchen, "If God brought you to it, He WILL get you through it."  Well I know without a shadow of a doubt that God brought these two little ones to our family so I just have to keep remembering that he will provide wisdom on the hard days, friends and family to lift us up when we are tired, guidance for their medical needs and provision financially as we raise them.


We are busy trying to finish up Ciara's room for all THREE of the girls :)  This week we added their names and pictures to the wall.

Ciara thought she needed to have something artsy also.   She found this on Pintrest and did it for above her bed.



Have had people ask how much does it take to bring two little ones home form China?  Well here you go.....

I have seen picture of others things they are taking to

China and it has filled one bed for one child so I guess

one and three quarters isn't to bad for two :)  Some of

the things in this picture are toys and books for the girls

while we are in country and then the plane ride.

 

 



Just some of the cute sayings on their outfits.

Then we need to take gifts for our guides, the "ayi" or nannies and any others we

feel lead to bless.  Plan to get individual little bags of coffee from Whiff Roasters

yet because they say they like something from your home town.  Also some Hershey

miniatures to put in the bags.



After laying all of this out I can say I do believe we are just about ready to go!  We need some snacks and sinus medication yet for the smog and then I think we have it almost all covered.  The only other thing I could think would be formula and since Chayla had her palate surgery we are hoping she is now eating most foods.

I think that catches you up to where we are.  Prayer requests would be

*Supernatural bonding between the girls

*Bonding to come easily with us

*That they continue to sleep well at night like their paperwork says.  I've come to the conclusion youcan deal with just about anything if you can sleep

*That these last three steps go quicker than anticipated so we can be on a plane Aug.24.  This is also very important because if we don't make the Aug.31 date then we will have to wait until Sept.21 because they have holiday Sept.14-17.  We really don't want to have to wait 3 more weeks to get to our girls!

*That we would continue to trust the Lord with all of this and not listen to the lies of the enemy.

*That they can find decently priced plane tickets and hotel prices for us.

Praises

*That we are as far as we are.

*That Officer Lam gave us approval

*That the other Officer was willing to give me the numbers I needed even though she couldn't email me the paper.

*That for the most part we feel ready to go.

*The Lord continues to remind us that he has brought this to us and that he will see us through

*We did receive a $3500 grant from A Child Waits.  This will help tremendously because when we asked to have the second orphanage fee waved or reduced we were denied.

*We didn't only reach 600 puzzle pieces but 625!!!

I am planning to start a private facebook group to keep everyone updated while we are in China simply because I think it will be easier than this blog :)  Internet can be funky in China.

I also would like to set up a prayer calendar for us while we are traveling and the first 4-6 weeks we are home.  You can pick a specific time or a day each week. If you are interested in this please let me know so I can add you to the list to email when we know our travel dates for sure.

Frustration In The Waiting

There has been quite a bit that has happened since our last post.  Some good and some very frustrating.


Will start with the good,
We have successfully finished our puzzle fundraiser.  You all have gone above and beyond in helping to support us in bringing our daughters/sisters HOME.  We did not only reach the 550 pieces we are only 15 pieces away form 600!!!  I will be holding off on having the puzzle completed to see if we have any last minute donations come in to reach the 600.  Just makes it easier for the person making the puzzle :)

We also have been told that we are being considered for yet another grant from A Child Waits.  Plan to have that finished this week.

We received a $1000 grant that was a total surprise.  Came at just the right time.  Thank you Lord!

Now the frustrating,

We put our next step of paperwork in the mail the day after we received Callie's LOA June 21, 2016. 

I did everything like I was told.  The end of that week we were told that USCIS had received our paperwork.  I started calling the beginning of the following week to have them tell me that they no longer do the paperwork the way I submitted it.  WHAT???  You have to be kidding me.  I got on the phone right away with our agency.  They told me they would get on it right away.  That they just did paperwork the way I did the week before.  After I made a few calls and they made a few calls we were pretty much told some Officers might bend the rules a little and others will not.  If we get assigned to an Officer that won't bend the rules we could loss 1-2 weeks more.  If they want to they could issue us a RFE (Request For Evidence) which would require us to resubmit some of our paperwork.  So our agency and I continued to call daily to hope to catch the Officer they assign us to right away to explain that we have the paper they want can they please just approve us and we will email it to them. Well we waited and waited all week.

We were told in the midst of all of the paperwork frustration that the orphanage did NOT approve our request to drop one of the girls orphanage fees or even reduce it.  This was a disappointment.  We were hoping at least for a reduction to help with the high cost of flights and hotels since we will be traveling during some of the highest tourist season.

Then Friday afternoon we were told we had been assigned to Officer Lam.  In the back of my mind I was pretty sure this is the Officer that everyone was saying you don't want to get.  At this point all of my "fight" is beginning to dwindle away.  We are so frustrated with seeming to hit a "bump" every step of the way in this journey to our daughters.  I asked about Officer Lam in some of my FB groups and my fears were confirmed.  We were told he politely ignores you, he takes forever, is cryptic, has you convinced you will receive an RFE and just doesn't care.  Well you can only imagine the emotions we were feeling after hearing all of this.  Then came the good news, he was amazing, two different mistakes in our paperwork and he fixed them and approved us quickly, we emailed him and he responded.  Well we are praying for the latter when our agency calls him tomorrow.

In the midst of our frustration we reached out for some prayer support and the verse one friend shared with us was Exodus 17:12, When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it.  Aaron and Hur held his hands up-one on one side, one on the other-so that his hands remained steady till sunset.

Then had another friend share this with us,

I want to encourage you that God has placed people around you that are battling for you guys when you get tired.  Today I saw this first hand for myself.  Your family/adoption has been coming to my mind ALOT, as in, every day and multiple times most days for several weeks now.  So, late this morning I was doing stuff and you guys and the adoption come to my mind and I know I am suppose to pray.  So, I prayed and then I kept talking to God.  I asked Him why you keep coming to mind, is it because I have the quilt fabric sitting here?  He replies no.  It wasn't because of that, it's because you are getting weary and He's telling others to keep standing in the gap in prayer!  And now I read your request for prayer and you share your weariness.  It is confirming exactly what your other friend shared.  And He is placing it on my heart and others hearts to be praying before you even ask because THAT'S HOW GOOD OF A DADDY HE IS FOR YOU!  You can trust Him, He's got ALL 6 of your backs covered.  Enjoy your weekend, God's got the details worked out already!  Be present today, don't worry about tomorrow.

Did you get that??  God gave this word for us to a friend before she even realized we were feeling frustrated and our "fight" was dwindling :)  Thank you Daddy for your confirmation again!

So this is what we tried to do this weekend.  We were at the mountains when all the stress started from the Officer and then we received this word.  So we made a choice and it was to have fun this weekend.  We dropped Ciara off at Penn State for a volleyball camp with 11 of her high school team mates on Friday until today.  They had fun.  We did hear ouch, oh and that hurts quite a bit on the way home :)

Manheim Central Volleyball Team Mates

Then we headed to the cabin for fun and relaxation.  Played lots of cards, ate good food and simply enjoyed the mountains.  We also celebrated Conrad's 19th Birthday!

Still my Baby :)

We are having to resign ourselves to the fact that we will probably not be traveling before school starts.  This is very hard.  Especially since Ciara is planning to go along.  Mom was hoping to have some help before she headed back to school to help with transition with the girls and really didn't want her to have to deal with school work while we were gone.  Doesn't look like it is going to happen.  Even if she could only miss the first week it would be great.  I did talk to the Principle this past week and he has agreed to work with us for her school work.

So prayer requests for now:

*That the girls are starting to form a strong bond with each other

*That the Lord is supernaturally start to bond their hearts with ours

*For the amazing family that they have been placed with to care for them for now

*That Officer Lam is in a good mood tomorrow when he gets called :)

*That we can finish this journey without anymore "bumps"

*When we schedule our flights and hotels that our agency can find reasonable prices

*That Ciara only has to miss a minimum of school and volleyball

*That Ciara's coach doesn't hold it against her if she misses some of preseason when it comes time to pick her teams for the season.

*That we can finish this journey with a good attitude and bring glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ