We're Home

We are home and adjusting to life as a family of eight! Ben is doing well, and the kids adore him. We had some crazy flights coming home with delays due to bad storms in Guangzhou to mechanical delays in San Francisco. Thankfully we did not have to fly in any bad storms and we were able to get on a new plane in California after the one we were supposed to be on was smoking when it had landed just before we were to get on it. Of course this caused about a 2.5 hour delay in getting into to DFW, which we were so anxious to see the kids.

I have updated Ben's site with all of our China pictures from Sunday 6/20 through today. I will continue to update more on his site for now since I will make a CD of it for him.

We Are In China

We finally made it to China a few hours ago. Only 11 more hours until we have Ben. We get him at 10 am China time Friday, and 9 pm Thursday in Texas. Please pray for his transition to go smoothly and that he will begin adjusting to us quickly. I will post pictures on his website tomorrow!

Packing Packing Packing....

We are very busy packing as we leave tomorrow morning at 6:40 am for 24 hours of travel and layovers!

Please pray for travel mercies and as we have to say goodbye to our kids tonight. I'm already crying just typing those words. Also, please pray for the kids as they are here with family and friends. Of course pray for Ben and his foster parents who are so heavy on my heart.

We will update Ben's website which is no longer private at www.lovingben.com I hope you will post comments when you visit as it is sometimes just the encouragement we need to make another day in a foreign country. If for some reason I can't post from his website, I will post on this blog, if it will allow me to.

We're on our way Ben!!

We Have A Consulate Appointment!

We are leaving next week and will have Ben in our arms in 8 days!! We will get to meet face to face for the very first time next Friday, June 11th.

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God does have our best interest at heart and His plans are always perfect. The last two weeks, the enemy kept discouraging me as we waited and waited for our travel approval. As we prayed and prayed every day for it to come, God chose to make us wait a little longer for at least two reasons. I can now see the end result, the one you want to see sooner than later. We always want to know everything now and not wait for it. If God had given us what we wanted, we would not be getting Ben until the end of June or early July due to the lack of consulate appointments in China. If we had received our travel approval just a week ago, I would have not asked my agency more about traveling to get him before the Dragon Boat Festival, June 14-16. We would have received our TA and booked a consulate appointment at the end of June or first of July. We would have missed this great blessing of getting Ben sooner and now we will be able to spend more time in his province and share the Dragon Boat Festival with him! How awesome is that, God has once again shown me that He has everything under contol and He is sovereign! I also believe the longer we have to wait for things hoped for, the more appreciative we are when we finally do take these little ones into our arms. The wait also allows God to grow such a deep love within our hearts for them, which is so important for our initial bonding. It also allows for us to be able to truly connect with them. It wasn't easy to wait but I am so thankful to God that He knows so much more than I do. He sees the big picture of how it will all play out.

I would like to encourage those of you in the waiting stage to trust God for His perfect timing, eventually you will see why He has made you wait. A verse I have read over and over the past two weeks is Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. You may not feel like waiting, but the Lord truly does have a perfect plan for you and in His perfect timing, you will know His plan.

It looks like we will be leaving very early on Wednesday 6/9 and returning Friday afternoon 6/25. Please keep us in your prayers throughout the next few days as we prepare to leave, we have lot's to do. Also, for Ben's transition to go smoothly and for his foster parents to have comfort and peace as they say goodbye to this sweet little boy they have had since he was just a few days old. Oh how it breaks my heart to know the sadness they will feel as well as the grieving process for Ben.

Please also pray for our kids who will be staying home while we are gone, that they will have lots of fun things to do and not be sad. I know they will all miss us but I'm especially concerned for our two youngest. Of course, this momma will need lot's of prayer as I have to leave the rest of our kids here with family and dear friends. Thanks for being our prayer warriors!

Totally Awesome Wednesday

We received our Travel Approval today!!!!!!!!!! Ben, we are coming sooooon. I will fill you in with all of the details after we have our confirmed consulate appointment, hopefully tomorrow. I can't believe we may be leaving next week! Thank You God!

No News Yet

I am feeling a little frustrated as we still have not received our Travel Approval. The possiblity of leaving on June 4th is not looking very good. Our agency expects to receive Travel Approvals at any time now, since it has been three weeks since they last received any. I think the most frustrating part is that we read about a family who received their approval today who had a later Article 5 date. It just seems like Travel Approvals would be issued in the order that paperwork was received. Maybe just maybe ours is in the mail.

This week has been a little hectic. We are in the middle of the end of the year activities with field trips, band concerts, award ceremonies, field day and tomorrow my sweet baby girl graduates from Kindergarten! She looks so cute in her cap and gown. She is so excited that she has no more school! I will post pictures after her program.

Please keep praying!!!

Prayer Request

I am asking all of you prayer warriors to pray specifically about our upcoming travel to China. We are anxiously waiting for our Travel Approval to come. I know that many families who have recently received their TA's are having to wait until mid-June to travel due to the consulate appointments being booked out so far. We are needing to leave on June 4th and get our consulate appointment for June 15th in order for things to go smoothly with our kids who will not be going with us. I have lined up family and friends to come in and with their schedules...vacations, weddings, etc.... I feel like we need to leave on this date. If we were able to take the kids with us, I wouldn't be near as anxious.

I found out last week that we will not be able to travel June 11th due to the Dragon Boat Festival in China. The Chinese offices are closed on June 14, 15, 16th, therefore no adoptions can begin on the 14th. The U.S. Consulate is also closed the 16th. If we cannot travel the 4th we will not be able to travel until the 18th which is the week my in-laws will be on vacation. Of course I am praying specific but also only if it is God's will for us to leave on the 4th. I know God will work it out if we are not to leave on the 4th. I'm just trying to keep all of my kids together for the majority of our time away and not spread them out among different friends.

I am also very concerned for Shayle. She really wants to go with us but we have discussed it and we feel like our youngest son, Jacob, would be very resentful if she got to go and he did not. Early on in this process we decided they would all go or none would get to go. Well, unless we have a complete financial miracle from God, none will get to go. Taking 5 kids to China gets pretty expensive. Of course, I know I will miss them terribly and only God and your prayers will get me through two weeks without them.

Thanks for praying!

Mother's Day 2010

I had a wonderful Mother's Day that began with Payton and Myranda making blueberry muffins for breakfast. Then we headed off to church followed by going out to eat for lunch. The kids really surprised me with gifts they purchased on their own, even their dad didn't know they had bought me gifts. Arron knows that magnolia's are my absolute favorite flower and so all by himself he went after school one day and bought me this sweet little figurine. He picked out a card and even had it wrapped. He is so thoughtful and caring. Then Myranda and Payton bought me the cutest necklace for a mom of 6! They too had wrapped it up and surprised me with it. Of course Jacob had a nice collection of his handpring artwork from this school year all bound together and laminated. Shayle also gave me a framed picture of herself and Darrel brought me roses. After our lunch, I went home and took a nap. Then the girls made Darrel and I dinner and topped it off with brownies. They really spoiled me! Darrel and Myranda also gave me a special framed picture of a sweet little boy who will be with me very soon. I am so very blessed to have such sweet kids!

Meet Our New Puppies..........

Maggie and Belle. We went to look at the minature schnauzer last weekend and to our surprise also found minature australian shepherd/border collie mix pups. Well, let me tell you God definitely guided our day to these puppies out of town. We decided to go look at the schnauzer's and had no idea that these aussies would be there. Once we saw them and then saw the look on our son's face, we knew we had to let him pick one out. I hadn't seen him get very excited over any dog since our Rev passed away. So, I don't consider even this a mere chance that we found him this dog while looking at schnauzers. God is in the little things just as much as He is in the Big things.

Belle is here with Jacob and Maggie is with Shayle.

Early Mother's Day Gift.....

Today I received an update on Ben! Our agency asked for updated photos and measurements 7 weeks ago and today they came. I was completely surprised to get them. Go to Ben's website to check it out!

Have a great Mother's Day weekend!

Article 5

We were notified this morning that our Article 5 was picked up last night at the U.S. Consulate in China and forwarded to CCAA! We will now wait for just ONE more APPROVAL, our TRAVEL APPROVAL. The agency said it is taking 3-5 weeks from this point to receive it. Most families I have seen receiving their travel approval have been in 3-4 weeks, a few came in 2 weeks. Please pray ours will come sooner than later so that we will have more time to book our flights. We would like to leave on June 4th which would make our gotcha day June 7th. This date is special because it is exactly 18 years and 6 months since Darrel and I were married. It would also work out best for Darrel's work schedule to go then and for our family who will be watching our kids for us while we are gone.

We also mailed our visa applications today to get that taken care of. It always makes me a little nervous mailing my passport!

Shayle is doing well, recovering nicely. She still wants chips and she can't have anything like that for a little while longer. She also loves popcorn and drinking from a straw. These things have been the hardest for her. She will go back to the surgeon on May 25th for her check up and then she should be able to startgoing to speech again. Most everyone I have talked to can understand her better, PTL! I know her speech will continue to improve for up to 18 months as the scar tissue thins out and makes her palate longer.

Have a great weekend!

Home and Recovering

Shayle did get to come home yesterday from the hospital. She is doing well, already showing some improvement with a few words! We are very thankful for that. She has been eating much better than last time, so hopefully she will not lose any weight. I have to make her take it easy and slow down to rest. She will see her surgeon and ENT at the end of May for a check up and then will be able to start speech up again. Please pray she will not develop any fistulas in her mouth and that it will heal perfectly!

Last night was very hard on the kids and us as we went to the vet to spend some time with our dog, Reveille before she was put to sleep. She was 13 and we have had her since she was 8 weeks old. She has grown up with our kids. It has been very difficult for our oldest who was three when we got her. Please continue to lift them up in prayer, as we will have to bury her tonight.