TA! We're going to China!!!

We got "the call"! The exciting third in the series of "calls"! So funny, the phone rang and I said to Claire I wonder if it is America World...Claire went over to the phone and started screaming! I had a little trouble hearing at first with the excitement, but Kristen said she had good news! Our tentative dates are October 23- November 7! Wow that is so quick...I knew it was coming, but that is a little over three weeks away! I have been feeling so unbelievably thankful with God's blessing lately on this whole journey. He has met us every step of the way and has poured down His presence in so many parts of this journey. We are pretty certain He has even made it possible for all of us to go to China. I remember when we first starting praying about adoption and the financial cost of it seemed impossible. I remember when we really believed God was calling us to this, stepping out in it and having the faith that God would provide. It shouldn't amaze me that He has provided everything we need..but it still does. How great is our God!

Where is James...

James is in an orphanage in Beijing and I have seen some photos of the orphanage recently and wanted to show them. It appears to be a pretty large facility and cares for children of all ages. James has probably received our care package in the last few days. After you receive your approval you are allowed to send a package. Our orphanage currently doesn't allow much to be sent, but we were able to send a translated letter, photo album, and a disposable camera. It was fun to compose the letter to him and tell him how excited we are to have him in our family. I had to remember I was writing what would be read to a three year old. I was also able to send 20 photos of his new family and some activities. I did send one of the snowstorm and hope it doesn't scare him because actually all of that snow started to scare me! It will be great to have him familiar with us. The disposable camera will record him in his environment now. Those photos will be precious and I cannot wait to see them. I hope to have some photos of him with his nannies who I know love him very much. That will be so great to have because it will probably be the only photos I have of James in China. The first photo is of the neighborhood outside the orphanage. The days are getting long sometimes as I just want to bring him home! I pray each day his heart is being prepared for this big transition into our family and all the changes ahead. I know our hearts are being prepared as we wait and dream of the days ahead.

RA APPROVAL!!!!!!!

WOW! We received our official approval from the CCAA to adopt Lu Sitong (James Sitong) today! We can officially share his photo! It was great and of course unexpected, even though we were on day 87 of waiting! I was at my sisters painting and helping her get her house ready to sell. First off let me say I have been in search of 3 year olds just to see how big they are what they do and say...cause it has been a while! Funny I never came across a three year old until today! A friend of Coll's stopped by with twin boys who had just turned three and so I got a glimpse of that age again...of course it made me have such longing to get James home! What a gift to receive the call from our agency right after that with those thoughts of James fresh in my mind! So we are absolutely thrilled. I called Mike and shared the news and we decided to pick up Chinese and I didn't tell the girls. Ali saw the chopsticks and place mats in the dining room and went kind of wild following me around asking what was up! Claire just couldn't understand why we were eating in the dining room with chopsticks and place mats when I had said we were having leftover pizza! Mike came home and brought out the food and it was a wonderful celebration and we are so incredibly blessed and thankful to God for this precious gift! We are filled with joy, anticipation, thankfulness...What an exciting day and now on to the flurry of things to do in the weeks ahead!

Olympics

WOW! Lisa sent some great photos of the opening ceremony and has had a great time in Beijing working on the Olympics. She is looking forward to some time off to relax after working very hard for such a long time! We can't wait until she arrives home. It has been almost surreal to watch these Olympics and think of our son in Beijing and the fact that we should be actually going sometime in fall...who would've thought!

NC Vacation...Luna Pops!

We had a wonderful vacation in sunny North Carolina! Our weather was so beautiful everyday and it was just so great to have family time. We ate a lot of shrimp and the highlight of the trip for most was Ali catching a shark! We were fishing off the pier and as we were buying the bait there was a big poster of all the different fish. I said if anyone catches a shark I'll pay them $20...I guess money is a great motivator for some of us! I was originally worried about taking the trip because I thought we may be traveling to China shortly after, but that doesn't look like it is going to happen. Before vacation I went on a frenzy of painting...I was feeling like if there was anything I wanted done I better get it done now, because once our little James is home I won't be doing any of those projects! I painted both the girls rooms, the kitchen, and the family room. I am feeling like I don't want to see another paint brush for a long time!

James Sitong

My brother finally has his American name: James. His name was breathed from the book of James..."care for the widows and orphans"...

I would like to take credit for this name idea. So would Claire. But, whichever of us came up with this name first [ie me], our sweet brother, who has been "Lu" for so long, finally has a name that will suit his new culture, his new family, his new life.

But while we wait here in America, James remains immersed in his own culture. There, he isn't "James" or "Jimmy" or "Uncle Sam". His Chinese name is Sitong, and while we want him to adapt completely to his life here, we know that some bit of him will always be in China...three years of us apart from each other are sure to leave their mark. We can't and won't force him into a new identity by "changing" his name.

James Sitong. A piece of self, a piece of China past, and a piece of family.

I love him so much already. I think about him often...as we all do.

Love and peace,

Ali

Now we wait...

What we are waiting for now is a RA, an official Referral Acceptance of our family to adopt Lu Sitong. That comes after the CCAA views our dossier and all of our documents. After that we wait for TA which is Travel Approval. An email sent said the typical time from RA to travel is 7-9 weeks. So my mind is spinning and I feel I have so much to do! It's hard to believe it is becoming a reality. It is also harder to think of him in the orphanage. Claire and I went online looking for photos of the orphanage or possibly him in another photo. We saw some photos of the orphanage which was pretty exciting. Also Ali shared with me the other day that she has been writing letters to her brother! Wow did that touch my heart!