Wednesday, November 9th began like any other Wednesday. As I was leaving Moriah's physical therapy appointment, Kimberly called from home. "We got it!" She said. The long awaited e-mail from CCAI saying that we had LOA! We were expecting to wait a few more weeks, so it was such a pleasant surprise.
This is significant because it is China saying that they have seen all of our paperwork and they are giving official permission for us to adopt these two precious boys. We hurried up to Denver on Thursday with all of our immigration paperwork in hand to sign the document to indicate that "Yes! We want these boys!"
We were able to sit down with the someone from the Travel department and ask all of our many questions. It made it seem very real. Somewhere between eleven and fifteen weeks from now, those two boys will be part of our family forever. Or, as my funny friend said they won't just belong, they'll be-Leong!
We have decided that we will travel as a family to China. That means six of us going and eight of us coming home. We are excited about sharing in this experience together. We believe that the boys will enjoy having other kids around to smooth the transition. And we are trusting our great God to help us keep track of everyone and everything!
Today we ordered luggage and spent a lot of time talking about what other things we need to think about packing and purchasing. Even though it's a few months away, it's all starting to seem very real.
We have also been burying ourselves in some excellent adoption material from "Empowered to Connect." This is a ministry featuring the work of Karyn Purvis and her counterparts at TCU. She is the author of the book "The Connected Child." I cannot recommend this work highly enough. I am so thankful for all that we are learning and applying. It's geared toward adoptive and foster parents, but there is a lot that would be excellent for any parent to consider.
We are so thankful for our parent's love and support through this process. They love these little boys and pray for them daily. We are so richly blessed. Our church family is standing with us as well. We know that these support systems are such a gracious provision of the Lord.
Next stop: TA and CA (travel approval and consulate appointment). At that point, we pray that we can use our frequent flyer miles and make reservations!! Wahoo!
This is significant because it is China saying that they have seen all of our paperwork and they are giving official permission for us to adopt these two precious boys. We hurried up to Denver on Thursday with all of our immigration paperwork in hand to sign the document to indicate that "Yes! We want these boys!"
We were able to sit down with the someone from the Travel department and ask all of our many questions. It made it seem very real. Somewhere between eleven and fifteen weeks from now, those two boys will be part of our family forever. Or, as my funny friend said they won't just belong, they'll be-Leong!
We have decided that we will travel as a family to China. That means six of us going and eight of us coming home. We are excited about sharing in this experience together. We believe that the boys will enjoy having other kids around to smooth the transition. And we are trusting our great God to help us keep track of everyone and everything!
Today we ordered luggage and spent a lot of time talking about what other things we need to think about packing and purchasing. Even though it's a few months away, it's all starting to seem very real.
We have also been burying ourselves in some excellent adoption material from "Empowered to Connect." This is a ministry featuring the work of Karyn Purvis and her counterparts at TCU. She is the author of the book "The Connected Child." I cannot recommend this work highly enough. I am so thankful for all that we are learning and applying. It's geared toward adoptive and foster parents, but there is a lot that would be excellent for any parent to consider.
We are so thankful for our parent's love and support through this process. They love these little boys and pray for them daily. We are so richly blessed. Our church family is standing with us as well. We know that these support systems are such a gracious provision of the Lord.
Next stop: TA and CA (travel approval and consulate appointment). At that point, we pray that we can use our frequent flyer miles and make reservations!! Wahoo!
