There is a delay!

Well...it turns out that with international adoption, things can turn on a dime.

It turns out that our daughter is sick in China and the orphanage wants her to be healthy before they allow her to be released from their care. It makes a lot of sense. The trip will be physically demanding for Stephen and I, not to mention our little one. They have asked us to wait until mid-September before we come to China to bring her home.

Again, we see God's provision in all of this. Our plane ticket is completely refundable and we don't have to pay any penalties. On top of that, it looks as if we can get our tickets a little bit cheaper when we travel in September. That's great news. Also, I still have my ticket to Minnesota and I'll be able to travel with the kids to MN next week for our family reunion. I'll be able to be with family and friends for a couple of weeks as we wait again to make our plans for our China trip.

And then there is Aaselia. God is providing for her as well. Huan Qin has a full time (24 hr) nurse that is taking care of her. She is walking and happy...but weak. Please pray for her strength to return so we can bring her home.

It looks as if we'll be in MN until the 22nd of August. We'll miss Stephen a whole bunch, but he's saving his time off for China. Then, when we get back, we'll have another 2.5 weeks of summer before school starts. After school starts, Stephen and I will go to China and be home in time for the cooler weather in the fall.

I'm bringing my new netbook with me to MN, so I'll be able to post pictures of the kids swimming in the lake and hanging out with my grandparents. We'll also be able to Skype with Stephen in the evenings.

So it's not 6 more days to China...more like 46...but those days will fly by and soon we'll be packing!

We're getting closer!

6 More Days and there is so much left to do! I've gotta pack for the three kids' trip to Minnesota and pack for Stephen and I to go to China. It's a good thing that Stephen and I are both a little organized...otherwise, who knows what we would end up with in our suitcases!

A discussion about jobs...

We were driving home from a girlfriends house last Friday morning. Twerp #1 had earned $1 from my girlfriend because he kept her sons lego creations safe while we were having our bible study downstairs. Twerp #3 soon said that he wanted $1 too. I told him that when we got home, he could clean around the house and he could earn $1. This is the conversation that followed:

Twerp #3: I don't want to have to work to earn a dollar. I just want to get the dollar.

Me: You can't just get money. Even daddy has to go to work every day and he earns money. But, you can find a job that you love, like Daddy does. When he goes to work, because he loves working with computers so much, it doesn't feel like a job to him. He gets paid to do something that he loves. So, you can find a job that you love too...like being a fireman, or a pastor, or a teacher...and then you can get paid for doing something that you love!

Twerp #3: (He was quiet for a little bit.) Mom, can I get paid to watch TV?

Sometimes, when I talk, it's just wasted breath. :)

7

Days left, that is!

8 More Days!

There are only 8 days left before we fly to China! 8 days! I can't believe it. We made our flight arrangements today and we're leaving for Beijing at 1:40 in the morning on August 4th. We'll get into Beijing on the 5th of August at 5:20 a.m. That means we'll have to sleep A LOT on the plane so we're ready to go when we hit the ground.

We're coming home with Aaselia on the 20th of August. We'll have a couple of days to get used to the time zone change before our kids arrive home from MN. What a reunion that will be! I can't wait to pick up my kids from the airport and have Auntie Maren meet the newest member of our family! It'll be so much fun!

All right, much to do and many things to pack. Gotta get to some laundry!

We Got Travel Approval!

Whoever said that adoption isn't anything like childbirth was completely wrong! With each step of the way these last couple of months, I have felt both like laughing aloud and crying at the same time. It's the same as when I was in labor in the hospital.


Today, after 3 1/2 years of waiting, we have received approval to travel to China to bring home Aaselia. FINALLY! At one point this week, we thought that we wouldn't get it in time and we'd have to wait another month to bring her home. Another month without hugs from us...another month without seeing her smile...another month away from her parents. But that wont' have to happen any longer.















We're planning on leaving on August 4th just before midnight so we can sleep on the plane there (yeah, right!) and then getting to Beijing sometime in the afternoon on the 6th. Our Gotcha Day is still planned for August 10th. We're coming Aaselia! We can't wait to hold you and be your forever family!Love,

A movie for their sister...

The kids made a movie for their sister that we can show her when we're in China. This way she can hear them talk and see them move...not just in the pictures that we have brought with us. They were all so excited to make their part of the movie. Hope you all enjoy it!

Michal

http://www.onetruemedia.com/my_shared?z=3b4eb275363f4ce67a0105&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Waiting Children in China...

For those of you who have wondered if we are crazy to adopt a special needs child, take a look at this video. It explains in great detail that most "special needs" aren't really special needs at all...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aa3ZN8Tyzc

Hopefully we get our Travel Approval soon...we're supposed to leave in 2 weeks!

A guilty pleasure.

I have to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is watching Wipeout. I think it's because I can laugh out loud to the point where my belly hurts when I see people fall flat on their faces. Not only that, but they are willing participants in the entire thing! It can't get much better than that.

Actually it can. You see, last night while we were watching the show, Stephen made a comment that he would "pay to be on a show like that!" What?!? My husband wants to be on Wipeout?!? He wants to win $50,000 by falling on his face?!? I could outright laugh at him...along with millions of other viewers?!?

It didn't take long for me to put in his application and send in a picture to the TV show. Yeah. We're not that kind of family. But...if there is a possibility of all the above things happening all at the same time...then I've gotta go for it. They tape the show down here in LA, so it won't be too far of a drive for us. I'm crossing my fingers that he gets picked for the 3rd season. It would be just too perfect for my life.

Wipeout!

VBS

The kids spent this week at Vacation Bible School while I taught the 2-3rd graders. Twerp #1 was in my class with one of his best friends. It made for a fun week for him and I together. Twerp #2 had Mrs. Faris. She is the best teacher that I can ever imagine for my children. She is kind and sweet and does TONS of crafts with the kids...much more than the curriculum gives us. Perfect for my little girl. Twerp #3 was in heaven. He had a bunch of other kids his own age to play with and he LOVES the singing.

Next week, the boys will be in Sports Camp at our church. They've never gone, but somehow
they combine sports and biblical principals - sounds like it was made just for the boys of our community! They can't wait to go. Meanwhile, Twerp #2 and I will be hanging out doing "girl" stuff. She wants to paint our nails together and see the free movie. We'll probably hang out at the YMCA and swim together too. It will be a great week for all of us!

We're hoping you all are having a wonderful summer. Time is flying by!

A rundown of July...we leave 1 month from today!

I'm glad the weekend if almost over. We've spent the entire weekend moving furniture and getting ready for Twerp #4 to come home. Our month is going to fly by and we leave one month from today for China.

This weekend we moved our computer into a cabinet/desk into the TV room. It looks really nice there. You can't even tell we have an office in the TV room anymore. We moved the kids' computer to another wall and then took apart the desk in the girls' room. We put together the crib and painted a dresser to match Twerp #2's dresser. (It's now drying outside on the driveway.) We went through all Twerp #2's clothes and put the clothes that will soon fit Twerp #4 in one box while all the size 3-5 went back up in the attic. We are presently cleaning out the garage so we can walk in there. There is A LOT of junk that needs to be stored when you move stuff out of an office and into a small cabinet. We're going to have lots of stuff going to Goodwill over the next couple of weeks.

Next weekend (2nd weekend in July), we will have a meeting with our adoption agency on Saturday and then on Sunday we need to finish cleaning and getting the house ready for the baby. It'll be a busy weekend.

The 3rd weekend in July we're taking the kids camping...our last time as a family of 5. It will be a nice weekend in the mountains and we're all looking forward to taking our trailer out again.

The 4th weekend in July (and last) is my anniversary and Stephen's birthday. We're going away for the night. It'll be a fun weekend with museums and a dinner where there are no coloring menu's offered and only cloth napkins. Fun.

Then...the next weekend is our last weekend home before going to China. We have to pack for all of us as my children will be with my sister in Minnesota for a family reunion. I can't imagine the hectic schedule we'll all have trying to get all 5 of us packed for 2 different trips, but it will be a good weekend. I've considered letting the children pack for themselves, but there would be only toys and hairbows in Twerp #2's bag. Twerp #1 would pack 2 bibles, a couple of reading books and 3 pairs of shorts. Twerp #3...well, he's had his Nemo backpack packed for a few weeks now and he has three pair of PJ's and 1 T-shirt. Should make for a smelly couple of weeks for my sister.

Yeah, our month is busy. We have VBS starting tomorrow and I'm teaching the upper elementary kids. Should be a lot of fun. Have a great week!

A New Website For Aaselia...

It's true...we can't use blogger in China. I've made a new website that I'll use while we are in China. You can search by her first or last name to access the website. I'll remind you all as we get closer to our trip, but if you want to see what I've been doing the past few evenings, you can click on the link below. Have a great 4th of July!

http://www.babyjellybeans.com/

39 years old...ten years married

So this month, I will have been married for 10 years and the day after our anniversary, my husband turns 39. What to do? We wanted to get away for one night over our anniversary weekend and have a nice dinner and go out on a date. So, last night, Stephen asks me if I want to go to the Regan Presidential Library. I have wanted to go here for a very long time, but it's something we can't do with our kids and enjoy. They'd be too loud, too complaining and we'd have to leave before we wanted to. It was a great idea.

But then, I started to giggle. I thought of my friends who go somewhere cool and fun for their 10 year anniversary...

"So Michal, where are you going for your 10th anniversary?"

"So glad you asked! We're going to Simi Valley!"

"Huh?!?"

Yeah, not really cool. Not really exotic. It's the kind of thing I'll get teased about from my friends. Thing is, I don't really care. I'm going to have fun and get to do something that I've wanted to do for a really long time. I want to sit on Air Force One. The area surrounding the library is beautiful and I just want to enjoy it.

Stephen and I talked about how it is kinda funny to go to Simi Valley for an anniversary weekend. So we decided that when our friends ask what we're doing for our anniversary, we'll tell them that we are going to Simi Valley to celebrate Stephen's birthday and we're leaving 2 weeks after our anniversary to go to China for a couple of weeks. That'll shut them up!

Hangzhou, China

Stephen and I will be traveling to Hangzhou for our Gotcha Day. Aaselia is from the city of Wenzhou, but she will be travelling to Hangzhou (about a 4 hour drive) to meet us on August 10th. I thought I'd tell you a little about Hangzhou, the place where Stephen and I will be spending 5 days and where we will meet Aaselia for the first time!

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province and its political, economic and cultural center. With its famous natural beauty and cultural heritages, Hangzhou is one of China's most important tourist venues. While much of the ancient city that had been the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion in the mid-nineteenth century, today's Hangzhou is a modern and vibrant economical center. The City, the southern terminus of the Grand Canal, is located on the lower reaches of the Qiantang River in southeast China, a superior position in the Yangtze Delta and only 180 kilometers from Shanghai. Hangzhou has a subtropical monsoon type climate with four quite distinct seasons. However, it is neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winter making it a year round destination.

The West Lake is undoubtedly the most renowned feature of Hangzhou, noted for the scenic beauty that blends naturally with many famous historical and cultural sites. In this scenic area, Solitary Hill, the Mausoleum of General Yue Fei, the Six Harmonies Pagoda and the Ling Yin Temple are probably the most frequently visited attractions. The "Ten West Lake Prospects" have been specially selected to give the visitor outstanding views of the lake, mountains and monuments. A number of national museums can be found in Hangzhou and are representative of Chinese culture. Fine examples are the National Silk Museum and Tea Museum. Along with the other museums in Hangzhou, they provide a fascinating insight into the history of Chinese traditional products.


One of the most important parts of traveling is tasting the local delicacies. Hangzhou dishes are noted for their elaborate preparation, sophisticated cooking and refreshing taste. Many local specialties will be sure to make your trip a cultural experience. We recommend that you try Beggar's Chicken (a chicken baked in clay), West Lake Fish in Sweet Sour Source (vinegar coated fish fresh caught from the lake), Dongpo Pork (braised pork) and Fried Shrimps with Longjing Tea, etc.The shopping environment in Hangzhou is exciting and convenient. Travelers and tourists like to go to Qing He Fang Street. It is one of the most famous and historic streets in the city and reflects many of the features of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Shoppers will admire the antique buildings while purchasing items from a wide range of local goods such as silks, tea or maybe a silk parasol, brocade or a beautiful Hangzhou fan. These are just some of the items to be found but there are many more.