Blogspot.com is broken in China

I'm a part of a couple of different Yahoo groups. These are groups that you can join when you have similar goals in mind. Most of my Yahoo groups center around our adoption from China. Anyways, a couple of weeks ago, one person started a discussion that basically says that you can't use Blogger to post from China. This means that this website that you're reading right now won't be able to work.

I'm bummed. I really wanted to post journal entries and pictures so that people could keep up with our trip. Mostly, I wanted an easy way for my Grandparents and my kids and other family members to see what we've been doing a half a world away. Now...my plan is foiled. I've found another website that isn't too expensive and could work for the couple of months that I need it...it's called Baby Jelly Beans and is used for many different families waiting to share their "baby stories" with people. I'll let you know when I get it up and running.

"Outcome Looks Good" - a quick message from the 8-ball.

Patience...

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”-Romans 8:25

Patience stinks! I'm not good at being patient. But...I only have to be patient for 40 more days!

A Visit with Great-Grandma

Last Monday, we went to visit Stephen's Grandmother. LaVonia is an amazing Grandmother and we love her so much. We were supposed to go for a picnic...at a park...something we do quite often in our family. However, this was no ordinary picnic. From now on, my kids will expect an amazing picnic.

When we were planning on the food, Grandma said, "I'll bring some sandwiches and fruit and juice. If there is anything else that the kids will need, you can bring that." So...I brought nothing. I figured that if my kids needed more than that then that would just be too bad. When we went to pick up Grandma, she came into the car with a cooler and a picnic basket. As soon as we got to the park, she put out a tablecloth. Hmmmm...nice touch, I thought. Then came the individualized place mats for each child. Hmmmmm...really nice tough.

Then came the sandwiches out of the cooler. There were four kinds for the kids. Ice cream cone shaped sandwiches with meat and cheese. Elephant cut sandwiches with Ham and Cheese. There were star shaped sandwiches with plain turkey and then circle shaped sandwiches with PB&J. Sandwich heaven! Twerp #1 couldn't get enough. He ate so many sandwiches that he gave himself a stomach ache. Twerp #2 loved the variety and the cute shapes. She ate one, maybe two and was full. Twerp #3 wanted to try one of each of them. As for us adults, we each had a turkey and cheese sandwich complete with lettuce. They were cut on the diagonal. I never cut on the diagonal. But somehow, it made them more yummy. I'll be cutting on the diagonal more from now on!



She had carrots with a raspberry dipping sauce. She had apples and a apple slicer that she brought. The apple juice was frozen in paper cups with a straw stuck in the middle. They had been thawing just enough to make a perfect slushy. She even brought chocolate pudding for dessert. Yummy.

How can my picnic's compare in the future?!? I just throw a few PB&J sandwiches in a big bag - sometimes even the leftover bag that the bread came in if I use all the pieces. Not particularly attractive. I bring the entire bag of pretzels and just throw some on the paper towel we use for a plate. It's very minimal and very "throw it all in the trash when we're done." But...and this is a huge but...my kids will never forget Grandma LaVonia's picnic.

Grandma, you're amazing! We love you and we love the way that you make each of us feel so very special! Thank you for being in our lives!

Letter of Seeking Confirmation from Adopter (LOA)

This is what we've been waiting for...the letter that we've been waiting three years to get. It's the letter that says that we are officially invited to China to adopt Huan Qin Li. It's priceless. And, like most priceless things, I got rid of it as quickly as I could. I could loose it or it could get scribbled on by one of the kids. It could get ripped by two of the kids wanting to look at it at the same time or it could get eaten by the dog. Either way...I wanted it back to China.




So, I signed it.

Stephen signed it. We dated it and we sent it by FedEx back to Sabrina where it will quickly make it's way back to China so we can get our Travel Approval (TA). We can't wait for that so we can finally buy our tickets.

Visa...it's not just a credit card anymore!

We finally sent in our check, passports and updated passport photos to get our Visa's. Yep, our visa's for China! We're still waiting for our Travel Approval to come in...but we sent back our LOA so it should come at the end of July. I've never had to get a Visa before. Heck, you don't need one to get to Minnesota. Nor do you need one to go through all the states West of the Mississippi. Yeah, that's where I've been. Name a state West of the Mississippi and I've probably driven through it. Can't wait to get my passport back with my Visa stamped inside. I just hope I don't loose my passport after I get that expensive stamp! Next stop, China!