We're halfway through the article 5 process. Next Thursday it will be completed and then we just wait for travel approval. I'm hoping we can leave on March 3rd, that would get us home just in time for Jake's school musical. He has 5 parts in it this year...5!!! So, we don't want to miss it!
As I'm sitting here writing this blog, I just got the most exciting email! They are going to tell Gabriel he has family! We will be sending pictures and information about us and our house so that they can describe us to him. We will also be sending a voice recording. Included in the email were 11 pictures and a video. Happy day!
Gabriel has not received his Christmas package yet but I'm hopeful it will eventually make its way to him before we get there.
I'll leave you with this super adorable video we received in October.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZO7vdCoW-A&feature=youtu.be
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Article 5 Process
Abby informed me yesterday that it's time for another blog post. She is on top of things! Our Article 5 process started today, this is the last step and it takes exactly two weeks. After that we will be waiting for TA (travel approval). We will be waiting through the Chinese New Year closure and because of that we will be traveling in early March.
This week has been crazy! I've been sick, Mike's job for the week cancelled, and our upstairs heating unit stopped working. Poor Jake, the bonus room is his bedroom and we didn't realize it, but he told us it hasn't been working for a while. Praise the Lord it was an easy, inexpensive fix! Then, our week was brightened when we received new pictures of Gabriel! I'm sure everyone saw the one I posted yesterday but i'll post the other two here. They're a little blurry but I just love them because he's so happy playing with his Bethel mama. I'm so very thankful for the love and care he is receiving at Bethel.
We have lots of puzzle pieces left to be sponsored for $10 each. You can donate at our You Caring page. Thank you!
https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/waiting-4-gabe/341337
This week has been crazy! I've been sick, Mike's job for the week cancelled, and our upstairs heating unit stopped working. Poor Jake, the bonus room is his bedroom and we didn't realize it, but he told us it hasn't been working for a while. Praise the Lord it was an easy, inexpensive fix! Then, our week was brightened when we received new pictures of Gabriel! I'm sure everyone saw the one I posted yesterday but i'll post the other two here. They're a little blurry but I just love them because he's so happy playing with his Bethel mama. I'm so very thankful for the love and care he is receiving at Bethel.
We have lots of puzzle pieces left to be sponsored for $10 each. You can donate at our You Caring page. Thank you!
https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/waiting-4-gabe/341337
Thursday, January 14, 2016
I800 approval
We're moving along again. Our I800 was approved on Friday and now we just have one more step before travel approval! We are hoping to get travel approval before Chinese New Year so we can start booking plane tickets and hotels. We also received a care plan that Gong Xin's therapists put together for us on the best way to care, encourage, and interact with him. That will be super helpful! Still no word on the Christmas package we sent. I hope he got it.
Caleb, my baby, will become a middle kid very soon. I can't wait to see him as a big brother! He is excited about Gabe joining our family, but when I asked him recently what he thought about being a big brother, he said "I like being the youngest." I assured him he'll always be my baby. He's been the youngest for 10 (almost 11) years and this will be a big change for him but I have no doubt that he will be an awesome big brother!
Caleb, my baby, will become a middle kid very soon. I can't wait to see him as a big brother! He is excited about Gabe joining our family, but when I asked him recently what he thought about being a big brother, he said "I like being the youngest." I assured him he'll always be my baby. He's been the youngest for 10 (almost 11) years and this will be a big change for him but I have no doubt that he will be an awesome big brother!
Here is a short video of little guy learning how to feed himself.
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
I800- Back on track!
Well, I think we're back on track with our I800. Our receipt notice finally came in the mail 17 days after our I800 was sent. The approval may take a bit longer than expected, but i'm just happy we don't need to start over. I'm anxious to get these last couple steps done so we have a better idea of when we will be traveling. Of course we want to travel asap and we will but there is a ton of stuff to do still and it's quite overwhelming to think about!
I started our adoption with a puzzle fundraiser and I am going to end with it as well. We still have about 140 pieces left unsponsored. Mike will be out of work for more than two weeks unpaid when we travel so we need to come up with funds to pay the bills while we're away. If all the remaining puzzle pieces are sponsored at $10 each, that will be $1400 which will cover at least one of those weeks. When you sponsor a puzzle piece we will write your name on the back, when the puzzle is complete we will frame it and hang it in Gabriel's room. If you are interested in sponsoring a piece you can make a $10 donation to our You Caring fundraising page. The link is below the picture of our puzzle.
I started our adoption with a puzzle fundraiser and I am going to end with it as well. We still have about 140 pieces left unsponsored. Mike will be out of work for more than two weeks unpaid when we travel so we need to come up with funds to pay the bills while we're away. If all the remaining puzzle pieces are sponsored at $10 each, that will be $1400 which will cover at least one of those weeks. When you sponsor a puzzle piece we will write your name on the back, when the puzzle is complete we will frame it and hang it in Gabriel's room. If you are interested in sponsoring a piece you can make a $10 donation to our You Caring fundraising page. The link is below the picture of our puzzle.
Please continue to pray for for our family. Thank you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)