TA any day...

We have finally reached the last step in the adoption paperwork/approval process!  Any day now, we should be receiving a phone call to tell us that we have travel approval and are free to book our flights to China!  It has already been one whole year since we submitted our first application to Lifeline Children's Services to begin the adoption.  It's been ten months since we first saw Emsley's picture and knew she would eventually be our daughter.  

We are so close (in various ways) to meeting our daughter and bringing her home to be a family all under one roof!  The government agency in China that will issue our Travel Approval is closed for an energy conference occurring in Beijing right now.  They will open again on the 12th and we expect that we will hear about our approval very soon after that.  Then it will be time to schedule and purchase our flights and pack our bags!  We are praying right now that we will receive approval in time to be in China before Emsley turns 2 in mid-December.  It is our prayer that she will not have another birthday without her family there to celebrate her.

We are still just a bit shy of the full amount needed to purchase our tickets.  Less than $2,000 is still needed to complete the final bit of this adoption process. We are so thankful for the friends, family, and church family who have given so generously to help us fund this adoption!  It is truly something amazing to see people pull together and do all they can to help a little girl across the world come to know the love of a family!

We still have our puzzle fundraiser going and there are still quite a few pieces left if anyone would like to help us raise the final amount we need for purchasing our plane tickets.  We have 387 pieces left.  Every $5 donated will "purchase" a piece.  Once the puzzle is complete, we'll put it all together and frame it to hang in Emsley's room and remind us of all the wonderful people who helped bring her home!  To purchase a piece of Emsley's puzzle, just click on the PayPal "donate" button on the right-hand side of this blog and it will go directly to our adoption account.  (note: you have to be on a PC to see the button.  Or, you can scroll to the bottom of the page on a mobile device and click on "view web version".)

We believe what God has promised from the beginning, that He will provide all we need when we need it.  He has been faithful and done just that all along the way!  We know we will have all we need before time to get on that plane.

We recently received our final update from the orphanage.  They sent us Emsley's measurements and some sweet pictures!

We are looking forward to sharing our Travel Approval update soon!!!