Red Thread Journey..."An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." Chinese Proverb
This is the story of our family: Our son Jacob, born to us 12 years ago, and Our daughter Kira (2005~2006), whom was born to us~ and now she rests in heaven before us, with my husband's eldest daughter Shelby (1990~2011). They have all three blessed our lives and souls, in many ways as their humbled parents. They have powerfully lead us through GOD'S hand to be parents of more; through their love, memory, and with the help of adoption from China. We have now come complete circle and have finished our journey to family forever, to adopt our 3...uhhhhh now 4th...no... it is our 5th beloved child from China. Our first China daughter; Hannah was from Guangdong, China ~ in 2008 and we then returned to China in late 2009 to adopt Our oldest son; Scott and Our oldest daughter; Athena, both from Henan, China ~ in 2009. We just finished the process of adopting our youngest daughter; Bella from China, she was also from Henan, China ~ in 2011. At the same time we were blessed to be able to have found another waiting daughter; Deanna, our 4th china daughter, and she is our 5th child from China. She is from Guangdong, China--same as our first China daughter; Hannah (2008) --& the story behind Deanna joining us is way too long to print it all here, but our circle of forever family is complete with her ~in 2011. {Here is just an exerpt of that special final adoption journey}-- Deanna is our 1st adopted daughter's foster sister from Guangdong, China. She is now the same age as our 1st adopted daughter was when we were first united as a forever family. Deanna's Chinese name means: 'perfect, precious circle'.} Our family circle is now complete. Pray with us as we enjoy parenthood, and as we continue to rejoice in the trials, triumphs, and blessings that have lead us each time halfway around the world to add to our cherished family. This is our family we share with you, as friends and family alike.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Game Time
Sorry!
They like this revenge based game, hmmm... wonder why? :o)
and now...
The look of concentration.Whew, successful so far...
After the Airport
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{*Note:* I could not believe how much I related with this post. May we
all encourage one another and help each other to follow God’s leading for
our fa...
My sons wedding
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I don't thing I posted about this yet, but last year my oldest son, who I
am VERY proud of got married !!! He graduated from The University of Pitt
as a C...
Video with the Girls
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I just realized I never posted this video on here... ugh. Ok, so it's kind
of old now, but it still cracks me up. Just CLICK HERE to go to the link
for the...
Happy Gotcha Day, Molly!
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Between my crazy busy schedule (no excuse, I know!) and the migraine
headache I've been nursing for two days now, I actually forgot today was
Molly's speci...
march 22, 2012
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i'm not updating this blog much any more because ben is now home and an
important part of the family. if you want entry to the private, password
protected...
We Are Home
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We got home last Sat. on July 31st. The girls are settling in and we are
trying to establish a new normal. I am going over some new curriculum. My
Fat...
Grow Old, Don't Want!
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If the last post was titled "Language Boom 2," this one should be titled
"Boom Boom POW!" Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. Life has
happened ...
Getting back to Normal
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Sorry for the delay in posts, in fact I was horrible when we were in China
and found myself using the computer time to post on facebook. But truth be
told...
Travel!
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Although it's still tentative until next Monday when the Chinese consulate
reopens, we expect to travel to China on Thursday, February 16. God is
good and...
Happy New Year 2015!
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2014 Year in Review – for those who want to join us in celebrating the
goodness of God all over again.
January began with Kayla and AnneMarie returning fro...
Field Trips - part 1
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Today Taylor had her field trip, it was to a safari park not too far away.
The day was bright and sunny and the first grades went on a grand adventure
...
Settling In...
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Well we've been home a little over a week. Jennifer and Taylor start school
tomorrow. Emilee starts school Wednesday. Sara and Chuck are due in late
Fri...
October 2011
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I've been remiss in my postings...ever since I started on FaceBook, I've
been doing all of my posts there. Here's what's going on in our lives...
June- was...
What The Little Kids Have Been Up To
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So while the rest of us have been doing formal school, here are some
pictures of what the two pre-K kids have been up to.
[image: Identifying numbers.] ...
First Steps
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I am so happy to be able to write this update on Luke-Thomas. We were
finally able to get in to see the Neurologist....wonderful news came from
this appoi...
Cello!
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We are so fortunate to have a strings program in our school system starting
in the 4th grade. Emmi was the first to begin the program 3 years ago
playing ...
HS Chemistry: way too cool solutions
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This past week our high school chemistry students explored supersaturated
and supercooled solutions. After a brief overview of the vocabulary and
backgr...
Faces of Love
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Your kids are adorable. No argument here.
You might want to start saving up to buy* a lot* of these calendars. ($26
each, $10+ from each goes to HKI). The...
Beyond, Beyond...and back again,
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This is what happens when you think you're going somewhere else, drifting
in thoughts and making plans; and then as GOD guides you to the river that
carrie...
Angels of Healing
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Christian Bale, star of the Batman films, met at the Medical Center of
Aurora on Tuesday afternoon with seven patients injured in the mass
shooting that ...
14 years ago
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What time is it?
United States
Beijing, China
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Our travel blog adoption 2011
Bella and Deanna's Milestones
04/19/10 Submit Application
04/22/10 MCC {Medical Conditions Checklist}
05/06/10 Application Approved
05/23/10 Officially started Dossier
06/14/10 LOI ~ Letter of Intent to Adopt Bella
06/21/10 PA ~ PreApproval for Bella to be ours from Ch!n@
06/25/10 Agency Orientation to Begin Homestudy
07/07/10 & 08/03/10 Homestudy Visit
08/24/10 Homestudy sent to AA for approval
09/01/10 Dossier completed, waiting for I797C
09/02/10 Homestudy sent to USCIS
09/23,24/10 Received Fingerprint Appointment for 10.18.10
10/18/10 Fingerprinted; Immigration
10/20/10 Approval I-797c waiting for snail mail to arrive
10/24/10 received I-797c ...typo on approval --so we wait for re-issue *bummer
10/27/10 received corrected I-797c, notary and off to S.o.s on the 28th. Sent to the Consulate on 11/2/10.
11/04/10 began process to file Supplement #3... we must be insane, we should've just said yes to two, up to age 10 and minor to major SN... lol Hague USCIS just loves our $340.00 Bucks each time.
11/05/10 LOI ~ Letter of Intent to adopt Deanna & our 15th wedding anniversary
11/08/10 PA ~ PreApproval for us to adopt Deanna from Ch!n@
11/27/10 Receipt for supplement #3 received from MO. Hague office for the I800A
12/06/10 Approval date (From the USA granting us Permission to adopt) of the revised I797c for our 'two' girls, received it in hand on 12/09/10, Notarized by same Notary**important task or we'd have to have it recertified & authenticated-- and sent to our agency on 12/10/10
12/17/10 DTC ~ Dossier to China
12/27/10 LID ~ Logged in Our Dossier Officially with Ch!n@ -- we count from 3 to 5 months from this date until we meet our daughters FOREVER!
02/02/11 LOA ~ Letter of Acceptance for our two girls from the CCAA in Ch!n@
03/01/11 I800 Provisional Approvals- NBC Hague
03/11/11 Cabled to GZ
03/30/11 on Kira's Birthday we received Article 5
04/21/11 TA {Travel Approval} Travel Group 1728s
05/04/11 to 05/26/11 Daddy and Hannah in China for our girls.
05/09/11 Bella's Gotcha Day in Henan
05/16/11 Deanna's Gotcha Day in Guangdong
05/23/11 CA {Consulate Appointment}
05/26/11 Daddy and the Girls Arrive Home in USA~I meet My Daughters :)
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Our Travel to China 2008~Hannah
Hannah's Milestones
08/27/07 Apply to CCAI {Downloaded Application}
09/12/07 Our Approval Date Agency (CCAI)
10/13/07 Orientation @ CCAI {our adoption agency}
OMGosh we are busy paper chasing!
11/28/07 USCIS fingerprints
12/12/07 MCC {Medical Conditions Checklist}
12/16/07 I171-H whooohoo!
12/31/07 DCR {Dossier Critical Review}
01/18/08 DTC {Dossier to China}
01/19 & 26/08 Parent Training Class
01/25/08 LID {Log in Date}
02/23/08 Parent Training Class
03/14/08 DOR{Date of Referal from CCAI}
03/17/08 *St. Patrick's Day* LOI{Letter of Intent to China}
03/19/08 TP{download Travel Plans frm CCAI}
03/20/08 Build a' Bear For Hannah {We Love You}
03/29/08 Parent Training Class
04/01/08 PA{Pre Approval from China}
04/05/08 Parent Training Class{our 24 credit hours are completed}
05/19/08 LOA{Letter of Acceptance from China}
05/20/08 TPII{download Travel Plan II from CCAI}
06/12/08 TA{Travel Approval from China} (grin!) Travel Group 1377
06/26/08~07/11/08 IN CHINA
06/30/08 {Gotcha Day}Forever Family Day
07/01/08 "A" {Adoption Day, usually the day after Gotcha Day}
07/09/08 CA {United States Consulate Appointment in China}
07/11/08 Home
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Our Travel to China for "two" ~ Family ~2009 Athena and Scott
Come follow our journey. Growing our family through Adoption to Forever. This is the process of Milestones. With great Hope & Prayers... To China for two! Why not two? I have heard it is rare, & we will be so blessed with just one, forever sweet!... but two! oh, what a miracle family treat. OUR UPDATE: We were matched with Two Children on 07/13/09
Scott and Athena's Milestones II
10/14/08 MCC {Medical Conditions Checklist}
10/24/08 Application Approval Date {Our 2nd time around}