New Pictures!

That's my girl! ;)

Tonight we received these beautiful new pictures of Chayah! She is such a pretty girl! I am so lucky to be her jie jie (older sister)!! It is so amazing to think that in just 10 days, my parents and Sarah will be on their way to China to bring her home!! It is finally happening; Chayah IS coming home!!! 10 days til take-off, 13 days til Gotcha, and 26 days til she is HOME!

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down

The name of this blog is from Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "When Love Takes You In". It is a beautiful song about the miracle of adoption. This part of the lyrics seems especially fitting during these final days of waiting for Chayah to be in our arms forever.

"And somewhere while you're sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment was has been is lost in what will be"

Travel Dates Set!

The dates are set and the tickets have been purchased! Mom, Dad, and Sarah will be leaving on January 8th. And... Gotcha Day will be Sunday, January 11th!!!! WOW!!! Just 23 days til they have Chayah in their arms! Their return flight will be on Saturday, January 24th- the day when I will finally have Chayah in my arms! :) We got an exceptionally good price on our tickets and we are all just so excited!!! Finally, this is actually happening. In just 36 days, Chayah will be HOME! How great is our God?!!!

Consulate Appointment Confirmed

Yes!!! This is actually happening! We just received word that our Consulate Appointment has been confirmed for January 20th with the Oath on the 21st. Chayah will be HOME in just a little over a month! Mommy, Daddy, and Sarah will have Chayah in their arms so SOON! We're confirming flights right now... More to follow!
Also, Congratulations to the families that have just received their TA's this afternoon! We'll be in China at the same time!! Especially to Dawn and her family, who we traveled with in 06! I'm SO thrilled right now!!!!! :)

A little later...

Well, we won't be leaving quite yet. The airfare is extremely expensive and the logistics of working out travel so soon didn't work too well for us. However, we are almost certain (once our consulate appointment is confirmed) that our travel dates will be around mid January! I was pretty disappointed that we are waiting a little longer, but still, it is less than a month away!! After a year of waiting, I think I can handle a little less than a month more. ;) My Chayah is coming home!!! Also, we found out from our agency that there is another family adopting from Hebei Province (which has a much smaller amount of adoptions, comparatively) and that we may be traveling together, which would be very exciting! And it looks like it will be both of my parents and Sarah Lu traveling. After Christmas and New Years, it looks like they will be boarding a plane and coming back with my precious mei mei!! Oh, how I cannot wait until that day! :)

Travel Plans?

This morning has been very busily spent, trying to figure out the details of the trip. There is a possibility that we could be leaving on the 24th or 25th (what an AMAZING Christmas present!!) and returning on the 10th. Airfares are pretty high then though, from what I've seen. Any help on finding good deals would be greatly appreciated! ;) The other possibility is leaving around the 31st or the 1st and returning around the 16th. My college starts back up again on the 12th, so I am really hoping for the 1st possibility!! Another factor is that the orphanage donation is rising from the previous $3000/$3500 to $5000, starting in January. As of now, we still do not know exactly who will be traveling. Will both parents travel? Does Sarah Lu go? Does one parent and one older sister travel? Or everyone? It is getting pretty complicated! I'll update again once we know more! Chayah is coming home!!!

TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have it!!!!!!!!!!! Praying that we will be able to get there SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chayah is coming HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Mei Mei

My beautiful mei mei, Chayah! I love you, baby girl!

Chayah and her friends! They are all so cute!!

That's my happy girl!

So sweet!

We received these new pictures of Chayah and I am so thankful for them! It is always such a gift to get new pictures of her and to see her sweet face! I this this girl so much already! Our TA (Travel Approval) should be coming any day now and as soon as we can after we get it, we will be on our way to China for Chayah!

Thankful

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."
1 Chronicles 16:34

This Thanksgiving Day 2008, I have so much to be thankful for. I am so thankful for Chayah and that in just 3-6 weeks she will be coming home! It is by God's grace alone that our family will again experience the miracle of adoption and be blessed to have Chayah as a member of our family forever. I also must say how incredibly thankful I am to everyone who has given financially and in prayer; without you, this adoption would not be possible. I am so thankful.

Soon

Sarah, Mommy, and Daddy

Me, Chrissy, and Sarah

I'm really late at getting this post up. I just now downloaded pictures from my camera. These pictures are from last Thursday- celebrating our LOA at Pizza Hut.
I can't believe that tomorrow it will have been a week since we finally got it!! Now can I officially say 4-7 weeks 'til travel? That is coming up SO fast!
My mei mei is coming home soon!

LOA!

My beautiful mei mei, Chayah. You'll be home soon baby girl!!

I am just soooo excited!!! It is still so surreal that our LOA is actually here!! Well, waiting for it to arrive Fed-Ex to our house, but it is on its way from our agency- it should be here within a few hours! Getting our LOA means that once my parents sign it and send it back to China, our TA (Travel Approval) will be issued- meaning that we can then go to China for CHAYAH! This is what our agency has told us regarding travel: "At this time our estimate for your travel is five to eight weeks! I understand from our Travel Department that there is chance you would be traveling over the holidays." Five to eight weeks from yesterday, November 13th would be somewhere within December 18th to January 8th. In December/January, Chayah will be HOME!!!! It is finally happening! After all of this waiting... Chayah is going to be coming home! Our LOI (Letter of Intent) to adopt Chayah was sent on December 21, 2007- one year before she will be coming home! We do not know the dates that we will be traveling yet, but the best estimate our agency has given us is that we should be traveling sometime between December 18th and January 8th- just five to eight weeks away!!!

IT CAME!!!!!!!!!!!

After 133 long days of waiting- IT CAME!!!!!!!!!! Our LOA came today!!!!!!!!! Oh, I can barley type right now cause we just found out a few seconds ago.... AHHHH!!!!!!!! Chayah is coming home!!!!!!!!!!! Our God is an AWESOME God!!!!!!!!!!! Our LOA was perfectly on time!!!! Hooray!!! Chayah is coming home!!!!!!!!! WE HAVE OUR LOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait?

There's my beautiful mei mei! (Picture taken in March 08-cropped)

Tomorrow will be day 130 of our wait. It is much too long, but I just have to keep telling myself that it will come. The wait seems to never end and it is hard to think that Chayah may not be home for Christmas after all... The verse that I posted a few weeks back HERE has been such an encouragement during this wait. I looked it up in The Message translation and it is so true!
"It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on its way. It will come right on time."
Habakkuk 2:3
Day 130 is a lot longer than I thought we would have to wait, and all of this waiting is getting really hard, but I know that our LOA (letter of acceptance) will come and be right on time!

Not Today

I guess today wasn't the day. We didn't get our LOA. Praying that we will get it soon...

LOA's Coming In...

Posted on our agency's yahoo group is that three families have received their LOA's this afternoon. Their dates are much after ours, so I do still have hope for getting ours today, even though the last one was posted over 30 minutes ago... Other agencies are also receiving LOA's today. Hoping and praying that ours will still come today!!!
We need our girl to come home! Day 120 today...

Chayah's Journey Home

I made this video to tell the story of first, Sarah, and now, also the story of Chayah.
Today is day 115, praying we get our LOA soon so we can bring our girl home!

3 years, 8 months, 17 days

It has been 3 years, 8 months, and 17 days since my dad took the above picture of a little girl at an orphanage in February 2005. She was among a group of toddlers eating her lunch in the hallway. She was only two and a half. She must have noticed the group of strange looking foreigners come in with boxes of fruit and cameras around their necks.

It has been 1 year, 10 months, 15 days since that two and a half year old, at this point four and a half, saw this strange foreigner again, this time he was back with his family and they were there to adopt her friend. It was December 2006.
She watched silently as her friend was swarmed with attention. She knew her friend now had a family. What she didn't know was that she was noticed too...

We have looked at Chayah's picture for a very long time now. We have loved her and prayed for her, even when we had no idea she would become our daughter and sister. It's beginning to seem like an eternity and in fact, I guess it really is. We have "known" this little girl for 3, almost 4 years! We have "known" her as our daughter and sister for over 10 months...
This referral picture was taken when she was 4 years old, she is now 6.

It has been 10 months, 5 days since we sent out our LOI
310 days.
114 days since we were LID.
We are hopeful to hear of our LOA soon, please pray with us that it will be there on Monday.
Day 116.
We have waited a long time...holding her picture,
and she has too...

3 years, 8 months, 17 days... thats:

1355 days

193 weeks

32,520 hours

1,951,200 minutes

117,072,000 seconds
MUCH too long. We need our little girl! And our little girl needs her family!

Encouragement

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day."

Habakkuk 2:3

Emily, my friend and a fellow member of our first adoption travel group in 06, shared this verse with me this evening. It is so perfect for this wait! Tomorrow will be day 109, I never thought that we would have to wait this long. But, this verse reminds me that it WILL come! I just have to remember that God is in control of this wait and He will bring us our LOA at the right time. Emily and her family will be leaving for China in just 4 days to bring home precious Kate Mei! Thank you, Emily, for sharing this verse with me and I cannot wait to follow your journey to bring home Kate!

Day 99

and counting...

Honestly, I never thought that we would have to wait this long for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance). Today is day 99 of our wait. Since it is getting later, I do not think there is any way we could get it today. And then comes the weekend, which of course, we cannot get LOA on. Monday would be our next chance, except that it is Columbus Day and schools are closed, so I am assuming that our agency would be closed as well. That leaves Tuesday, October 14, to be our next chance to receive LOA which will be day 103 of our wait. I have been hoping that Chayah could be home for Thanksgiving, but now even that is not looking too hopeful, although I am still hoping for it!!! Hopefully we will receive our LOA soon and can bring Chayah home ASAP! I want my mei mei and this wait is getting really, really hard.

New Pictures of Chayah!

We sent a care package to Chayah a few weeks ago and we just received these four new pictures!
Chayah with her care package. (above)

Chayah holding the picture of her Daddy and Mommy! So sweet!

Looks like she loves her Dora doll! :) I love this picture!!

Showing her new Dora stick-on earrings. ;)

Awww!!! I am so in love with this girl!!! I absolutely adore these new pictures! She is just gorgeous and I want her home now!! Today is Day 90 and we haven't heard anything yet. Praying that she will be home for Thanksgiving!

That's My Girl

These sweet pictures were taken of Miss Chayah when she was 4 years old, two years ago by a fellow adoptive family. We are so thankful for these pictures. Isn't she just the sweetest? Every time I look at her pictures, I am reminded of how absolutely in love I am with this girl. I just cannot wait until she finally comes home and I can hold her in my arms. That's my mei mei! We're coming soon, sweetie!

No word on our LOA, still waiting. Today is day 84... hoping and praying it comes soon!!

Day Seventy-Five

75 days of waiting for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance)...

Chayah, waiting, picture taken in May 08.

Chayah Comes Home- Help Us Bring Her Home

I've opened a Cafe Press store to raise the rest of the funds we need to bring Chayah home. For those of you not familiar with Cafe Press, Cafe Press is a website which allows individuals to set up a store of products with your own unique designs printed on the products as you have designed. The products have a base price and a portion of the proceeds come directly towards bringing Chayah home. I've decided to call our store "Chayah Comes Home" stating directly what it is, a way to help raise the funds to bring Chayah home. The products range from t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts in sizes from baby through adult to clocks, mugs, and even greeting cards. The images on the products belong to me. Photo editing was done by my sister, Rachael.
You can view the store HERE or by going to: http://www.cafepress.com/chayah

Products for you, supporting Chayah's adoption.

Waiting

Today is Day 51 of our wait. The last I've heard, the average LOA (Letter of Acceptance) was received on approximately day 70. So, it that was true for us, 19 more days? I sure hope so! Anyone heard any other averages? I am still expecting LOA and TA (Travel Approval) to come in September, with travel in October. That is what I am really hoping for!!! It makes me so sad to think of how much Chayah is growing up, without us there to spend this time with her. We received her referral when she was 5 1/2 years old, now she has been 6 for over a month. I just want to get her HOME! I love my mei mei Chayah Elizabeth Ruby and I can't wait until she is in our arms forever! I know that God has the perfect timing for this adoption and He will bring her home in His perfect time.

Thank you Shaohannah's Hope

Our God is an awesome God! When we stepped out in this journey of faith, we did not know where the finances were going to come from. But we knew that this adoption was God's will and that He would provide. Through our wonderful agency CCAI we were shown this and now again through Shaohannah's Hope! We have been awarded a grant in the amount of $3000 from Shaohannah's Hope for Chayah's adoption! Shaohannah's Hope is a ministry created by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, MaryBeth, to help with the costs of adoption to build bridges and families through the miracle of adoption. We received this awesome news while watching the Chapman Family on Larry King Live, and as Larry King said, "The Amazing Chapmans", and that they truly are! I cannot begin to express our gratitude towards Shaohannah's Hope; the staff, and the Chapman family, for this gift!

Hope in the Journey

My mom and I were looking through the latest LOA's (letter of acceptance) that other families have received and how long they waited to receive it. It looks like the average within our agency, CCAI, is approximately 70 days of a wait. Today, July 24th, we are on day 21 of our wait! I went through the calendar, marking off certain days to find out when our day 70 would be- September 11th is Day 70 of our wait for LOA (counting from July 3rd, LID- Log In Date). As I was counting the days, I looked up at the picture for the month of September. See it above? Yep, that is the Great Wall of China! I was shocked as this is a primarily (as in every single other picture) is a U.S. photo. I said to my Mom, "Look... did you notice the picture?" She hadn't and was shocked too! I think September sounds like a great time for travel! Chayah's 6th birthday came and passed again without a family on July 16th. The time is coming up pretty soon though! I am so excited and can hardly believe how fast September/October is coming up! :)

"This is what the Lord says, "Stand at the crosswalk and look: ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16

The wait

Now that we have our dossier in China and logged in, the countdown officially begins! We are still estimating travel anywhere from September-November. Regardless of exactly when, it is fast approaching which I am of course thrilled beyond words for! This week, Wednesday, July 16th, Chayah will have her 6th Birthday. We had so wanted to be able to have her home by then, unrealistically, but still. Next year and way before then she will be home forever! Just a few more months of waiting and Chayah will come home. Now that our dossier is logged in we are waiting for our LOA, Letter of Acceptance, which comes right before you receive your TA, Travel Approval, stating that you can go to China and bring your child home. The wait from being logged in to LOA and TA seems to be about 3-4 months, so I think October is probably the most realistic time frame. It's coming up fast and I can't wait to finally have Chayah home!

We have an...

LID!!!
Our Log in Date is July 3, 2008. Now the countdown to travel really begins!

DTC!!!

Dossier to China!

June 24, 2008

Change for Orphans

Make this summer a Summer of Change through
Shaohannah's Hope's Change for Orphans campaign!

This afternoon we were browsing through the Show Hope website
reading the Change for Orphans testimonials and look what we found...

See the page here Scroll down to the bottom and look at the left hand side!
Yes, that is Chayah's picture on the Show Hope website! We were all so excited to see it!
Full size picture of my beautiful sister:

This summer, support Shaohannah's Hope.
Collect and give your loose change to change the life of an orphan.
Make this summer a summer of change.
Get out there and change your world for orphans!

My Beautiful Mei Mei

We got new pictures of Chayah from a fellow adoptive family (Thank you SO much, Beth and family!!!!) I am so thrilled to get more pictures of my beautiful little sister- I just want her home! No new news about our dossier. It is still at our agency under final review and hopefully it will be off to China within a week. These new pictures of Chayah are very encouraging during the wait- she is so beautiful and I love her so much!

ChipIn

To raise money for the Orphanage Donation for Chayah's adoption I have added a ChipIn box to the sidebar of the blog. ChipIn is secure and all of the money goes directly towards the orphanage donation for Chayah's adoption. A required orphanage donation of $3,000 is required while in China adopting your child. I am hoping to help my family's adoption of Chayah by fundraising for her orphanage donation. If you would like to donate please select the "Chip In" button. Also, please leave your name in a comment or email me at bound4meimei@yahoo.com if you would like your name added to a list of "Contributers of Chayah's adoption" on the sidebar. Thank you so much!

Fundraising

Scroll down the blog and look to the right hand side of the blog at the fundraising thermometer. We are at $13,447. Which is over 65% of the total! I am so overjoyed with this!! God is so good!!!! A HUGE thank you to everyone who has given to Chayah's adoption!!! There is only about $6,000 left to raise now! I am trying to think about fundraising ideas. If anyone has any ideas, please share! Also, I was looking at getting a cafepress store to support the adoption as well. I'm am trying to figure out how it works, so if you know, please leave a comment! Thank you and I can't wait to read everyone's ideas on fundraisers!

Dossier Complete

All of our documents came back from the Consulate yesterday and everything has been sent off to our agency, CCAI! I am so thrilled that the paper chase is finally coming to its end! It does seem like it will go on forever at times, but there does come a day when it is finally complete! CCAI will now review everything and it will hopefully be off to China soon!

A Second Care Package for Chayah

Sarah showing Chayah's care package

Contents:
Dora Doll: a soft body doll that she can hug with long hair that comes with a brush that she can play with. For Sarah, we sent her a Carter's doll, but we thought that might be a little too babyish for a almost six year old, so we were very happy when we found this Dora doll.
Girly Stuff: necklaces with matching bracelets, hair clippies that are colorful and sparkly and will work in short hair, Dora stick on earrings and rings, and matching Dora socks.
Camera: We are sending a two pack of disposable cameras. We hope that Chayah's nannies, and even Chayah herself will be able to take pictures of things that are important to her and her life in China and then we hope to get them back and get them developed for Chayah to keep.
Things to Share: Because Chayah's orphanage is a small orphanage where the kids are so close, we also wanted to send gifts that Chayah will be able to share with her friends. They include a beach ball, two Dalmatian color books, and two soft puzzles, one Princess and the other Pooh. I'm glad we did this because in these pictures from her getting her first care package, you can see how interested all the other children look. It's sad because most of the children do not have families waiting for them, I don't want any of them feeling forgotten. I hope these are gifts that all of the kids will be able to enjoy.