fingerprints

today we were thrilled we were going to get our fingerprints re-taken. an answered prayer. we were getting in a time crunch and we needed to get our prints re-taken so they can be processed and ready for us to travel, by the middle of september if our TA (travel approval) comes in on time. we are hoping we will get our TA around the first week in september. we have been trying to get a fingerprint referral for sometime. i would like to thank both of our incredible agencies, buckner and dillon for checking on our status and giving me people to email. i would like to give a special thanks to donna at dillon for making the contacts needed for us to be given our referral. we knew we were in good hands and she would do everything in her power to get us that much desired piece of paper. paul and i would like to thank everyone for your prayers, we give God all the praise and glory!

22 Months

Max is 22 months old today. We pray another month does not go by without you in our arms. We love you!!

shopping for our china trip

paul and i decided that we better get busy and start shopping for our trip to china. we will be there before you know it. i found a couple of packing list from the internet and we used that to help make our list. paul and i stayed in walmart for hours and by the end of our shopping extravaganza our buggy was full. we had so much fun!! paul was so cute, we were buying max a toothbrush and toothpaste and paul got all into the decision making of which toothbrush max would like the best, he was on his knees trying to find the perfect one. i was sick that i didn't have my camera to catch and have that moment forever. while we were shopping we saw erika, one of hayden's best friends, i ask her if she had her camera with her she didn't but she did have her camera phone. i was so excited, i got paul to reenact the toothbrush dilemma. erika was so sweet to take these pictures and then email them to me. this night was one you want to freeze in your memory because it was so good. we both felt so close to max as we were shopping for our trip. max i hope you like the toothbrush daddy picked out for you. :-)

care package

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(click on photos to enlarge)

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the contents of Max's care package

mama adds an artistic flair
red hearts on each side of wo ai no that means i love you

daddy tapes up the box with tender love and care.

cameras....we hope they take lots of pictures of max with his friends.
max's camera

a letter written in mandarin chinese to the orphanage staff and nannies

daddy packing max's goodies

address label - thanks jen

mama is excited about mailing max's care package. we put a photo album in his package, the nannies at the orphanage that max is in spends a lot of time showing the pictures of the families to the children.

Max just a little bit longer and we will be together FOREVER!

Our LOA is in China

Our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) is safely in the hands of the CCAA and it only took 2 days, on our August 22, and China's August 23....YEA!!!!!!!....Next is TA (Travel Approval), we are praying for it to come really fast, like early September fast or before would be okay too. After the TA comes we need to get our CA (Consulate Appointment) before the end of September. The first week of October is a holiday in China and all the government offices are closed. The last 2 weeks is the Worlds Trade Fair in Guangzhou, which is where we go to finalize the adoption, we will spend about a week there, and during those last 2 weeks in October you can't hardly find a hotel. What does all of this mean....it means we really need for things to move quickly so we can get Max in September, if not it could delay us until the first of November. One more thing that is crucial, we HAVE to be re-fingerprinted (ours have expired) before we can go to China, if everything happens quickly enough to go in September and no fingerprints, we don't go. Dillon (our agency) and I are working hard trying to get this taken care of.

We are asking you to pray with us for these 3 things:

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1.) Invitation to be re-fingerprinted, soon -

answered prayer

2.) FAST and SPEEDY TA (Travel Approval) -

answered prayer

3.) A CA (Consulate Appointment) in September -

answered prayer

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Thank you!

Praise God who hears and answers prayer.

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WOOO HOOO..LOA...Day77

This is a picture of Paul and I when we got the good news...I can see a resemblance...lol...We had a feeling that we might be getting a call today, to the point I called and canceled my dental cleaning. Paul and I had a plan, our plan consisted of, when we got "the call" we would jump in the car and drive nearly 4 hours to our agency (Dillon), sign the papers, and send the packet on it's sweet little way to back China. Paul was ready for action, he had already purchased a roll of quarters for the turnpike, and had map quest in hand. I called Paul after a long list of questions I had for Bethany(agency rep...LOVE her!!). I called Paul, I could hear him grinning from ear to ear. He immediately left the bank. All of his co-workers were so happy for us. That's about all Paul has been talking about for 77 days. :-) When he got home, we did our little dance and then hopped in the car and were Tulsa bound.

Dillon and Our Amazing Duo

We are so glad we made it before DHL picked up.

LOA (Letter of Acceptance)
This is saying that China wants us to be Dang You Song's Mama and Baba (daddy in Chinese), and when we sign it, it is telling China that we are still wanting to be his forever family.

Baba signs.

Mama signs with hands shaking.

LOA is all signed and dated.

This is Denise with Paul and I, she is head of the China program. I just love her to pieces!!

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This is cutie puttutie Bethany, we have the same necklace, we will always have that bond. :-) We have been working with her during our process....SHE'S GREAT!!

Miss Bethany is a busy bee.

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Our Amazing Duo...for just a few more days. We'll miss you Bethany, you have been wonderful!! I love these ladies!!

Packaged up and ready to go.

China bound.

The DHL man said this was a first for him. I think he felt like a celebrity by the way I acted when I saw him. I can't believe I didn't get his autograph.

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(take note: my sweet husband takes such good care of me...he is holding my purse, I was so excited I probably left it in the middle of the floor....he's a keeper!!)

A Sweet Gift from a Sweet Lady

I just wanted to say thank you to my sweet mother in-law. She bought Paul and I, or shall I say Max this amazing jogger stroller....YIKES...does this mean I have to jog? Does walking briskly count? Thank you Barbara, I love you!!

work day

this saturday we are calling a work day, we are starting on max's big boy room. i have found a few items at a local junk/priceless treasure store ;-) that needed a good cleaning and some minor repairs before we can get started with the decorating of his room. we started early, first paul mowed and groomed the lawn (he does such a great job), while i started cleaning on a wonderful set of old gym lockers that i found. it was a very hot day and it turned out to be a long day as well. we felt good about what we had accomplished when the day came to a close.

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here is a look at all the hard work we did on our "work day"

working hard scrubbing and scrubbing

paul taking care of those minor repairs

more repairs

it's time for me to take a much needed break from all that scrubbing to smell the flowers.....

and talk to my plants....

and check on the protector of our home....

and make sure our yard is safe for running toddlers....

and climb on the roof to check out the condition of our shingles.....

and make sure we have no leaks.....

and smell some more flowers......

and recruit a little help from mason....

now back to cleaning.....this has been a tough day ;-)

paul is still working

starting the fun part

paul thinks of everything, he screws the lockers into the wall. he wants it safe for our precious max. i will post the end results of max's big boy room as soon as it is complete. mr. max will not be in this room for a while but we are trying to get it finished before we get him because we don't want to have to mess with this once he is here, we want to devote that time to spoiling him!! we must hurry, we will be in china before you know it. YEA!!

Moving Hayden to DBU

Hayden and one of his roomates Ben.

Helping Hayden make his bed. He still needs his mama.

I am having a pretty rough time at this point.

I love this boy so much!!

The campus is just beautiful.

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This was a very hard day for me, taking Hayden and leaving him at college, a day I've never looked forward to. Hayden is so much fun he keeps us laughing, he has been a joy to raise. We love you Hayden!!

Hayden's Going to College Celebration

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Paul and I gave Hayden a little going off to college celebration the night before he left for DBU. We made burgers on the grill and while we were getting dinner ready, Hayden and his friends hung out in the family room watching a little TV. After dinner they played a friendly little game of poker. I have to say it was a great night and I cherished all the laughing and fun because I knew how much I would miss all of Hayden's friends coming by. Hayden didn't win the poker game but he was glad that last night was spent with his friends.