December......
I-800 arrived (approval from Immigration to bring these two specific children into the county.)
NVC sent, and Article 5 issued....all steps in the paperwork to bring our little ones home.
Now, as we wait for Christmas, we are also waiting for our 'Travel Approval' so we can go and get our littles! Once TA arrives, we can then book our tickets......despite the fact we still have to find the remaining funds to 'pay' for our travel, accomodation, etc.....

But, it is Christmas, and Tamzyn's first one with her family......so very special!!

Josh Kelley - Naleigh Moon

A beautiful song, a beautiful family, the beauty of adoption.

Third Day - Merry Christmas - Christmas Offerings

My new favourite Christmas song...close to my heart.

Tuesday November 27th, we had an Adoption Funraiser in conjunction with Marco's Pizza. They very kindly offered to donate a portion of the sales from the 'entire' day towards our adoption expenses! It was a great day, with many friends, friends of friends and church friends eating pizza that day to support us!! Our sincere thanks to all, and we hope you enjoyed the pizza!

Our Dossier (paperwork) was finally completed, and sent to China on October 11th. It was logged in on the 17th, and then.....miraculously, we received our Letter of Approval on November 5th!!! This phase usually takes anywhere from 60-90 days....so we were ecstatic to see that China did indeed grant our 'medical expediate' request in just 18 days!! That was extremely fast!!!!

Halloween....not sure who had more fun!! Tamzyn quickly figured out that you hold out your bag, and folk put candy in it!! Of course, having three older siblings to show you the ropes helps!!

In October we baptized Tamzyn, while Daddy was home from deployment.  She 'loved' her dress, and looked so beautiful! She has grown so much already....in personality, beauty, and spirit!

October 12/13th
As items so generously continued to arrive at our home for our 'fundraising garage sale'....we decided to have a second garage sale! We had two busy days, and the children also helped with lemonade and muffins again.....and we raised $1150!! It is just so heartwarming to meet other adoptive families, who can relate, and to see complete strangers decide 'not' to take their change, and instead donate it to our funds for the adoptions! I shed many tears over strangers' kind words of support, and their generosity! Again, this sale wouldn't have been such a success without the generosity of friends donating time and items to our sale! Such a blessing, and we simply cannot thank you enough!!
Some friends from afar, who couldn't attend our sale, sent donations for our fund to our Agency.
So many people, in so many ways, have reached out to help us.......have touched our hearts and the lives of our two children waiting in China. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Sept 14/15th we held a large garage sale as an Adoption Fundraiser.
We had many great items donated by some awesome friends and friends of friends,church family, neighbours, and even from people we do not know! Our children operated a lemonade and muffin/baked goods stand. We had two very busy days, and raised $1300 for our adoption fees!!!!
Absolutely awesome! Our most sincere, and deepest thanks to all who donated, helped us set up, and those who purchased from our sale!!

September 1st
Well, we were expecting Joe home for a few weeks, to coincide with a required training course. However, we were then given the rather shocking, and devastating news that due to overstaffing.....he would be coming home for over three months, with NO pay!!! This would be a challenge in any circumstance, but especially devastating when we are already on a 'very' tight budget to save, save, save every penny for our pending adoptions!! This will be a very difficult time for us, and I fail to see how we will make ends meet! Although it will be great to have him home....not having a paycheck does not help our need to bring our daughter home asap for her necessary heart surgery!
I will try to stay positive, but this seems very daunting, and overwhelming right now!

July...well, what can I say?? "We Are Adopting"....again!!!
We saw a cute little guy, read through his file, and asked an International Doctor to reviwe his file also.......then we said "yes" on July 13th!! He is 13 months old, and has a medical issue also....and the cutest hair!!
We received our 'pre-approval' from China on my birthday.....couldn't ask for a better present!!

Then, literally a couple of days later....we looked at another file! A precious little 19 month old girl, with some rather significant cardiac issues. We reviewed her file with our son's Cardiologist, who reassured us somewhat.....so we took a 'leap of faith', and said yes to her also!! (The Cardiologist wrote a very strong letter to indicate that she needed to come home as soon as possible for surgery, and requested our adoption be expediated!)
Our 'pre-approval' came on August 1st.

We had not intended to adopt two....but strongly feel this is what we are meant to do! Not having the means to pay for two adoptions, we began to cut back where possible, and save, save, save.....

Summer time....a great time to spend with our newest family member!

 

Easter, 2012,  a wonderful time with Tamzyn enjoying her first Easter with her family.

Home at last!! And quickly settling in!

Then we were ready to travel back home....to introduce Tamzyn to the rest of the family. She travelled very well.....obviously meant to be part of this family!

Tamzyn soon had us all wrapped around her little finger....especially my Dad!

 

 

Then off to Guangzhou! Time for the 'medical', US Consulate appointment, and some sightseeing. Best of all....seeing Tamzyn's personality continue to come out, as she became more and more comfortable with us!

 

We spent a few days getting to know each other.....and also celebrated Tamzyn's 2nd birthday (belated) and my parents' wedding anniverary!

Gotcha Day, Feb 9th, went very well! No tears, just odd sideways glances for a start....then she shared her orange with me, and all went well from there!

Finally, we are packed, ready to go tomorrow, the 6th Feb. "Gotha Day" will be the 9th Feb.
I am truely giddy with excitement!! Tomorrow will be the last time we are together as a family of five......

Today our travel approval (TA) came from China!!!! Our appointment at the Consulate was made for the Feb 22nd. Now we can book tickets, and get packing!!!! Soooo exciting.....I will soon be holding our little girl, and she will soon know the family that already loves her so very much!
Added bonus, this means I also get to see my parents soon, as we will meet up in Hong Kong before travelling into China!!

Our precious little girl is two today. This is the last time she will have a birthday without a family. She most likely has not been told it is her birthday. We have requested an update on her, so we'd have an idea of her size...but nothing came. No new pictures, nothing.... We sent pictures of our family to her, but I cannot help but wonder if she was shown them..... Still, we wait for our Travel Approval from China.....and we wait... and we wait......