A Special Valentine "Invitation"

What a wonderful day it has been! My sweet husband took me out to lunch for (what else?) Chinese food! He worked very hard to make this a special day. Thanks, honey, for all that you did! I am so blessed to have such a sweet husband of almost twenty-four years!

As if that wasn't enough, I went to the mailbox this afternoon and there were three "special invitations" for Tim, Rachel and me from USCIS, (aka "Homeland Security"), for our refingerprinting appointments! It has only been about two weeks since we sent our request and forms to them. Cincinnati, here we come! We would really appreciate your prayers as we head to Cincy next Thursday, February 21! Please pray for safe traveling, cooperative weather, and clear directions to the office there. It's in the heart of Cincy and we are not familiar with that area at all! We are thankful that this will work out well since Rachel will be on winter break at that time. Here we go again! This will be yet another step to our sweet little baby girl in China! It's not every day that we get a "Valentine" from Homeland Security! :)

I promised to keep you informed and I'm thrilled that today brought joy in many ways. Happy Valentine's Day to our dear little China baby, to our precious family and to our dear friends who walk beside us in this journey. Hold on, little Sweetie Pie/s, we are still working hard to bring you home and we took another step toward you today. What a special Valentine's Day it has been.

Thanks to everyone for your continued friendship, prayers and encouragement! Celebrate life and love today and every day!
Cherishing this moment,
Tim, Terri, Rachel and Micah

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's almost Valentine's Day and we automatically think about those of you who so faithfully share this Journey of Blessings with us. You continue to display such kindness to our family as we move closer to our little Sweetie-Pie/s in China. You encourage, pray, hope, dream, care, love and befriend us in such special ways. From our hearts to yours, thank you for your wonderful companionship during this long but worthwhile journey. It is our sincere prayer that you will be blessed along your journeys in life as beautifully as you bless us!

For just a moment, I will share my dream of future Valentine's Days with our little one/s. I'm imagining pink outfits and pink hair accessories...along with Valentine surprises in little pink or red packages. I think of making Valentine's Day cookies with pink or red frosting and lots of sprinkles all over the cookies...and us! I think about how we'll make homemade cards for loved ones with hearts and smiley faces...and "I love you" written so carefully. I think about the hugs, laughter, joy and hope that our Sweetie Pie/s will enjoy on this day...and every day. I think about taking pictures and posting them on this website so that you can see frosting on her face, bows in her hair, light in her eyes and love in her heart. And I think about all the precious folks who are holding our family in their hearts right now as we move closer and closer to our little one/s. Although there is no pink frosting smeared on the countertops tonight and there are no little pink hair bows and outfits ready for tomorrow's celebration, it remains a joy to dream...to hope...to love...and to hold our baby girl/s in our hearts every day. I saw a quote today that reminded me of this journey and all that's involved. It said something like this..."In our hearts, she is already ours; we simply have to bring her home." We love you, Jenna Elizabeth, (and Emma Katherine?)...and you have been in our hearts for a very long time. Now we're simply working diligently to bring you home. Hold on, sweetie...and know that we are already together in our love and in God's plan. Each day, each moment, each breath, and each heartbeat bring us closer to you. The day will come when we'll hold you in our arms but until then, we're holding you in our hearts and we're not letting go! We love you!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Remember that every day of the year is a day to show someone you really care...not just on the 14th of February. Every day is a gift and every person is a creation of God. Please...cherish life, love, laughter...and one another.
Cherishing the Journey with you,
Tim, Terri, Rachel and Micah

Walking Through "The Wait"...

There's not much news to share today, but I thought I would let you know that we tracked our package to Homeland Security and it was delivered right on schedule! Now we wait...but we're not sitting through it. Instead, we choose to call it "walking through it." For each day of waiting still brings us one day closer to our little one/s...so the journey doesn't actually stop. It simply "walks through" the time and moves forward. For what we don't see is just as important as what we do see at this point. There are so many people behind the scenes working hard to place precious children with their "forever families" in the adoption agencies, the USA and PRC government offices, medical offices, employment and financial offices and with those dear friends who write letters of recommendation. It will all come together some day as God orchestrates the specific child He desires in each family. Athough we don't "see" tangible progress at times, we know there is a great plan coming together.

Many of you have been encouraging us with reminders such as "God's timing is always right" and "It all makes sense when you hold her in your arms" and "our prayers are with your family and your precious little girl/s in China." Our sincere thanks to each of you who continues to walk beside us so faithfully in our journey. You are true blessings that we shall never forget. As we walk through the wait today, we thank you for caring in the amazing ways you do. Your friendship, love, prayers and encouragement are priceless blessings to all of us. It is no secret that we have incredible friends and we love you!
Walking forward...
Tim, Terri, Rachel and Micah

Another Step Taken

We took another step today. It may seem trivial to someone who hasn't taken this journey but to those of you who have "been there, done that"...you definitely understand. We realized Sunday night that we needed to secure and copy yet another document before mailing our package to Homeland Security. So we spent yesterday getting everything finalized and today the package was mailed. Hopefully we should hear something soon about the appointment date for Tim, Rachel and me to be refingerprinted. It's one step forward in this long, long journey and that makes it quite special to us! I'll keep you posted when we hear from USCIS-Homeland Security. Last time we had to go to Cincinnati. This time, we may either return to Cincinnati's office or go to the one in Louisville. We'll do whatever it takes to walk closer to our little Sweetie/s! Please continue to pray for this step to go smoothly, timely, safely and peacefully. We appreciate those of you who remain so faithful in our journey. Thank you for being such blessings to us.
Still moving forward,
Terri and family

Joyful Reminders!

It's hard to believe that it's been almost three weeks since my last entry. How did that happen? Oh...that's right. With Tim's work schedule, Micah's school, band and physical therapy (injured knee!) schedules, Rachel's college and work schedules and my "keep up with everyone schedule", I guess my writing has not been "scheduled" as well as I had hoped. :) I'll have to work on that! But I'm determined to do it today so thank you for your patience and continued support. We have such incredible friends!

We are sending in paperwork tomorrow to schedule the "refingerprinting" appointments for Homeland Security. I know, I know...fingerprints don't change. But we need to keep everything "current" for the state of Kentucky, the USA and the PRC...so that's what we will do. If doing this takes us a step closer to our little sweetie-pie, then it's worth it! Please pray that this will all work out with Tim's work schedule and Rachel's college schedule. When we receive the appointment, we will go...rain or shine, sleet or snow...convenient or not. It will work out. It is definitely worth it. Sometimes it seems we're so overwhelmed with all the paperwork, deadlines and appointments that we lose sight of all the joy ahead. And then there are those joyful reminders that come at just the right time....

We went to Church last night and as we are so frequently blessed to see, our dear friends were there. They have a great son and their precious twin daughters are from China. As often happens, the girls came running to hug me and my heart jumped for joy! It was perfect timing to be reminded that this journey is progressing and it will be worth it all!!! Thank you, sweeties, for those hugs every Saturday night! I always look forward to seeing you, chatting with you and watching you smile and laugh. What a blessing you and your family always are to us! What gifts you all are in our lives! Thanks for your continued prayers, encouragement and friendship. Saturday nights are so special with you all there!

After Church, Micah thought it was a great idea to eat supper at our favorite Chinese restaurant! We were thrilled about that, of course. When we arrived, Tim saw one of his co-workers there whose little girl is also from China. I had heard so much about this sweet family but had never met them. Wow! There they were with their two sons and their daughter. It was such a joy to meet them. As we spent a few minutes with them, I realized how we had indeed been blessed once more! Hearing their excitement and watching them enjoy their daughter just thrilled my heart again. What joyful reminders we received last night! Our journey is indeed blessed!

We continue to love, miss and cherish our little sweetie pie/s in China but we know God will place her in our arms at just the right moment! We continue to be very grateful for all of you who continue to ask, hope, pray, love and walk beside us in this journey. It would not be the same without you! Please pray specifically for the fingerprint updating appointments to go well with schedules and weather conditions in the coming month! Thanks to all of you who truly care about our Journey of Blessings. We will remember your kindness and our JennaBeth (and perhaps EmmaKate) will be told how blessed we are with your genuine and unfailing love! To each of you who prays, posts and participates in our journey, we love you all!!
Still moving forward,
Terri and family

A Surprise along the Journey!

For those dear friends who have told us that God's timing is always right, we have a wonderful example of that to share with you today! Just last week, we contacted our social worker about updating paperwork and the process began. We received an email from her last night and another email from the agency today telling us that as of last Friday, state regulations have changed and we will NOT need to update the homestudy at 12 months. There were changes made last week that allow us an extended six months! This means that we have major updating to do this spring and summer...but it is wonderful news in that we presently have one less "report" to do along in this journey. As any of you involved in the adoption process understand, that is a huge blessing! So...just when we were stepping into yet another chapter of paperwork, we were told within a day or two that this specific chapter is not necessary! Yay! The news could not have been more perfectly timed! We will miss seeing our dear social worker soon, but we will definitely be able to stay in touch with her and see her this summer! And...there are many projects underway in our household right now to keep us busy, as well. As God timed these new regulations so perfectly, we are reminded that His timing in our Journey to our daughter will also be perfect...and worth every moment we wait in His plan.

Thank you for your continued prayers! Thank you for walking beside us in this journey. Thank you to loved ones who have already shared beautiful gifts for our baby girl. Thank you, God, for the perfect timing and master plan You continue to provide as we walk closer to our sweet daughter. We are so blessed in this Journey and we will keep you posted as we move forward.
Counting our blessings,
Terri and family

The Journey of Updating...

It's time to update our paperwork! Tim called our social worker today and it was so good to talk to her again! She's such a blessing to our family. We have some documents due next month so it's time for more visits, interviews, forms, etc.. Sometimes that seems overwhelming yet it's also exciting for we know that time is indeed passing by and every document is a step toward our little daughter in China. So, we ask for your prayers as we continue this journey of more paperwork...more expenses...more deadlines to meet...and more blessings as we move closer and closer to our little girl. We'll keep you posted as we keep walking through these necessary steps. But oh, it's going to be worth it!

We're thankful for all of you wonderful friends who are encouraging, praying and loving us through this special time in our lives! You are such blessings and we appreciate each of you so very much.
Moving forward...
Tim, Terri, Rachel and Micah