Thankful...

I write this post with great hesitation. I haven't wanted to exhale yet, because I know that we are still in what is considered to be the "honeymoon phase" of the adoption process... But I can not hold it in any longer.

I am giddy with joy.

Our entire trip to China and back was nothing short of miraculous.

Our last-minute fundraising was nothing short of miraculous.

Our first full week as a family of 8...

Nothing short of miraculous.

It's as if there was this big gaping hole in our family and it has now been filled. These girls have done better than we ever dreamed or hoped for. Our biological children are doing better than we ever dreamed or hoped for.

I was prepared for all of the worst events:

-Flight delays
-Cabin fever (14 hours on 1 plane)
-feeling like the trip would never end...
-antsy children
-food/water poisoning while in China
-sleepless nights
-potty training issues (I packed wipes, pull-ups, and disposable changing pads just in case)
-eating issues
-uncontrolable crying
-institutional behaviors
-bad attitudes
-long flight home
-grumpy kids
-chaos once returning home

...And the list goes on...

I was prepared for a really nightmarish time of adjustments for all.

NONE of those things occured. NOT EVEN ONE!!!

In my wildest dreams I would've never guessed that our story would look so totally opposite of all of that I was preparing for.

After being home a few days, I was cleaning out the kids play closet and I just sat down and cried.

I am so incredibly thankful to the Lord for all that HE has done!!!

Ashlyn is everything the Lord told me she'd be... and more.

She is pretty, kind, smart, helpful, funny, pleasant to be around, loving, tidy, cooperative, calm, happy, and just the perfect addition to our family. I am so proud of her. I know it's not been easy for her. But I also think she's doing really well. We have kept her busy doing all sorts of things and giving her time alone to rest as well. She is good about going and having fun with the kids, but also being confident enough to say no, when she just wants to mellow out and watch a movie or take a nap. I am thankful that she wants to be with us and that she doesn't close herself up in her room. She is a trooper and my little hero.

Abby is simply an angel from heaven. She is smart, sweet, quiet, funny, playful, imaginative, good sleeper, good eater, and all around cutie pie. My only minor concern for her is that she will reach out for people to hold her sometimes...  I'm not talking about perfect strangers in the grocery store... friends of ours that she's never met before. But still... I will have to work on boundaries with her.

We have been SPOILED by friends and family. My good friend Tiffanie arranged for us to have meals every other night until the end of January. We have LOVED having our friends stop over to bring meals and stay to meet the girls. Ashlyn is shy and she was very overwhelmed at first by all of the people who would want to hug her and talk to her, but she's almost completely over that now. Our long-time friends/mentors, Wyatt & Tina Anderson came over with their daughter and son-in-law last night to bring dinner and gifts. At one point, Tina and I were standing in the kitchen talking and Ashlyn stood with us the whole time, as if she was part of the converstation. Love is a universal language. I am pretty sure she feels how loved she is and I think she really likes it.

Ansley's 2 best friends live right across the street; Elizabeth & Anna. These girls are just the sweetest things. Elizabeth and Ashlyn have become fast friends. They spend alot of time communicating back and forth with "Say Hi". Thank goodness for technology!

What I love the most is just how much fun this has been. I love that Ashlyn loves being at home with us. When Ansley heads out the door to play across the street, Ashlyn likes to linger here at home. She and Aidan are watching "Nanny McPhee" for the 3rd time in 2 days right now... I love to hear her laugh. I love how sweet Averleigh and Abby are together. I love it when Averleigh calls her, "Abs". I love it when she calls Ashlyn, "Ashie". I love it that when it got really quiet this morning and I went up to check on the little girls, they had gotten in bed with Ashlyn and she was showing them how to play with her translator.

I ventured out to BJ's by myself this morning with 5 of my 6 children... all by myself... and no one got lost or even had a melt down!!!

Right now Abby and Averleigh are taking a nap.

The cleaning ladies just left... The smell of vinegar and Fabuloso is so romantic.

I am one happy momma!!!

Brownies!!!

Abby & Averleigh: flying to the moon on daddy's knees! Huge hit with miss abby!!!

Our first family movie night as a party of 8!

It got a little crazy a time or two... You know how daddy's are...

 

Blessings,
Rebecca

"Vision of God"

This is the meaning of Ashlyn's name. We chose this name for our adoptive Chinese daughter 8 years ago. At the time I figured she'd be a baby. Little did I know, she'd actually be 13:)

There are so many scenarios that have played through my mind over the course of the 2 years we waited for Ashlyn. (as I type this, she is at my side, hanging on my every word) One of them is truly a vision. I pictured her on our swingset in the back yard, loving the swings. This morning that vision was fulfilled. I looked out back and there she was, flying high to the sky on the swing. I tried to catch my camera to capture the moment but it came and went too fast. In that moment the Lord whispered to me and reminded me of that vision I had so long ago. And then He reminded me of the meaning of her name. She is truly a vision. If only she knew. As I sit here typing, she is sitting on the floor next to me.

Matt came over and showed her the short video he had on his iphone of Averleigh's birth. She smiled and looked up at me. I, of course, had crocodile tears in my eyes. She tilted her head as if to say, "what's wrong" and I told her via translator that they were happy tears. She smiled. I told her that I have cried many happy tears over her too. She smiled and seemed to really like that. I told her that just like when a mom is pregnant and has to wait a very long time, I had to wait a very long time for her too. If you could see the love in her eyes... She is the most precious gift. I can not imagine our lives without her. What if we had never taken that leap of faith? We almost didn't...

If you don't know our whole story, please take a few minutes to go back to my very first post from February 2011. It's miraculous, what God has done.

More to come...

Blessings,
Rebecca

We Are Home!!!

We got home around midnight on the 22nd. Everything is a blur...

We had an incredible time in China. Things went far better than we ever dreamed.

For 2 years (exactly) I have been loving and praying for Ashlyn. I have followed your adoption journey's and tried to envision how our story would play out. Throughout this process I have been excited, hopeful, impatient, sometimes frustrated, tearful, and even scared to death.

I will continue to post about our time in China in segments. But for now I will just say this...

We are in awe. We are in complete AWE of what God has done, and what He continues to do.

Our girls have done miraculously well.

We have been carried to China and back on the wings of your prayers. You are amazing and our God is AWESOME.

THANK YOU to everyone who has given to our fund.

You have no idea what a blessing you are to us.

Our story is truly a miraculous one and I can not wait to let you in on the details.

I am so anxious to share the details and proclaim all that God has done.

Because He is mighty and so worthy of praise.

To Him alone be the glory...

Gotcha Day with Abby came on the 10th. She was very elusive at first... crying and wouldn't let us hold her. Then Alex pulled out his phone and the rest is history:)

Daddy: trying to get in on a little of the action:)

She wouldn't give me the time of day... Until we all walked out of the building. Then she became an instant momma's girl.

Our Guangzhou travel group and Miko, our guide. Loved these families!!!

The first night with Abby. She did great!!!

One of many van rides:) She'd always run straight to the back and jump up in between Alex and Ansley. The she'd fall asleep.

Gotcha day for Ashlyn was the on the 12th in Chongqing. This was photo was taken on our first night with Ashlyn. This is a night I will never forget. We all laughed so much I thought I would pee my pants. Ansley and Alex kept reenacting scenes from Napoleon Dynamite. Ashlyn was so giggly too. In this picture, I had reached down to put my arm through hers like her and Ansley were doing, and she took my arm out and instead put hers through mine. Then she looked up at me with the sweetest smile. I will never forget this moment.

My favorite picture of the entire trip. She and Ansley were instant friends. I'll share more about this later...

The Chongqing Zoo. We are all wearing our TRIBE shirts. "Tribe" is the theme of our church.

And here is some of our "TRIBE", welcoming us home. We were so excited to see them there so late at night. LOVE these people!!!

Christmas morning... The most special ever...

Christmas night at my Mom's.

Thank you for journeying along. Everyone is doing really well. Ashlyn has definitely had some sad moments, but all in all she has a great attitude. I can tell she is really trying hard. Christmas was crazy, even though we kept it as low key as possible. These girls have been drenched in love... love from so many people who have waited with anticipation to meet them. Sweet freinds have stopped by to bring meals and hug them and family members have doted and showered them with love. I am sure it is somewhat overwhelming, but I told Ashlyn, "These people love you and they have been waiting eagerly for you to get here." She just nods her head, smiles, and whispers "oh..." We downloaded a great app called "Say hi" and it's how we communicate with her most of the time. We have had some really great talks... even though it's me doing 99% of the communicating. Both of our girls are silent. Abby is non-verbal, although Matt and Averleigh taught her "peek-a-boo" and have started to try to teach her to say her name now instead of peek-a-boo. She's working on it:) Ashlyn's speech is impaired by her cleft issues. Bless her heart, she can not even say her name. In time this will come.
Many things will come in time. But we are thankful for today. We are thankful that God has woven our hearts together. Abby is amazing. She is so stinkin' smart. She is as sweet as she can be. I worried that she may be aggressive, but she is not AT ALL.

Ok... Gotta go get dinner going...

I'll be back soon...

Blessings,
Rebecca

Still Here...

Today was our official day of paperwork for Ashlyn. She's a McKee finally! It was bittersweet. The director of her orphanage Made the 4 hour trip with her yesterday and stayed in town last night so that she could be here to say goodbye today. Ashlyn got teary when she saw her and did cry a little when saying goodbye. The director put Ashlyn's hand in mine and said, "mama" and then said something else that we didn't understand, but seemed very encouraging to Ashlyn. We hugged her and thanked her and told her we would take good care of Ashlyn. She smiled and hugged us back and then left. It was really emotional. My heart is hurting for both of our girls today. Abby is fighting a cold and has been mean to Matt and Alex today... Just wanting nothing to do with them at all. She even smacked Ansley in the face. I know it's all so overwhelming to her. At least we can communicate with Ashlyn. The pocket translator has been a life saver! All in all, things are going so well. We couldn't have asked for a better situation with both of our girls. Still, we are longing to get back to life in America. I am so thankful to live in America!!!

Thank you for the prayers. Please keep them coming!!!

Praise!

Today has been amazing!

Ashlyn is everything I'd hoped she'd be and more.

Things went better than I ever thought they would.

She and Ansley have become fast friends.

Posting from my phone, so I'm making it short and sweet:)

Thanks for the prayers!!!

I'll post pix tomorrow!

Blessings,
Rebecca

I'm so sorry!!!

I know how it feels to be waiting on updates and not getting them! I apologize for not being as on top of blogging as I said I would. I've been posting to FB because its so much easier than on the iPad. I should've brought my laptop...

Anyhow, things went amazingly well at civil affairs yesterday. There were 30 families there yesterday, so you can imagine the chaos. When it was our turn, Abby came strutting out of that playroom and walked right on past us. She was very elusive and wanted toning to do with us at first. Although, she let Ansley hold her:)

After a few minutes if trying to catch her, Alex pulled out his iPhone and handed it to her. She immediately sat down and started scrolling through his pictures. Can you believe it?!

We all sat around her on the floor in front of the desk and waited patiently to connect with her. She'd did finally let us in after Ansley pulled out the stickers:)

After that she ran around the room after another little boys remote control car and we had a blast watching her play. She is an amazing little girl.., smart as can be!

The ride home was sweet. She sat between the kids and we just stared at her. We are in love!!!

We came back to the room and skyped with everyone. She loved that. She Blew kisses and threw out the peace sign to everyone.

She slept great... All night long. No tears.

This morning she is still cracking us up. She is so funny and so smart!!!

I'll post more tomorrow. Heading to chongqing later this evening.

Oh my goodness!

How I have waited and longed for this day for so long!

My sweet Ashlyn hope is about to become my daughter!!!

All I can say is thank you, Jesus.

God is so good.

I'm in awe of His love for His children.

Day 2 In China...

Sorry for the delay in pictures. We will figure it out tomorrow after we get Abby. We only brought the iPad, so I'm still trying to figure out how to post them and its taking too long.

If you're really interested in our airplane photos and us eating lots of food in China, you can friend me on FB at Rebecca Sherrill McKee:)

Today was a great day. We slept good and ate a terrific breakfast in our hotel restaurant. It was a large buffet of mostly American cuisine... and we get 2 free breakfasts per day! Score! Afterwards we walked across the street to a big luxurious mall that has stores like Gucci and Prada... You know, stores on an adoptees budget:) Then we had free massages in the demo chairs in some fancy massage chair store. Then we came back to the hotel for lunch and enjoyed all kinds of Chinese food while being entertained by a traditional Chinese wedding reception. Only after we ate did we realize that we paid $82 per person for Sunday brunch... Yikes, won't make that mistake again. Thankfully, they took off one of the meals since one small picky eater only had 2 dumplings and 4 slices of cucumber... On the way out of there the kids joked about our high class day;) Ha.

Tonight we took a cab to Shamian Island and ate at Lucy's, which was highly recommended. It was not very good. I'm just praying that none of us get food/water poisoning of any sort. We also walked around the cute stores and bought a few treasures to take home to the littles we left behind. I saw the statue of the children walking In a row that so many people have on their blogs. I guess we'll have to risk our lives again and go back to get a picture with Ashlyn & Abby:)

Tomorrow is Gotcha Day with Abby! We can hardly stand it! We have a meeting with our guide and the other Lifeline families at noon and then we head over to civil affairs at 2:00.

I think I'll go to bed now so that tomorrow gets here quicker. I still can not believe this is real. Tomorrow Abby Joy will become a McKee forever!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca & Family

We Are Here!

The flight was fine... Slept almost half the way on the long flight from Atlanta to Korea...

Guangzhou is busy... Not like I expected really.

We decided to take a walk on the wild side and have Subway for dinner;)

After almost getting killed by several crazy Chinese drivers, we walked back to the hotel, walked around for a bit, and are back up in our room, ready to crawl into our concrete beds and call it a day... And it's only 7:30 PM.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we are on our own. We have a meeting at noon on Monday with our guide and then we head over to civil affairs to get Abby at 2:00PM.

We are SO excited to meet her!!!

On Tuesday we fly to Chongqing to get Ashlyn, hang out there for a few days, and then fly back to GZ until the 22nd.

I am missing my sweet babies from home, but we skyped with them earlier and they are doing great.

It's so weird to be here. Maybe I'm just tired, but I'm already homesick. I know one things for sure, this is a great awakening for Alex and Ansley. For me too. I am so thankful to be an American!!!

I'll post pix tomorrow.

Good Night!

~Rebecca & Family

Love Is On The Move!!! Finally!!!!

I can't believe it's actually here, this day that we thought would never come...

What a whirlwind of a week... I'm looking forward to zoning out for the next 20+ hours:)

I'll update as soon as possible...

Please keep us all in your prayers... We still don't know if the grant will get to China on time.

Blessings,

Rebecca & Family

Thank You!!!

To each and every person who has given, and continues to give, THANK YOU!!!

We are in awe of what you all have done in just 4 short weeks... It is truly miraculous. I am encouraged more than ever by the generosity of people. Some of you we don't even know. THANK YOU!

I want to thank our family: Mom, John, Bart, Audrey, Dad, Hannah, Charlene, Aaron, Cat, AJ, Elaina, Lee & Tracy... I honestly can not imagine what we'd do without you guys. You have prayed for us, supported us, given us money, given us your time, meals, babysitting, and clothing for the girls...among other things. You have sacrificed so much to get us to this point. I hope and pray that you won't regret it... EVER. This is not going to be an easy road for any of us, but I know it will all be worth it. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for loving Ashlyn and Abby. I know that each and every one of you "get it" and that is no small miracle. We appreciate it all more than you'll ever know!

Please pray that our grant money ($7500) shows up today. We aren't at our goal without it and we REALLY need it. There have been some hold-ups regarding time and how long it takes to process the grant and send the money and then it has to be wired before we leave for China. If not, we lose it. The grant organization understands our predicament and they are doing everything they can to get it done asap. I know God will work this out too. He's in the details... It's crazy how He's worked out even the smallest of glitches for us, without us even asking! On that note, because of our travel glitch with the GZ office closing from the 12th-14th, and because we have to fly from GZ to CQ and then back to GZ, we will get to visit Ashlyn's orphanage after all!

Another unexpected blessing we've received is getting to know a dear lady named Tammy, who is an American volunteer in Abby's orphanage. We met her via FB through another Shenzhen SWC adoptive family. Tammy has been able to "sneak" pix of Abby to us and tell us a little bit more about her. She even uploaded some of our FB photos, printed them, and gave them to Abby's teacher. On top of all of these little treasures, she also got a little carried away and even took videos of Abby seeing our photos for the first time. They are the most precious things I've ever seen. Seriously... Abby doesn't even talk, yet she somehow finds it within herself to repeat over and over and over, while pointing her cute little finger at our picture, "Baba, Baba, Baba!"

I love this look on her face!!! I'm hoping that's a look of approval and not concern:)

"Baba!"

Abby's Mama & Baba

 

Tammy said she went to the window looking for us...

 

...then she got back in her car, crossed her leg, and started talking to our picture!

I am so anxious to meet this little ball of joy. Did I mention how we got her name? Abigail means, "My father rejoices" and Joy means... "JOY"!

I am 100% convinced that Abby is going to do amazingly well in our family. I just know it. I have no fears or concerns regarding her at all.

My heart is so burdened for our sweet Ashlyn though. Please please please pray for her. She needs a lot of courage to say goodbye next week to the only home she's ever known. We are praying for BIG, AWESOME, MIGHTY TO SAVE miracles on her behalf... and ours.

Blessings,
Rebecca

In The Homestretch!

It's coming so quickly... We have worked so hard for this week to finally get here. This journey has been a crazy one, for sure, but WOW!!! I really am at a loss for words. So many thoughts and feelings flooding my heart and mind. So many things I want to say and share with you guys... So much we want to shout from our mountain top.

Our God is AWESOME!

He is crazy in love with His children and He wants to teach us more about Him through our acknowledgement and obviously, our care of the orphans and the widows... In whatever way we can or are willing to do that.

This is where it's at y'all... Leaving all that we know to be safe and sound, to be the hands and feet of Jesus... THIS IS REAL LIVING. This is bar far the most fabulously exciting, thought provoking, freighteningly overwhelming thing I have EVER done... EVER. I am not a thrill seeker by nature. NOT AT ALL.

About 10 years ago I thought I'd try to conquer my fear of roller coasters by riding "The Hulk" at Island's Of Adventure. I was so pumped! I waited in the long line with Matt and our 2 friends feeling like such a big, brave girl:)

As soon as it was our turn I climbed up into the seat and fastened the smelly seat belt. All I could think of was, "Lord, please, please let me like this and not be afraid." I also tried to think of an excuse to get off, but I was so scared, I couldn't think straight.

Well, if you've been on this ride, you know that there is no calm ride to the top. It hurls you out of there around 1000 miles per hour. Seriously, it might as well have taken me to the moon. It would have made no difference to me. The G-forces were unbelievable. I was so scared, I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't even scream. Matt kept yelling, "Open your eyes!!!" I couldn't! They were sealed shut! My heart felt like it would explode any second and all I could think of is, "How long have I been on this ride?! Surely it's almost over!?" It never ended. It went on for like... FOREVER! And it felt so intense, like we were goona get thrown right off the track, not at all the impression it gives from watching below.

When the ride came to a stop, I was frozen in my seat. Everyone was looking at me for a response. I got up and walked out of there, head spinning from intense vertigo...

I quietly walked over to the viewing area and stood looking up at that glorious, "smooth-looking" ride, in absolute and utter AWE of myself and what I had just done. All I could say was, "I CAN NOT BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT." Then I said... "I will NEVER EVER do that again!"

And I haven't:)

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I feel like I'm in line for the Hulk right now, getting getting ready for take-off. My heart is pounding, my palms are sweating, and I am just begging Jesus to help me not to be afraid.


"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in YOU."
~Isaiah 26:3


Once again, if you you'd like to donate to our fund, we need that Reece's Rainbow account to be around $26,000 by Wednesday!

Please consider praying and passing our need on to your friends and family! Thank you!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca

Good Glitches...

I woke up this morning to an email from our agency rep (that she left at midnight) saying, "Please call me ASAP, no matter how late, It's important." So of course I was a bit freaked out and called her at 6:00 AM which is 5:00 AM her time and she didn't answer. After calling back like 10 times and waiting over an hour, I called the emergency number... Long story short, I heard from Karla and this was her news...

The girls are fine.

The office in GZ has decided to close from the 12th to the 14th. No real reason. The 12th was going to be our 2nd gotcha day (Abby). There aren't enough days between gotcha day and consulate appt. (the 20th) to do it on the 15th.

So here were our 3 options:
A.) leave today and be there way long
B.) scrap everything and travel after Christmas
C.) keep our schedule the same, but swap gotcha days

We chose option C

So now we leave on Thursday night (instead of way early on friday morning) and fly to Atlanta. Leave Atlanta and head to Seoul. Leave Seoul and head to GZ. Get Abby. Fly to Chongqing and get Ashlyn. Fly back to GZ... Wait for our consulate appt on the 20th, come home around midnight on the 22nd.

The good part is that we actually save about $1500.00 doing it this way.

This picture is from last Christmas. I can't believe how much they've changed!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca

Home For Christmas!!!

We leave for China next Friday or Saturday and come home anytime after 7:00 PM on the 21st; which most likely looks like the 23rd... depending on travel cost.

Our consolate date is the 20th.

This is crazy fast. We were not planning on being home for Christmas. We were told there would be no way:)

Here's the glitch... We get to Chongqing on the 9th, Gotcha Day is on the 10th, and we fly out to Guangzhou on the 11th. Talk about ripping the bandaid off! My heart is very very burdened for Ashlyn. We have no time to make the 3 hour trip to her orphanage. This is a very big disappointment and I am concerned it will make things much harder for her. I have asked our agency to request that if the orphanage is planning a party for her, that they do it soon and tell her she's not coming back... And also that they bring us any early pictures of her or special belongings (I know she won't have many, if any at all).

We get Abby on the 12th, I think.

I am beside myself right now. Matt has been on the phone with the travel agent. I'm not sure what to do now... I guess maybe packing would be a good start.

Can you believe it?

After all these months of reading other people's amazing gotcha stories and seeing their amazing pictures, it's finally our turn!!!

We are so excited and so thankful to get home in time to spend Christmas with our family all together.

My little A-Dog was jumping up and down and hugging me when he heard the news.

Thanks for all the thoughtful comments and prayers.

Please keep them coming!!!

One more small little request... :)

We are about $4,000 shy of having this thing fully funded. That's a drop in the bucket compared to where we were 2 short weeks ago. If you are reading this and haven't already donated, would you consider it? Every little penny adds up. Don't feel like you have to give a lot. We have seen amazing things happen through the smallest gifts... And the bigs ones too! If you could also forward this on to your friends and family or feel free to post it on Facebook. We need that $4,000 before we leave for China.  Thank you!!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca

Look What We Got Today!!!!

"Is this how you do it?"

"Im trying my hardest, momma"

 

"Nevermind that, look how cute I am holding this stuffed toy."

Oh those sweet cheeks!!!

It's funny how on the days I am struggling to not freak out, God shows up and sends me a picture of one of my girls. It happened a few weeks back with Ashlyn too. I so needed to see this sweet face today. Thank you Jesus!

I love my friends to the right (side bar)... ALL of them. They may not even know they are my "friends", but I wouldn't be here without them. So they truly are special to me. And I feel very protective of them. When they share from their hearts, I want to reach out and hug them and thank them and tell them what a blessing they are to me.

Thank you especially to Sonia, Veronica, Desiree, Shawnee, Sarah, Jennifer,& Vickie.
You guys hold nothing back, and although it's hard to hear, I know I need to hear it! Don't stop being real. We pre-adoptees need to know the truth. Everyone walking this path of adoption needs to know what they are really getting themselves into, in order to make an educated decision. Not to mention, we are just so much more equipped on the back side. It's one thing to have all the paperwork done and travel expenses taken care of, it's an entirely different thing to have some understanding of what may happen once everyone is home & under the same roof.

I have known since we decided to re-open our adoption of Ashlyn that this wasn't going to be a cake walk. We are fine with that. But it's the realization that things may get really ugly that has gotten me down this week.

All of these long months have served to prepare our hearts for whatever the Lord may have for us. We are as ready as we'll ever be...

But are we?

I know you BTDT parents are thinking, "Girl, you have no idea..."

And you're right. I really don't.

So I'm stuck in between 2 places and maybe you can help me.

My dilema is, do I throw away my fears and go ahead and hope for the best, or do I protect myself and not get too excited?

I have envisioned our first meeting with Ashlyn for 2 years now. Up until about a year & 1/2 ago, all I could picture was our family walking excitedly into a room and seeing her standing by her nanny, and me walking over to her, tears rolling down my face, and hugging her tight. She looks up & smiles at me.

Now I picture this...

We nervously walk into a room where she is shyly standing next to her nanny. We are all very quiet, and did I mention nervous? Matt & I are trying to be cool and not cry. They introduce us to her and she makes a little eye contact and gives a slight smile. Then we all sit down and I nervously hand her a gift... It's a scrapbook of her new life. I try to be upbeat and make her feel as comfortable as possible. Matt, Alex, & Ansley are quiet. It's awkward. That's the best word I can come up with. All the while there is a buzz of very loud Chinese people rambling constantly all around us; talking over each other... Like it's just any other ordinary day.

Sounds depressing, doesn't it?

We just don't want to rush her or overwhelm her. So we will follow her cues. If she makes eye contact and smiles, we will smile bigger. If she is laughing and being silly, we will too! If she needs space, we will give it. Whatever it takes to make her feel safe and comfortable.

But there is always that chance (about 50%) that she won't want to come home with us. They will let her decide.

I can't even imagine...

But I know that I know that I know that this was ordained by God and for His glory. He will continue to walk with us every step of the way. I am confident of that. I know that He is near. He revealed that to me in a dream a few nights ago. I felt how close He was to me for the first time. REALLY felt it. Not just knew it, felt it.

Hoping for a Tuesday consolate date and that we'll know something tomorrow!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca

TA!

It came this morning! FINALLY.

So now we wait until Wednesday to find out our consolate date. We are hoping for a Tuesday consolate date.

Crazy to think that in just a couple of weeks we will be face to face with these precious girls.

I have to say that I am getting pretty nervous.

What have we gotten ourselves into?!

I'm ok.

Really.

:)

Blessings,
Rebecca

Our Goal...

We met with our agency over the phone the other night to discuss travel expenses and itinerary. Here is a bit of a breakdown for those of you who are wondering what exactly it is you are helping us do and how much more we still need...

In-country expenses are around $22,000. This includes a $6500 orphanage donation fee to both the girls orphanages. It also includes hotel accomodations, in-country travel, doctors fees, translator fees, and numerous other related fees. We will be getting a more detailed breakdown next week and I will give more details then.

Then there's the airfare... Because we are traveling at the busiest time of the year, tickets have jumped from around $1500 per ticket to approx. $2500 per ticket. There are 4 of us going. Matt and myself and our two eldest. This may come as a surprise to some of you. You may wonder why we are taking them. I will explain in further detail in my next post. We are willing to sell a car if we have to. That's how important it is to us and to the 2 girls we are adopting.

In-country fees per person for food and misc. around another $4,000. I think. Gotta double check on that one. We will be gone for about 3 weeks... Traveling to 2 provinces for 2 girls. No frills... we just wanna get them and get home! We will not be taking any side trips to the Great Wall while we are there.

So there ya have it.

We have already paid the agency around $15,000 thus far. The adoption of both of the girls in totality is approx. $50,000.

We applied for a few grants. We have been approved for 1 so far (approx. $7500), and we are hopeful for at least 1 more to come through.

At this very moment (Nov. 21) we are still about $13,000 away from our goal.

We will get there. I have no doubt. Please continue to pray for Matt's business. This is his slow season and he has very few listings right now. He needs some buyers. AND he is without a doubt, Orlando's best realtor:) In my educated opinion anyway:)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We truly have so much to be thankful for. God is good!

Blessings,
Rebecca

A Little Update...

This is one of those posts where I honestly do not know where to start. It's been a whirlwind of a week. Our RR fund just keeps on growing and somehow we made it through another long weekend of garage sales. As I mentioned before, we made a total of $5,000 in  last year's 5 weekend, marathon of garage sales. We were hoping to make $1,000 last weekend. Makes mathmatical sense, right? Well, we did make the $1,000... on the FIRST day. The total for the entire weekend? A little over $2,000!!! UNBELIEVABLE.

Only God.

Matt started getting calls last week from people to come pick up their donations, so he and Alex borrowed a friends trailer and worked their hiney's off from sun up to sun down... Monday-Thursday. Thank goodness this is Matt's slow business season. That was just another God thing.

When the items started rolling in, I wondered how some of it would sell. We got a few items that I almost felt embarassed asking money for. We always put boxes of free items out by the curb, so I had it in my head the things that I was going to put down there. Would you believe that every single one of those items sold?! The first was a lovely futon that had seen better days. As soon as Matt pulled it off the trailer I told him to put it by the curb. 10 minutes later we had a group of early shoppers walk up and ask how much we wanted for the futon. We sold the crazy thing for $20! This happened all weekend long. Each and every item that I thought would never sell sold. I felt like God was reminding me all weekend long that He is in control and I just need to back off.

On Friday I had a guy stop in and he started telling me about he and his wife's journey to have children. Unable to conceive, they have decided to adopt a baby, domestically. They have just finished the home study process and are starting to put their portfolio together. He mentioned that they were going to be having a garage sale to raise funds as well. So I told him that  whatever was left from ours, he could take for theirs.

Saturday afternoon came and this is the best part... Around 4:30 we just start letting people take whatever they can fit in their car for free. It's so fun!!!

A friend from church stopped by to hang out during that time and before he left he handed Matt a check and asked if he could call an employee of his to come by and take some stuff too. We said, "of course!" And so Jose and his family came that evening from about an hour away to load up their truck with bikes and clothes and furniture... it was like Christmas around here. He had to make several trips.

Sunday morning I was home with a sick child and I heard a knock on the door. It was the man working on the septic tank across the street. He had noticed the box of free stuff at the street and asked if he could take a few things. Shortly thereafter, I headed out for the store and while I was gone Matt came home from church. He opened up the garage and told David (the septic tank man) and his wife (Sylvia, who had come along for the ride) to have whatever they wanted. They took as many things as they could fit in their little car and then went home to get their son, daughter-in-law and grandkids to come back and get more. Sylvia was so excited. She kept thanking me and telling me what a blessing we were to their family. She said they had no way of providing Christmas for their family and they were so depressed that they didn't even want to go to work that morning. Imagine if they hadn't. God had a plan for them too. He takes care of all of our needs. We stood in the driveway while the men loaded up their new sofa and we talked about the goodness of the Lord and how so many times we think He's not hearing us, or He's taking too long to come to our rescue and just when we think He's not there, he shows up and knocks our sox off!

After Sylvia and David left, Wes and his wife came with his family to take the rest of the things home with them. Their garage sale will be in a few weeks. Praying that it is a huge success for them!

I can't tell you how many people have supported us this week because we don't exactly know unless you've told us. If you have donated through RR, please leave us a comment here on my blog because they don't tell us. All we see is what you see in the sidebar. We just want to know who is donating so that we can say thank you.

We had our "travel update" phone call meeting with our agency last night. Our TA is enroute from the CCCWA to Birmingham as I type this! We won't know anything till the first of next week because of the holiday though. Sometime by the end of next week we should have our consolate date and sometime around the 2nd or 3rd weekend of December we should be on a plane to China!!!

There is so much more to share, but it's just too much and I'm guessing you just want to skip to the bottom and see the pictures!:)

update on Ashlyn:)

Abby is sitting in her car, reading the newspaper. Check out the little guy on the floor! :)



Matt with our awesome "Tribe"! We love you guys!!!

Abby and her teacher, who I hear is a sweetheart!

 

Alex and Matt, looking kinda tired:)

This was our garage at the beginning of last week. Full to capacity and unorganized.

The lovely futon:) We had so much stuff, it didn't all fit in the  garage.

Ta-da! Nice and neat, thanks to my great in-laws who worked with us all weekend long!

This is an entire wardrobe of donations that I kept for Abby! Yay God! Thanks Ralph family!!!

One more neat thing happened a couple weeks ago that I have to share though...

I got an email from a gal from the Shenzhen (Abby's orphanage) yahoo group I belong to and she told me to check out her wall on FB because she thought Abby was in one of her videos. They were just there a few months ago to get their little girl. Only problem is I wasn't on FB, so I had to join. You know how I've felt about FB. I had decided I wasn't ever joining for various reasons. Well, this was all it took for me to drink the koolaid. Turns out it wasn't Abby in the video, but she also introduced me to an American lady that now lives over there and volunteers in Abby's orphanage. So she friended me and sent me a couple of new pictures and a little update on our Abby girl:)

The blessings just keep flowing y'all. God is so good.

To those of you who have given to us in any way, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are overwhelmed by what God is doing through you all. It's been the most thrilling ride of our lives.

There is still more to share...

I'll update again soon.

Keep the prayers coming. We want a Tuesday consolate date! Please pray for this!!!

Blessings,
Rebecca