Bolanders are cleared for Take Off

Bags are packed and if we forgot something, Brian says we can get it in Taiwan! The last few weeks have been crazy busy but so exciting. We are now sitting at the Southwest Terminal with yet another delay in our flight...

We were given a great idea to document our trip to Le Le with her new best friend Xiao Gou (Little Dog). He will make this long journey with us as I hope anyone reading this will join all of us. We are so anxious and excited with only 10 days and 20 hours until we see our little girl for the first time!

Xiao Gou in Le Le's Crib

Riding next to Brian on the way to the airport

Nana giving a kiss good-bye

We are packed and ready to go!

Southwest to LAX

Getting a little help through the airport!


Le Le we are on our Way!!!!

Last Package and Travel Dates

Third and Final Package was sent last week.  

The day we sent the final package was the same day as our update and final decree! We posted that received the final decree but I didn't take the time to outline the details of that amazing day.  We were out shopping in the morning together when received an update on our little girl from the agency.  We were so thrilled to get the first update in months.  She was getting so big and eating so many more solid foods.  She weighs 18 lbs!  We immediately updated our families who all wanted an update on our court status.  We still had no updates on that and did not expect to hear much for a few months.  We were told that you get an official court date, first decree, and then a final decree.  Each step can take quite a bit of time depending on your judge and the additional information they might request.  Anyway, we were just excited to share the new pictures and update on how well she was doing in the orphanage.

After updating everyone I had to go teach at Midwestern. About an hour after I got to the school I received the following text from Brian (April 26):

I panicked!!!! I thought for sure something horrible had happened.  I immediately thought another dog was injured or worried about our family.  I tried calling over and over again but as you can see by the text, it kept going straight to voicemail!  Finally he called back in tears, "Did you see? Did you see? We got our Final Decree!"  Now I thought he must be crazy or pulling the worst joke of all time.  We only received an update hours before and now she is legally a part of our family forever!  I immediately left all the students in the middle of class (Sorry!!) and went home to get caught up on the last hour.  I found out that Brian was getting the address to send her package off his email when a new email pulled up that said we got our final decree!!  He went into shock and started to pace circles around our kitchen island while texting me the 911 messages.  Then when I didn't answer his pleading text, he said all he could think to do was to run down to my mom and dad's house in tears so he could share the news with someone and see if they had any idea how to reach me.  Yes, my parents knew before me!  We have now decided on a different "good emergency" code to text so 911 won't freak me out again!

May Package

She will receive the final package from us in May.  There will be no package in June since we will be able to bring everything to her ourselves!  We never thought this day would come and yet here it is... 6 weeks away from seeing her for the very first time!  We received our travel dates for June.  We are able to pick her up on June 18, 2013 and on June 19, 2013 we have an appointment with AIT (American Institute in Taiwan) for her Visa.  We will likely stay another week to take her around Taiwan and let her adjust to us before the 14 hour flight home.  I am now waking up like clockwork between 2:30 am and 3:00 am panicking about everything that needs to get done in the next few weeks!!!  I'm not sure how we will get it all done.  We are blessed to have amazing family and friends to help us with all the last minute checklist items.  We are so excited and can not wait to hold her for the first time and see her first smile.  

Final Decree!

Our Adoption is Finalized!!!  After nearly 2 1/2 years of waiting and worrying we are so grateful to announce that we are parents of a 1 year old little girl.  We went straight from finally finding out we made the April 1st deadline into court 2 weeks ago to receiving the Final Decree!  Usually there are a few more steps involved and much more waiting but we are thrilled that how ever it all worked out in Taiwan, she is now officially our daughter!

We are so grateful for all the prayers and support from our family and friends during this long process.  She is so lucky to have each and everyone of you in her life.  We would have never made it through this process without you and there are no words to express the love we have for all of you.  THANK YOU!!

We are excited to share the first pictures we ever saw of her (9 mo.) and the most recent pictures after 4 months.  We are definitely biased but we think she is so beautiful!  I am now one of those mom's that can say that!

Everyone asks whats next?  We will let you know as soon as we know.  We should receive travel dates sometimes this week which is scheduled around a Visa appointment for her in Taiwan.  This is typically about 4 weeks but could be sooner or later... now the anxiety of getting everything ready, Fast!

Emotional Roller Coaster!

The last few weeks have really challenged me and my family.  Not sure where to start.  Lets first do an adoption update as of April 24th.  We sent off the 2nd package that should get to her in April.  This time we went to Build-a-Bear and made her a sock monkey that when hugged you hear a recorded message from us.  We also included clothes that we hope fit.  Still not sure if she got the first package since we haven't received many updates.  Last we saw of her was in a video from Jan.  She is getting so big and it gives me comfort that she is doing great with her milestones since she was about ready to crawl.













As for the emotional roller coaster, in 2 weeks I had surgery, my dad had back surgery, my dog broke her leg and needed an amputation, my husband was out of town for these 2 weeks fishing a BIG tournament, one of my best friend's had her baby and let me be with her every step of the way, and I won a really big raffle... well two of them.  Now do you see what I mean?  So many ups and downs that my mind couldn't handle it and my body hurt.

As for updates on all of these: I am doing great and the surgery went well.  My dad is home from the hospital and is in the process of rehabilitation. Kya's amputation was the hardest decision I've ever made but she is ready to start swimming again.  She gets her sutures out this weekend!  Brian is back from fishing in Clearlake, CA and the Arizona Team took 2nd (missing 1st by only 1 1/2 lbs). Dani had a beautiful baby girl named Berkley and she could be the poster mom for the perfect delivery with only 20 min. of pushing!  Berkley is perfect and healthy. The raffle was at the Grand Opening of Babystop. First I won over $500 worth of kids toys from Kidstop and the next day I won a $1200 crib and they threw in a Perfect Sepora mattress for free.  There is a video on FB showing my reaction to the phone call.  I was very emotional.  Since most of the toys were for older kids, they let me trade some out for a giftcard which is going to really come in handy.  Some of the other toys we can give to the orphange.  They are such supporters of our adoption and I LOVE their stores!!  Below are some pictures to summarize what I have a difficult time doing in words:

Kya standing for the first time

Kya after surgery

Beautiful crib I won, which is at
Papa Steve and Nana's house
for now (notice the fishing on the bedding?!?)

And this is only half of the bath full of toys prize?!?!

Glowing Dani minutes after giving birth to Berkley (8 lb 8 oz)

Brian at Clearlake for Bass Tournament

1st Package and Paperwork

We were finally able to send the first package over to Taiwan.  We were so excited to finally give her something from us.  Brian and I went out and found some comfy clothes for her to wear in the orphanage.  There is no way to know if these little out fits will stay with her but it is worth the thought.  Also we knew that we were going to miss her birthday so we sent a birthday card and outfit for her to hopefully wear on her big day.  We put in a few little fun toys.  I also tried to think of the best way for her to get to know us so far away.  I really wanted to appeal to her senses including sight, smell, and sound so she could get to know us.  (I don't think taste would do much good and my dream is to hold her so she can feel my touch but I can't send that in the mail either.)  Included in her package was a little blanket that we have kept with us for the last few weeks so hopefully she can smell us.  This was recommended to us from some other adoptive families.  We also included a recordable book so she could hear our voices.  Brian talked to her in Chinese and I tried to a little too, but the book we read in english.  Lastly, we included a soft photo book so she could see pictures of her new family and how they are related in both english and chinese.  We think she may have already received our package but we haven't heard from the orphanage in awhile so we are not sure.  We hope the reason we haven't heard from them is because they are working really hard to get our little girl home to us soon.  That brings us to the paperwork part of this post.

This is a lot of paperwork!!!  I know now why so many families call it "paper pregnancy".  The pictures show all the paperwork we have being working on just since we were matched.  This is our dossier, power of attorney, and contracts.  Each one had to be notarized and sent for state authentication before we could finally mail them to TECO (Taiwan Economic and Cultural Offices) in California.  These pictures are taken day we finally finished and put them in the mail. . . but only for the first time.  Then the phone calls started with why one document needed a name re-verified or how the signature didn't look like the printed name.  The littlest things all of a sudden became HUGE obstacles in the way of getting our paperwork into court and getting our little girl home. We had to play the overnight game back and forth until one day Brian finally broke when they wanted to send some of the documents back again.  I have never seen Brian get so upset.  I was in the shower when the phone call came and as soon as I heard the yelling I knew what happened.  I came out running dripping wet in my towel to try to calm him down.  "You can't yell at the gate keeper to our daughter."  Luckily he got the point across and when she verified our paperwork one more time with the consulate, it was good news and we were approved!  He did apologize profusely after, but I guess you don't get between a papa bear and his new cub.   Now we are waiting for a court date and praying it is before April the 1st to prevent any delays with the new requirements.  We are pretty good at this whole waiting thing but it hurts more everyday.

The Wait Is Over!

The WAIT is now over and now I have to play catch up.  The last few months have been a whirlwind and I finally have the approval I need to post updates about this process. So this post is going all the way back to Christmas Day, known now as the Best Christmas Ever! 

Christmas is always a magical day no matter what age you are.  Brian and I slept under the Christmas Tree and awoke to a relaxing day.  The day remained calm and mellow until about 8:30 pm when I received the call any soon to be adoptive parents waits for.  It is the call I prayed for everyday for the past 2 years and yet today was the one day I didn't expect this call.  Quickly I realized that it was our adoption agency on the other line and she wasn't calling to wish us a Merry Christmas.  I couldn't help but to jump off the couch and run outside.  I wanted to hear every word and I needed fresh air as I went into shock.  Brian chased me out the door not having any idea what was going on.  All I could tell him was that "they have a little girl for us".  The rest of the call was a blur of wonderful emotion.  After I hung up, Brian had a permanent smile and I couldn't stop crying or pacing!  After waiting what seemed like the longest 20 min. of our life we finally received the email with the details of our match. The email included being able to see her picture for the first time and we were able to read all about her.  She was beautiful, she was perfect, and she was our daughter!

At this time we can not post names or pictures of her publicly but I will post as much as I can for those that want to follow our Adoption Journey.  Above are pictures of us seeing our daughter for the first time.  Words can not explain what we felt at that exact moment.  More updates to come....   

Wish #95

Wish #95 is from the Amanda Malek-Ahmadi and family.  She was so great to find different license plates to represent us and where we come from.  The Irish Blessing is fitting and we are all going to enjoy the journey.

Wish #94

Wish #94 is from Sherri and Kelsie Pelster.  I love the elephant fabric and can't wait to add it to the quilt.  They included the scripture 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Wish #88-93

Wish #88-93 are a few different wishes from the friends of my Nana. Just after she passed away many of the other assisted living residents wanted to participate. This was very thoughtful!

Wishes #85-87

Wishes #85-87 were a welcome surprise from the Simmons Family.  These wishes were such a great addition.  This support comes from loving fiends that knew me as I grew up and wanted to show their support!  Thank you for all the support and for waiting with us!

Wish #84

Wish #84 is from the Hone family.  Brian and Brad have been best friends every since he was little and they are all a big part of our family.  We love their "Dare to Dream" wish!

Wish #83

Wish #83 is from the Jackson Family!  We miss them constantly!!  Their wish is so sweet and she is going to be so excited to have them as family.  Their fabric is some of my very favorite print and the quilt colors and design are very similar.  Great taste Jacksons!

Wish #82

Wish #82 is from the Woolley Family!  They understand first hand the ups and downs of adoption and they are such a strength to our family.  I love that they chose the Sock Monkey which is one of my favorites.  Their wish is so fitting and I truly hope she knows how much people from both sides of the world love her!

Wish #79-81

Wishes #79-81 are from the Wynn Family.  Each on is unique and we are grateful for all the support.

Wish #78

Wish #78 is from Uncle Kim and Aunt Susy!  They were so quick to get us this wish and I am so behind getting this wish posted.  We love it!