SHE'S COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord!! We have waited a VERY long time for this day to come and we could not be more thrilled and overjoyed!! We FINALLY get to meet our baby. Wow!! I still can't believe the time has come.

We received our Travel Call on Tuesday morning. We just purchased our tickets yesterday and we'll be leaving SF on Tuesday the 28th and will be returning on Monday, August 3rd. There's so much to do: packing, cleaning, getting the kids ready, spending time with the kids, making phone calls, making appointments. I think I'll get it all done even though I'm running in circles. My brain isn't working properly at the moment. :)

We'll will try and update everyone while we are there, whether it be by blog, email or Facebook, I'm not to sure. I think we'll have access to a computer while we are there. We are staying at Eastern Social Welfare Society which is the agency on South Korea. So all of our meetings with Averi will be in the same building.....Oh, our meeting with Averi. We will meet her for the first time on Thursday at 10am!!!!! So, in less than a week we will have our baby in our arms.......Yipee!!!! Somebody pintch me!! :)

Our prayer was that we would meet her before her first birthday, well.....she'll be 1 on August 14th. Thank you Jesus!!!

Praise God!!

Thank you all again for your support and prayers. Please, if you have any questions feel free to ask or send me an email. I promise I will try to update soon.

NEW PICTURES!!!!!!

Oh we just love this precious little girl. I cannot believe how big she's getting and how much she's changed. We think she is adorable!!!! :)



The Director of our agency was in Korea again this month and came back with a few new pictures and a video. We were so excited to receive that package in the mail, we have watched it many many times.



We also got a little bit of information on her as well. They say she sits well, crawls quickly, tries to pull herself up, babbles and says "omma and appa." She loves music and plays well with toys. She weighs 8.9kg which I think is around 19lbs and is 67cm tall. They also told us the foster mom loves her very much and cries everyday when she thinks about her leaving her.....this just breaks my heart. She is also very close to the foster daughter who is in high school.



We were hoping to travel in June but unfortunately it'll probably now be in July. :( We just found out that her paperwork in just now being processed in Korea which could take a month to get approved and then she still has to get her visa and passport. :( I'm bummed and very sad but I know there is nothing we can do but continue to wait for her. I know she'll be home in God's perfect timing but waiting is still VERY difficult. I had been told that this part was the hardest but didn't realize just how hard until now. It's in God's hands...not mine and that is so comforting. He knows exactly when she'll be home. I'm just getting alittle anxious and stir crazy, well.......ALOT anxious and stir crazy! Haha!! :) I need to post this verse all over my house and give everything over to Him.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

Please pray with us that she comes home quickly!! Thank you again for your support and prayers.

9 MONTHS OLD!!!!!

Today our sweet baby is 9 months old.

Hurry home precious girl so we can hug and kiss on you. My arms are starting to ache for her, but I am so thankful that she is being loved on by her wonderful Foster mom.

No updates but we're still praying that we'll travel in June!

My baby girl is 4 years old!!!!!!!!!

Olivia turned 4 years old on the 9th. WOW!!! Time goes by so fast. What a sweet, precious girl she is. She is such a joy to be around with and infectious personality. We are so blessed and thankful to have her in our lives. We cherish every moment.
Here's an update in pictures with some of the things we've done in the last week or so. Enjoy!! :)

WHEN WILL SHE BE HOME????????

This is a question we've been getting alot lately and I only wish we had an answer. There are a few things that have to happen first before she is allowed to come home.

First there's the Korean Emigration Process: Once the acceptance forms are signed and sent to Korea, application is made for permission from the Korean government for her emigration and Korean Travel Certificate. This procedure normally takes two to five months.

Once ESWS(our Korean agency) receives the acceptance papers, they will begin the process of applying to the Korean government for emigration permission and a Korean travel certificate, and to the US Embassy for a visa. As of today we have had no update regarding this process.....hopefully soon!!!!

We also had to apply to USCIS(U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) for their approval of the family and child, and for the admission of Averi into the United States. This consisted of filing the I-600 form(Relative Immigrant Visa Petition)

On March 27th we received a Notice of Approval of Relative Immigrant Visa Petition from USCIS. This does not mean that her visa has been issued, but rather that WE have been approved by USCIS. With this approval and the Korean travel certificate, her visa will be issued and she'll be ready for travel. YAY!!!!!

I know this all sounds kind of confusing, I'm still a little confused by all that goes on. So hopefully this kind of make sense. You can check out our timeline to the right to watch our progress. We'll update it when we hear any new news.

We received a few updated pictures and a short VIDEO of our precious girl about a month ago(I know, I'm just now posting about it). Our director was there in March and was able to hold and kiss her for us. She said that she looks healthy and happy, but a little shy of strangers.

We were able to send Averi a little care package with another family who were traveling to pick up their son. We sent her a little blanket, a small stuffed animal, a photo book with lots of pictures of our family(in hopes that her foster mom will show them to her everyday) a disposable camera(again, hoping that lots of pictures will be taken of her) and a small gift for her foster mom. We're hoping to get an update soon and maybe with a picture of her holding her new blankie!!!

While we're waiting we are trying to stay busy by redoing the kids room. Cleaning, organizing, rearranging....shopping!!!! :) There is LOTS to do before she comes home.

Oh......and also, some big news!!! Danny and I have decided to travel to Korea to pick her up. We have been so set on having her escorted that I'm not really sure what changed our minds but we really feel strongly that we need to go get her. We(I) am very nervous yet very excited!! We'll be able to meet her wonderful foster mom and thank her for all she's done for our baby. We'll also get to see the orphanage she lived in and the country she was born in. I know it will be a wonderful experience and we'll have so much to tell her as she grows up.

Sorry for the long post, it's been so long that there was quite a bit to update you with. As soon as we hear any good news or if we get another update I'll post again. Until then, thanks again to all who have been so supportive and interested in what's going on in our lives.

Have a very blessed weekend!!

Doesn't she have the BEST hair!!!!!!!

INTRODUCING.........................

our daughter

Averi Lee

Words cannot describe the feelings that we have for this precious little girl whom we have never even met. We are so THANKFUL and BLESSED!!! Actually we are shocked and amazed that things went so smooth and quickly for us.

We actually got "the call" on February 17th at 7pm. We were not expecting it to happen so quickly since we had only really been "waiting" for one day. On monday(the 16th) we had our phone conversation with the Director of our AZ agency about the types of referrals we were willing to look at, that type of thing. Our Homestudy had also just been completed(the last step in the process). We knew things would happen fast but we didn't realize how fast. So, you can say that we were more than shocked when she called that next evening and said she had some news for us. She talked for a few minutes about the baby and we said we definitely wanted her to send us the information. Then she said "you haven't even asked the biggest question yet. We had just assumed it was a boy, but I asked anyway and she said "it's a girl"!! I could not believe it, I started crying. As I have probably told many of you we were expecting to receive a referral for a boy only because there are usually more boys that are adopted from of Korea. You can only request a girl if you have two or more boys already in your family. So, we did not specify gender and of course would have been thrilled with either. I am very excited though that Olivia will have a sister and she of course has wanted a sister from the beginning. She is beyond excited!! She is going to be such a big help to me, she absolutely LOVES babies. They will only be a little over 3 years apart. Little Logan doesn't have a clue that he's going to be sandwiched between two sisters. :) He's going to make a wonderful big brother. At first I think he might be a little jealous but I know he'll warm up quickly.

Averi was born on August 14th so she's almost 7 months old. She was born 5 weeks premature but is doing very well. She is described as healthy and happy and age appropriate. She has lived with a foster family since she was 2 months old and for this we are SO thankful!!! I tear up every time I think of this woman and what she is doing for my baby. I wish I could thank her in person for everything she is and will do for our baby in the next few months. To her we will always be grateful. Her foster mom has two kids at home as well and I guess Averi just loves her daughter. Again, we are so thankful that she is able to be in this environment until she is able to be in our arms forever.

We do not have a specific time frame on when she'll be home but they say it usually takes between 3 to 6 months. We are sending our acceptance paperwork out today. I will post later on what happens next and what will go on in the coming months, but for now we just wanted to share her picture with everyone. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. That she continues to stay healthy and that she will come home very soon. I have a feeling these next few months are going to be very rough for us. So...I guess you can keep us in your prayers as well. Thank you again for every one's support throughout this. Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to print out this blog someday and show it to Averi and to tell her how many people loved and prayed for her. Thank you dear friends and family.........God has richly blessed us by placing each and everyone of you in our lives.

We'll continue to keep you updated.

Isaiah 43:5 "Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west."

Long overdue update......

For the few of you that actually read this, I'm so sorry for not posting sooner(I told you I'd be bad at this "blog" thing). :)
We had our individual interviews with our social worker in the middle of December which went really well. Our social worker is a wonderful Christian man and very easy to talk to. We feel really comfortable around him and feel blessed that he was chosen to work with us. After that we didn't do much due to the holidays and our Social Worker was off for a little while. It felt strange not doing anything for so long, but then on January 20th we had our Home visit. This was not nearly as bad as we thought it would be. They just want to make sure that your home is safe and sanitary. So the day before my mom helped me clean our house like crazy...it was spotless. Thanks mom!! So he came around 3:00 after the kids were up from their nap. I planned it that way so that they would be rested and on their best behavior. Ha!! :) They actually did really well, they were calm(I know, crazy), sweet, and very happy. So he came, asked a few more questions, looked at every room including the garage and the backyard. Our home is already pretty kid proof so there really wasn't anything that we had to change. The meeting was really harmless and very simple. He was maybe here 45 minutes. It felt so good to finally have the last step completed. So what happens next you ask, well...he had to write up our Home Study which is a document ALL about us and every detail of our lives. Then he sends a copy to our AZ agency which we just found out on Thursday that they had received it. Yay!! We thought it would take about 4 weeks to complete, but thankfully it only took two. Once they look over it and approve it(there might be a few small things we have to change) then they'll send a copy to Korea and to USCIS. So, we are actually now just "waiting" for the call when they tell us we have been matched with a baby. This could happen Monday or it could be weeks from now. The world of adoption is so unknown, but we are so ready to take the next step and see the precious face of the child that the Lord has chosen for us. We have been SO blessed throughout this process, we again are humbled and amazed at the ways the Lord has provided for us in ALL ways. Our faith is completely in Him as we could do nothing without Him. I don't know why I ever even doubt or get anxious because He is the true provider and comforter. This has truly been a journey of faith and it's not even close to being over. We can't wait to see how He continues to grow and strengthen our faith in Him. He teaches us things in every area of our lives and I have truly learned so much in these last few months. So thank you again to everyone who has played apart in this journey with us, you are truly a blessing and we are so thankful for your support and kindness.
Hopefully the next time I post it will be to show off a picture of our new baby....we'll see. :)