Chattanooga Fun

We thought we would take the boys on one last family adventure before we became a family of 6. We had never been to the Children's Museum in Chattanooga, TN, but had heard many great things about it. We were not disappointed!! It's quite large and there were so many things to see! Tyler loved the dinosaur area. Michael could have stayed in the sand pit all day, and Alex is still talking about the live tarantula he saw. (that was definitely NOT my favorite part!)

We took a break after a couple of hours to find a place for lunch. The downtown area is really nice, but because it was miserably hot, we didn't stay outside longer than we had to. Then it was back to the museum for more fun. We finally headed home, and all three kids fell asleep in the car! The day ended with McDonald's for dinner!

We plan to go again, and maybe next time, we'll take a ride on a real train!

Outside the Museum

Looking for a place to eat.

Michael was so hungry, he was eating cheese off his plate while waiting for the pizza!

Happy Birthday Ty Ty!

Yesterday was a big day as our Tyler turned 5!

He has come such a long way from a baby who couldn't hold up his head and didn't walk until he was 2, to a little boy who is so proud to show us how far he can jump and how fast he can run! He continues to amaze us with his perseverance and determination.

We love you little guy!

Tyler - 5 days old.

Tyler - 5 years old!

Blowing out his candles, with a little help!

Party at Chuck E Chesses 2 weeks ago.

We have our CA

Our CA has been confirmed for Wed. 9/1. That means we will leave Atlanta on Friday, 8/20, meet our daughter on Monday 8/23, and return to Atlanta on Saturday, 9/4. Four weeks seems so far away, but I'm sure the time will go quickly. School starts on August 5th, so our days will be getting busy.

It is just great to have a plan!

Here's the Fed-ex lady with Alex holding our oh so very important TA

And here is our TA. This is a very important document as we won't receive our daughter without it!

Great News!

Our TA has arrived! After being held hostage by DHL yesterday, it made it to our agency this morning! We wait tonight to hear the confirmation of our Consulate Appointment and then we can make our plans! It's getting so close now!

A Little More News

Our TA has left China and is on it's way to the US!!! Expected arrival at our agency in California is Monday afternoon. Finally, after our delay, some good news!

On a personal note......After we found out about our delay, I kept telling myself "It's God's timing, it's God's timing". I just wish I would have really trusted Him instead of letting the situation upset me. We now know why He allowed our delay. Had we gotten our TA last week, we would have requested the 11th as a CA date, meaning we would have left on July 30th. My LOA friend, Nicole, did just that. Then she spent the next 3 days on the phone non-stop trying to find plane tickets, with very little sleep and a lot of stress! I'm so happy it worked out for her (yea Nic!!), but had that been us, after a terrible week, we would have had to change our CA date. You see, in August all the China students that study in the US, start heading this way. This leaves limited seats on flights and very high prices. I found out how bad it was through Nicole's experience. Then on Friday I talked to 2 travel agencies, looked at flights, and we made the decision to request a CA on 8/24. This means we will leave on Friday 8/13, meet Lily on Monday 8/16, and return on either Friday 8/27 or Sat 8/28. This is the first week that prices start to drop. Although this is later than expected, it will be best for our family. Also, now Alex can start kindergarten with his friends, and go to his back-to-school picnic.

These dates still have to be confirmed next week once our TA arrives, but there shouldn't be a problem with our request.

We've seen God's hand in this process since the beginning and he's continuing to guide us as we get close to meeting our little girl. We are so thankful!

Debbie

Bad News on our TA

We got a call from our agency today. Just when you think you're at the stage of the process where nothing can go wrong, you're thrown a curve ball. Our paperwork was sent from the American Consulate in Guangzhou to the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs). The CCAA discovered that the Consulate forgot to sign one of the forms. Our agency worked tirelessly, faxing, calling, overnighting.......trying to get the issue resolved so we would not be delayed. Unfortunately, our TA is delayed by about a week, and we won't see it until the 19th. (hopefully!) That means that we will not be able to leave on the 23rd as we hoped. We are now hoping to leave on the 30th if there are Consulate Appointments available.
For those who don't know the process, the 2nd week of our trip is spent in Guangzhou where the American side of the paperwork is finalized. For this we need a Consulate appointment. The trip is then planned around this appointment.
This news has been very difficult for me. The whole adoption process is full of twists and turns, most of which, are out of our control. It's hard when you know there's a little one waiting on the other side of the world. A little one who needs a home, and a family to love her. I know it will happen. God is in control and his timing is always perfect. So I'm not going to dwell on it......I am going to enjoy my time with my boys, and wait to hear that our TA is on it's way.