Official Permission To travel

We were instructed by PLAN to email the embassy in Hanoi and ask permission to travel on Nov 8 and be processed under the "old" I 600 rules. We received an email this morning from Hanoi stating we can travel. This is from the embassy so it's official!!! I better get busy packing. I'm so glad to be off of this roller coaster. I HATE roller coasters!!

New Pictures

We received two new pictures of Ava. The one where she's holding the notebook cracks me up. Her face is wet so it looks like she may have been sucking her thumb and they took it out to take her picture. She looks very annoyed. I can't believe that in less that three week we will have her in our arms.

****Prayer Is Powerful****

There is nothing more powerful than prayer!! I just received word that we WILL be able to travel on our original dates!! USCIS decided to allow those families that already had travel dates to go ahead and travel. I knew God would be faithful. I knew He had heard and answered our prayers in a mighty way last week about travel dates. I didn't believe He would allow the devil to steal our joy or take our miracle. I have never seen the hand of God work in my life in such a mighty and awesome way. He gave us a peace that I have never felt before. This is the first time I have totally turned a situation over to Him and allowed Him to work. I have learned through this experience that God loves me and wants the best for me. All I have to do is ask and believe on Him.

I know that this is a miracle. I know that this is made possible by God. I give Him all of the praise and the glory. Only the hand of God could change the mind of the USCIS! Thank you to all of you that prayed to the Lord on our behalf! Your prayers moved the hand of God in an awesome way!!!

The Most Horrible News Ever

We just found out that the wonderful US government is screwing us over yet again. The USCIS (immigration) has decided to change the rules for Vietnam adoptions. There is a form that is normally filed once you are in country. Now they have decided that effective 10/29 it has to be filed here. This means that we can't travel until we get the form filed and receive the approval. Our USCIS is in New Orleans and have always been extremely slow. We are looking at possibly not traveling for three months.

The frustrating thing is that if the USCIS had let our agency know that this was coming we could have filed at the end of August when we first received Ava's referral. Please pray that we receive our approval in record time.

Travel Plans

I spent yesterday making our travel arrangements. Our flights and hotel have both been confirmed. We will fly out of Jackson at 3:25 pm on Thursday Nov. 8. We will arrive in Hanoi, Vietnam on Saturday Nov. 10 around 10 am. We will be staying at the Somerset Grand in a two bedroom apartment.

I still can't believe that we have our travel dates. I keep pinching myself. Unfortunately two of the families that I was waiting with still don't have their dates. It breaks my heart because I know full well what they are going through. It's made worse by the fact that they are the last or almost last of the Dong Anh families waiting. I'm hoping they get to travel the week after us. Waiting for travel is the most difficult time. There is really nothing anyone can say to help. Even though you know that everything is fine and the agency and the people in Vietnam are doing everything they can it's still hard. All you want is to hold you child in your arms. Please keep the families that are still waiting in your prayers.

** PRAISE THE LORD - WE HAVE TRAVEL **

Praise the Lord we got our travel dates!!! God does hear and answer our prayers. Judy E sent an email late last night. Normally I check my email before I go to bed but last night I didn't. I didn't rush to the computer this morning either. Davis walked out the door to go to work & I sat down to check email. When I saw Judy's email I took off running out into the garage screaming for Davis! He came in and read the email before he headed to work.

We get to leave with the Nov 10 group! We will leave either Thur or Fri and arrive on Sat the 10th. There are 5 other families in our group. We will have Ava in our arms just after she turns 8 months old. Needless to say we are on cloud 999!!!

Prayers

We had a great experience in Sunday school this morning. At the end of class they asked for prayer requests. I haven't ask for prayer about our adoption yet so I finally asked this morning. We had a class member teaching as our regular teacher was speaking during the worship service. I figured they would just pray and dismiss class. The teacher had the class gather around Davis & I and lay hands on us and pray specifically for our travel dates. It was so moving. I know God hears and answers our prayers. Several of our class members committed to praying for us this week. I can't wait to see how God answers these prayers.

Travel Dates for Others

When we returned from the fair I checked my email and 9 families received their travel dates. It's great to finally see some of the Dong Anh families cases clearing. Maybe we won't be too far behind.

State Fair

We took the kids to the fair today. Peyton and Olivia had a GREAT time. Ethan doesn't like it. I managed to get him on a ride with me and he freaked out. Maybe next year he'll like to ride. The only thing he liked was the petting zoo. They had carrots that you could feed the animals. Mom and Fuzz met us down there to watch the kids. We all had a lot of fun.

Feeling Better

I received a couple of emails from our agency yesterday and today. I feel a lot better about our case. It may take 3-4 more weeks to get a travel date but I'm OK with it. I guess it just took a couple of days and some reassuring emails from our agency to help me understand. I know that we will have Ava in our arms soon. I'm so thankful to have an agency that is patient and understanding when I "lose it" for a little while. They do a great job of keeping me calm and reassured.

Seven Months Old

Ava turned seven months old today. The past twenty-four hours have been the most heartbreaking hours I've had in many years. I had hoped to have Ava in my arms by now and now I may not be able to bring her home before Christmas. Please keep us in your prayers. Maybe God will perform a miracle and we'll go sooner than expected.

From Bad to Worse

Well it was hard to swallow that we might not get a travel date for a few (I'm thinking 3) weeks. I was OK with it until I got an email that said it could be 3-4 weeks OR LONGER before we get a travel date. That's not 3-4 weeks OR LONGER to travel. That's just to find out when we will travel. After that we could be looking at an additional 2-4 weeks before we actually leave. Can this process get any worse??

Not So Good News

Our agency just called and told me not to expect travel dates for another few weeks. I think she said that they are waiting on one piece of paper to clear Ava's case. The not knowing has been killing me. I'm so disappointed that it will be so long before we travel but at least I can take a break from sitting by the phone or on the computer. Please pray that we will have the strength to get through the next few weeks.

New Pictures

Well, we haven't received travel dates yet but we did get two new pictures of Ava. Also, Cherie and Dr. Hong went to the Ministry of Justice to try and push along the cases from Ava's orphanage. That is great news!! When Cherie sent the pics she said that Ava was scared of her today. I can't believe she is already pulling up. She has graduated from the bouncy seat to her own crib. If we don't hear today, maybe we'll hear next week.

Answered Prayer Part 1

Well, last Sunday our Sunday school lesson and our pastor's sermon was on praying with the expectation of an answer. They said that God binds Himself to his Word. The Bible says that if we ask it will be given to us. So this week I started praying like this. We have been waiting on the last bit of money for our travel expenses to be deposited. The earliest we were to expect it was next week. I prayed that we would get the money today and then hear about travel dates either today or tomorrow. Well, God has answered part one of my prayer. The money was deposited today. This is a week before we were to get it. Now I just have to wait for him to answer part 2. I know that God is still in the business of miracles so I am expecting one tomorrow!

A Little Better

I'm feeling a little better today. I didn't mean to sound like our agency is doing us wrong. Our agency is great. This particular part of the process is completely out of their control. They have to wait right along with us. It's just frustrating to see so many families travel so quickly and we are still waiting. I know that Ava is being very well cared for but it's not the same as having a family. Also, with each day that passes she is getting older and that's just another day of her life that we have missed and will never get back. Please pray that we will hear this week.

Singin' The Blues

I've done pretty good the past few days with the wait for travel but that ends today. At the time we were logged in the wait for referral was 2-4 months. Most people waited less than 4 months. Some families only waited 2 months. We waited 4 months. Our agency's website says the wait between referral and travel is 3-4 months. Most people have only been waiting 4-6 weeks. Some families even traveled in 3 weeks. So far we have waited 5 1/2 weeks. I'm sure we will end up having to wait the full 4 months until travel. Did I mention that we also have the oldest baby. At this rate she will be driving when we get her!! I'm going to go sing the blues some more.