It's always an adventure...

It's 4:45am on Sunday in here in Hong Kong. Our room on the 34th floor overlooking downtown Hong Kong is dark and the girls are still in their bed, but not really asleep. Fred is already up and went to the business center to print something out. I guess when you go to bed at 7:30pm, you feel pretty rested by 4:30am... plus it's really Saturday afternoon according to my internal clock, sigh. Since the breakfast buffet doesn't open for a couple of hours (thank goodness there's a coffee maker in our room), I figured now is the perfect time to update this blog.

So the trip started off smoothly on Thursday. My parents rode with us down to the airport along with Daniel and Sam. I got one last picture of the four of them and as I took it, it hit me this was the last time we'd have four kids and not five. 

Last family of 6 picture 

Last picture of the four of them

I had been talking to Sam about what was going to happen and how we were going on an airplane far away to bring home Joshua (always said with a smiling face, happy voice) so that he could play with him and be his brother. Of course most of this went over his head, but he DID get the part about the airplane. Daniel had mixed emotions and I knew he would miss us, but he was also happy to spend sometime with his grandparents and other family members who wanted to do special things with him. 
It was bittersweet saying goodbye to them at the airport. Sam got upset because he wanted to get out of the car too, but we were in the drop-off zone. I figured we needed to make it short and sweet, like ripping off a band-aid, that was the best way. It was also time for his nap and he was tired. I calmed him down by telling him that Mimi would get him a cookie after lunch. Yep, that did it. "Cookie"... that's all I had to say.  It's so hard to leave them for so long, but I know this trip would be overwhelming for Sam and Daniel's personality is not best suited for long plane rides, plus I knew they'd need each other. 

We were on our way to Hong Kong and had a stop in Tokyo to switch planes. A little over two hours into the flight, the captain announced that we'd be turning back and landing in Minneapolis because of a medical emergency on the plane.  Of course we prayed that the woman would be alright but were also concerned about the delay. Turns out the lady walked off the plane with the medics. Not sure what was wrong, but I guess a 10.5 hour plane ride to Japan wasn't in her best interest. So we sat on the ground, on the plane, for well over an hour. After refueling and having to juggle the flight attendant "legal" scheduling issues, we took off and were on our way to Tokyo... 3 hours after we were scheduled to get there. We kept waiting for word on whether or not they would hold the plane to Hong Kong. Never got any information,but as we got closer we realized we weren't making that flight. Fred, being the awesome travel manager that he is, called and got our room cancelled for the night in Hong Kong and got the Marriott points put back into his account. 

The girls were real troopers through the whole thing... they didn't know any better:) They had their candy stash that Ella had purchased with her money before we left and they had their own T.V. screen right in front of their face... life was good. I tried to get a picture of them with "annoyed faces", but they couldn't keep a straight face.

Their giddiness and bright eyes, faded as the hours went by. Ella was the only one of us who got somewhat decent sleep. Poor Shannon, looked miserable as she tried in vain to catch some shut eye. Fred and I didn't fair much better. What is about getting old that your knees hurt while your just sitting? Ugh, getting old stinks.

So by the time we arrived at Tokyo's Narita airport, secretly we were all kinda glad we weren't getting on another plane. And shout out to the Delta crew at Narita There were MANY people on the flight that missed connections, but they had it handling with new boarding passes ready to hand out and different tables set up for different locations, and water bottles to had out, etc. We walked through customs and the hotel reps were right there to assist, and we were on the bus to the Raddison within minutes. It was a well-oiled machine... and we GREATLY appreciated it. 

The next morning we were provided breakfast and bused back to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong. Delta purchased our tickets on Cathy Pacific since they didn't have flight leaving that morning. Somehow Fred was able to call Delta at the gate and get our seats changed to the bulkhead rows with no one in the middle seats, as Ella said, "This is like first-class, Daddy!"  He's THE MAN;)

Hong Kong is so cool, like a James Bond movie. Tropical island and bustling modern city and international shipping port all wrapped up in one.  We are staying at a very nice Marriott and has an executive lounge with an amazing view of Victoria Harbour.

The hotel gave the girls some teddy bears:)

view of Victoria Harbour from exec lounge

We keep telling the girls, this isn't China. It's gonna be MUCH different in Changsha. I think we've been warning them too much... but they are mature girls and have really been taking everything in stride. (Except that I think I may have freaked Shannon out too much about not drinking the tap water, because she was nervous to even swim underwater at the pool!)

  I keep having to remind myself and them what we are here for and while the plane flights and hotel rooms and buffets are fun, we are on a mission. We're busting Joshua out of his orphanage tomorrow and he's our son, our brother, forever. This trip is about to get real... and I CAN'T WAIT!  It's surreal to me that we will see him tomorrow morning!  The butterflies have been fluttering around in my tummy for the past 12 hours... we are so close now.  In a few hours we will be going to the train station to get on a bullet train to Changsha, Hunan.

I wonder what Joshua is feeling, what he's thinking? I wonder if he's nervous or excited? Afraid? Happy?  We shall see tomorrow... 

'Twas the night before China...

And all through the house, not a creature was sleeping (except the dog... okay, and the toddler.)  I think we're all a little excited around here. The bags are packed, the copies are made, the plans and preparations are as good as they're going to get, we are ready to go get our boy! 

Yep, the bags are packed up in the room with our sleeping two-year old whom we brought home exactly 8 months ago tomorrow (I guess Sam and Joshua are our "Irish Twins" as far as their adoptions go;)) Thank goodness it feels like Sam has been with us forever, it makes it a little more bearable to leave him and Daniel to travel across the world. I'm gonna miss those boys, but I think the two weeks will fly by and I know they are in good hands. It still seems surreal that we will get Joshua in about 4 days. Monday morning is "gotcha day" or "forever family day." He will be with us from then on, ours forever... and we are his. 

The girls are very excited about the trip, although they pretty much have no idea what they're getting into! I pray that everyone stays healthy and I believe this will be an amazing and life-changing experience for them. They will see things they have never seen before, and may never see again. They may experience emotions they have never had before and they may feel outside of their comfort-zone, but I think that's a good thing. I hope they leave China realizing that the world is much more than Cumming, Ga and we all live on this glorious planet together and we should do whatever we can to love each other, always. 

Last week we had a wonderful beach vacation in Ormond Beach, FL with my side of the family. It was great fun for the kids to play with their cousins and it was also nostalgic for me. Luckily, we got to visit the "jungle park." I grew up going to Ormond each summer and have MANY wonderful memories from there. One of my favorite places as a child (besides the beach) was this small local park we fondly referred to as the "jungle park." It's actually an acre or so of natural plants, bamboo trees, lily ponds and palms located at the corner of a busy street near the intercostal waterway. I think there is some art museum or something there, but we never went there. When we were young my grandma and mom would take my brother and I and my cousins there to let us run around. We loved it and determined it was THE BEST place in the world to play hide-n-go-seek. There were many wandering and meandering trails throughout this little park. Each trail would have multiple outshoots you could take and you could always wind up in a different spot than you had the last time you took that trail. As I was walking through the park last week, it occurred to me that one of the reasons we loved this park so much was that we had freedom... we were set loose and when we were running around on those trails, we could chose whatever path we wanted and no one could see us or tell us which way to go. Our goal was to not be found and take the path, not of least resistance, but the one where no one else had gone. It was exhilarating to be able to choose, and although sometimes we chose the wrong path and got caught, we still never regretted playing the game.

There are many people in this world that don't have the luxury of choice. They can't work hard and improve their status in society. They don't get to dream of what they want to be. They can't chose who they are going to spend the rest of their lives with or how many children they are going to have. When I step outside my bubble, it makes me truly appreciate my freedom, my ability to chose what I'm going to do with my life. I want to raise my kids so that they know that these are precious rights we have in this country and to never take them for granted... and to not hoard the benefits of these freedoms, but to make the world a better place because they can. 

There are many trails in our lives, many different paths we can take. Sometimes we start down one path that seems like the one we want to be on, but then it becomes clear that it's not taking us in the direction we want to go. When I get get turned around and don't know which way to go, I look to my compass. 

 I'm so thankful to be on this path... He led me to Sam and to Joshua. I'm sure it will not be an easy path, but it is a path rich in love and leading to peace. 

I know God has his arms wrapped around Joshua now as he prepares for us to come. Monday will be here before we know it and our life and his life will collide in a government office in Hunan, China. I pray that God allows him to feel safe and loved as he learns what "family" means. I pray that he is feeling well throughout our trip. His orphanage should be taking him for a blood transfusion sometime close to gotcha day. 

For those of you who don't know, Joshua was born with a genetic blood disorder called Beta Thalassemia Major. His hemoglobin level drops too low and he must get blood transfusions to raise the level to a healthy range. He doesn't get transfusions as often as he should in China because it is expensive and there is a blood shortage. We are blessed to live in the Atlanta area because there is an amazing doctor at Children's who specializes in Thalassemia and Joshua will be receiving top-notch care. He will also need to start taking iron chelation medication to help rid his body of excess iron from the transfusions. 

I guess it sounds kinda scary... and it is a serious condition that requires specialized care, but I believe his birth parents made an unspeakable sacrifice so that he could live, so just because it sounds scary, that's nothing compared to what they must have felt that day. It is my honor to be his mom, and when your child has a life-threatening disease, you do whatever it takes to make them better. Yes, we will spend a lot of time at CHOA... yes, we will have to stay on top of his health more so than our other kids... yes, we will have to make sure he takes his medicine everyday at the right time... yes, it's a lot of work parenting 5 kids, but I have no regrets. Things don't happen by accident in this life and I will keep trying to follow the path God has in store. It's more than I can even imagine:) 

Next post from China!! We fly out tomorrow afternoon and land in Hong Kong Friday night. Zai jian!

I love you to China and back...

So there's this little boy... and he's never known a family... and he doesn't have his momma or baba, no grandparents or siblings... 

 ...and he lives on the 13th floor of a big building with many other children and he rarely leaves this building.

... he has seen other children leave with the director to go meet their moms and dads... he has seen these children come back with their moms and dads and families to say goodbye... 

...and about a year ago an orphanage director had him and his friend stand in front of an American dad with a video camera and say “hello” and count, and recite a poem... and he knew why he was doing this... he knew he was waiting for a family to adopt him...that he had no family coming for him, and the orphanage was hoping a family would see him and chose him... 

...but it wouldn't be just any family, it would be HIS family. Let me ask you.... How did WE get so lucky? Because I don't think we chose him, I believe he was chosen for us. And I don't think that we should adopt him,
I believe that we are supposed to.

For those who haven't heard, we received Travel Approval from the Chinese government on my birthday, June 3^rd. Our consulate appointment, which is the “last stop” in the process in China, is set for July 8^th. We will get Joshua on Monday June 30^th . In our arms forever. We will hopefully be allowed to go visit the orphanage on Wednesday July 2^nd. So he can say goodbye.

I realized the other day that the video that drew me to Joshua was taken on Wednesday July 3^rd last year. Orphanage boys video

Almost exactly one year to the day since he stood in front of that camera, he will be our son. What a difference a year makes. And on top of that the boy standing next to him in the video, his friend... well, his family is waiting on Travel Approval as I post this. If they can't travel the same time as us, they will be right behind us. Both of these orphanage brothers will be coming home to the good ole' U.S. of A. and will be able to keep in touch. God is good. And we and his friend's family are forever grateful to Terri for advocating for these boys during her daughter's adoption trip. Just one person can make an enormous difference.

We were able to see a little video of him this week. Facebook video from orphanage  

A family who had just adopted their two sons from his orphanage was so kind as to carry a gift over. They were allowed to visit the orphanage and give it to him in person and video that for us. Of course he didn't open it, because in China that is not what you do. They usually do not open the gift in front of the gift-giver. But I hope he liked his toys and new Superman t-shirt... Superman was adopted you know:)

As for the rest of our life... not so settled. The house WAS under contract for a month, but the would-be buyer couldn't sell his house, so that fell through. To be honest, not a surprise. Would have been nice if it worked out, but I also really liked not having to clean the entire thing every other day when someone wanted to come see it.

We put it back on the market, and we'll see what happens. Found one house that is under construction that we love, but it's a bit out of the range we initially were looking in. For now, we are going to let the cards fall where they may. Since we are going on a beach trip next week and then to China, it won't be a pain for us to let people come see it.

I will say that I WISH everything/everyone was more settled. If we stay here, the girls will move to the basement but we need to have some renovations done first and then Daniel will go to Shannon's room and Sam will go into Daniels room with Joshua and Ella's room will become the play room upstairs. See? I have it all worked out in my mind, I just can't move any furniture yet... So for now, we are ALL still upstairs and Sam is still in our room in his crib (even though he could TOTALLY be in his own room or in a room with Daniel) but now since we can't move the girls to the basement in the next two weeks, Joshua will need to be in with Daniel and we are still stuck with... I mean, Sam will still be in our room.

Not as neat and tidy as I'd like it to be, but hey, come July 11^th all 7 of us will be under one roof and that's what matters.

I've, of course, been thinking about the adoption trip and about Joshua everyday. I follow the journeys of other adoptive families on Facebook. Some go seemingly smoothly, some are quite difficult, some appear to be going smoothly at first but then hit bumps in the road. Of course the bumps will be there. You have to be mentally prepared for that. Doesn't make it easy though when you hit that unexpected bump out of nowhere. And just hope it's not a huge pothole that throws everything out of alignment. 

But what if it is? 

What if everything was going along smoothly and you thought you were doing everything right and everyone was happy, but then it gets bumpy and all of a sudden there's a humongous pothole that you can't avoid? And then what? Well, you have to fix what is broken. Even if you didn't break it. Even if you did everything you could and it still happened and life is out of alignment. That's what you have to prepare for. That can happen to anyone, no? In adoptions, in parenting, in relationships, in life... when you are thrown for a loop, what do you do?

This is where my faith calms me. I don't know what I'd do without it. I don't know how people, good, strong people, face life-altering tragedies or events without it. God never expected us to go it alone, to rely on ourselves. Thank goodness! I'd be a mess for sure by now. Okay, a different kind of mess.

Knowing God is with me makes me feel safe. I couldn't do this without Him.

Even though I have in my mind how I think Joshua's personality will be, he may be nothing like that. Even though I have a rose-colored vision of how smoothly this adoption trip and transition into our family can be, it may be completely the opposite. But I'm not scared. I'm not nervous. We will be fine. I'm not going to wait until things get too much for me to handle to reach out to God. I'm gonna be doing that the WHOLE TIME! I ask you to pray for Joshua. For his heart to be unbroken, for his soul to find peace, for him to feel safe and to be able to accept our love.

People look at us and congratulate us on adopting Sam, they raise their eyebrows when they hear we are going back in a couple of weeks to adopt again. “You guys are great parents... you must be a supermom.” That's one thing I've noticed, when you get to this many kids, and especially if some are adopted, you are by default considered a “supermom.” Hey, I'm not gonna argue with the truth... ba-dum ching! But seriously, people. We try our best and are good parents, but we aren't perfect or “super.” (Although there are many times I wish I had the superpower of mind control around here, things would be much easier for me.) I'm telling ya, I get my strength from God. And I'm not even a “super-Christian” either! Nope, not even close. But I do feel I'm doing what God has intended for me to do, and that's a comforting feeling. And I look at Joshua's face and I see my son and I know he is mine, even though we've never met, and that is by His grace that is possible.

So we're off to China soon and when we come home we may be moving or we may be staying, either way, rooms will be switched and kids will be shuffled, but everyone will have a bed to sleep in one way or another. (As you can see, I'm REALLY letting this go, no it's not bothering me at all.)

We will come home the day before Daniel's birthday, and he reminded us that we will, as per Dri Family tradition, have to go out to dinner at his restaurant of choice on his birthday. And we will... Fred, Shannon, Ella, Joshua, and I may fall asleep at the table, but we'll be out.... probably at Red Robin...yum:) 

For the recored, Daniel also let me know that we could have his kid party the next day, it didn't have to be ON his birthday. Thanks, Daniel. Um, yeah, not gonna happen, buddy. Give Mommy and Daddy a week or so before we host a herd of 7 year old boys. 

Hopefully I'll blog again before we leave for China. I'm amazed at how quickly this adoption process has gone so far. If it weren't for this big family trip we have coming up, we could be leaving tomorrow. I feel some guilt that we aren't since I pushed for the medical expedite. (I had no idea it could happen this fast!) But I also believe this trip is important for our family and we couldn't move the date. 

I can't tell you how this story will end, nor do I want to know. I'm enjoying the journey. It's been quite a ride so far. I'm blessed.

Wait, I never learned to juggle...

I always thought juggling was a pretty cool talent. Fred can juggle three things... it's quite impressive actually. I can't say it was the magical thing that drew me to him, but it didn't hurt;)

But, no, I never learned to juggle. Kinda the opposite, really. My family growing up was very calm and planned out. Very safe and practical. Now believe me, I had a wonderful childhood and family life. I felt confident in myself that I could do whatever I put my mind to. On the whole, my parents liked to plan out things and not do too much at once. We weren't one of those crazy busy families with multiple activities, last minute decision-making, and risk-taking adventures. 

Keep that in mind... now let me share with you our past month or so in the Dri Family...

4 kids in school with all the activities and projects that go along with that, Fred's work is good and busy and has him travel fairly often for short trips, I work 3 half days at the preschool, we are in the middle of a medically expedited adoption for a 5 year old boy from China who speaks no English and has lived in an orphanage since he was an infant, he will also need to see a specialist for his Thalassemia soon after we come home and will have multiple appointments thereafter, things are moving along very quickly in the adoption process and we are probably a little over a month away from travel, we have to apply for and send off for the girls' visas and finish the rest of our travel documents and approvals, we want to travel by train in country so we have to figure out all the details for that, we decided to put our house on the market since the selling is good and try to get a bigger floor plan, house went under contract pretty quickly (but has a contingency that another house sells), we do not know where we are moving to but have been looking diligently, the kids are wondering where they will go to school next year and we can't tell them, we have a big extended family beach trip planned for mid June, we could be closing before our beach trip and leaving for China when we return from the beach, or we could not close before the beach leaving us little to no time to get closed and moved out before Fred, I, and the girls leave for China, we may find a resale that we want to buy or we may have to wait for a house to be completed... 

*courtesy of http://www.momgetsalife.com/

Yes, that's JUST what I look like... what?

Lots and lots of balls in the air. I'm pretty sure we will drop a few of them, but as long as we catch the important ones, all is good. Strangely, I do not feel panic about the situation. I feel a peace that it will all work out some way. Which is true, it may work out the way I'd like, but most likely it won't. Most likely we will have some difficulty along the way. Some of those balls in the air will drop to the ground and mess up our flow. But what do you do when that happens? You take a breath, say a prayer, refocus and on the goal, and pick up that ball and keep going. Good jugglers probably don't even feel like they are exerting any effort when they juggle, even if they have many balls up in the air. They are used to the motion and it just feels natural.

What's the goal? Love others the way the God loves us. That's a pretty lofty goal, but I think it's what many of us strive for. And I think it's what God wants us to strive for. To love our spouse like that, our children like that, our friends and neighbors like that... 

I'm sure I fall short of reaching this goal, on a daily basis, but I'm trying. I would love others to know the peace of God's love. Even though it's beyond our comprehension, I know that God has given me the strength to follow Him, even when life gets busy. Obviously we have chosen to make multiple major life decisions at once. That's how we roll, I guess. Or sometimes it's just how life pans out.

I really love this verse. You see, you can't explain God's love. It's beyond words. We can't know God's plan, it's beyond us. But you can feel His love and it is peace. I want my children to know and feel this verse. We are so blessed that we get to be the parents to Sam and Joshua. We are not their first parents, not their only parents, but we are the ones that will influence them the most and teach them and guide them... geesh, we better not screw it up!

Today is the day before Mother's Day. I learned today that is a special day in the adoption community... it's Birth Mother Day. I sometimes look at Sam and try to picture him with his Chinese family. Because they are out there, somewhere. It's weird to think about. I wonder how often his birth mom thinks of him... everyday? I am so thankful that she chose life for him. The choices that people in China have are much more limited than here in the U.S.  He was born with a sick heart, his heart required surgery, she couldn't afford that surgery, she couldn't care for a sick baby. She chose to give him up so that he could live. This wasn't a selfish act. It was selfless. 

Same with Joshua, and maybe even more so, I believe his parents knew his condition was chronic and life-threatening. Joshua was close to a year old when he was found by authorities. About the age that some issues would have become evident. Blood transfusions are not something a typical family in China can afford on a regular basis. Plus, he most likely wouldn't have gotten the iron chelation medication he needed if he lived in China and this would have resulted in a build up of iron in his organs leading to an early death. Adoption out of country is the best medical option for these kids. But as beautiful and joyful as adoption has been for us, we have to remember that it started with a broken family, an unimaginable act, a painful memory.  We will always honor and hold in our hearts Sam's and Joshua's birth mother and father. We are not to judge others, we are to show them love and compassion.

Speaking of adoption, I'm very behind in my updates here. Well, I've been busy, okay (see above.) 

So here we go:  we got our Letter of Acceptance in record time! one week!!! Yay for the Chinese govt. expediting this! (This took 79 days with Sam.) 

Now we are waiting for one last approval from the U.S. govt to adopt Joshua specifically. Then things get put in motion to send our paperwork to the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China to obtain a visa for Joshua to leave China with us. Then once that is issued they send the paperwork over to the Chinese govt again so they can issue travel approval and then we get a consulate appointment and then we know exactly when we can leave. Here is a simple diagram to help (we are waiting on #10)...

Since we have medical expedite letters, we think we will be able to leave in late June, after we get home from our beach trip. It will all be here before we know it!  

Joshua knows we are coming (but not exactly when). I plan on using a service to send him a cake with a little note telling him about when we may be there. I think they are preparing him some for the adoption process, but I really don't know. 

I can't wait to get this boy home! Your days without a mama and baba are almost over, my Joshua.

I think about him everyday. I often think that we may bring him home and not have a house for him! Minor detail. 

I know it is very unlikely that he will transition as easily and quickly as Sam. He's older and knows more. He will have many more memories and will be set in his ways more. He is not used to having a family. It's going to be scary for him to come to a different country, not understand anything that is being said around him, and be surrounded by unfamiliar people and places. 

I'm being cautiously optimistic and also trying to be realistic... things could get quite messy around here for a bit. 

Whatever happens, however the balls drops or not, we will be okay. Better than okay. We will have each other and God will lead us if we seek Him. God's love and power is immeasurable. 

"You call me out upon the waters. The great unknown, where feet may fail. 

And there I find You in the mystery. In oceans deep, my faith will stand. 

I will call upon Your Name. 

And keep my eyes above the waves. When oceans rise. 

My soul will rest in Your embrace. 

For I am Yours and You are mine. 

Your grace abounds in deepest waters. Your sovereign hand will be my guide. 

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me. 

You’ve never failed and You won’t start now. 

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. 

Let me walk upon the waters. Wherever You would call me. 

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander. 

And my faith will be made stronger. In the presence of my Savior." 

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong United

What's in a name?...

Over the past few weeks, the reality of this adoption has begun to sink in. It seemed kind of surreal at first, even when we sent in our Letter of Intent to our agency. Maybe because we had discussed it for so long, went back and forth, and by the time we made the final decision, it just didn't seem real.

We also didn't have a name decided. We would refer to him by his Chinese name (although there's an 85% chance that we were mispronouncing it.) There were many opinions from the kids about his name. Daniel wanted Jake or Jack Ella liked Jackson... Shannon liked Elijah... One name we all liked was Jace. Pretty cool name, no? Very hip, very 2104... But really too hip and cool for our family. We tend to go with the tried and true traditional names here at the Dri house. Either of Irish decent or Biblical seem to be our pattern. To be honest, we didn't intend for both boys to have Biblical names, really. It just worked out like that. Sam is only Samuel because we felt that should be his "real" first name. But he's TOTALLY a Sam, not a Samuel. He's tough and assertive and happy when he's working on something. He's a doer, and he gets things done. 

And Daniel does NOT like when people call him Dan. Even when he was little, he didn't like that nickname. Neither do I, for him. He was a Daniel from the get go. (Have you seen his newscaster hair he does every morning and every evening?) He likes things a certain way... and that is his way:) He's silly, loud, sensitive, and loving.

And I love that Shannon's name is not too popular. It's an Irish classic and so beautiful and independent, like her:) Ella is our "Ella Bella." Full of life and humor and drama. Always making us laugh, except when she is crying...

So to pick a name for a five year old Chinese boy is not an easy task. We know a little about his personality. He's timid and shy but will open up to you once he knows you. He likes to play with other he knows well. He's introverted and does well in his preschool. According to the lady who met him at the orphanage, he seems very bright. 

For a few days it seemed his name would be Jace, but it just didn't fit when I said it. Shannon mentioned a name back when we first thought of adopting him. It was a name that I really liked for him. It seemed to fit him and it fit in our family.

On Wednesday February 12, one day after his fifth birthday, we received Pre-Approval from the Chinese government to adopt him. That just means that we can continue on in our paper chase to bring him home. 

So we knew we REALLY needed to pick a name. The kids wanted to be able to refer to him by his name.

Without further ado... Here is our son, Joshua YaQiu Dri

Joshua means: "God is Salvation"

We are all so excited to bring him home. I've connected with other families who have adopted children from his orphanage and it seems like a good one, relatively speaking. They have a preschool program there from an American organization called Half The Sky. http://halfthesky.org/en  We hope he is part of this preschool program. It is a large orphanage, but we so excited to know the family who is adopting the other boy in the video I saw. Our boys are friends and they will be traveling to get their son a little before us! They live in Wisconsin, but at least we can Skype:)

He seems like ours to me now. This is real. It's an amazing thing to love a little boy thousands of miles away... I'm constantly blown away by this ability God give us to love. Life is good, people. Life. is. good.

The medical expedite is not going to be as easy as I thought, but these people obviously don't know who they are dealing with. This momma isn't giving up. Joshua needs to come home as soon as possible. And I'm going to do everything within my power to make that happen. Prayers appreciated:)

Here is the link to the video that brought him into our lives. Thanks to Terri and her husband for making that video and advocating for these boys. She is part of our red thread story forever. 

Joshua is in the yellow shirt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGD2BCu5HdY

So what's next? Our social worker is coming Wednesday for the one and only visit. Thankfully she has the majority of her report already written from last time. I'll give her all the paper work she needs and she'll write the update. Then we send it to the USCIS to get a new approval to put in our dossier to go to China. Most of the dossier is just photocopied and sent (Yay!) So we only need to get three documents notarized, sealed and authenticated. 

Until next time...

I have this story to tell you...

I've been contemplating writing this blog post for over a month now. There were times when I thought I might not need to write it, but I'm so filled with joy to share this story with you.

Let me start by saying that I have felt God work in my life in amazing ways over the past few years. I feel like my relationship with God is definitely stronger than it was say, four or five years ago (although I'm still working on living how He wants me to live, it's a challenge that I welcome.) I can't really put my finger on why or how I came closer to God and started seeking Him more in my life. It's not like He was absent in my life before a few years ago, I think I had just gotten busy with ME and what I wanted and felt like I deserved. For some reason, 2-3 years ago I found myself being really drawn to listening to the local Christian music station. The songs drew me in and their words spoke to me. We began going to a new church with great music as well and sermons that were designed to reach those who may have drifted away from God. The sermons were very applicable to daily life, and for me, were very inspiring. I started seeking His will for my life. I prayed for it and asked Him to reveal it to me. As I look back on it now, I seems clear that God was calling me closer to Him. There wasn't much that changed in my life around that time, but God had a plan, a big one. 

He led us to adopt Sam, which has been one of the most unbelievable blessings of our lives. Our whole family is blessed by him and all the other special people who are part of his life. 

We don't adopt out of guilt or pity... we adopt out of love. We don't adopt because it's our 'duty' to help, we adopt because it's our honor to be his parents. 

Fred and I love being parents to these great kids. It's been a joy to watch the older three with Sam. They love him so much, and it's so real and so true. He is their little brother, forever.

Now, getting to the story I want to share... last summer we were in the middle of our adoption. We were not so patiently waiting on a official approval from China that would set things in motion so we could travel. It was mid-July and I was checking the latest updates on the Facebook group of other families in the process of adopting from China. There were people in various stages of the process, some were behind us, some were recently home with their child, and some were traveling. A lady in the group posted her blog site where she was advocating for some children who were in her daughter's orphanage. She had recently returned home with her daughter who was adopted from Hunan. The post was titled "Friends left behind." I clicked on the video and there were two boys, both 4 years old. One was very animated and active, not shy in front of the American holding the camera:) The other boy was timid and seemed a little unsure of himself. They were boys whom the orphanage was hoping to find families for. They had both waited years, their files were prepared and ready for a family to adopt them. It is not rare to learn about children in China (and all over the world) who have waited years for a family. Once we got into the "adoption community, " my eyes were opened to all the needs and all the children without families. 


It is certainly true, no one person can "save" them all. There are millions of orphans in the world. I learned that there are kids of all ages with various types of needs in China available for adoption. As I was watching these two boys interact with the orphanage official who was off camera asking them questions and telling them to count or recite a poem, I found myself instantly drawn to the timid boy in the yellow shirt. He was nervous, but there was one point at which the orphanage official tried to make him laugh and he broke into a little smile that melted my heart. The connection I felt to him was strong. I was drawn to him. I must have watched the video 20 times. I wondered to myself, "What am I doing? Why am I thinking about this boy? We are waiting to bring Sam home." After a few weeks, I learned his special need was a serious one that made it even more important that he be adopted soon. I had learned about this genetic blood disorder months before and felt a strange connection to it. I felt like we could adopt a child with this need one day and that we should. But, again, we were in the middle of Sam's adoption, so while I felt that he was a special boy and felt drawn to him, I tried to put it out of my mind and never mentioned it to anyone. 

Fast-forward, we are home with Sam and things are going beautifully. Really, surprising well. It felt almost seamless (as soon as the jet lag subsided.) Sam belonged in our family and God led us to him.
I am a member of a closed group on Facebook helps advocate for children available for adoption in China. These children are listed with many different agencies here in the US and many of them have waited years and years. One day in early December, the lady who posted the video in July posts a picture of him. My heart skipped a beat. I had never forgotten about him and he was always in the back of my mind. He was still waiting. I learned he had been with the same agency since last April. I later learned that his adoption file had been prepared when he was two years old. He had been waiting for over two years. He had waiting too long.

I felt too strongly about him to not tell Fred. Of course, Fred was surprised, shocked really, that I was bringing this up. I was, too actually. Was I actually thinking about trying to adopt this boy?!?! We had JUST gotten home less than two months before! It seemed too crazy, but then again it didn't. Maybe part of the reason that God blessed us and Sam with such an easy transition and bonding is so we would be able to take another leap of faith? 

Adoption is not a checkbox on our application to be "good Christians" and live as God wants us to live. It's not something that you say, "Okay, did that. Done now." It changes your life. It's not always easy, in fact MOST times it's not easy. But for some reason, many families who adopt once, adopt again. It's a life-changing experience to be able to make a child your own...a child who had no parents, no siblings. And to be able to give that child a family, give them your unconditional love and then to receive their love whenever they are able to give it... that's what brings adoptive parents back for more. Not every family feels the desire to adopt again. And of course, there are many families that would adopt again but aren't able to for various reasons. But overall, families will tell you they'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Yes, it seems so soon and there are many unknowns...we don't know how it will be, we don't know if he will have difficulty bonding, we don't know how adopting him will effect our lives, heck, we don't even know where he'll sleep right now... but we feel God is calling us to this boy. Do we have more love to give? yes. Do we feel we could parent another child? yes. Do we want to be this boy's family? yes. Could this boy be another blessing to us? yes.

It wasn't without A LOT of discussion and thought that we came to the decision we eventually reached. Adopting this boy sounded pretty illogical, really. But every time I thought about saying 'no', it didn't feel right. Who am I, who are we, to say 'no' to God?

I read this on another blog by an adoptive father..."When it came down to it, we couldn't come up with a reason to say 'no' that we could live with for the rest of our lives."  

And to be honest, I didn't want to say 'no.'  I know it's a more responsibility, more parenting tasks, more food, more money, more laundry, more noise... but it's also more love. And I don't look at it as something I "should" do or feel obligated to do, to me this is something I WANT to do. I'm going to try my best to remember that during the hard times:)

Do we feel some fear about saying 'yes' to adopting this boy? I think it would be unhealthy if we didn't. There are so many unknowns. But as I pray, I feel my fear going away. I am still nervous, anxious. But strangely I'm not afraid. I know that no matter what, we'll be okay. I find peace in this. I know this must come from God because I certainly don't have the strength or courage to do this on my own.

So this story is actually just getting started... I'd like to tell you that Fred and I submitted our Letter of Intent to adopt this boy yesterday, February 4th, 2014. And it didn't hit me until last night that February 4th, 2013 was the day we got the call from our agency about Sam! Exactly one year to the day:)

We asked the kids their thoughts before we made our final decision. They were all ecstatic! Well, except Sam, because he has no clue;)  

So if you have heard from one of our kids that we have been thinking about adopting another boy from China, you can believe it. Yes, we are THAT crazy!

Thankfully, we will be able to use much of the paperwork that we accumulated last time! Yay!!! I can't say now when we will travel, but I'm hoping the process goes quicker this time. We will also be trying to medically expedite the process because of his medical need.

It feels like deja vu to be beginning this process again so soon. But at least now I know what to expect. I'm not looking forward to all the waiting and paperwork and really, the idea of getting on a plane to China (and back from China) again is not appealing to me. But, this is what has to be done. And he is waiting for us. And he doesn't even know we're coming... he doesn't know that his family has found him and that we can't wait to bring him home.

(guess I need to change the name of the blog now...) Oh, and we're still working on his name:)