Planting Bulbs

My fingers are sore as I type this message. That's because I planted a total of 55 bulbs in our backyard today. I can't wait until they all bloom come Spring. The exciting thing is that Penny will be able to enjoy them, too! I bet by that time she'll be really tired of Colorado winters. For her first winter in America we probably won't take her to visit her grandparents in South Dakota. That would be cruel and unjust punishment for a girl who has lived in the tropics for her whole life. We'll let her adjust gradually or take her to South Dakota in the summer time. We will have to travel to one of four major U.S. cities where Thai consulates are located in order to get the final approval from the Thai government that we can adopt her. That'll come six months after she comes home. This morning I started working on creating a Homecoming Announcement postcard. It'll be fun to send those out once we actually know our travel dates. We're hoping to find out soon after the next Thai board meeting on October 8th. We'll keep you posted.

More Hoops to Jump Through

Well, we've jumped through one more hoop getting us closer to picking up our daughter. We signed all kinds of legal documents and sent them in to WACAP. It reminded us of all the paperwork we had to sign in order to buy our house. We mailed these along with a photo album for Penny to them by UPS. Today the Thai adoption board (DSDW) was meeting. So, we were hoping that they would review our acceptance letter and give us the final approval to adopt Penny and a travel date soon afterwards. But, as it turned out our adoption coordinator heard that the social worker who is to present our case is out on vacation until the end of the month. So, most likely ours will be presented at the next board meeting on October 8th. We're still hoping that we might get a court date in November or early December. I'm sure our bosses would like to know the dates soon. On Sunday I bought one more thing for Penny. I got her a winter coat. It was in really good condition, although I bought it at a second-hand shop. I hope my daughter won't mind that I buy almost all of our clothes at Savers. I can't believe the bargains I get for some really nice stuff there. Jay even got some very nice dress slacks there for work that cost around under $6 a piece. And today I heard about a group for foster and adoptive parents in northern Colorado that helps out with food discounts and has a clothing bank where families can share their donated clothes. Sounds encouraging as many of you adoptive parents probably know how tight money can be when you have to pay so many fees to bring your child home. But, it will all be worth it. We're just trusting God to provide. Above are pics of our package we just sent off, the winter coat and Penny's dresser which someone gave us and I repainted and put new knobs on.

Getting Ready for Penny

Today I've had the nesting instinct taking over. I'm really determined to get this house ready for our daughter. Even though we moved into this house in February there were still some unpacked boxes and rooms left to be painted. Today I decided to tackle the boxes. I did a lot of reorganizing and cleaning up. I also finally hung up pictures in my art room. There's still some organizing to do, but it's getting a lot better. I also bought bulbs so that Penny will be able to enjoy tulips and daffodils popping up in the Spring. I plan to plant those next weekend. Jay had a man come and aerate our lawn and went outside and sawed off some dead branches off of our ash tree in the front yard. I also wrote a letter to tell our daughter that we've officially been invited to adopt her and how much we love her. I put her new pictures that arrived with the referral packet in a frame in the living room. We're readying documents and a photo album to send in to WACAP. The photo album will be sent on to Penny to help prepare her for our arrival. A while back I sadly bought school supplies for my daughter who had not arrived in time for the start of school. But, now I had fun pulling these things out and looking at them, again, trying to envision the backpack really being on Penny's back. I've included photos of the school supplies and our photo album we're sending her. I also included a photo of two necklaces that are sitting out on Penny's dresser. They were both given to me by my grandmothers. One of them has little tooth marks on it from me having chewed on it when I was a three-year-old. I hope these little momentos will help her feel connected to our family history.

Our acceptance letter is on its way!

We went ahead and typed up our acceptance letter last night. Our adoption coordinator, Andrea, felt bad that she hadn't gotten our referral package sent off to us over the weekend since she had so much paperwork to send in for three other families who are traveling in October. So, she told us to just scan our letter and e-mail it to her. Then she will e-mail it to the DSDW (the board who deals with adoptions in the Thai government). They will be meeting next Monday to review people's acceptance letters. They should have ours in their hands. After they approve us they should be letting Andrea know soon when we will get to travel to Thailand. She said that the DSDW even feels bad about how long we have been having to wait. I guess there were several more difficult cases ahead of us. If it turns out that we travel in November or December the nice part about that is that it is the driest and coolest season in Thailand.

WE FINALLY GOT THE CALL!

Today, exactly 9 months and 1 year after we first inquired about our hoped-for daughter we finally the call that we were waiting for. They are sending us her background info (like a referral, only we already know who we are adopting). It should arrive by UPS this weekend. It's funny because Jay had just put banners on his phone last night. The one on the inside said, "Have Faith!" The one on the outside said "Penny". And this morning as I was driving I really started praying very specifically saying, "Lord, please let us hear something by the end of this month." And then the call came before the end of the day! Jay got the call from Andrea Caruthers right after his classes had ended. Then he tried calling me, which of course never gets through as I'm constantly busy as a preschool teacher. I had noticed my cell phone ringing as we were walking out of the classroom. When we got outside our director came out and said that my husband had called and asked me to call him back on the cell phone as soon as I got a chance. I didn't think anything of it. I thought he probably relayed that message as he knows how rarely I check my phone for messages. But, when I came back in and listened to his message I realized that he sounded REALLY, REALLY happy and that made me start grinning ear-to-ear. I was kind of bouncing around after that and my cheeks were really hurting. I got off work early and decided to stop by the grocery store to pick up a balloon and flowers to let Penny know we're thinking of her this day. As I pulled up near the entrance of the store I had to stop for pedestrians. Wouldn't you know it? I saw a blond mother about our age with two pre-teen/teenage Asian daughters walk right in front of me. I smiled and thought, "That'll be me soon!" And then I got choked up and started losing it. I pulled over quickly before the tears made me have an accident. Here's a photo of the flowers and balloon. We're still playing it safe by not posting photos. But, let me tell you that when I saw her new photos over the e-mail when I got home I thought, "She's so beautiful." And what's funny I see so many similarities with her and me. For example, they said she really struggles with math, she's happy, talkative and likes to show off. Sounds like someone I know. And her build is just like mine at that age. I love how she dresses so modestly and has such a sweet smile. I think this must be a match made in heaven. Can you tell that I'm walking on "Cloud Nine"? Thanks to the many of you who have already congratulated us by e-mail. It is so neat to hear from so many of you who have already walked in our shoes. It's quite surreal! Can't believe that we should be traveling to get our daughter around November or December.

The Dust (or Flour?!) May be Settling a Little in Thailand

Why do I say, "flour"? Because the Thai magistrates have found the former Prime Minister, that so many people disliked, to be disqualified as PM due to the fact that he hosted some cooking shows. That's right! He was a professional chef before he took office in February. His former t.v. show invited him back a few times and gave him small stipends of money for it. According to the Thai constitution (recently re-written just last year) a prime minister must not be an employee of any other company as it shows a conflict of interest. So, all 9 judges found him disqualified. Two days later his political party re-nominated him as their up and coming candidate. Should be interesting to see how this all plays out. At least with him stepping down for now in a legal, peaceful manner there shouldn't be an escalation of violence. Please pray that the adoption process will move forward quickly!

Faith "Frustrations" -from Jay

Just when I thought I could start into a new school year relaxed and taking it day by day, Thailand has political excitement. I often wonder why I can't have a greater dose of faith. When it came to the spiritual gifts, God gave me a mustard-seed size faith. I admire how many people, especially my beautiful wife, can have a great measure of patience and still be able to stay relaxed in the midst of crisis. Even after 8-plus years of teaching, I still like my days planned out and organized in neat little compartments. God has been teaching me over the years how to deal with change "on the fly," but it still isn't my cup of tea. I think I fake it very well. ...if people only knew how hard it is for me!

My first reaction at reading today's news about a state of emergency in Thailand was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Next, I was continually reminding myself to not fall into an afternoon blah at school and to not let the enemy get a foothold. Days like this often bring me to the brink of tears. However, I have to believe that we are doing the right thing. Sometimes, I think people wonder why we don't just go the USA foster adoption route, because it's supposedly easier and we should be looking out first for those in our own country. How do I convince people that Jesus didn't die for those in a certain political boundary created by men, but He died for everyone, including our precious daughter in Thailand. Everyone deserves a loving family. I'm by no means anti-American, but we need to look beyond our borders and throw our love to those overseas, as well.

Unrest in Thailand

The political unrest in Thailand is making me nervous. For the latest visit ://www.nationmultimedia.com/

Please pray this doesn't prevent lots of kids from meeting their forever families, including our hopeful daughter, Penny.