getting closer

What a fabulous weekend. Friday we received our I800 approval letter in the mail.  With the approval number on the letter I emailed the NVC for status of our visa petition for Jack.  Within 6 hours I got a reply stating that our information had been entered into their system.

Then Sunday morning I woke to .....this

and this...

and to a silly yet adorable boy that will definitely fit right into this family...

This morning I received an email from the NVC with our pdf. letter stating our visa petition is approved and CABLED to the US Consulate in Guangzhou.  And, without haste I emailed this letter to our agency.  Later this afternoon our agency replied stating that our Article 5 will be dropped off at the Consulate in Guangzhou tomorrow the 27th, and picked back up in exactly 10 business days.  We will have Travel Approval in 2 weeks after the Article 5 is picked up. Upon knowing we have Travel Approval our agency will request a US Consulate appointment. 

It is POSSIBLE....that we COULD be in Changchun on May 6th.  We COULD meet Jack on Monday, May 7th.  And we WOULD be so BLESSED to be able to love on this precious angel...FINALLY

.
And, do you want to know another tidbit....IF we DO get to meet Jack on Monday, May 7th....it will be exactly 5 years to the day that we met Lily in the same office.....in the same city....from the same orphanage.

How crazy is THAT??  Either way it all happens....GODS smile is felt shining down.

Finding Jack...

...as told by an ANGEL in SiPing.

On another note...our I-800 was approved on March 20th.  Now it's time to wait a couple days and see if we have been cabled to Guangzhou...then Article 5...then TRAVEL APPROVAL.  Hoping to be on that plane the night of May 26th....right after we leave Angela's high school graduation ceremony.

I just want to pick him up....

LOVE him and HOLD him...

Jack's sweet voice!!

Hats & Blankets for Orphans

My sweet friend at work with a huge heart for children (Phyllis, aka "Mama Phyl" and nurse to all) loves to knit. Last week she brought in to work a huge bag of hats that she had been knitting for the children in SiPing orphanage. The picture above is just a sample of all the adorable hats knitted by Mama Phyl's caring hands and heart. We'll take them to the children this summer when we visit the orphanage.

And what a visit it will be! SiPing orphanage is where Jack has been living for nearly 3 years,, and where our Lily lived for the first two years of her life. Lily & Max will coming with us to China again....but this time Lily will get to see her hometown, the orphanage, and maybe even an Ayi that may remember her as a baby.

And how about the sweet blankets wrapped around the children in the pictures from my previous post??...Our daughter, Angela, made them for the children. We mailed a ginormous box a little while ago filled with Angela's blankets, candy, and pictures of all of us for Jack to see.

...dreaming of a sweet boy waiting in China...

LOA!!!!!!!

That's right! Happy Birthday to me!!! What a fabulous Birthday present!!!

Our beautiful son!

Monday is 52 days waiting for LOA. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed and saying prayers that tomorrow is OUR DAY. I'm ready to go to China now!

49 days waiting....

.....chugging right along on that long, black LOA train.