Adoption Journey

2007-04-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well! It has been a long time since I last blogged. In the last 2 months, things have been very busy. We had Chinese New Year, vacation, Easter, and other family birthdays. Things are going really well and we are blending nicely. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and so I will post some pics of our activities in the recent past. As we have hit our 4 month mark of being home with Jenna, I think it is time to end this blog, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. I will be starting a new one on our continuing lives. If you would like to keep up with us, just contact me.

Thanks to all who have been a part of this most special time in our family.

2007-02-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

My rootin' tootin' Ricky!

Kyle and Jenna heading off by themselves to ride the coasters :)

Lydia got a special private audience with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee!
In front of the monorail - again. Jenna saids she
wants to ride in the front every time - she likes the co-pilot card the engineer gives the kids - too cute!
We took a 2nd trip to Disney World and Jenna enjoyed it more the 2nd time around than she did the 1st. She and Kyle took off by themselves for most of the time so they could ride all the roller coasters. Erick and I don't do roller coasters!
Things are settling into a normal routine here and the family is transitioning pretty well. I think we got blessed with a very good little girl who cares about those around her. I am very proud of the way she has taken up her new life and is blending into our family. It has been a lot to deal with and she takes each new day to learn more and more.
Posted are pics of our Disney trip! BTW - Mc Donald's french fries are 10 times better at the Magic Kingdom!

2007-01-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

We've been doing really great and Jenna is working so hard at blending in with our family. Since our last post, we celebrated Lydia's birthday and took Jenna to Disney World for the 1st time. We all had a good time as Disney is our family's favorite place to go. Erick Jenna and Kyle got to go back and visit MGM this weekend. Jenna especially loved it because of the roller coaster and other rides. Posted are pics of Lydia's bday and our Disney trip.

2007-01-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

Jenna and Ricky learning to ride a horse! Jenna did not want to get off - she loved it. Ricky thought he was all that! He was pretty cute. Thanks Paula and Katie!

2007-01-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

Jenna is looking at the photo album her new friend brought her. It is filled with pictures of her and Jenna's sister back in Taiwan.

It's a small world, after all!!!!
Here is an amazing story that only God could bring about! When we started the adoption process 8 1/2 months ago, I joined an online forum for people adopting from Asia. Back in April, I met (online) a woman who was also adopting a girl the same age as Jenna and who lives fairly close to us. We have been in contact, first, through the forum, then through email and phone calls as the months have passed. She brought her daughter home a little over 2 1/2 months before we brought Jenna home. We have been on the phone more than a few times sharing each other's day-to-day progress.
Well, Jenna has a sister still in Taiwan who is not adoptable, so we were not able to bring her to America. A couple of weeks ago, I was showing Jenna my friend's little girl and was explaining that she was near us and was from Taiwan also. Jenna got a very strange look on her face and excitedly told me that her sister's best friend had moved to Florida and that she was the same age as my friend's daughter! That was all I needed to email a photo of Jenna's sister to the family. Sure enough! My online friend's daughter is Jenna's sister's best friend!!!! My friend emailed me some photos of the two girls together back in Taiwan. We were incredulous! Here we had been in contact all these months and we end up having much more in common than we were anticipating!
Prior to this miraculous discovery, we had been planning on getting the girls together "sometime soon." Ha! Within a week, we were watching Jenna and her sister's best friend meet for the 1st time! It was so cool! They hit it off great and cannot wait to see each other again :O) It was a wonderful day and I have posted some photos of their time together - it is obvious how happy they were! I will post most of them after I close this post, which is rather long.
God is absolutely amazing!

2007-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Jenna's 1st pinata! She loved her cake!

Jenna's 1st birthday with us was good. We spent the day shopping and then came home for a small family party. She really liked her gifts and her cake! Have I mentioned that she loves to shop?

2007-01-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

These are our first family portraits together!

2007-01-04T06:04:00.000-08:00

Chang Kai Sheck's lift - pretty cool!

This daily special really was special - I was allergic to it!

Now that the holidays are over, I've had time to sit down and look at our pictures over the last 3 weeks. Wow! A lot has happened! We traveled the world, met and brought home our daughter, introduced her to her siblings, shared Christmas and New Year's and are now getting ready to celebrate her birthday in a few days. Funny how fast that something you've been waiting so long for can change your life so quickly! Jenna has been doing great and each new day welds us all a little closer to each other.
In reviewing our photos of Taipei, I came across some of special interest. We really enjoyed our time there and wanted to share some of the sights. Most of these are at the CKS Memorial. It was beautiful!

2007-01-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

We took Jenna bowling today; she's never been. She won! Crazy, huh?
I just had to post these pics; I was trying to get a good shot to use in a card. She gave me lots of choices; they are so cute!

2007-01-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! What a great day! We simply relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. The day was filled with bike rides, walks, board games, jumping on the trampoline, and of course, TV (Erick just had to watch football games). Posted are pics of Jenna dressed up and other activities.

2006-12-31T05:53:00.000-08:00

This week has been pleasantly non-busy. We have simply relaxed and enjoyed ourselves doing various activities with the kids. Jenna seems to be blending into the family fairly smoothly and she is so kind to her siblings. We look forward to New Year's Eve tonight - celebrating the year we brought our daughter home and the year in which she will blossom into her forever family.
Posted are pics of our fun - the one on the trampoline, I like to call "airborne." What happens is the kids get in the middle of the trampoline and then beg Kyle to jump. When he does, they go flying through the air. Jenna did not have any problem joining this long-held family game! We visited the beach on Dec. 30 so Jenna could get her 1st look at the Atlantic, and lastly is Jenna on the drums. Uh -oh! I'm in trouble :)

2006-12-26T15:12:00.000-08:00

The kids' 1st Christmas picture together!

2006-12-26T07:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great 1st Christmas with Jenna! She was so excited the night before that she could not fall asleep. It seems that all she was expecting was gifts in her stocking. When she saw the room filled with gifts, her eyes got huge and she said, "Big!" It was so cute. We had a wonderful day! Each year after we open gifts, we have a silly string war outside. She sure didn't have any problem picking up on this family tradition and getting in on the fun! At night, when she said her prayers, I caught the words "Christmas" and "Very happy." It was a good day! Oh, and BTW, we usually have an elegant dinner Christmas night, using china and all. This year, we had Chinese take-out! She said it was okay. lol :)
Posted are picks of Jenna's 1st Christmas ever.

2006-12-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

The last several days have gone really well. We have done quiet activities here at home, gone to the wildlife refuge, taken Christmas lights drives, and baked cookies, which if you know me, is definitely a feat worth mentioning! I am not gifted in that area - that is why Nestle ready dough is perfect for us. I figure I can still call them homemade since I made them at home. lol.
Anyway, Jenna is doing great; she went out shopping yesterday and picked a special gift for each member of the family. She was so thoughtful in each gift she chose.
Today she has been organizing my 6 year old's room. With her around, maybe my home will start to look like the home I've always dreamed of!~ lol.
We are looking forward to tomorrow and hoping Christmas morning will not be too overwhelming for her. She is used to opening gifts privately.
One thing I discovered last night is that she is able to read English somewhat. She has been taught to sound out the sounds and use phonics, which is good. She does not seem to want to use English very much, but we are pushing her a little. She is a quick learner!
I'm glad that all of the children get on well together and can have this Christmas with one another. Merry Christmas to all!

2006-12-20T23:41:00.000-08:00

Jenna had a really good day. She woke up at 3:30 am and was ready to go! She started sweeping under her bed and dressers (Huh? Is this for real?!?) at 4:00. Of course, I was up, as well, and she helped me cook breakfast. She spent the day playing with her new siblings and helping me cook each meal. After dinner, we went for a drive to look at Christmas lights so she could see how pretty they are - she was asleep in 5 minutes~! Oh well, maybe next time :) She had a wonderful day and we are transitioning well. Please pray that it keeps up :)
Posted are pics of her playing a game with Kyle and our 1st family photo together (in our yard).

2006-12-19T02:35:00.000-08:00

Our 1st two days home with Jenna have been uneventful and quiet. We are just trying to allow her to get used to us and our home. She stayed in her room most of the 1st day and then fell asleep. She awoke around 3 am Monday morning and had dinner - heated-up pizza and milk. Monday was much better than we had expected since it was her 1st real day here. She climbed our tree and picked oranges (two times!), played with her siblings, watched TV (I know - that's difficult!), jumped on the trampoline, played on the swing set, swung on the porch swing, tried on all her new clothes, organized all her belongings, got a lesson in speaking English, and went on family drive. Not too much for her 1st day, huh? She is a trooper! She did not want to go to bed, but got in anyway. She has been sleeping all night. I, on the other hand, have been up all night. Nice.
In any case, we are expecting ups and downs, but we are so pleased with today's progress. She really is a very sweet and brave little girl! Posted are pics of Monday's activities.
Patty

2006-12-19T02:21:00.000-08:00

We are home!!!! AND it feels good! Let me catch everyone up on our last days in Taiwan, though. Friday, we spent part of the day packing. We thought this would be upsetting for Jenna, but she was excited and running around and helping us organize. It turned out to be great!
Saturday, though, was difficult as she realized that this was it! Her last day "home." She detatched herself from us and cried some. On the flight home, she was pretty cranky, but who wouldn't be if she was leaving her home, her country, her family, her friends, flying for the 1st time, going to live with strangers in a foreign country, and so on. Considering all the changes she had and will faced, we are surprised she didn't have any major meltdowns! She is even polite in her grief. Whenever I offer her a kleenex or water or anything, she says thank you.
Posted are some pics of our last day - hanging out in the hotel, the Grand Hotel (we had to see it because it has secret tunnels underneath that the president used and it is incredibly beautiful), the Presidential Palace, and a very tired Jenna in front of the palace.

2006-12-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks Jackie :) For those interested, the funky white fruit is dragon fruit. We finally gave it a shot - tastes really good!
Yesterday was really uneventful as we stayed in due to rain (it has been raining straight for 3 days) and packed our bags and hung out. She had learned poker so we could all play together - Erick and I don't know how to play poker. Oh well! She taught us some other card games that were fun and we had a nice time.
We thought she would have a really hard time packing, but she actually acted very excited and helped with everything. We are worried that today may get hard because we will be leaving at midnight. We're just praying that it will be a smooth day for all of us! Posted are various pics of our week.

2006-12-14T13:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we stayed at the hotel again, mostly :) Erick went to an electronics store (everything is MUCH less expensive here and got some things for Jenna in Chinese. We also went shopping in one of the stores under our hotel. Jenna wakes up each morning a little unsure of things. By mid-morning, though, she is fine. As we walked up to our room after lunch, she was singing and walking in a playful manner. Once we were in the room, she ran around for a moment, saying, "Happy, happy, happy!" I think she is pretty happy. I AM worried about Saturday (the day we leave) as she will probably realize that this is it. She's leaving the only home she has ever known. However, I'm just counting our blessings as they happen now.
She is definitely a techi! Like Kyle and Ricky and Erick! She is as smart as a whip too! Where did that expression come from? She absolutely loved watching the movies Erick got her. She is so fun to watch - she gets really into the movie. Her expressions change with each scene. As described in international adoption books, she is eating way too much. You can tell she has never had so many choices. This is normal and will wear off, they say. Notice on her plate the funky white fruit. Jackie, what is that? She loves it. Notice in the store picture her little tummy poking out :)
She is just wonderful! Words that come to mind when I think of her are - spunky, full of life, expressive, caring, considerate, thankful, determined, smart, quick, detailed, bubbly, brave, polite, servant-hearted, comical, shy (until she knows you), sweet - pretty much terrific!
Posted are pictures of the very-well known electronics store, Jenna at lunch and in a store, and Taipei 101 at night.

2006-12-13T02:39:00.000-08:00

Today we stayed at the hotel. It was nice to have a relaxing day all to ourselves. Erick walked down to AIT and picked up Jenna's visa and then brought lunch back to the room. While he was gone, Jenna and I colored in a Disney princess coloring book. We colored 3 pictures each of Cinderella. As soon as we finished, I was able to surprise her with the movie. She was so excited! She is so animated when watching tv :) It was a great bonding time.
We tried to go swimming in the pool, but it was too cold. She knew this but wanted to swim so badly, she gave it a shot. When we got back we watched Parent Trap - some movies don't need words and this is one of them. She absolutely loved it - especially when the lizard crawled in the mean girl's mouth. She squealed with delight and expressed her disgust with all the grace that a girl should. lol.
All in all, it has been a very nice day. We are even eating in our room this evening and will just relax.
I do have to share a funny story, though. Even though our travel packet said that a fanny pack was the best way to go when traveling, Erick refused to get one. However, that has changed! I can't tell you how many times since we left home that he has said I should have gotten one. He has looked everywhere and finally found one today on his way to AIT, but pointed out that he found it at an outdoorsman's store. lol. Too funny!
Jenna is the cutest thing - she is very expressive and loves talking. She will fit in great with our family!!! She is so easily pleased and is very considerate of everyone around her. We feel so blessed to have found her!

2006-12-12T19:38:00.000-08:00

One more neat thing I forgot to share. Last night on the way home from the theme park, Jenna began singing what sounded like a lullaby. Her social worker said that she was singing a Formosan song about a Japanese girl who was an orphan and had had a difficult life. Then she was found by a family who loved her and gave her a home and love. I was awed. I realized that she understood that this was now happening to her in real life and the fact that she was singing about it tells me that she is happy with us. It was a wonderful moment and I will always treasure it :)
Here is a picture of us soaked to the bone from the Rapid Rivers. Too much fun!

2006-12-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful day!!!!! It only took a little over an hour to get Jenna's visa at AIT. As soon as we left, we went to a theme park, which was about an hour out of Taipei. It is call Leefoo Village - it features rides and shows from nations around the world (like Epcot). There were no crowds, though, because it was a week day. It wasn't Disney World, either, but it was fun. Jenna has wanted to go there her whole life and we got to be the ones to take her! It was so worth it to see her big smiles and cute giggles and belly laughs - as is evident in her pictures :) The last ride we rode on was Rapid River. The sign warns that you will get wet. HA! We got drenched - it was so much fun, we laughed the whole long ride!!! Jenna wanted to go again, and this time we got Dad in on the action - fun fun fun!!!
After the wet taxi ride back to the hotel, we ate dinner and are now relaxing in the suite. Sheis watching one of her favorite TV shows - very cute - similar to "Lizzie Mc Guire" or "Raven."
Tomorrow we plan on relaxing at the hotel and swimming. We all need a rest, let me assure!
The day couldn't have been more perfect and I wouldn't change one thing. Anyone adopting older children here - we definitely recommend the theme park. It completely broke down any barriers of shyness and timidity between us.
She is absolutely wonderful - I kid you not. In everything she does, she demonstrates a caring personality and a loving disposition. We are so happy with her :) She has been very happy today and this evening. Yeah!

2006-12-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

Okay. It's the middle of the night here (not there) and I am wide awake :)
Jenna is so precious! She is very brave, kind, and servant-hearted. It melts our hearts when she calls us "mother" and "father." She really is extaordinary and yesterday was wonderful! When she grew sad about ther foster mother, I colored a picture of a rainbow. Erick and I and the children were on one side - Jenna was on the other. Under the rainbow, I colored a red heart with arrows pointing from our family to her. I told her that we loved her and that the rainbow was happiness and joy - like her name. She really liked it and then drew a picture of a house. She was in the top window and Erick, I, and the children were in other windows. She said this is home/family and that she was happy. Her love of art and drawing are very apparent. I'm glad I brought so much of it for her to do.
She took a long nap yesterday and is sleeping like a baby now. I will try to get some also :)
I've reposted the photo of Mr. Yeh (Ye-ah). He is very nice!

2006-12-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

Wow!!!! Today was an amazing day! We met Jenna, and yes, she likes her name - so Jenna Joy it is. She is wonderful! She is perfect for our family in so many ways and we for her - it was so neat as we talked with her social worker and foster mom. The similarities are abundant :)

She is even cuter in real life than in her pictures we have of her. She is so kind and thoughtful - she says thank you and please for everything. At the orphanage, she got chairs for everyone to sit in ,and when we got back to the hotel, she got our slippers for us to put on. She is adjusting and it will take time, but she says she is happy and seems to be enjoying herself. She is quite the little artist and we have spent much of the day communicating and playing through drawing pictures. She never tires of drawing. We have played several games and she is a whiz at all of them! Tonight has been a little rough as she misses her foster family, but we allowed her to call them, and she has been enjoying the rest of the evening just fine.

Right now she is watching one of her favorite shows - a Korean teenage sitcom :)

Tomorrow we're off to AIT to get her visa and then we will spend the day at a theme park. I will try to post more later, but today has been the realization of a lifelong dream - it was more than mere words can describe. Jenna is everything we hoped she would be - her spirit and personality are just so sweet.

The posts are of our meeting and with Penny and Mr. Yeh (our driver).

2006-12-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Sunday Taiwan time), we had a delicious breakfast here at the Howard Plaza Hotel. After, we walked about 2 blocks to the handicraft/flower/jade markets. Let me just say that, yes, I was definitely in heaven! It seemed like the market went on forever, but let me asure all, I found the end. lol. We had so much fun purchasing wonderful items which will be treasures I'm sure in years to come. Once we left there, we met our driver and his 14 year old son, who accompanied us at our sightseeing places, at the hotel and visited the Chang Kai Shek (sp?) memorial, the National Concert Hall, the National theater, the National Museum of History, toured Taipei, saw Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world) from a distance, vistited a very local restaurant down a small alley (where we met a local guy who attended Purdue University and has lived in Orlando for 3 years. He is returning on the 21st! Small world, huh?
Once we finished eating, we returned to the markets to make our final purchases - too much fun! We had a leisurely dinner (because we were both falling asleep) at the Howard and then got some ZZZ/s. All in all, it was a wonderful 1st day in Taiwan and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!
One of the strangest things that I have seen is children walking or riding their small trikes down busy street sidewalks, babies with their faces poking out of car windows with no car seat, or small children being trusted to walk more than a few feet away from their parents. They have gone right back to them though after they see what it is they are interested in.
The people are very friendly and the students here speak very good English, so it has been easy to find help with language, which we are really going to need later today - AFTER WE GET JENNA! This is all so incredible - it seems surreal, let me tell you. I can only imagine what meeting her will be like. Every little girl I saw that looked her age made my eyes mist just thinking that within a very short time I would have a girl "about that age."
I have posted pics of the memorial and other places we went. Our hotel is on a beautiful tree-lined street, btw, and I have posted some pics of the markets and also our hotel lobby. It won't be long now until Jenna can be with us :)

2006-12-09T17:02:00.000-08:00

HI! We are in TAIPEI!!! It is wonderful. Our flights were great; EVA air is the best! We got in around 10:00pm Taipei time last night. Today is Sunday:) We spent 40:00 to take a 5 minute drive to the Pacific Ocean in LAX - it was worth it; what a beautiful view it was with the mountains right on the water! Of course, at the time, we weren't thinking that we could see the same ocean from Taiwan for free. lol.
Anyway, our driver was holding a sign with our name on it after we got through customs. He was very nice. Our hotel is AMAZING! It is so beautiful and we ate a little snack around 12:30 when we got here. We have a suite which is very nice.
Today, we plan on going to the handicraft and jade markets before we get Jenna; our driver will be here later. I've posted some pics at the airport, on the beach in LAX, and our hotel view. Here we come Taipei!

2006-12-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

This is it!!! We leave in the middle of the night tonight!!! I can not believe it is finally here! We are just finishing up our packing and we will be done. We took the children out to eat as a farewell dinner; I enjoyed that because I didn't have to cook, and they enjoyed it because the food tasted good!
Tomorrow we have a 6 hour layover in LA. Yuk! Then it's off to Taiwan!
We will spend Sunday at the handicraft and jade markets, hopefully. Monday mornign we will get Jenna :) Finally!
Can't wait to see her cute little face :O)

5 Days Till Take-Off!

2006-12-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

Only 5 days left til take-off!!!! We are so filled with excitement and anticipation at seeing Jenna in 1 week! I know it will be one of the most incredible moments of our lives!
Here's how things will begin. Once we arrive on Sunday, we plan on doing some shopping in the handicraft and jade markets. Woo hoo! Okay, my sightseeing will be done. lol.
Monday morning, we arrive at Cathwel (the orphanage). Upon arriving, we will spend a couple hours learning about Jenna - her likes and dislikes, etc. Then we will sign lots of paperwork. Once that is all finished - WE WILL MEET HER!!! So - Sunday night by midnight, we will have her with us! A stunning thought! It is all so amazing and incredible - I wish there were adequate words to express our joyful feelings :0)
It is so neat - when I was a little girl, I can remember getting toys that said "made in Taiwan" on them. Those words always made me stop and wonder about children in Taiwan and what their life must be like (yes, I was a fan of "Big Blue Marble"). I wondered how different their lives must be from my own and it all seemed so foreign. Now, in a matter of days, I will not only be meeting a child of Taiwan, but bringing her into my home - she is already lodged in my heart! It is just amazing to me how God and life bring us our deepest longings at just the right time and fulfill a life-long dream in the most perfect way. Thank you all for sharing in our dream:)

2006-11-30T05:06:00.000-08:00

We spoke with Jenna via web cam last night. It went great!! She is sooooooo cute! We showed her the Christmas tree and she wanted to see her stocking - too cute! She wants to go fishing with Erick and Kyle - it's neat - she learned the word fishing just to ask about going.
She is looking at toys in windows - oh boy! what are we in for?
Erick wrote a simple little song for her and sang it to her last night, which went over really well. She wanted to talk to everyone again and told Ricky and Lydia that she wanted to play with them. We told her we'd be meeting her in 10 days!
Our travel preparation is going well. My friend Beth came over the other night and helped me do some deep cleaning - thanks Beth:) We have everything just about ready - even got our shots. Yuk!
We leave in 7 days!!!!!!!!!!!! It is starting to seem real now since it is only a week away. While we are gone, we will try to post here each night to update everyone. We will take lots of pictures!
It's incredible - in a week and a half, we will meet our daughter face to face. There is no way to describe that feeling! She is such a blessing from God :)

2006-11-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

We talked to Jenna Wednesday evening over web cam. She is getting more excited than nervous now and has been telling people about her family. She got to meet Grammy, too. I held up one of the shirts I had gotten her and she really liked it. She loves her room and seems to be doing well with all of the upcoming changes in her life. One change that has already taken place that she likes is the fact that she no longer is in school there. One of the activities we plan to do is go to the theme park in Taipei together, which should be a lot of fun!
Well, we only have 12 days til take-off and we can't wait! Flight day seems so far away right now, but I know it will be here before we know it!
It is almost here!!!!!

2006-11-22T04:39:00.000-08:00

This is our 1st Christmas picture with Jenna in it (virtually). lol. It was taken on our church property, which is very pretty. The next family picture we take will have the real Jenna in it :)
We will be talking to her again this evening. She has been told that the adoption is final, so we will be talking via web cam every Wednesday evening for the next 3 Wednesdays - then it's off to Taiwan to get her. Yes! We feel like it is so close, yet so far away. They (people who have gone before us) say that it gets here before you know it and that all the waiting seems like nothing. I guess that's true. Soon I'll be able to say for sure :O)
Enjoy your day and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas Season!

2006-11-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

We spoke with Jenna via live web cam this evening. She is excited and nervous about coming to America. She is happy with our family and is excited about getting to celebrate Christmas. When we go to Taiwan, she wants to go to the fair with us and take us to the "rocky beach." We really enjoyed talking with her and will be seeing her face-to-face in exactly one month from today!
She is just so cute! I can't wait to have her home with us!

2006-11-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

Exciting news!!! Our adoption was finalized on Nov. 8. We got "the call" yesterday on Nov. 9 at 5:45am. We were so excited and had to wake up a few family members with our good news. We will be leaving for Taiwan Dec. 8 and will pick up Jenna on Dec. 11. This has been a really long wait, but we are so excited and grateful to have her home for Christmas!
We have less than a month to wait!!!!!!

2006-10-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

We talked with Jenna via live web cam last Saturday night. She seemed very happy and excited. She smiled and laughed the whole time. She wanted to talk to everyone in the family and thought that Erick and Kyle were handsome. She and Ricky giggled for several minutes over the phone - no language barrier there! She seemed glad that Lydia was as shy as she was. We had a wonderful time talking to her and can't wait to do so again.
This morning we got word that she was happy after she talked to us and has begun planning her farewell journey. She wants to talk to us every other week until we get her.
We are hoping to get our call within the month and hopefully next week. We will let everyone know as soon as we hear!

2006-10-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Another week has gone by with no word. Both our case worker here and the head of the orphanage in Taiwan went out of town this week. That means no news for us. It's been a loooong week! We are hoping to talk to Jenna through an interpreter in the next couple weeks. I've posted another pic of her. She is just so cute!

2006-10-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

These are pics of our 3 bio children. Kyle is 15, Lydia is 11, and Ricky is 6. We sent copies of these to Jenna along with some of the trips we took this summer to show her some of the things she would be doing next summer. Can't wait for her to be a part of it all!

2006-10-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is a picture we took in Jenna's new room; we plan on sending her this photo. As you can see, we are holding a picture of her. The reason we all have peace signs up is because she always does this in her photos. In Taiwan, though, it means "take my picture". We send her pics about every 3 weeks and hope to get some new ones of her soon.

2006-10-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 2, 06

Hi All,
We've created this blogspot to keep family and friends updated on our adoption journey. At this point, we have just received word that our hearing was on last Wednesday, the 28th. That is exciting news since we were waiting for a phone call to tell us when the hearing would be, not that it had already happened!
Jenna was at the hearing with her social worker. She would like to have more contact with us, which makes us very happy. We now wait for the 1st ruling. Then there is a 10 day waiting period; then comes the 2nd ruling. Families usually get called after 1st ruling so that they can start making travel plans. At any rate, it looks highly probably that we'll have Jenna home by Christmas. We would really love to have her home by Thanksgiving, but that would be a major miracle!

We finished painting Jenna's room (pink) and her furniture arrived last Thursday, the same day we got the call about her hearing. This Thursday her headboard will be delivered. Then more waiting. We hope to get more pictures soon.

How the journey began:

For those of you not fully aware of our journey, let me fill you in. Back in March we were approved to adopt a little 10 year old girl from Taiwan. After searching children from Asia for a long time, we pre-selected her after we read her profile and saw her pics. Somehow we just knew that she was the little girl God had for us. We've been waiting ever since then to go over and get her and bring her home to her new family.

She does not speak any English; however, she is now getting 2 English classes a week. We are attempting to learn Mandarin Chinese, her secondary language (she also speaks Taiwansese). Hopefully, by the time we get her, we will be able to underastand each other a little bit.

Our journey acutally started many years ago when I was a girl. Before we were married, Erick and I talked about definitely adopting and older child one day. This is that day! We are very excited about our upcoming new addition and want to share our joy with all of our family and friends.

We hope you enjoy sharing in our adventure!

Please pray for our little girl to come home SOON! :)