The Good, The Bad, and The Cutie

The Good...

We got another picture of Nathan a couple of weeks ago!

The Bad...

We had a delay/miscommunication with some of our paperwork. Instead of receiving our Article 5 this coming week like we had hoped, we will be waiting another two weeks. To say that yesterday was a bad day would be an understatement. Today, I have had time to remember that God is in control and I just need to trust His timeline.

And The Cutie...

As I was going to bed last night (and still feeling very sad and frustrated), I was "given" a very precious gift. While randomly reading some adoption blogs I suddenly saw pictures of Nathan at a birthday party for a little girl in the same orphanage! I cannot even begin to explain the joy we feel when we see a picture of our sweet son!

Nathan is the sweet little boy on the far left :) He has gotten a hair cut since the last picture and seems so tiny without all of the layers of clothes.

The other two children in this picture have families waiting anxiously to bring them home, also! It is comforting to know that these beautiful babes will all soon be with their forever families!

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7:8

Getting Closer!

Our I-800 was approved on Monday! This step meant a lot to us because the US is giving us permission to make Nathan a US citizen. Super Cool!

Next up is making sure the NVC received our I-800 and then we wait to hear that we have been cabled, which right now is taking about a week and a half. We are potentially less than 8 weeks away from travel!!

In the meantime, we have done some shopping in preparation of our little man coming home.

 

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Deuteronomy 7:9

 

What is Next?

If you read Tyson's last update then you know that we received our LOA!! 

Many of you have asked what is next or if we know when we will travel, so I hope this entry will explain the next little bit of our journey :) 

We have been told that we can expect to travel 10-14 weeks from the time our LOA/I-800 paperwork is submitted to USCIS.  Which for us means sometime during the month of July!  Right now the trend of other families has been a 10-11 week wait, which is just okie dokie with me :)  We are very hopeful that we will be on an airplane the first week of July.

So what has to happen between now and then?  Well, we had our Home Study Update approved and we are hoping to have our I-800 approval any day now.  Next, our I-800 approval is sent to the NVC (National Visa Center) and they will cable it to the Chinese Consulate.  This is referred to as being "Cabled".  Once we are cabled we will be waiting for our Article 5 (basically the US Embassy's approval letter).  Then we will receive our TA (Travel Approval).  Within about two weeks of receiving our TA we should be on an airplane!

In the meantime, we are staying busy exploring New Mexico, which you can read about if you click on the link below for "Sailer Journal".  

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14