Article 5 - Day 7 TA Wait

 Last Tuesday, April 23rd, our paperwork was picked up from the Consulate's office in Guangzhou and sent to the CCCWA for them to issue us our travel approval!! Whoo Hoo! Travel Approvals have been coming pretty quickly (2 weeks or so) lately. We know the Lord has ordained the perfect day so we're eagerly waiting for Him to reveal that day to us!!

Precious friends threw us a shower yesterday in Booneville! I'll post pictures when I get them on my computer. We're blown away and humbled by the generosity and love shown to us by them! I just want to cry when I think about how richly God has blessed us with sweet friends and family who support and love us so well. Grateful is such an understatement!

Shower and One More Week

Our dear friends threw us the most amazing shower on Saturday! I only have one picture at the moment but hope to post more on here when I get them. Our sweet friend Elizabeth took on the job of photographer for the evening! :) The night was such an encouragement as so many of our dearest friends were all in the same room at the same time. I said all week that this was going to feel like our wedding all over again but without all the planning. :) Words cannot express how humbled we've been by God's love shown to us by the community God has put around us. The best were the prayers said for us and the girls. Our friends are concerned for the immediate condition of our girls but ultimately for the hope of their eternity with Christ! What a blessing to have wise friends that love us that much! The morning of the shower I sat in our "slowly coming together" nursery and thanked God that He's given us the gift of parenthood and the honor of a baby shower. It was a sweet moment of seeing His faithfulness and Goodness in the hard times and in the times of joy!

Cassie and her husband Trace are in the process of adopting from China too!

On another note, who knew two weeks could feel so long?! We're one week into our wait for our Article 5 pick-up. I'm so thankful God is allowing us to be in this part of the process so early. We could very easily still be waiting on our Letter Seeking Confirmation if He hadn't chose to work a miracle! One week from today our wait for Travel Approval will begin. Whoo Hoo!

Article 5 Pick Up Date

We found out just now that our Article 5 pick up date is scheduled for April 23rd! Once it's picked up it will go to the CCCWA for them to issue our Travel Approval! Crazy!

Cute bathing suits my friend Alicia sent when we found out we got the girls! Can't wait to see them in these this summer!

GUZ #

Yay! Our information has been entered at the National Visa Center. Once entered they issue you a number that begins with GUZ... therefore folks call it your GUZ #. It seems that once you have your GUZ #, it's wired to the Consulate pretty quickly...we're hoping tomorrow or Wednesday. We also finally received our I-800 provisional approval in the mail on Friday!

On a different note, we were invited by sweet friends, Stuart and Anna Day, to join them in Charleston for the Cooper River Bridge Run! It was the best weekend ever!!! :) Stuart's parents hosted us and completely took all of the logistical stress of a race off the table for us. Mr. Day dropped us right at the start line and they allowed us to use their parking space downtown to jump in our car and drive home after the race. They were such generous hosts and have a beautiful home. The weather was perfect. Stuart was our tour guide with cheesy tour jokes and all. Anna did a great job of a shopping tour for me too. So thankful God allowed us to enjoy a weekend away before the girls come. The only sad part is that this is the only picture we have to show for the weekend. ;( Thankful Anna snapped this one with her phone. :)

I-800 Provisional

It seems Evie wanted both toys

Love that Abbie is looking at pictures of us!

 On Tuesday I called USCIS to get an update on our I-800 application. Each day I've gotten nervous before opening the mailbox and each day I've been disappointed by the absence of our provisional approval. So I was thrilled when the USCIS representative told me that he had processed and approved our application on Monday, April 1st! We still have not received it in the mail, but that isn't slowing anything down since the USCIS directly forwards our provisional approval on to the National Visa Center for them to process. Once it's gone through the NVC they forward our information to the Consulate in Guangzhou. Hold on girls! We're coming as fast as we can!!