So excited to have arrived safely, after a super smooth flight! We for sure felt every prayer on our behalf, Justin didn't get sick even a little bit. Thanks to all who are praying. We have had a super long day and are heading to bed. We can almost count the hours until we meet our new daughter, can't believe that!
Tomorrow we head out early to visit the Great Wall and then the Summer Palace.
Love to all!
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Ready, Set, Go!
Here we come, Emma Grace Morgan!
We can't believe it is finally here..but tomorrow we take off for the adventure of a lifetime. Bags are packed and documents are triple checked! Some have asked me "what do you have to bring?" and "what does Emma come with?" We are prepared just like any new parent...we have everything that Emma will need or might need and probably more! She will come from the SWI with the clothes on her back, a picture book, some paperwork, and as I understand it, some dirt from her home city. So much like taking a trip to the hospital to have a baby....we will take all the things an 18 month old might need. Clothing, blankets, toys, diapers, bottles, and most importantly of all...a ONE-WAY ticket to Spokane from Hong Kong to her waiting brothers and sisters! |
| All our luggage for two weeks! |
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| Four VERY excited siblings all packed up for Grandma's house! |
Thanks for all the prayers and support as we take this step of living out our faith and following God's call in our lives! It is a journey we know may not be easy or make us comfortable, but we are full of His peace and know, no matter what happens, He will be with us all the way guarding our path.
“For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
Psalm 91:11
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Travel Dates!
Who could imagine on March 9th, 2012 that in less than one year we would be meeting our daughter for the first time? It sure wasn't on my radar! Amazing, despite our own plans and opinions, how God can orchestrate His perfect plan in our lives. I think He waits for an audience...and a step in His direction..but then watch out, and hang on. It can be a wild ride and so it has!
Justin and I leave on Wednesday, February 27th. It is hard to imagine that next week we will get on a plane that will lead us on a journey that unites us with our sweet Emma! We are nervous. Scared. Excited. We are well-read and feeling utterly unprepared. We have little information and big faith. We don't entirely know what to expect from Emma and she has no idea what is about to happen to her little world. And while we are thankful that she seems to have been cared for with kindness, we really don't know what her world has been like since her birth. We don't know but we trust in a plan that is far above what we could have thought of. Emma was loved long before we ever set eyes on her...loved by her Creator. The One who spoke the heavens and the earth into being...created her in His perfect wisdom. We are so ready to meet her and see how she so perfectly fits into the family, because we believe she was made just for us and us for her!
I almost feel like a 'new' mom, although there are four kids under this roof, adoption is so new and different. There are things a birth mom doesn't have to think about when having a baby, like she does when adopting an 18 month old child, especially one who only understands and babbles in Mandarin! :) That could prove difficult because..ahem...my Mandarin is a little sketchy. Okay...'my' and 'mandarin' only go together if you are talking about an orange! I bought a little language book from Barnes and Noble...but promptly took it back because it gave you the 'English' translation for Chinese words...but no pronunciation! I knew that would only prove to be a three pound luggage weight violation and nothing more! Thank God for living, breathing 'travel guides'. She will be earning every penny we pay her! :)
We are so thankful to have travel dates today and a firm Consulate appointment on the 11th of March. Now on to packing and getting ready to leave the other four behind...there is much to do and as every 'expectant' mother there is nesting to accomplish, too. Really important stuff...like clean the freezer, wash the shower curtain, purchase enough diapers for an army of Chinese babies! Thanks to all of you that are following our journey and praying for us and for Emma. We will *try* to blog while we are away...I know I can only blog text in one post and then pictures in the next post..so you may have to piece it together a little...but really, all you really care about it seeing Emma, right? Me too! If you think about it and see them...give a little extra love to Mark, Matt, Ash, & Beth! They will be in the loving and capable hands of their Grandma and Grandpa..so they won't be missing us too much...but two weeks is a long time and we have never left for that long before. It might be harder on me than them, I know.
Until later....in China!!!!!!
Justin and I leave on Wednesday, February 27th. It is hard to imagine that next week we will get on a plane that will lead us on a journey that unites us with our sweet Emma! We are nervous. Scared. Excited. We are well-read and feeling utterly unprepared. We have little information and big faith. We don't entirely know what to expect from Emma and she has no idea what is about to happen to her little world. And while we are thankful that she seems to have been cared for with kindness, we really don't know what her world has been like since her birth. We don't know but we trust in a plan that is far above what we could have thought of. Emma was loved long before we ever set eyes on her...loved by her Creator. The One who spoke the heavens and the earth into being...created her in His perfect wisdom. We are so ready to meet her and see how she so perfectly fits into the family, because we believe she was made just for us and us for her!
I almost feel like a 'new' mom, although there are four kids under this roof, adoption is so new and different. There are things a birth mom doesn't have to think about when having a baby, like she does when adopting an 18 month old child, especially one who only understands and babbles in Mandarin! :) That could prove difficult because..ahem...my Mandarin is a little sketchy. Okay...'my' and 'mandarin' only go together if you are talking about an orange! I bought a little language book from Barnes and Noble...but promptly took it back because it gave you the 'English' translation for Chinese words...but no pronunciation! I knew that would only prove to be a three pound luggage weight violation and nothing more! Thank God for living, breathing 'travel guides'. She will be earning every penny we pay her! :)
We are so thankful to have travel dates today and a firm Consulate appointment on the 11th of March. Now on to packing and getting ready to leave the other four behind...there is much to do and as every 'expectant' mother there is nesting to accomplish, too. Really important stuff...like clean the freezer, wash the shower curtain, purchase enough diapers for an army of Chinese babies! Thanks to all of you that are following our journey and praying for us and for Emma. We will *try* to blog while we are away...I know I can only blog text in one post and then pictures in the next post..so you may have to piece it together a little...but really, all you really care about it seeing Emma, right? Me too! If you think about it and see them...give a little extra love to Mark, Matt, Ash, & Beth! They will be in the loving and capable hands of their Grandma and Grandpa..so they won't be missing us too much...but two weeks is a long time and we have never left for that long before. It might be harder on me than them, I know.
Until later....in China!!!!!!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Travel Approval!
I went to sleep last night praying for TA to arrive today. I woke up fully expecting the phone to ring this morning..but it didn't. I told Justin I was bummed (knowing that Chinese New Year would delay it for an entire week), I read and re-read Jeremiah 29:11 and prayed for my heart to be calmed. Then I left for Bible study...missing the phone call I had hoped for by a mere 5 minutes! So I know for sure...with or without our Travel Approval from China...that "I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." I wondered why...but trusted anyway in His plan for Emma, knowing His timing is perfect and His plan for Emma is perfect. A plan that involves hope and a future...not calamity and also not an extra week of waiting without a family to love her!! I am so excited but just think how excited Jesus must be that one of His little lambs is coming home to a family that only wants to love her and teach her of Him! I constantly think how excited I am...but really, how excited must HE be! He set this plan in motion, leading our way and if we would just obey...one little girl might have a family! So I am over-the-moon excited and thankful and humbled today, that not only would He give her to us, but He would be involved in every detail right down to a phone call timed before Chinese New Year, so we wouldn't have to wait another week!
Travel Approval is an official document that we will take back to China with us, allowing us into the country to complete our adoption of Emma. We now wait for a confirmed appointment at the US Consulate before we can book our flights. Our agency will place our flights on hold for us, until we are guaranteed that Consulate date. We are looking at leaving in 20 days! I am not sure if I should dread those 20 days before take-off...or get busy knowing all 20 of them will fly by with plan making and preparations! The trip itself will be 12-14 days long, involving two in-country flights between three cities. We will meet Emma and gain legal custody of her on the 3rd day there, in her Province capital, which is Xian, Shaanxi. Known for being the location of the Terra Cotta Warriors. Prior to that we will have a whirl wind adventure seeing the sights of Beijing. After 5 days in Xian, we will head to Guangzhou, which is where the US Consulate appointment takes place and where we will receive her US Visa, then on to home. Oh the joy! I am tired just thinking about it...looking for the perfect water-proof (aka-tear proof) everything because boy will I be having a big cry when they give me my girl! I cried when each of my kids were placed in my arms...and I can only imagine that even though there is no labor involved (or epidural) that I will have jet lag working on me!
Thanks for your prayers and support...can't wait to post pictures of us enjoying China and meeting Morgan #5!!!
Travel Approval is an official document that we will take back to China with us, allowing us into the country to complete our adoption of Emma. We now wait for a confirmed appointment at the US Consulate before we can book our flights. Our agency will place our flights on hold for us, until we are guaranteed that Consulate date. We are looking at leaving in 20 days! I am not sure if I should dread those 20 days before take-off...or get busy knowing all 20 of them will fly by with plan making and preparations! The trip itself will be 12-14 days long, involving two in-country flights between three cities. We will meet Emma and gain legal custody of her on the 3rd day there, in her Province capital, which is Xian, Shaanxi. Known for being the location of the Terra Cotta Warriors. Prior to that we will have a whirl wind adventure seeing the sights of Beijing. After 5 days in Xian, we will head to Guangzhou, which is where the US Consulate appointment takes place and where we will receive her US Visa, then on to home. Oh the joy! I am tired just thinking about it...looking for the perfect water-proof (aka-tear proof) everything because boy will I be having a big cry when they give me my girl! I cried when each of my kids were placed in my arms...and I can only imagine that even though there is no labor involved (or epidural) that I will have jet lag working on me!
Thanks for your prayers and support...can't wait to post pictures of us enjoying China and meeting Morgan #5!!!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Waiting!
I haven't posted for a while, not sure what to say! Life has been passing by, the Lord has been challenging me in new ways, we welcomed a new baby niece to the family, new stages with the kids, been trying to get some projects done, sickness has reared its ugly face, etc etc...the days 'full of life' just keep going by. Even as life busily passes by, though, my mind is not far from thoughts of Emma. Although, I don't resemble an expectant mother, I am. Nesting away, packing my bags, organizing and sorting, picking out special things for my girl. She is a treasure that I anxiously await the opportunity to hold, cuddle, feed, lose sleep over, and share with those who love us. I am so blessed by people in my life that share my excitement, ask me how I am doing, what the progress and time-line are. It is supportive people around me that are keeping me going, as we wait!
Currently, we are one week into our wait for TA (travel approval). This is the last thread of paperwork that has to come before we are allowed to travel to China and pick up Emma. I understand there is more paperwork once there...but who cares, she will be in my arms while I do it! I am praying for our TA to come in the coming week before the Chinese New Year celebration, which closes down the Chinese offices for the week. TA wait is listed as 2-4 weeks, so it is entirely possible that is could come this week. Trusting, as always, the Lord's perfect timing for this! A special gift of encouragement this week has been some new pictures of Emma. A friend I have met through AWAA (our adoption agency) is currently in China, adopting her son, and her family requested a (not usually granted) visit to the orphanage where their son and Emma have lived most of their lives. God opened the doors for them to go, and not only did they see the orphanage, but with picture in hand of Emma, sought her out for me! My friend even got to hold Emma and whisper sweet promises of love from her Mommy, for me. The tears flowed as I looked at the pictures. I am so blessed that against all odds they were able to find her in an orphanage of 300 children, and not only find her but love on her and take pictures! Thanks Sarah! I will forever be grateful! :) Thank you, Lord, for so much affirmation of Your plan in our lives! Here are a couple pictures of my sweet girl.
As we wait these final weeks, that we can almost count in days, I am trying to prepare as much around here as we can. Beth is now a true big sister...sleeping in a big girl bed, downstairs with Ashley. No more crib for her. The crib is all freshened up and scrubbed clean for Emma. Clothes are all moved and sorted. It is fun to see the kids get so excited for Emma to come, praying for her, shopping for her, and giving up their space for her, too.
Currently, we are one week into our wait for TA (travel approval). This is the last thread of paperwork that has to come before we are allowed to travel to China and pick up Emma. I understand there is more paperwork once there...but who cares, she will be in my arms while I do it! I am praying for our TA to come in the coming week before the Chinese New Year celebration, which closes down the Chinese offices for the week. TA wait is listed as 2-4 weeks, so it is entirely possible that is could come this week. Trusting, as always, the Lord's perfect timing for this! A special gift of encouragement this week has been some new pictures of Emma. A friend I have met through AWAA (our adoption agency) is currently in China, adopting her son, and her family requested a (not usually granted) visit to the orphanage where their son and Emma have lived most of their lives. God opened the doors for them to go, and not only did they see the orphanage, but with picture in hand of Emma, sought her out for me! My friend even got to hold Emma and whisper sweet promises of love from her Mommy, for me. The tears flowed as I looked at the pictures. I am so blessed that against all odds they were able to find her in an orphanage of 300 children, and not only find her but love on her and take pictures! Thanks Sarah! I will forever be grateful! :) Thank you, Lord, for so much affirmation of Your plan in our lives! Here are a couple pictures of my sweet girl.
As we wait these final weeks, that we can almost count in days, I am trying to prepare as much around here as we can. Beth is now a true big sister...sleeping in a big girl bed, downstairs with Ashley. No more crib for her. The crib is all freshened up and scrubbed clean for Emma. Clothes are all moved and sorted. It is fun to see the kids get so excited for Emma to come, praying for her, shopping for her, and giving up their space for her, too.
Happy Bunk Bed Sisters!
All ready and waiting for you to come Emma Grace Morgan!
..and one last shot, just keeping it real around here...never a dull moment! Matt missed the picture because he was busy 'trying on' the other safety cone that was as tall as him. Lowes will never be the same, I am sure!
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