We have been home with Kenzie now for 10 months!   TEN MONTHS??!?!?  Time has flown by but I am loving every single second of being a mommy of two.  It didn't come though without it's fairshare of heartache, frustration, and tears.  But we have made it!  We are all fully bonded and Kenzie and Kyler fight like a brother and sister should!

I plan to be more active in my blogging...sharing about my life, my love, and my children! 
So stay tuned....

I am on my way!  I cannot believe that this day is already here! I am sitting in the San Francisco airport getting ready to board my last flight before I will be with my baby girl FOREVER!  Words cannot express the emotions I am feeling right now!  God is good.

The next 14 hours are going to be rough but totally worth it!  We have had so many people praying for us along this journey and I know so many will continue!  So blessed!

This morning we sang a song at church that sums it up.....

"Never Once" by Matt Redman

Standing on this mountaintop

Looking just how far we’ve come

Knowing that for every step

You were with us

Kneeling on this battle ground

Seeing just how much You’ve done

Knowing every victory

Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone

Carried by Your constant grace

Held within Your perfect peace

Never once, no, we never walk alone

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Every step we are breathing in Your grace

Evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Thank you Lord Jesus for being faithful!!!!!

IT IS FINISHED!!! 
Our adoption process is FINALLY complete! 
We got an email this morning that our Final Decree had arrived yesterday at THOGL!  Kenzie is 100% legally ours and nothing can change that!  We are allowed to bring her home!

In the email Ted said that it had been a whirlwind day.  When he received our final decree, he quickly got Kenzie to Taipei to get her passport and then made an appointment so Bev could take her tomorrow to get her final visa physical!  These are just the mandatory steps that must happen before we have our AIT appointment and can leave the country!

I am so excited that our process is done!  It has been a long, frustrating, painful process at time....but totally worth it.  God is good and His timing is perfect (even though most of the time it didn't line up with mine...haha!)

So the rest of the week for our family here in the states is going to be crazy!  Tomorrow night the wonderful teachers I work with our throwing me a shower, Friday night we have Kyler's 6th birthday party, Saturday we are hanging out as a family of 3 for the final time, and then I leave on Sunday!  Phew.....when will I pack??!?!???  So if anyone wants to come over and clean my house or help me organize life....feel free!  :)

Please continue to pray for bonding between Kenzie and I.
Please continue to pray for our traveling....that all goes smoothly and that Kenzie and I don't cry too much!! :)

Travel plans are set!!

I'm leaving on Sunday, March 17 and returning home (WITH KENZIE!!!!) on Sunday, March 24.

God is so good and we are so blessed that we finally get to bring Kenzie home to join our family!  Our family of four!  (I love how that sounds!)

Our AIT/Embassy appointment is on March 21.  Please pray that everything goes smoothly!

We still cannot say thank you enough to everyone who has joined us on this journey.  We could not have done it without you! God has truly blessed us with some of the most amazing friends and family!

“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.”  Proverbs 25:25

For those of you who have adopted from THOGL you know that when you see that verse at the beginning of an email it is going to be good news!  

That was the verse that came across our email today!

WE GOT OUR FIRST DECREE!!!!!!

Kenzie is officialy ours and we are so excited.  

The only thing left in our process is for our Final Decree to be issued and to have our AIT appointment.  So I am leaving the week of March 18 to head over to Taiwan to (Lord Willing) finish up our adoption process and bring our baby girl home!  

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and we see it!  

Thank you for your prayers and keep them coming!  We are not quite done but one HUGE step closer!     

We have a due date!!!!  

One of the hardest comments that has been made to me through this process is "well at least you do not have to wait as long as a pregnancy" or "your wait isnt that bad...when you are pregnant you have to wait 9 months".   If you are reading this blog and you have ever said that to an adoptive mommy or have thought about saying it.....either apologies or refrain.  That comment hurts! 
With a pregancy you have an END DATE.  You know that around a certain time (due date) your baby will be in this world, with your family, part of your life.  When you are adopting you have NO IDEA when you will bring your baby home or when you will have an END DATE.  One of the hardest things about adoption is the unknown.  So friends....I ask you....please DO NOT compare it to a pregnancy.....it is completely different. 

But in saying all of that.....
I actually have a due date!  I know about when I am going to get to see my baby girl again!  PTL!  Richard and I have been praying for the past couple of weeks about when I could return to Taiwan and bring our baby girl home.  Well the courts are not cooperating with us on the paperwork (ha ha) so we changed our prayer.  We began praying that God would open a door so that I could be with our baby girl again soon.  Since the moment I have left Taiwan I have missed it.  I miss the smells, the weather, the people, the orphanage, the babies....but most of all my precious girl Kenzie.  I have been so jealous of the mom's who have gotten to stay in between court and decrees.  But I knew because of Kyler I could not be gone that long.  So.....

This last week my school sent me an email letting me know that they had approved for me to not come back after Spring Break until the end of the year (and still get paid).  They wanted me to have as much time as I could with my baby girl!  Plus with the class that I have this year it would make for an easier transistion.  So that got Richard and I thinking.....what if we could work out the details where I go ahead and go on over to Taiwan during my Spring Break and then spend time there until our adoption is final and I can bring Kenzie home.  We knew a few things would have to work out for Kyler and we also wanted to make sure the orphanage was okay with it, but we got confirmation this morning that it is a GO.  So...

Around March 17 I will be leaving to head to Taiwan to help out the orphange and spend time with our precious baby girl until I get to bring her home.  I am so excited! 

We are still praying that all of our paperwork will come together before then so I can just go for the week, finalize things up, and come home.  But if not....at least I know that I will get to be with her while Richard and Kyler hold down the fort at home!

The biggest obstacle we still face is financial.  It is going to cost more for a plane ticket right now because of a few reasons.  It is Spring Break, I have to get an open ended ticket, and we have to pay for a plane ticket for Kenzie (we'd have to do this regardless of when we go).  We know that God will provide for us.  I would like to be able to book my ticket in the next week or so in hopes of getting a cheaper rate but since it is going to cost more we have to have more time to save (waiting on paychecks).  So the closer that it gets to the time....the higher the tickets go.  So please pray that it will all continue to come together and we can get a great deal on a ticket!

So with all of that said....
Pray for us! 
We are so excited to have a DUE DATE but also trying to trust in God to work out the details!

Love you all!  

It has been 4 1/2 weeks since we appeared in court.  These past weeks have been the hardest and longest of my life.  I just sit and stare at Kenzie's picture wondering if we will ever have her home.  It still all seems like a distant dream.....not a reality.
This week the courts are closed for CNY.  So in a weird way I am relaxed this week....I still really want to have her at home with me and in my arms.  But I also know that I do not have to wake up each morning wondering if I have an email or if today will be the day. 

So I am going to be honest....I have a goal for this week while the courts are closed....
My goal is to spend this week praying, fasting, and working on my heart.  I have had a lot of jealousy over the past week.  Their have been couples that have brought home their babies home recently and it is very hard to see their excitment and how their babies are growing and changing when my sweet girl is thousands of miles away....and right now we have no end in sight as to when we will bring her home.  So God and I need to have some time to work through these issues!

We celebrated Chinese New Year with our THOGL friends this past weekend.  It was so much fun!  I enjoyed catching up with new and old friends.  I am so thankful for the people that adoption and THOGL has brought into my life.  Some of my very best friends!

Please continue to pray for us...

*Pray that as soon as the courts open back up we will get our first decree.
*Pray that Kenzie remains healthy and safe.
*Pray for our finances (we are still short on plane ticket money....trusting God to provide).
*Pray for my heart as we wait.

Love you all!