Update on the update

So, here's what happens when you rely on a man to give you information...you have to update your update. I have no idea how he forgot to tell me this critical piece of information, but here's what Chris just told me...

We travel to Zhengzou on Sunday, the 19th, and WILL HAVE KAI IN OUR ARMS ON MONDAY!!

Just thought I'd let you all know (and know that I'll be handling all details at this point!)

Ready or Not...

HERE WE COME!

We found out today that our appointments are scheduled and confirmed in China, so we are all set to travel. The itinerary is set and tickets are purchased. That means next week Chris, Sam, and I will be on a plane ready to meet our sweet little man.  I have never felt such a range of emotions...excitement, nervousness, fear, elation...you name it, I've probably felt it today!

So, here's what our plan is:

Our flight is during the night on Tuesday/Wednesday, so we will be heading out Tuesday (the 14th) night. We will fly out of Chicago and head into Hong Kong. From Hong Kong will will be heading to Beijing. We will arrive there on Thursday (the 16th), because Beijing is 12 hours ahead of us. We plan to be in China for about 2.5 weeks.

While we are there, we will spend time in Beijing. We will also be heading to Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan Province. Jiyuan City, where Kai was born is about 2.5 hours outside of Zhengzhou. From Henan, we will also head to Guangzhou, which is located near the southern coast. We are thrilled to see and experience this beautiful country! Here is a map, so you can see the locations we will be traveling to:

Until then, It is going to be a whirlwind. We are waiting to have a conference call with our agency on Wednesday which will give specific details about our trip and appointments. Needless to say, we have a whole LOT of packing to do. I get to meet with my long-term sub tomorrow and have her spend the day with my class. There is a lot to do...a lot to think about...a lot to be thankful for. Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare to make this journey!

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Haven and Lifesong

I've been meaning to post since Sunday, but with heading back to school this week, life just got a lot more hectic! Now that Sam and I have a few days under our belt, I thought I’d post before we head out of town this weekend for my brother’s wedding! I’m actually hoping to get in one more posting/update before we leave Friday, but we’ll see if that actually happens or not!

Sunday morning we (Chris, Sam, and I) had the opportunity to worship at Haven Reformed Church in Hamilton. This was not a new place for us, as Chris had done an internship there while in seminary. He also worked as a small group coordinator after he graduated. We had developed many good friendships there and it was good to be back around people whom we don’t get to see nearly as often as we should. In fact, all of Sam’s “highs” Sunday were from our time at Haven yesterday… we got to see a baby get baptized; he got to eat cake with his good buddy, Sophia; he got to see Miss Daryl, his swim instructor who he absolutely adores; after the service his book buddy from school came running up to give him a high five.

Of course, our time there was not just to attend the worship service, but to be part of it. Being a pastor, this was natural for Chris. Not so much for me. I’m used to being with 3^rd graders, not large crowds and microphones! But, I sure love talking about our little man, so that made it a bit easier.  While we were there we had the opportunity to share a bit about our adoption journey so far. It was good to share our story with a congregation that has so many members who have adopted!

We were also asked to speak about working with Lifesong for Orphans. Recently, Haven had decided to partner with Lifesong for Orphans to provide financial assistance for families in the adoption process.  Haven had decided to set aside money in order to provide low interest loans or matching grants for adoption costs; Lifesong manages the application process and funds. Earlier in the year, a member from Haven contacted us about our adoption, specifically the funding of our adoption. He wondered if we would be in need of or interested in receiving some financial assistance…um, yes, please!!!  After applying, we received a matching grant! (Some of you have asked about the Lifesong donation button on the side of our blog page – this is where that comes in. All of the donations made to Lifesong through this link are part of the matching grant that we received.) We are so thankful to Haven for their support, not only financially, but also for all of the love that they showed to us and Kai. This boy has no idea how much he is loved!

Thanks so much to EVERYONE who has loved on us and our boy through this process. We’re still waiting on our Article 5 (which we think should be here soon!) and our Travel Approval. After that, travel plans start to be made!

Update!

Oh, how is it possible to love someone we’ve never met so much?!?

We have been waiting for an update on Kai for so long. Since March to be exact. I thought getting new information would help ease the longing that we feel, but I think it actually has made it worse! Seeing his sweet smile makes us all the more eager to bring him home. This little man has truly stolen our hearts!

Of course, we take the information we have received today “with a grain of salt”, since we know that it may or may not be totally accurate.  Regardless, we wouldn’t trade it for the world. Here is what we learned today:

·       One critical piece of information that we learned today is that he has had additional heart surgeries in China. We don’t have many details regarding the procedures at this time…well, we do, but we haven’t mastered reading Chinese characters yet, so we’re waiting for the medical notes to be translated. We know that this will probably take a few weeks.

·        We also learned that he is now in foster care. So, he is no longer in the Jiyuan City Child Welfare Center. The update also said that he has a close relationship with his nanny.

·        The notes say that he is very introverted and has stranger anxiety…this could make things interesting when we get there!

·        He is a little peanut! He weighs just 22 pounds at 2 years old!

·      Sam’s favorite piece of information we learned today was that Kai loves to play with toy cars and trucks. Such a boy!

Now, for the pictures! This face melts our hearts!

We will keep you posted if we hear any additional information in the upcoming weeks before we travel!

Good News!

So, I posted on Facebook today that we received our LOA today. We’ve been waiting (patiently?!) for this for about the past 2 months, so it was HUGE to get this today! Many of you expressed your excitement for our family with reaching this milestone…Thanks! We thought, though, that we’d fill you in on what this actually means and what the process will be from here. Unfortunately, it does not mean that we are ready to travel…but we are one BIG step closer!

Here is a brief explanation of what our timeline looks like:

*Once our agency submits our LOA, which is our Letter of Acceptance from China, they will send out a set of immigration paperwork to the USCIS. We will try to wait patiently for a few weeks for our provisional approval of this.

*Upon receiving these documents, our agency will submit all of our documents to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. We try to wait patiently again for a few weeks while they review documents. After reviewing, the US Consulate will issue their approval of our case, which is called an Article 5.

*Our Article 5 will then get sent on to the CCCWA (China Center for Children Welfares and Adoption).

*After a few more weeks of waiting, the CCCWA will issue a Travel Approval, which will get sent to our agency in Colorado.

*When our agency receives our Travel Approval, they will email an appointment request to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. Once we have a confirmed appointment, our agency begins making travel plans!

Realistically, it looks like we will be traveling to bring Kai home in about 10-14 weeks. Of course, we’d love to get on a plane and head to China yet tonight! But, we know that there is a lot of preparation that is necessary before we can head out. Until we do travel, we would appreciate prayers for patience, patience, and more patience as we wait for documents to process and approvals to be sent.

This little face makes all the work and waiting more than worth it!

Meet the newest Timmer

Here was Sam’s prayer tonight…

I’m not sure if you caught it or not, but Sam thinks his brother is pretty cute. It’s no joke, he really is. His eyes dance. His smile shines.  We think his caretaker says it so well; that he “is like a little sapling that needs care.  With meticulous watering, he will surely grow and reach the skies.”

We are so excited that we are now able to post pictures and share a bit more about our sweet little man!

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Look at that face! He melts my heart!

Meet Kai Xin. We have named him Gabriel Kai Xin, but have decided to continue to call him Kai. Kai is 22 months old and will celebrate his (estimated) birthday on July 10.  

Not even being two yet, one thing we know for sure if that he is one tough cookie. In fact, our background paperwork calls him an “amazing person.” He was born with multiple congenital heart defects such as tricuspid valve dysplasia/small right ventricular cavity, pulmonary atresia, complete inter-ventricular septum, inter-atrial septal defect, patent foramen ovale, and patent ductus arteriosus. He has had open heart surgery already, but naturally, we anticipate that he will need further treatment/surgery when he is here.

While we are excited to begin sharing more details about our little man and while we are waiting to bring him home (we’re trying to be patient!), we have a few prayer requests:

1.   That God will provide doctors and caretakers in China with wisdom and insight to continue to care for Kai. We also pray that we are prepared here to meet his medical, emotional, and spiritual needs once we bring him home.  

2.   That God will give Chris and I the wisdom and insight to help Kai adjust to us, Sam, our home, our surroundings, our language, etc. once we are home. Not only will this be an adjustment for him, but for us as well. We love him so much!

3.   That Chris and I can help Sam prepare (mentally and emotionally) for our trip to China. We know that this will not be a “fairy tale” situation, as we will be taking Kai away from the orphanage and caretakers he knows.

4.   Patience in waiting to bring him home! We do not have a travel date yet, but know that each day brings us a little closer!

What a weekend!

This weekend was a whirlwind to say the least!  We had our fundraiser garage sale on Friday and Saturday. In addition to raising money to bring home our sweet guy, here are some highlights of the weekend:

*starting weeks ago, we had so many generous people donate items for the garage sale. The amount of stuff we had was somewhat overwhelming…but what a great problem to have!

*When I announced on Facebook that we wanted to do a bake sale, I had 6 people within 20 minutes offer to bake! All of these people were from ZPS (what an awesome place that I get to work!).

*Our sale was set to open at 12:30 on Friday…Chris had a rush of people shortly before 11:00!

*Shoppers were so generous, many making donations or offering that we “keep the change”!

*Many acquaintances who were unable to make it to the sale donated instead!

*The neighbor boys visited the sale often. At one point, one asked “how much more money do you need to adopt him?” He was bound and determined that we would raise enough money to cover the entire adoption!

*We got to meet a sweet, sweet little girl from the subdivision across the road who was adopted from China (their family even went through the same agency from Colorado). Sam had so much fun playing with her!

*So many people asked about our little guy, his health condition, when we get to travel, our adoption journey…and shared their experiences and support.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped us in ANY way. We appreciate it!