eighteen months old today

You're a year and a half old today Lilah Grace. Many preparations are being made for us to meet you in thirteen days! We already feel like we know you, God has knit our little family together and we couldn't be happier. We love you so very much.

2 Peter 1:4 - Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises

new forever family day

If I heard the voice message correct, (left by our travel co-ordinator today), we are getting our little Lilah three days earlier than we expected! Yippeee! It seems because of the 'rushed trip' we will be getting Lilah on Friday 12th December, not Monday 15th December like we were initially told. Oh the excitement of it all! Two weeks tomorrow Lilah will be in our arms!

it's all about the memories

We picked up the camcorder for our trip tonight. We'll both have to practice using it a bit as we've never used one before. I'll admit, I'm not nearly as fond of movies as I am of photos! Colin is officially in charge of it; he has been voted director, writer and editor. He just doesn't know it yet!

pink is the new black in our house

Anyone who knows me can quickly guess my favourite colour! No, I don't normally buy pink for myself! It looks like Lilah will definitely be a pink girl though, well at least until she can speak for herself!

packing and weather

This week I packed Lilah's suitcase, and then decided (after the fact) that she needs a bigger suitcase! Whoever saw that one coming! I'm blaming it on the two climates! In Guangzhou it will be quite warm, but in Beijing it will be colder. Not to mention I have no idea what size will fit our baby girl, so I have a lot of different sizes thrown in, just in case!

We also heard from our agency contact yesterday. She received a copy of the hotel reservation for Beijing, so now she has sent our passports and visa applications to the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa to have the visas processed. We hope to have our itinerary for our trip within China soon. 17 more days to go before we fly!

Weather in Beijing.

Weather in Guangzhou.

our flights are booked

Well when things happen, they sure happen fast! The flights are booked and the airline tickets were purchased today - there is no turning back now, not that we'd ever want to!

We are going to China!

As far as we know, we will get Lilah on Monday 15th December 2008. Forever family day, forever Lilah day; the day that we become a family! It's amazing, our dreams are finally becoming reality. Praise be to God, our Father!

given the go ahead

The letter of confirmation arrived today and the Justice Department has given us the green light. Wow, sigh of happiness!

Right now we just feel so blessed that this has all been made possible. In four weeks we will be receiving the greatest gift, our little Lilah. Our God is a great God.

tentative travel dates

Does this process get any more exciting than having tentative travel dates? Well yes it sure does, but this is definitely great news; it's probably as much as we can handle right now! So yes, the dates are December 10th - 23rd. We were expecting to have to spend quite a bit longer in China, however we will ask no questions!

As it stands, the Canadian Embassy (in Beijing) is a go and there are flights available. The only thing outstanding at the moment is the Justice Department, we will find out tomorrow if they give us the go ahead. So exciting!

miracle of the moment

Our 'miracle of the moment' was finding out (this morning) that our letter of confirmation was mailed last evening and is somewhere between Beijing and Ottawa! I think mail sent by purolator takes about three days to get here, so it should probably arrive on Thursday or Friday. We will find out more tomorrow regarding travel and dates...stay tuned! I think it is an understatement to say we are overjoyed; His perfect timing.

* * * * * * * * * * *
There’s only One who knows
What’s really out there waiting
In all the moments yet to be
And all we need to know
Is He’s out there waiting
To Him the future’s history

And He has given us a treasure called right now
And this is the only moment we can do anything about

And if it brings you tears
Then taste them as they fall
And let them soften your heart
And if it brings you laughter
Then throw your head back
And let it go, let it go

Steven Curtis Chapman
* * * * * * * * * * *

no letter yet

I thought I would post an update just to let you know we haven't received our letter yet. I spoke with our co-ordinator this week and we have one more week to get that letter - until Nov 14th; after that date we cannot travel before the Christmas holidays.

I know so many of you are thinking about us - your thoughts, prayers and comments mean so much to us. The waiting is hard, I don't know how we would cope without such caring friends, and the presence of our Heavenly Father, who continues to lead and comfort us.

I just want to say 'thank you'.