Bringing our little girl home!

 I don't even know how to start this blog post... I guess with tears and a very full heart.  We are now a family of 6!!!  We were finally able to take our daughter home! Trav and I traveled to Bali prior to picking up little Miss and had a blast!  It was a much needed time of connection before the adoption.  Locals laughed as we joked this was our third honeymoon/babymoon. *Cheesy love pictures available below.  Of course our luggage didn't arrive until the day we left for Thailand and even then, Trav's bag (with some of Muaysai's things) was still missing. We learned that we can really travel quite a bit lighter than I ever thought possible.  I was just praying and hoping all the things we had specially packed for Muaysai would arrive in time for the adoption.  The final bag arrived the day before we took custody of Muaysai.  A giant thanks to all the family members who made this whole trip possible by taking care of our three kiddos. ❤️...

 First of all, happy mother's day to all today.  We are all affected today in different ways.  I feel the many emotions of both being a mom and having lost a mom while anticipating the journey of being an adoptive mother.  May you find joy, hope and peace today whatever part of the continuum you are on.  God sees you and loves you.   It is a very emotional day today!  We received news this past Wednesday that we have approval to travel to Thailand to go get our little girl!  The sermon at church was on the many different seasons that life brings (we are studying Ecclesiastes, which oddly enough happens to be one of my FAVORITE books).  I find myself in so many seasons congruently.  I am both overjoyed to finally, after 4 years, be traveling so soon to go get Muaysai, the final member of our family!  I have also learned to live with the hole that is not having my mother, but still ache to share this earthly journey with her....

We received really exciting news this week!  We received first approval from the Thai board to adopt Muaysai.  This is a really big step and officially starts the wheels turning on a timeline.  This means that we will be able to go get Muaysai in 4-6 months.  We are hoping and praying for 4 months!  Our process with immigration can now continue as we can now get official approval over the next 6-10 weeks through the I-800 process to adopt Muaysai.  In short, we have more paperwork, red tape and hurdles, this includes forms to get notarized and eventually our final training with our wonderful caseworker.  This is the final push in the process and includes the final steps to help us prepare to adopt Muaysai.  Once all this is complete, we will receive a date to travel and take her home!  The lead time on travel dates will be anywhere from 2 - 8 weeks.  We're hoping it will be somewhere in the range of 4-6 weeks... for reasonable ticket pri...

 Wow!  It's been a while since I've updated this blog.  With the pandemic, waiting for paperwork.... life, it almost feels like another lifetime has passed.  :)  We have had SUCH good news these last couple months!   It began this past February when I reached out to Holt see if there was any change in Muaysai's paperwork.  They responded the day after Easter... her paperwork is complete and SHE IS ADOPTABLE!!!  It was a much longer wait than anticipated.  Many times they reached out to see if we wanted to move forward with another match and I just couldn't do it.  I firmly believe I am supposed to be her adoptive mama.  This journey has not been my doing alone, but the Lord's along with the precious support of my husband and children... we are doing this thing!   What does this mean?  We can now continue on the journey of adopting Muaysai!  Essentially we get "back in line" which they informed us usually mea...

 I think as Christians we often long to show that swift answer to prayer. I really wanted to share with you all that our recent prayer for Muaysai’s paperwork was answered, but we are still waiting. In reading an old college friends’ new book, “ Adoption in the Rearview ” recently, I was reminded how we love to share the nice and tidy packages of God’s presence and grace because they are comforting and affirming. However, we can’t neglect to show the reality of the process which doesn’t always follow the direct route as planned. The reality of our process is that I really believed we would have definite answers about Muaysai’s paperwork, but quite simply... we have yet to receive that swift answer to prayer we were looking for. I really believed that God was going to be able to answer our prayer for Muaysai’s paperwork by Christmas. Could this have been possible? ... of course. Did it happen? No. The short of it is that rising numbers of COVID in Thailand forced adoption authority ...

Sometimes the plans we make don’t exactly match the one God has for us. Perhaps it takes longer or there just doesn't seem to be a swift resolution.   The road curves or has obstacles in the way that sometimes feel insurmountable. We had hoped and planned long ago to have Muaysai by Christmas but it became clear that it was not possible.   We realized this several months ago when we heard of the hiccup in her paperwork and if you remember I asked in my last post (August) to please pray that her paperwork would be completed by Christmas not even really knowing what paperwork it was.   Well here we are, approaching Christmas, so it's time to pray!!!   We had the opportunity to see her assessment just last week and I wasn’t prepared for the tears that rolled down my cheeks.   You see, I have never met Muaysai, never held her hand, never have our eyes met.   Yet my love for her is as if she was in my womb.   I know this is going to change things for o...