We have our First Approval from the Thai Board!

-

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 prices and final prep! :)  

We are so incredibly excited to be coming to the end of the waiting journey and so over the moon extatic to finally meet and add Muaysai to our family!  I have so many mixed emotions as I realize she is so much older and this will be the most difficult transition of her life, to a place she doesn't know, a family she has never met and a language she doesn't understand or speak.  It breaks my heart that it took so long, but I do believe that God has been orchestrating this entire process and is creating the perfect timeline.  Emery and I have been cleaning and re-organizing her room in preparation for Muaysai to join her.  We've gone through her old clothes, reminiscing of when she wore them, vacuum packing them away for Muaysai to wear soon!  Please pray for readiness for Emery, Madsen and Aksel's hearts for this process.  This will be a big change for our whole family and I am so excited, but want to make sure we are sensitive to all the kids' needs during this process.

Muaysai's birthday is coming up and we had the children make cards to accompany the gift package we were sending her.  She will turn six on February 13th!  It's hard to imagine, but she was just 2 years old when we started this process.  It was fun to put together a care package for her to help celebrate her, next birthday she will be celebrating her special day here!  In the package, we included a pillow with our pictures on it, hoping she can hug it and start to build some awareness of who her family will be.  I hope and pray she can hug it and imagine us hugging her back!  She received our photobook a couple months ago through which we introduced our family and home to her.  It's becoming more and more of a reality and I am so ready! 

We have been fortunate to meet (virtually) another family who is adopting Muaysai's friend.  They live in Maryland and will likely be going to get their little girl the same time we go to get Muaysai.  How special to be able to meet and connect with the family of Muaysai's friend. This will be so important in trying to maintain relationships and her Thai identity as she becomes Thai (and technically Burmese) American.  

So excited to bring our little girl home!!!!


Prayer Requests:

- swift immigration and travel planning process

- preparation for all our hearts and physical space (it's a small house!:)

- preparation of Muaysai's heart, that she will be able to start to process this big change


Thanks for all your continued support!  We are so grateful!






Muaysai receiving our Welcome Photobook 





Muaysai at a special Thai celebration, Loy Krathong Festival.💜





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muaysai is home!!!!

-
Image
 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. ❤️...
Read more

2 years home today!

-
Image
Wow!  I just realized I haven’t updated this blog in a LONG time!  Today marks 2 years since Muaysai joined our family! (on the Thailand side) I can hardly believe it!  God has been so faithful and good I can’t even begin to explain it, but I will try.  Muaysai has already navigated both kinder and first grade.  She is loving summer and like most kids, doesn’t want to go back to school and start second grade just yet. She is speaking, reading and writing (with help) in English! She is spunky and a great advocate for herself.  The girls (Emery and Muaysai) and I just recently got back from a trip to Maryland to visit her best friend from Thailand, Ratchanok who was also adopted at the same time.  This was a very sweet time for them to rekindle their friendship and hopefully space to grieve together the trauma and loss that is international adoption.  Just like our lives, I pray that God is able to build something better for them out of this sufferi...
Read more

Patience

-
Image
 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 ...
Read more