Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Mitchell had a great time being part of the Red Sox baseball team this spring.




He had 14 games and had fun playing many different positions. He even tried being the catcher.


Receiving his 1st trophy at the end of the season was the best part of the season.

Ming is very happy!

We heard back from Ann, the gal that we hired to help us with the care package for Ming. She was able to call back to the orphanage and get information for us. She told us that Ms Zheng, the orphanage director said, " She Ming was very happy to receive your package and was very happy to be adopted by you and was very happy to go to USA."

We were hoping for more but so thankful to get this message. It sounds like Ming is very happy. We sure wish that we could have told him exactly when we are coming. We continue to pray that he is very happy to receive this news about his adoption and is not too afraid.

A Wet & Cold Night

Our Aquatic Center opened tonight for season pass holders. Our kids have looked forward to this night for a while. You see, our aquatic center opened a whole new section this season that our kids have been looking forward to for 2 years. They even changed the name from Moses Lake Aquatic Center to the Surf & Slide Waterpark. They added a flow rider and a lazy river as well as some little kids fountains and a new snack bar.

So, even though the temperature was more geared towards building a bonfire than swimming, we packed up a picnic dinner and headed over to the waterpark, just as it opened, to be one of the first on the flow rider. Jay was quick to point out that because he is a lifeguard, he has been able to already spend significant time on the flow rider before the park officially opened.

The flow rider is a simulated surfing ride. Check out Madison and Jay in the pictures.




I predicted that they would stay only about 20-30 minutes because it was so cold, but they were having so much fun we ended up staying the full 3 hours the pool was open. This summer will be fun!

The Long Awaited TA

We received our travel approval today. Yippee! We sure wish it had come last week so we could be on our way to China. But we are very thankful that we have it and now have all our paperwork from China that we need to bring Ming home.
We will be working on our travel plans for early July. We will hopefully be leaving for China 6 weeks.

Great Sorrow

Maria Sue Chapman, 5 year old daughter of Steven Curtis & Marybeth Chapman, died yesterday after she was hit in her driveway by the car one of her brothers was driving. Apparently, she was outside playing and her brother did not even see her. What a horrible accident. The family was celebrating great joy this month. Maria celebrated her 5th birthday 10 days ago, oldest daughter Emily became engaged over the weekend, and oldest son Caleb is celebrating his high school graduation this week. How life changes in an instant! Please pray for their family as they mourn Maria's death but also as her brother deals with the great grief this accident has brought to his life.

Maria's adoption story is beautiful and of God. After the Chapman's had adopted Shaoey and Stevey Joy, Steven was in China visiting orphanages and was introduced to a beautiful little girl. When Steven inquired about her name, he was told her name was Maria. He was struck not only by such an unusual name in China, but the fact that years before he had written a song called, "Who will take care of Maria?" God spoke to Steven's heart that day and told him that Maria was to be in their family and they were to take care of her. God took care of Maria as he placed her in the Chapman family, just as I know God will take care of her family as they mourn her death.

The Chapman family has become very special to us. We have had the opportunity to meet SCC on two occasions, completely humbled by his love for his family and his compassion for the orphans of China and around the world. I remember when we met him the month before we brought home Jamae. He told us that our life would be forever changed through adoption and that once we went to China we would go back because part of our heart would still be there. How true are his words! Our life has been forever changed because of the Chapman family, because not only has their family been an inspiration to us in our adoptions but their foundation, Shaohannah's Hope, has helped fund both Jamae's and Ming's adoption.

If you feel moved, please consider honoring Maria and donating to the Maria Miracle Fund:
http://members.shaohannahshope.org


Meeting SCC right before we adopted Jamae



Introducing Jamae to Steven Curtis Chapman

Care Package Update

Here is the email that I received this morning from our contact in China:

Dear Caryn:
She Ming got his package from the orphange ...but the director Zheng did not know anything about your package thing ,also she did not know that you will adopt SheMing ...so she let me call her back tomorrow then she will let me know what she ming think about on his package ,love,Ann

We really don't know what to make of this news. We don't know why the director does not know of our adoption plans. We thought that the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) would have made them aware of this by now. I guess we will just need to wait until tomorrow before we start jumping to conclusions.

My heart is really in China right now, wishing Jody and I could be telling Ming this news ourselves.

Difficult News!

Our travel approval has not arrived. We have heard the words that we prayed we wouldn't hear. Because we have not received our travel approval, we will not be able to travel this weekend to China to bring home Ming. We do not understand but the decision has been made. We will now be traveling in July. We do not know the dates yet, but will post as soon as we learn. We ask for your continued prayers that our travel approval arrives soon, so we can make concrete travel plans. Yesterday I read in a devotional that while God may seem slow at responding to our prayers, He’s always right on time. We know that God has this whole situation in His hands and we trust Him even though we don't understand.

Please pray for Ming's safety, health, and emotions as he waits for us to arrive. Is he excited about his new family or does the whole idea terrify him? My heart breaks that we have to wait so many days to find out.

My Wedding Bear Becomes A Groom

The were only two places I wanted to be today - China or in North Carolina for my nephew TJ's wedding. Where am I? I am in Moses Lake waiting impatiently for China to send us our travel approval so we can bring home Ming. What is taking them so long? I made the terribly hard decision to stay home from the wedding with the hope that we would be traveling to China any day now. But here I am, with no word from China and my entire family in North Carolina for the wedding. Ugh!
So my thoughts travel to TJ and Meredith as they become husband and wife. Is it really possible that my "wedding bear" is becoming a groom today? At my wedding 18 1/2 years ago, TJ was too little to be a ring bearer, but hearing about his older brother Steven being a ring bearer, he declared that he was my wedding bear. He went around saying "grr". Too cute!
Happy wedding day TJ! May God bless you and Meredith with an amazing life together.

Ming

The orphanage received our care package today. I wonder...did they give Ming the box? What was his response?

Celebrate Life Day!

3 years ago today, God spared Jody's life after having a heart attack. Words cannot express our gratitude to our Almighty Father for this gift of life for our family. On the first year anniversary, we started the tradition of celebrating life on May 15th each year. This year we all played hooky and ran off to Spokane today for a day of picnicking and disc golf. We had a wonderful day together - the only thing that could have made it better is if Ming had been with us.


Doesn't Jody look great?

We started the day off at a picnic grounds near the disc golf course in Spokane. The pine trees smelled delicious. It sure made me want to go camping. Our picnic table was right next to the Spokane River. The sound of the roaring water was very relaxing. We had fun going over the swinging bridge nearby. The weather was beautiful and this is a park I want us to return to soon.




We had a lot of fun playing disc golf. This was a very difficult course - the hardest course our family ever played. The course was beautiful, set right on the Spokane river. Unfortunately Jody lost one of his favorite discs in the river, but thankfully we didn't lose Jay as he jumped in the rushing water to grab another of Jody's discs.

Jamae's Surprise

"Look Mom! I'm riding my big girl bike." This is what I heard when Jamae wanted me to come out today for a surprise. One of her brothers put her training wheels on and off she went. And no, it is not this cold out to warrant a winter coat but that was Jamae's coat of choice.

Happy Mother's Day!

My thoughts today turned to my wonderful mom who has been with Jesus for 9 1/2 years now. Oh how I miss my mom! My thoughts also can't help but turn to Jamae and Ming's china mamas. How thankful I am that they chose life for their children. How hard days must be as they wonder about their children. How blessed I am to call Jamae and MIng (soon!) as my own. God has also blessed me with 4 outstanding 'home-grown' children and a fantastic husband. I felt so honored today (and everyday) to be their mom.

Jamae's letter to China

Dear China,
I love Ming. You need to know that. We need to get on an airplane to come to China. I told my mommy that I won't throw up this time on the airplane. Ming's nannies love him just like my nanny loves me. They will be sad for him to be my brother but I will be happy! I want to take Ming to the Aquatic Center and show him how to swim. I'm not afraid to go under the mushroom this summer. Maybe Ming will go with me. I want him to go to Build a Bear Workshop with me and get a bear. It will be fun to have a brother with brown hair just like me. I have made many pictures to give to Ming when I see him. I know he will want to be my brother. China, can we please come get him?
Love,
Jamae

A Box Full Of Love

The day we've been waiting for. Now that we have our Referral Acceptance, we have been given permission to send Ming a package from us. We have been working on this box for months. Not wanting to overwhelm Ming, we decided just to send a few items to him to introduce him to his new family. Of course we had to include an Ohio State shirt as we wanted him to have the official Bowser t-shirt. We also included cameras hoping Ming or the nannies will take pictures of people and things he will want to remember. We made a photo album of us: pictures of Jody & me, and his siblings and dog. We labeled each picture in Chinese so Ming could become familiar with who we are. Most importantly, we included a letter to him that we had translated so he could read it. Jody wrote the love-filled letter explaining everything to Ming in great detail about what will be happening in the coming weeks, especially once we arrive in China. We want him to have as much understanding about what's going to happen as possible. We packed the box with lollipops that he can pass out to the other children in the orphanage.

We are sending the package to Ann who owns a shop in China. She will then send the package to Ming's orphanage and then call them to make sure Ming received it. Maybe we will even hear about his reaction. Ann also translated a letter for us to give to the orphanage director. How do you find the words to thank the people who have cared for Ming the last 6 1/2 years?
Ming should have the box in the next 7-10 days. We are not sure when Ming will be told of the adoption - if it is when China receives our signed RA letter, when our travel is confirmed, or when the box arrives. Either way it will be soon - please pray for Ming as he receives this life changing news.

Fedex Is Here!

Fedex is here! Fedex is here! Those were the words I yelled to Jamae this morning as we waited for the Fedex truck to arrive with our package from AWAA with our official Referral Approval from China.

When I opened the package, here's what I found:

How fun! Inside the folder was the official Referral Acceptance letter from China. Now I'm off to Jody's office to sign it with him and then to Fedex to overnight the letter back to America World. They will then overnight it to China for us.

LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

Did you hear the shouting at your house? That would have been us as we got our Referral Approval today!!! Melissa at our agency called this morning at 7:45 am. to tell us that we received our final approval from China. We have waited for this call for 98 days since we received our pre-approval. Now there is no turning back on China's part. There was never any thought of turning back from us. We are so excited! Because we have chosen not to travel in June because of Jay's mission trip to Burkina Faso, AWAA is doing everything in their power to have us travel on May 24th. That is in 3 weeks!!! We will have to get our travel approval from China very quickly in order for that to happen. Please pray with us that China immediately issues our travel approval so we can bring Ming home this month. If we don't receive our travel approval quickly, we will then need to wait until early July to travel. Thankfully though, whenever we travel, this adoption will happen and we will be bringing Ming home.