We have a Log In Date......YEAH

Brian here.

Wow,  2 weeks exactly, right on the money.  Next in line is our P.A. ( I think it stands for Provisional approval.) So many acronymns. This is terrific. According to current guidelines, I can finally answer the FAQ of "When are you going to pick him up?". Our current guesstimated time of travel is end of October/beginning of November. This being the case, I can't think of a more lovely way to ring in the 2012 Holiday Season. Imagine what Jonah will think.

 We will be loaded with candy still from Reformation Day ( halloween to some). Shortly after that will be Thanksgiving.........Oodles and oodles of turkey and delicious deserts. Then right around the corner is Christmas. He'll probably be smothered with presents from his new extended family. Then New Years and of course the Chinese New Year. (No they don't happen on the same day.) ........

This Kid is going to think all we do here in the USA is party, celebrate and eat.......That doesn't even take into account the many, many birthday parties sprinkled among the National Holidays. .............Anyway, one more box to check on the long list of boxes to check. The time will hopefully fly by for all concerned.

Package On It's Way

Brian here

We received an email from Ann in China that Jonah will be getting his care package from us in 2 days...That would be Thursday the 24th......OK, I'll take that. With every great success their are always mild disappointments. Ultraman will not make an appearance at the Longgang Model Family Foster Home. The versions in the store currently were deemed "too low quality" to warrant their purchase. Instead, the worlds greatest standby present for any boy.........drum roll please.........A TANK......good alternate choice. The next best thing to fantasy role play with some form of superhero is to fantasy role play with some form .....any form of militaria....Tanks, planes, cars, trucks, little green soldier men.....even anything that can be held in the hand as a gun, sword or other weapon of mass destruction.

Anyway, Ultraman was not the purpose of the package in the first place. Contact........that is the ultimate purpose, even if the contact goes through an intermediary. Jonah needs to know, we are coming, we have not forgotten him and we are working as hard as possible to bring him home. All the other silly things, the toys and comic books, are window dressing for the big picture. My hope is that as he receives these and things he will have some idea of how much we already think of and care for him. That he is not alone. That he will have a family that loves him. Hopefully, these little tokens of fun will help to remind him......We are coming.

Waiting on our L.I.D.

Brian again.
I know it's not long enough but the time passes so slowly. Our D.T.C. was 5-11-12 and It's only been 10 days but still the wait is so frustrating.  No L.I.D. (Log In Date) yet.....maybe in a week ,hopefully, or two.
In the mean time to add to the waiting frustration, we are expecting to here from Ann re: the package and letter she was supposed to deliver for us to Jonah. With each letter and package we send, we get another little sliver of Jonah's personality. A little more info and snapshots to tide us over until the next package.  Photos and such from Ann are anxiously awaited. Toni has included her email address in the hope that someone, anyone in contact with him will relay a message to us.

Who knows it's worth a try. Sometimes the questions we send get very short answers. It would be delightful to speak to someone who has seen and spoken to him in the last few days or weeks.

Well until something else happens we will be forced to sit patiently and wait........Whether we like it or not.

DTC (Documents To China)

Mark the date May 11-2012 we have finally gotten over the hurdle of getting our documents to China. This is Brian posting by the way. I have to say that my wife has done such a spectacular job with all the paperwork. She has been on top of everything. I would be lost without her. We can kind of catch our breath as we wait for the next domino to fall in the process. It's difficult for me to imagine what it must be like for Jonah to have to wait all this time. He has been aware that we have been working on the adoption as far back as December of 2011. I think back to when I was that age (9) and remember how long it took for Christmas, Birthdays, Thanksgiving, summer break, etc...... to come around each year. It always felt like a lifetime while I would wait in anticipation for the upcoming event, whatever "it" was. Now I think of how Jonah must feel. He's been waiting since December already and still will have to wait another 5 to 7 months......At his age it must feel like forever...I just have to keep telling myself that God's timing is not like our timing. This time that he is apart from us, God, I'm sure, is using it to shape each one of us and to prepare our hearts for the time to come....In His economy it is a necessary time. That's the only way I can make the tedious and slow progress make sense to me. Hopefully, His timing is really fast....Also, it has been quite a while (2 months ) since we've sent him anything, so it's time for another package. This time he's getting necessities only........An Ultraman action figure and 2 packs of comic books. Exactly what every kid needs. Of course a loving letter composed by his mama will be in there as well......Toni knows exactly what he needs to here and she says it in a way only a mother could.