Surgery Milestone

Jack's surgery was uneventful, just the way we had been praying it would be. He seems more irritated with us that we won't let him get down to play toys. We had hoped he would just go back to sleep. Not the case, he is way more interested in playing games with Emerson at the moment. In fact, he is all smiles with his sister - playing a version of 52 card pickup where Emerson hands him cards and he throws them on the ground.

Thank you, Dr. Bob, for all you have done for Jack. You are a Godsend to our family.

And Jack's NEW journey begins....

Yesterday was the first phase of the second half of Jack's journey. Yes...he has made it safely home to us from China...but his little feet need some correction. Enter...Dr. Bob!! Hallelujah! We've had our first appointment (including a house call!) and you can see phase one below. Jack's little feet in the first picture are clearly pointed inward. XRays showed good news as the correction is not nearly as severe as it could have been...but we'll be in casts and enduring surgery nonetheless. Jack is currently in casts as seen below...below the knee so he can still crawl (PTL!) They are heavy for him but he is figuring out ways to keep mobile. He can still pull himself up and put weight on his feet but he can't really walk around furniture like he could without the casts. No worries...he is not crying because he is in pain...he was irritated that I was making him sit still for the picture. :) Next step? Surgery on Dec 31st. His heel tendon needs lengthening in order for his heel to sit flat as it needs to. We are in Dr. Bob's capable hands and in the Lord's loving arms. Please continue to pray.

And...finally home with Emerson

Emerson was waiting for us with intense anticipation at the airport. It was SO good to have her with us again. The pictures are from our front yard as we arrived home and from our first church service together as a family. What a very Merry Christmas!!

18 days in review

BEIJING: (Dec 2-5)
Holt orientation at the hotel. Sightseeing included rickshaw tour, Tiannanmen Square, The Forbidden City (Emperor's Palace) and Olympic Plaza.



KUNMING (Dec 6 - 11th)
What great memories of our time with my brother and family. The cousins enjoyed their time so very much. We got to do some great sightseeing (including the Wild Animal Safari Park...remember the lion feeding event??).


We also saw the Dinosaur Valley Theme Park (real excavation site in southern China with archeological discovery of dinosaur bones).


Visited the kids school and toured the orphanage.


Celebrated Christmas with Steve, Marlene, Ashlyn, Brayden, Mikayla and Sydney. Amazing, amazing, amazing.


Oh...and did I mention we got to FINALLY wrap our arms around our baby boy??? He, too, is amazing. God is good...all the time. We had several meetings during our time in Kunming to finalize the adoption (Hallelujah!!) and to file for a Chinese passport for Jack.


GUANGZHOU (Dec 12 - 19)
Happy Birthday to Paul!! We celebrated very quietly. (some might say not at all). But our hearts were truly focused on Jackson. We enjoyed seeing glimpses of his personality and watching him begin to accept and even love us. He is just a gem. The smile is contagious...and appears to be never-ending. He has warmed our hearts immensely.

We spent this last week in Guangzhou near the US Consulate in order to file for a US visa for immigration into the States. This included piles of paperwork, a medical evaluation with lots of immunizations (yuk!) and a final oath taking ceremony. Whew! This was the last set of hoops before heading home!!


All in all we spent our week in Guangzhou with 19 other HOLT couples each adopting from different provinces. They became our family and our friends and we wish each of them the best on their family journeys.

The REAL Story behind the blog

Well....I guess now that I'm home I can express openly our experiences with the communist government in China. We felt very safe the whole time and saw just a few episodes that reminded us we weren't in the good ole' USA anymore...the biggest issue by far was the censorship of the internet. I just didn't do enough homework before we left.....apparently nearly all social networking sites are banned in China (no Facebook, no YouTube, no BlogSpot) Just one way the government can control exactly what information is disseminated. So, that's why we weren't able to post updates nearly as often as we'd hoped. Special thanks to my brother who was able to help us access a US connection to get full access to the internet for the few days we were there with him.

There's No Place Like Home....There's No Place Like Home...

Well.....I am typing this from the comfort of my own living room. Praise the Lord!!! My brain is mush (jet lag is a killer!!) but I wanted everyone to know we are safe. I will sort through our 400+ pictures tomorrow and give you a visual review of our trip..it was AMAZING!!! For tonight, I'll just post two of my favorites....Jack at his best.

Please pray for Jack's feet. We are blessed to know a fantastic orthopedic surgeon who actually made a house call (its nice to have friends, eh?)....we may even be looking at casts as early as tomorrow. Dr. Bob was very pleased with the condition of Jack's feet.....the Lord continues to bless us with more than we could ever ask for!!

Lions & Tigers & Bears....and chickens?!?!? Oh MY!

Well...we are absolutely loving every minute with Jack and my brother's family here in Kunming. Monday was all about paperwork (adoption was FINALIZED!!) We went to get Jack's chinese passport picture and he was appropriately dressed in his OSU beavers outfit. Its adorable. Monday afternoon we went to a local park where the kids played on the playground and we rode a few small carnival rides. Jack just watched and soaked in all the action.

Tuesday was our visit to the wild animal park. That is a literal translation of the experience. For instance, Cole fed a live chicken to a tiger. (p.s. that was AWESOME!!) We saw bears, lions, pandas, black bears...all about 3 feet away from us behind a very rickety (if any) fence. We also saw the zoo animal show which included a goat walking a tightrope with a monkey on his back.....and a black bear standing on his hands twirling things on his feet. Apparently there is also a gig where a full size lion rides on the back of a not-full-sized horse....but, alas, it must have been the lion's day off. Great picture opportunities. Jack loved it...he babbled and talked and giggled and laughed all day long. Paul wore him in the baby carrier and he was perfectly content.

Food has been great. No one has been sick in the slightest. Last night Steve treated us to a traditional "hot pot" dinner (kind of like The Melting Pot in Portland??) Boiling broth at the table and you cook your own meat and vegetables with your own sauces. Really, really yummy.

Jack continues to be very active, but has adjusted so amazingly well. He already refers to me as Mama and Paul as Dada. He bonked his head on a table and immediately came to me for comfort so those are huge signs of bonding. We are so amazed at the Lord's blessing upon us. We continue to get more and more than we could ever ask for. This is truly an indescribable experience.....but we can't wait to describe every minute of it for all of you when we return to you!! Please continue to pray. Keep him from illness, continue to help him experience our love and bring all of us home safely.

We'll do our best to post at least once more this week while we have access.....it is likely we won't be able to post at all in Guangzhou next week.....computer online security has definitely been more of an issue than we anticipated. Love you all!!

Sorry we've been out of touch...

Well, its been a bit more challenging than we anticipated to be able to access the blog here in China. ...anyways....none of you care about that. What you do care about is the 16 month old toddler we are now chasing around our hotel room! Jack is a bundle of energy. He came to us without hesitation at the Civil Affairs office Sunday afternoon. He was quiet for just a moment....until Cole and Elise started making funny faces and playing peek-a-boo. Then, just 2 minutes after he was in our arms, he was smiling and giggling and laughing. The pictures attached are some of the VERY FIRST ONES we took with him. (We've taken probably 100 since then...but these are still some of the very best). He eats anything we put in front of him and I have yet to hear him cry. (Don't worry...I'm not living in any illusion....I know his time will come). He fell asleep in Paul's arms in the van back from the Civil Affairs office and when he awoke he was very quiet and seemed a bit overwhelmed. But, several hours later he is wild and crazy again. He crawls EVERYWHERE and does this funny hopping thing on his knees. Its hard to explain....you'll just have to see it to believe it. In fact, he's VERY fast at getting around (Paul just announced that he is too old for this!!)

We had dinner at my brother's and all the kids are great entertainment for Jack. He is VERY social...and we are thoroughly in love!!!! I don't know how consistently we'll be able to post....thank you for your prayers. We have felt surrounded. We will have hours of stories to tell about the small miracles and blessings God continues to pour upon us!! Keep praying....we are truly blessed.

Well....we aren't quite there....

To all of you who prayed for smooth travels....pray harder!!! It is after midnight on Thursday night and......we are stuck in Tokyo. Our flight was cancelled due to mechanical failure (after we sat on the runway more than 3 hours)...we are fine. We are in a local hotel in Tokyo and we have a rescheduled flight to Beijing Friday morning. We will miss our tour of the Great Wall but....oh well. The kids traveled well....we are exhausted. I will let you know when we actually hit Chinese soil.

Its the Final Countdown!!

The bags are packed, the kids asleep, flights confirmed, passports ready....to say that the past nine days have been somewhat unreal is the grandest understatement I've ever made. A friend from high school is in China (exactly a week ahead of us) celebrating with her beautiful 2 year old daughter. Before she left she talked of "compartmentalizing" her emotions in order to get everything prepared for the trip. I would have to thoroughly agree. Paul and I both had loose ends to tie up at work, we needed to finalize arrangements for Emerson, book and confirm international flights on a very short timeline.....while at the same time emotionally acknowledging that we are in the very last days before meeting our fourth child. Wow. So, as we board the plane tomorrow...we feel your prayers. They have sustained us for 14 months....and they most definitely have sustained us for the past nine days.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us in small, tangible ways. I couldn't possibly list the names of all of you. But you are appreciated and I believe that many of you have acted as the hands and feet of Jesus toward our family in these past weeks. We are thrilled beyond measure with the opportunity to bring Jack home. Thanks for celebrating with us. We will post more information as soon as we get to Beijing!!

Give Thanks to the Lord

Psalm 136:1-9
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of Gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of Lords.
His love endures forever.
To Him alone who does great wonders.
His love endures forever.
Who by His understanding made the heavens
His love endures forever.
Who spread out the earth upon the waters
His love endures forever.
Who made the great lights -
His love endures forever.
The sun to govern the day
His love endures forever.
The moon and stars to govern the night
His love endures forever.

Thanksgiving this year was particularly special as we anticipate our time in China in less than a week. As I look at the words of Psalm 136, it still amazes me that the GREAT God we serve cares enough about our family to orchestrate every detail of our adoption halfway across the world. The One who hung the stars in place knew that at this time, Jack would join our family. The One who designed the Sun to provide light, warmth and sustenance to the planet also has provided a loving foster family to provide warmth and sustenance to Jack as he waits for his forever family. It doesn't seem reasonable that our all-powerful, majestic God would care about the small details of our insignificant lives. Yet.....not only does He care.....He cares deeply. God has been with Jack every minute of his short life. He was there when Jack's mother must've made the most difficult decision of her entire existence in deciding to give up her baby. He was there when the orphanage brought him in and provided desperately needed medical care. He was there when a social worker in Portland, Oregon reviewed files on children needing homes and decided Jack should belong to us....and He is still there. Taking care of every minute detail and pouring blessing after blessing upon us. We can't imagine doing this without a strong faith to sustain us. The fears and anxieties of travel and the unknown are completely manageable because we have the thorough confidence that God will provide and protect. The One who designed and created the majesty of the universe cares about me.....and he cares about you.

Hallelujah!! We're coming Buddy!!!

We got our TRAVEL APPROVAL TODAY!!!!! I can't adequately put into words how excited and elated and overwhelmed and terrified and ecstatic and anxious and curious and ......actually, I guess I can try to put it into words!! I will admit that I haven't thoroughly wrapped my head around this yet....I don't think either of us have. On Sunday, December 6th I will have Jack in my arms. Wow. 14 months of paperwork and worry and it will all dissolve when I see his beautiful black eyes...Cole and Elise are so excited. Emerson is hesitant because she knows she is being left, but Grandma Shickley will keep her entertained and content, I have no doubt. As we get more details, I will post them. I'll try to get the tentative itinerary up here as well. Keep praying....we can feel God's presence!!

Waiting....Waiting....Waiting

We have had so many friends ask if we have heard any news on travel dates for Jack. Unfortunately, we are still....waiting. It is something I have NEVER been good at. Relinquishing control of my schedule and my timetable has been extremely difficult. Paul has been my rock through this time, but even now he is finding it difficult to watch the days go by without any updates. Today is the 8 week mark from when our final set of paperwork went to Beijing. We had been told travel approvals were routinely issued between 7 and 9 weeks...so of course, we had hoped to hear already. I recently reconnected with a friend from high school who is adopting a beautiful 2 year old girl from Shaanxi province in China with our agency. They waited 11 weeks for travel approval, so Paul and I are slowly acknowledging that we will need to, once again, adjust our timeline for travel. Thanks to all for your words of encouragement and your prayers. We covet them daily.

Blessings Beyond Measure

a.k.a. Things we never knew to ask for...that the Lord gave us anyway!!

1. The orphanage report at 3 months of age says Jack loves music!
2. Jack is born in the same city where Linda's brother & his family live
3. We receive multiple updated medical / health reports even though the orphanage typically does not release additional information.
4. Jack is moved to foster care at a very young age.
5. The foster family update describes Jack as "long and skinny" compared to other Chinese babies. (He'll fit right in with our kids!!)
6. Jack's birthday is a perfect match for the rest of the family. Emerson's birthday is July 23. Cole's birthday is exactly one week after Emerson's. Jack's birthday is exactly one week after Cole's.

How We Got This Far!

Here is how our timeline has gone....

October 2008 - we applied to our agency with our first paper application and our $200 application fee

October through December 2008 - paperwork for our dossier, including medical appointments, gathering birth certificates, marriage licenses, employment verification letters, local police clearances, etc. Our agency sent us a HUGE checklist of things to gather and we just started doing that. We hadn't even been contacted by a social worker yet.

January 2009 - HomeStudy application....this was a huge packet of questions (everything from finances to child-rearing practices to marriage strengths and weaknesses to personality surveys, etc, etc, etc)....plus four references had to complete a large packet on us as well. Plus we had to do fingerprints (again) with Oregon State Police.

February 2009 - Home Study visits.....we were assigned our social worker and she did two office visits and two home visits. We worked through this process very quickly because we happened to have President's Day off school so we scheduled one visit then and we were able to schedule our later visits in rapid succession.

January, February, March 2009 - we attended three weekends of adoptive parenting classes in Portland. This is a new requirement for Hague countries

April 2009 - Our Homestudy written report was completed. We submitted our HomeStudy and our Medical Checklist (the kinds of medical conditions we were willing to accept) to our agency's China Program in Eugene.

May 5, 2009 - we got a call that we had our referral and we got our first pictures of Jack. This program is a little different than the standard China program in that, if you're wanting a healthy regular Chinese baby, then the Chinese government matches the family with a child. If you are taking a child with medical needs, then the agency matches the family with the child. So our social worker selected Jack as a match for our family.

May 14, 2009 - we received word that our USCIS immigration clearance arrived (I-800A)and soon all our paperwork will head to Beijing. (It seems weird that we already have a baby assigned to us....and none of our forms are even in China yet!!!) But, like I said, this process is different than most.

June 5, 2009 – DOSSIER SENT TO CHINA!!! Check for $12,000 sent to Beijing along with travel paperwork and placement agreements. Preliminary forms for U.S. visa….mom and dad select name for sure (Jackson Noah)

June 9, 2009 – email update includes new height / weight for Jack and GREAT news that Jack has been moved to foster care family!!

June 12, 2009 – Marlene emails to say they ran into foreign director for orphanage. He looked up Jack’s file and reported that Jack is very healthy and moved into foster care at about 5 months of age (Jan 2009).

June 16, 2009 – decide to take Cole & Elise to China with us. File for passports.

Aug 1, 2009 – just five days before Jack’s first birthday we get updated height / weight information and a BEAUTIFUL picture of our son. He is absolutely adorable!

Aug 6, 2009 – Jack turns one today. We celebrate as a family by going out to eat Chinese food for dinner and the kids sing Happy Birthday to Jack.

Sept 8, 2009 – First Day of School. We arrive home to find our LOA (Letter of Approval) has arrived from Beijing. We sign, fax and return immediately. We file for our I-800 approval from USCIS. File for visas on our passports for Paul, Linda, Cole and Elise.

Sept 25, 2009 – Agency calls to say all paperwork has now been sent to Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and now we wait for travel approvals (about 8 weeks).

Nov. 20, 2009 – 8 weeks today. No T.A. yet. Still waiting.