Our One Year Anniversary and Time Line

I was thinking back to last year this time, and I realized that as of today, it's a year since we began our journey. Wow!
Last year on this date, I believe we were traveling home from "Camp Hope", actually Camp Taconic in upstate NY. We had just spent a blessed week with our church Calvary Chapel of Hope and it was Friday and John and I were driving back home.
Let me back up a little bit. I had received a packet of information from La Vida International (our adoption agency), in January of that year (2005), about adopting from China. Looked it over briefly, but new in my heart that John and I weren't ready. So I prayed that the Lord would reveal to me what I, and John should do. Well, while at camp, I felt the Lord urging me that "it was time", so on the way home from camp (it's about a 2-3 hour drive) I decided to talk to John about adopting from China, and specifically I asked him if he would watch the video with me that La Vida had sent me. John just said "sure". How one little word changed our lives!!
We both were never the same after watching the video. That Monday, I called La Vida and the wheels went into motion.
We were officially accepted by La Vida on September 6th, 2005 just after Labor Day, and that was when our official "paper chase" began.
Our home study began in October 2005 and was finally completed in December 2005.
We were fingerprinted on January 21, 2006 for our immigration approval and received that approval about 4 weeks later. That official form once authenticated and sealed completed our dossier, and our dossier left for China on March 6, 2006.
We were logged in on March 22, 2006 and just celebrated the 5 month mark.
Currently the wait till referral has been slowly increasing and is now to 13-14 months.
That means that as of now, it looks like we won't receive any news about Renee till at least April or May 2007, or later.
Well, that's where we are up to as of today. We are now 1 year into what may be a much longer journey then originally thought. As always, we give thanks and praise to our Lord, and look to Him for all we need during this wait.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy. Proverbs 13:12

Yesterday Was Our 5 Month Anniversary!!

August 22, 2006 was our 5 month LID anniversary!! Our dossier was logged in to the CCAA on March 22, 2006. Wow, 5 months to go on what looks like to be a 12-13 month wait till we receive our referral. So, we have at least another 7-8 months left to wait. I don't know where in processing our dossier is, but I know for sure we won't be in the "matching room" for a while longer. That's OK, we are 5 months closer to meeting our daughter Renee!!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Thank you To Our Secret Pal!

Several months ago I joined a Yahoo group for all of us who had a dossier sent to or logged in to China in March of 06. We are the "Marching Pandas". I have been involved in not only the 100 Wishes Quilt Swap, but also the Secret Pal Gift Exchange as well.
I'll post on the quilt swap shortly, but in regards to the secret pal swap. I have a secret pal that sends me awesome gifts each month, and I have a secret pal that I send gifts to each month.

Every month has a theme, August being "Animals". Previous months themes have been: baby bath time, nursery theme & colors, pamper the parents, and meal time accessories. I have in the last 4 month received just beautiful gifts for Renee (and John and I as well!) from our secret pal. We are supposed to reveal our identities in January during our "cyber baby shower"!
What good memories I will have of the time I spent waiting and preparing for Renee's arrival. It helps to make the loooong wait that much more bearable. Not only that, but I'll be able to share these memories with Renee as she grows.

So concerning the animals theme this month, my secret pal sent me socks with little animals on them and two gorgeous outfits. I hope the picture I took above helps you to see how lucky I am!! Thank you secret pal you are the greatest (whoever you are!!).

It's Been a Rough Month

I know I promised to post more frequently, but the last month has been rather rough emotionally with family issues related to illness. Although I didn't post, reading everyone else's blogs helped me so much, thank you to you all.