Our Story You are heading in the right direction. - The first fortune cookie we opened upon making our decision. Our journey to Hannah began long before January 18, 2005; however, that incredibly snow-covered evening is etched in our hearts forever. Emily was not feeling well that day, and the weather was ominous. We called Welcome House three times to make sure whether there would be an Adoption Orientation that evening or not. They assured us there would be. And so, with Emily in the capable care of her grandparents, and Rob and I with our snowboots on and shovel in the car, we set out for Welcome House. In the dark and in the snow, we almost missed the driveway, but most certainly we were meant to be there that evening. As we approached, the parking lot was desolate and except for outdoor lights and a small light in the main building; it appeared as though they were closed. We tried the door anyway, and lo and behold, we were welcomed warmly. We are certain it was a sign. As we left that evening, no words needed to be exchanged. Rob and I were certain the Lord had already chosen our daughter, and she was in a land very far away. A frenzy of paperwork would follow. Even our local mailbox vendor would come to know us, and incredibly, pray for our family as we fed-exed and faxed our little hearts out. On October 8, 2005, our dossier was registered in China. Now, we wait...... Today, October 13, 2006 we spent the day at USCIS to be re-fingerprinted. With a wait this long, sometimes some paperwork expires, and this was one of ours that needs to be completed before Rob departs for China. October 17, 2006 I was getting the radio in the car fixed on Monday. Emily advised the room full of waiting patrons that she was waiting for her sister, Hannah. The young man behind the counter came over and asked about her comment. I advised that we were adopting a little girl. He inquired, "From where?" To which I replied, "China." His response was kind, "That's wonderful. Any particular reason you chose China?" We have been asked this question many times, not quite in this fashion. Sometimes I opt not to answer, but it came easily this time, "Because the Lord guided us to our child there." It was not a choice, it was God's design. No, no news yet. Rob and I joined a Yahoo group for Adoptive families that have primarily adopted from China. I continue to be amazed at the number of resources available and at the multitude of information a family needs to complete an international adoption. We have made some wonderful friends and anticipate that our circle will keep growing as Hannah becomes our daughter and sister. Emily and Daddy spent the evening putting batteries in all of Hannah's toys. Emily discovered some of her treasures from infancy. She has decided that the Winnie the Pooh that sings the baby to sleep is her favorite (she loves that it is remote controlled!). October 31, 2006 I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.--Psalm 40:1 Hello all. As always, thanks for visiting. It has been a busy day. Emily had her Halloween party at school, and she was asking for dinner by lunchtime because she knew she got to "trick or treat" after dinner! As far as little Hannah...Welcome House indicates the following in their most recent newsletter, "At the end of September, CCAA released a new set of referrals. They were for families whose dossiers were registered between July 23, 2005 and August 9, 2005. We were pleased to see that 2.5 weeks of dossiers were included in this group. Our next dossier group was registered on October 8, 2005, so it will some time before we receive referrals again. CCAA will need to process the remainder of July and all of August and September before getting to October. We hope that it will go quickly, but recently they have been averaging 1.5 to 2 weeks of referrals with each group sent out." From what we can tell, no referrals were received in the month of October. It is disappointing, but I keep revisiting scripture regarding patience (of which I have very little!) and I am comforted. It is frustrating to watch holidays slip by without Hannah, many more than we would have imagined have elapsed without our daughter and sister with us. We have no control over the process, so we have focused on happy times as a family. We have used the time to take many day trips with Emily and even a vacation at the beach. We are grateful for these happy memories and look forward with such anticipation to when Hannah will join us for our family outings. Hannah has received lots of treats and gifts for the holidays, despite the fact that she is not physically here to celebrate. The fact of the matter is, she is present in all of our hearts and minds each and everyday. We so appreciate how she is remembered even though she can't be here right yet. Keep praying for a speedy referral! Love, Heather, Rob and Emily Emily's beachprint 2006 -- next year we pray Hannah's footprint will be right beside Em's! December 1, 2006 "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him (Christ) who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12-13 I have always loved this verse. I have prayed it on many occasions and continue to do so. It is easy to get discouraged when going through a process that provides no guarantees about timeframes. I used to be attached so dearly to my Franklin Planner that I had to have it surgically removed when I lessened my workload and had a family. Okay, well not really, but it felt like it. Truth is, that never was my Bible - the only Bible I have is the one where the Lord continually reassures me that He has a plan and that plan is perfect. I believe Him - I have always believed Him. So, even though the newest referrals came out yesterday and only cover to September 8, 2005; I am happy for those families who finally got their first glimpse of their newest family member. It gives us hope and encouragement as we plod along through I-171 forms and USCIS. At least the re-doing of paperwork keeps our minds and fingers busily getting closer to our younger daughter and sister, our Mei Mei. On the homefront, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Emily, who we have learned is Jie Jie in Chinese, has lost her first tooth! She even sat on Santa's lap this year (we used to get a great picture of her back as she ran for the hills away from "that man"). This year, she hugged him. We can't thank people enough for their generosity of spirit in keeping encouraged and joyful even when they are disappointed with our news. It helps to keep our attitudes in check and keep our hearts focused on Hannah. Many thanks - keep checking. We are getting closer! Love, Heather, Rob and Emily "Faith is the substance of all things hoped for." Hebrews 1:11   T'was the Night Before Christmas...   There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn Crying for mama's arms At an orphanage just outside a little China town Where the forgotten are But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine It's Christmas time again but you're not home Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms And tell you from my heart I wish you a Merry Christmas   ----from "Merry Christmas" by Third Day   Emily's version of The Beals!   Happy New Year to ALL! Gong He Xin Xi What a beautiful sight it is to see messengers coming with good news!--Isaiah 52:7 It is very soon!! Rob knows this will be the most exciting birthday present ever! I got one of those close to five years ago (wink, wink!) We received an e-mail from our agency the day before yesterday with instructions on how to proceed once we get our referral. Welcome House said they are expecting referrals at the end of January or the very beginning of February, and they will usually get notice a few days before they are sent from China. First, they try to get the referrals translated from Chinese to English. They have someone in China that can often get them from CCAA before they are sent and have this done immediately. Once the agency receives them, they take about 1-2 hours to log them in and process them in their office. After that, they start calling us with basic information such as her Chinese name, date of birth, province etc. Hopefully, later that day they will e-mail us a photo. The next day or a few days later, we will drive to Welcome House in Perkasie to meet with our Social Worker and receive the complete file. They suggest we take the file to a pediatrician for review before we officially "accept" the referral. We have our regular pediatrician as well as the International Adoption Pediatrician at CHOP ready for our big news! We know it will be a whirlwind when this all happens, but we promise to post information and pictures as soon as we get them. Please continue to pray for Hannah's safety and well-being. Also, please continue to pray that our paperwork gets here soon so that we have no delays in our travel. On the homefront, Emily has had a rough few weeks with pneumonia. She is a spunky little one, and this time at home has given us lots of opportunities to play with Hannah's new toys. Emily feels confident she can show her how everything works! (Like any of us had any doubt about that!) Rob hit a deer last Friday, so the Sherman tank must once again make a trip to the repair shop - those Ford Windstars take a lickin' and keep on kickin'! Fortunately, Rob was not hurt - we will refrain from comment on the deer (may he rest in peace). I'll end with a cute story -- Emily makes her bed every morning and a few days ago, she marched in and informed me that she would need some help. No problem. As we were walking back to her room she says, "I'll do the side by my nightstand, and you can do the side with the vampire." Now, a bad reaction to the prednisone has kept Emily awake a few nights and she has been chasing the monsters out every evening, but I'd never heard her mention the vampire (nor did I think she'd ever seen a vampire). So, I asked her if she could show me the vampire. Her response..."Well, yeah, you pour water in it every night and it breathes me to sleep." By this time she is standing over it, pointing to the VAPORIZER. Kids say the darndest things.... Hannah, hurry up and come home - we all love you, little one. I have included three pictures of (China Center of Adoption Affairs) CCAA in China where all of our paperwork has been processed over the past 15 months. There is the Matching Room, where our paperwork is right now, the Dossier Room where our Dossier was stored until match time and the plaque that adorns the front of the newly designed CCAA.       Also included is a cute pic of our little sickie helping Daddy get Hannah's toys ready!   February 2, 2007 Wow! What a day - I am still reeling! News came in the past few days that the stork had landed (or at least was flying our direction). We received an email from Welcome House indicating calls would be made by next week--NEXT WEEK? Fortunately, it did not take that long. I headed off to work as usual. Ray had an important observation today at school, and he wanted to work about as much as I did. At 3:37 PM, my cell phone rang, and my mom inquired what the number of the agency would look like-- someone had just called the house. I knew! Then it came...the call --it is the most mindboggling ten minutes; there was shrieking and crying and shaking and scrambling--where is my list of questions when I need them? Despite that list, I wrote all over the page! Ray's mom (after much hugging) sent me packing, and I headed home to view the very first pictures of our daughter, Xiao Wei Feng (we think Xiao means "small") I must digress, 45 minutes after leaving their home, Ray, Samantha and Lorraine were on our doorstep, flowers, balloons and a beautiful cake in hand to celebrate our joy. Thanks Fergiones--you are the best! We waited about an hour, and then the email came. It included three great pictures of Hannah. (I actually think she looks like us!) We were overwhelmed--she is without a doubt our daughter and sister. Just like having Emily, I have already forgotten the pain of waiting for Hannah--it is amazing the way the heart heals in the light of love! The email also included the Medical Exam and Physical/Developmental Record. Now the records are still in Chinese, so I cannot divulge much of what is on them yet. That is coming... So, most of you have some questions, and I will attempt to answer them here. The next step is to meet with our Adoption Coordinator on Monday for what is called a Match Meeting. By then, the file will have been translated in it's entirety. We can then forward it to our pediatrician and the IA pediatrician at CHOP. Once that is completed, we document a LOI (Letter of Intent), which will seal the deal, so to speak and communicate our desire to adopt little Xiao into our family. Following that, travel arrangements are made, visas are obtained and finally,travel to bring our baby girl home. Tentative dates look like late March--wahoo! Lots of people have inquired, "Why has it taken so long?" and the short answer is "We are not 100% sure." The long answer is that there are so many dossiers and only so many paper-ready adoptable babies to accomodate the number of people growing their family in this way. My feeling is if it had not taken this length of time, we would not have this beautiful little girl joining our lives,so it is immaterial now. We have also encountered a lot of "Why China?" and it is simply because we knew our daughter was there and though long, it is a predictable program that works. Please pray for Hannah during this new period of waiting and also pray for our paperwork to be returned efficiently, so our travel plans can be made. We cannot thank you enough for your caring and generosity of spirit--we feel so very blessed. Love, Heather, Rob and Emily   Fergiones take celebrating seriously!   Hmmmm, wonder what he wished for this year!         This page hosted by