Sweet blessings from Above!

Tickets were purchased on Friday! Eman and I will leave on September 6 for China!!!!! I can hardly believe it yet at the same time seems so unreal!

This weekend we sold bags and bags of kettle corn and caramel corn - nearly 250 bags. We also received about $450 in generous donations from strangers at Walmart! I had a group of friends that also donated their time to help me out. I am so crazy grateful for these families! While the financial support is absolutely important, the family support is even more important. These families demonstrate Christ's unconditional love for not just me, Eman and the boys, but for a little girl they have NEVER met! They are welcoming her into their hearts without any question or doubt! Their support has been unwavering. I am so, so thankful for my friends!!!

Thank you Lord for these sweet blessings!

Consulate appointment and airline tickets!!

We received our consulate confirmation Tuesday night and began the search for airline tickets! Today we decided on an itinerary and will be purchasing them in the morning. We will be flying out on Sept 6, arriving in Xian late on the 7th. Sunday, the 8th, will be Gotcha day!! I cannot believe that we will be meeting Naomi, in the flesh! Paperwork and site seeing will happen for the next few days. Then we fly to Guangzhou for more paperwork and site seeing. Our consulate appointment is on Tuesday, the 17th, and we will fly back home on the 19th. We leave Guangzhou early in the morning and will get back to Seattle a bit after 12 noon. Eman and I will fly, with Naomi, into Pasco, arriving 7ish.  Wow. 

Now, while we wait, we celebrate our family of four.

We also finish up our fundraisers and pray that The Lord blesses us with the rest of what we need. :)

Saturday and Sunday I will be selling kettle korn. Eman is finishing his last weekend of night rotation, but will be helping with a shift Sunday morning.

August 17 is Johnathan's 8th birthday. I'm not sure what the plan is yet, but partying will be on the menu!

August 24 we will be hosting a backyard movie night. We will be selling popcorn, treats and drinks all to help with our expenses.

August 31 we will be doing our Both Hands project. I am super excited for this!! We will be blessing a widow from church, Marjorie. She is a very sweet lady who lives with constant pain left over from her double mastectomy. We are planning on doing gravel in her small front and side yard, so they are no longer cheat grass. In the backyard, we want to build a small patio cover. It is too uncomfortable for Marjorie to sit out in the sunshine. So, we have recruited a builder friend of ours to help design and construct. I know Marjorie is very excited too.

Before we know it, September will be here and it will be time to go! 

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for what you have provided so far!! Thank you that you are faithful to bring us to completion! Help us not to labor in vain - let this bring glory to YOU!!

T to the A!!

Our travel approval has been received by our agency, Lifeline!! This means we have permission from China to cross their borders to collect our child!  Tomorrow the consulate reopens and Karla will ask for our appointment. Eman has decided to ask for a later appointment. First off, we are not fully funded. Second off, we have three fundraisers in the works, one being our Both Hands project. We will be doing this on Aug 31, so asking for a later appointment date allows us to not rush in organizing and completing this project.
I have asked that our appointment be on Monday, September 16. If we are given this date, we would leave for China on September 7! We should hear back by the end of this week what day our appointment will be on for sure and then we can make flight arrangements!
I have been gathering supplies  for the past few weeks and I *think* I have most of what I need. I still need to finish purchasing the gifts for dignitaries, nannies and guides. I also need to purchase a few more essential snacks and supplies. I am sure I will over pack, but am going to do my absolute best not to. :)
In the meantime, we will be having as much fun as a family as possible. John's 8th birthday is in a couple weeks, too.
Here is one of the most recent (and last) pictures I got:

Independence Day

Today is the 4th of July! We have big plans - this afternoon, we will be heading over to our friends house to set up a hotdog BBQ fundraiser.  Each dollar will bring us closer to bringing Naomi home. Each dollar will bring us closer to an independence day for Naomi setting her free of a life of being alone, without a family. I am so excited for this day! I have a patriotic outfit picked out for our daughter to wear. I know that is a bit cheesey, but it has proper symbolism in my mind.

In just a few short weeks we will be getting our approval to travel and about 2 weeks later, we could be boarding a plane to meet our little miss. Not just meet, pick her up and finalize paperwork to make her ours - FOREVER!  Crazy. We still need a chunk of money yet.. I am trusting the Lord to continue to provide, though. He has gotten us this far and will not leave us short.