Dominican Republic = paradise

 So we decided to go on vacation seeing as the adoption was no where close to happening.  After all, Mark had days he had to use or he would lose them, so we decided to go to the Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.  (I saw the pretty beaches on the TV show, House Hunters International, which is what prompted us to go!)  It was everything we thought it would be...actually more.  We stayed in Edificio #13 (pictured above)

When we arrived, it was evening and Punta Cana faces southeast, so we didn't ge much of a sunset, but here are some shots anyway.

The beach just near our room.

The lobby area in our resort

 More beach shots...but I think this is the sunrise...I can't remember.

 Yes, this is sunrise...we went scuba diving every morning so we were on the beach by 8am every morning to meet the boat that took us to our diving center.

 More beach

The next afternoon at the beach.  Its truly as white and beautiful as it appears in this photo.  Such a beautiful place; such perfect weather. 

So every day there was nice ocean breeze coming off of the Atlantic and a warm sun shining down on the beach.  So incredibly perfect.  Its not terribly popular with Americans, but let me tell you, there were tons of Canadians, especially Frech-speaking Canadians, and Europeans too.  There were even some Russians.  It was quite an international vacation spot!  Tons of languages and culutres in one place.

 Mark hanging out at the beach, reading his diving book.  We got our open diving certification while there, so it required some studying.



My view from my beach chair.  Divine. 

Nothing...

_{So we've had NO movement at all on the adoption front. Korea is still refusing to grant the necessary paperwork to any orphan awaiting overseas adoption. We are fast approaching eleven months, just waiting and hoping Korea will let her come home.   At this point one has to ask, “Will they ever let her come home?”  It’s a valid question.  Right now we have no timeframe and have been left hanging indefinitely.  Our conversations about Avery have gone from, “When she comes home…”  to “If she comes home…”}   

_{In spite of this, I send her a care package every month.  It’s the only way I can show her and her foster family we still lover her, we still want her, and we constantly think about her.  It’s the only tangible thing I can do.Here are some photos of the most recent package and new photos of her opening our February package.} 

_{We love you baby.  We miss you.  We long for you to come home.  You’re always in our prayers.}

Here are the kids holding the items we sent for her March care package

Addie holding her sister.

Addies kissing Avery.

Here's Avery holding her February care package.  We sent her a Minnie Mouse since its one of Addie's favorite things!  I think she likes it.

Here's her pretty face.

She looks so big here. In front of her is all the stuff we sent her. 

God is gracious

Yesterday afternoon, my little niece Corinne walked out of the hospital.  It is a miracle from God.  He heard our many, many prayers, and was merciful to allow her to come home.  We are so grateful for the prayers and so grateful to God for his mercy.  She stills has a long way to go to regainher  speach and mobility, but we are thrilled.  Please pray for her continued recovery and for patience as they begin intesive, 5-day-a-week therapy.   

Corinne at Christmas

Corinne's birthday

My brother and his family.  We love you.

Praise God for infinite mercy and grace!

I held her hand...

When I went to visit Corinne yesterday and several wonderful things transpired:  First she was NOT in ICU!  Second, she looked right at me, and third, she smiled and held my hand.  Praise God for his mercy and grace.  She is stable and making much improvement.  I'm thrilled.  We are all thrilled. 

Corinne - in the blue dress.  

A Rough Season

Corinne is my niece on the far left..the blonde.  She is 4.  She fell deathly ill Thursday.  She was promptly admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.  She was unresponsive and had a blank glassy stare.  It was frightening.  She was first diagnosed with meningitus, but when she did not respond to the medication and the cultures didn't grow, they went back to drawing board.  She was then diagnosed with ADEM and was started on tons of medication.  Last night was horrible and we were pretty sure she wasn't going to make it.  But she did.  She is markedly better, but when I left the hospital she was started to get fussy agian.  Pray she doesn't crash again tonght.  Pray God spares her.  Pray.  Just pray.  I am so happy that she has made progress, but I do fear the night. 

Psalm 18:30-31

³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect:
The LORD’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God? 

Pslam 121

Psalm 121

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

There are times there is really nothing to say, and whatever words you have are so inadequate to express whats buried deep inside, that you stutter, and then choose to be silent.  This is where I am and this is the passage God gave me. He is my refuge.  He alone is my hope.  All else is meaningless and futile.

More foster mom gifts!!!

 Ok..so clearly Addison had the BEST foster mom in all Korea, because she sends her little gifts and things all the time..even though we've had her home for over a year and a half!!  She can clearly read minds too because the gifts she sent Addison LOVES!!  As you can see, she sent Addison a bunch of stickers, which Addison LOVED, and used generously! 

 She sent her this cute little bracelet..and Addison loves jewelry.

 Oh!  Here is Addison's sticker creation!  So nice ...and abstract.

 She also sent her this cute purse with her FAVORITE cartoon character; Minnie Mouse, whom she calls "tootles."  As you can see by her expression...she loved it!!!

 More love!!!

 She also sent her hair barretts.  (We alwasy need those!)

 ...and a note for us (in Korean..no translation!?!?!)

 If you speak/read Korean...I'd love a translation!!!  :)

 Here are some more hair things she sent us.  Sparkly little hearts!

 

Oh!!  ...And this is Addison telling me shes done with all the photos.

New Photo!!

This photo was taken at Avery's last check up which was January 19th.  She was 16 months old.  She's getting so, so big!  She is holding the gifts we sent her.

Adoption update

Yesterday we were told that Korea has decided to issue NO Emigration Permits until February, despite the fact that we were told paperwork would resume being processed in January. No reason was given. (Keep in mind, no child can leave the country without this piece of paperwork which they stopped issuing last June.) We were also told that they believe Korea will only accept one batch of Emigration Permits to be submitted each month, whereas last year there were months were two, three, sometimes even four batches were submitted within a month. What does this mean? It means that adoptions will be intentionally processed very slowly; much slower than ever before.

What does this mean for us personally? Who knows? We are two months behind those who are first in line to receive an Emigration Permit. Also keep in mind that once our Emigration Permit is submitted, it will still take 4-8 weeks to be approved and then we still have other paperwork that will need to be done before travel. This means even AFTER we get submitted and approved we'll still have things to wait on. All I know is that traveling this spring basically a pipe dream. I think summer is now the realistic season, but even then I hold to that very loosely because when we were first matched we were told fall, then we were told spring, and now were being told summer…so basically every time were get close, the date is changed – and it typically extends our wait by 3-4 months.

I will refrain from an emotional/angry rant about this situation as it will not do anyone any good and will not bring God glory. I am however BEYOND frustrated, and honestly wonder if we will ever get our little girl. Keep in mind, her birthmother or foster family can adopt her as long as she is in the country, so this line of thought is not unrealistic. I mean, how can her foster family bear to give her to us after she has been with them for almost two years?!? (…and how can I be the one to take her?)

So here's where I'm at: I'm WAY too far down this path to cling to unrealistic optimism that is based on absolutely nothing but unfounded hopes. I don't want to be pessimistic and negative either. I guess right now, I'm just staring into the face of the facts as I've been given them and the reality of what has already happened. I've long since stopped sticking my head in the sand and choosing ignore all the bad news that has been steadily coming my way since last June. I'd be foolish to pretend its all peachy when it is clearly not. I will say this; my prayers have changed from, "please bring Avery home quickly," to, "do whatever is best for her," and that's a very, very hard prayer to pray.

Pretty in Pink

I came out of my room this afternoon to see this on my couch. 

 I said, "Addison, what are you doing?!" 

She replied, "Readin' my Bible Momma."

Then she smiled really big!!! 

 She was alternating between her slippers & high heals...something I do daily! 

Here's the shoes she loves so much.  Notice the pinky toe sticking out??!  

This is her, "Really-mom?!" face.  I love it.  

2012...and still no movement

So 2012 is here.  This was when Korea was supposed to start re-issuing Emigration Permits.  They would reset the quote and begin anew and we were so excited!  In past years there has been movement within the the first week with either approvals (in earlier years) or submissions in later years.  So all week, I've been waiting to see who gets submitted for their Emigration Permit so we can begin to calculated (roughly) when we might get ours and travel. Each day I checked email to see what was going on...and nothing. Nothing Tuesday, nothing Wednesday, nothing Thursday, and then Friday...nothing.  Last year there were batches of Emigration Permits submitted every week in January, but that clearly isn't going to happen this year.  So now, all I can do is sit and wait.  Any timeframe I had has been blown out of the water, and at this point no one knows whats going on.  To say I'm frustrated is not adequate.  I really have nothing to say.  I'm kind of numb, but I feel a stream of anger welling up inside of me, and the urge to rant maniacally is pecking away at my mind and tempting my tongue to unleash, so please pray that I can still be a reflection so Christ even when the small hope I had was simply wiped clean away and I have been left with nothing expect a photo of my sweet baby girl.

Christmas Lights

 We went to a local Garden where they had put up over 700,000 Christmas lights!  It was beautiful!

 I went with Valerie & her daughters!

 Teh blue lights behind us were bundled to resemble grapes.  They were very cool!

 Here is Bridget..posing!

 Here is Gracen!

 Here I am with Addison!

 

 Addie was curious as to what was in the paper bags!  We caught her just as she peeked into it!  So cute!

 This photo doesn't do the garden lights justice!  They were very pretty!

These two ladies were in front of us the enitre time we were at the garden...and they walked SO SO slow!  Bridget expresses our feelings perfectly