Uncle John

Our brother-in-law John, has slyly mentioned being an uncle for the last several years.

"What do you want for Christmas?"
"How about to be an uncle?"

Ok, maybe not so sly.

So when we broke the news about our girl, he was pretty excited. And wants her first words to be 'Uncle John'.

Thankfully, Uncle John is giving of his time. Because he and Michelle weren't sure we were going to get everything accomplished before we head to China, Uncle John paid us a visit last weekend.  And because of his help, we are much closer to have things ready for our girl.  Thank you, Uncle John!

Successful fan install

Not to worry, I painted the closet. 

Our new room downstairs across from the baby room.  

Uncle John arrived with birthday presents for Chris from the Roarks/Tapkos. Most of which were not actually for Chris. 

Go Jayhawks! 

Grandma Sharon doesn't mess around.
Annie is pretty sure the panda backpack is for her.
No matter where I put it, I find it in another part of the house.
Shout out to the Lee boys for showing us that gift idea. 

Fedex dropped this one off compliments of Ron & Suze.
 I don't know which was funnier- Chris calling me to tell me it had arrived and excitedly pulling out of the box or his statement just a little while later...
"Nothing says your mid-30s like a carseat for your birthday". 

Baby Shower- Cabin Style

When Chris & I moved to Minnesota, we didn't know anyone. And we worked. A lot. 

But in though that work, we met some pretty amazing people.  Smart, talented, fun people. 

And now we are blessed to call them friends. Good friends.  Friends who we couldn't imagine life without. Friends who wrote adoption reference letters. Friends who gathered at the beautiful cabin in Wisconsin to celebrate with us and enjoy each others company. 

We can't wait for our girl to meet you and be part of the crew. 

Thank you.

Beautiful day in Wisconsin. 

Prepping an amazing meal. 

Parents in action.  

All the babes get some time with J.

The contenders revealed. 

The boys from Chicagoland. 

Ergo & Pellegrino- V is ready to party. 

Great food  & great friends!

Our girl's stylish weekender/diaper bag- perfect for cabin trips!

Amazing G- Mother, doctor, sommelier, party planner. 

IT'S HERE!!!

Our LOA (letter of acceptance) has finally arrived! This is the official letter from China recognizing the adoption of our girl. We can now can move forward to actually bring her home.  It has been the longest 120 days of our life.  All I can say is that Grandma didn't waste any time getting things moving! Thank you,  Grandma! 

Since the LOA arrival earlier this week, we have filed the immigration to the US and started visa paperwork. For the first time, we filed paperwork with her new name as a Roark! Our agency tells us to expect to travel in 10-14 weeks. That's mid-September to early October! While that sounds like a long time on one hand, it's actually short when we consider how much we need to do to get ready and still go to work!

July 11, 2012  LOA is signed! 

To make our week even better, we received an update! We received measurements from last week, a development report, likes/dislikes, etc. And new pictures! Our baby girl is beautiful, growing well and mischievous. We can't wait to meet her!

We're coming Baby Girl! 

Waiting

Patience has never been my strength. I have prayed for it many times and it's a regular request in my prayer line up right now. We are over 120 days into our wait for the last letter needed from China before the actual immigration and visa stuff starts. Other families in similar timelines have received theirs. Where is ours? We just want to get to our girl.

Sadly, during this time, we lost my grandmother, Kathryn. Grandma was 90 years old and thankfully was only really ill for the last few weeks of her life. She & Grandpa built a large wonderful family who will be able to teach our girl all about them. And while, Grandma is not here to officially meet our girl, she knew she was coming. And she helped us get our girl. A picture of us with Grandma last Thanksgiving went to China as part of our "family life" photos. So, there's a little piece of Grandma already with our girl's history.

Maybe Grandma can use her new status in heaven to pull some strings to get our paperwork through. I have faith there's a new angel on the case.