Thursday, December 27, 2007

LOA and New Pictures... It's like Christmas all over again!





On day 116 of our LOA wait... it CAME!!!! We are so close to scooping up our little girl! Our agency says it is quite possible for us to arrive in China on the 11th of February and meet Lilli AnHui on the 14th... meeting our newest little sweetheart on Valentines Day... WOW!!!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Pictures can say it all...














Enjoy some photos of our Christmas Morning... and a birthday shot of Abby I call Pure Joy... had to include it!!! Just had to!

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas


To our family and friends ~ We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. We hope the light of the season shines for you and your day is truly blessed!


Saturday, December 22, 2007

Joey is Home!!!


... but his luggage is not! A scheduled arrival at 9:35am yesterday ended as a 5:00pm touch down at the Canberra Airport for one very tired 16 year old! He described his trip as the best ever... trying desperately to fill us in on every little detail! We are so glad that he was able to make this journey! Somehow he came back home a little taller, a little smelly, and it seems a whole lot more grown up than when he left!

He took an hour long shower and changed into his new LSU t-shirt (thanks nanny and papa) and in a semi-daze, ate dinner and let us celebrate his birthday! Then it was straight to bed.

He woke up at 4:30am... and will probably not make it much past 4:30 this afternoon.

Holly has decided this is great as he will be able to wake everyone up really early Christmas morning!

It sure does feel great having him back in the nest... I really don't know how I will cope when he leaves for University in 2 short years...

To My Pink Lady Friends...


















Ladies...I know our LOAs are coming soon... Until then... I salute you all! The waiting is such a hard part of the adoption journey... and when it is lengthened by human error... it is so much worse! But they ARE coming and we will all be in China with our little ones very soon!!! Cheers!!! Rebel

Saturday, December 15, 2007

New Picture


We just received a new picture of Lilli that was taken on Tuesday. Thank you Sandy for knowing that we needed this!!! And thanks for taking such great care of our little one until we get to Xian!!! Lilli ~ and all the other Xian children (and families)~ are so lucky to have you!!!


90 Years...


They say it takes 90 years to replace the trees needed to create one box of Kleenex. Well today, I have to say that I used 180 years worth of trees.

Our LOA ~ Letter of Acceptance ~ did not arrive today. Not only did it not arrive today, our agency was able to track down the problem. There are 12 families affected by a paperwork issue. Our Dossiers (paperwork) were the first to be "Logged In" under the new system of the Chinese Government and lets just say things did not go swimmingly.

So, the Judge family as well as 11 other families have all passed the crucial Review Step, our LOAs are printed... they are just being held "hostage" until the paperwork problems can be cleared up. Enter CHI... a representative of our agency will be on a plane ~ destination CCAA Office, Beijing to clear up this issue next week. We are all in hopes that she will be able to hand carry the dozen very important LOAs back to the US.

Bottom line... first we thought we would be with Lilli for her 3rd birthday in September... paperwork problem... ok, we will be with Lilli for Christmas... paperwork problem... now, January travel seems impossible, and as we are not allowed to travel for a week on either side of Chinese New Year, the reality has set in that we will be traveling to meet Lilli AnHui the last 2 weeks of February.
The rollercoaster that we call the journey to adoption.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Email from Joey

Joey is in the United States. He departed the 4th of December with his school basketball team and coaches for a 3 week tour of the West Coast and Canada. On the itinerary was a mix of playing basketball, watching basketball (pro and university) and sightseeing. Lots of fun! And lots to write about...


I received an email from Joey today. He saw snow and bought a new pair of basketball shoes... Air Force 25's ! End of email. What????? Oh yes, they have had waffles for breakfast at all their hotels and his Aussie friends like waffles... but yes... that was the end of the email. So I guess, as long as he is able to buy Nikes... he is fine.



Wednesday, December 12, 2007

4 years ago ....




Abby was born.



No words I could write could describe what a blessing this little girl is...


So I will simply say...



Abby we love you to the moon and back a million times!!!