Haikou SWI Hainan, China

More News About Luke

Vicki's latest email about our boy!


Dear Liz and Mark,
Hi! I just wanted to let you know that we are back and thrilled to be home. What a trip - it was a whirlwind. I will be sending you some pictures very soon.
I also wanted to let you know that after all the fuss over the $5000 in clean US bills, Hainan province wants it in Chinese money - no American money. Luckily, I was able to change it at the hotel within 48 hours and pay them then, but it was a little embarrassing. They want it all in Chinese currency, including all fees. Had I known that, I would have changed it in advance of the adoption day. The only American money you need in China for adoption from this province is the $380 in Guangzhou for the Consulate.
I hope you are well, and that your process is moving along. There was another couple from CA on this trip that waited for over a year to complete their SN adoption due to the I-171 hangups. California must be a busy international adoption state!
Luke is clearly looking forward to seeing you and going with you, and he is well aware of the what is going on. The kids all look forward to being adopted and are so happy for eachother when it happens. I was amazed. We picked up Aidan on a Tuesday, and scheduled a visit to the orphanage on Friday, which I was afraid would be traumatic for him, but it ended up being a big "going away party" feel - all the kids were so excited to see him again with his mom and brother, and at the end of the visit, it was everyone waving goodbye to him and to us as we left. Aidan was smiling and waving at all the kids, too. There were no tears. We got into a taxi, and drove away...It was a great experience.
I'll be in touch very soon!
Love,
Vicki B.

News About Luke!

Haikou SWI Hainan, China
Luke is being held in the center back row


We were so blessed to receive the following emails from Vicki. She was in Hainan and got to meet Luke and even took some pictures for us! Oh I can't WAIT to have that little boy in my arms.

Enjoy!

Vicki wrote the following:

Dear Mark and Elizabeth,
Hi! I just wanted to send you an e-mail to say hello and that we saw Luke last week at the
orphanage! He is doing great, healthy, strong, and very active. I requested a visit to see the orphanage, which is lovely. You will be happy to know that those pictures we saw a few months ago which we thought were of the orphanage were actually not - they were of the adoption center office parking lot, not where the children live!
The caretakers are so sweet to the kids, they are very well cared for, and I left just amazed. You are in for a treat. I was presented with a whole scrapbook of Aidan's life, as well as other pictures and a CD-Rom of more pictures. The director is wonderful. So, rest easy, he is in good hands!! He, like Aidan, is quite a bit smaller than I expected - don't buy any bigger than 24 months for now! Luke is very active and happy - I took 10 pictures of him which I will send you. I gave him a Thomas train from you - the nannies explained that it was from his Mama and Daddy - he ran off with it with glee! I think they prepare them very well for the change. I am absolutley thrilled with Aidan and how well adjusted he is. I think you will find the same with Luke. I was thrilled with the level of care, the facility, and the love they are shown - they all just love the kids so much. Praise God.
We will be home on Wednesday, and I will send you the pics as soon as I can.
Take care,
Vicki B.

This is a picture of Luke getting his train!!!!

Road Trip!!

I will do my best to describe what transpired in a 54 hour time period. (Don't worry...I'll try to condense it a little) :)
I picked up my niece Bethany at 3pm Monday and we headed to Sacramento to stay over night. Tuesday morning we walked my last 2 documents into the Secretary of State office at 8am and had them certified. We were on our way to SF by 9am to get all docs certified. Yippeeee!!
We arrived at the consulate at 11:30 and they called my number at 11:45. The lady began going over my docs with a fine tooth comb. I hadn't noticed that she laid one aside. When she was done with the pile she handed my AZ certified marriage certificate back to me and told me to take it to Los Angeles. My heart just sank. If they did not authenticate everything, I knew we would not get our dossier in until Feb due to Chinese New Year. That could really delay travel.

The lady kept telling me it was no big deal. Just take it to LA and they would authenticate it for me. I told her my whole Luke story and how far we traveled etc. She didn't budge. She kept saying the same thing and I kept repeating the same thing back to her. I just started sobbing. I was heart broken. How could I have missed this rule? Why should I pay double to "rush" authentication, stay over night, and not leave with a complete, authenticated dossier? I began to just pray and pray (even out loud sometimes which probably freaked her out) :) She finally called her supervisor and explained the situation to her. The supervisor looked at me and said, "Don't worry ma'am........I hep you" Those were the sweetest words I'd ever heard!!!

She told us to go downtown to the notary, county clerk, and secretary of state to have our marriage certificate recertified. It was noon...........the consulate closed at 3pm and we had NO idea where we were going. A nice "German" guard at the Chinese consulate gave us directions to downtown and we were on our way with document in hand. I turned the car on and our "Luke" song was playing. I couldn't believe it!!!! I took it as a sign from God to KEEP GOING!!!

We were treated very rudely at the SOS office so we headed to City Hall. They had a notary and a county clerk that were very helpful. We took our document back to the SOS and they certified it this time.........no problem. We drove back to the consulate and made it with one hour to spare. They accepted it this time. WE WERE FINISHED!! (almost) ;)

Bethany and I celebrated at Bubba Gumps on Pier 39. It was a blast. I still had a little fear that they would find something wrong but just kept praying and feeling God's presence.

We were back at the consulate at 9am and they handed me those precious 11 documents. THEY WERE ALL AUTHENTICATED!!! We walked to Kinkos/Fed Ex and made our copies. We prayed over that precious pkg and our dossier was officially on it's way to AWAA on
Jan 18,2006!

We had a good 8 hour drive home but I felt incredibly grateful to our Heavenly Father for His many provisions. His mighty hand was the only thing that could have gotten those docs done so quickly. We hit the biggest hail storm I have ever been in. Then it began to pour down rain. We drove out of the storm and saw the most beautiful rainbow!!! Talk about goosebumps!!!

It was soooo good to see Mark and the kids. I had missed them tremendously! I went to bed just thanking God and of course praying for our dossier to arrive safely and get approved by AWAA. (funny how Satan still was trying to put doubts in my head).

AND NOW FOR THE GREAT NEWS...........................Allison called from AWAA at 8:30 this morning. Our dossier had arrived and been approved by AWAA. IT WILL HEAD TO CHINA ON FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2006!!!

What an incredible journey to share with Luke.

What a mighty God we serve!!

Thank you all for your prayers. You have no idea what they mean to us. Everyone keeps asking the obvious question. "So, when are you going to China to get Luke?" I'm not sure how to answer this one. We had originally hoped for March but it's looking like possibly April. We'll just have to wait and see.

I'll keep you all posted!

Love,

Elizabeth

Praise God!!

WE HAVE OUR 171!!! After a 6+ hour road trip and LOTS of prayer from all of you.....The precious document is in our hands!! We will get it notarized today and then I will drive to Sacramento and on to SF to get it certified and authenticated on Monday/Tuesday. Please pray for safe travels and for everything to go smoothly.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!

Love,

Elizabeth

On Your Knees (Please) :)

After running to the mailbox everyday for 3 weeks, I decided to be proactive. I hunted down the number to the Fresno Office and Homeland Security. Would you believe I actually talked to a REAL person!! His name is Steve and he's the guy that processes 171's!!! He said our fingerprints have cleared and he will "try" to get to our application tomorrow. He also told me it might be another week. Please pray with us that HE PROCESSES OUR 171-H TOMORROW AND GETS IT IN THE MAIL!

Thanks! I'll keep you posted. *he *he get it "posted"

Love,

Elizabeth

Oh Where oh Where is our 171???

We are waiting for one precious document before we can send our Dossier to China. I was so hoping it would arrive this week. I'm planning a road trip to Sacramento and then on to SF to get the docs certified and then authenticated. Please pray it comes SOON so we can be on our way to get our boy.
(That's him.......the cute little one in the middle.)
The wait is soooo hard.

Love,

Elizabeth