Prayer Request

ok....so we start browsing airline tickets for anywhere between December 15th and 22nd to leave and they are all around 3000 dollars a piece!!! No kidding! the cheapest we have found is for around 2100 dollars and has a ton of layovers. I guess this is due to the Christmas travel. So...we need everyone to pray diligently that the Lord works out a way for us to travel cheaper than this. We cannot afford 9,000 dollars for airline tickets for the 3 of us to go. We really do not want to leave Braylen home, but at 3000 dollars, we would have to and $6000 seems way too much to us as well, especially knowing that if we left the beginning of December or around January 7th, ticket are in the 900 dollar range! God is bigger than this, and we will trust Him to work it all out for the best. We'd love to have our support team praying about this as well! Thank you!

Court Date

Anna emailed this morning with our court date in Taiwan!! It is scheduled for November 14th. This is a very quick date!! She said to pray that the report gets done before court. They have given all of our paperwork to a government official and they prepare a report on us to present at court to the judge. Anna said they have a family who had court this week and the report was not ready. This, of course, slows the process. Pray for the report to be done in a timely manner and for court to go on as planned.

If we do in fact have court on the 14th, we will then need to wait about 4 weeks for all the documents to be finalized and then we get to travel! Yippee!!!! We could have a baby for Christmas!!!!!!

Documents Arrive in Taiwan!!

We received an email confimation from Fed Ex this morning stating that our documents had arrived at the bookstore in Taiwan. Yippee!!! Hopefully we will hear later this week that Anna applied for a court date. Pray for a speedy reply from the courts on an actual date! Thanks.

Friends

Tonight we went to a cookout party at Dave and Mandy's house for the 2 and 3 year olds at church. Braylen had so much fun playing with her best friend, Alison! What cuties they are!!!

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Today, Brad, Braylen and I joined Mamaw and Papaw, Austin, Aubreigh and Ethan at the Pumpkin Patch. We had a lot of fun choosing pumpkins! Thanks, Papaw and Mamaw for a fun day!

Braylen, our Lil' Pumpkin

Braylen loved the Pumpkin Patch! She especially loved having other children to enjoy it with. Thanks, Austin, Aubreigh, Ethan, Mamaw and Papaw for inviting us to go with you!!

Scenes from the Pumpkin Patch

Here are pics of the kids from the Pumpkin Patch...

More Scenes from the Pumpkin Patch

I couldn't resist snapping lots of pics of the kiddos at the Patch!!

Hayrides

The favorite part of the day was the hayride (or hayrides--we rode twice!) The kids absolutely loved this. The driver took us over some hills and he put his hands in the air like he was on a roller coaster. The kids thought that was a lot of fun. We got to see the corn field and donkeys up close. Nothing is better than a hayride on a cool crisp autumn day!

(a little side note: The picture of Braylen and I (Carmen) was taken right after Brad told Braylen to throw straw in my hair! I was not happy with that piece of advise--usually I do take happier pictures!!!)

Straw Mazes and Pumpkin Balloons

The kids had fun going through the straw maze--there was a slide in the middle of it.

Austin and Braylen were brave enough to go inside the giant inflatable pumpkin and bat the balloons around. They had a lot of fun in the pumpkin.

Animals

We had fun petting goats and donkeys. The donkeys were even the kind with the cross on their backs. I wonder if Jesus rode a donkey with a cross on its back on his parade into Jerusalem?

Rumble, Tumble

The kids had fun tumbling in the leaves. They really were just having fun, not any real harm took place!

Hot Dogs for Cool Kids

We ended our day at the Pumpkin Patch with hotdogs, nachos, popcorn and cider. I love the way Ethan eats a hotdog!!!!! This family has the CUTEST kids, ever!!

Document Saga Continues....

Well, Fed Ex again refused the documents even with the 5 digit postal code! They said they don't deliver to that city in Taiwan. What??? This orphanage has processed many adoptions from couples in the States in the last year? Brad called Anna again and she gave us an address of a bookstore that the documents can be delivered to. They finally took the documents. Now, hopefully the bookstore will notify Anna when they arrive and they aren't lost in the shuffle. This makes us a little nervous, but we know that our God is bigger than any Fed Ex company. Keep praying! Thanks.

A Small Set Back...

Today, Fed Ex returned our documents! They said the postal code was not long enough to process. We gave them the exact address that The Home had given us. It was 4 a.m. in Taiwan when we got the documents, so we waited until 6 and called. Anna gave us two more numbers to add to the postal code. She told us that not too long ago, Fed Ex refused to take another couple's documents because they had the extra two digits!! Anyway, hopefully today the documents will be back in motion towards Taiwan.

While talking to Anna on the phone, she told us that Alea is doing great--that she now only crys for about 5-10 minutes at night and sleeps through, but rises very early--between 4-5 a.m. We are going to have to change that! Anyone that knows Carmen at all knows she is NOT a morning person. 8 a.m. would be more like it, little Alea!!

Anna also told us that the last few couples have received their court dates very quickly (the last one applied for it on Oct. 11th and they go to court on Oct. 24th). She said she doesn't know if that will happen for us or not, that it is not typical, but who knows???? If that does happen, we could possibly travel yet this year to get her--that would be WONDERFUL!!!!

Keep praying that the documents arrive safely, that we get a timely court date and that all the documents are processes correctly. Thank you!

TECO Documents Arrived Today!!!

The post office called at noon today to tell us that our TECO overnight arrived after our mail had already went out for the day and we could pick it up there if we wanted it before tomorrow (what a great thing to live in a small town where they will actually call you!!! I think our post lady is as excited about our adoption as we are!!). Braylen and I dashed to pick it up and Brad took it to FedEx on his way back to work after lunch. We now have everything we can do done until they tell us it is time to travel! Woo-hoo!! Please pray that all the paperwork arrives safely and timely and that it will all be processed correctly. Hopefully we have done everything right and it will clear quickly. Thanks for all your prayers and support on this journey!

A Circle of Friends...Most of the Time!

Alea's circle of friends in Taiwan...most of the time. We are glad our daughter has learned the unBiblical principle of "an eye for an eye," we think!!!!

Alea and Friends

Here are more pictures of Alea and her friends at The Home of God's Love. We are so thankful for these precious ladies who care so much for our daughter. They are the ones feeding, bathing, kissing, loving, caring and praying over her every day. What a blessing they are!

First Picture: Alea being held by Emily on left.
Second Picture: Alea is third baby from left
Last Picture: Alea is in the middle

New Pictures of Alea

Today we got several new pics of Alea. Here are a few. Alea is second from the left in the group of 4 girls. The individual shots are right after bath time. They said she was really wiggly and giggly during the photo shoot!! Isn't she a cutie? Brad is having a hard time waiting. So far, I (Carmen) am doing pretty good with it. It is so nice to be given updates and pictures! Hopefully they continue! Keep praying for this sweetie to make it home soon! Thanks.

Anyone want to learn Chinese?

Here are our names in Chinese!!! I cannot imagine learing to write like that in school. It is beautiful. This is a copy of part of our homestudy translated.

We are shipping all our documents to the TECO office in Chicago today. They will authenticate them and register them and prepare them for Taiwan. When we receive these documents back, we will FedEx them to The Home of God's Love in Taiwan so they can get a court date for us.

Please pray that the Lord protects these documents and delivers them to the appropriate hands. Once we send these off, they are at the mercy of others. If one document comes up missing, it could delay our journey drastically!

Yesterday, while I (Carmen) was talking to Anna on the phone in Taiwan, I heard the babies in the background. That really hit me that this is really happening and our baby is all the way over there!!! Oh, we cannot wait to see and hold her!

Documents are Apostilled

Today mom, Braylen and I went to Indianapolis to have all the documents apostilled at the Secretary of State office. It only took about 20 minutes and then we got to have fun!!! We ate lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory and went shopping!! Besides getting drenched on our way to the Spaghetti Factory, we had a great time! Best of all, we are one step closer to getting our beloved Alea!!!

Braylen and Santa Hat

Here is Braylen and her prized possession--her Santa hat! Ever since we brought Braylen home, she has loved furry, soft things and when she touches them, her fingers instantly go in the mouth. She latched onto this hat a year or so ago and hasn't let go. It is a catastrophe if we can't find it at nap or bedtime!!! Loved this picture and just wanted to share!

Paper Work Arrives!

Today our paperwork arrived from Taiwan! Actually, FedEx came and left a note on our door (Carmen was home, but was walking on the treadmill and didn't hear the doorbell). We had to pick it up on Ft. Wayne, which worked out great because we took Grandma Fleck with us and all went out to eat. Then, our great friend Dawn, agreed to notarize it all for us tonight so Carmen, Braylen and Mamaw Carol can take it to Indy tomorrow to have it all apostilled.

I called the orphanage tonight to clarify some things on paperwork and they told me that Alea is definately a favorite baby, even though they try not to have favorites. They said she is such a sweet, happy baby. The only time they have trouble with her is at bedtime--she doesn't want to go to sleep. They admit to spoiling her and holding her!! It was so nice to get an update. They also told us that on September 5th she weighed 10 pounds and was 53 c.m. long.

Keep praying that paper work processes smoothly and quickly and that there aren't glitches and hold ups!! Thank you!

Happy 4th Birthday, Braylen!!

Today was Braylen's fourth birthday. We had a Mexican Fiesta with a Dora theme! Here Braylen is with her two cakes! Mom thought she was doing so well when she created a cake with Dora,
The backpack, the map and Boots, but Braylen wanted to know where Swiper was, so we did a second cake as well. The kids went on a treasure hunt, just like Dora. They had a treasure map and they found clues. Swiper was out and about, and he even managed to swipe a clue, but they had the map to lead them to their treasure--a golden chest that was filled with a Dora pinata. They busted open the pinata and dove for the candy (pictured above). We took a lot of pics on our regular camera since the digital is messing up. I will post more pics when we get them developed--including Swiper aka Mamaw Carol!!!! It was a fun day. Thanks to all who came and played!

Do I Really Want to Be a Big Sister????

I think someone in our household feels the same as the above girl. We like following Marvin, if you haven't followed it, this family just adopted a baby girl from China. The other children are dealing with the newness of it all.

Braylen loves talking about Alea, when she wants to and then she will get tired of it all and refuse to talk about it. Brad and I are trying very hard to not "obsess" about this adoption and to focus on Braylen for a few more months before she has to share the spotlight.

We know she will be an awesome big sister, but as with all firstborn, only's there will be a transition time for her.

One thing you can pray for is our decision to take Braylen with us to Taiwan or leave her with Mamaw Carol. All along we have thought we would leave her, that the trip would be too hard on her, but she is adament about going and we don't want her to resent the fact that we didn't allow her to do this with us. There are many positives and negatives, but at this point the positives are winning out. We feel that she is old enough to remember this experience and will gain a good outlook on orphanages for when she one day begins to question her adoption story.