California arrival and departure

We made it safely to California last night. It was a long day of traveling, I'm glad we were able to stop and rest at my parents. We flew out with 3 large bags and 6 carry ons, and I was able to repack last night to 3 large and 2 carryons. One of those carryons is full of Jaxons toys for the long plane ride. We made our morning run to Starbucks and are feeling refreshed and ready to go! So, off to the airport we run! ;)

12 Hours to go

It is now 12:35am and we are finally done packing!! Our flight is in 12 hours! I can't believe it is finally here!
Although it may be a surprise to most ;) we are ahead of schedule. We are planning to post regularly while away to keep everyone updated on our trip. So now I will attempt to go to sleep and not think about all the things I might of forgotten to pack or if I have enough activities to keep Jaxon occupied on the flights.

12 Days and a Blessing

I can't believe that we will be leaving in 12 days!!!!! We finalized our trip yesterday with the purchase of our tickets. So we will leave Pa on July 28th and stay the night at my parents to catch our breath before the long journey begins. Then on Thursday the 29th we will take a flight from LAX and land in Taipei Friday night. We will be spending the weekend with my moms family in the southern part of the island. Monday we will travel back to Taipei and finally meet Jahsin! We will be leaving Taiwan on Aug 10th and staying with my parents till Aug 19th and getting home the 20th.

I had a wonderful Girlfriend Bless my family this past week. I received an email asking if their family could help ease the financial burden of our airfare. We prayed about it for several days because it is very humbling to accept financial gifts from people, but realized who are we to refuse a Blessing from God. You know who you are and THANK YOU so very much for your generosity!!!

WE HAVE A DATE

Its hard to believe that 10 months ago we received a picture of a little boy who we were hoping to make a part of our family. Although it has been 2 1/2 years since we have started this process, the last 3 days makes it seem like a blur. After calling our caseworker on Thursday (for the 100th time this month) and finding out she was on vacation till July 6th we figured we wouldn't hear anything anytime soon. However we were surprised to receive an email from her Saturday afternoon. She starting by telling us that she was able to arrange a Skype date for us and Jahsin for July 6th and we were thrilled to be able to see him again. Then she proceeded to tell us that she had good news, we have a a Visa appointment for Aug 6th and we can pick him up from the orphanage on Aug 2nd!!!! After reading it several times I finally told Matt and we both about passed out. Its the moment we have been waiting for and yet not ready for at the same time.

Fast forward to Tuesday July 6th and anxiety has set in!!!!!!!! Scheduling, planning, packing, 4 plane tickets, brothers wedding, etc... the list goes on and on.

As of today we are planning on leaving Pa Wednesday July 28th and flying to Ca. We will then leave from LAX to Taipei Taiwan on the 29th. Arriving in Taipei July 30th. We have our visa appointment Aug 6th and hope to fly back to CA Aug 10th. And make it to my brothers wedding on Aug 14th! Then head for home Aug 18th. Wow when I look at that I realize how crazy the next month is going to be, but a good crazy of course :)

Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we prepare for this journey. We will post more info as soon as we finalize things and of course photos as soon as we are allowed.