Yay! Home! USA!

This is what the kids were shouting as we drove into the subdivision tonight. They are very excited to be home with us. They seemed a little nervous all through the airports. We were searched, scanned, patted, and wanded more than we can count. The security is very intense and this is both a curse and a blessing. We don't know if we feel safe because of all the scanning and wanding or if we worry more because we have to do these safety things. So we are thankful to be home in the USA safe and sound with our 2 kids from the Philippines. Since I got up at 2:45am yesterday to catch the plane in Manila and haven't been to bed yet I need to finish up here. I will update more and add pictures tomorrow. Thanks again for all the support, prayers and love we feel from each of you.
Choosing Joy,
Chris & crew

We are in the Philippines and we have our kids!

Hi to everyone out there praying for us. We arrived in the Philippines last Monday night at 10:30pm after leaving from Fort Wayne on Sunday at 1:30pm. It was a long trip over but we made it and things are going great. We went to King's Garden on the morning of July 12th and the kids were right there waiting for us at the door. The reunion was one of those great moments in your life. It was right up there with giving birth and wedding days. Quite an emotional greeting. The kids gave us gifts along with their hugs and kisses. Really it was just about the best moment ever imagined this side of heaven. So we then spent all day Tuesday and Wed with the kids right there at their orphanage. We got to be with them constantly. They even slept in our room with us. We ate the same food and followed their schedule. We really got a taste of what their life has been. We got to go to their school and meet many of their friends plus just see the world through their eyes. We have many stories to tell and can't wait to share them all with you. At this point we have come back to our Marriott in Manila and are enjoying a few days here. We have done some sightseeing and alot of pool time. The weather is beastly hot and we are running on sleep deprivation but nothing is going to dampen our spirits. We have Ramon and Ramona in our arms and our lives! We visited ICAB today (Inter Country Adoption Board) and have all the papers necessary to bring them to the states with us. We will be leaving here Sunday morning with 2 kids in tow. We are so thankful about how this journey has gone so far. Please keep praying and we will see you back in the States.
Choosing Joy,
Chris

We got the call! We got the call!

We received an email yesterday (July 1, 2011) saying that we could make our travel plans. We were going to the Philippines to pick up our children. We can't believe it that the long awaited time has come. We will be traveling to the Philippines to pick up Ramon & Ramona! Yay! Yay!Yaaaayy!!
Halellujah! God is good. I was at the lake cottage with my mom when I read the email. I called & texted Jeff right away and he said he was in the one meeting in the last 6 months that he could not just walk out of and take the call. He finally returned my call and we celebrated together on the phone. We finally got the call! Yee Haw!! We have called or texted all of our kids and friends and put it out there on FB. We want the world to know that we are about to get our hands on those 2 adorable children from the Philippines that we gave our hearts to a year ago and then had to send back to the Philippines for paperwork to be completed. We have missed them so much and prayed for them. Now the time has finally come. Praise God! We will update this blog if we can from the Philippines so stay tuned for more exciting news. And thanks so much for supporting us on this journey.
Choosing Joy,
Chris

Delayed Again! Ugh!

We got news the visa interviews on May 25th did not happen. We are on hold again! We are quite frustrated by this continual roller coaster and pray the kids aren't experiencing this up and down cycle also. Hopefully as a kid you don't have that time concept of how long something is taking. They just live day to day, don't they? So continue to pray that the medical and visa interviews would go smoothly and quickly. School is out for this teacher and it would be a great time to travel to the Philippines and pick up 2 beautiful children. Thanks again for your support as we try to continue
Choosing Joy,
Chris
aka "Mommy Christine"

Good Visa News!

We received an email from our adoption agency yesterday and they have been informed that the Philippines have scheduled a medical examination on May 20th and a Visa interview on May 25th for our kids. Yippee!! If those 2 items are successful we should be able to travel soon after. Halellujah! Maybe in early June we will be heading to the Philippines to pick up our kiddos! Praise the Lord! We are excited!

Wait and Wait and Wait some more!

We are sad. Last Friday we received a call from Vickie Truelove at Hand in Hand Adoption and I was so excited that it was going to be the big good news we have been waiting to hear....but no luck. Like Vickie said "There is news." But it wasn't good news. There has been a delay in the kids getting their visa interviews and we are in a hold pattern. It's looking like it will be sometime in June or July or somewhere in the summer before we will get the call to come and get our kids. We are so bummed. We thought we would be flying out this week or next and instead it's another 3-4 months with no real date given. We are on hold indefinitely. We really are stunned over this and just can't wrap our minds around the fact that we have not days or weeks but months before we will bring the kids home. Please continue to pray they are safe and the time goes quickly. We know God is controlling it all so we are trusting in Him. Thanks for your support and encouragement as we continue
Choosing Joy,
Chris & Jeff

Letters from the Kids!

We are so excited.  God just provided us a huge amount of encouragement in the mail recently.  We got a big envelope and just figured it might be a bill or more paperwork.  Well much to our thrill it was handwritten letters from Ramon & Ramona in the Philippines.  It was just such a huge huge joy to see in their own handwriting the words

"We want to come and be in your family."  They called us Mommy and Daddy and we loved it.  They each sent a letter that then also had a hand drawn picture with it.  Really really great celebration in our hearts when those letters arrived.  Now we know that they know we want to adopt them.  We've wondered all along if the orphanage tells them things or if they are just over there waiting and wondering if we "want" them or not.   So great for us to hear from them.  We have not heard anything from them since they left us back in August.  It seems like forever ago.

These letters were mailed on Jan 14th and we received them on Feb 19th. We hope you can feel our joy coming through in this blog conversation. We are so excited and thank you for your support on our journey. Even though it seems forever ago we wrapped our arms around those children, we are going to continue to choose joy and know God has a plan for them in our lives.
Choosing Joy,
Chris or aka Mommy Christine