Brothers after church

Family Bike Ride and Light the Night

On Saturday we started off our day with a family bike ride in Port Moody.  Isaiah and Adam have a new liking for stuffed animals and thought it would be nice if "Mouse" and "Hippo" could join our bike ride.  We fastened Mouse to Isaiah's bike with some rubber bands and stuffed Hippo in Adam's jacket.  It made the bike ride just that much better.

We rode to Newport Village at the end of our bike ride for some yummy Halloween cookies.

Later that night, we made our way to Stanley Park for Light the Night, a late night walk with lanterns in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  David's mom had the idea of participating this year in honour of Isaiah.

Supporters carried red lanterns, survivors carried white and those who lost a loved one from a blood cancer carried yellow lanterns.

Pumpkin Patch

This year, rather than visiting our usual pumpkin patch in Richmond, we ventured out to Maple Ridge to pick our pumpkins with cousin Joey and cousin Melissa.

It's official!

Vietnam has approved our application to adopt Phuong Lan.  We've been waiting for three months for this!  We're over the moon.

Next steps:

1-Formally accept the proposal (we sign papers and get approval from the province of BC).
2-When the Department of Adoption in Vietnam receives these letters, they will inform Thai Nugyen province (this is where our daughter resides) in Vietnam to proceed with the adoption.
3-Thai Nguyen province will finalize the paperwork and will invite us to come to Vietnam!!!
4-We book our tickets and then apply for Vietnamese visas.

Keep praying that this will happen quickly.  We really want her to celebrate her first birthday here in Vancouver.

Still waiting

The waiting is definitely the hardest part of the adoption process.  We first received news of a possible match on May 23rd with photos of our little girl and her medical report.  Now, here we are in October and are not yet able to travel to pick her up.  We are still waiting for the DA's approval that we can legally adopt our little girl.

We've named her Victoria Jean.  Her middle name is after my grandma who was a foster parent her entire life.  She only stopped when she was dying of cancer in her 80s.  She was an amazing human being and an example to me that our lives should never be lived for ourselves but instead in service to others.

Jesus is our ultimate example of this.  Matthew 20:28 "even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Isaiah's first day of Kindergarten

On Tuesday, Isaiah had his first day of kindergarten.

Later in the week he had chemo.  He was throwing up last night (which I think was caused by the increase in his chemo dose).  In the morning he was feeling better and insisted on going to school even though I gave him the option to stay home.  

I'm so happy that he loves school.  The teacher is so sweet and the kids in his class seem very nice.  He's looking forward to the great year ahead.

DA has received Phuong Lan's paperwork

The DA has received the paperwork for Phuong Lan from the orphanage.  We are waiting for the formal proposal, which we anticipate will happen soon.  The DA needs to approve the match.

I had thought that we would be able to travel once we were formally proposed Phuong Lan, however, I have discovered that this is not the case.  After we accept the proposal, we need to send paperwork back to Vietnam.  Then a Giving and Receiving ceremony needs to be scheduled.  (This is where we sign paperwork in Vietnam to make everything legal and official.)  Once the ceremony is scheduled, we can book our flights and apply for our Visas.  

It looks like we won't travel for another 2 months minimum.  Waiting is the hardest part of the process.  I know God works in His perfect timing.  I guess on the positive side, I can work full time (if the teacher's strike ends) to help pay off our adoption debt.

Trusting God! :)  I just want to hold my baby girl.