Sawadee-ka

We have made it!  We are staying on Koh Samed.  It's an island off the coast of Thailand, about 3 hours south east of Bangkok.  We will stay here until Saturday, and then travel back to Bangkok and check into the Pantip for the rest of our time.  We arrived around 10:30pm Wednesday night, and had a light sleep in a nearby airport hotel.  Even with the melatonin, it was not a restful one.  We got up early for breakfast and tried to navigate the street vendors and 7-11:)  I quickly realized my lack of communication skills, and felt like a helpless kid trying to get my point across... (hmmm...  Foreshadowing?)  The people are here and so kind and patient.  I feel bad about any time I have interacted with frustration with a foreigner not understanding me in the US.  I really did appreciate the vendor's patience with me!
We requested a taxi to come and collect us to drive us to the south-east coast where we would catch a boat to Koh Samed.  It was a wild ride!  They brought a huge van-bus instead of a taxi, and the driver had Thai music videos on for our entertainment:)  But maybe then again it was probably for his entertainment, because the screen was right by the steering wheel.  Nice and safe...  I know there are loads of folks praying for us.  I know it!  We were driving along, and the car behind/next to us crashed in a very dramatic way, hitting our van with debris!  I did not know what even happened, until I looked back, and the car was incredibly destroyed.  It looked so bad, I wonder if it was fatal.  So if you are reading this, please continue to pray for our safety!
Once we got to the island, we settled in and had some yummy Thai noodles (Sam had a burger) and fresh coconuts on the beach!  It was incredible.  It started to rain, so we decided to go and get Thai massages.  Now.  I have NEVER in my life had a massage like this!  It was insane.  A lot of pressing and forced contouring the body in ways that stretch and adjust.  It was amazing, but it felt like we both probably needed to ice afterwards!  An hour only cost around $10.
Today (Friday) we hung out on the rainy beach and played.  We Skyped with Will and now are reading and relaxing before lunch.  I think we will probably have an early night, but then hopefully be adjusted to the time fully and be ready for meeting our sweetheart Sunday!!  TWO MORE DAYS!!

AND... IT'S GO TIME!!

My computer clock is telling me it's 3:20am KC time, but it's about 5:20pm Tokyo time.  We are sitting in the airport lounge waiting for our 3rd and final leg of this journey to Bangkok.  I love the airport lounge!  My first time in one actually... my travel savvy husband usually frequents such fine establishments, but alas, we never travel together!  So this is a real treat for Sam and I.  FREE sushi and noodles, and coffee and liquor bar:)  Don't worry, we aren't hitting the booze.  We are exhausted and trying to stay awake for a few more hours. 
Leaving yesterday morning was hard for me.  I am going to miss my sweet William so much.  Here is our last photo of our nuclear family of 4!!

 

I cried a little as I said goodbye, and he assured me everything was going to be just fine.  Then he kissed my heart, and was on to checking his hairstyle in the mirror, winking at himself;)  Cheeky boy!

This is so surreal.  I can't believe we are getting a daughter in a few days!  I watched 2 episodes of The Little Couple on the plane, where they went to Bejing to pick up their son.  I was in tears watching as their son was resistant but then warmed up to them, and all the tension and anticipation building up to that moment... SHEESH!!!  This is going to happen.  In 4 days.  OMG.

Room is Ready!

It was so sweet putting Norah's things in order in her new room!  It only took a day and a half to paint, put up new curtains and get the furniture and clothes in.  It's such a pretty space.

 

The picture on the door was painted by my friend Jenn of a quail.  At my shower she gave it, and said that the Lord had given her the picture in her mind as she was praying for Norah.  Quails are a symbol of grace, provision and timing.  Quails need wind to assist their flight, and they wait until it comes to help lift them off the ground.  This really was encouraging to me, as it's been such a difficult wait to have our girl.  But God's timing is perfect.  It's gotten so cliche to say that, but I know it's true.

The Dresser is from Ruth.  It belonged to her grandmother, and the rocking chair is old as well, and that belonged to a dear family friend.

 

This is the sunniest room in our house!  Norah means Sunlight, Honor and Compassion.  All the "words", scriptures and prayers that other people have given me have been about sunlight, or sunny in some kind of way, and most folks don't even know that about her name;)  I really think she will be the sunshine that fills our family. 

OMG we leave next week!!! Time to transition.

I know this blog needs a new face lift.  The picture on the right is old, and needs to be changed, but I don't know how to do any of that.  Dave kinda threw this blog style together as best he could, and we do need to update with more photos.  And since we are leaving next week, we will!!  Holt confirmed our travel dates just last week, and we leave October first!!  Sam is thrilled to be coming, and Will is just happy to get to spend some time with Grandma and other friends:)  I have been cleaning the house like a crazy person, and painting stuff, redecorating, and purging out the old.  It has felt wonderful. 
Yesterday David and I had to finally transition our Joy Room into Norah's room.  Not an easy thing.  I guess it's pretty obvious it wasn't gong to be an easy thing, or I would not have waited until 10 days prior to travel to do it.  We had a beautiful time commencing the season of the Joy Room with praying and crying in the room together.  Worshiping our Good Father for his gift of Joy, the room and what it has meant to us, and a new season with a 4th child coming.  Our hearts were so full with emotion as we took out the first piece of furniture.  Then the next.  By the time the room was empty of furniture, it wasn't hard anymore.  It's time to honor our sweet Norah with a beautiful space.  To prepare her a room that will honor her and make her feel "I'm home!  I am included and have a great space set apart!"  Of course we have been holding her in our hearts as an incredible place of honor and joy, but preparing a space is a real expression of that love and anticipation.  Amazing!  A promise that we have held onto for so long is being fulfilled.  NEXT WEEK!!  I will post pictures of Norah's room when it is totally done... just needs a few more things to be complete:)

First Approval!

We finally got "the call" we have been waiting for 10 months to come!  On July 17th the Thai  board responsible for approving adoption cases reviewed our file, and said YES for us to adopt Watsana Charoensuk!  (aka Norah)  This call came to Dave, and at the time we were driving in separate cars.  He pulled over and so I did too, and he yelled out the window that we had "GOTTEN THE CALL!!"  I raced out of the car, jumping, yelling, crying, laughing, without any shame in the middle of the CVS parking lot!  It hit me in that moment of how much I love my daughter.  All this tension building of waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting...  And she isn't really mine yet but I love her and how do I manage these feelings when I've never even met her... and my most natural response was to cry and and act like a crazy person when this wonderful news came!  Our daughter is waiting half a world away and now we have been given permission to go get her.

The next step of this process now is to get clearance from the US immigration to bring her to the United States.  This step takes a few weeks to get approved.  Once that happens we will receive our travel dates and be on our way to Thailand!  I filled out and sent all we need to, and now we wait.  Again.

Thankfully, we just got an update on her.  Updates only come every 4 months, and I LOVE update time!  New pictures and a progress report!  From the sound of the update, Norah's foster family is really prepping her for her adoption to our family.  It says she likes to look at our pictures and is getting ready for placement into our family!  Her new measurements are 24lbs., 31" tall and 18" head and chest circumference.  No shoe size yet.

 This little dress we sent to her last September.  It's so good to see that she is with a foster mom who loves her and really takes good care of her!  I know that will be a hard transition for Norah to leave her foster family!

Financially READY!!

THANK YOU to everyone who has given toward this adoption!  We have officially met our goal financially through your gifts and fundraising!!  Here is a pic of our last garage sale, just a few weeks ago.  It rained, it was cold, it was windy, but we STILL managed to raise lots of money:)

It's Almost June...

I remember this time a year ago... We were waiting for a match, and had no idea who our little girl was.  I just knew good news would come in June!  And then it didn't.  Tears and frustration.  And now, as This June approaches, I am really believing for our first approval call to come!  I guess this waiting game keeps going through all legs of this journey, and I'm getting pretty well versed in it!  We did get new pictures a while ago, sorry I haven't posted.

  For everyone following this blog, we have been informed by our agency that we are not allowed to put pictures of our daughter up on an "open" blog site, so we have removed it from any search engines.  Would you please check with us before sharing with anyone?  You have been authorized to view it because we have invited you to.  Just send our way anyone's email that you would like us to send an invitation to!  Thank you!