Anonymous Donor Strikes Again!

We received yet another envelope with a letter containing encouragement for our process and $100! We continue to be in awe over people's generosity and support. As a girl who loves a good mystery (Nancy Drew is my favorite!) we have been trying to figure out who the anonymous donor is, if it's even the same person. We've come up with a few ideas, but nothing concrete. What we do know is how grateful we are and how God is definitely answering our prayers for provision! So, anonymous donor, thank you for your deep generosity and for blessing us this holiday season!

Sung Tan Chuk Ha!

Or in English, Merry Christmas! Did you know that South Korea is the only country in East Asia to recognize Christmas as a national holiday? Christmas in South Korea is celebrated much as it is here. Koreans exchange gifts (usually one meaningful gift instead of multiple presents), decorate trees, send Christmas cards, and hold special services and paegants. Santa Haraboji (Santa Grandfather) is also a part of Christmas in South Korea. Christmas in South Korea is less commercialized than in the US and more geared toward youth.

Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul, South Korea

As we celebrate Christmas this year, our hearts and thoughts will be in Korea where our unborn baby continues to grow and our child's birthparents most likely struggle with a very difficult decision. Please pray for peace and comfort for them.

Home Study to Korea!

As it turns out, our paperwork didn't get sent to Korea last Friday, but will be sent tomorrow. We will then be put on the waiting list for a referral! This is so exciting and a huge milestone for us! Hopefully our year time frame will be accurate (sooner would be great, too!). Thank you to everyone--all of your support and encouragement have helped us reach this point in our adoption journey!

See Our News Article!

We are happy to tell you that we made the news! A writer that works for our local newspaper heard about our walk-a-thon after the fact, and decided to interview us about our adoption in general. Our story is featured in today's paper (with a picture on the front page, I might add), and it's a great article! Click here to see the article.

One Step Closer!

We are so excited to tell you this latest piece of news on our adoption journey--we were approved by immigration! This was the step we were unsure of as far as the time frame, and it happened faster than we were expecting. What a great early Christmas present! On Monday we will be sending our letter of immigration approval, more paperwork, and a photo album and letter to the birth parents to our agency in New York. If everything is complete, they will send our paperwork to Korea on Friday!! We will then officially be waiting for a referral. Since referrals are coming in about 8 months and travel is 4 months later, we are looking at about a year from now. Which means that next year around this time we may be planning a trip to pick up our baby!

Our photo album and letter to the birth parents

Even though a year seems like a long time, we have many plans for our wait. We'd like to...

*Learn Korean (at least enough to feel comfortable traveling there)

*Build our collection of children's books about adoption and Korea

*Read as much as we can about attachment in adoption, raising adopted children, and the Korean culture

*Find a circle of adoptive parents in the area to get together with

*Knit a baby blanket or make a quilt (maybe both!)

*Prepare for what we will send as a care package to our child once we get our referral

*Apply for as many grants as we can

*Save lots of money! :)

*Enjoy our alone time as a couple.

As you can see, we'll keep ourselves pretty busy! Please keep the birthparents and our child in your thoughts and prayers.