We have an announcement!

So we've been keeping a secret! What could it be? Are we moving? Are we pregnant? Does Michael have a new job? Ummm, No! No! and No! It is a wonderful one though, and we are thrilled to be able to finally share it with everyone. We've made a video to share it. So scroll down and watch it! Don't forget to mute the songs at the bottom of the page first.










Ch*na recently changed their rules to allow two biologically unrelated children to be adopted at once if they are from their special focus special needs program. When we started our adoption journey this time, Georgia found us. We were just thinking about starting again. We hadn't done a single piece of paperwork when we asked Ch*na for permission to adopt her. However, we knew in our hearts she was our daughter, and so, we took a leap of faith. From the beginning, Joy felt like we were supposed to bring two children home, but Michael always the practical one, just wasn't sure. We weren't even sure if we could bring home Georgia without adding on to our home first. However, God opened the door when our social worker approved us in our homestudy to adopt not only one, but TWO children! Now, God was working on Michael's heart for two, and He was opening Joy's heart for a little boy. It's funny how we have vision's of how we think things should go. We thought we'd adopt another child with thalassemia like Vivian. Georgia's special need is spina bifida, with a lot of unknowns. Something we'd never really considered. But in the end, we knew she was ours..... and so that meant we'd deal with whatever came down the road. Joy thought we'd adopt two girls, and we'd have four of each. Nice and balanced. Works better for the bedrooms etc... But then, God started whispering in her heart about the little boys from Ch*na. You see, everyone thinks it all little girls needing homes, but that isn't so anymore. There are both boys and girls abandoned in Ch*na due to their special needs, and most adopting families prefer little girls. Our girls both happened to be waiting for a long time, because of their needs, but lots of little boys wait even longer because families aren't open to adopting a son. We both prayed about it a lot! And talked and finally shared our hope with our agency, who sent us, about seven files. It is always so hard reading files, knowing we you accept one, you say no to the others. Real children, all with such potential, who need, no deserve a forever family. After much prayer we felt like TongXiao was the one. He also has spina bifida as his special need, something he and Georgia will share in common. Although, their real need was a family. Again, we weren't sure if we'd be allowed to adopt a second child, we'd have to ask for special permission and a couple of waivers from Ch*na. We stepped forward in faith, believing if he was our son, God would move the mountains. And a few weeks ago, we got a big yes! The paperwork will be processed together, and we will bring them home on the same trip. They aren't from the same province, so we will travel probably to Calvin's city first, and a few days later to Georgia's province and city. We hope to travel towards the end of the year, although we've had some hold ups in immigration, and now getting our dossier authenticated, so we will see. We are anxious to go, but know God already knows the day we will finally meet our new children face to face. We started out this process knowing we'd have to depend on God to provide the funds. Knowing we had part, but that it would be a faith walk to complete the adoption. Adding Calvin's adoption, increases the fees of course. It doesn't double thankfully, but we will have extra fees, plane ticket, medical exams, orphanage fee. We are in the process of applying for several grants, and we are planning on hosting the bbq dinner fundraiser again. Joy is almost finished with a cookbook of our favorites to sell, and we are thinking about a cool t-shirt that we hope everyone will want. We hope that you will consider supporting our adoption journey in some of these ways, or all of them, lol. We hope you will share our blog with your friends. Post about our fundraisers on facebook. We all have so many connections. What doesn't seem like much, maybe what you would have spent on a dinner out, makes a huge difference when multiplied by all our friends. More than that, we ask that you keep our family in your prayers. Now, and in the coming days. For Georgia and Calvin, as their whole world is about to be turned upside down. While we know it's for good in the end, they will be so scared. For our family as we all adjust, and make room, not just in our home, but emotionally. For our travel. For Gods provision.
Keep checking in with us here, you never know what's next :)

We want to give a special thanks and shout out to this family http://www.abeautifulroad.com/
They are an amazing and talented family also in the process of adopting two children from Ch*na. They wrote and recorded the song from the video and have their own video that inspired us. They were kind enough to allow us to use their song. Especially grateful as we are a lot of things, but not much for singing ;)