Are you a Felix packer or an Oscar packer?

We have been repacking our suitcases. We dug out a bigger suitcase to check and will probably use that. Keith learned a cool way of folding clothes on the internet that really does seem to be efficient. My way is to throw everything in (neatly throw them in, of course) or better yet, just throw them into a space bag, sit on it and zip it. The beauty of simplicity... Done! Presto, in 2 minutes I’m ready and waiting at the door! Funny how different Keith and I are at times. (...Actually. last night I only used a medium sized space bag; maybe tonight I'll put everything in one big bag, and we both can sit on it. I don't think Keith will go for it though.)

Our good friends that are in China have meet their little girl and they have bonded beautifully. It has been amazing to follow their blog and keep in touch, since we will be going through the same exact process. They asked about LuLou; she is in foster care. We are praying that our bonding will go just as well.

I have so much on my mind and am so excited that I usually don’t fall asleep until midnight.

Fifteen more days!!!!!

Counting down the days until...

Music video...

"When Love Takes You In"

by Steven Curtis Chapman.

We love this music video. It spoke to our hearts five years ago when we began the adoption process.

We are in the process of booking our flight for August 12th through the 26th!

Tomorrow we are purchasing tickets!!!!! The agency's travel agent is firming up the flight information for us.

So the countdown is starting...we have 21 days until we leave, 25 days until we meet LuLou (maybe I should start lifting weights, not kidding). Although the past weeks were sure hectic, our suitcases are basically ready. On the 16th, we will be flying into LuLou's province and then meeting her! :) On the 18th, I will be celebrating my birthday...I'm getting a birthday present 2 days earlier this year!

Now that we have extra time, it will be nice to just enjoy our “couple time” and do some fun things before LuLou comes. You guys have all been warning us!!! The thought of picking blueberries early Saturday morning sounds so good...or dinner and a movie.

Our good friends left for China today to adopt their little girl! They said if they could go to the orphanage, they would try to see LuLou. We are wishing them the best and are missing them as the distance increases. It will be nice to hear how they are managing.

Meanwhile, LuLou has had 2 disposible cameras sent to her from us. We can't wait to see what's been really going on there! We sent her a care package a few weeks ago and it got delivered recently. It makes us feel good to know she is enjoying the package now. A doll was included in the package.

As of today, Lu Lou is 9 months old.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie, though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not tarry.

Habakkuk 2:3

Taking a break between craziness...to blog to you!

We got a call from our agency that there are no Consulate cancellations available for today. They will try for a cancellation tomorrow morning; this will be our last opportunity for catching up to our travel group. If we're not able to move forward with this plan, we will definitely be in the travel group leaving August 12th.

Since yesterday, we’ve been swamped with a lot of things that came up and literally demanded (or should I say screamed) for our full attention. Here are just a few...out of the blue, we had a mini-flood in our garage. While Keith was working on that, I learned how to unclog the bathroom sink, and did really well (with absolutely no supervision). We’ve been laughing about all these challenges that have come up. It seems to be a sign that we are officially “not ready” yet. By the way, the mini-flood has been taken care of, and the sink is working beautifully. We’re onto the next immediate project! Got to go...

We’ll let you know what the news is tomorrow.

We're still waiting on a Consulate appointment for our possible flight this week!

This morning, we got a call that the earliest Consulate appointment available is August 9th, which doesn't work for our agency. As it stands now, the agency is asking the Consulate about any cancellations for either August 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. The agency told us that we can wait and possibly fly to Beijing up until this Saturday.

We're ready to go, that's for sure. 
It's so up to God, but we're still being persistent in prayer. We would love to be leaving with our friends in our travel group, and to see "LuLou" as soon as possible!

If we're not in this travel group, we'll be in the next travel group leaving August 12th.

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Matthew 19:26

Now we can tell you (finally) what else we've been doing...

...working on securing our travel date. The agency and us have been very busy working towards a travel date of this Thursday, July 22nd. It's been rather touch and go and very time consuming getting to this point, but now our last hurdle is a Consulate appointment. (The Consulate appointment got held up because of a couple of glitches.)

Please pray that we are able to secure an appointment quickly and easily so that tickets can be purchased. We're all packed and anxious to get "LuLou"!

What's in a Name?

Thought this was interesting...hmmmm.....especially the part about her personality (from Nameberry.com). Hope this doesn't ruin babysitting options down the road, but here goes...(By the way, we're calling her LuLu until we see her and then giving her an American name).

Origin of Lulu: Diminutive of LOUISE or LUCY, or Arabic

Meaning of Lulu: "pearl"

A name with a firecracker personality, a singing and dancing extrovert.

Very busy, but "waiting patiently"...

The reason you haven't heard from us is because we've been busy running around a lot!

The packing list is almost done!!!! Every day is like an episode of the "Amazing Race" at our house...finding specific items in a short time frame. I even found wooden tongs for the hot pot in the hotel room! (They're used for getting items out of the pot after sterilizing baby bottles, etc. Thanks for the suggestion Kathleen!). "LuLou's" suitcase is filling up rather quickly, so that we will probably be bringing 2 checked bags. For such a little girl, she sure has a lot of stuff! We're really glad that we're just dealing with summer clothes, and not bulky winter items.

At the beginning of the week, we got an OK for travel at the doctor's office. No new shots needed!!!! On Thursday, we're looking forward to an appointment with a new pediatrician for "LuLou" to discuss formula, vaccinations, etc.

The very latest is that we're waiting on an appointment with the Consulate in Guangzhou...so within the next day or two, we should be able to get our plane tickets!

We can't wait to tell you more...