Gotcha Day - How time flies!

December 6, 2004 ... an amazing day in the Hallgren family!!! It is hard to believe that 2 amazing years have passed since Lilly's "gotcha day" and we were able to kiss that adorable face for the first time!

To celebrate, Kirk, Lilly and I sat down to watch her "gotcha moment" on DVD. Lilly kept saying, "There's mommy, there's daddy, there's Maw Williams! Who's that baby?" She then said, "Lilly didn't cry, but those other babies are loud!" So true.:) Admittedly, both Kirk and I sat with tears in our eyes as we watch this once lifeless little one - she's so full of life now! Hard to believe that Lilly was once that expressionless baby! Boy are we blessed!!

Praising the Lord for our beautiful daughter and the gift she is to us!

Farewell Dear Friend

Best Friends!

Dressing up Summer

Nap Time!

After 12 years of life, dear Summer (our adopted retired racing Greyhound) needed to be put to sleep. What the vet originally thought was arthritis, was in all actuality cancer and it had consumed much of her back leg. Summer was in pain, so we had to make the difficult decision Friday night.

Summer was such a part of the family and took to Lilly very quickly. I will miss watching Lilly and Summer chase each other around the house! She had a very gentle spirit and tolerated a lot of "lovin'" from Lilly.:) One of my favorite memories is pictured above. One afternoon, Lilly crawled up on Summer when she was basking in the sun. Lilly fell sound asleep on her (snoring and everything) and Summer didn't move a muscle for fear of waking her up.

Lilly says Summer is with Jesus ... we agree!:)
Farewell dear Summer ... We miss you greatly!

Our Offical LID!

We recieved our official Log In Date today, Nov. 13, 2006! This is the date we were actually registered with China (it really is official now!) and what we use as our "wait" date. The time frame from LID to referral is getting longer - 14-16 months with the time frame possibly increasing. If we took our best guess, we would say that we would travel to China in April 2008. It seems like forever away, but the Lord's timing is always perfect. One step closer!:)

It's in China!

Just wanted to let you know that our dossier was received by China 10/16/06!!! We should receive our "Log In Date" (LID) in about a month. LID is actual the day that you use for the "countdown" to referral and the actual day we are formally logged into the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs. We hope to hear quickly of our formal log in.:)

"I can hardly wait to meet my little sister!"

It's a go!

Today we received a wonderful call from our family coordinator! She said our dossier, "looks beautiful and will be on its way to China on Friday!" The really cool part as well is that on Oct. 13, 2004 (just 2 short years ago!) we recieved Lilly's referral!! Doesn't the Lord have an amazing way of working everything out? Friday, we celebrate! Then we wait ... and wait ... and wait for daughter #2's referral.:) Most likely it will be 12-14 months before we hear anything. If we had to take a guess, she is most likely in the womb right now, just starting out on her wonderful journey of life as well. We can hardly wait to kiss her sweet face!

Thankful to the Lord,
Brenda

Final document in hand!

Today we received our I-171H back from Chicago! That's it ... the final document is in hand! Once Lilly went down for the night, I sat at the table and carefully assembled all the paperwork. It's all neatly packaged up and ready to be FedExed to our agency on Monday. From there our dossier is reviewed by our family coordinator and if all is in place, off to China it goes! We'll let you know when it is on its way! WOW!

Thought I would include a recent picture of Lilly. She was busy writing a letter to Poppy and Gramma, while "talking to daddy-o" on the phone. What a hoot!

One step closer!

Today my dear friend Heidi (who took the day off of work to go with me) and I drove the I-171H to Lansing for certification! This is the final document we need before sending our dossier to China. It was a wonderful day indeed and brought back so many memories of when my mom and I made the same trek over 2 years ago for Lillian. After having the document certified, we made a quick stop at the photo copy place and then to the FedEx box to send it to Chicago for authentication. Heidi and I then stopped for a quick bite to eat, toured the capital building (which is beautiful!) and then drove to the outlet mall for a little shopping.:)

Once our I-171H is returned from Chicago, Kirk and I will send our entire dossier to AWAA where they will review it and then FedEx it to China!!!! Then, the LONG wait begins. At this time, it is taking about 12-14 months from being logged into China to referral. Lord willing, China will speed up referrals. However, we know God's timing is perfect to bring us to our daughter!

Praying for a quick turn around from China!
Brenda (Kirk and Lilly too!)

The Sovereignty of God

Dear family and friends,

The last 6 weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster for us. We have gone to the top of the mountain and deep into the valley. But God's grace is amazing and we do feel blessed!

The day after our fingerprint appointments, I found out we were pregnant! We were suprised and thrilled. Two weeks later, the Lord amazingly brought us our approved I-171H! We thought this would take at least 3 months! Another miracle, but yet it was a little bittersweet for me. China requires that biological children have to be 1 year old before submitting our paperwork, so we had decided to put our adoption on hold.

Last week, we miscarried. I was 10 weeks along. Although we do not understand this, we trust in HIS almighty plan for our lives.

We are excited to continue with the adoption of our second daughter from China! Obviously she is ready for her forever family sooner than we thought. Our I-171H is in the process of certification and authentication. Once that is complete, our dossier (all the paperwork) goes to our agency and then on the China!! We hope to logged into China in early October.

We praise the Lord for our daughters and trust Him with all of our futures! We'll let you know when the paperwork is off to China!

With a thankful heart,
Brenda

Fingerprinting completed

Hello,

Today Kirk and I went to Downtown Detroit to get our fingerprints taken. Altogether it took about an hour, so it wasn't too bad. Thank you for your prayers as neither of us had any cuts, blisters or anything that would prohibit the printing! Now we just need to pray that they were taken correctly and won't require being redone. :) This is the final thing we needed to do so the I171H could be processed. We are still praying for a miracle and asking the Lord to turn it around in the next couple of weeks! HIS timing is perfect!

Thank you for your prayers! Hopefully, next time I post it will be because our I171H came back and our paperwork is soon off to China!

Brenda

Fingerprint appointments!

Hello everyone!

Yesterday, we received our fingerprint appointments for August 11! Just one step closer to getting our I-171H!:)

On The Chase

Hello friends and family,

Well, we are part way through the paperchase to Lilly's Mei-Mei. Almost all of our documents have been notarized and will soon be taken to Detroit for certification. Our homestudy is complete and now we wait for the coveted I-171H. Please pray that MI will turn this document around quickly!

In June 2006, we traveled to Washington DC for our agency's National Reunion. We had a wonderful time reuniting with our travel family (picture is posted above). What a blessing to see how the girls have grown and changed! It was an amazing time and Lilly just loved being around her "Zhangjing Sisters" again. We sometimes wonder if they remembered each other. All the girls got along so well. That's it for news for now. We'll keep you posted!

Journey #2 Begins

Thank you for joining us on our second trip to China! We are thrilled that the Lord has once again called us to go back to China and bring home Lilly's Mei-Mei (little sister). We are in the very early stages of the paperchase and have no idea how long the process will take. However, we anticipate traveling some time in 2008. We are resting in the Lord's perfect timing and trust that HE will bring us to China when daughter #2 is ready to come home to her forever family. We certainly do appreciate your prayers as we begin another wonderful journey!