We have a Date!!!

On Friday afternoon, we received a call from America Aworld that we received our Travel Approval!!! This is the last major step before we get on a plane!

March 26 ... we'll be flying the friendly skies!!! We don't have an exact return date yet, but were told we should be home by Easter with our son. I can hardly believe it!!

We're coming soon sweet Joshua!
Praising the Lord!
Brenda

Care Package is in China!

I received an email today from our courier - Joshua's care package is safely in her hands! She will now deliver it to Joshua's province orphanage who will then make sure it gets to his foster family. Lord willing, he'll be looking at our photo album by Friday! Thank you for your continued prayers and please keep them going before the throne! It's almost in Joshua's hands!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

Care package sent

We are anxiously awaiting for our travel dates to bring home Joshua. The projected time of travel is still the end of March, beginning of April. I sent off a care package to Joshua last week. Please pray along side of us that he receives this entire package unharmed. I put together a little scrapbook of our family along with pictures of each of us and various pictures around our house. (A coworker's daughter is fluent in Mandarin and translated the captions for us!) Our prayer is that Joshua's foster family will spend time daily going over the scrapbook with him so he will recognize us! One family who just came back with their 2 year old son, also sent pictures and said the album was "well-worn." When her son first saw her, he called her Mama!

Thank you for your continued prayers!

We serve a God of miracles!

I was VERY discouraged on Tuesday and was even questioning if we should adopt and the Lord sent me encouragement in an unbelievable way! A coworker asked what part of China Joshua was from, so I goggled it (to show her on the map) and up pop a video that was put together by a group that just came back from China in June 2008 - the exact province our son is in! It was wonderful to see the city he is from. I would love to tell you more and can do so personally. The Lord truly writes an amazing story!!!!

Thanks for your continued prayers!
Brenda

RA RECEIVED!

Today we received our referral acceptance for our son! This document (which is the "BIG" document you wait for!) came to us at God-speed! The normal wait from pre-approval to referral acceptance is usually 3 months. Joshua's came in 23 days!!! Below is his picture as we can officially share his picture now!

MEET JOSHUA!

We do covet your prayers as we still have about $13,000 we need to raise! Looks like we'll be on a plane to China in MARCH to bring our son HOME!!!

我爱你!

We serve a MIGHTY God!

Thrilled beyond words!

Kirk, Brenda, Lilly, Joshua and Jessica

Lilly's birthday pictures

Pictures from Lilly's 5th birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday Lilly!

Today Lilly turned 5 - yes ... 5! She is such a little lady.
We love you dear Lillian!

I promise to post a picture soon. I can't seem to let go of my 35mm camera and go digital.:)

Christmas fun!

"We found our tree! YEA!"

"We love our tree too!"


"Is it time to go home yet?"

"I love my Barbies!"

It's a BOY!

Yes, you read this post title correctly - It's a boy! To make a VERY long story short, the Lord moved us in a direction we never imagined. On December 5th, we were prepared to "pull our file" from China. I placed a call to our agency's family coordinator and it changed our lives forever! She asked us a simple question, "Have you ever considered a boy from China?" After intense prayer, we walked through the door the Lord opened and on December 10th we were looking at our beautiful son's face! Joshua is just over 2 years old and was born with a correctable medical condition (that has already been surgically corrected) and is healthy and adorable! He is in foster care (what a blessing!) and is a typical 2 year old hitting all the developmental milestones. We can not publicly post his picture yet, but email me privately and I am happy to tell you all about him! The process of adopting a "Waiting Child" is different and the timeline is unpredictable. However, we anticipate travel some time in early summer. The process is 4 fold:

#1 - EA (electronic application). On December 12, 2008: we submitted our application to China for Joshua.

#2 - PA (pre-approval). December 30, 2008: We received this TODAY! This is where the "waiting child department" in China recommends that our application for Joshua is "pre-approved" and is moved on to the next stage.

#3 - RA (referral acceptance). This is where China gives us the official stamp of approval to adopt Joshua. This is the "big" document! We are waiting for this approval.

#4 - TA (travel approval). China gives us our specific "gotcha day" date and consulate appointments to complete his adoption in China.

We have no way of estimating the timeline. But again, we hope to travel to China early this summer.

We certainly appreciate your prayers as we are stepping out in faith to bring our son home. We are trusting the Lord to provide the finances (we need to raise around $13,000!) and prepare not only Joshua, but Kirk, Lilly, Jessica and myself for our expanded family!

Praising the Lord!!!
Brenda

Santa ... The face says it all!

Lilly and Jessica went to see Santa today. Lilly excitedly ran up to Santa and was SO excited to talk to him. Jessica ... well ... the face says it all.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Happy 4th Gotcha Day Lilly!

Four years ago today, we met our precious Lilly for the first time! I still can not believe how time flies!

We celebrated this amazing day by ording pizza (Lilly's choice - I was voting for chinese food!) and watching her video from China. She had more questions than in years past. "Why didn't I grow in your tummy mommy?" The Lord graciously gave us the words to say and she was so excited to see herself as a baby. At one time, she pointed to the screen and said, "Hi me!"

Life with Lilly is such a gift. My eyes are full of tears as I think of this amazing day 4 years ago!

We are blessed because of you dear Lillian Jeanette Zhan Hallgren!

WE LOVE YOU!

Dad, Mom and your baby sister Jessica

LID ... Halloween ... and More

Hello everyone,

Well, we just hit the second anniversary of our LID (Log In Date) for our 3rd daughter. Can hardly believe that it is taking this long! Our agency is telling us to expect another 2-3 year wait! So we are faithfully praying about if we should continue. We are not spring chickens!:) We would certainly appreciate your prayers as we seek the Lord in this manner!

Below are some adorable pictures of a Red M&M and Tinkerbell. They had a blast and so did we.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Jessica turned 1 on the 18th!

Our beautiful little girl turned 1 on September 18! We can hardly believe that a whole year has passed since she made her enterance into the world. Jessica is such a happy and content baby. She has a ready smile for everyone she meets! We are so blessed!!

Thank you our Heavenly Father for our dear Jessica!

We can't imagine life without her!

New pictures of our beautiful girls!

Hello everyone,

Thought I would post some new pictures. I can hardly believe how big our girls are getting! Their ready smiles will make you melt!

We Love Our Hats!

It's hard to believe that Lilly is 4 1/2 and Jessica is 9 months old already!

Time flies!

Farewell to another dear friend!

Hello friends,

On Friday, we made the difficult decision to put Monet, our wonderful cat of 15 years, to sleep. It was difficult to explain her passing to Lilly (Jess is still too young to understand). After doing our best to explain what happened to Mo-mo (in appropriate 4 year old terms), Lilly commented that Summer and Mo would be playing together in heaven.

Monet was a great cat and companion. She is missed and our house is a little bit empty without her!

PS No new news on the adoption front. Rumor has it we have a couple more years of waiting. God's timing is perfect!

Sister Love

Lilly loves to feed her baby sister!

Here are the girls on Valentine's Day. Lilly read over her valentines from school several times. Jessica is very entertained just watching her sister.

ADOPTION UPDATE: Kirk and I updated our homestudy for the renewal of daughter #3's I-171H. Our fingerprints also expire (don't ask me how fingerprints expire!) and we are getting those redone on March 18th. If the current trends with China continue, we won't be traveling to China until late 2009. We trust in the Lord's perfect timing!

Another Update

Hello friends and family,

We have been busy at the Hallgren household once again. On January 20, 2008, both girls were formally dedicated to the Lord. It was a wonderful experience as we were able to share our story. After the service, a young girl approached me and was 8 months pregnant. She was giving up her daughter for adoption and thanked me for sharing our hearts before the church. She said, "Hearing your story, I know I am doing the right thing and everything will be all right." We were both in tears and I couldn't hug her enough. What an incredible gift she is giving to her daughter and her adoptive parents. I pray for this young woman daily!

This outfit is 72 years old! My mom was dedicated in this dress as well as myself, siblings, nieces and nephews. Lilly wore a beautiful pink dress we purchased while in China (the picture of which is on another roll of film that I haven't developed yet).

SNOW ... SNOW ... SNOW!

Lilly loves to play in the snow and make snowmen. His head kept falling off and we kept putting it back on. We had a fun time!

Lilly, the future scientist! She spent a good 45 mintues at school searching the seashells.

Happy 4th Birthday Lilly!

It's hard to believe that Lillian turned 4 on Sunday (January 13)! What a beautiful young lady she is and what an incredible sweet spirit she has! Lilly wanted a blue square cake with sprinkles ... and that is just what she got!

We love you dearly Lilly!

I'm 4!

Snuggles for Christmas

Here is a cute picture of the girls together before a nap. Snuggles are awesome!

On Christmas morning, Jess enjoyed watching Lilly open her presents. When Lilly opened her gifts she excitedly screamed, "Just what I always wanted!"