We're in China

After an uneventful flight (that actually went kinda fast), we are finally are settled into our hotel. Yes, we are exhausted as we have been up for over 24 hours - just a couple of naps on the plane. When we arrived to our hotel room, our guides had these beautiful flowers waiting for us.

I am going to stay up long enough to talk with my girls and then we are heading to bed. Tomorrow - the Great Wall and other famous sights!

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Brenda

Lilly and Jessica - mom and dad miss you very much, but we know you are having a blast with Maw and Poppy! WE LOVE YOU!

Ready to GO!

Well, we are packed, showered and ready for our LONG flight to China! We are leaving in about 10 minutes. I don't think any of us slept well, but hopefully we'll sleep on the plane (haha). I have to admit that I am feeling nervous, excited and a little scared all rolled into one emotion. I already miss my girls like crazy, but know they are in the awesome hands of the Lord and my parents!

Joshua's gotcha day will be Monday! Thank you for your prayers and for joining us in China. Next post will be from Beijing!

All our Love,
Kirk and Brenda

PS My dear friend Robin is joining us on our trip. Please keep her in your prayers as well!

Bags are packed!

Our bags are packed and we are ready to go! I can hardly believe it! Mom, dad and Robin all come in tomorrow. Bright and early Thursday AM we head to the airport. I'm surprisingly calm right now. Tomorrow ... will probably be a different case.:) "Gotcha day" will be March 30th!!!!

Thank you for your prayers!
Brenda

Spring has sprung??

We hope so! We love going outside to enjoy the sunshine!

Travel Meeting

Today we had our travel meeting via a phone conference. March 30th will be our "gotcha day!" One week from today ... we'll be flying the friendly skies! Can hardly believe it!! Yikes ... I've got a TON to do!

Packing our bags and a couple of cuties!

I've started pulling items together for our trip to China! The guest room, soon to be Joshua's room, is filling up with "don't forget this!" items.

My sweet sister-in-law, Melany (check out her studio at - melanyhallgren.com - she's amazing!), is letting us borrow her great digital camera for our trip so I can post pictures while there. Below are a couple of shots with the new digital camera.

I'm so excited for my brother to come home! I hope he likes my baseball hat and overalls!

This is Jessica's serious (with spaghetti on it) face. She's such a hoot, because I'll say to her "so serious" and this is the face she makes.

More Referral Pictures

I realized I hadn't posted these referral pictures of Joshua. He's a year older now from when these pictures were taken.

He's such a cutie!!!

Tickets booked!

Yesterday we booked our flights to China! This is really happening! Two weeks from today ... we'll be on the plane! We are SO excited and SO ready to complete our family!

Return date!

We just found out that we'll be returning to America on April 9! So our travel dates will be March 26-April 9. Joshua's US consulate appointment is April 7th ... my birthday! What a great present!

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