6 more sleeps!

Wow! Only 6 more sleeps until we leave to the country of our sweet baby girl! It doesn't seem quite real yet. We have been so busy preparing our home, her room, and for travel that I still haven't realized we are PICKING UP OUR BABY!!!

Prayers appreciated for us, Natalee Grace, and all the nannies/friends that will miss her dearly.

Much love,



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Countdown begins!

We are scheduled for China! We will be leaving on 10/4 (yes! Next Thursday) and we will be home 10/17. Our "gotcha" day will be 10/8. Can't wait to have her in our arms!

We leave from Hintsville to Texas, Texas to Tokyo, Tokyo to Beijing, then Beijing to Hangzhou. We will arrive in Hangzhou on 10/6. What a flight! We are estimating over 20 hours just in flights!

We will be updating the blog (hopefully) daily so follow our trip!

I'll post more details as we receive them in days to come.

Much love,


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We got TA!!

Our travel approval came today. We asked for the first available Consulate Appointment. This could be as soon as 10/16. We will find out the exact date on Monday morning. THEN we book flights!! We are hoping to leave within 2 weeks!

Now it's time to start packing! Or at least planning on what we need to take. We have our travel meeting tomorrow so we should find out even more info. SO close now!

Much love,




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Come on TA

So this week we are "expected" to receive travel approval (TA.) It typically comes 2 weeks after Article 5 pickup. When we receive this we chose from a list of dates offered for our Consulate Appt (CA.) When our appt is accepted we make travel arrangements. Then we travel very soon. Sometimes 2 weeks or less!

We have our travel meeting on Friday at our agency. We are excited to learn about those in country details. We are also excited about meeting new people that are in the same process!

It feels so weird to be at the end of a 2 year process! I'm thrilled!!

I'm taking a 6 week maternity leave from work when we leave for China. I started preparing some of my contacts last week. This is just so exciting!

Say some special prayers this morning. Pray for Natalee Grace as God is preparing her heart for major changes coming soon. Her world is going to flip and we ask God to mend her broken heart as we make this transition. Also pray that the riots end soon. Little or no disturbances prior and during our trip is very necessary for my nerves!

I am so thankful for each of you!

Much love,


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Blessed beyond measures

We are so blessed! I just can't say it enough!! My coworkers gave me a shower at work yesterday. It was fabulous!! We had snacks right after work and so many wonderful friends were there! The majority of my coworkers are men so this was a first for them :) Such good sports!



Above are the gifts after we got them home and spread out to get a good view of them. We even received more gifts today. I really don't feel deserving. The gifts, gift cards, and money given have truly blown me away. We are honored by all the love shown through this process by SO many people...over and over. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Much love,


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Article 5!!!

Our Article 5 was picked up today! We hope to receive our travel approval (TA) in 2 weeks. Now the big countdown begins. We could be in China this time next month!!!!

We have our travel meeting scheduled for 9/21 at our agency. Can't wait to get all the details for our trip!

Much love,

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Dreaming of James

Stress. If anyone wants me to sum up my life right now in one word that's all I can offer. Between work, preparing for travel, preparing for Natalee Grace, still finishing TY notes (sorry if you haven't received it yet!) and 100 other "to do's" I feel very overwhelmed. Not anything out of the normal for any expecting mom though :)

Lack of sleep is usually hand in hand with stress. Mine comes in just waking up several times with important issues on my brain. For instance the other night I awoke worrying about the visit to the orphanage. I even woke Jeremy because I just had to discuss it right then! He is SO good to me, willing to listen, and make me feel better in the middle of the night. Many of these thoughts come in the form of dreams. Sounds weird but just wait.

Well...last night I was dreaming. In my dream a friend walked up and said, "look I went back to where it all started with us at church camp!" I'm thinking huh? Then she showed me her purse with a scripture from the book of James embroidered on it. When I awoke from the dream (just a little while ago) it hit me. My first church camp we studied the book of James. I fell in love. It soon became a book that I could fall back on, feel comfort, and reel me back in. Apparently I had lost that though. Through my dream God was screaming "Sarah, go back to James for comfort!!"

I'm telling you this through my tears, friends. Conviction hurts but it feels oh so good. Sometimes stress, heartache, and worry consume us. We lose track of where we should be and the path planned for us. Listen to Him, seek Him, reach for Him, He is always there and NEVER far away.

My lesson: I wasn't allowing myself to truly have faith in Him. I was trying way too hard to control situations when all He wants to do is share the burden. He wants to hold my hand not walk behind me picking up my pieces.

When I awoke I immediately read James to listen to what God was telling me. If you aren't familiar with the book, it's short with only 5 chapters. Believe me... You WILL be spoken to in your readings! James will bring you to your knees!

I will leave you with this....

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. (James 5:13 NLT)

By the way- keep Jeremy's family in your prayers. His uncle passed away yesterday.

Much love,

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