Welcome to my family blog. I have been married to Mike for over half of my life. I love my Savior, Jesus. I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to six terrific, interesting children. My 3 oldest were born to me in my younger years, while my 3 youngest were given to me by God in my older years. I am very blessed. ~Cheri
Today I received my visa/passport! Glad to get that out of the way, and glad that it is good for a year. Now, we are in a holding pattern. My I800 was not sent to the Visa Center. Normally, it would have been sent last week, right after approval. But, because we did not adopt Maggie back in the spring, the Visa Center needs to send back our old file to immigration before immigration can send my new file. Clear as mud, right?
So, I ask for your prayers. Immigration requested our old file almost 3 weeks ago, but have not received it yet. This set-back has been an immense struggle for me. There is nothing on my part that I can do. Please pray first that I can have peace and not frustration about this, and secondly, that the NVC will move quickly to get my file sent back to immigration. I appreciate all your prayers.
Another adoptive parent recently brought to my attention that American Girl has a doll named Ivy. And guess what! She is Chinese! You know I'm not one for picking popular names for my children. I thought that when I picked Ivy that it would be a little unique. I hope no one thinks I named her Ivy because of this doll.
On another note...I found out that Ivy's middle name is not pronounced "Shew" like I had thought. Her orphanage friends, who recently came home to their families, are calling her "Shoo-ay". So, Margo,if you are reading this, you were right, the "e" in Xue is pronounced, not silent like our English language.
But, I'm glad to almost be finished with the immigration portion. Now we wait for the visa center to process Ivy's visa, then onto the Consulate's approval in China, then China's Travel Approval.
Jordan and Abby went to the grocery store Sunday night for some apple cider and egg nog. What I didn't know was what else they bought. I only saw the evidence when I was going through my pictures on my camera. Come on! The whole box?!
Our friends, Josh, Patrick, David, and Abby are visiting us for the week. Everyone is having a great time. Eva and Joy are having fun entertaining the guys. Jack is glad to have his buddy, David, with him for over a week. Seth is also enjoying being with the Godly young men. Jordan always has a good time with Abby. They've been good friends since 1997 when we moved to Illinois. Unfortunately, Abby is leaving tomorrow to go back to NY.
The guys enjoyed a good hike on Saturday. The view was beautiful and the skies clear. It was very windy once they got to the top. Quite a different view from their hometown in Illinois.
