Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

We are enjoying our family time and the blizzard from indoors this Christmas. It sure is pretty out there...from in here where it's warm. We keep talking about going skating in the snow...but it's all talk right now. Hard to give up the warmth and the bottomless cup of hot coffee Ruth & Loren provide at their Marshall bed and breakfast.

We haven't updated for awhile and I thought I would catch up on what's new with our journey to Joshua. We had a major answer to prayer a few days ago. There was a document we needed from the US Dept of Immigration before our agency could make our appointments in China or book our travel. From everything we've heard from our social worker and other MN families, it wasn't supposed to show up until late Feb/early March. We would still be going to get Joshua, but so much later than we wanted to. Well, let's face it, we want to go NOW! Every day I look at his sweet face, I'm dying to bring him home immediately. I know he's very loved and cared for in his orphanage, but a mom always wants her kids with her. OK, not when she needs to go grocery shopping, that's when this mom doesn't want her kids with her...but you catch my drift. I digress, the point is, we got that document 2 weeks ago!!! An honest to goodness answer to the prayers of many. A minor miracle. Jackson's passport came two days after that, so visa's have been applied for and the journey is right on track!

Now we're just waiting for our TA (Travel Approval) from China and then everything gets booked and we really start the packing. Hard to imagine that after 4 long years.

We're going to learn as much Mandarin as we can before we leave. I want to attempt to communicate with my littlest son as much as I can. I have to say, while I know it will work out and I know Joshua will learn English over time, I am so afraid he will be scared to come home with us. We're putting that little guy through a LOT of change in a short period of time and it's only fair that his mommy can say some of his words to comfort him. I'm so lucky to have a couple of friends in Woodbury that speak Mandarin (and should probably be buying them big gifts now for all the favors I will be asking for in the future), but I just wish I spoke it right now. Hopefully I can get this old brain to wrap itself around a completely new language in a few weeks.

I can say, with all confidence, that God has planned this adventure from day one and I am so excited to see what He has planned. We feel so incredibly blessed with our whole family this Christmas and we're trying to soak in all the good that God has brought our way, we hope you can too. Thanks for reading this and sharing in our journey!

Love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Michelle