New School, Week 48 and Aiden's Room!!!!!!

Ray and I worked this past weekend on Aiden's room. His new bed we bought arrived along with his bedspread his Nana bought him!!! The room looks great! I still have a few more touches to do in the room and nick knacks to have the room complete, so i will wait to post pics until its complete!!! I want you all to get the full effect!!!!




The Fortune Cookie:

Little did we know how a few fortune cookies would say so much. Back in 2001 when we got married, Ray and I went out for Chinese food the next day after we arrived home from our wedding and Ray's fortune cookie said something to the tune of " you will live long happy days with your wife"....we laughed, and i think somewhere I still have it....will try to dig that out one day when i have time in the near future.....little did we know in 2010, another would come that would hold so many clues to what was ahead for us!!!! 
Here's the second cookie:


Received the cookie on Thursday, January 14, 2010......... Whats happened in the time frame from the initial cookie?


Week 7: March 4th
Week 10: March 25th
Week 21:  June 10th
Week 23: June 24th
Week 32:  August 26th
Week 48: December 16th

07: Stands for the Month Aiden came to the orphanage and the month we officially celebrate his birthday. (JULY). This was also the same month that he decided he did not want to be adopted back in 2008 when another family was matched to him. Pretty amazing that they listened to a 6 yr old desires at that time. That is not the norm. If they had not done so, Aiden would not be ours!!! It also stands for the month we got our I-797 approval in 2010 making it possible to send off our dossier!!

10: The year of change. This year Aiden found out that we will be adopting him and is very excited. He moved out of the orphanage into an English speaking foster care home and English private school where he has learned English. A very extraordinary opportunity. 

( Orphans are usually not allowed to leave the orphanage until Gotcha Day. Once your matched by CCAA you can send care packages to the orphanage, but to be able to speak with the caregivers of your child, hear your child's voice, and be an active contributor in the daily decision making while we wait is unheard of......Thank you God!!! In addition to this, Aiden was placed into BCIS. He received a scholarship worth $26,786.10 from a couple who had been passionate about orphans in China and wanted to assist in helping in their education. NO ORPHAN has ever been placed as a full-time student here. Aiden is the first. It was a miracle that the school, funds to enroll, and the blessing of the orphanage directors occurred.....Again a God thing!!!)

21: The day Aiden was found and taken to Langfang back in 2002. It is also the day we celebrate his birthday. It was the day back in 2008 where he made such a life changing decision to not be adopted. In 2010, It represented his 8th birthday. The last one without a family. It also was the exact day our I-797 approval came in the mail!!!! If the day isnt impressive then look at 21 in terms of the number of weeks from the day I got the fortune cookie. If thats the case then this would be the week of June 10th. This week we mailed off our I-800A form, did our FBI fingerprinting, and had our updated homestudy in our hands.

23:  We received dossier paperwork and the news that Aiden would be going for an interview at BCIS and a foster family looked very possible!!!

32: This week was huge. It was the week we first got to see and talk to Aiden live on Skype ( August 21, 2010)!!!  He was also introduced to his Lifestory book and shared this with his classmates at BCIS. This week he knew he was ours and we started being a part of his life!!!!


48:  December 16th marks week 48. This week we patiently wait for our Article 5 and TA.  All documents are in China. There is nothing left for us to do but wait now.  We received our NVC letter per email and it was received in China on December 13th.....Today December 17th, the original letter came in the mail!!! Can you say yeah for email!!! Had I not had email that letter would have went snail mail way and the earliest it could have have been processed would be Monday 20th....7 days after the fact........YEAH!!! This is huge because EVERY DAY COUNTS, it one day we do not have to wait on our TA!!!! Thank you Jesus for email!!! Ray and I had a tour of Northland Christian school this week. I had always had a sense that I wanted him to go there but after our meeting, We knew this is exactly where God wants Aiden to finish up this school year. They seem like a precious group of people. Praying for Aiden and our adoption! I just love it!! Very small, intimate Christian group of people that I can trust to teach Aiden not only educational stuff but spiritual stuff as well!!!

Decorating for his first Christmas!