Klein Family Blog: July 2012

I'm so glad to have something to update on our adoption :) It may not seem like submitting documents at a government office is very exciting, but when it gets you one big step closer to bringing home your child, it is really exciting!

This past week we went to New Delhi to submit our I600a application at the USCIS office in the Embassy. Everything went well, minus our kids going totally bonkers and bouncing off the walls of that 20 x 20 room for 3 hours :) They had already been traveling for over a week and were SO done with being easily entertained. Plus, mom's desperate trick of making use of the iphone was not possible seeing as they confiscate all electronic devises before you enter the building. I joked with Kit that this was the REAL approval test. Locking you in a small video monitored room with two rambunctious preschoolers with very little snacks or toys, no videos to watch, and make you wait for 3 hours :) They did allow us to submit everything, get our finger prints, and pay them $750 (we got the raw end of an inflated exchange rate), so we figured that is a good sign we passed the initial sanity screening.

I am loving our adoption agency lately! They have been making some major changes in their Congo program and in their means of communication to the families that are in the process, which has been very encouraging for this waiting mommy. We're about 3 months into the referral wait process which we were originally told could take up to 12 months for the age range we are looking for in a referral. But we've moved way up on the list in those last 3 months, especially in July, as they have been giving out many referrals. It is really encouraging to us, not that we are in a huge hurry, but of course we do have an "ideal" time frame in our minds. We know and trust that God's timing is perfect though, even better than what we could dream up and that He's working all details out to get us placed with the child He has planned for us. It's kind of surreal though that all this planning, praying, saving, and paperwork is actually going to bring about a result in the near future! Receiving weekly encouragement emails from our agency and participating in group webinars with other families who are in the same stage of the process as us has made us feel much more "in the loop" and less worried that we're being "forgotten". We had a hard time choosing an agency (took 1 1/2 years) and country program, but we've been so pleased with both agencies (one for homestudy, one for the DRC program) and can see how God's hand has lead us through prayer and opened doors to lead us down the right path.

This whole process is a test of faith. Are we going to trust that this adoption was laid on our hearts by God therefore He'll guide us through it, or are we going to get frantic and try to make everything happen in our own strength and timing? I know there could be and probably will be bumps along the road. From what we hear, nearly all adoptions have some speed bumps. But we're trusting and praying that if those happen, they are all apart of God's timing and his will for our lives and the life of the child He has planned for us.

As a side and funny note...Jackson was confused why we weren't going to pick up his baby sister/brother immediately after we left the Embassy. He kept saying, "but I want to go get my baby sister!" Oh baby, I wish it were that easy!

Please pray with us that our application (it's basically approving Kit and I to adopt internationally by the US government) is approved in a timely manner and for the child He has in mind for us as we wait. That He will keep her/him safe, healthy, well cared for; for the biological family who has to make tough decisions for the welfare of this child, and for us as we wait in hope for a smooth process and a good transition for our family from 4 to 5. Please also lift up the funding of this adoption. We've about tapped out our adoption savings and are now applying for grants/loans. Please pray for God's provision and that we'll always have the amount we need at the necessary timings.

We also enjoyed our time in Delhi for a few reasons: #1 the coolest playground we've seen in India (plus it was free!) #2 Dunkin Donuts!! (can you tell we like donuts? Cinnabon was supposed to make our agenda, but we OD'd on donuts before we remembered our second love...there's always next time) #3 Visiting with old friends #4 Bicycle Rickshaws! (we don't have this variety of transportation in our city and man do these fellas work hard! In case you didn't know Delhi is crazy hot and humid!) #5 Amazing food!! Not only did we enjoy TGI Fridays but we ate at 2 awesome local western places that offered cheesecakes, beautiful salads, pastas, and risotto! Oh and hotdogs..the boys were excited for those! #6 Way more "orderly" traffic than what we are used to. It was eerily quiet and clean in some areas, especially near the Embassy area of town. That part had REAL sidewalks, and wide streets lined with trees and flowers. I almost thought I wasn't in India for a little bit. #7 (the METRO--this was for the boys, but it is a crazy cheap way to get around and really nice. I was impressed.)

I get to go back in a few weeks for a ladies conference and then Kit gets to go a few weeks after that for a different conference, so we're looking forward to exploring more of Delhi, the historical area specifically (and shopping for me :) ) Here are a few pics from the short trip.

Happy boys

Playing Uno at a new favorite restaurant. Poor Kit was getting over major sickness.

Couldn't turn some of these pics for some reason. This boy loves his chocolate!

Me and my CO-FFEE buddy! He says he only likes it cold and with milk and sugar, not hot and black like Grandpa likes it :)

The awesome free playground in a great mall.

This was the week before we went to Delhi while at a language conference in another city. The boys got to swim nearly everyday and Jackson was thrilled.

My land lover did have some good ol fun time in the pool when it was warm enough to force him in.

Last week we had a much needed break and headed to Thailand for both a visa trip/vacation. We spent 5 days in Bangkok and to sum up our week, we had a eating marathon! "Beef" and "donuts" were the primary goals for Kit and I had a few shopping goals of myself. We didn't get to eat everything we wanted to (not enough meals or room in our tummies) but we had a great time and had some good ol' comfort food in a familiar place, which was O-SO-Refreshing for us.

Some of our highlights were trying out multiple indoor playgrounds for the boys to exert themselves in (Thailand has awesome in-door playgrounds by asian standards!), eating a nearly all-meat meal for our rainy 4th of July at the Great American Rib Co. (one of our favorites in Thailand!), getting a foot massage (only Stacy got this as an anniversary gift), celebrating 7 years of marriage together (July 3rd), shopping at IKEA(woop woop!), riding the BTS (elevated train) and seeing lots of airplanes and airports (the boys loved this!), and getting our yellow fever shots. Shots?!? What? Yes, we were excited about this b/c it is very hard to get these in India and we need them to travel to the Congo in the near future :)

Leaving, I'll admit, was a little tough...I could have used a few more days. But, we had the joy of returning home to a group of friends/family from our hometown coming for a week, so that made it easier. This break was needed more than I realized. Besides just feeling exhausted and needing rest, it gave us some time to step out of our little world and reflect on how culture shock is effecting us. I feel refreshed and way less stressed then before we left. We're looking forward to going back, hopefully in January, and visiting our old home of Chiang Mai.

Having lived in Thailand for two years, we used to get visits from friends who lived in S. and E. Asia and were coming for their visa runs. It's funny that now I totally understand why they saw Thailand as a haven! I see it through a totally different perspective now! Some of the things that stood out to us most that we maybe took for granted before:

Cleanliness (we actually thought Thailand was a little run down and dirty...oh no my friend, were we wrong! It is way higher on my cleanliness scale now!)

Peaceful Quiet (I can't stress this one enough. We were sitting in the middle of traffic in Bangkok thinking, "wow! where is all the honking and the slamming on breaks, and the weaving in and out, and the yelling, and did I mention the honking?")

Green grass you can walk in! (The boys especially loved this as they had a backyard playground to play in everyday at our guest house.)

Just to name a few....

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot that is not so great about Thailand. And in fact, we probably won't be visiting certain parts when our boys are older. But for this season of life and from where we live, there were a lot of things to appreciate on this trip. We're grateful that we can get a little break every 6 months or so to bring us back refreshed and with a healthier perspective.