Goodbye 2013

2013 was the longest, hardest year ever  yet it ended as one of the best years of my life. 

Watching this sweet boy grow up in pictures as we waited for endless approvals, the next court date, court orders to be sent...the waiting, waiting, waiting was agonizing. Not knowing when we would be on our way to India to finally meet and bring our boy home was terribly difficult. My heart longed to just hold him and tell him I was his Mama and he had a family that loved him. 

But God has been glorified in all of this. He saw us through it all and gifted us with this amazing little boy who in just two days has learned to say Thank You and I Love You, complete with more hugs and kisses than I have ever received. 

Thank you, God, for this precious blessing. Looking forward to all the love we will receive in 2014. 

ps still working on the big blog post for his story. 

We're coming to America - today!

Ok, really leaving today... home Christimas Eve 7:30pm. I am going to sit down in a few days and type up this entire story. I just can't get over how God has blessed us over and over again. It has been truly amazing and just when I think things could not get better, they do. I just don't even deserve all this goodness. Leaving today I have so many mixed emotions. I am THRILLED to be going home and can't wait to hug Katie and Braden! And just be home with all my loved ones. It will be good!!! But leaving is hard because India is part of who Ryan is and I know I won't ever be able to give him this much culture. India is so beautiful and the people here are just exquisite. I am so thankful to bring a piece of India home with us! 

Medical and embassy appointments are done!

We arrived in Delhi Wednesday. I think. The days are running together. The smog here is crazy. Apparently it's only like this in winter. We miss Pondicherry where we strolled the streets with lots of people, tuk tuks, mopeds, stray dogs and the occasional cow. Pondicherry was beautiful and full of color and gorgeous architiecture. 

Pondicherry 

Delhi Smog - blah . It's like this all day in winter. No blue skies and puffy clouds. And it's terribly hard to breathe. 

I am so thankful the medical and embassy appointments are behind us. I was expecting it to be way more complicated but it was fairly easy. We did have to scramble for some documents at the last minute and the embassy didn't even ask for them. We pick up Ryan's visa Monday and then get packed up to head to the airport at 11pm so we can be home by Christmas Eve. 

Ryan is doing so well. I'm just in awe. He's only been with us 5 days but it seems like 5 weeks. Several Indian people have tried to take him and give him hugs and he shakes his head No and  squeezes me tightly. He knows I'm his Mama and he will not go to strangers. Yesterday he said, Mama Mama, patted me on the leg showing me his photo book we sent him, pointing to the picture of Daddy saying Papa Papa. Melt my heart!! This was taken Day 2 as he played in the mirror. God is so good and we are so thankful He chose us to be Ryan's parents! 

Passport arrived today

There are so many things I want to share. God has been blowing us away this entire journey. I just don't see how anyone can say he doesn't exist after hearing our story. Our little guy came back to the hotel with us today. It was hard and he was SO brave. Lots of tears and it was impossible to console him. He only wanted to be held, with either one of us standing up. As I was rocking him here, Scott took this photo. Do you see the "smoke"? There wasn't any smoke in the room...He then took a video and we are convinced those are angels dancing over us, promising HE is with us always. I will share the video later when I can. It's amazing!

 He finally turned a corner and he was laughing and sharing cookies with "Papa" and drawing on sheets of paper.  Every time he sees letters, he starts singing the ABC song. So sweet!! 

Will share more later.. He's out and I need some sleep too!

Yesterday was beautiful

I will share more later but it was an amazing experience. We spent two hours with all of the children at the orphanage playing, hugging, cuddling, kissing them all. I'm not sure if this is typical but the Sister told us we could come and see them anytime while we're in Pondicherry. We went back today twice, greeted again with lots of love from all of the children. They all want some much attention. Ryan ran to me with open arms asking to be held several times. He calls us Mama and Papa. The orphanage has done an amazing job at preparing him although he's really too young to truly know what's going to happen tomorrow when we leave his home forever. I will write a longer post on how it all happened later. For now, it's been such an blessed experience. We are enjoying every minute in India but anxious to get home to our big babies :)

Good morning from India!

We arrived at our hotel in Chennai around 2:30am, got settled, fell asleep around 4 and back up at 6:15 to face the day. We leave for the three hour drive to Pondicherry in a few hours. It still doesn't seem real. I cried all the way to India! We will update once we can with pictures of our sweet little guy. Please keep praying -- love to you all!

India or bust!

We leave for India Thursday, THIS Thursday. 

I can barely believe it.

I've been nauseated, nervous, excited, anxious, scared but CONFIDENT we have made the right decision. You see Ryan's passport has been applied for but not issued. We are taking a very risky leap of faith. We could face delays and other unknowns but after days of praying (to include extensive praying with a prayer pow wow of special, amazing, Godly people), we know God has gone before us to pave the way and He will be there to make it all happen. We are trusting Him completely. This is His story!

Please pray for our travels, pray that Ryan's passport is ready and waiting for us when we arrive, pray for his precious heart as he deals with the loss of the only home and people he's ever known. This will be hard for him and as excited as we are, we have to remember this will be huge adjustment for his little heart. Pray God is preparing him for this as we know He is. 

We should have him in our arms by Saturday!

We will arrive home Christmas Eve at 7:30p.m. Perfect, right?

Court order is in!

Can barely believe it! The email from the orphanage said to buy our airline tickets... Our agency says to wait. The passport should be in within a week. Of course a week to us here isn't always like a week in India.

So of course we wait some more. 

And pray. 

And hope his passport arrives very soon as flying so close to Christmas is mucho dinero! 

Thanks for praying with us.