Need a Laugh????

Someone sent me this YouTube Video and I thought I would share. Olivia's watched it a few times and loves it! Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

More Pictures from the Beach!

A Day At The Beach!

This past Saturday Olivia, Eric and I spent the day at Point No Point beach about 30 minutes from our house. It was a great day, sunny and about 75 degrees. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. Olivia has been reading the "Olivia" books every night and there is one page that talks about Olivia going to the beach and every time we read it she says "I want to go to the beach". The weather has not been beach weather so we been telling her that she can go once the sun is out. We brought her shovel, sifter and bucket Aunt Deb and Uncle Chris bought her last year. Eric and Olivia dug holes in the sand and we each had fun buried our feet. We told her we were digging a hole to China. If it was only that simple! ha ha It was a great family day and we had tons of fun!

The Return of the Fed Ex man

Wow! The same Fed Ex man who delivered Olivia's referral also delivered Owen's LOA yesterday. How funny is that? So, I started to think about the similiarities between Olivia's referral and Owen's LOA. Other then the Fed Ex man, I was on the phone with Megan when I almost missed the call about Olivia (before we had caller id), and I was on the phone with Megan when we got the call about Owen's LOA. Also, the person who called us to tell us about Olivia was named Kathy and the person who called to tell us about Owen's LOA was also named Kathy (two different people). I received Olivia's call at 11 am and received her referral from our Fed Ex man at 11 am. I received Owen's call at 10:28 am and our favorite Fed Ex man delivered his LOA at 10:38 (he must have stopped at Starbucks yesterday which is why he was 10 minutes late:) ).

I hope that is where the similarities stop because we waited forever for our Travel Approval and our Consulate Appointment for Olivia. We hope to get our Travel Approval in 2-3 weeks and then our consulate appointment a few days later.

Owen here we come!

Well, after throwing myself a pitty party last night and being sad about not getting our LOA I got a call from our agency saying that the LOA arrived in TN (our ageny's main office)this morning and will be overnighted to us today! I am so excited. This means we will most likely travel to China in May and this also means Eric will be able to come with us! I am so excited. We have tons of stuff to accomplish between now and then so I know time will fly bye! I just can't wait to hold Owen in my arms and kiss his chubby little cheeks. Our baby boy is coming home!! We love you Owen:)

We Miss You Owen!

It has now been officially been 80 days since our LOI (letter of Intent) went to China. I had heard that some people were receiveing their LOA (Letter of Approval) on Friday and had hoped and prayed that we would be one of those families, but it didn't happen. We are still hoping that maybe it will come on Monday. There were a few families who had waited fewer days then we had for their LOA which made me a little sad. We just want to bring our son home. So much has happened in the past few months and we just want to be there with him! Waiting really is hard. I thought I was doing really well until Friday and since then the wait just seems to have taken on a life of it's own! I don't feel as positive as I did the other day and I know that it's partly because the longer we wait the more there is a chance that Eric will not be able to travel to China with us and he will not even meet Owen for a few months after we get home.
We waited so long for Olivia that this wait should be a walk in the park but to know that our son is in China being taken care of by other people isn't easy to swallow either. I know he's being loved and for that I am greatful. I just wish it was us who were the ones there loving our little guy! I just have to keep telling myself...soon, it will happen soon!!!! Wow! I feel much better just letting all of that out, thanks for listening to me vent:)
So, if everyone out there can say a little prayer that we get our LOA tomorrow, it would be really appreciated.

Thank you Scotty!

One year ago today little Scotty passed away. His parents hearts were broken and their dreams of bringing Scotty home were dashed. Through their pain they decided to sponsor Owen and help pay for his heart surgery. They saved Owen's life. I know I've told this story before but Scotty is Owen's little Guardian Angel watching over him and keeping him safe until we can bring him home. Scotty and his parents will always be a big part of our family and we are very grateful to them. They recently traveled to China to bring home their son Tyler and we hope to get together sometime this summer and meet. Thank you again for all that you did to save our little Owen Patrick An Yuan!
If you would like to read more about Scotty and his family, their blog is on the right side of the posts and it's titled Slugs and Snails and Pigtails!

What's in a name?

Owen's chinese name is An Yuan which means safe, happy resource. And Owen means young warrior which just fits our little guys so well!

It's now officially been 77 days since our paperwork went to china and we had hoped that we would have received our LOA (letter of approval) by now but still no word. There is a new director of special services and our agency believes that it will probably a few weeks longer before we receive our LOA. We are still holding out hope that we receive the LOA sooner so Eric can travel to China with us. I'll keep everyone posted.

Pictures from March 2008