Updates!

We got a pleasant surprise from Ann of "Red Thread" yesterday! She sent us updates of Yang Yi, and 2 new pictures!



Yang Yi is so beatiful! Getting updates and pictures makes the wait seem shorter. I have also noticed that staying busy does as well. Of course, I don't have to try to do that- Junior year in High School is hectic enough! But if you find yourself restless- fill your time. Don't give yourself time to worry and fret. Fill your time with prayer, thoughts of God, reading scripture. Be in constant prayer. My favorite verse is Philippians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Amen :) This verse either pops into my head, or is spoken to me by my mom or best friend when I begin to feel stressed- and God relieves my burden! :)

Anyways! The point of this post was to share Yang Yi's new pictures! Oh- and updates! Here are her new measurements:

Height :104cm (40.9")
weight :17kg (37.4 lbs)
head :50cm (19.7")
chest :52cm (20.5")
feet:16cm (6.3")

The referral measurements are often not very recent (or so I've heard), but it would seem that her last measurements were not too far off. She's grown .9 inches and gained 5 pounds since her last measurements. So she's still little! Which will be intersting because my whole family is tall (tallest- 6'4", shortest (13)- 5'5") ... haha oh well! She'll always be our "little" sister! I have a feeling that will be a joke in the years to come...

Please continue praying! Anything can happen and we still wish for things to move quickly! We have absolutely 0 control over the situation- this is ALL God! Thank you!

In Him,
Chelsey :)

Care Package #1

Today is day 31 from our LID. We ordered our carepackage from Red Thread China on Sunday (?) And recieved pictures yesterday of our carepackage from Ann. We had a good letter, but that seems to be it- haha. This is what the package she will recieve from her family looks like:

Ann said the orphanage should recieve the package Thursday or Friday. However, we realized after we sent it that 1) the photo album looks as though it may be appropriate for a younger age (pray she isn't offended) and 2) its kind of a wimpy care package. I saw pictures of some other families' care packages and they were huge! So we decided to do some shopping (!!!) for Yang Yi and send her an even better, more personal, care-package through Lily later. We got so excited, that as soon as I finished my homework, I created what I call a "virtual carepackage" where I searched things I considered appropriate (or just cute :) and copied and pasted them onto a Word document. Long story short I have a page full of Hello Kitty, Pleasant Goat (apparently a popular tv show over there-on Yang Yi's shirt :), stickers, candy, etc. It was very fun to be able to dream like that! We are just hoping that she likes Hello Kitty... most adopted chinese children do...

In Him,

Chelsey :)

PA!!

So it turns out we were going backwards for some reason, and we got our LID before our PA. However, my mom recieved an email this morning confirming that we have recieved Pre-Approval! So basically- we've got her!!! ;) Karla sent us the care-package information today. How exciting is that?!? I am so thrilled to see God work through this process. I dare say we wouldv'e gotten PA sooner if the agency had not been on vacation the past week. When we got the care-package information my mom couldn't help but choke up. We are so close!! This is day 14 from our LID (log-In Date). To set high hopes in the knowledge that God can work through all things, lets say our goal is 60-90 days... that would be by New Years!! Woah! :) As you can see, I and the rest of my family, are very excited! We have already considered names, and we know it must be a "C" name, because all of the kids in our family have "C" names. We have favorites, but I won't reveal them yet.:) Thanks for your support! Please pray for continual hope and trust in God's ultimate plan! This has been a crazy, challenging process, but it is so very worth it! Can't wait to meet Yang Yi!

Love In Him,
Chelsey :)