Joylee's Jie Jie

Joylee has an incredible Jie Jie, Big Sister.  I'm not sure I'm spelling that correctly, but a big sister is called a Jie Jie in Chinese and Bethany is a fantastic one!  From the moment we mentioned to Bethany over three years ago that we were going to adopt she has been nothing but encouraging and excited.  Now that the day has come she has really stepped up and shined!  She and Joylee are like two peas in a pod.  Joylee wants her Jie Jie all the time and Bethany is not one to disappoint!  Last night after dinner Joylee even said "Jie Jie" when she was upset and didn't know where Bethany was because she couldn't see her!
What's interesting as well is how God has worked this all out.  Joylee and Bethany have similar personalities - outgoing, fun, friendly, not wanting to be held back or retrained, engergetic, laughing a lot, having fun.  These two were made for each other!
I have always been thankful for Bethany and proud of the girl that she is.  Seeing her in action as a "Jie Jie" just confirms what a blessing she is.

Adventures in dining

I've always been a fan of Chinese food.  That hasn't changed, but I have to confess that I have a MAJOR craving for nachos that I won't be able to satisfy for another week and a half!  I've never been a huge fan of dumplings.  I thought they were kind of dry and bland.  Well, Echo, our adoption guide, took us to a restaurant last night that specializes in dumplings and they were great!  Turns out it's all about the sauce that you dip the dumplings in before you eat them.  In China they mix vinegar, soy sauce, peppers and garlic in a sauce.  You coat the dumplings in that before eating them - now that is some good eating!  By the way, I am not starving even though I am eating some meals with chop sticks.  Not saying I'm ready to make the switch permanently but at least I can get through a meal!

We have Joylee!

Today was our "Gotcha Day" and what a day it has been!  We were taken to a building about 20 minutes from our hotel and ushered into a big board room where Joylee was waiting for us, along with the two little boys who were being adopted by the other families in our group.  It was a bit chaotic at first, but we spotted her and Momma quickly made her way around the huge table to get to her.  She took to us pretty well and has been equally favoring each of us, which is a huge blessing and answer to prayer.  As I type Momma and Bethany are trying to get her to go to sleep because she is very tired and has been crying for most of the last hour.  She was like this earlier before she finally went down for a nap with me for about an hour this afternoon. 
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as she is adjusting well, praise the Lord, but we know she has a lot of transitions to go through yet.  Thank you for your prayers already, we know God is in control and He has done great things!

We would also ask you to keep in prayer the other two families that are a part of our group adopting today:  Jeff, Caroline and their 4 year old daughter Hannah and their new addition, Alex and Barry and Anastasia with their new addition, Seth.  Seth has had a particularly difficult time adjusting and it has been a very hard day for him and for them.  

China here we come!!

Finally! Whew! Our bags are packed and we think we're ready to go. It took a lot of shuffling of contents to get the bags to the proper weight for the in-country flights but I think we'll be fine. I never knew formula could be so heavy! We will just have to be careful not to buy too many anvils while we're there.
We've talked a lot about the time difference (14 hrs) and how to handle the jet lag. So when I awoke at 2:30 this morning I changed my mind about rolling over for another couple hours of snooze and got up instead. Now I just have to figure out when I can have a cup of coffee. Now? in 12 hours? Haven't decided yet. If I can make it past Chicago then take a nap, that would be ideal. Maybe I'll just see how long I can go...
It's 4:40 now and Jeff just got Bethany out of bed. It's amazing to me how resiliant and mature she is now. She pretty much packed her stuff herself. Of course I had to go through the checklist and ask "Do you have (insert item here)..." seventy-two times until I irritated her enough. But she did great! She also packed Joylee's outfits into Ziploc bags so we could just toss them into whatever suitcase had room. I don't think I've heard any doubts or complaints from her about getting a sister or having another child in the house this whole time. She has been supportive and excited since day one and I am so glad she gets to experience this with us.
Must go put the last couple things in the bags before we head out.
Thanks for reading my random thoughts,
May God bless the stuffing out of you!

It's time to go to China!

God is so good!
We have been praying and hoping that we would be able to go to China and have Joylee home before the end of the year, preferably before Christmas.  For that to happen we knew that we had to receive our "Travel Approval" before Thanksgiving.
Well, last Wednesday afternoon, the evening before Thanksgiving, we got the call!  Our "Travel Approval" had come through.  Isn't it great how God chooses to act - it's all for His glory!
Today we received our travel dates, are you ready for this?  We have to be in Beijing, China by NEXT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9!  WOW!  We should be in China through the 23rd and hope to be home by Christmas Eve or Christmas Day at the latest.
Thank you for your continued encouragement and prayers - they mean so much to us.
I would ask that if you haven't given yet to the Puzzle fundraiser or purchased some of Joylee's Jova coffee fundraiser that you prayerfully consider that at this time.   As we prepare to take this trip we are facing some of our most expensive parts of the adoption process.  Please know, however, that we believe and have seen that God will provide and we are trusting Him to do so for His glory. 
If you feel led to give that's wonderful, but please know that the greatest need we have now and during our trip is your prayers.
Specific prayer requests include:  Getting organized and packed for the trip, all the funds necessary for the trip, safety with all the flights and ground transportation, Joylee's safety, well-being and adjustment to us as her new family, good health for all of us as we travel to and from China and within China and a good adjustment down time once we return home
Once we receive our final iteneary, I will post it here so you can pray specifically as we travel.
Thank you again for your support of our family during this journey to bring Joylee home.

Waiting for Travel Approval and Tentative Travel Plans

This is an article that I wrote for our church family to bring them up to date about Joylee's journey home.  I thought I would share it with everyone.  Thank you for your continued prayer and encouragement.  
As of two weeks ago we had one major hurddle left - what is known of as the Travel Approval from China.  This will be the finalization of appointments with both the Chinese government and US government that will all take place in China on our trip.  The last word we received was that it could be up to five weeks before we receive our Travel Approval.  Once we receive the Travel Approval it could be another five weeks before we are actually able to travel.  As of now we are still hopeful that we will be able to travel to China to pick up our little girl, Joylee Aiyu Wells, before the end of the year.  (Joylee is the name we are giving her - it’s a combination of names, Joy in honor of my late mother and lee in honor of Kristine and her mother as it is their middle names.  Aiyu is her Chinese name that we will keep as her middle name as a way to honor her heritage.)  
When we do get to go get her we will be gone around 16 - 18 days.  We will fly into Beijing first where we will spend three days.  We will go through orientation with our adoption agency, Holt International, as well as get acclimated to the time change and prepare for the rest of the time in China.  On about day three we will travel to the Provence of Jilin to the capital city of Chanchun where Joylee is in foster care.  The Provence of Jilin is located in the northeast part of China with borders with Russia, Mongolia and North Korea.  The day we arrive in Changchun we should meet and be given custody of Joylee.  In adoption lingo this is refereed to as “Gotcha day” and is celebrated like a birthday.  We are so excited and looking forward to “Gotcha day” when we will get to meet Joylee and begin to include her into our family.  We will spend about five days in Changchun as we attend appointments with various government officials as part of the adoption process and wait for her Chinese passport to be processed.  After that work is completed we will travel to the city of Guangzhou, which is located in south central China, just north of Hong Kong.  We will spend about a week in Guangzhou where we will finalize the adoption and complete all U.S. immigration requirements.  We will then travel to Hong Kong where we will probably fly out from for our return flight to the U.S.  Kristine, Bethany and I will all be making the trip to bring Joylee home together.

Waiting...

I know it's been several weeks since our last post.  To be honest I thought we'd have a lot more to share as the time was drawing nearer for our trip to China and to meet our new daughter.  As it is we are making progress towards the goal of completing all the necessary paperwork yet it seems like the time between forms being received and approved are being drawn out.  We were hopeful that we would receive our Travel Approval and dates by the end of October.  As of this week that seems unlikely. 
With each passing day we are becoming more and more excited about the time.  For now we continue to wait.  Our anxiety is softened by the truth that we know that God's timing is perfect and as such we trust Him.  We do trust Him!  We busy ourselves with getting her room ready, buying toys and clothes at yard sales and praying for her.  I have to confess that I find myself staring at her picture several times a day either on my phone or at the picture above my computer in my office at church.  She is so cute and is growing up so fast!  So, we ask that you continue to pray for us, for our joy in the journey and for our patience.  Please continue to pray for Joylee, for her protection, care and well-being.  And, we ask that you join us in prayer for the process to go as God plans.  No delays, no issues, no problems.  It's our heart's desire to have her home by the end of the year.  If that is God's will it will be.  If not, we know that God is in control and He knows best.