Grants

We have applied/are in the lengthy process of applying for two grants with the JSC Foundation and Show Hope.  Thank you to those that have agreed to be provide personal references or additional information for the agencies!

If we were to receive one or both of these grants it would make a very significant dent in the $5,000 we will be paying in the next few months.  We would certainly appreciate your prayers not specifically for us to receive the grants but for Noah as he continues to wait without a family in the orphanage.

Matthew 18:5 Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

Presents!

Noah and Jian Shan's presents finally arrived at the orphanage.  Look how happy it made them both!

Some of our friends and family have asked about sending other packages-that is something only we can do because we are sponsor them thru Bethel China.  We would be glad to include your items in the shoe boxes we mail or take any donations toward the presents and/or shipping costs (roughly $23-29 each).  Thank you for the continued support and prayers!  

Please join us in praying for a family for Noah's friend, Jian Shan.  His paperwork is being completed so that he is available for adoption and we know he would be even happier with a family of his own.  Until then we are committed to sponsoring him monthly and we will continue to send him packages.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child, follow this link: http://www.wordpress.bethelchina.org/sponsor-a-child/ 

A Little Bit of History

For a few weeks I've been debating on whether to try to locate Noah's finding ad now or just wait and hope that the orphanage gives us a copy when we visit (we definitely plan to visit his orphanage).  

In my attempt to not count the days we are waiting for our LSC (letter seeking confirmation), I contacted www.Research-China.org.  Within 48 hours they were able to locate a copy of the finding ad (described as OK in quality), 28 photos of Noah, as well as a copy of his police report, and an online story from a Chinese newspaper that includes him.  

I also made an amazing connection this week with a woman who advocated online for Noah when he was an infant.  She, herself, adopted twin boys with albinism from the same town, same orphanage Noah is at. That's not even the best part-she lives a mere 20 minutes from us and I truly believe God is connecting us so that she can mentor to me (and hopefully we can become friends).  Stay tuned! :)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋快乐

The Mid-Autumn Festival started yesterday in China.  Its name comes from the fact that it is always celebrated in the middle of the season of autumn. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, during a full moon.  The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second largest festival in China. 

We wanted to celebrate this holiday ourselves because we think it is important for our family to embrace Noah's heritage and culture just as we are learning to speak (or at least attempting) Mandarin Chinese.  So we enjoyed authentic Chinese food from a local restaurant and moon cakes brought over by a neighbor. 

The Moon Cake is the special food of Mid-Autumn Festival. Moon cakes come in various flavors according to the region. They are round, symbolizing the reunion of a family.  Nowadays, people present moon cakes to relatives and friends to demonstrate that they wish them a long and happy life.
This day is also known as the Moon Festival, as at that time of the year the moon is at its roundest and brightest.  On that day each year, people sacrifice moon cakes to the moon as an offering and eat them for celebration. 

Ella and Beckett really enjoyed trying the Chinese food and moon cakes.  I tried to explain the festival and significance.  They really got a kick out of the fact that Noah sees the same moon in the sky that we see each night.  We talk so much about how different his life is, what he doesn't have or can't do and I think we all appreciated the fact that it's the same moon whether he is in China or we are at home in the USA.  :)

Update: I forgot the most exciting part-check out the fortune...

LID! LID! LID!

The adoption agency just called to share more good news-our official LID (log in date) was yesterday!  We will now wait on the LSC (letter seeking confirmation) from CCAA.  Our agency predicted it will take 6-8 weeks to receive this next critical piece.  It will be mailed directly to us from China; we will sign two copies and return to our agency with a very large payment (read-more fundraising coming up). 


Thank you so much for the continued prayers for Noah.  We are now making an educated guess that the soonest we could travel to China to bring Noah home is mid January.  

Here's a new picture of our sweet boy being silly and trying on his friend's head band.

DTC! DTC! DTC!

We are officially DTC (dossier to China) as of today!  The completed dossier was scanned and uploaded to CCAA's database as well as the official hard copy mailed.  We will now wait on the LID (log in date).

We feel so blessed to have completed this portion of the adoption journey some refer to as the paperwork chase.  Please continue to pray with us for Noah-his safety, health and for his heart to be open to the idea of a forever family in us.  We think we will travel to China in roughly 4-5 months as long as our dossier is accepted/approved in a timely manner (in other words we still don't know).

Change One

One late night Pinterest session I stumbled across this awesome t-shirt.  I'm a big cheerleader for those that make their own things (because I can't correctly execute anything cute myself) and I believe in supporting others...especially when it comes to fundraisers.  All proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go towards the Bramlett's adoption expenses.  The shirts come in adult ($20) and children's ($15) sizes. 

I really have been meaning to share the link to the ChangeOneDesigns Etsy shop for a few weeks now.  I wear my shirt ALL the time (some of you can attest to that).

http://www.etsy.com/listing/159791110/womens-adoption-t-shirt?ref=sr_gallery_36&ga_search_query=adoption+shirt+&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=4&ga_search_type=all

Allie and her husband will be adopting a child from China next year; they also have a blog you can follow their journey at http://thebramletthome.blogspot.com/ 

Matthew 25:40 The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brother of mine, you did for me.

Twitter

Received a new picture of our sweet Noah swinging and I've started a Twitter account #hopefornoah

Almost DTC!

The authenticated 797C arrived on Friday morning form the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas!  This is what we have been waiting on.  It is the LAST piece to complete our dossier so that our adoption agency can submit it to CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs).

All of the dossier documents will now be scanned and emailed to China and then the hard copies will be mailed.  The day they are scanned we will be DTC.  This is very exciting in the world of adoption!  We plan to have a small celebration with our kids.  Thank you again for the prayers and encouragement.  It's taken a long 5 months and one week to get to this point.

Sponsoring

Our 797C has not been returned from the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas.  I have been trying to track the pre-paid envelope via FedEx but it hasn't been scanned or sent so there isn't anything to track, yet.  I was pretty bummed last Thursday when I realized there was NO way we could be DTC on Friday as our agency predicted.  It's Wednesday now so I'm not even sure if we could be DTC this Friday.  Ugh just a bump in the road but so frustrating.  We're not even officially counting down until the dossier is sent to China.  At this rate December travel is no longer within reach baring a true miracle (which of course could always happen).

So I focused my adoption energy on something else this weekend; we have signed up to sponsor Noah and his friend, Jian Shan thru Bethel China.  For only $35 a month we can help cover they daily expenses and make each of their lives a little brighter.  Sponsoring a child is a wonderful opportunity for a waiting family or just someone whose heart has been tugged by the thought of a child in an orphanage without a family of their own (that means everyone, right?).

Here is the link for more information on sponsorship thru Bethel China:
http://www.bethelchina.themiddlekingdom.org/sponsor-a-child/

Also, since we are officially sponsoring the boys we will receive more updates and are able to mail our own care packages.  They will both turn 3 in October so yesterday we sent bigger packages, not really birthday presents because I know nothing in an orphanage setting will be their own but we sent socks, toothbrushes, toys, stickers and healthy snacks that can be shared.

Hebrews 10:24  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works