First Birthday in Seoul

I know that Emmeline has been one since June, but I was recently sent some pictures of her birthday party at Holt! Many children with June birthdays were there. The first birthday is a big deal in Korea. As you can see, the kids have special outfits to wear. I am so glad to receive these pictures. Looks like all of the children were having fun!

Where Have I Been?

Wow, is it time for me to update this blog or what? It's not like I have been busy or anything....okay, maybe just a bit. The month of October has been very good to me! And that the good Lord for that! In the beginning of the month, we got word that Emmeline was submitted for her EP!!!! What wonderful news this was for us. I was actually on Facebook when I saw that a friend had written "AAAAAHHHHHHH" on her wall. I thought I knew what this meant but wrote to her quickly anyway to ask. She said that she was submitted. I wanted so badly to check my email, but just couldn't do it. I busied myself in the kitchen for awhile and then, I just had to do it! Much to my surprise and sheer joy I saw an email entitled "EP Submission". I started to laugh and cry at the same time. It was a Thursday, so Drew and Tate were home with me and they were very confused. I told them that I was crying because I was happy. There were only three other times in my life when that happened and that was when my boys were born. I picked up the phone and called my friend Tracey. She, too, was hoping and praying for an EP for her son. Unfortunately, she didn't receive the news she was hoping for. I was so sad for her. We had become quite close throughout all of this and I wanted an EP for her son almost as much as she did! So, this news broke my heart. It is a very strange feeling to be so happy for one reason, yet so sad for another. She is dealing with everything and hopes to get her son early next year. I continue to pray for the moms whose wait is not yet over.
This past week, I got an email that Emme is going to have her Visa Physical on the twentieth of this month. The new hospital is doing these earlier, which is a good thing. It shaves a couple of weeks of waiting off. So, another big step will be out of the way. The next big thing will be the EP approval. Normally, this happens about one month after submission, but there was one group this year whose EPs were not approved for three months. I am hoping that will not happen again! Approval in two weeks works fine for me. I guess we'll see what is in store for us! Another piece of paperwork that we may need is called a Class B waiver. This is a report from the doctor that discloses any problems Emme might have and we sign off that we know she has these issues. That is sent out about two weeks after the physical via email. We sign it and overnight it back to Korea. A few more things happen and then we get "The Call". The call is what we have been waiting for since we started this process one year ago! I cannot wait for that phone to ring!
As a family, we decided that rather than travel to Korea to pick up Emme, that we will have her escorted. There were several reasons as to why we made this decision, mostly work related and little boy related. A volunteer flies over to the States with our little girl and we pick her up at the airport. She will most likely fly into Des Moines. This is nice because my in-laws live there and we will be in familiar territory. So, all in all, there is a possibility (if everything goes as it should) that our little one will be here for Thanksgiving. If not, we hope to have her here for Christmas. We continue to ask for prayers for our family for the rest of this process, for Emme's foster family that has to say goodbye, and for the families who continue to wait for good news. Thanks to all of you for your continued support!!!!