TOMORROWS DREAM

Dream time is over. The reality is that tomorrow we get on a plane and arrive in China to be united with our little girl. Endless forms ,phone calls , meetings, worries, appointments, back ground checks, doctors, police, fire dept., more forms, social workers, finger prints, finger prints again, essays about ourselves, grant applications, a thousand questions from family, more forms, passports, visa ,i800, i800a, FBI. , vaccinations , photos, packing,re packing , re re packing, getting parents to watch house and dog sit, cat sit, bird sit, having good neighbors to help with great parents, more worries, more forms and figuring out how to use a car seat, painting a room pink and putting together a rocking chair, bed , stroller, little table and two little potties.this does not cover it all but it meant the world to me to be able to do it all for my wife and my little girl. never complain of the chores going in to, see it all as the blessing it is. thank you to all who have been a part of this and there are so many I could never thank you all. All glory goes to the Lord. Again thank you all.I love you Lisa, always have, always will, in this life and the next. God bless.

preparing for launch

the time is almost here as we are within days of heading across the world to be united with our daughter. As the time has grown closer I reflect on all the work put in by me and wife, and by that I mostly mean my wife. endless forms , endless contacts , and a whole lot of waiting. as I look back I think of a number of good people I have met along the way and the way an attitude changes when you tell someone you need the appropriate form for adoption. Upon attempting to fill out our passport forms the lady at the post office seemed a little shy of patience with my wife and I until my wife cited her nervousness was due to the fact that this was a passport to enter China for the adoption of our girl. It seem as if she had sprinkled fairy dust upon her as her attitude changed completely. She wasn't even to angry about the fact that i listed my own birthday wrong. this whole process has reassured me that there are allot more good people than bad. From the local authorities who helped with all the forms, to the lady who issued me a new ss card. All my neighbors who showed excitement to friends and family who simply could not wait. Our employers who have allowed us time off to parents who will take care of things while were away. Most of all the wonderful people at EAC and specifically Carla and Deb for all their kinda words and endless devotion to find children homes and parents children. there are far to many to thank but the real point of this post is to let who read know, for every time you here of a bad deed on the news, know that a million good deeds went unreported. Know that most people are good people and when given the opportunity will all step up to help.Remember that most people are doing the best they can within themselves and that we all need help sometime, and should all be willing to give help at anytime.The world is agood place with kind and loving people, do not the a few bad deeds overshadow it. Do your part, be one of the good people, and I'll do my best to join all of you.Be safe and god bless.

Time to Go

Well the time is here. We leave very soon , as all plans have been finalized. Its been a little over a year since this began and now it is about to come full circle. We recently were surprised with new photos of our girl and my wife received a surprise baby shower so all in all a great weekend. Also i have to give best wishes to my niece and her new husband. Heather and Matt were married on Friday and this was a key factor in bringing the whole family together for a beautiful day with the Brinkley family reunion. All has been well and we already can't wait to be home. Here we come Emma. On a off note I can't tell you how many times i used the back key writing this. God bless all and be safe.

CLOSER....CLOSER.....EMMA I AM YOUR....

It's been awhile since my last post and so on the eve of my 25th wedding anniversary i thought I might have something worth writing about. We are right now within 30 days of travel and have begun the monumental task of preparing for travel. nothing is set in stone as far as travel,but what is set in stone is celebrating 25 years with the woman who has saved my life and shown me more love than i ever knew existed. It is thru her that i have been able to see the greater purpose of this life and perhaps the next. My love for her far exceeds anything in the realms of reality and touches on a spiritually quantum level.(i stold that line from a guy on the last survivor) Always in my heart,my soul and my very being, she is all I ever wanted and everything i need. With the addition of our daughter I'm sure the next 25 will be all these things and more.I LOVE YOU LISA,always have and always will. Happy anniversary and prepare for the greatest gift of our love. She'll be here soon.God bless all and be safe.happy 4th to all.

CLOSER.....CLOSER...LUKE I AM YOUR...............

well maybe not Luke, but Emma for sure. Time is getting closer and we anticipate bringing our girl home within the next 2 months. We had hoped to have her home before the end of August. Right now we our just keeping ourselves busy with all the prep that goes into it. Baby gates and travel prep and all the kindness from family and friends have made this a very exciting and fun journey. Both of us are just very anxious to to get our girl home and have all this waiting over. But as i told my wife, this is the part of it that makes all the sweeter to return home with our girl. I don't blog as often as i used to because the actual process has slowed to a crawl with the fact that there are only a few more steps to go but feel you'll be hearing more from me in the days that lead up to bringing Emma home. God bless all and be safe.

been awhile

its been awhile since my last post and I know this to be true by the date of May 4th as my last. A few bumps and lumps aside its still just the same old news.MORE WAITING. I believe the fever has spread full circle to all members of our family. Mother in law and wife seem to be approaching maximum "Give me my daughter". I feel the same and even though they give you a direct time line ,you still hope it will be sooner. Its tough being told between 4-6 months and left wondering which it will be. All in all we're just tracking down all preparations.Not so much out of necessity as a simple way to stay busy. A true lesson in patience. Also a hats off to EAC who has been the best. God bless all of them and the work they do. And god bless all of you.

the weight of waiting

......and still we wait. Although we were already told it would be 4-6 months , it still feels like forever. Been trying to stay busy with the 2 million chores needed to be ready for our new, life with 2 year old Emma, I still find that all that we do leaves our minds stuck on getting our girl home.EAC has been just great about everything and I'm thankful for all they are doing. Just wish they had a time machine to go with it. god bless all.