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.

LOA

We received some good news on the 23 that brings us one step closer to bringing our girl home. Our letter of acceptance was delivered from Shanghai. It was very cool to see a document from the Peoples Republic of China with our names on it. As always our EAC lady was very helpful in completing our paperwork. Wife and I are both very excited in knowing that we our now one step closer. They are tossing around August as a realistic travel date. Can't wait. God bless all.

waitzilla

this waiting game has turned into a real monster. spent most of the weekend preparing back yard with some new grass and a spot for a swing set, not sure if its for wife or little girl. probably both. anyway its a good way to keep busy. nothin to say that hasn't already been said.................4-6 months has hopefully passed to 3-5 months. god bless.

return to winter

been awhile since last update, we received some updated medical info on our girl and we were able to forward it to our retained med staff at rainbows. all is well and her growth is right on schedule. it was very nice to hear from Rainbows so soon and i have to once again say how professional and caring all involved have been. As winter returns here in Ohio we are still in a holding pattern. Been tryin to stay busy preparing home for little one. Grand parents got her several cute outfits for her and much like us can't wait for her arrival. wishing all well being, and as always....God Bless 

grandma and grandpa

wife's parents just got back into town from Fla. so happy to have them home. they have been so excited to have Emma home. Have to keep telling them to be patient, along with my Mom and wife. and myself. Her folks have offered so much help and support that they are just irreplaceable. Much like my wife ,as much as I want her home for my own joy, I almost equally want her home for their joy also. Just another day in this crazy cool journey to bring Emma home.God bless .

Waiting

STILL WAITING......waiting......w ai t ing....WaitING      WAITING  WAITING...WAITING....WAITING  WAITING    WAITING  WAITING  WAITING  WAITING  WAITING.  SOME DAYS IT WILL DRIVE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND BUT MOST DAYS YOU JUST DAYDREAM OF THE DAY YOU WILL HOLD HER IN YOUR ARMS AND KNOW THAT YOU CAN KEEP HER SAFE FORM ANY HARMS WITH ALL THE LOVE IN YOUR HEART. BUT FOR NOW..........WAITING.GOD BLESS.

waiting.....still

Not alot new going on.Just more waiting. There seems to be plenty of it. It seems the record warm weather we were experiencing has come to an end. it was very enjoyable and hung out for my birthday. We took several family photos for the scrap book that we are to take with us to China for our girl. Got lucky at dinner with mom and was able to get almost the whole family. hope all is well with all who read this .god bless.

beautiful weather

Just playing the waiting game and fortunately the weather is more than cooperative.We're hoping we have at least 1 month down and 3 more to go, although we both believe it will be more like 4 to go. Wife has begun gathering items for our trip to China and I've been staying busy with the kitchen over haul. Almost done. wife seems happy with and so am I. Been reading thru some other bloggers on here and find most of them very thoughtful and inspired. Can,t wait to be blogging on how fun it is to have my little girl home rather than how hard it is to be waiting to go get her. Wish all well and God bless.

dst

well we turned the clocks forward yesterday, a sure sign that winter is almost over. we got confirmation that our girls care package was delivered to Shanghai. we hope she is enjoying it as I write this. Also included were photos of me and my wife. We hope she likes us. Still remodling the kitchen. A nice little project to keep me busy. Just counting days and hoping to have our girl home soon. Also wanted to wish Chuck norris a happy birthday. I hope he don't kick my ass for being one day late. god bless.

been awhile

great news to share. recently received new photos of Emma. She looks beautiful. And to add to that today we get to send her our care package. Wife can't wait to get her home so getting those pictures helps the wait. shared them with family immediately as they are all just as anxious as we are. trying to post new photos on line but it keeps giving me the blues. wish all well. God bless.

as you see i figured it out.

new pictures of Emma

extra day

Leap year 2012. that one extra day they give you. One more day to wait. good news is we will be sending our care package this weekend. Very excited in knowing she will be seeing us for the first time. The wife included some clothes and a blanket along with some toy trucks. We were told in her release forms that toy cars and trucks were her favorite. trying to stay busy with kitchen remodel. Heart goes out to all those effected in Chardon,ohio. God bless you all.

tic tock

still awaiting word on sending care package. to quote the great Tom Petty....."the waiting is the hardest part". everything has seemed to go so quickly up until now, now you just wait.Time is a very prescious thing and right now i'm wishing this time away.wishing it away in return for the time i can see my wife smiling as she holds her new daughter.a time when the phine rings and we don't kill ourselves trying to get to it. a time when we can share the rest of our lives with our little girl. I know that time will come and for now we just have to see our way thru this time.God has blessed with this time and I will spend it wisely.But the anticipation of the time to come still out weighs the time that is. in due time, and i'm thankful to have it. God bless

too busy to blog

Been awhile since i last posted. a lot has happened since then, most notably Lisa breaking her foot. It seems to be on the mend but she still needs to stay off it for a bit. I did manage to begin re doing my kitchen. New floor, new paint, and some new shelves. Whole family seems very excited about bringing Emma home , still in that 4-6 month waiting period. Although we almost have a month under our belts now. Lisa's been picking out clothes and we recently looked at car seats. Hopefully with all the preparing we are doing the only thing left will be to love our little girl. 6 months has never seemed so long. That's all for now. God bless.

in the kitchen

Started flooring in the kitchen. Nice to have a project to keep busy with. Next will be paint and shelves. Prepared letter for care package and should have it sent off by weeks end. let me rephrase that, wife wrote letter and prepared care package. Very anxious and hoping it to be sooner than later. Another big thank you to EAC, and all those who have been a part of the process. god bless and may you all find comfort and safety.

Valentines Day

This will be the last Valentines Day before my girl comes home to us. Still just hanging tough in the holding pattern. We prepared our care package and wrote a letter for her caregivers which will be translated and re written. Very excited to send her stuff and also a photo album with our photos in it.That's all for now.Gob bless and goodbye..

care package

On Saturday we received news that we would be able to put together our first care package to be sent to our daughter in Shanghai. As we our both very excited to do so, we our also struggling to pick what items to send first. The wife has already chose a few, including a variety of stuffed animals and a toy cube in which we can place pictures of ourselves. We our both hopeful that they will in return send us more photos of our little girl. Can't wait to have her home. that's all for now, got to head off to work. Wishing all of you comfort and safety,God bless.

Super Bowl Sunday

Getting ready to once again watch a Superbowl that does not include the Cleveland browns.It's o.k.,I'm used to it.On a brighter note my wife with the help of couples adopting out of Shanghai,has found our child's finding ad. It was very surreal to view and translate. We our still in the holding pattern as we await our dossier to be translated and cleared. We hope for all to go as fast as possible ,Knowing that it is a matter of patience. Another beautiful day in North east Ohio,wish you all comfort and safety,and as always.....God bless.

Go Giants

LOI accepted

We have just gotten news that our letter of intent has been accepted in Shanghai. Along with this acceptance they sent us the Chinese version of the document. It was very unique to see our names in Mandarin.  Still struggling to get a grasp on the language. And still praying for the patience to wait for our journey.every day brings us one day closer.Wishing you all comfort and safety.God bless. 

emma grace

This ia a photo of our daughter who awaits our arrival.we count every moment until this day.

just outta reach

They told us the hardest part of the adoption process would be the period of waiting after you receive the photo of your child .This was not an exaggeration. For my wife the waiting game has already become an unbearable weight. We have been married now for almost 25 years and this last week has almost seemed longer than those years combined. I am reminded of an explanation of the theory of relativity,to paraphrase.......put your hand on a hot pan for 1 second and it seems like an eternity,sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a second. Thru out the process of adopting we have always had that next step wich for the most part was always under e a controlled time line,although at times it felt like the federal govt moved at its own pace.But still within a guided time line. Now all the paperwork is out of our hands and the picture of our daughter has replaced them.NOW THE BIG WAIT. I know with the grace of the lord and all the patience we can mustard, in due time all things to those who wait.But if I may just ask the lord one favor...........PLEASE HURRY. I wish all comfort and safety and ask that the Lord watches over all the children. God Bless.

technical stuff

as we await word from China, we have been trying to square away our new camera software and all the neat little inter net gadgets that will help us stay in touch with our families while we are in China.I've learned more about YouTube and face book in the last 2 weeks than i have in my life.Even as i write this blog i am not concerned with how many people read it,its more of a way for me to share with our daughter to be the events that lead up to this great blessing.Getting ready to take the dog for a ride so gonna have to get going.As always I wish you all safety and comfort and as always God Bless.

Waiting game

Now that we have completed all of our necessary paper work,crossed all the t;s and dotted the I's,theres nothing more to due but wait.We signed our "letter of intent"on a the most celebrated day in China.Chinese New Year.It was a very special day for us due to the fact that it was the first time we were at our agency knowing that a girl had been found for us.We also got to see a picture of ourselves along with a photo of our little girl on the Board of dreams.Now we wait.Four to six months.Our families are very anxious and we are already climbing the walls.Might be a little easier if it wasn't January in Ohio.Hard to keep busy and occupy your minds.But i suppose it would be the same even if it was June.Our minds will only be occupied with one thing.Bringing Emma home.I wish all comfort and safety and as always,God Bless.

Happy Chinese New Year

2012  "The Year of the Dragon".The year we will bring our daughter home.Tonite we have been invited to meet with our EAC contact.Her name is Carla,and it is because of her that we will have this opportunity to become parents.I wish to thank all those who have worked so diligently in making all of this possible.This will be the first time we have gone to EAC knowing that we have a girl waiting for us in China.That will be a special feeling.My wife has asked that i bring our camera due to the fact that they put our pictures on their wall as new parents with a newly placed child.Iwill be more than happy to take that picture.The single word Fook means fortune,blessing,good luck and happiness. I wish this to all.God Bless.Comfort and safety to all.

NFL.....and baby clothes

today the NFL games will decide who gets to go to the big game,and i get to help my wife decide what baby clothes will not only look the best,but will fit.when we first started our adoption journey we had it in our heads that the girl they would find would be a little older,because it seemed like the older ones would place sooner.Well that's not always the case,so now we get to go find some clothes to fit our new little one.my wife couldn't;t be happier and i find myself constantly thinking of her arrival into our home.Our families seem to be just as excited as we our,even though we know that isn't possible.as i write these thoughts ,ESPN just announced the passing of Joe Paterno.I've noticed as all these things are occurring in my life,i seemed to be in tune with the events surrounding it.Martin Luther King Day,Muhammad Alis Birthday and the passing of Joe Pa.well that's all for no,wishing you all comfort and safety,God Bless.

just another day

After the incredible whirlwind of activity and emotions over the last 3 days we are finally able to take a minute and reflect.The call Monday night was so unexpected,along with my mother ending up in the hospital.the incredible news that we locked our little girl in,and the following day ,our medical advisor signing off on our girl was almost to surreal to fully take in.looking back ,it was by far the craziest24 hours of my life.and by crazy i mean incredible.to now know that we have our little girl waiting for us across the world is a feeling i surely cannot describe.My wife is still in a state of euphoria.I keep telling her that if she thinks she's happy no,wait until she meets her in person.And although the photos they sent were attached as a pdf,my wife was able to separate them and come up with some tremendous photos for us to give and share with our families.Right now I'm just gonna take the next couple of days to just let it all soak in.Monday the 23 is Chinese New Year,the year of the dragon.We have been invited to meet with our European Adoption consultant on this day.I'm sure it will be the most satisfying visit of them all,knowing that our daughter is awaiting our arrival in China.That's all i have on my mind right now,so as always I wish you all comfort and safety,God Bless.

b day

Happy Birthday Muhammad Ali,a true inspiration and the greatest fighter ever.

CELEBRATIONS

After several  tense moments and endless what ifs,Emma Grace is finally ours.Although she is still in Shanghai and will remain there for the next 4 to 6 months,today we recieved confirmatiion along with our first photos of the little girl we have sought after for so long.The first photos were sent to us via e-mail.she is just beautiful.a dream come true to see the sheer joy on my wifes face.A huge thank you to all those who played a part in making this possible.Now we just have to be patient and wait for our time to go.Just a crazy 24 hours.And on another happy note,my mother was released from the hospital this evening.Much to be thankful for.Many to thank,and one God who made it all possible.Wishing all comfort and safety,God bless.

what a night

Well it happened.As i said in the previous posts, last night was the first time  that my adoption agency contact would be able to go on and actively search for our daughter.We did not expect the call to come until much later in the evening,but to our surprise my phone rang at about 8:30pm.I was expecting it to be my Mother or the hospital in which she was taken for observations of chest pain.When i heard the voice of our adoption contact i was confused and taken off guard.We did not expect her call,if at all,until much later.Her first words after a brief greeting were"why are you not on speaker phone Scott?"After moments of inaudible babbling and finger fumbling on my part ,I was able to compose myself enough to gather my wife and hear the news we still cannot believe.WE FOUND YOU A LITTLE GIRL IN SHANGHAI.This is just incredible.Never would we have dreamed it would come so soon.Today we go to our retained health pros to overlook the medical reports and then we'll report back to our contact to prepare our letter of intent.Very happy and very overwhelmed.That's all for now.wishing all of you comfort and safety.God bless.

sleepless nite ahead

1. Just returned home from a visit to the hospital.Nothing serious,my Mom was experiencing some chest pains and is now being kept overnight for observations.On a brighter note I did manage to update my profile page.Well tonites the big nite.we'll know by 1 am if they found her tonite or if we'll have to save the celebrations for another time.Kinda got a mixture of anticipation and excitement but trying to keep an evenness about the whole thing.Like i keep telling my lovely wife"if not this time then the next one"Gonna try to get a little shut eye,though I know it won't come easy.Wish all of you comfort and safety.God Bless.More tomorrow......or maybe tonite.

big day

good morning.been struggling with the profile page.can't understand the error it is asking me to correct.try again later.still cold here in ohio and today is the big day,or should i say nite. we are expecting our first search call tonite,and we will know by 1 am if our girl has been found.gonna make for an exciting day.its 5;31 am and i must be going to work.wish all comfort and saftey.god bless.and as always,forgive my typing.

first chance

hi all.my name is scott and my wifes name is lisa.we have been married for24 years and have recently decided to adopt a young child from China.After several months of dilegent paperwork and various background protocols,we received our first notification that our daughter would be sought after for the very first time on Monday, January 16 of 2012.We are very excited and anxiously await news from our EAC contact.we know that to find her on the first try is a long shot,but our prayers and hearts go out to our soon to be found girl.i will posting more as we find out more and welcome all ith similar situations or positive feed back to please respond.it has been a long journey leading up to this point,now we can't wait for the journey to China that leads us to Emma.this is the name we have chose,after going thru about a million.thats all for now as i wish all comfort and saftey.God bless all and forgive my hacky typing