We are Officially DTC!!

We finally received our I-797 on Monday.  Tuesday, Phil and I drove the paperwork to Raleigh to get the required authentication.  We then overnighted everything to a courier in DC who had the paperwork authenticated by the US State Dept. and the Chinese Consulate.  The courier overnighted the paperwork to our caseworker, in California, on Friday.  And Xiaoqing, our amazing caseworker, managed to get it out in the mail on Friday to China!!  

We are now officially DTC (dossier to China!!).  We are praying for a speedy LOA (Letter of Acceptance) which is the next step in this adoption paperchase.

Until then her sisters are eagerly awaiting her arrival (although her oldest 2 sisters aren't nearly as eager to pose for photos as these 3:)

Torie, Michaela and I went garage sale shopping today and bought Lily a pretty white bed to prepare for her arrival!  I can't wait to begin setting it up in the nursery where Lily and Isabelle will be sharing a room.  I guess that project will have to wait for a future Saturday.

Flower Girls

The last 2 weekends our family spent time in Atlanta preparing and then enjoying the wedding of one of my sister's sons, Andrew, to Rebekah.

The first weekend Torie, Michaela, Isabelle and I made the trek to Atlanta to help Terry (my sister) decorate her home for the 100+ person wedding reception which was held at her home. We decorated with tulle, candlesticks with white candles and flower petals laced in the tulle. The end result was simple elegance (at least that was the look we were trying to achieve!).

We returned this weekend for the wedding. Sarah Mei and Isabelle were so excited to be taking part in their first wedding as flower girls.

We got to the church at 3:30 p.m. for pictures. The wedding wasn't until 6:30 p.m., so lots of watching, wiggling, dancing and general busyness by the little girls ensued while they were waiting for the ceremony to begin.

AnnaGrace, on the other hand, had the right idea. She laid down in the back of the church and proceeded to fall asleep. Don't worry, we did wake her up for the wedding!

Andrew and Rebekah took the long photo shoot in stride!

And everyone says my sister and I look alike. Here Terry is with her husband, David, and their son, Andrew, and his new wife, Rebekah.  She is SO much fun!  It is going to be a blast having her as part of our family.

Finally, the moment, Sarah Mei and Isabelle had been waiting for arrived...they got to walk down the aisle. Isabelle was giddy with excitement until she actually started walking. Then she was very serious.

After all that anticipation, Isabelle was exhausted. Literally five minutes after walking down the aisle, she collapsed in Phil's arms and fell asleep.

Here the bride and flower girls show off their flower!  Thanks Rebekah for a wonderful day!