This is my first attempt at blogging and I expect to make many mistakes. Please bear with me as I learn how this is done.

We started our first adoption journey with many doubts and fears but with the knowledge that it was God's idea and plan. Most were very supportive when they heard of our plans but we also weathered many skeptical reactions along the way. We still get some pretty strange looks when we are all out together, but now that Samara has joined us, we have absolutely no doubts that adoption was right for our family.

The original decision to adopt always included plans to adopt two children so that we would not be raising a virtual only child. With Katelynn already in college and Nikki not far behind, we figured this little girl would need a sister closer to her own age. It took us all of Gotcha Day to know Samara was a perfect match for our family and we have all adjusted seamlessly to having this new family member in our household. All that remained was to determine the timing of our second adoption.

After much prayer and an assessment of our financial ability to do this again so quickly, we decided we will bring home another daughter as soon as possible. Our agency, Chinese Children's Adoption International, CCAI, says we may not begin the journey until we have been home for 6 months. That is TODAY and our application will be hand-delivered by Jeff before the close of business this afternoon. Assuming our application is accepted, we will have a bit less than 6 months to complete our dossier if it is to be in China the first day they will accept it, December 28, 2005. (China requires one year from the date Samara's adoption was finalized by them before they will accept another dossier.)

So here we go climbing on the roller coaster again, this time with much less trepidation and doubt and with great excitement to meet the little girl God has planned to bring into our family next. We invite you to join us for this journey and we so appreciate all of your support. We also ask for your prayers for all of us, including our yet-to-be daughter, as we once again work our way through this process.