The last several weeks have been filled with all the emotions that are so commonplace with international adoptions.  The emotional highs of the process moving forward and the inevitable disappointments as paperwork gets delayed and items out of your control materialize!

I’m a little embarrassed that it has been so long between posts.  It is like having your first child and you have a million pictures of them doing everything from crawling to eating dirt.  By the time you get to the fourth child you are lucky to find a birthday picture!

This is always an exciting time of year as we have eight birthdays between September 21 and October 22.  In fact, this past week we had four birthdays!  Kelly, Brittany, Luke, and myself all celebrated over the last seven days.

We also found a little time to head out to the beach!  We went down to Orange Beach, Alabama, to spend a week with friends in the sand and sun.

It also gave us the chance to make a couple of stops to see some of the girls that Ali, Jessie, & Riley grew up with in the Huainan orphanage.  On the way down we were able to spend the evening with two families who came up to our campsite on Mount Santo in Birmingham, Alabama.

Then, on the way home, we stopped for lunch in Montgomery, Alabama, as we connected with another old friend and her family.

Now we are in the holding pattern of figuring out when we will be heading to China.  Everything had been moving along pretty smoothly until the U.S. Consulate put a hold on everything this week, requesting additional information for Madison.  This is to be expected as there are ALWAYS some delays in the process.  But the fact that we have to be in China to finalize Madison’s adoption prior to her birthday on December 5 makes the timing especially stressful!

But God has worked through issues like this before, over and over again, and there is no reason to think that He won’t work through this situation also.  We rest in the assurance the He has the best in store for both Madison and Peyton and this little hurdle will only be a chapter in their adoption story.

Thank you to everyone who donated and helped us reach the required matching amount with Brittany’s Hope.  I was a little stressed the other day over finances (again, a common feeling with anyone who has adopted, especially as the time to travel approaches) and then we received a donation to cover all the girls airfare home.  It was another gentle reminder that God has every aspect of this adoption in the palm of His hand.

If anyone still would like a set of Leah’s Note Cards, the are still available here:

http://www.ckbphoto.com/store/

I know I said this earlier, but they are much prettier than what you see on the webpage.  Everyone who has received them has commented on how vibrant and beautiful they are.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your support.  Every child we have adopted has benefited from this and I know that Madison and Peyton will also.

Cameron