{YIPPPPPYYYYYY}

OUR DOSSIER OFFICIALLY WENT TO CHINA TODAY (jumping up and down)!!!! We are finished with our paper chase for our little girl!! We feel so blessed at how quickly our process has gone. We feel God is in control of everything and he really wants us to have our Makayla. I cannot wait for the moment I can hold her in my arms, kiss on her little cheeks, and hear her giggle for the first time!! I don't even know her yet, but I love her and miss her. Mommy is ready...!!!

Next step is waiting for our Log In Date (LID) and our Letter Seeking Confirmation (LSC) When those come in, which can take 6 weeks to a couple of months (we have faith is will be soon), we will then get our travel plans. We basically have to have an appointment at the American Embassy in China and permission from the Chinese government and Makayla's province to come in to the country. We were assigned a new person, Beth is her name, at GWCA today. She will be arranging our travel for us. Can you believe how FAST God has worked in our lives for this little girl!!!

We almost have her room ready too. My friend and neighbor Christine has hand painted the most adorable cherry blossoms on Makayla's wall. My friend Sandy has loaned us a beautiful crib. My friend Cortney gave us a car seat, books, DVDs, and clothes. My friend Lisa surprised me with some super cute gifts for Makayla when we were in Seattle. THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!!!! This is so FUN shopping and planning for a little girl again. I will take some pictures soon of her room and post them for you to see.

A Special Thank You~
We could not have done this so quickly and efficiently with out our coordinator Cortney and her husband Sean, who paved the path before us in their adoption. They were both a wealth of knowledge and when ever we needed anything or had any questions, they would be there for us. Even if they didn't have the answers then, they would research and ask questions until they did. The bonus is that through this process we have become friends. Their little girl is from the same orphanage as Makayla, so I hope they will be close and kind of like sisters. This has been an absolutely wonderful experience and we are grateful to be chosen by God to be Makayla's parents.

Have a wonderful evening and THANK YOU for all your prayers and continued support!
The Sweeney's

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ~Mark 11:24

{WE GOT IT}

We got our Pre-Approval (PA) letter from CHINA today!!! We have been officially matched with our little girl, Makayla!!! We were so excited that it only took China 7 days to process our request, the time frame should have been 2-4 weeks!! Now, our dossier will be sent to China matched with Makayla. They are saying that the process time for our Dossier is running 70-120 days. We will just see about that, I cannot imagine it going that slow with as fast as the rest of our process has been, but again it is all in God's hands and I am trusting in Him! When they have fully processed our Dossier we will get our Log In Date (LID) and Letter Seeking Confirmation ( LSC). The LSC is China asking us one last time if we are sure we want to accept Makayla as our daughter. When we send that letter back with a giant YES, we should get our travel plans in about 2-4 weeks after that.


Here is what you have all been waiting for...I made this LO on the way to Seattle Sunday morning, when we received updated pictures of her. She most likely just woke up from a nap, but she is still so CUTE, sleepy eyes and all!!! I cannot wait to hold this precious little girl in my arms and call her my own!!! God is so good!!!! Makayla has a "Forever Family" and we have a "FOREVER daughter"!

Thank you for all your prayers and please continue to pray for all of us in this process.

The Sweeney's

{SCREECHING HALT}

Picture created by FlowerFlora at Two Peas in a Bucket

Well, kind of!!! After all the RUSH to get our FINAL Dossier to GWCA, we found out that we had two documents that needed to be re-done and I had forgotten to add the original passport photo's!! However, it again is God's Plan...turns out that if we had sent our Dossier in this Friday, we would have had to pay the FULL price going the Non-Special Needs route. We had in fact chosen Makayla, but China still needs to send us the Pre-Approval letter and say YES to that. Once that happens, which takes about two weeks, we can then be matched with Makayla and it will be the Waiting Child route. That route is about $400 dollars cheaper, not that that is a big deal, but that will be $400 towards the orphanage donation instead! So, we will wait the two weeks for the Pre-Approval letter and then send in the Dossier. Thank you Lord!!! It seems so confusing when you hear about it, but when you actually experience it, it all makes so much more sense!!! I did get all the new documents in the mail to Jessa by 2:00pm, so she should receive them this week. WHEW!!!!

What else happened today you ask?!?! We went to our church and picked up our Letter of Recommendation from our very own Pastor Cathy!!! We just love her and I am so honored she would write this letter for us and then get her picture taken! She will forever be a part of our adoption process and that just makes my heart smile. She is more than just a Pastor to me, she is my sister and friend! Thanks Cathy!!!

Well, that is your NEWEST update for today and we will continue to pray for grants and wait for China to send our Pre-Approval letter. I can't believe it has almost been a week since we said "YES" to our Makayla!!!

Have a wonderful evening!
The Sweeney's

{MIND-BOGGLING NEWS}

We have had so much to do since we locked Makayla's file on Friday (July 31st)!!! We had to send a letter of Intent (LOI), pictures and more paperwork to Stephanie at Great Wall China Adoption (GWCA) by Saturday evening!! After our LOI was checked by Stephanie, all those documents were sent to China on Sunday (August 2). Now, we wait for our Pre-Approval (PA) letter. That could take anywhere from 2-4 weeks. We are praying for it to go smoothly and that they accept our letter, so we can be matched with our little girl!!!
On Monday (August 3) all our Dossier documents came in the mail from the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco!! I checked the date on the envelope of when they sent it back to us and it was the same day we said "YES" to our Makayla (July 31st)!!! That was no coincidence, but God at work with His master plan and another Red Thread!
We still had a couple things to complete with the Dossier back in our hands. We were going to have to move pretty FAST to get it all in the mail on the same day we got it back!!! We had to go make 2 copies of the entire Dossier, fill out the cover letters, passport photo's...etc!!! We ran out the door to Kinko's and it took us an hour to make all those copies. We then jump back in the car to head to the Post Office to mail the FINAL Dossier to GWCA. We made it with 15 minutes to spare before the Post Office closed for the day!!!! WHEW!!!
If our Dossier gets to them by today, August 5th (praying), Jessa will be able to review it. If everything look good then our Dossier will be mailed to CHINA this Friday (August 7th)!!!! That would mean that our LOI and our Dossier got to China in the same week! GW only mails the Dossiers to China on Friday's, so if there is any problem at all we will have to wait for the next Friday. We are praying hard for THIS Friday!!! Then, we wait again, but this time it is for our Log In Date (LID). When that happens, which could take up to 90 days, we can then be ready to travel to CHINA to get our little Makayla. We are hoping before the end of the year to travel.
Mike and I have been filling out grants like crazy to hopefully help us with a portion of the adoption expenses. We were not planning on going so soon, but very excited to be able to hold her in our arms!!!! Please continue to pray for us, so we can move quickly to bring Makayla home.

I think I have talked enough for one morning:) I hope you all have a blessed day and thank you for you prayers!

HUGS,
The Sweeneys

This was my favorite picture that Missi took of us making all the copies!!! He loves me ya ya ya:)

This is us right before running out the door of the copy center to mail the FINAL Dossier!!! Yes, it is in a plastic Ziploc bag, for protection. I guess more than one family has had their Dossier arrive and it had been dropped in a puddle or caught in a rain storm. All the documents were wet and the ink had ran all over!!