Chen Chronicles

One of the things Aaron and I have learned to do through this journey is to trust God, no matter what!  He has put this amazing little girl (who looks like both of us) in our lives and we are so grateful!  However, we thought we'd be going over to Vladivostok to have our court date the last week of December of the first week of January 2011 and it turns out that our court date will not be until after the Russian Christmas holidays which are January 7-11th, 2011.   The main reason for this delay is that Vladivostok is the region where the little six year old boy was returned alone on a plane last April to Russia and things were at a standstill in that region, and really all regions for a number of months.  Now, the judges are just more cautious and going over everything with a "fine tooth comb."   This means we have to have our blood work and medical paperwork re-completed, but I did not get any grief from my physician today when I explained the situation (letter in han

We were so incredibly blessed to have TWO baby showers thrown for us and yesterday it was SO exciting to have a friend, Beth and her beautiful daughter Emma, come shopping with me for clothes for Katie.  At our shower we got a lot of stuff that is 24 month size because that's what I originally thought she wore, but she is in more of size 18 month right now, I think, based on her weight.  We found some awesome deals at Target and Toys R' Us on clothing.  I, of course, could NOT resist getting her a lullaby glow worm.  I remember having mine when I was very young and sleeping with it through the 2nd grade before I decided I was too old for it.  Then, I slept with a cabbage patch kid doll.  :-)   I guess I really am aging myself when I mention cabbage patch kids, jelly shoes and New Kids on the Block.  Those were some things I remember from my childhood.  Oh, and let's not forget Full House, Captain Kangaroo, Garfield and Care Bears.  What has happened to those old classic

Today is exactly two months since we last held our little Katie in our arms!!!  It seems like it has been forever because we are in awe at how amazingly smart she is and that God has given us the honor to raise this princess!  This is an honor and responsibility that we will not take lightly! We wanted to ask for your prayers as we don't feel that we can ever have  TOO MANY  people praying for little Katie Allison!  We also want to express our gratitude for all who have supported us and prayed us through the last year of this journey!  We truly feel as if God has ordained this match between us and Katie the entire time because she is relatively healthy (with a few minor issues) and seemed to take to both of us well!!!!  We couldn't be happier!!! Today, we spoke to our adoption coordinator and she said the Russian coordinator was going to be trying her very best to secure a hearing for us to return to Vladivostok, Russia, to complete our adoption before the end of the year (