HAPPY Monday!!

I love the weekends...I love being able to have Daddy home to play and spend time together as a family. But recently, I have grown to really, really look forward to Mondays. Why? Because government offices are open, which means our paperwork is one day closer to being completed...also Ch*na's offices are open, which means files are being worked on... :-)

Today is an especially GREAT Monday! We woke up to a precious gift - photos of Landon "seeing" us for the first time...being told that he has a forever family, and being given a gift that we had sent with our friends to go with the album we sent. We were told that he was very excited to find out he has a forever family (I am not sure that he looks too, too excited, perhaps a little overwhelmed :-) We were told that all the kids are excited that he has a family coming to get him...they told everyone there at New Day. How fun!

Landon looking at the album and pictures that his big siblings drew for him

Landon seeing his new home and big siblings :-)

Landon and the Percy flashlight we sent...I think this might have been the biggest hit...

Please pray with us for Landon...that the Lord would prepare his heart for us...this will be a huge transition for him.

Just a Little P.S....

I realized that many of you may not know that we are pursuing Landon's foster brother...well, we are...pursuing his foster brother, that is. :-) Our goal is to bring them home as forever brothers. They are foster brothers from the same orphanage. We actually began pursuing him before Landon...for some reason there is and has been silence. We have been told by our agency that we cannot ask Ch*na again...and that is okay...it is in the Lord's hands. He directs the hearts of Kings. Therefore, if Landon's little foster brother is meant to be in our family, God will make it happen. (That is my very brief explanation regarding the last sentence on the previous post...which I am sure might have confused some of you :-)

Doin' Our Happy Dance....

Homestudy has been sent to Immigration!!! Yeah! So, for those of you who are so sweet and try to understand the process with me...our homestudy was completed this week. I was hoping and praying that we could get it FedEx'd to Immigration by today. This morning, our agency called and said that it was finalized, but not notarized and not ready to go yet - probably next week, they said. Big sigh..."Oh well, I told myself...that is okay, it can go out next week...it is okay...it is okay :-)."

For those of you who have adopted internationally before, you know that getting the homestudy done and off to immigration is a HUGE load off....especially when you know the little one(s) that you are trying to bring home - you know their name(s), face(s), and long to hold them and have them home. A precious family just shared bits and pieces with us about our little Landon, which made us long to have him home all that much more. They recently visited his foster home to help and serve alongside all the amazing workers there at New Day. They said Landon is BUSY...always moving...unstoppable...Sounds tiring, but OH so exciting!! All this just fueled our desire to have our documents off to Immigration today.

So, back to my story...as of this morning, it wasn't ready...couldn't go out. I have been wrestling with the Sovereignty of God v. Petitioning Him as our Father, so I prayed, "You know, Lord...I know you are sovereign, so whatever You want is fine, no it is more than fine, it is perfect. But, just remind me today that our prayers matter." This afternoon at 3:15, my phone rang - "Nikki, your homestudy is ready!" We dropped ALL our plans for this evening/afternoon, and we made the long drive to our agency to pick up the homestudy...then, the drive all over to try to find a FedEx drop off location that hadn't had pick-up yet (because by the time everything was packaged and ready to go, it was 5:50p.m.). I about took out a UPS man trying to run to the FedEx drop box that I finally found (I know you are proud Aunt Jan :-)...no offense to UPS, but they dropped my documents in water last time...

All that to say, one more BIG step closer to being DTC!!! (Dossier to Ch*na :-) Please keep praying for word on Landon's foster brother's file...

Some of our news!! Introducing...

LANDON!!

Here is the newest addition to the Symasek Clan! Currently waiting for us at New Day Foster Home in Be*jing! We are working furiously on paperwork...hang on little guy - don't grow up too fast - we're coming!

BIG BIG News Coming Soon!!! (out of Ch*na...)

Baptisms and a Birthday

Many of you have asked about the adoption and how things are going...what is the status, etc. Well, we are still waiting on word from Ch*na. So, while I can't bring any news as to our new little one(s)...I just have to say that we are "doing the next thing". I am going a little crazy with not knowing anything, so the Lord is teaching me about just getting up and doing what He has for me that day. On the adoption front that means finishing our homestudy this week (YAH!!) and sending it off to immigration.

On the homefront, that means the boys' baptisms. Both boys have been asking for a while about being baptized. Since we attend a Presbyterian church, it looked like we were going to be doing this "on our own" :-) In my mind, I wanted to make sure it was a weekend when everyone could be in town, and everyone could be a part of it. But, I think ideally, not realistically, and that wasn't able to happen. So, we had a small, intimate gathering with some family and a few close friends planned somewhat at the last minute. The boys gave their testimonies and were baptized by their Paw-paw. It was a sweet time of fellowship and praise of what the Lord has done in the boys' lives and is continuing to do. We missed the family that wasn't here...who live out of town...my Grandmother was admitted to the ICU in Memphis last week for internal bleeding, and so that has been a little stressful, but overall, it was a time of praise to our Heavenly Father. My Aunt Jan did come in town to visit, and we helped her celebrate her "50th" :-) birthday.

Aun Jan and her cake

Drew reading his testimony ("Jesus means everything to me. Whatever He wants me to do, I will do, wherever He wants me to go, I will go. I believe He died for my sins, was buried and rose again.")

Luke after being baptized. His testimony was "Jesus means more to me than anything I have. I am glad that He died for my sins. I am glad that He died for everybody."

Daddy praying with the boys after the baptism.

The Beauty of Homeschooling...

Science projects in the summer! I love the no-pressure days of summer, when we can focus on science and history and read-alouds. Most of the time, the kids don't even view it as school. :-)

The Little Girls making power-bouncy balls...

The finished product :-)


Drew decided to try his hand at making crystals (Emily looks scared)...

If you are wondering what Luke focused on...his creation is growing in the boys' bathroom (relax, it is a controlled experiment....although, I am sure there are other things up there growing that aren't part of this experiment). He is hatching some sort of pre-historic creature (according to the box.). I will believe it when I see it...

Sweet Emily bought a nice, quiet sewing project. She has only lost the needle 45,000 times. :-)