El Salvador trip video

Last Sunday our team spoke about our incredible trip to El Salvador during the service at The Village Church of Irvine.  Our team members shared about the modern day miracles that we experienced through the quinceanera.  We are so grateful to our church family, friends and supporters for all of the donations, financial gifts, prayers and support that we received!

We also showed our trip video, which highlights our unforgettable week serving in El Salvador.  Please take a few minutes to watch!

The next All Blessings Intl. orphan outreach trip is scheduled for July, 2013, in El Salvador.  Dates are TBD.  I will be taking a few months off as we bond with Hailey and have postponed the fall, 2012, trip to Guatemala until fall, 2013.  At this time, Mike is planning to lead our July, 2013, trip to El Salvador.

Mike's sermon

Last Sunday Mike preached during our quarterly Missions Sunday service.  He did an amazing job, was very comfortable and I was so proud of him!  He shared briefly about our adoption journey and also shared some of his experiences serving overseas.

To listen to his message, click on this link:

www.villagechurchirvine.com/sermons/sermon/contending-for-the-mission-of-the-master

Hailey's New Room

We have officially completed Hailey's room!  Yay!!!  The boys have been great helpers and painted the letters for Hailey's wall last weekend.  They also loved playing with their old baby toys and reading their old books when we pulled them out of the boxes from the shed!  Adorable!  Now we just need to fill the baskets with diapers, the closet with clothes, the drawers with socks and the bed with a baby...

We have had so much fun creating her room, and we did it in less than $100!  We saved Jordan's baby  furniture and Hailey will be using our guest bed.  My grandma purchased the bedding for us as a gift and we had many of the other items saved in storage.

Since Hailey is currently sleeping with her foster mom, we have chosen to cohabit with her.  We want to keep as much of her daily routine as similar to Korea as possible, and cohabitating is also strongly suggested for bonding and attachment.

We still have a big list of things to do to prepare for our trip to Korea!  Tonight I will be registering at Babies R Us with a close friend (who also has a one-year old daughter).  Stay tuned for details!

Immigration Approval!

This week we received the exciting news of Hailey's I600 approval and we are starting to get the baby room ready!  The I600 approval from The Department of Homeland Security allows orphans permission to immigrate to the United States.  Now that we have received the US approval, we must wait for Korea to process Hailey's emigration paperwork, which gives her permission to leave the country.  For details on that process, visit:

www.forthesechildrenihaveprayed.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/korean-adoption-process-post-referral-summary-part-1/

Our estimated travel from this point is approximately 5-7 weeks!  When everything is approved in Korea, we will receive our "travel call" and will need to travel within two weeks!  Of course anything can change with international adoption, but it's possible that we could travel at the end of August or some time in September. We are thrilled that the moment when we will finally hold Hailey in our arms is approaching and we continue to trust God's timing.   This week we have been researching airlines and housing in Korea and it is starting to feel real!

Since we are close to our travel date, Show Hope is processing our $2,000 adoption grant. THANK YOU SHOW HOPE!!!  Show Hope was founded by Steven and Mary Beth Chapman to provide support to adopting families, and to care for orphans through orphan advocacy.  We are so grateful for their support of our family!  We are also grateful that we made the decision to downsize our home this spring and decrease our monthly rent.  We have been blessed to use the savings to help cover adoption costs.

After much prayer and discussion, we feel strongly about bringing Jordan and Aidan to Korea.  The trip will provide a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to visit Hailey's country of birth and we hope that their their silly faces, playtime and laughter will help Hailey to bond quickly with our family.  We will be covering their travel costs personally.

We still need to raise close to $12,000 to bring Hailey Jane home.   Here is breakdown of the remaining costs:

$8,000 loan due to a family member (which helped to cover the adoption agency fees)
$6,000 travel costs
$1,125 post-adoption social worker visits
-$2,000 Show Hope grant
-$1,150 in donations

$11,975 NEEDED

If you feel moved to support our adoption costs, you can donate online through our Lifesong for Orphans account (info on the upper, right side of blog). Donations are tax deductible.

Here are a few urgent prayer needs as we wait to bring Hailey home:

(1)  Please pray that the boys' passports are processed quickly.  We renewed their passports on July 22.

(2)  Please pray that Hailey will attach quickly with our family.  We know that she will experience grief as she leaves her Korean foster family and will be surrounded by strange faces, smells, noises and experiences.

(3)  Please pray for Hailey's health (she will have an extensive medical review before her emigration approval) and pray that she will travel well on the 11 hour flight home.

(4)  Please pray for our finances.  Our goal has always been to complete our adoption without going into debt.  We lost over $15,000 in our failed adoption in El Salvador and have been amazed by how God has provided for Hailey's adoption!

(5)  Please pray for the timing of travel as we coordinate our trip with Mike's work schedule and the boys' school schedule (their first day of school is Sept 5).

She has a name!

We are thrilled to introduce you to our daughter... Hailey Jane Ramsey!

For security purposes, our agency does not allow us to post our daughter's Korean name online. Hailey's Korean name is similar to Hailey and we wanted to choose a name that would honor her Korean heritage.  Hailey's birth mom chose her Korean name, which means "clear, blue sea."  Jane is a family name.  It is Jenni's grandmother's name, her mom's middle name and our niece's middle name (Sadie Jane is Jenni's brother's daughter). Jane means "gracious gift of God."

HAILEY JANE = Our gracious gift of God from across the sea

When I arrived in El Salvador two weeks ago, our dear missionary friend, Kathy Knepper, presented our family with an incredible gift, a hand-made picture frame with all of our names on the top. It was the first time that I had received anything with Hailey's name on it, and it brought me to tears.  We are so grateful for all of the love, support, prayers and encouragement that we have received on this journey and we can't wait to finally hold Hailey Jane in our arms!

Paperwork, Passports & Pink!

This last month has been absolutely amazing as we have completed paperwork, traveled overseas to serve orphans in El Salvador and started to prepare our hearts and home for Hailey!  Our I600 immigration form has been submitted to The Department of Homeland Security.  The I600 will allow Hailey to enter the US.  Once the I600 is approved, then we will wait for the immigration paperwork and "EP" (exit permit) to be issued from Korea.  Our estimated travel is in November, but we are hoping that paperwork will be completed quickly and we can travel sooner...

This week we renewed the boys' passports, which expire in January, 2013.  We need to have those passports ready if we decide to bring the big brothers along to Korea!  In order to renew their passports, we had to order original copies of the boys' birth certificates at the county clerk/recorder's office. 

I have also started shopping and taking an inventory of what we will need for Hailey.  My grandmother offered to purchase Hailey's bedding.  I love buying pink stuff!  I've had so much fun looking at clothes, shoes, toys and preparing for a girl!  Last night I ventured into "Babies R Us" and was overwhelmed by the smells, choices and emotions I felt.  To be honest, it still doesn't seem real.  Our agency notified us that a video of Hailey was mailed to our home this week.  Needless to say, I have been stalking our mailman and hoping for that video!  Our hearts are overflowing with excitement and we are so grateful that God truly sets the lonely in families!

Headed Back to El Salvador!

This week I am honored to lead my sixth orphan outreach trip to El Salvador, a beautiful, yet struggling third-world country that has captured my heart.  I am thrilled to be taking a team of 19 volunteers from our church (The Village Church of Irvine).  Many of these team members are returning for their second and third trips and I love watching their passions for El Salvador grow!  Jordan is serving with our team (and this is his second time ministering in El Salvador). Please follow our trips blog at:

www.allblessingswest.blogspot.com