Up one Day...Down the Next... Today would be a Down.

Hi all - tough afternoon.

As of this week, were are awaiting our Travel Authorization (TA). Last week we submitted our acceptance of Kyle's referral, and this essentially requested authorization to travel to China to bring him home. This TA serves as our permission slip/invitation to get him.

Earlier today we got a call from Great Wall (our agency). We were very disappointed to hear that our TA was NOT one of the 57 or so that were received today. We are apparently one of only 11 families that did not hear the good news that we'd soon be on the road.

57 TA Approvals were Received, 11 Were Not. We're in the NOT club.

Good news for the lucky 57 - it looks like the families approved will be traveling very soon. They will most likely have their children by Christmas, and be back in the States by the New Year.

This was a difficult message to hear.

However, if this process teaches us anything it's that we should not get too carried away by the UPS, and we should not let the DOWNS get us too...well...Down.

Tomorrow is another day. The sun will probably come up again, the earth will keep spinning. And God willing we'll both wake up to see the new day. We'll likely putter around a little over the weekend, feel sorry that we've not been blessed with good news, but feel happy for the 57 families that have.

The good news is that we'll probably still be travelling in the first part of January. That's the news that we'll hang on to until we hear more.

We'll keep our heads up, in anticipation of Kyle's arrival. It's what we do.

More news as it develops...

Good night for now.

Not much news...but a few Photos...

The paperwork continues here...we're still awaiting our definitive travel dates.
Not much more to report.

Thanks to everyone for their support and good wishes.

Here are a few photos from the Holidays:








The Family at Thanksgiving Dinner.
(Meg, Curtis, Justin, Malissa & Aunt Mary missed out...)













Kyle's New Room.











Our Home decorated for Christmas 2006.

Kyle's Name

Hi. Exciting Saturday evening here in Harleysville!
We hope everyone's well.

We've found out a little more about Kyle's name...

Mark Wedder (Lisa's brother) was able to show the characters in Kyle's Chinese name to someone he knows who was able to translate them.

"Feng Ai Tao"

Feng: We have been told that this name refers to the orphanage into which Kyle was placed upon his being found. His mother clearly wanted to make sure he was going to be found quickly and would be well cared for. The orphanage is the Feng Cheng SWI (Social Welfaree Institute), south of the city of Nanchange, the capital of Jiangxi province.

Ai: We're told that this is a common family surname, like Smith or Jones in our country.

Tao - This is a good strong name for a boy and means "big", "powerful", "wave".

We are fortunate to know that Kyle's exact birthdate was written on the note that was with him when he was found. It's September 30, 2005.

That's it for now.
Thanks for stopping by.

Here we are...

As of today, we seem to be in good shape. We've spread the GREAT news to our families and right now we're trying to make our way through the list of our close friends. All of our paperwork is in order, and our Visa applications are in motion.

At home, we've started the "Kountdown to Kyle" and we've been prepping his room as well. (I wanted to stand in line for his PS3, but Lisa didn't think this was necessary just yet!)

We hopefully expect to travel shortly after the first of the year!!

To all of the people who've helped us in any way, we thank you and wish you Happy Thanksgiving.


More later...

Here's the Man of the Hour...

Introducing - Kyle Aitao Lockhead

Breaking New Ground

This is the first official POST to this Blog.

More to come...