IN CHINA!!!!

Hi, Connie here. Since bl*gger is blocked in China, please follow the Mueller's journey to Emily on their new website, When Love Takes Us In!

They should be on their way to the airport now in Shanghai for the final flight to Chongqing!!!

Its the Final Countdown!!

more day!!!!

We are at that final day, Am I ready????? I'm lacking confidence that I am, I don't feel like I am packed, when in all reality I think I am .

We are headed to Wichita tonight with dear friends, looking forward to the evening. Plan on having dinner and just chatting! I will be relieved when the packing part of the trip is over, I just want to board the plane. Although I am not a big fan of flying ~ I am looking forward to the trip over there, call me crazy!!! Not sure why I am but I'm thinking it will be that moment when it all sinks in..... As I was laying in bed last night thinking of what I should be doing ~ it occurred to me that I would be crying (more like sobbing) if my girls where not going with us. So I must praise MY LORD some more, for allowing this to happen, making everything work out, and for answering our prayers and giving of what our hearts desires!!! God is so good, and He gets ALL the GLORY for this part of our paths, all being His plans from the beginning!

In the past few posts I have listed my things to do:

Today I am not even sure of what I have to do, so please pray that I get everything together and have reassurance that we are ready! Have a wonderful day, and in case I don't get to post again ~ I will chat with you all the way from China!!! Much love to all of you!

Ps ~ Blogger does not work in China so I will be posting at http://www.whenlovetakesusin.chinastork.com

We're down to 2 days!

DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE!

Today I have to do some catching up, yesterday was not the most productive. I have most of the list from yesterday and have to add the list for today. I'm not complaining, just was hoping yesterday would have went smoother. I did get to have some girl time with two very dear friends, and that helped the day lots! But today is a new day, and I will rejoice and be glad in it, because my Lord has given it to me!

My list for today:

Bank Business ~ wished I could have checked this one off already

Buy gifts for special people in China ~ seems to be more difficult than I thought

Check over packing list

Rearrange backpack

Help my family finish packing

GO TO CHURCH ~ need this one!

Wash the dogs

Clean kitchen/laundry room

Lets see what I can accomplish today!!!!

I also have our web site for our journey complete!!! I'm very excited to share it with you all. So I personally invite you to share in our journey while we are in China by following us at www.whenlovetakesusin.chinastork.com I will be updating this one due to the problems people have had with blogger while in China!! Go and check it out, tell me what you think and then bookmark it, because we would love to hear from ALL OF YOU while we are gone. You are all so great and we are very blessed that you are part of this journey with us!!! Thanks for joining! Our prayer is that we are the light for Jesus, and that Gods uses us in a mighty way during this journey. We are so ready to see what God has in store for us!

Proverbs 8:17

"I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me"

Woo Hoo 1 day closer!!

DAYS LEFT!!!

Yesterday was a great day, we (Linda and I) got all the list done!!! Thank you so much Linda for ALL your help, it so much appreciated, and your were a blessing to me! I also am praising the Lord for the miracle at the dentist, YES He did, He gave us a huge blessing and saved us $$. Kaylee is still paying somewhat for her irresponsibility, but I think it is a lesson she is learning ~ just slowly!

Today list is:

Bank Business

Buy Gifts for directors, guides, and many others

Go through paperwork

Check over packing list

Make necklaces

Rearrange Back Pack

I'm afraid I will be in Enid awhile today, so if that is the case it may be a late night!

I would like to ask all of you to please pray for David, for he is sick and has not been feeling well for a couple of days. It will be very hard to fly with a sinus infection (?), and we are worried about the swine flu, and the actions that China would take if they think he is sick with it. So please just lift him in your prayers, praying for quick health! Thank you all for everything you have done for us!

Getting Closer

Days Left

Good Morning!!!!

Notice the time I am posting..... Did not get much sleep last night! Here's to a brand new day with a prayer for a very productive and a miracle from our God concerning our dentist!!!!

Things to do today~
Prepare meals
Begin to clean the house
Pack items purchased over the weekend
Make a fast trip to Enid ~ broken retainer ~ not going to talk about it :)
Work on laundry
Phone chat with our agency
Basketball game ~ PTL its at home
Try to open web site to the public


This is probably enough for one day, now with much prayers and very much energy, I just might be able to get it all done!!!!

1 Corinthians 10:31

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God"

PS ~ this is where we will be staying in Guanqzhou, isn't it Beautiful!!!

Days until we leave!

We are preparing each day for our departure, but still have much to do! Packing, cooking, bank business, Hair Appt, and then add in some bball games and you see we have a full schedule! We are so ready to go! Today we are looking forward to spending some time with our church family this morning, and we thank them for all our support and encouragment they have given us! Many blessings to all of you!

Now on another note: Happy Birthday Mom!!!! We love you and are so blessed that you are wonderful mom to David and I and a awesome Grandma to Ashley and Kaylee! Hope you have a wonderful day!

From This to That!!!!

We are calling this post from This to That...... Many things in our household has been transformed from good to WOW!!!! We have been working on organizing, revamping, and rearranging. The biggest transformation in this household would have to be with out a doubt...... Kaylee!! After a few phone calls and a reschedule, much to her surprise, she was able to get her braces off 2 weeks early! I know, I get mommy of the year award!!!! She was speechless when she found out, we had kept a secret for 24 hours ~ difficult but worth it. Her teeth look fabulous!!! Thank you Dr. B for all the hard work, and Kaylee I'm so proud of you! You did so good at taking care of your teeth, never breaking a bracket ~ which is quite a task! You are so beautiful Kaylee!!!!

Just found out "I'm getting my braces off"

Look at me I'm not afraid to smile!!!! Ooh La La!

Another transformation is we have been working on Emily's/Kaylee's room for awhile now, a little here and a little there! We are very pleased with the way the room turned out, as far as space. We didn't redecorate which posed a problem ~ but not to big of one for my mother in law. We finally found some bedding that matched but it was not for a crib, but my mother in law made it to fit the crib and it looks beautiful. Kaylee is very excited about sharing with Emily ~ I hope this stays for a long time. When Ashley leaves for college, Kaylee will get her room with a complete make over! She feels that is a fair trade :) Our biggest challenge was making the somewhat small closet fit both of their clothes. David tackled the challenge and made it work, with even room to spare. Great job Dad! We are just about finished ~ waiting on one piece ~ all we need is Emily! The Lord has blessed us in so many ways, and we are so thankful!

Scary, but this is the closet before!

Completely Clean Out!

Completely Organized! This is going to work great Daddy!

This is where the crib will be!

The crib set up!

The crib with the wonderful bedding Mema made!

Its perfect! Just needs Emily!

Commence Packing!!!!

Wow the days are going by really fast!!! I cant believe that we are leaving in a week and 2 days. It really is here, will someone pinch me because I am still not fully comprehending it ~ I think. Oh I know that I'm leaving and my tickets are booked, but we waited so long for this moment that I think sometimes I feel that it isn't really happening.... I am doing little tasks each day, but don't feel like I am marking much off the list!! One major thing that I checked off the list ~ Root Canal!!!! Can I say Ouch, and Whew its done! I'm so glad that my dentist was able to work me in and fix my tooth. No pain while in China is a must ~ because I am a whip!!! lol Really glad that appt is behind me

Ok how about an 80's flashback!!! It is Spirit Week at our school for Homecoming!! Each day brings a new theme, yep you guessed it today's theme is decade day ~ and Ashley thought that 80's would be the best one. This decade is very close to my heart ~ no particular reason! Great job Ashley ~ You look marvelous!

Look closely ~ you might even see the blue eyeshadow!

Can anyone say "I owned that sweater once."

Now onto the pressing stuff ~ I pulled the luggage out of the closet today! Many of you are thinking I would have done that already, but if you know me at all, you would now that I over pack! So the less time the luggage is out, the less I will pack. At least that is my hope! Connie said "You can do this", and I needed that! My pastor said "No one will notice if you have make up on our not." I beg to differ with that one, so BF I will pick something else to downsize with!!! :)

Looks like I have a lot of organizing to do, so I must go and organize something!!! Surely I can fit all this stuff into 5 pieces of luggage!!! Oh but wait, I need clothes too, wish me luck!

CA.... CA.... CA....

CA ~ Consulate Appointment

We are very excited to say we have a CA on Feb 3rd!!!! This means we are to travel out of Wichita on January 22nd at 6:10am and returning home on Feb 6th at 10:30 pm in Tulsa!!! I cant believe the moment is finally here, I must go start packing!!! Lots to do! Thank you for all of your prayers, and for following us through this journey! I have started a new blog but it is not quite finished will announce that site asap!!! Love you all!

TA is on the way!

What a surprise to hear from our agency today!!!!! We have been informed that our TA (Travel Approval) is on its way. We have nothing in stone as of now, but we do have some dates to work with. We were so surprised to hear this when in reality we were expecting TA around the 15th of January. I still think we are in shock, and disbelief! My mind is racing with thoughts of were to start next, what do I do, and who do I talk to! Our family has been turned upside down ~ for a good reason ~ but still upside down. My Lord must receive all the glory for this day and journey to this point. He has answered all of our prayers, made things happen that should have not, changed peoples hearts toward adoption, made us truly understand how He adopts us with His love, dive deeper into His word, definitely pray more than ever before, showed us so many lessons that may have taken us longer to have learned than He wanted, but truth be known, it is and was ALL HIM, NO ONE ELSE...... We praise Him, our Heavenly Father for all He has done, and for all He will continue to do! There is no one or god like my God, and I give Him all the glory and praise, from the bottom of my heart, mind and soul!!!!!! You are so Good! Check in soon for more details to when we will leave and return!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 everyone..... I hope you had a wonderful 2009 year and are looking forward to the year to come. I know that our family are looking forward to 2010, for many things will happen in this year! But as I think about what is to come, my mind reflects on the events, blessings and wonderful times we had during 2009. The year was filled with many things we want to praise God over once again.......

I praise the Lord for so many things like the fact that we had time to spend with Jon and Raegan the first of the year, remembering old memories and making new ones! We finished our home study to start the next step. We attended our first Chinese New Year, this was difficult at times but we made some very awesome friends that understand our journey. We had many days of wonderful beautiful weather through out the year. We had some very dear friends live with us for a couple of weeks, and although it may be hard to understand, I love to open my home to family and friends. When we moved into this home, we gave it to the Lord so that we could use it to be a blessing to others as much as it has been a blessing to us! We have had many donations to us from family and friends toward our adoption. Some we know their names and some we don't, but thank all of you! We seen our friends go through some very difficult times, and come through with God always there with them. We seen many miracles with friends and families and love how we see God working all around us. David and I had some wonderful getaways, one to Ft Worth, and the best was the one when we went to A Weekend to Remember with very dear friends to us ~ thank you again A & L. We are blessed to have seen our girls grow closer to the Lord and making good decisions, and being good examples to all those around them. Many wonderful memories include the Youth group, but one of them would be when we decorated the Youth room, wow does it look awesome ~ wtg Youth! Ashley got her drivers license and bought her first car this year.... so proud of her! Kaylee got to ride in a 1959 Corvette, I list this because it was very exciting for her. We started E-meals, and love some of the recipes that we have tried and enjoy trying new ones. David, Kaylee and I seen the Musical "Lion King", this was really awesome! Ashley joined the National Honor Society through our school. Coco joined our family, and oh is she so cute! Even at the puppy stage she is cute! We were blessed by so many people during our garage sale fundraiser, thank you for all your treasures that helped bring our little girl home. My girls and I joined my mom and had a much awaited trip to Branson, just like our older trips. We seen Noah the Musical and shopped, shopped and shopped some more! We had a wonderful week at Falls Creek with the Youth, and was blessed by the youth group, and love to see them grow in the Lord. We, after much waiting, seen our daughter Emilys picture for the first time. When we received our referral, it made the wait even harder, but we were on cloud nine when we seen her. Our family was turned upside down in one other way...... Would have never guessed how much the musical "Wicked" would touch our family. I was blessed to see it 3 times, but the best was when I was able to go with Ashley and Kaylee (seeing it for the first time). Then when our girls worked hard to act out one of the scene from the play called "Popular" and perfected it, i was impressed once again. Wicked will always be a special memory that we will treasure. David and I celebrated our 19th anniversary. Emily turned 1 year on August 29th, and we have pictures to treasure of that day. Along with 10 other women, I did a Beth Moore study on the Fruit of the Spirit, and boy do I understand Patient much better now. Beth Moore's studies are such a blessing. We also introduced "More Precious than Gold" jewelry, and my our God has blessed us through this fund raiser! Ashley turned 17 and Kaylee turned 14! We received LOA, and were blessed by our church when they gave us a wonderful shower, and we received so many wonderful gifts, thanks again to all! We are blessed by our family and their love they show to us and we are so thankful for our friends who love as well. God has been so good to us during the year of 2009 and we look forward to all He will do in 2010. We know that we will see our precious little Emily this year, Kaylee will graduate from 8th grade and get her braces off & Ashley will go to her Jr prom. We will attend Falls Creek again and Live for God daily! May you have a wonderful year filled with Joy and many blessings! We thank God for all He has done for He has truly blessed our family! We love you all!

Article 5

We received notification that our article 5 has been signed and sent to CCAA in Beijing!!! I know some of you are thinking what does this mean now? Well this means that our TA ~ travel approval ~ will be coming in 3 to 4 weeks. This is very bitter sweet for us, because we have been waiting for Article 5 for some time now, and now that we have it, it has opened our eyes to our timeline in regards to our girls traveling with us. On that note ~ we have had another option open up for us! We are not sure what we are going to do, but have talked to the girls and we have some more talking to do later...... It has been a day of emotions for us but we are so blessed to have received the news today and be one step closer to TA :)

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him"

Psalm 62:5

Happy Saturday~

Good Morning,

I'm sure that all of you are getting ready for the Christmas festivities to come, or re cooping from the ones that have already happen. Christmas is a little different for us this year, we are not spending what have in the the past, because we hope we are not here. Lots of waiting this season, usually its waiting on Santa, but that's not the case this time. But the reality is that our Article 5 should have been signed and sent to Beijing already, and its not so TA still looks aways away. Things we are waiting on:

1. Article 5 to be signed and sent to Beijing

2. TA ~ travel approval before Dec 18th :)

3. Ashley to take and finish her first ACT test

4. Decision to purchase gifts for all

5. Kaylee's teeth to quit hurting because of the rubber bands

6. Kaylee's braces to come off ~ Jan 27th

7. But most important ~ Gods Timing!!!!!

Today is a special day for my girls, because they spend the day with their grandma and grandpa, eating, shopping and the big high light of the day ~ LOOKING AT CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!! David and I will spend some due time together, since we have been so busy! Looking forward to some time with him having dinner and maybe doing some Christmas shopping!

I have been very busy on the fund raiser party orders...... Thank you all so much for your purchases, we are truly blessed to have your help through this wonderful, incredible journey! Much love to all, and enjoy your family time during the holiday season!

Words of a Wise Woman~

Please allow me to share, I have been doing a Beth Moore study now for 10 weeks, and it comes to an end tonight! :( I have learned so much by Beth Moore ~ we have been studying the Fruit of the Spirit! I have really learned what love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control really are! I have learned how to apply them ~ through God filling me, not be doing something myself! The few that I was worried about didn't even mean what I thought they did! Oh and Patience ~ learned the most about that one! It has been a wonderful time of learning and hanging with ladies every Thursday night! I know that I only will have the Fruit of the Spirit by emptying myself and allowing God to fill me, so I must be with Him daily, praise Him through out the day, pray to Him every morning and through out the day, share with Him, and love Him as He loves me!

The Company I Keep

Let me be known by the company I keep

By the One who determines each day that I greet

From the moment I wake til He rocks me to sleep

Let me be known by the company I keep!

Let me be known by the company I keep

When the valleys are low and the mountains of steep

by the One who holds fast when swift waters are deep

Let me be known by the company I keep!

Let me be known by the company I keep

By the One who implores me to sit at His feet

And quickens my soul to discern what is deep

Let me be known by the company I keep!

Let me be known by the company I keep

Eclipsed by the your presence that I may decrease

Til all You have chosen this traveler to meet

No longer see me but the Company I keep.

~Beth Moore

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law

Galatians 5:22~23

Good Morning to All

Hear my prayer oh God, listen to the words of my mouth

Psalm 54:2

What a wonderful weekend we had! I hope it was wonderful for all of you as well. It started off on Friday when we got the call from our agency saying that our provisional approval was a Yes. Then more good news to follow. But before that I would like to share with you something that has been very close to David and I heart. We have thought about this from the beginning of this journey. David and I would like to take our girls with us to China, and as we have progressed, we are realizing that so many things have to happen in order for the desire to come true. The first thing we must do is give it to the Lord, we are trying to do so many things in our timing, in our own strength, and in our own resources. We know that we must let God do all of this and just let Him have it. But I would like to ask all of you that is willing to join, to join us in prayer. We know that if God wants our girls to go, they will go! So we are praying boldly and continually that He will allow them to travel with us and meet Emily the first time we do!!!!!!! Now~more good news, we felt we had missed the deadline for traveling with our girls. Our agency told us that we are about 4 to 5 weeks out from TA ~ travel approval. This means it is still very possible for us to travel around December 25th ~ Woo Hoo! We need TA between Dec 18th and Dec 23 to make this possible. With this timeline they would only miss 6 days of school, which is wonderful for both of them, because Ashley will stress over homework and test that she missed. So with this good news, we are still hopeful (patience with circumstances) that we will travel by the end of this year. :)

Our family at the shower ~ minus one!

Now for the rest of the wonderful weekend. Our wonderful church and some fantastic ladies gave us a shower on Sunday. I was so excited for it, that I woke up on Sunday morning earlier than usual and could not go back to sleep. One of the hostess's asked what would you like at the shower, and I said "Cake and her", my wish was granted. she was there and we had the best cake in town ~ tasted wonderful! We were showered with gifts, to name a few ~ lots of pink clothes, pj's, shoes, blankets, bows, diaper bag, diapers, toys, bottles, practical tools to make life easier, and the last but not least..... A crib that has a built in changing table, and will also turn into a full size bed in the future!!!! God is so very good. Thank you so much to the ladies that hosted the shower for us, what a blessing to someone who is literally starting over. To everyone who gave such wonderful gifts, thank you, they all are precious to us and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family, and friends! From the bottom of our hearts we love you all!

Me and the hostess's ~ some of them could not be there but I thank you all!

The Yummy Cake

The wonderful gifts ~ thanks to all!

One of the many cute outfits that we got, I think this might be one of Kaylee's favorite, check out her thumb!

Our crib ~ now I cant wait to revamp Kaylee's room for our new arrival!!

Some of our guests

Some more of our guests!

What a blessing, I cant say thank you enough to show how grateful we are! So many emotions to mention, but we are feeling love, excitement, and joy and are looking forward to what is to come!!!!! Thank you again, we love you!