The boys are off to a GREAT School Year!

Tuesday was the first day of school and both boys were very excited! They had the typical "butterflies" but no tears!! I was so happy:) After school we told their teachers that they would only be there for 2 weeks and then gone for 3 weeks! They were very supportive and excited for us.

New Links!

We just added 3 more links! Check it out!

The boys now have their own website! They plan on journaling in it everyday - please feel free to ask questions or comments. They are really excited and hope friends and family will communicate with them this way:)

Also, we added a link to China's weather so you can see how hot and humid it is!! :):)

A Poem...

Once there were two women
Who never knew each other.
One you don't remember,
The other you call "Mother."

Two different lives,
Shaped to make yours one.
One became your guiding star,
The other became your sun.

The first gave you life,
The second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love,
The other was there to give it.

One gave you ethnicity,
The other gave you a name.
One gave you the seed of talent,
The other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions,
The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile,
The other dried your tears.

One gave you up--
It was all she could do.
The other prayed for a child,
And God led her straight to you.

So is it heredity or environment
That you're the product of?
Neither, my darling, neither--
Just two different kinds of love.
---author unknown

Plane tickets are Purchased!

Well, the latest news is that our flight arrangements have been made and we leave Sept.13th!!! 2 WEEKS - can you believe it!!!! We are busy trying to plan what we are going to do in Beijing. We are going to be there for only 2 1/2 days - in these days we hope to get caught up on jet lag so we are bright eyed and bushy tailed when we get Hayleigh but also to see some of Beijing. We go to Chongqing on the 17th and get Hayleigh on the 18th or 19th!!

Thank you for your prayers! Please pray for traveling mercies and for Hayleigh's health and acceptance of our family:)

Brave Brothers!!!

These brave brothers will do ANYTHING for their sister!! We are all done with our shots and ready to GO!!!

It's CONFIRMED!!!!

" The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made." Psalm144:14

We are overwhelmed with joy just thinking that in 3 weeks we will be in China and on Sept 18th or 19th we will be holding our precious daughter!

We are frantically trying to make travel arrangements. As soon as we do, we will post them here. We think that we will be leaving around the 13th of Sept. and return around the 29th.

WE HAVE A TENTATIVE TRAVEL DATE!!!!! YIPPEE

If you can't tell we are really excited to have a tentative date - just wait until it gets confirmed, we will be ecstatic!!!!!

The date that has been requested for us to be at the American Consulate in Guangzhou is Sept 26-28th. Which would mean that we need to be in Chongqing by Sept 18th and probably get Hayleigh on the 19th!! Since we will be touring Beijing beforehand, we will probably leave Washington on Sept 13th or 14th!! 3 WEEKS!!!!

Please pray that these dates get confirmed as they have been requested!! The good things are that we will be holding her in less than a month, we will be home before Brayden's 7th bday and before the Walk to Emmaus!! But we will unfortunately miss the loooooooooooong awaited wedding of Lance's sister Heidi:(

A shower of blessings...

Saturday was a very exciting day! Tina and Linda gave me a baby shower and I had a blast opening PINK & PURPLE clothes, baby toys, sheets, blankets, bibs, shoes, dolls, baby necessities and much more:) It was so much fun - I didn't want it to end! - haha:)

Everyone has been such a blessing to us and we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts! We thank God for every one of you that has supported us, prayed for us, has been caring, generous, kind and excited for us!!!

Beautiful Blanket!

This picture is very similar to the blanket that we just sent to Hayleigh in China. My dear neighbor is a FABULOUS seamstress and embroidered her American name and Chinese name on this blanket. I'm sure this will be a treasured blanket forever!

Thanks Denise!!!God Bless you:)

Hayleigh's Package is on it's way to China!

Can you believe it?! I forgot to take a picture of everything that we were sending to Hayleigh!! Oh well, i'll just have to tell you:)

We sent her: a very soft pink blanket (our very talented neighbor embroidered her Chinese name in Chinese character - very precious); a Tigger toy from Taylor; a Panda stuffed animal from Brayden (the pics are of the boys holding their toys that they picked out for her); a musical toy from mom & dad; a photo album of her family, room, etc.; a questionaire for the nanny to fill out and 2 cameras to take pictures (we hope to get these back when we get her); Chukar Cherries and Jelly Belly jelly beans for a USA treat for the orphanage director or nannies. I think that's all - we mailed it Express Mail and it only cost $35.00 - we were expecting it to cost close to $100.00! I hope she gets it next week!!

Thanks for your prayers!

An update on Hayleigh from China!!

We just spent a very fun weekend at Lake Wallowa with Lance's parents and came home with an email update from our agency about Hayleigh. Our director is actually in China right now and i am not able to clarify some things - like her birthdate! Oh well, i hope it's not a big deal... Here's what it says:

You Fu Kai, F, born on Dec 6, 2004

Height: 66 cm; weight: 8.1 kg; Head Cir: 43 cm; Chest Cir: 44 cm; Feet: 10 cm;

Motor Skill: She is healthy and chubby. She can raise her head while lying on her stomach. She can roll to her side or roll over. Her four limbs are agile. She can grab the toy. She can sit up with support.

Mental development: Her development is good. She has quick responds. She cries loudly. Her eyes will follow the moving toys.

Eating routine: She takes her first bottle of formula at 7:30 am, then once every three or four hours, and four to five times a day.

Her main diet: formula, rice cereal. Supplementary food: cracker, rice porridge, noodles, tomato, and cod-liver oil.

She gets up at 7:30 am, naps from 11:30 to 2:00 pm. She sleeps well. She sleeps in her own crib.

She has bath twice a day: at 7:30 am and 4:00 pm. She is active. She likes to listen to music. She likes colorful toys that can make sounds. She likes to play in her baby walker. She likes to be held by nannies.

Visa's are Here!

We are a small step closer to being ready for our trip! Our visa's arrived today! Now we just are waiting to get a TA (Travel Approval) from China and then our agency will get our appointment at the China Adoption Consulate. After we get that appt. then we will know when we will leave etc. It will probably next week or the week after that we will get our TA.

God Bless You and thank you for your continued prayers!!

China

I thought that I should post a picture of the country so you could get a better idea on where in China we are going. We plan on first spending a few days in Beijing, flying to Chongqing to be united with our precious daughter, and then to Guangzhou for final paperwork and her passport... We still do not know dates yet, but as soon as we do, we will post them:) Probably at the end of this month we'll know:)

God Bless,

Hayleigh's Orphanage

I got these pictures from someone in the Youyang Yahoo Group. Many thanks to them:):)

Hayleigh's Province

Hayleigh is currently living in Youyang. We will be staying in Chongqing with 4 other families. All of their daughters are in the same orphanage and I'm sure are friends!

Hayleigh's Translated Growth Report

Hayleigh Rae FuKai Vickerman

Isn't she Precious!:):)

She's ALL ours!!

We had such a wonderful Day!! We went to Spokane to sign that we ACCEPT this beauty:) The pictures above are of Kathy Storro - our stork (aka.agency director) handing over our official paperwork; Our family in Kathy's office with the official paperwork; Lance signing and myself signing that You FuKai is OURS!!! YIPPEE!