Getting closer
I have everything packed. It took me awhile to get everything packed. The weight limit is a pain. I finally was able to get most of the things we needed packed. I am sure I will forget something.
I can't wait to have Brooke in my arms.
I know I will miss home.(Especially my mom.) That has been hard. God will be with us and our family while we are gone.
Good night. Gods timing is so good.
Denna

Get you some tissue
On my link page the Chinese Video is not working. I will check with Amy on that. Amy has done a really good job helping me with the site. I appreciate her very much.
I would like to give you the site here. Please take a look at it. Make sure you have tissue because you will need it. Kevin even needed some tissue. Of course it may mean more to us because of our experience. It is very touching and a great inspiration. www.bringmehope.org
Click on DVD and then 7 minute version. The 7 minute version is the best.
Things are going well for us. We are very excited about getting Brooke. I told Kevin we had 17 more sleeps. Check out the bring me hope video. I have some copy's ordered. Let me know what you think about it. Denna

We are going to China
We received our travel and consulate app this morning. We will be leaving three weeks from today to get Brooke. God is so good. I really wanted to be home for Christmas with Brooke. We will be.
I am so excited that I don't know what to do. I will start to pack and forget what I am suppose to be packing. I am running around in circles.
I am sooooooooooooo happy. We are going to get our baby. I am crying Happy tears as I type this post.

"Hold on sweet Brooke. Mommy, Daddy, and sissy are getting ready to get you. We love you sweet girl"

TA CAME TODAY
Mood:  happy
We got our TA today.We should know soon when we are traveling. (24 to 72 hours)
I was very thankful that we got it today. I hope we are able to get a early consulate app. If we do then we could be leaving in three weeks. I have got to start packing. I started tonight to pack some. I don't know where to start. Courtney picked out about 15 outfits for Brooke. I told her we can't take that many. I have had a exciting day so I think I am going to bed soon.
Denna

Brooke's finding add
The neatest thing just happened. I have a friend that I have met, whose daughter is from the same place Brooke is from. We will be traveling together to get our babies. Well Anne Marie paid this guy to find her daughters finding add. He sent her the add and it had about 30 babies on it. Brooke's finding add was on there. I was so happy. She was 1 day old. She also has a head full of hair. She has that same pouty look on her. I am so thrilled to have a early picture of her. It is in black and white but I don't care. I want to get to her so bad.
I hope we get some news soon on travel.
I just wanted to share her finding add with you.
Anne Marie also has a DVD that a guy sent her from where he visited the orphanage in Sept. I am trying to get her to send me a copy so I can see if Brooke is on there.

My baby picture
If you will look on the referral page there is a picture of me when I was a baby. Check it out and let me know if you think we look alike. There is also a letter from Brooke. I am hoping to hear good news today. If not today, then maybe next week.

One month ago today
Mood:  sad
I just realized that it was one month ago today that we received our referral of Brooke. I will never forget that day. The past month has went by fast. The waiting is really hard.
We still have not received our TA, and we have no idea when we will get to travel. It looks like we will be spending Christmas in China, unless something changes. You guys can not imagine how hard this is. Please pray for us. It is very stressful not knowing. If we just had a date of travel it would help us so much. Right now we have no clue. We are trying so hard to be strong.
I just received a email from my agency saying that the director of the China Center of Adoption is out of town. My agency is hoping that he signed our TA before he left. If he did not sign the TA then we will have to wait until he comes back next week and signs it before they send it. I just hope and pray that they have been signed and we get them next week.
Denna

No TA today
We still did not receive a Ta today. We are trusting we will get it tomorrow. Denna

No TA today
Mood:  sad
We just got news that no TA for today. I will just trust they will be here tomorrow. It has been almost a month since we got our referral and we have no idea when we are going to get Brooke. I want to get my baby so bad. This is the worst part of the journey. (Waiting) I thought waiting for the referral was hard, but this has it beat. After seeing her face and finding out about her it is very hard. I think about Brooke all the time. I wonder what she is doing? Is anybody holding her? Is she crying, laughing, happy, or sad?
It hurts to think we are missing so many milestones in her life. It hurts more thinking we are just missing her more than the milestones. There is so many miles between her and us. Bro. Cornwell helped me on that. He said " There are many miles between us and Brooke, but not between Brooke and God" That is so true. I pray for Brooke everyday. I know God is watching over her. I can't help but smile when I think of God's angels right there with Brooke. I even think about the plane and I can see Gods hands under the plane, guiding where it needs to go. God is very good to us. I am looking for a brighter tomorrow. I was sick yesterday and I have felt bad today. I think I have a sinus infection. I am sure being sick does not help me feeling sad.
I also heard the referrals are coming this week for the next group. HFS is not getting any referrals, because for some reason CCAA is not sending any of April. I am hoping we will get our TA tomorrow. We need it very bad, so we can get things going.
Denna

I am getting behind on posting again. Things are really hectic around here. I am trying to homeschool, and then trying to keep up with the next steps as far as travel. We also have been in revival. The revival was very good and encouraging to my soul.
I have not even posted about the baby shower. Hopefully I can get Amy to post some pictures for me soon. The baby shower was October 17. It turned out very nice. The shower was done in ladybugs and had a oriental look to it. The colors were red, black, and white. They also had me a ladybug cake fixed. I appreciate each person who fixed and had a part in the baby shower. I want to give a big thanks to Diane Gore who organized the shower and put her all into making it special. Diane has been a treasure to us. She has been so excited for us and about Brooke. Diane did a great job on the decorations and food. Brooke got many nice things. Especially blankets. I lost count on the blankets.
We figured we would get so many clothes and diapers that Brooke would not get to wear them all. It ended up we got 4 outfits and no diapers. That was O.K though. Everything we got was very nice and very useful. I thought it was a wonderful shower. As far as the clothes I had bought a good bit from my sister-in-law, so I think we are all set. I have also had my wonderful friend Lori keep me in stock on clothes for Brooke. It is really hard to know what size to get her. I guess we will know for sure in a month or so. I had a dream about Brooke last night. She was so pretty. When we went to get her she had a head full of hair and a hair bow holding it back. She was a happy baby.
We are still waiting on our TA. Hopefully we will hear some good news tomorrow or Monday. I just want to have a date to tell people we are going.
Well there is so much more I could say, but I am very tired. I have a busy day tomorrow so I need to get some rest. Denna