It is with great joy that we introduce to you, our son, Liu Ri Chen. We have officially received notification that China has preapproved us to adopt this little guy. He is waiting for us in the Fuijian Province, in Xiamen. He will turn 2 on January 3rd.

Now it is another period of waiting. Our family coordinator called us on November 28th to tell us that China had approved us. On the 29th, Elizabeth and I went to Columbus to have our paperwork state certified. On the 30th, we sent the final paperwork to the Chinese Consulate in New York City. We are told it takes 20 days to get that paperwork back. I can't remember how long it took for Elizabeth.

But... we just found out that the fees will be increased $130.00 if our dossier does not reach China by January 1st. That means that our dossier needs to be into our agency by December 20th. Once again, we are relying on God to work out the details. Either that our paperwork gets here in time or that He provides the finances needed. Humanly speaking.... I am really hoping He chooses the paperwork :)

THis is a map of China. I have circled the provinces that the kids are from. Elizabeth in from Chongqing, it is more centrally located. Ri is from Fujian Province which is more southeast.



I know that when I first started into the adoptiong process, I had no idea about China or about the many provinces. It was always interesting for me to compare when kids came from. This map is showing where Ri is waiting for us. I just zoomed in on Fujian Province so you could see.