I had almost forgotten about this blog until I was talking with a friend who mentioned she had recently checked it to see if there were any new updates....it's time...a year later :)

I will backtrack a bit to catch you up to speed. We made the decision that by February 2011 I would return to Nepal to be with Maya. On February 1oth, I boarded a plane..by myself..to fly around the world. Seems absolutely crazy now but at the time I had such peace and God was with me (our whole family) in a special way. I stayed with a family during my two week stay which was such a blesing and after 2 days of being in Nepal, Maya made the transition to my full time care. Again, God was so present and it happened very easily and she immediately bonded with me!! There was still no news of the visa but we knew things were getting close. We made the decision that my husband and sons would join us in Nepal. February 26th, they arrived and our family reunion was wonderful!! We moved to a bed & breakfast called Nepal Face to Face (I would highly recommend this place if you're ever in Nepal) and spent lots of time over the next week sightseeing and praying the visa would soon be approved. About 5 days before Doug and boys were scheduled to fly home we received the MOST WONDERFUL PHONE CALL ever from the embassy....Maya's visa had been approved. We were able to get everyone's plane tickets changed so that we could all fly home together! We landed in the USA on March 13, 2011 & it was SO good to be home! The past year has been good with it's share of ups & downs. Maya had adjusted so well and speaks fluent English. It's hard to remember what life was like before her sweet personality & activity filled our home. Almost a year has passed and I can honestly say...TIME FLIES!! We are so grateful to God and our family & friends for walking with us! Now to continue life as a family of five!!!

Four for Four!

Four families have received visa's to bring their children home from Nepal! This is so exciting & a great sign for the families like us who are currently doing investigations & waiting to send our rebuttals to the USCIS office in New Delhi!

We talked to Maya again this morning & she said "mommy" & "love you" in the cutest voice ever :) We are praying we will have her approved visa sometime in late February!!

Maya

Pictures from Nepal

We have such great memories of our time in Nepal! Our sweet Maya is doing well! We just were able to skype with her two evening ago & we love to watch her put the headphones on & listen to our voices. She also loves to try & hit the buttons on the computer. Her nanny told us that when the phone rings on the computer, she gets very excited & runs pointing to the computer. Hopefully our investigation will get started next week....it truly feels like there is no time to waste. We don't want to miss any more time without her!!

The last few weeks in review

I have decided....I'm not much of a blogger!! So sorry for those of you who have been following along. It's time to catch you up to speed!

We spent 2 wonderful weeks in Nepal....November 29 - December 12th. During that time, we so enjoyed getting to know our daughter, watch her play & sleep, listen to her jabber in Nepali & be warmed to our toes with her hugs & kisses! We adopted her on Thursday, December 9th. We had found out on Tuesday, the 7th that the US Embassy in Kathmandu had denied her visa & had sent her paperwork on to the USCIS office in New Delhi. This was such a heart break to realize we were going to have to come home without her. God led us thru contact with another adoptive family to a Christian children's home who was willing to take our little girl in....so long story short. We left her in the care of some wonderful US missionaries who run a girls home. She is able to learn about Jesus, learn English & we are able to skype & email her. While this is not what we would have chosen, we are choosing to believe God has a bigger purpose than we can see!

Just last week, we received our RFE (Request For Evidence) from the New Delhi office so we will now hire an investigator in Nepal who will go back to her orphanage & the police station that found her to gather more evidence that she is truly an orphan, then our lawyer in the States will write a rebuttal to the RFE & we are believing & praying that the US gov't will then issue her visa! Hopefully by February or March we will have her home!

There are approx. 56 other families stuck in this same position....check out the website with many of our children's precious pictures & go to the link to sign the petition for our kids to come home http://theywaitnepal.blogspot.com

Namaste!

Last evening (Friday) we met with our lawyer in Nepal about finalizing the adoption. Our adoption day was scheduled for the 7th but the staff in the ministry decided to go away for a few days so it may not happen until the 9th. We've needed to lay down our American way of doing things & be flexible! Please pray that they return to their offices sooner than the 9th so we can complete everything before we're scheduled to leave!

We also visited another hotel called The Summit where all the American adoptive families meet every Friday evening. It was so much fun to connect with others who are on this same journey.

Saturday's in Nepal is a one day weekend so most offices & schools are closed. We weren't able to go visit with Maya today so we took the day to do some sightseeing & shopping. There was a Christmas bazaar at one of the hotels . We enjoyed looking at all the unique things that are made in Nepal.

We then walked to Boudhanath also known as the Boudha Stupa. It is one of the most important places of pilgrimage for Buddhists. At dawn & dusk, people walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction turning the prayer wheels & reciting mantras. Some people believe that a piece of Buddha's bone is inside the stupa. It's hard to describe our feelings as we watched so many worshiping a god that is not real. We ate at a rooftop restaurant & spent time praying for Jesus to be revealed in this nation!


We went down a side street to look at some shops & a young mother (Bhimle) with her 2 year old daughter (Kirpa) came up to us asking for food. She didn't want money.. just milk. I must admit, the skeptical side of me wanted to run the other direction but we bought milk for her & she invited us to her house for tea. We followed her to her village and our minds could hardly grasp what we were seeing. It was an indian squatters village. The houses were only held together by sticks & the roofs were either plastic or material. She took us into her house & made us tea...the most delicious indian tea we've ever had. Her mother,father and siblings were there too. Her father is in a lot of pain and we had the opportunity to pray for healing for him. A lot of the children in the village were running around with just shirts on & my heart hurts to think about the dirt & filth they live in. But I was also amazed by their joy & sweetness as they said Namaste as we walked past.




Her mother told us they had no food & we bought some rice for them. As we walked away, we really asked ourselves how we are to respond to this....we really have no idea if this something they do with many people throughout the day but we prayed this morning that God would direct our day & having the opportunity to give milk & rice to people who obviously need it as well as being the light & encouragement of Jesus to someone made it worth it!

We are pretty exhausted & it's soon off the bed. Looking forward to seeing Maya again tomorrow!

We are in Nepal

We arrived in Nepal on Wednesday, December 1st. It was a L-O-N-G trip but we had great flights & enjoyed ourselves. We were able to meet our daughter the day we arrived & it was so amazing to finally meet her in person! She was very unsure of us the first day but by the time we left we saw a small grin!

Today is now the 3rd day we've visited the orphanage & we have seen her blossom. She is such a happy little girl & she is quick with her smile & hugs :) She is full of energy & loves to play. She is well cared for at the orphanage and the didi's love her very much.

Yesterday morning we had emailed the US Embassy here to let them know we are in Kathmandu. We have been praying that a decision would be reached in our case before we return home...better yet by adoption day. After sending the email, we walked to the Embassy & stood outside the gates praying. A security guard came up to us after about 5 minutes....wanting us to know that it was a secure area & we needed to move on :) When we got back to our hotel, we had a response from the embassy telling us that our investigation was almost complete & they should have a decision by next week. They are to call us & we will meet with them in person to hear the outcome. We are praying & believing the visa will be issued & three of us will return home!

We are enjoying the city of Kathmandu....it is very crazy on the streets but the people are so friendly. We are trying to savor every moment!