Gotcha Day, home, and sleeping

This has been an amazing 48 hours!!! From the last minute call to the airport. Emma arrived at 1:19 EST at the Detroit Michigan airport. She spent almost 2 hours in customs but finally we were united with her. She is perfect. We are madly in love with her. She came right to me and then to Daddy. After a few minutes, she started to cry. I walked her and bounced her and she fell asleep. It was a long day of traveling for her as she flew 4,700 miles yesterday. She doesn't like her car seat, but did sleep in it quite a bit. She loves toys and music. Her foster family sent along 2 Korean children song CD's and they calmed her during the ride. It was a very long trip home. Seven hours in a car is a long time for anyone. We did make several stops. She wanted to get down and play. As expected she would cry off and on but would quickly calm when we soothed her. You can tell she is grieving. It completely breaks my heart to see her cry, but it comforts me to know she was well attached. Her foster family sent lots of items home with her. One being a Hanbok, her first birthday outfit. They also sent two photo albums of her stay with them. I am forever thankful to them for capturing a part of her life we couldn't be there to experience. They also sent two pairs of shoes for when she gets older and a Korean flag. The card they sent was so sweet and just confirmed that they loved her very much. We will be forever thankful to them.

When we finally arrived home around 12:30 am, Emma was ready to get down and play. She is sitting up and scooting around. Her little personality is so sweet and she enjoyed exploring her new home. She fell asleep around 3 am and is still sleeping. Traveling is hard work! Here are some picture of our amazing day... We love you all and are looking forward to getting out soon.

Waiting...

I wanted to check in and let you know that we are waiting for little Emma to arrive. She is currently on her flight from Tokyo. We are tracking her flight online and she is in Canada just west of Winnipeg. She is scheduled to arrive 30 minutes early at 12:15 CST. Once she lands, she will go through customs and be united with us. I can't even begin to explain the way I am feeling right now. This sweet little girl that God has chosen for our family will be here in less that 2 hours. From the beginning He placed the longing for her in our hearts. We want everyone to see how God has continued to work through this entire process.

I can't wait to see her, hold her, and show her the love that God has given me for her. Only God could be in control of this journey. He alone knows the desires of our hearts and I can't wait to share her with our family and friends. I better go for now, I need to finish her welcome home poster, get the car seat installed, and wait for my sweet little girl. The next time I post, you get to see some pictures of our little gift from God.

Travel Call!!!!

We are so excited to report that we received our travel call this morning. It was 9:46 am to be exact!!! They said, this never happens but your baby girl will be here tomorrow at 1:45!!! I know God who makes things happen!!!! I immediately was overcome with excitement and joy and nervousness and excitement and .... So as we speak I am throwing clothes together for us. I packed her diaper bag last night (just felt like I needed to...) and we will drive to Detroit and spend the night. Our plan is to come back tomorrow afternoon and let her spend her first night with us at home. Please pray for safe travel as she is already on her way to us. Thanks so all of those who have prayed and supported us. We can't wait to share her with you!!! The next post will be updated pictures of our sweet girl!!!

Emma's Shower

This afternoon was such a wonderful blessing. My sister-in-law and some friends put together this amazing shower and it was so sweet. We received some awesome gifts as you can see in the photos. There were several handmade gifts and I will be sure to tell Emma all about them and how much her church family loved her even before she arrived. I'll leave you with some pictures from today. I am going to get things put away so I will be ready for a travel call!!! Please pray that her travel call comes soon. We have been blessed with how quick everything has processed, so we hope that we will get that call soon. Have a great week and God bless each of you!

This is a blanket that Ryan's mother cross-stitched for Emma. She stitched her name by hand. Isn't it beautiful?

Waiting for a Travel Call

Did I mention how excited I am to know we are waiting for a travel call? My stomach flutters at the thought of receiving this call. I've spent the weekend trying to get her things ready in case we get the call soon. I've picked out her clothes (only 5 bows for an overnight trip) and am waiting until our shower tomorrow before I finalize what I'm taking. Friday afternoon, I stayed at school late and planned out my leave. As of now, I plan to take 12 weeks. I am so looking forward to having this time with her to bond.

Today we went to the International Festival in Bowling Green. It was neat to see all the diversity represented. We went to the South Korea booth and met several Korean college students who are exchange students at the University. We had a wonderful conversation and enjoyed some Korean grape soda. Chase was hesitant at first to try it, but enjoyed it. We had a nice conversation with one of the students there and since they don't have a family that mentors them here in the states, we are going to meet with them and have dinner when Emma comes home. It was so neat to talk to someone from Korea and learn more about her culture.

Tomorrow the church is having a shower for Emma. My sister-in-law and church friends are coordinating it. I can't explain how blessed we are with such a wonderful church family. From the beginning, our church family has prayed and God has answered our prayers. No one can explain the short timeline and I answer by saying with God all things are possible.

This next week is going to be busy which will help while we wait for our travel call. Ryan's work is having a shower for us Thursday afternoon. Some close friends from school are having a get together on Thursday night...I can't wait! My wonderful teammates are doing something on Friday. I'm not sure what they're up to, but I know whatever it is, it will be awesome! I am in awe at how amazing the staff are at my school. From the first day I arrived, they have offered to help in any way they can and now I have the honor of sharing in this special journey with them. My school family has prayed with me and the love that resonates there is indescribable. Have a great weekend!

Blessed again... Visa Interview

As I type, I am consumed with emotion about the day and what it means for our family. Today started out as any other, rushing to get ready and head off to school. As I drove to school today, I had an urge to call the Visa Center. I told Ryan I wasn't going to call until Monday because I knew nothing would be taking place until probably after that. The Visa specialist told us on Tuesday that it would take approximately 2-4 weeks. My heart kept pulling to call today even though I knew that if, just if they processed the P3, it probably wouldn't have made it back to the embassy, much less updated in the system. So when I got to school, I called the number and a sweet lady answered the phone. I gave her the information and she asked me to hold. Her next words were, my she is such a beautiful baby, what cute hair she has! I agreed and then she said, they must be ready to get this little girl home because she has a Visa Interview scheduled tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. I immediately began to cry and smile, and squeal (I've been doing a lot of that lately). I told her to have a great day and she said she thought I would too!!! Of course! I then ran down the primary hallway jumping up and down. I called Ryan and of course he was thrilled and excited. I am in awe at how blessed we have been through this whole process. I give God all the glory and praise. God has something extraordinary planned for her life. I was humbled at how I thought today would be an ordinary day and God had something wonderful planned. So many times we don't have the faith that God can do miracles in our lives. I believe He smiled today when he knew I was completed flabbergasted as I heard her visa interview had been scheduled.

As I understand it, Emma's social worker will go to embassy and Emma will be given a visa or travel certificate. At that point, her travel arrangements will be made and an escort will be determined (the escort could already be decided). We will receive a call from our agency that she is ready to come home within a week or so. Usually the travel call comes 5-10 days before she arrives. That means that she could be here by Chase's birthday! His wish just may come true!!!

My mind is going in so many directions. I praise God for the way he has blessed us. I heart breaks for the foster mother who will send precious Emma to us. I know that day will be difficult for her. I will try to keep in touch with her after Emma comes home. I know our sweet girl doesn't know what is about to happen, but she is about to join a family to will love her forever.

Please pray that Emma will be healthy, she will have a wonderful escort, and the trip to us will be safe. Thanks so much for the support and prayers. Our journey is almost complete...and for that I praise God.

P3 has been sent!!!

I wish you could hear me squeal as I heard that the P3 had been sent today!!!! I am SO excited about getting to this point! After the agency in Korea receives it, they will send it back to the embassy. Emma will then have her visa interview!!! I found out today after talking with our agency that Emma has already had her visa physical. She said her those of you waiting that the Class B form is filled out when the physical happens. Good to know! The only other item is question is the emigration permit which our agency isn't notified of when Emma receives it. She could already have it... Our particular agency doesn't get notified. Please pray that the emigration permit has been issued. She can't travel until she has one. I have heard that only a certain number are issued per year per agency. If things continue to progress and the emigration permit has been issued, the end of October is a realistic timeframe to get our precious little girl!!!

We are Logged Out!

I am so excited to say that we are logged out at the NVC!!! This means that Emma's information was sent electronically to Korea and we are waiting for it to be processed. Korea will send the P3 packet of information to our agency and our agency will send it back to Korea. Then the Visa Interview will be scheduled. In the meantime, I am going to work on getting my before Emma list checked off. And after that, here's a nice spot to sit and wait...

Thanks to all those who have prayed for us this week. We are one step closer in our journey!

Can you spell Johnson?

is logged in!!!

It's been a few days since I last posted and these past fews days have been quite the roller coaster. Friday the 11th was a wonderful day, we received our I600 approval and obviously each step is a step closer to sweet Emma. I have tried to remain so positive throughout the process and realize how fortunate we are that our adoption journey has been very quick in comparison to others.

After receiving the I600, I have been calling constantly (they probably have my number on alert) to see if we have been logged in. Of course I looked at everyone else's blog to see how long it took them and set my expectations based on that. As of this morning we were still NOT in the system. I have been frustrated and down about it. For those who don't know, Korea can't start the process of getting Emma ready to come to the US without the Visa center sending the information to them. When we log out, the information is sent electronically to the Korean authorities for processing. So, I called this afternoon and the representative at the Visa center said they had not received our packet in the office. To make a long story short, it was lost in the mail apparently. As you can imagine, I was very upset at this point thinking about how long this might take to track down our information and how many days that might delay us. So I emailed the Louisville office (since you can't call them). In the meantime I can't just sit and wait, because I am the most impatient person I know!!! I called the Visa Center in Washington thinking that maybe just maybe I have been calling the wrong number or there is a mix-up. I talked to a nice lady named Jessica ;o) and she searched for my information using my social security number. The other Visa center searches by last name. She informed me that Emma's information was logged in on September 15th and that the other Visa center misspelled our last name!!! So for the past 3 days The Jhonson's have been logged in!!! I was so excited and relieved to know our packet wasn't lost. I called the Visa center and they have corrected the issue (after a short consultation with the supervisor). Ryan and I were talking last night about how we can't control when someone enters information into the computer but that God is in control of everything and I have learned that patience is a fruit of the spirit I need to work on... God is also in Korea with our little sweet pea as we await to be united with her.

I600 APPROVAL!!! And a Wonderful Shower!!!

It's amazing how paper can make you smile...

What an awesome day!!! I emailed the Louisville office this morning hoping to get an update on Emma's I600 process. I was pretty disappointed that I didn't get a response back...until I checked the mail this afternoon!!! There it was, an envelope from the US Citizenship and Immigration office. I was so excited that I couldn't even wait to get out of the truck to open it. I immediately called Ryan and squealed! If things continue to go quickly, we could be shopping for a Halloween outfit!!! Oh, how I hope so!!! I am going to call on Monday to see if we have been logged in. Ryan called tonight and the office is located in New Hampshire which means the mail probably hasn't made it there yet, since they don't have our information on file.

Here is the rest of the process as I understand it:

We will log in and out at the National Visa Center. This means that they are reviewing our information and then will send it electronically to Seoul Korea. When it is sent, we are considered logged out of NVC. We will be given a reference number to use to call the National Visa Center in Washington D.C. to find out when the visa packet arrives, when the P3 is sent, and when the visa interview is scheduled. Usually a travel call comes approximately a week after the visa interview. Families usually travel within a week after receiving the travel call!!!

I get so anxious just thinking about it! I have plenty to keep me busy and my before Emma list is quite long. The problem is, I would rather not complete the items on my list and just have Emma here!!!

Baby Shower

My friend Gayla McCoy hosted a baby shower for Emma last night. The decorations were beautiful and the food was amazing. Some close friends came and shared in our joy. I enjoyed spending time with such wonderful friends to share our journey. Emma received so many cute things. My grandmother got Emma her first hairbrush that is unique. I love it and judging by Emma's pictures, we may need it!!!

Seven Months Ago...

Emma Yeirin,

It's hard to believe in only seven short months and you have already experienced so many changes. Your daddy and mommy love you more than words could ever express. We rejoice in God's greatness and willingness to make you part of our forever family. So little sweet girl, happy seven months old!