The Big ONE!!!

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday at beautiful Ft. Lauderdale beach. It was sunny and eighty degrees every day. Since Thanksgiving Day was Levi’s first birthday, we thought it was only appropriate we do it up big! So…we put on our party hats and rang in his special day with cake, candles, and singing!

Happy Birthday Levi!

Birthday Package for Levi

Our birthday package for Levi is on its way to Seoul, South Korea. I'm hoping it gets there just in time for Levi's first birthday celebration! The US post office has a shipping program that uses the motto, "If it fits, it ships" and it's amazing just how much you can cram into one box. Here's a run down of what we sent.

Three outfits. Isn't the Puma running suit the cutest?


Lots of fun things: A singing birthday card, pull along puppy, birthday hats and whistles, and a recorder cell phone with a special birthday message from Mommy and Daddy. The message is in English, of course, and will make no sense to Levi, but at least he will get to hear our voices.

And of course a few things for Ms. Kwon, his foster mom: cookies, scarf, manicure set, and a Texas Rangers cap. Even though the Rangers didn't win the world series, we are still proud of them!

Happy Birthday to one special and loved little boy!

Disappointing News :(

Recently, we received disappointing news from South Korea. The yearly quota has been met so no more babies will be leaving Korea for the rest of 2010. What is the yearly quota, you ask? In a nutshell, the Korean government is trying to phase out international adoption in hopes of keeping their babies in Korean families. Every year, they allow fewer and fewer babies to be adopted to countries overseas so once the quota is met, all paperwork and emigration permissions are halted until the next calendar year. Things begin rolling again around the end of January.

What does this mean for our son? Levi is still ours. The adoption will still move forward. We are thankful for this. However, our estimated time for travel is now in March. So....more waiting. We are, obviously, disappointed because we hoped to celebrate his first birthday and Christmas with Levi. But, we know God is faithful, and we are choosing daily (and sometimes hourly) to trust Him in this matter. And we know, Levi will be well worth the wait!