9 Months Ago Today

Our TA (travel approval) arrived at our agency today, 

9 months to the day from when we chose Kaden to be our son!

We should know on Monday when we will be traveling
once our CA (consulate appointment) has been made.


Hang on little man,
you will be in your Daddy & Momma's arms
so very, very soon!!

A Quote from Jordan

"Satan is not welcome here for God's Word is Glorious"

~ Jordan

Just had to share with all of you a priceless quote from one of our treasures.

Jordan said this one day as we were sitting and talking about ways we are tempted

each and every day, and how we can fight off the attacks that come our way.

TA is on it's way!!!!!

We just received word that our TA (travel approval) 

is on it's way to our agency!!!!

Which means that any of the changes that Ch*na made regarding 

post-placement visits will not apply to our family

since our TA was issued before August 1st.

Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for us!!

Please pray that we are able secure our consulate appointment for Aug. 23rd or 24th.

If we can get an appointment on one of those days,

then we are hoping to be able to travel on Aug. 11th.

YAHOO!!!!

Please Pray

Click here for Linny's most recent updates on Karl.
Thank you so much for lifting Karl up in prayer!!


Anyone interested in signing up for a prayer vigil for Karl 
can do so by clicking here.


Specific prayer requests for Karl - 
Please pray that the fluid from his brain would run completely clear.
That his agitation would stop.
That his lung infection would totally clear.
That he will continue to breath well on his own.
That he would open his eyes voluntarily.


UPDATE from Linny: 6pm Sunday
Karl is our of neurosurgery.
They put a shunt in to drain the mass bleeding.


I know you don't know him, but he is a treasure. Really.
We have met lots of young men over the years.
He rises above all the rest by the heights of the Himalayans.


Here's what we need anyone to pray specifically:
1. Brain NOT to swell. 
(6:20pm via Twitter - brain swelling - please pray it will STOP)
2. Pneumonia not to set in.
3. Complete healing.


"The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."




My dear friend Linny, over at A Place Called Simplicity,

posted an urgent prayer request this morning.

Her daughter Autumn's boyfriend was in a motorcycle/car accident this morning

on his way to pick up Autumn to take her to church.

Karl was airlifted to the hospital in Durango. 

They determined that he has some bad head trauma

and is now being airlifted to the nearest hospital with a trauma neurosurgeon 

and will undergo neurosurgery immediately.

Please pray for Karl's complete recovery!

Autumn & Karl

The Raffle & Give-A-Way Winners are ....

We would like to say thank you to each and everyone of you who donated 

to our Raffle for Kaden! We have been blown away by the support, both in prayer & financially, 

that we have received from so many folks throughout our entire adoption process. 

You guys helped us to raise $400 more for our son!

Thank you!!

Now to announce the winners.......

The winner for the Olympus Camera is:

Pam Smith

The winners for the items #2-#15 are as follows:

#2 - Alexis Alvarez (Psalm 83:2 8x10 print)

#3 - Nancy Burroughs (Cross 8x10 print)

#4 - Stacy Richards (Crocheted Infant Hat)

#5 - Maureen Cox (Toys R Us gift certificate)

#6 - Maureen Cox (Lite Brite)

#7 - no entries were received for the James 1:27 print

#8 - Nancy Burroughs (James 1:27 Cross print)

#9 - Alexis Alvarez (Cookie Lee - Dancing Pearl Necklace)

#10 - Maureen Cox (Got Love? Adopt. Beach Bag)

#11 - Alexis Alvarez (Solomon Bead Necklace)

#12 - Tom & Jeanette Edge (Esther Poster)

#13 - Maureen Cox (Mesa Verde Poster)

#14 - Aireann Mitchell (Crocheted Blanket)

#15 - no entries were received for the Angel Fountain

The winner of the Solomon Bead Bracelet giveaway is:

Chelle Crecelius

Congratulations to ALL the winners!!!

I will contact you soon to arrange delivery of your items.

Thanks again!!


Please visit The Journey to Kaden blog to see the list of winners
for the raffle held by our friend Alida. Thanks!

Happy Birthday Hayden!

Watch out! That smile is registered with the FBI as a deadly weapon!!

Our darling Hayden turned 11 today.

He was born on July 13th, 2000, and we haven't stopped being smitten 

by this handsome young man.

Today was a great day!

It started with Krispy Kreme - how can a day NOT be great after that?

Then, the opening of gifts with much joy all around.

A late lunch at Pat & Oscars for great food and killer breadsticks.

Finally, an evening at U-Bounce for another friends' birthday party!

We ended the evening with a house full of 4 sweaty, tired, happy boys.

It couldn't get any better. . .

. . . unless there were 5.

We love you Hayden!

Happy 11th birthday!!

It almost isn't fair to show Hayden AND a Kitten in the same photo.
TOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!

Increase in Fees after August 1st

We just received word from our agency

that families whose TA (Travel Approval) is issued after August 1, 2011

will be charged an additional $1,400 to cover the costs of some changes

that have been made by CCCWA (Ch*na Center for Children's Welfare & Adoption).

When we first started our adoption process,

CCCWA required 2 post-placement visits with our social worker.

The new changes now require 6 post-placement visits.

We love our social worker, so having a few extra visits aren't that big of a deal,

it is just a bummer to possibly have an additional $1,400 added to the cost of our adoption

and to have it due in about 1 month.

We are cutting things really close and it looks like we will miss 

the August 1st date by anywhere from 2-9 days.

Our Article 5 will be picked up on July 20th and then we wait for our TA.

TA's are taking around 2-3 weeks,

 which puts us with an approval date somewhere around August 3rd - 10th. 

For all of our prayer warriors out there, please keep our TA in your prayers 

and that we will receive our approvals in God's timing not ours.

Fundraising Help From A Friend

Our dear friend Alida has a huge heart for orphans

and has graciously organized a raffle to help us raise some of the funds 

we need to bring Kaden home!

There are 39 items included so far and more will be being added soon!

Please stop by "The Journey to Kaden" blog 

(http://thejourneytokaden.blogspot.com/)

and take a look at all the fabulous items to choose from.

2 Disneyland or Disney World eTickets * Just For You Murals * 4 Restaurant Meal Vouchers * 

Focus on the Family books * Precious Moments porcelain figurines * Lenox & Waterford Crystal * 

Curriculum from My Father's World * John Piper books * 

Gift Certificates for Glen Ivy Spa, Dream Dinners, Mary Kay & Motherwear *

Beautiful Posters - James 1:27, Esther & Mesa Verde (designed by my husband) * 

And Many, Many More Items

Raffle ends July 15th

Tickets can be purchased for $5 each.

Please email me at ourfivetreasures@yahoo.com to let me know:

1. Which raffle items you would like to enter

2. The number of entries that you would like for each item

3. The check amount & when you will be mailing it

(we need to know this so that we can make sure that we have received all entries 

before the raffle drawing is held)

Purchase tickets by mailing a check to:

Steve Cox

c/o Orange Coast College

2701 Fairview Road

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Feel free to email us (ourfivetreasures@yahoo.com) or Alida (beautyforashes5@att.net) 

with any questions that you may have.

Thanks Alida!

PayPal / ChipIn Cannot Be Used For Raffles

We received an email from PayPal / ChipIn 

stating that our account has been suspended 

because under their "Acceptable Use Policy" you may not use PayPal / ChipIn 

to send or receive payments for activities that involve an entry fee and a prize, 

such as raffles, drawings and lotteries.

Luckily, PayPal is releasing to us any funds that were contributed before they suspended our account. But we can no longer use our account for our raffle.

So, in order to enter our raffle that ends July 15th you will need to mail a check to:

Steve Cox

c/o Orange Coast College

2701 Fairview Road

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

To make sure that we have received all entries before we hold the raffle drawing, please email us at ourfivetreasures@yahoo.com to let us know that you are mailing a check. Also, please let us know which raffle item(s) you would like to enter, the # of entries that you would like for each item & the check amount.

Sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused you! Please let any of your friends who are using PayPal / ChipIn for raffles know that it is against PayPal's policies to do so. 

And PayPal will suspend your account if they find out you are using their services

to help with your raffle.

We are working with PayPal to try and restore our account once our raffle is over,

so that we can hopefully use PayPal's service when selling posters or other items. 

If you have any questions, please email us at ourfivestreaures@yahoo.com 

Thanks so much!