no news yet..

sorry for the adoption blog drought...but there has been zero to report...we are still waiting with no word from Thailand after it closed with our papers on their desks....it will be a year at the end of February that our papers landed in Thailand...lets pray the silence will be broken soon...

one month today......waiting waiting waiting

we haven't disappeared...but are still waiting...our papers are still in thailand.....and we are still waiting to hear if the will be accepted and put on the waiting list...or not......its been tricky to stay in peace, as its so hard not knowing what the outcome will be after such a long journey to get to this stage....but thank the Lord for grace....as in Him we trust to open the doors and close the doors that he wills for our lives and the adventure of parenthood.........so until we hear something....we wait....

thailand via dhl.......

it has been a real roller-coaster the last few weeks....our papers have been sent to thailand and received on Monday morning...we have been told to wait and see if they will be accepted........as a few other people were in the same position as us....whose papers weres just about to be sent when the sudden closure happened.......thailand said they will see how many people are in our position around the world before they make a decision ..on whether to accept our application or not.........so we wait.....trusting that God's will be done and He will keep our feet on the right path....

hi's and lows.....

adoption is certainly a roller coaster....our papers are one step from leaving Stormont to go to thailand to begin the waiting process.....we just had news yesterday that thailand have closed and won't receive anymore applications untill 2011...this has not happened for many years.....we have a window of hope that ours may be allowed through as they are pretty much ready to go...we are trusting God for the outcome and trying to remain in a place of peace that it will all work out for the best.....so please join us in prayer that they will go through...

up up and away.....

best news today...are papers are passed at stormont and will be heading to thailand....hip hip hooray!!

our papers are on the move....

at long last our adoption papers have finally made it to Stormont to be prepared to go onto Bangkok.....please pray they go through quickly and get to Bangkok asap....

more papers.....

we are not finished yet filling in forms....we have a couple more forms to fill out at the minute so our paper work can go to Stormont to be notarized and translated into thai....can't wait until our file is safely in thailand waiting to be matched........

the beginning of the rest....

today was a big day on our adoption journey and to be honest the only part i have been nervous about.....today was... Panel Day........ Panel had some delays which meant a long wait for us before we would be invited in to answer some questions.....meanwhile we had our own waiting room to hang out in ..stocked with tea and coffee....bookshelves packed with kids books of which we read most of ..lol....this penguin one was our favourite...























..as the wait continued we resorted to playing that old family favourite.....i spy with my little eye something beginning with................to distract ourselves.....i'm not sure how it always seemed to be stuart's turn ..gave me a flasback into my childhood....:-)





























Eventually we were invited into the board to room to meet everyone and answer a couple of questions.........thankfully we got a unanimous YES from panel and as of today are approved to adopt...hooray.....our papers will make their way to Stormont shortly......

Two years and counting...

just looking at our blog and realsied we have been on this journey for two years......can't believe time has gone so quickly ...but at the same time in my naive thinking in the early days i thought we would be galloping over the finish line any day soon..but in reality we are only half way there........

book recommendation....

i must admit i find the technical almost medical journel books on our list to read pretty hard going......i am much more of a practical learner and like to learn through hearing from others and experiencing things...our social worker recommended this book to us...and we both love it...it has been so helpful and such an easy read..highly recommended...

update.......

oh my goodness i cant believe it is october and my last post was at the end of june...scary...we have been so busy with work..life and the adoption trail.......we officially finished our homestudy on 27th July .... eight sessions in all ....when we closed the door to our social worker we went out into our back garden and popped open a bottle of champagne to mark yet another milestone on this journey...



our social worker has beavered away writing up our report into a nice thick document all about the life of the Browns.......and we are going to face panel very soon......we have had two further prep meeting this week to get all the final loose ends tied up..i must admit this is the only part of the process that has produced butterflies in my tummy.....we are trusting that God has brought us this far and he will continue to led us on......

approaching part 6..

i have been so bad about blogging lately...the weeks seem to fly by and are full of ...life.......we have done a couple of homestudy sessions since i last blogged and i have got to say...we are still very much enjoying the process..maybe its just us or else our social worker helps to make it an enjoyable experience...it really is an enriching experience.....i love everything about adoption and am so glad we are on this journey.........i must admit i have been thinking very much this week about being a mixed race family living in N.I..after the appalling attacks on the romanian people seeking a better life here...but just need to trust God is in control and will be entwined in every detail of the journey............we received some lovely news this week that friends of ours had been matched with their new daughter in thailand.......makes it all real when you see people you know making it to the end of the journey...............so roll on homestudy so we can get onto the next stage of bringing us closer to meeting our little one face to face instead of just our hearts....

part three.....

well part three is completed and we are galloping towards part four......we have really enjoyed this process so far....its actually so good to talk through things and continually confirm in our hearts that this is totally the right move for us..........excited to keep going.............we chatted a little about the timeline......and as we expected it will be 2011 before we meet our little one......unless a miracle takes place...just as well be believe in those....:-)

part two......

second session in homestudy completed today...next one in two weeks time........again both really enjoyed the time.......looking forward to next one....every step we take confirms again and again that we are on the right track and adoption is so right for us......

part one........

first session done......must say we both really enjoyed it and and look forward to the second on monday..it feels so good to finally have movement...feeling that we are inching closer to finally coming face to face with the little bundle God has chosen us to share our lives with.........

homestudy starts........

at last...we are beginning.......we have been told we would be starting our homestudy since autumn and it kept getting put back .....again and again.......well not anymore....tomorrow morning we will be having our first homestudy interview........we have waited so long for this...it is so hard to believe the ball is actually beginning to roll again......praying it picks up momentum and doesn't slow down till we reach the goal..............

at last the phone rings...

late sunday night the phone rang..........and to our surprise it was our social worker who has been off sick for a couple of months......she is back to work......and we are to finally get started our home study in 2 weeks time.......hooray...........at last.......and as we open the door to our social worker we should be closing it behind our last builder (i hope)...His timing is perfect......

thailand........day ten

this is our last day in thailand...and it is also our 9th wedding anniversary today





.........tonight we leave hua hin for bangkok airport...and say goodbye to thailand until our next visit..........

thailand........day nine

we went into hua hin today and found the sofitel grand centara which has won preservation awards as it used to be one of the places the king and queen entertained and has a museum with the walls lined with old black and white photos....


topiary gardens were amazing with huge flocks of birds and elephants..


such a tranquil space in the middle of a busy city

thailand........day eight

today we enjoyed a thai massage beside the beach....i had put it off...after seeing the shapes they bent people into...but we both braved it...it was quite an experience and different parts were stretched and cracked.....