Let me bring everyone up to speed now that we can catch our breath. When we said “Yes” to our daughter, we were prepared to hunker down for the long, excruciating LOA (China’s acceptance letter). Normally this wait is 45-60 days. In the adoption world, people are constantly posting which day of this long wait they are currently on. We waited almost the full 60 days for Aiden’s LOA to arrive, so we were planning on a May/June trip to China.
Imagine our surprise when I received a message from our agency saying that they had received our LOA in ONE week! I thought for sure there must be a mistake....but, no. It was official. This means our trip will most likely be in February or March! Don’t get me wrong...we are ecstatic but there is still so much to do. We are only $15,000 short of our fundraising goal, but I thought we would have more time to raise that. We quickly began applying for more grants. We had not gotten David’s passport renewed or Avery and Asa’s passport ordered. That has now been done. We didn’t have a name! We took a breath and tried to enjoy the moment. God has answered our prayers...why are we so surprised?
So...I had the name I had chosen for her ready to present to the family, but I felt an overwhelming need to allow our daughter, Alana, to name our newest daughter. Alana was thrilled that this was her responsibility. We worked together on her middle name because I did want to keep part of her Chinese name, MengQian.
So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the newest Ivarson, Arabella Qian (Chee-in) Ivarson. 💕
Imagine our surprise when I received a message from our agency saying that they had received our LOA in ONE week! I thought for sure there must be a mistake....but, no. It was official. This means our trip will most likely be in February or March! Don’t get me wrong...we are ecstatic but there is still so much to do. We are only $15,000 short of our fundraising goal, but I thought we would have more time to raise that. We quickly began applying for more grants. We had not gotten David’s passport renewed or Avery and Asa’s passport ordered. That has now been done. We didn’t have a name! We took a breath and tried to enjoy the moment. God has answered our prayers...why are we so surprised?
So...I had the name I had chosen for her ready to present to the family, but I felt an overwhelming need to allow our daughter, Alana, to name our newest daughter. Alana was thrilled that this was her responsibility. We worked together on her middle name because I did want to keep part of her Chinese name, MengQian.
So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the newest Ivarson, Arabella Qian (Chee-in) Ivarson. 💕