Sunday, March 27, 2011

Two Children Wait No More...





Praise God that two families Eric and I have been following in "blog land" have returned home today with their newly adopted family members! The Jewett's and the Nordstrom's have returned home with their daughters! (To view the Nordstrom's site, click HERE. To visit the Jewett's site click HERE. We had the privilege and honor of being able to drive up to Sioux City, Iowa to attend our first ever "Welcome Home" gathering for the Nordstrom family at the "large and in charge" Sioux Gateway Airport. (The size of this airport is a complete exaggeration for those of you who have never had the opportunity to encounter this airport.) To say that the welcoming crew descended on the waiting area and overtook it, would be an understatement. Eric asked me if I knew what flight number they were arriving on, to which I promptly burst out laughing and said, "I'm sure we won't have trouble finding them in the ONE waiting area...they'll be the group with all of the balloons, posters, and Africa shirts on!" He cracks me up sometimes. CLEARLY he does not follow all of the adoption blogs like I do...I love him, what can I say?

We would have also loved to have been a part of the Jewett homecoming, but as they live in the SE United States and we live in the Midwest (sadly I have not yet, to my knowledge, learned to clone myself or aparate to two different locations) we were not able to accomplish this. If I'd have been able to be in both places today, believe me, I would have - as Lady Jewett has been a TREMENDOUS source of encouragement, support and knowledge to me in our own adoption journey. Luv ya' girl! ;) The Nordstroms have been an encouragement too, although they are probably less aware of that fact. ;)



I have only seen photos and read of the many Airport Welcomings through adoption blog land, but this was the first one I have been able to be a part of, and it was wonderful. It was such a joy to watch the Nordstrom kids wait in anticipation (*note all of the faces of the above pic) of their parents and new sister's arrival, literally counting down the minutes...fun to witness what a wonderful supportive network they have walked with throughout this process. (We strategically placed ourselves with the camera so that we could capture the overwhelming emotion of Mom and Pop Nordstrom de-boarding the plane and the siblings response to it.) There are no words to describe it!



We have followed the Nordstrom's journey through their blog and exchanged brief messages with them, and today we got to officially meet them. (Which is strange, considering that when you follow someone's blog for the better part of a year you feel like you already know them well!) Of course, the meeting was brief and we did not wish to take up too much of their time when they had traveled so long and far and had so many people vying for their attention! So we introduced ourselves, visited briefly, gave our congratulations, and slipped out quietly to allow them time with the rest of their friends and family. We merely wanted to encourage them and show them support in the final leg of their adoption journey home. Now she is their daughter and a new chapter of the journey will begin.



Their new daughter, is BEAUTIFUL! She handled the swarm of people surprisingly well, quietly taking it all in from the comfort and security of her parents arms. I had the most enjoyment watching her...wondering what she was thinking, how she was feeling, and how my son or daughter might feel if they encounter the same situation. I feel so blessed to have been a part of this celebration.



Thanks Nordstroms and Jewetts for allowing us to "walk" with you and to be a part of your journey. It has been so wonderful to witness the God-sized plan He has laid before you and how He has guided you down this path. I pray you much rest and special time with your family in the weeks to come.

Nic

1 comment:

The Nordstroms said...

WOW! Great pics! Thanks for the wonderful post. And thanks for sharing that amazing day with us. It was great having so many friends there to greet us and be part of the celebration. We look forward to following your journey and seeing a Stauffer homecoming party!

Russ

About this blog

Welcome to our blog! Thanks for dropping by and visiting us! This blog was created for those of you who wish to follow along with us in our journey as we answer God's call to adoption. Ultimately it is our opportunity to rise up and do what we can to fulfill and make known to others the mandate of James 1:27 - "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep onself from being polluted by the world."

About Us

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We are a mid-west married couple of 9 years, striving to care for the 147 million orphans around the world!

Our Adoption Timeline

11/28/11 - We are back to waiting for a new referral
11/22/11 - We receive word from our caseworker that we have lost our referral
9/21/11 - Referral paperwork and international ped review completed and sent!
9/4/11 - We receive our referral! A precious 6 yr old boy!
6/27/11 - We have finally arrived to the waitlist!
6/17/11 - re-doing some documents for the dossier
6/8/11 - Sent dossier off to our agency for review
6/4/11 - Our FDL FINALLY ARRIVES! Yahoo!
5/24/11 - We get word from our Case Manager that we may submit our dossier without our FDL! Yea!
3/30/11 - USCIS fingerprint appointments for Dept. of Homeland Security

2/9/11 - Notarized homestudy rec'd and re-mailed to AGCI!
1/7/11 - We close on the sale of our house in NW Iowa
11/30/10 - 3rd and final homestudy visit, dossier paperwork completed
11/24/10 - house back in NW Iowa finally goes on the market for sale
10/26/10 - 2nd homestudy visit
10/15/10 - Eric is finally able to secure his company transfer and relocate himself as well
9/30/10 - After securing living arrangements post-relocation, we have our first homestudy visit
8/17/10 - We receive notification that some paperwork families will be transferring caseworkers...we are transferred to Toni!
8/17/10 - Nic relocates to central Iowa to begin new teaching position the following day...a move is in the works...adoption paperwork, education and homestudy arrangements put on hold
8/13/10 - Nic rec'd call from a friend to interview for a last-minute teacher opening in central Iowa
6/7/10 - First paperwork call with our caseworker, Brandi; we begin the adoption education and dossier paperwork process
5/15/10 - Mailed orientation packet documents and first payment
4/13/10 - AGCI adoption orientation packet rec'd in mail
4/8/10 - AGCI international adoption application as part of the Ethiopia program approved!
3/16/10 - Official adoption application submitted to AGCI with initial fee
11/01/09 - Pre-application submitted to AGCI
10/27/09 - Request for more information on international adoption received by our (now) agency, All God's Children International

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