4 photos?

I can do this!!

Do it again??

Did it once, now again faster...



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Location:Bed

The Wait Continues

Here is our little girl now. Oh she is so yummy! This photo was taken the day before her first birthday and she is pictured with the care package we sent for her birthday. We were so happy that she got it on time. This photo was taken on the day in Korea they had massive mudslides.


Sadly this photo is over a month old. We are still waiting and waiting. I didn't post all summer, it was just too hard. This wait is indescribable, the hopes, the dashed hopes. But we are keeping our eyes on the road ahead. I can't wait to see her smile...

Travel Call is coming!!

We expect to be emmigration permit approved next week! And then things are really going to fly! 3-4 weeks till we travel, so no more procrastinating on getting ready. We need to decide who will be going to Korea. I (Katie) will go for sure. We will have to see what the ticket prices are when we get the call, Neil may have to stay home. I read the Korean Forum and there are other families who only send one person, so I know it can be done if need be, but we are sure hoping and praying Neil and I will be able to experience this amazingly huge moment together.

In other great news, we did indeed receive a video from Korea of our little darling. We tried unsuccessfully to load part of it on this blog. So I will tell you all about how wonderful she is! She is a big girl! 20lbs at 10 months. Her foster mother and the woman taping the video coaxed her into 'winking' at us. OOHhh, how are hearts melt when we watch her over and over and over! We are at a point that it all seems so unreal, but no, it IS real, and she will be here soon soon soon! I am frantically learning as much Korean as I can stuff into my brain, fretting over what gift could sufficiently say thank you to her foster family for their loving hearts and care for our daughter (yep, there is nothing sufficient). I am getting doctors lined up to start her medical care here, looking especially for a good pediatric heart specialist. We are compiling lists of questions for her doctors and foster family, and getting a small photo album together for the foster family so that they can see where Zinny will live and be loved! We picked out a darling coming home dress for her. Making lists of lists, ohhh, it is all so exciting! I will be on to update when we have our ep approval!!

Updated Photo!

Zinnia Kate 9 months

My oh my, were we surprised to get this photo! She is sitting with her foster mother, amidst the care package we sent her. She is so beautiful and adorable and yummy! If you look closely you will see the photo album with all our photos open to Papa Neil!  Oh, the time drags waiting and waiting for our lovely Zinny. Zinny's emmigration permit was submitted on May 20, and if the current timelines hold out then we can expect to travel end of June to late July!!  We cannot wait, the boys ask me every night when she will come home, so everybody, keep praying hard!

Where Zinnia is, where we are

Zinnia Kate



Our darling girl

 It is nearing the end of April and the process of bringing Zinnia home is moving right along (not fast enough, of course!) Our arms and hearts ache to hold her, to hear her, to see her, to smell her. We go to sleep with her in our prayers and thoughts, and we awaken with her foremost in our minds.  We know she will be with us soon, and so we happily wait with anticipation.

Zinnia was referred to us in February, after a shockingly short wait. I was sure when Bonnie, our social worker, called, it was to tell us we had some sort of problem with our paperwork. She was just as surprised as I was, she had called the Oregon office to confirm that a)we were indeed recieving our referral, and b)that our referral was a girl! Bonnie then sent her medical file that we reviewed with our Dr. She has a moderate VSD and a minor ASD (these are holes in her little heart). After we sent in another mountain of paperwork, Korea sent us her legals. This is a bundle of the most amazing papers I have ever seen. What they stand for and how beautiful they are physically. This entire process just blows me away! Starting with Zinnia's incredibly selfless and loving birth mother who chose life, and the country of Korea who cares to find the best place for their littlest ones, even if that means sending them to another country.



Zinnia's care package

 
We are sending out a care package on Monday for little Zinnia. We're sending a photo album with our photos in it, a blanket I embroidered with her Korean name, Ji seon. And in this photo is a locket with her pictures that I wear all the time that I am planning to give to her foster mother when we meet Zinnia.

On Monday our social worker is also going to contact Korea to see if they will send a photo or a video (!) of Zinnia and her new condition that has apparently arisen. On her latest WBC (well baby check) we were informed that she has a 'tip toeing' issue and is being referred to an orthopedic surgeon. Hmmmm. Guess we'll have to wait and see what that means, but in the meantime we are hope hope hoping for an updated photo! She is almost 9months old, I can't imagine how she has changed! And a video?? I would die! So, fingers crossed!


So, where are we now? One big hurdle, the I 600 (immigration), was approved April 7th. The last big hurdle is the EP (emmigration permit, issued by Korea, allowing Zinnia to leave Korea). I talked to the Oregon office and they expect us to be in the next batch of EP submissions, sometime in the first half of May. So if all goes according to plan, we will travel to Korea in June or July! You know we are praying HARD for her to be home for her first birthday, July 27th.



The Opitz Family....someone's missing....




Finn in the first game played at the new stadium




Oscar and his Godiva brownie sundae (nope, he didn't finish it)




Addie and her usual laughing self.