Travel Days

On our way... saying bye to Avi Joy on Tuesday morning (Dec 30th)
NOW:
We are about two hours from Vietnam!
Tulsa-Denver, 2 hours/Layover, 2 hours
Denver- San Fran, 3 hours/Layover, 6 hours
San Fran - Hong Kong, 14 hours/Layover, 2 hours
Hong Kong - Ho Chi Minh City, VN, 2 hours
Then arrive and rest, drive on Sunday 6 hours to meet Nehemiah!

We celebrated New Year on our Hong Kong flight, Happy New Year family and friends.
(please notice the girl at the end of our row, her head was on the tray 8 of the 14 hours)
Flight attendants celebrated with us.
Hong Kong, China, airport.
"I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ." Romans 15:29
Hugs,
The Perryman's

closing out the year

All new pics
December 2008

Merry Christmas! A few of my fav's...

"George's" new bazooka (my 3 yr old nephew)
"Nehemiah's" new spidey web shooter
She was excited for all her presents.

Fell asleep with her favorite gift. Her pink jewelry music box with the ballerina that flips up and spins. A childhood classic and she loves it!
College roommates. 12 yr's celebrating together... 2009 will bring each of us a new addition.

The Perryman's, three generations

This has been a wonderful year.
I challenge you to flip through your planner from the last year and see what your life was like this year. Here are some things I found:
Lots of playdates, haircuts, grocery lists, baby showers, weddings, phone calls, bible studies, food deliveries, committee meetings and various other 'life' errands. All this mixed with reading books to Avi Joy, watching her verbal skills explode, seeing families united and growing in our faith, marriage and looking forward to my 30's. We will see what 2009 will be like with two kiddos in toe.

Avi Joy funny...
My girlfriend Evie was nursing and Avi Joy asked her,
"what are you doing?"
"feeding Eli"
"but you don't have any food"
"well, God makes me have milk to feed Eli"
"does it have cereal in it?"
Oh the precious things she says daily, I could write a novel!

NEHEMIAH NEWS:
We are off to the airport tomorrow morning and heading to Vietnam.
I cannot believe the day has finally come and there is nothing left to do but journey to our son!
A few friends from church came over tonight to pray for us. The prayers were so precious to my heart, praying for health, bonding, renewal and my most favorite a 'whole heart,' meaning soon Avi Joy, Nehemiah, Adam and I will all be together.


"Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10

Next post, Day One in Vietnam!
Love, The Perryman Family

January 6, 2009

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
Saint Augustine

We are excited to announce...

Pre-approval to travel - Dec 16, 2008

Leaving Oklahoma for Vietnam - Dec 30, 2008

Giving and Receiving Ceremony - January 6, 2009

Returning home, tentative - January 18, 2009



We are able to celebrate last night at Adam's company Christmas party. Could our smiles get any bigger?

"I will praise You forever for what You have done." Psalm 52:9

With love
Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy and Nehemiah

finding joy

Its 16 degrees in our city today. We have had a fun day staying inside!

We are not putting up a tree this year, we didn't think we would be here... so we painted one instead! Avi Joy painted all the Christmas balls (or swirls) herself. It is so precious, I think I will have to have it framed and hang it somewhere in the house every Christmas. (or year-round : )
Avi Joy got a haircut. The front does not seem to grow much at all, but that bottom layer sure does and we do not want any mullet action going on.
Made a batch of our famous chocolate chip cookies. Today we just stuck to eating the dough. The batch makes 36 cookies, we ended up baking 27. Proven fact: you always eat more dough than you would cookies.
Our LifeGroup decided to purchase a Jesus Well for Christmas this year. In this last fews weeks where my heart has just been aching over Nehemiah, this Jesus Well has brought such sweet joy to my spirit.

Avi Joy just loves playing in our bed. Can you see Adam?

Avi Joy and Kari Lynne, two precious girls placed in their mommy's hearts.

NEHEMIAH NEWS: not much to report. I will be emailing HCMC/Hanoi tomorrow to see if our paperwork has left/arrived for pre-approval. We are hoping for a G & R date no later than mid-Jan. Hopefully we will hear something soon.

"A man finds joy in giving an apt reply- and how good is a timely word!" Proverbs 15:23

The Perryman's

Most verbal, welcome to the family.

This is an email from my sweet girlfriend RK who is in Can Tho, Vietnam right now...

We held little Nehemiah Sang today. He is a true cutie, in our unbiased, honest opinion!
He seems very strong and looks healthy. He is definitely tall for his age, and seems a healthy weight; not thin or too chubby. His skin is clear, and there were no signs of bug bites or scabies. He smelled very good; kissably, perfectly baby good.

When we walked into the room where he was, he immediately started to watch us and was very interested in what was going on. When I bent down to his crib for the first time, he made eye contact and scooted closer. I stuck my finger near his fist, and he grabbed on with a firm grip and didn't let go until I moved to pick him up.

He has excellent head and neck control. When Ken and I held him, he leaned into us, and did not pull away or push from us. He was very serious for us, but he would smile for the nannies.
I sat on the floor with him and he is beginning to sit up; he was still leaning forward in a tripod style, but definitely working to sit. In his crib, he easily got onto all fours and rocked back and forth, like he was practicing to crawl. He can scoot all around his crib and turned himself around and around to keep track of all of the comings and goings in his room. He would get himself onto his knees, and then pull with both hands on the bars to get his face as close to everyone as possible.

I heard him "talking" several times, and seemed to be the most verbal one in the orphanage. His crib is next to Levi's and he really seemed to like talking to him.
All of the nannies seem to smile and talk to the babies every time they enter the room, or just walk past their crib to change another baby's diaper, or to get something. They genuinely seem to like to make them smile.
He is just precious. We told him you were coming, and that he was going to really, really like you :)

IS THAT NOT THE SWEETEST GIFT EVER!

"A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17

The Perryman's

This way ------>

Steps to getting our paperwork to HCMC. Simply follow the arrows. HA : )

So what happened??
DNA date- Oct 31st
DNA received- Nov 14th, Lost by HCMC
DNA resent- Nov 25th, US Lab actually forgot to send them, oops
DNA resent again- To arrive Dec 9th
Then wait again x 3 for preapproval to travel
Then receive G & R date
We are still hoping for Dec...

We are in good spirits at the moment. A struggle between trusting God, feeling sad, mad and wanting to scream. We are thankful we feel the Lord's peace and are grateful the strong support of family and friends who remind us that he will be home very soon.

Playdate with the Homan kids, its a sure way to cheer up.

Walking through our towns Christmas lights display. Two millon lights!

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy and Nehemiah

Hearts, Tummies and Nests

November/Thanksgiving 2008 pictures click here

NEHEMIAH NEWS
Had a meeting with the VN director today. Its tough knowing we could have left tomorrow had our DNA not been lost, but she encouraged us the best she could to make it though the next few weeks.

Our DNA was resent 11-25-08 and we are waiting for confirmation from HCMC that they received it. Once received they will take ? time to give us pre-approval. Then we will be issued a G & R date about 2-3 weeks from that. We have asked it be set quicker as we are ready to travel.
Our hope was to be there during Christmas, but now we are just waiting at their mercy to see if that is possible or if it will be after that (pray no!).
We received a copy of our DNA today. Here is our precious sons DNA picture, taken 10-31-08.

Recipe to help one make it though waiting... I am on my seventh day of it helping me : )

Pumpkin Crumble

bottom layer
1- 16oz can pumpkin
1- can sweetened condensed milk
3- eggs
1- tsp vanilla
3- tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2- tsp salt
1- cup sugar

topping:
1- yellow cake mix
1 1/2- sticks butter melted

Mix all bottom layer items together, pour into 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle yellow cake mix on top, pour melted butter on top. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes.
Serve hot with cool whip melting on top- enjoy!

A Christmas project... our first gingerbread house. She loved decorating her house and eating the snowmen cookies.



Avi Joy strikes a pose.
She is such a ham these days.
I could list pages of funny stuff she says but here are my current two favorites.

1. We talk about where babies come from a lot. So one day in the car she said, "babies come from hearts and tummies and do not forget nests." Which is true, God does put baby birds in nests and she did not want to leave any baby out. She says she is currently carrying Nehemiah in her belly and 4 babies from Africa in her heart.

2. Listening to the Christmas song "Hear the angels sing," she belts out as loud as she can, "Hear the Asians sing." Yeah toooo funny.

"O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in You." Psalm 84:12
Love,
The Perryman Family

Good news ~ Bad news

Lets start with the good news shall we...
New picture of precious lil'perryman.

We are very excited that we will most likely be having a Vietnamese Christmas this year!
Which leads us to the baaaadd news.
HCMC lost our DNA.
So now Dillon is contacting the US Lab and they will resend it to HCMC, then we again wait for pre-approval to travel.
Leaving on the 4th and having our G & R on the 10th was just not meant to be.

"I wait for the Lord,
my soul waits,
and in His word,
I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen
wait for the morning,
more than watchmen
wait for the morning."
Psalm 130:5-6 (said twice for emphasis)

Thank you for following our journey.
With Love,
Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy and Nehemiah

we hear ya trumpet.

NEHEMIAH NEWS
Remember this from the last post?
Well here is Avi Joy's trumpet and we heard it blaring today...
Nothing is too hard for God.

We were expecting an update today, hoping that the lab was finally done with our DNA. But instead we got an email from Mary Anne at Dillon saying the DNA Lab was having trouble with its fax machine, so the fax about our case must not have come through.
Not only had our DNA been complete, it had already been sent to HCMC and arrived!
It has been there since Nov 14th, but no one knew : )

Such a sweet surprise.
Our direct prayers now are for everyone currently waiting for pre-approval to travel to Can Tho to receive the same G & R date of Dec 10th. We will see how everything unfolds.

"Put your hope in God." Psalm 42
(I like the action word here- put, it just doesn't happen on its own, we have to put it.)

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy and Nehemiah

Triple wedding?

Are Avi Joy, Sarah and Andrew all getting married? Esp Sarah, look at those folded hands! HA!

We have finally updated all our pictures!

August, Two Family Weddings, September & Sum Hop Day, October 2008

Sum Hop Day, September 7, 2008- home two years
(Vietnamese for "to come together, unite" sounds like Sue-mm Hop)

September 7, 2006, Ninh Thuan, Vietnam

Lots of emotions today... (and you know women- probably a million more that are not listed : )
Amazed: at Julie's perseverance, she has waited one year to travel, G & R is on Dec 4th!
Delighted: that God can exceed our wildest dreams, Jessica received I-600 pre-approval to travel.
Ready: for DNA to be complete.
Thankful: for friends who attended my pityparty today and picked me up.
Nesting: we are going to finish packing soon.
Convicted: by the scripture on my daughters bible school trumpet, its in all caps:
"NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR GOD" Story of Joshua & Jericho from Joshua 6, go read it!

I love that Avi Joy is so ready for her brother, she loves hangin out in his crib.

NEHEMIAH NEWS
Waiting for DNA to finish, we are on day 8 (usually takes 5-10 days)
Then sent to HCMC, (about 3-5 days)
Then wait for pre-approval to travel (? days)
Then told our G & R date, leave!

"The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, 'Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.'" Joshua 6:16-17

The Perryman's

Jazzercise and DNA

Happy Halloween to all (if you choose to participate that is...)
Here are our little Trick or Treat'ers doing some Halloween Jazzercise. We enjoyed an afternoon with the Homan family at their churches Truck'or'Treat celebration. Sarah was a black kitty, Andrew a lion and Avi Joy an artist. We played lots of fun games, collected candy and took an awesome hay ride.

We are silly-happy this morning and thrilled to announce our DNA is complete.

Dillon just received an email from our staff in Vietnam and they said everything went fine with the DNA testing. They will let us know when the lab receives the samples from the consulate, which can take approximately 3-5 business days to reach the lab here in the states.

Thank you to all who prayed for our birthmother. I know that God gave her strength through this emotional day. We felt great peace as well and are excited to be moving one step closer to traveling for Nehemiah.

"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." Jonah 2:8-9

The Perryman's

Celebrating Nehemiah!
We were blessed by family, friends and church family with showers for Nehemiah. More than the "stuff" posted below, we know our relationships are a gift from God and we are so grateful for each of you celebrating Nehemiah's arrival.

We dressed in our Vietnamese Ao Doi's for Nehemiah's shower.

Favorite shirts. Special Delivery, New in Town, NSP and the tie, just too cute.

Very special gift from Nene, big sister tee-shirt.

A new supersoft brown polka-dot changing pad cover.

Nehemiah's dresser from Natasha's mom, NanNa.

Awesome blankets. One handmade by Adam's mom.

Vietnamese plates from NanNa and Rhonda.

Craft at the shower. Everyone painted pictures from Vietnam on wooden spoons.

A "thing of beauty" by Evie. She made this just as a shower decoration, but it was too perfect not to be in his room.

We are ready for you precious son. Love, The Perrymans

"He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend." Proverbs 22:11

Ready and blessed in the waiting

Ready for a brother...
Today, Avi Joy took a pen and wrote scribbles in her palms, then put out her hands and said she was spiderman. I asked Adam and my mom if they taught this to her, they didn't. I am guessing she is feeling the brother vibe from Vietnam!

Nehemiah is doing well. He is now 15lbs and 24 inches.
We have been packing and getting the house organized, I feel so much more prepared this time around.
We are hoping to hear something about travel sometime between Nov 20-Dec 15.
(Nov 20th is about the time HCMC will receive the completed DNA and Dec 15th is the 60th day of waiting after receipt. Hopefully we will not go much further past that... we shall see.)

In other adoption news, we will be grandfathered in with our I-600 process with China. Basically what this means is it will save $820 by not having to refile our fingerprints for another adoption. Whoo-hoo!

Here are some beautiful pictures from my cousin Sarah's wedding. It was a barefoot wedding at sunset in Panama City Beach, FL, Avi Joy was the flower girl. We will post new pictures from Aug, Sept and 2 weddings soon.




The Perryman's

"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

Sooooo close

This pic seemed to represent us with Nehemiah.... sooooo close...

We received an update from our staff in Vietnam and our birthmothers DNA date has been scheduled for October 31st!!!

After the DNA sample has been collected, the consulate will forward the samples to the lab here in the states and the lab will let us know when they have received the samples. (4-5 days to be sent to US)

The lab will then have the results tested, which can take up to 8-10 business days to complete. Once, they have the results, they will email Dillon to let us know the results and will also send the consulate the original documentation proving the results. (4-5 days to be sent to VN)

Once we know the consulate has received the results we will be waiting on pre-approval to travel. (24 hours- to- hopefully not weeks)

This is such an amazing feeling.
Vietnam or Bust,
Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy and Nehemiah
"The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Psalm 24:1