Giddy

Fill you in on what’s  going on.

It’s amazing. Our dossier is to China. The last leg of the journey is done. Now we wait for China to translate it and send us our official “Letter of Approval aka LOA” once we get that we send it to immigration and fill out the paperwork for them to approve her visa. They send the approval to China to issue a visa. And finally they give us our approval for our visa and then we book travel and go. We are looking at four to six months and this all started this week. We don’t have exact date but was told this past week. Sometime in the beginning of the year you will see a picture of us as a family of five.

Fundraisers:::

I am sorry I know we got ourselves into this but it takes a village to raise the money. I wish we just had all this extra money in savings and we didn’t have to talk about money. This is hard for me as it is for you. But the end is in sight!

Yard sale has been put off. Some of the stuff we got given already we did sell and will try to sell more of you.  

We are still selling puzzle pieces. We have sold 102 and have 198 to sell. We need to sell them. $5 each and you get to right your name on it and we get to show her proudly who helped us bring her home. Please use paypal or email me and I will give you my address to send it to. Thank you for your help!

Friday the 12^th and Saturday the 13^th we received two grant approvals for a total of $7000!!!!!!! God is so good. He is showing us his faith and mercy time and time again. His will his way and we will go from start to end debt free in the adoption journey! That leaves us with needing to raise $3600 yes that is it. That is all we need to raise and then we are done. We are so close. Once we raise it we will not ask for another dime. I promise. I will take oath!

Praying for Gods direction on how to proceed do we proceed with a fundraiser and try to sell the rest of the puzzle pieces equaling $990 and raise $2610 or do we send donation letters. Begging and pleading for everyone to donate $25 and if we go that route we need 144 people to send us $25. Not sure if I know that many people. Guess it is time to sleep on it pray on it and hope I wake up with a miracle answer. (all grants have been answered).  I know that this is Gods timing and not ours. I know he has a plan I just don’t know what it is! Pray and let me know what he tells you. (that is if anyone read this)

Update on ladybug:::

We had a family that went to the orphanage and got to see ladybug. The wonderful family there said that she was calling her momma and is ready to get out of there. She said that she is happy and cheerful and looks great. Such a relief to here and we got new pictures. I am not at liberty to share but call me and we can have coffee and for $25 bucks I will share her beautiful face with you!!!

Thank you for walking this journey with us. Thank you for donating your time praying for us, attending fundraisers, buying puzzle pieces, and donating money. We appreciate it and hope you know that.

God does call the qualified he qualifies the called.

$3600 left and we started with $29,000-32,000

Ah

Dossier is funded and almost done with authentication. Should be to China soon! What does that mean?

THAT MEANS WE WILL TRAVEL IN 6 MONTHS OR LESS!

That is great we want her home. At the same time it scares me just a little. But I know that the creator of this family did not bring us this far to leave us now! We are 2/3 of the way through this process! That is amazing. All in a short 5 months! God is good!

Need someone to help plan a dinner fundraiser for September!

Another yard sale 2nd weekend in September. If you have stuff call!!!

Thank you prayer warriors and friends!

Gods Time Is The Best Time

Never our timing always Gods. From the beginning we have said his will his way. We have trusted that he will lead us and we hope to hear correctly. For any doubters left here is one more amazing thing.

We have waited and waited for approval from immigration to approve us. Our dossier is ready to go to authentication as soon as we receive that approval letter. The faster we get that we can get authentication done and our dossier sent to China. And some of our documents expire at the end of August. And we don’t want to spend more money getting them a second time! (documents with notarizations are only good 6 months). (And without approval from immigration the adoption stops). We were getting for the weekend and Leigh leaving for a week to work at camp. If we did not have approval before Friday then we would have to wait till Leigh got back and knowing that work was busy it would probably be two weeks before we got to the bank to notarize it. Time is of the essence.Fridays mail came early and our approval was there. And it was just before Torsten left to go camping he called said we have it. Few minutes later we lost a chunk of kids and I found out I would get off work 2 hours early. Amazing in the last hour God is there to say I got this just trust. So we were able to get to the bank to notarize it and to fed ex the documents all before 4!!! Approval and notarized in one day! 

WA State Authentication department called Tuesday and said our documents look good and we will have them back first of next week. Once they come to us they have two more parts of authentication DC and China Embassy. Once authentication is done we send our dossier to China. Once the dossier goes to China we wait. The next phase is all dossier. That is the 3rd and final waiting piece. This piece will be our approval to travel, and our second approval of our daughter. (If you can't tell the adoption process you do the same thing over and over. And each time it cost money...) So sad that these kids wait for love and a family and some never get the chance because of money! We have victory and faith! We are seeing miracles. God has opened every door in less than 6 months we are ready for our dossier to go to China. God is moving fast!  

PLEASE PRAY that we raise the last $700 to pay for our dossier fees ($4760) we have the $900 for authentication! 

Bounce house fundraiser August 1 @5:00 19124 E. 2nd Ave Spokane Valley WA 99016

                Bounce Time Rental will have a Large 18 ft Waterslide and Medium 13 ft Waterslide out to provide lots of fun for all ages. Suggested donation is $5/child or $20/family. Sno-cones will be for sale for $1 each. Popcorn will be available for 2 bags for $1. For an additional $3.50/child or $12.50/family you can get a meal package: 1hotdog/1chip/1 juice box. Feel free to pack your own snacks and dinner as well. Please note if you will want the meal package so we know how many hot dogs to plan for. 100% of donations will go towards the Langley adoption fund for the little girl in China they are in the long process of adopting. Bring something to sit on, towels for your family, and a camera to take pictures of your kids having a blast. If you would like to make your donation for tax deductible giving via credit card forms will be available. Please invite all your friends! Thank you and we look forward to seeing you. ps. The large waterslide is for adults too! Go down backwards.....I dare you. ;)

Again thank you to Bounce Time for doing this for us!

We are still waiting on grant approvals! We need the grants or an amazing donation! After the dossier we have $10,060 remaining to pay. (Orphanage donation $5750, Final adoption agency payment $3950 home study translation post adoption $360) I do not know how God will provide the money but he has so far and he will continue! The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. Deuteronomy 28: 12

That is all for now thanks for reading and pray

Time is precious

This is a post I wanted to right for a few days now. I just can't to seem to do it without so much emotion. A facebook friend is in China right now picking up there little Jonah from the same province as our ladybug.
He wrote on his facebook "
My name is Jonah. Today when my daddy got my adoption paperwork it came with no shot records. All the other families had shot records. When he asked why I had none they said because I have Down syndrome I was not worthy of receiving any shots."

 
So what is ladybug going through. What have they done for her? My heart breaks because I know what happened for the first 2.5 years. It took them that long to put a shunt in. What has happened in the last half of her life. I want to be there now to hold her. Love her. Tell her it is going to be okay. She has a family.

We are almost done with the dossier and that is the last hurdle. We just need the immigration paperwork approval to show up. And we are ready to send the dossier for authentication then to China. Pray for ladybug that she will hold on till we get there. Pray that someone gives her a hug tonight. Pray that God will open the doors for fiances. We are so close but yet so far.


You can also read on there blog another post about the orphanage. This just hurts. They really should just give them to familes and not have it cost an arm, leg, and all your energy.

http://www.mysonsfromafar.blogspot.com/

The boys are so excited. Camping this past weekend every-time we turned around Tyrin would say "We need to bring my sister here" "My sister will love this park" "My sister can walk in my stroller on the trail" It is so cute to see how excited they are. I am in love with these two treasures I have here and the 1 in China waiting for us. 

Next fundraiser is July 13th spaghetti luncheon. Come anytime from 11:30 to 3. $ $7 for adults and $4 for kids. 

Much love the Langley's 

Ask Seek Knock Receve

Yard sale highlights :
1. Didn't price anything, had signs that said this is a fundraiser pay what you feel it is worth
2. Donations from some great people. Those who gave me your stuff to sell THANK YOU
3. Selling clothes by the bag, day 1 we sold few clothes. Today I made them buy it by the bag. Clothes flew off the tables left and right!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Having my grandma there who loves yard sales and loves to talk. She made this amazing. She told anyone that was willing to listen what we were doing and why. She was such a trooper for 2 long days!
5. My husband he pretty much ran the whole show. Probably a good thing cause I learned I hate to sell my things I know what I paid for them I would rather keep it then give it all away! He was amazing!
6.  My sister lives on the corner of Ray so lots of traffic! AMAZING

I have learned I am not good about asking God for what I want in regards to money. I am good at telling him "I need this" and begging but in this adoption process he is teaching me to ask. Matthew 7:7-8 7"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. This scripture has been known and taught to me but so hard to walk it out especially when it comes to money. God has always provided I have never had to ask for something so big. And when I have been down and out he has provided I asked in terms of "hey I need to pay rent this month" or "I need to fix my car"... Never hey God I really need $700 at this fundraiser. I have had to trust and ask God to provided all the funds for this adoption. I am asking everyone for prayer and financial help where they can. Adoption is hard it involves lots of asking. Lots of knocking. Lots of listening. Never did I think I would be getting a lesson on Matthew 7:7-8 during this adoption process. Awwww

Bounce Fundraiser. Kayloni said you need a goal you need to ask for this $---- amount. So we set the goal at $500 we raised $510
Candles- asked to raise $300 raised exactly $300
Taco and bingo night I really wanted to set the goal for $700 I was convinced that was to high so I set the goal at $500 God meet us at $630. I choose to listen to humans and not him. I lost confidence in myself and my God. I did not wait for him to open the door so I could receive.
T-shirts I said I really need $600 so we can have our dossier to China in July we made $609
31 bags I got this wild hair idea that we could make $300 I did not know what I was thinking when I said that and guess what we made exactly that
Yard sale I said I need $700 I was told that was to high again but I choose to go with my gut and prayer. This past week we decided Bailey is for sure going to China with us. I prayed and asked God to open the door for the $90 for him to get his passport. I called made the appointment in faith it will all work out. At the yard sale we made $886. I asked, I seeked help, I received and the door was opened.
The seeking piece I have had to seek help for fundraisers, seek help for people that want to help fund raise (31 bags), (bingo night all the help that went into that). I am learning that these verses are key to ladybug coming home. I am beyond blessed, loved, over joyed that we are moving right through this process. I am learning more and more that my God is bigger then man. I am learning that I have to ask I have to seek and I have to wait to receive. This is hard work this is exhausting but with help we will get it done. We will get her home.
(Side note I didnt think to ask a dear friend who is good at grant writing for help. I assumed she has to much on her plate. I put on facebook one night how hard grants are. 30 minutes later she called to chew me out for not asking for help. She said yes I may be busy but if you are asking me to do something I love then I will make time. That is fun stuff not work. OOPS all the stress over how to get the job done and now we are working on our first grant)....

Another read for the night. Loving this....

Clarke's Commentary on Philippians 4:19

My God shall supply all your need - As you have given to me in my distress, God will never suffer you to want without raising up help to you, as he raised you up for help to me. According to his riches - His fullness is infinite; and through Christ, whose followers we are, he will dispense every requisite blessing of providence, grace, and glory, to you.

Yard Sale

Yard sale this weekend for you ladybug. Mom and Dad are working hard for you to come home. We have learned in a very short time how hard of work fundraising is. How hard adoption is but we will not give up till you are home. We will press on working, begging, and working some more till you are home. We pray the boys don't get burned out in this process. We pray we find the strength to still relax in between fundraisers. We pray that this is a short season not a long one. Once we have enough for you to come home we are done. We do not want any debt to bring you home so once you are home we do not have that stress on our shoulders. Love you.

This was my late night lack of sleep post. Mind would not turn off. Yard sale yard sale

New fundraisers

We are doing a puzzle piece fundraiser.
The way it works
1. We bought a 300 piece puzzle, we are selling each puzzle piece for $5 each
2. Goal to raise $1500
3. Unity everyone that buys a piece or two writes there name on the back (the more you buy the more you can right). Once we sell all 300 pieces it shows everyone that helped bring ladybug home.
4. Everyone can afford $5 to buy one piece and it goes on for a couple months so you get a chance to buy one a month if you want.
5. Send money via paypal or to us directly or stop by and pay us and we will give you a piece! 
6. Goal to have a fished puzzle by August 31!  We will start with the outside and work in. We will post on facebook as we go along! https://www.facebook.com/groups/301184976710758/
7. Share with your friends and everyone! Thank you from the bottom of our heart! This village is moving but it takes everyone!!!!!!!!!

Google puzzle piece fundraiser to see more information.

Here is the puzzle:

Hmm what to call this

Shirts was a sucess! I have a few blue ones to sell if you want one! $25 each! Let me know! We made just over $600 on that! Thank you.

No new updates on ladybug I wish China would send us one. I pray that she is doing great and thriving! The boys talk about her all the time. My niece wants to give everything to her. She says "Auntie this can be for your baby" And says to Tyrin "this is for your sister" or "your sister needs to come home soon"! It is so fun to watch the boys excitement and listen to them talk about there sister. We are all so in love. Can not wait to kiss her!

We are doing a 31 fundraiser right now. We get 25% of all sales! So many fun things in the catalog! https://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx
They have great summer specials! Let me know if you have questions. (not sure if anyone really reads this blog). Some days think this is just for me!! And for memories! If you are reading hope you enjoy!

So many people always ask "why" adopt "why" China.
Adoption is hard but why not adopt? Why allow these children to have no family. Why leave them in an orphan. Why not give them life. Give them hope. Give them a future. I could not imagine not having my family. Even though there are challenges struggles and we dont always get alone. We are family. And when life is ugly they are there most of the time. They dont support us always. But we are family. This little one needs that. I thank you for praying for her and us. Pray that we bond. Pray that she is healthy. Pray that her life will be blessed because we are in it.

Nehemiah 1:10
¹⁰ “Lord, these are your servants, your own people. You rescued them by your great power and strength. ¹¹ Listen now to my prayer and to the prayers of all your other servants who want to honor you. Give me success today and make the emperor merciful to me.” 

This verses are some of my favorite. The study I did on Nehemiah was the light in my path to adoption. More on that later. 

Many blessings

Tacos and Bingo

What a great night the Tacos and Bingo night was! It was lots of fun for us and I hope everyone that came had fun to. We are greatful for you coming and hanging with us last night. We raised $630 dollars! That is so awesome. God is so good.
I do have to say I hate asking for money. I hate feeling like I am begging every step of the way. If I come across that way I don't want. I just want her to be home. I want this to be cheaper. I want to have the money in my bank and not have to ask. But adoption is expensive. I dont have lots of money. We dont have extra money. We have debt, car payments, and student loans. We live on what we make and not a lot left! So here we are asking for your help. Trusting God to bring the right people into our lives to bless us. And we know this chapter will soon be over. Soon we will have taken her from a life of no love, no hope, and a unsure of future.
Pray that we can have another successful fundraiser.
Pray that we can get grants.
Pray that we listen to what God wants. 

Thank you

To you that have donated, prayed and bought candles I say thank you!

We have paid so far $3,150 to our homestudy

We mailed the $2,000 to the adoption agency

We have the money for the I-800A $970

We have also paid for: Well water check $20 fingerprints $150 Dog stuff $50 Mailing letters $75 Application fee $500 Classes for China $200 Background clearances $90

Baby steps feeling very accomplished!!!

We are coming for you ladybug. Love you princess!

Hope to see you all Saturday!!!!!!!!! 

Easter

Realization yesterday on Easter next year we will have one more.
One more to get dressed. One that will take more time to look pretty. Boys are easy. Get dressed maybe wet the hair and out the door. Pray that they dont jump in the puddle before church. Girls you have hair to do, the right shoes and dress. I know yesterday it took me almost an hour to get ready most days 20 to 30 minutes and I am good. And then it sunk in next year I have another princess to get ready. I can not wait for her to be here. I can not wait to go dress shopping. It makes my heart sad that she didnt get to celebrate yesterday. She probably didnt have anyone tell her they love her. And the reason we celebrate a glorious day. I love Resurrection Sunday for many reasons. In my heart it is a new season. Spring and summer. Things are blooming. The sun is shinning. It is a new leaf in my heart. It re sets me for another year. Every year I look forwarded to Easter and the re setting of me. I love Christmas but my true favorite is Easter. Jesus arose the story is so true and amazing. It digs into my soul. It makes me want to have peace and love. It makes me want to be the hands and feet of Jesus. My Jesus was beaten and whipped for me. He was put in a tomb and then HE ROSE. HE IS ALIVE. All for me. I love his story of his birth but that is just a birth not what he did for us. I get teary eyed every time I picture the story of his death. Soon I can share this one more special girl. I get to teach her about our amazing Jesus. Something she would not have if it was not for us. Adoption has really pulled on my heart to be a better mom. Too love more and forgive even more. Happy Easter. Go in peace.

Update on fees :)

We were told Ladybug came with a grant just had not seen it come off our bill. We just got a new bill from the agency breaking this down even better for us!!! YES! I have a plan for this see the blue and if you have questions on what the money is for just ask. If you want it to be tax deducible no problem send it to ATWA with a note that it is for us!

ATWA (adoption agency) program fee: $2000 due before Dossier and as soon as we can WE ARE ONLY $250 away from that. Goal April 20th! (If you came to the bounce house fundraiser you helped us reach this goal so fast! Thank you so much for coming! You rock!) (I would love to send you a thank you card email me your address if you was there)

I-800A Immigration: $970 this is where we send our home study they approve us to bring a child in this country and allow her to be a citizen. We also have to be re fingerprinted. This step is obnoxious!!! WE HAVE THIS MONEY FROM LEIGH ANN WORKING! The envelope is ready needs a date and a home study goal to mail is May 10th. Hope to be approved June 30th! After that we hope to have our funds to submit the Dossier... See next step

ATWA Dossier Submission and Processing: $4,760  This is to translate our dossier documents and send to China to get approval to travel.
                    We will get this money from the yard sale, t-shirt sales, and a car wash in June. And heavy prayer that God will provide. Have no fear for I am with you!

ATWA due at travel: $3950 This is to pay off the adoption agency, help us get situated for travel and finalize the rest of the adoption. This is our last payment to them.
                   This will be paid by Leigh Ann working half of May June July and August

Orphanage fee: $5,750 have to pay the orphanage to bring her home. That helps them keep on taking little ones.
            We will have another couple fundraisers and trust that God will bring us this money to! Lots of trusting and walking in faith here. Grants hopefully will be in and can help! 

Airfaire, loging, food: $7700 any one know of some good deals on airline and travel to China I will be needing that info this fall once we have approval to travel!!!
                 Some more of Leigh Ann working September October and November. Hope to travel in November. And we can Torsten work will pay for most of this as well!

Misc, Visa, Medical Exams, Extra translation fees, and post translation fees: $1385 yes this is what the adoption agency put in the contract to plan for so we will plan for! Not due till the very end and travel.
          This is all small things and will come together. Not sure how or when these will come up so not sure how to plan for these.

With all of you by our side this is getting closer and clearer every day. Hope to see you April 26th @530 for Tacos and Bingo! Bring a friend or two!

Go buy a shirt please!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings
Langley's and Ladybug

T Shirts

We are selling t-shirts. They are awesome buy one for you and for a friend!!!!!!!!!
https://www.booster.com/ug-13946546498601522?share=8881396829033384

First Fundraiser

Yes Yes Yes
Our first fundraiser is done and went excellent. The weather messed with our first date so I was very un sure on how that would affect people. Also the weather was very iffy for the day it was re planned to. But Saturday morning we woke up and there was sun. It was a colder day but that didn't keep the kids from having an awesome time!
Our goal was $500 and we reached it and passed it by ten dollars! We are so blessed. We are now $510 closer to bringing lady bug home! We could not be more excited. We are thankful, and forever grateful to the Bonner Family and Bounce Time Rentals for doing this for us!
Small plug that they did not pay for ~~~ If you need any inflatable of fun brought to your house you should call them. They are hard working very kind and giving business owners. I have had the pleasure twice to see them donate and bless others. And I am sure it has been many more times! Give them a call @ 509-863-6002 or check them out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BounceTimeRental
They are just a ma and pa shop getting off the ground and going into the battle field as business owners!!!
Thank you again
Langley Family


Next Fundraiser put on your calendar April 26th Tacos and Bingo night!!!!!!!!

Fundraisers mark the calendar!

Stressed to the max not sure what Gods plan is I know that this meant to be as the doors keep opening. Things on the paper side are going faster then the money side. Trying to not to stress give it God and trust it will all work out. Then a friend texted me this  "IF IT IS GODS WILL IT IS GODS BILL" Just what I needed. Someone to keep it in check and keep it real.

List of fundraisers for you to come to:
March 29th 11 to 2 Bounce Time Rentals Fundraiser for the Langley's. Come jump for $5 per kid or $15 for 3 or more kids. Barker and 2nd area call me for exact address. Or go to facebook :)

April 26th 5:30 Tacos and Bingo. Dinner at 5:30 bingo following. $5 per person or $20 per family. $3 per bingo card. Millwood Community Presbyterian Church 3223 N Marguerite Rd, Spokane

Selling wickless candles: (Like Scentsy) This is through Magic Melts.
10 scents available $4 each.
1. Baked apple
2. Warm home
3. Sea mist & lavender
4. Pomegranate
5. Gardenia
6. Vanilla Ginger
7. Christmas Spice
8. Cinnamon Apple
9. White Cotton
10. Black Raspberry & Vanilla.
2 warmers a large one a plug in. The large one is $20 and the plug in is $13. No shipping fees. Orders due by April 10th and money due then. Orders here by April 25th.

Let me know what you want.
thelangleyzoo at gmail . com

Reality

Kind of real when we got the approval letter and the bottom half was in Chinese and the top half is translated. We really are bringing a little girl home that does not know our language, we do not know hers, and everything has to be translated. Will be fun!!!!

It is amazing how hard this, how expensive this is, and yet China does not want to keep her. Why does it have to be this way. I wish we could win the lotto and bring her home now. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. I know that we will learn a lot through this process. We will have to lean on God, we will have to lean on friends, we will have to ask for help, all things we are not good at doing. Maybe God is calling us through the process to learn something great. Either way I will listen, trust, and work hard. 

Not sleeping yet as I am talking to a mom that just got home last night from our orphanage. She seen our little girl. Her words are huge. She said "Aaaahhhh!!!! Yes!!! Oh my goodness, I prayed for her to find her family!!! She smiles ALL THE TIME!!!! PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS!!! What a little joy to have! I'll do my best to send you more pics asap!!!!Ok, I'm in tears now!!" And many other great things about our little love. It is so touching,warming, amazing, and breath taking to hear from another mom that touched and seen my little girl days ago.

I will not stop till she is home. I will sell everything but the kitchen sink if I have to. Dogs included. 

Pre Approval

Here goes long read all the way to the end please,

Friday afternoon we got a new picture of our ladybug this made my day. We were glowing. She was smiling and it just melted my heart. The poor lady's at work will be sick of me by the end I was quick to show them the picture of her. Thank you for being so awesome and supportive.
Then about 10:30 at night we got the best news ever. We got our pre approval from China. 10 business days after we sent off our Letter of Intent to adopt. We had to get a waiver and was prepared for 3 or 4 weeks. China said that WE can take this little girl back to our house and give her a forever family. This is the best news ever.
This also scares me because they gave us a deadline. A real deadline we have to meet. We have until September 14,2014. We have to have wait, let me break this down for you and then you can have the heart attack with me. But we will not panic we will trust that it will all work out. God will provide open doors and they money will come in.
We have to have:
$4,000 to the agency to cover their fees like the translations of the letter of intent, the pre approval, the answering my 1000 questions, paying staff and making us feel sane. My social worker at Across The World Adoptions (ATWA) is great at giving me warm feeling when I feel like giving up.
$6,760 to agency this is to have our Dossier read and translated. Coordination fees. Paperwork. 
$800 CIS Fee this "This is a US Immigration fee where you have to get pre-approval for the child and your family." I asked what this is and that is what my social worker told us.
$3,150 for home study

Grand total $14,710

With the donations we have now  we have $1,200 and we have $800 saved we need $1150 more by the end of the week to give to the home study agency. RIGHT NOW WE NEED $1150 by 3/21 please help us. Call me any time of the day if you can 280-6230.  We are almost done with all the paperwork to send to her with the money and the fingerprints and WSP clearance has been sent.

Total needed before 9/14/14 $14,710 this does not include the money we have paid for fingerprints, WSP clearances, and mailing everything certified.  We are doing our part not just asking for a hand out. We are asking for a hand up, help.

Then after that we will have to have the following before travel: (if you are still reading thank you)
$650 Adoption registration
$650 China notary
$200 China passport
$1,600 China guide
$350 US Visa and Processing  
$5,750 paid to orphanage
$4,100 airfare
$2,150 lodging
$1,500 food
$725 child exam and any extra China fees for court, orphanage (this is what paperwork says)
$900 Translation of post home study visits
$18,875 total for this section this will be due around November and Dec. Praying that we will know about grants and scholarships to cover some of this expense.

Thank you if you have not had heart attach and stopped reading. This is really easy I have broke it down and have a plan and hope that it works....
We need 275 more people to say yes to giving us $50. That will bring us $13,750
$800 a month from April-October from Leigh Ann working full time $4,800.
We are selling magic melt bars (like scentsy look for next post) hoping to make $300
Selling shirts make $300,
TACO AND BINGO FUNDRAISER NIGHT APRIL 26 @530  $1,000,
A yard sale in May $300 and a picture fundraiser in May or June $300
$5,000-$8,000 in grants and scholarships lets shoot for the moon $8K this brings us to a total of $28,750 and the other $3000 is a grant that the adoption agency has. Give or take along the way and I went for the low end on the fundraisers. And I know that not everyone can do $50 but I trust hope and pray that we can do it.
We have a plan now we need you reading this to share the magic melt fundraiser with your friends and  we need you to come to the Taco and Bingo night and bring a friend or two. It is $5 for one person or $15 for a family and $3 per bingo card.
We are not eating out, we are watching what we spend, and we are focused on doing everything we can to bring her home. The goal is to bring her home February of next year. Could be sooner could be later but it all depends on how fast we can raise the money submit our documents and how fast China moves. If we are able to raise the first $14,710 before September then we can submit the Dossier and have permission to travel sooner. It is sad that bringing her home comes down to money. I pray that you find it in your heart to bless this little girl and give her a family forever. We promise to return the favor as soon as she is home.
You can also submit funds to our adoption agency in our name. The donations to the agency are tax deductible. Make the check to Across The World Adoptions (ATWA) in memo line Langley Family. 395 Taylor Blvd Suite 116 Pleasant Hill CA 94523. Please keep copy just in case.
Thank you so much
Love the ladybug and guess what here is a picture......

Update

Fingerprints are done ~ Mailed 3/10/14 will take 45 to 60 days
Letter of Intent- Week 1 of waiting done 2 to 3 more, we are waiting on a PA pre approval from China
Backround check with WSP- Ready to be mailed 3/10 as well
Bio for home study in progress hope to have it off to her in the next week or so.

• Working on lots of things and waiting. We will wait lots in this process. 
• Working on fundraisers going to do a night time Easter Egg hunt April 18th put it on your calendar it is free unless you want to donate :) 
• Going to put together a dinner for first part of May or end of April stay tuned for date
• Doing a yard sale first part of June, if you have junk you want to get rid of I will come get it and sell it :)
• My awesome sister in law is working on shirts. Can not wait!!!
• Starting a magic melt fundraiser. We are selling 10 flavor of scentless wax (like the scentsy bars) for $4 bars each let me know if you want to take a sheet and sell to your friends or if you want to but some.

We need help getting money. We have had several donate we need hundreds more. Please help us bring her home. I hate asking for money and we can not do this on our own. Send us a check use the paypal link call me and I will come get it from you. I am so tired of asking already for donations so please do it or pray that God will just open the flood gates of blessings. I promise to re pay what I can and we will forever be grateful for your blessings.

Need to right a letter to send to family and friends, anyone good at fundraiser letters and want to right it.

Thank you so much we love you all.
Ladybug needs all of us to get her home. She is waiting on us. I wish I had the money now and did not have to ask, I wish I did not have to work so hard, BUT I know God is shaping me and Torsten, and wanting us to leap in faith, he wants us to trust him, he wants us to lean on him, and he has brought us here. The way that doors have opened with the home study, able to get the fingerprints so soon, able to have enough money to pay for all of these things so far, the class I (LA) am going to next month counts towards our education credits we have to have, it is amazing to see how this is shaping us. I can not wait to have approval to share her beautiful face with you.
Hugs and loves
Torsten and Leigh Ann

Home Study

Ah the lovely home study. Lots of anxiety going into the study. Lots of questions and thoughts. Left feeling better. Left with affirmation that the home study will be a process but it will be a breeze and we will have it done by the end of May. Last night was rough but tonight we celebrate that ladybug will soon have a forever family.
Anne is the lady doing our study and she was so sweet when she looked at the picture of our ladybug. "She stared at her for a minute and said she is happy. She looked at her eyes and hands and posture and said she is ready to go to her forever family. Her eyes are not glazed over and that is good thing." It was the reassurance I had been praying for. Warmed my heart and filled my cup. Ready for the next step. One day down and one day closer to bringing her home.
She said that we will have no problems getting the home study done. She liked the way we balanced each other out. And she even gave us all the paperwork today with out handing her the money. She is allowing us to get it done and send it back with the money. A week ago it was a different story. She wanted us to be there today with money and she would give us the paperwork. Small steps but huge rewards.
Thank you for everyone that has donated so far. If you have problems with paypal email me and I can help you or give you our address. thelangleyzoo at gmail dot com....
We are working on a dinner fundraiser in April. Stay tuned.
My favorite scripture that comes up several times in my head Matthew 17:20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Do you see what I see God is moving the mountain little by little. Soon we will be on the other side. And then yes we know it will be a new mountain to move. A mountain of attachment, love, healing, medical needs, bonding with the boys, bonding to us and our crazy life, but we will tackle that mountain next year at this time. 
We will be sending a mailing out soon. Thank you for supporting us with your love, prayers, thoughts and walking this journey with us.


Paypal link
http://fnd.us/c/ai9k3
Coffee link
https://justlovecoffee.com/ladybug

Coffee

Go buy fair trade organic nummy coffee. We get a portion of all sales.
Thank you
https://justlovecoffee.com/ladybug

How

We have added a countdown ticker so you can see where we are with fundraising. If you are reading this you are part of our army to bring her home. Why you may ask does the countdown say $30,000 and we said we only need 300 people to say yes to $50. That is only $15,000. We have faith that God will provide grants for 7-10 thousand and we are going to do our part and raise the rest. We are not going to rely on everyone else to do it all. We are going to sell what we can, we are going to have a fundraiser or two or three. We added the ticker just so everyone knows where we are. We will update the blog often and keep everyone in the loop. Look for letters to be in the mail in the next 6 weeks.

Langley Family vs China

Quote to remember from bff "It is a kindred spirit special kind of love the heart of an adoptive special needs mamma has.. and I have seen you growing and God working in you... for this very moment." "I was very unsure about foster to adopt for you... I really didn't see it being a fit... But I have peace in my heart about this journey." And every time I said foster to adopt she cringed I could see if from being friends for many years. I was scared to tell her but excited to tell her about this journey as I was not ready to see her cringe. I was not ready for shut down and someone to stop me. But as friends do and as God coordinated for us to have dinner I spilled the beans. I couldnt hold it in. The smile from the table warmed my heart. I have seen God work daily and hourly in my life. I have chosen to serve him, love him and follow his commandments and want to be his hands and feet. So you will see how we lean on him through this process. I can tell you from a year ago he has been very involved in this process and getting us ready for a roller coaster like no other. He was preparing us the day Torsten adopted Bailey. He was getting us ready for what the next year will look like. I am sorry if you are not following Christ or you do not believe in him. But I guarantee if you choose to read this blog and follow our journey to bringing ladybug home you are going to see Jesus prevailing every step of the way. We have chosen to follow him and he has chosen us to save one little girl from not having a family. 

We have told all close family minus one who will not answer the phone and every one is on board and supportive of us. We have a very large army and we have drawn our weapons and have entered the field Langley Family vs China

Our agency

We have been blessed with an adoption agency that loves this little girl as much as we do. They want her home. Today she called we talked and she is almost done with the letter of intent to China. We submitted this just days ago and they are going to send it tomorrow. Like wow. She said we can have an answer in days or weeks. So we wait. God has been teaching me patience for years and I am getting better at this all the time. Torsten has patience of a saint and can wait all day. I need more of him. God is never done with us. 30 years old and still learning.
I was going to wait to announce it till we have a yes from China. She said I do not see anything stopping you. Don't live in fear let us do all the stressing for you. Okay God. We need to raise money to get her home. Then scripture reading at church today was Deut 10:¹⁷ The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. ¹⁸ He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. ¹⁹ So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners. 
Stuck out to me. This little girl needs us to live in faith, needs us to trust and needs us to move mountains for her. She is stuck and we are going to be her savior. She has not had a family since she was days old.
I spoke to a family member about my fear of failure. Her great words "With great risks come great rewards. If this doesnt work you will pick yourself up and try again." She said adoption has been in my (LA) heart for a long time. And its true we are going to bring her home. If God shall close this door to this little girl I know that he has another little one waiting. So the Langley family is going to start fundraising and saving everything we got to bring her home. We are going to trust that God is in control and has a big plan. This little girl has had no one looking at her. She has been waiting for us to move to the next level. 
During bible study on Nehemiah last summer God showed me time and time again that I was to adopt he also showed me visions of going on a mission trip. Another dream of mine. Been praying and thinking and praying and thought that I was to adopt thru foster care and some day go on a mission trip. Jesus showed me clear as day that adopt and mission trip go hand in hand. We have taking his hand and going to follow where he may lead. 
Please pray for us, use the donate now through paypal or send us money to the house. We need 300 people to say yes to blessing us with $50. That is $10 a month for the next 5 months. We need our army to help us in order to achieve bringing her home. We are going to go to the bank and see if we can get an account set up as well. For now we will use paypal or checks. If you say you can not help we understand and know that God will provide. He will open the doors. We are at peace and ready to do what it takes to bring her home. She needs a family and someone to love on her. She is the sweetest little ladybug ever

Who is she?

Why special needs? Why would we choose to accept such a medical diagnosis for out child?
Simple answer every child deserves a home. Every child deserves to be loved. If she was to be born to us with her diagnosis we wouldn't leave my birth child at the hospital and walk out. We would raise her and care for her no mater what. Our ladybug deserves to have a family and have hope. Romans 5:3-5 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Matthew 18:4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,

Her diagnoses hydrocephalus:
What does that mean- water on the brain
Care plan- A shunt that will drain the fluid off the brain into other areas of the body
Developmentally- She is the size of a two to three year old. She is walking, potty trained (will see what that looks like when we meet her), talking one word sentences and progressing in all areas. This is all wonderful things, the doctor we spoke with said don't let this stop you. That means the shunt is working and China is doing medical treatments. 
Outlook kids that are treated properly and managed correctly can grow at there own pace into functioning active adults. For now we will have to work at her pace and her level but we do not know yet. We will have to work with the shunt and make sure it is effectively draining the fluid. We will love her and help her grow into a wonderful lady. God has brought her into our lives and we are going to love her till the very end. We are prepared for the long road. We are prepared for the highs and lows. We are prepared to see Sacred Heart children's unit once again. But we will not let that defeat us. We have an amazing family, wonderful friends, and God on our side. Our army is very large. We are not scared and we are ready to enter the battle field.
Google her diagnoses just dont look at the pictures (she is beautiful and does not look like any of the images the internet provides). You will see that we have a long road but it is no longer then any other road with special needs children. The doctor did say we can not believe 100% her reports from China he said she may come home and be doing more then they list she may be one of the top 10% that never really let there diagnoses stop them. We do not know so again we will trust that this is what God wants. I am sure he will shut the door sooner then later if this is not the little one for us.

Bailey

Bailey is aware of what we are doing. He is very excited. Tonight he said why are we taking her home where is her family?  I explained orphanages and we are bringing her home to have a mom and dad and brothers. God has called us to be his hands and feet and serve with out questions. No one deserves to not be loved. We are on this earth to love everyone and bless without expectations. Bailey said we will do that and we will teach her about Jesus and take her to church and she will be my sister. I love his heart and compassion he had.

What have you done to bless someone this week. I pray every day this is what God has asked us to do and not what we want. I want this to he his will and plan.

LOI

The LOI is done. That is all we can do. We sent it to the agency. We wait for a response. We wait to see if China will allow us to take this little angel home who needs a mom and dad. What if they say no will she stay there forever? Will she ever have a family a mom and a dad and brother? Her face is to die for. I want to show you. Mark 9:36&37  He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

What will it be like

Today was her second day. She arrived looked at this new teacher and new environment all of her friends sleeping mom handed her to me and left. She cried we went for a walk and she cried we talked and played and she found comfort for brief moments. I held her and wondered is this what it is going to be like. Am I going to be able to make her happy, can I stop the tears, will she feel safe in my arms. Will she look to us as mom and dad? Was this little one year old placed in my arms today a reflection of a year from now, is this going to be my five year old? I pray she will love us, I pray she will trust us and allow us to meet her every need. I want her home now. I want to tell her she is going to be okay. I want to hell her how beautiful she is. Does she hear this now? Will this be new words? I can not wait to see.