Sunday, March 8, 2009

Thank You to Our Friends & Family

It has been so much fun getting to tell each of you our news. Some of you got to hear about Zachary via email, others in person, and yet others over the phone. Regardless of how you heard the news, all of you were/are SUPER excited. We feel majorly blessed having so many friends and family members who have been walking through this journey with us. We just want to take this time to say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your words of encouragement and your prayers over the last 2 1/2 years. It was you who kept us hoping even when we were tired and worn out. It was you who reminded us of God's plan for us. We have been on cloud 9 over the last 4 days as we have gotten to celebrate the news of our son with you. Your hugs, tears of joy, and excitement are heart felt.

What's next? Our agency, Holt International, is working on getting our appointments set up in China. As soon as those are set, they will work with the travel agency to book our travel dates. In the mean time we are working on paperwork for our visas, child proofing the house, and trying to figure out what a 1 1/2 year old needs!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Zachary He Pin Kragel

I was just looking back at our first post on this blog and it doesn't seem possible that this day is here. It started on November 11, 2006 when we mailed our application to our agency. We were expecting to receive a referral at the end of '08 or beginning of '09 but--oh wait, that's what happened! There have been a few twists and turns along the way, but that's for another time.

Without further ado, we would like to introduce you to Zachary He Pin Kragel.

Zachary is in an orphanage in Datong City in Shanxi province in China. It's about three hours from Bejing.

He is just over 2.5' tall and weighs 24 lbs. Zach has a cleft lip and palate, so we will be doing a little surgery when we get back to the states.

Our agency is estimating that we will be traveling to get him in May. His birthday is Aug 3, 2007, so we'll get to celebrate his second birthday with him.

Zachary is a Hebrew name. It means "God has remembered." We couldn't think of a more appropriate name. His middle name, "He Pin" is his Chinese name. It's pronounced something like Hwuh' Peen. It means "peaceful quality."

Our agency received a letter of acceptance from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) today and informed up this afternoon. So we have been calling family all night.

I'm sure we'll think of more to post, but those are the basics.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers the past 2+ years.