Update On Luke

Mom and Dad say that Luke is doing very well! They are having so much fun with him. He is a happy little boy, who is very smart. He knows a lot of signs and communicates very well. He even tries to talk.

We have skyped with them a couple times, and each time Luke seems very happy. Last night when we skyped with them, he was playing Fruit Ninja on my dad's phone. Each time he finished a round he would hold up the phone to the camera and show us his score. We did the sign for " I love you" and he signed it back! We cannot wait to get him here in America. 

I'll be posting more later. Please keep on praying for all of us.

~Sarah 

Gotcha Luke!

Hooray!!!! Mom and Dad have Luke!

This is from my parents!

Hi all.  We got Luke Fengzheng Duryea at 10:30 am Monday morning.  He was very tired from the 3 hour trip from the orphanage to the Provence capital city of Zhengzhou where we are staying.  He had a hard time at first but warmed up fast.  He already had his first taste of McDonald's French fries and was out for the rest of the afternoon.  He is very smart and knows a lot of sign language.  He laughs and even tries to talk.  What a blessing.  He is very strong willed but that is expected from a boy like this that has survived.  Tuesday we travel to his orphanage in the county seat to get his passport.  Continue to pray for our bonding and because he seems a bit scared.  Have the peace of God on him and know that everything is OK.

Dave and Laura

Gotcha Luke! Gotcha FOREVER!!!!!

³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Off To Beijing

They are now on their way to Beijing! Hooray! Thanks so much for your prayers!

They left this morning from Newark at 7:22am and will arrive in Beijing at 8:08am China time. So really they will arrive 8:08 tonight for us.

Once they get to China, the next couple days they will do some sightseeing. On Sunday, mom and dad fly in to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, which is where Luke is from. On Monday morning at 9:30am their time, they will meet Luke. This is what we call "Gotcha Day"!!!!!! They will then spend the next couple of days doing paperwork, sightseeing, but most importantly bonding with Luke. Then they head on over to Guangzhou, and spend those days working on getting Luke's Visa, sightseeing, shopping, etc. After that, they will FINALLY fly home.

Please pray for safe travel for my parents, to China and from China. Pray for Luke, that the Lord will prepare his heart for all this. Pray that everything runs smoothly in China for my parents. And pray for safety for us here at home. Thanks again!

~ Sarah

And They're Off

OR AT LEAST THEY WERE


Mom and Dad left the house at 5:29am this morning for the airport! Then they boarded their flight from Cleveland to Newark.

They arrived at Newark around 9:15am and were getting ready to board their plane to Beijing, which was scheduled to leave at 11:55 am. Well, some of the toilets on their plane got clogged and flooded some of the luggage. Thankfully, their luggage was not on yet. So it has been delayed because they are cleaning the plane, which is taking awhile.

They are not expected to leave until 7:00am tomorrow morning. The airport is trying to get a new plane for them, but it may take awhile.

Please please keep my family in your prayers right now. The devil is at work right now and who knows what else he is planning on doing next. This has not been an easy process, but we know that the Lord is going to be with us every step of the way!

Sarah
(writing for Laura)

Happy "Gotcha" Day, Nathan

Five years ago we were given our adorable little boy, Nathan Gouchang in Luoyang, Henan Province, China.  

You were surrounded by your brothers and sister, Adam, Ethan and Sarah. We will never forget that special night in China when you became a part of our family.

Nathan, you have blessed our lives enumerable ways. You always make us laugh with the funny things you say and do. You brighten our day with your many hugs and kisses. Nathan, we love you! 

2007

 2012

We're Going To China

In 8 days!

That's right.

On July 18th, 2012 we got a call from our adoption agency.
They said that we got our travel approval (TA) and they wanted us to leave on August 1st. That's in 2 weeks  from the day we received the call!

A week before we received the call, the agency said that we didn't have TA and we probably wouldn't be leaving until the end of August. Once you receive TA you usually travel within 4-6 weeks after that. But the adoption agency asked the US Embassy if we could be included with the group that is leaving on August 1 and they gave their approval. This is highly unusual!

Isn't that crazy?

Only God can orchestrate that!

So now we only have 8 days till we leave. And I have a lot of things I need to do before then.

Please pray for safe travel and safety for our children while we are away.
Pray that the transition for Luke will go smoothly and that he will understand that we are his Mother and Father.
Pray for our bonding with Luke while we are in China and that he bonds quickly to us.
Most importantly, pray for his young soul, and that he will one day understand that Jesus love him and is his Savior.

We give all our thanks and praise to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and for all He has done and all He is going to do.

Also, we got some new pictures of Luke. We haven't got any pictures of him for awhile, so he looks a lot bigger now that he is 4. 

Luke Turns 4

On June 21st we celebrated Luke's 4th birthday. Even though we don't have him yet we still celebrated with cupcakes!

Also, we had VBS that same week. The theme this year was Hometown Heroes. The kids had lots of fun dressing up as heroes.

Adam's graduation party was great! We all had so much fun!

For the 4th of July, we went to our Aunt Kathy's and Uncle Ed's cottage in Pennsylvania on the Allegany River. We all had so much fun. Thanks so much Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ed!