Kelly household changes

Today was a big day and the beginning of a lot of changes at the Kelly house.  After enjoying 6 months with Nicci and Addi, it was time for us to say goodbye.  They left first thing this morning, and will be driving today and tomorrow back home to Colorado Springs.  So sad to see her go, but we are so thankful Joseph will be coming home soon and they can finally be a family.  We have loved getting to know our new niece and spending quality time with my sweet sister.  It will be a time in my life I will never forget, and I am so thankful we got it.  Ok, who wants to move in next ;)?  We are five days from leaving for China, and 9 days from holding our baby girl in our arms.  Actually nine days minus 15 hours, which is the time change from here to China.  I am hoping while we are there, we will be able to keep everyone updated on our blog.  I think we know the secret to being able to use our blog.  If not, we will pass info on through mom.  We arrive in Hong Kong, via Portland and Tokya, on Oct. 5th at 11:56 PM.  We will be in Hong Kong until Sunday the 7th when we will take a train to Guangzhou.  On the 8th, we get our baby girl and get to spend time getting to know her.  We officially become her parents on the 9th.  We also apply for her passport, so she can come back home with us.  We have a free day on the 10th, while paperwork is being processed, then we have a medical exam on the 11th.  The 12th we will spend filling out more paperwork, then we have two more free days.  We hope to enjoy the city, and spend lots of time getting to know baby Grace.  The 15th, we receive Grace's passport.  The 16th, we go to the US Consulate and finish up with the business end of the adoption.  The 17th, we receive Grace's visa to come to the US, then we take a van back to Hong Kong, where will stay over night and fly out first thing in the morning on the 18th.  We arrive home on the 18th, and get to introduce Grace to her family.  It looks like it will be a great trip.  I think we will be ready to come home and see our babies here.  I haven't ever been away from them for 14 days.  I am sure it will go quickly.  We are continuing to pray that Grace will have an easy transition and she will learn we are here to love her and make her part of our family forever.  Once again, I must thank my sweet Mom for willingly coming into our home and running our house while we are gone.  The kids are small compact bundles of energy and I know they can be exhausting.  Anyone that feels like it, check in on her and make sure she is alive and well.  We plan to Skype as often as we can, but it won't be the same as being able to call any time we want.  I have spent the last two weeks trying to prepare the kids and the house to make life as easy as possible for mom.  I will continue to think of things to do, but I also know I can't plan for everything.  Mom will do just fine.  My sweet friend game me the neatest necklace yesterday.  It has beads that represent each of my kid's birthstones, including Grace, set in a little wire nest.  I can't wait until I can get all 5 of my chickies home into the nest.

 Ainsley at Ballet

             Holden placed 9th with a 1 mile time of 7:35

 Brandt placed 8th with a 1 mile time of 6:40.  Wyatt didn't place this meet, but ran a 8:35 which is excellent for him.

My beautiful new necklace

We are going to enjoy our last weekend as a family of six.  It will be our last.  I am joyful for that.  We have 4 soccer games, church and AWANA, so a pretty typical weekend.  I plan to get everything packed or at least start.  We had a cross country meet on Thursday, and the boys all did very well.  They are having fun with their team.  Ainsley is back in ballet and gymnastics, and she is doing so well.  She is really starting to listen to her teachers and doing what they ask.  It is a nice change.

Here we come Grace

OK, we have plane tickets, one night of hotel reservations, and our conscientious adoption agency working on the rest of the details.  We leave Spokane International Airport on Oct. 4th for a trip that will change the lives of so many.  Our's, Grace's, everyone we come in contact with and explain the amazing journey we have been on.  While I was waiting this past summer, I think I lost sight of the big picture and what our small part in it is.  I was consumed by each step of the process and lost sight of the final destination.  We are approaching the final destination, and I stand in awe of my God and His amazing plan.  We are going to get our daughter.  She has been growing in our hearts for so long now. We saw her March 26th and we have not been the same since.  We have seen how you can love someone so much, even when you have never met her.  We have cried over the fact that we have not received a single update during the process just so we could get a glimpse of the child that has stolen our hearts.  When I say we, I mean Mike, myself, Brandt, Holden, Wyatt, and Ainsley.  We are all so in love with our baby Grace.  Not saying there won't be challenges as we adjust to another little one running around.  Ainsley has the most to lose.  She is currently our princess, and only daughter.  She will be sharing a room, and the spotlight.  We have been showering her with affection, but we are also prepared for some challenging behavior.  The boys are all prepared to defend their sweet sister if people give her a hard time because of the cl/cp.  They will be her little protectors.  We are also praying every day that our baby girl will understand the love we are so excited to give her.  She has been institutionalized since she was born.  We want her to quickly learn what it means to have a mom and dad meeting all her needs and loving her all the time.  We want her to learn to love her siblings and understand what it is to be a Kelly.  We want her to fall in love with us, like we have fallen for her.  If you wouldn't mind praying that with us, we would really appreciate it.  So here are the details.  We leave Oct. 4th and fly to Hong Kong.  We will be there until the 7th, then we will go to Guangzhou, China.  We will receive our baby girl on Oct. 8th and she will be ours at that point.  We have to go through several paperwork steps to receive her passport and visa, and then we have an appointment with the US Consulate in China on Oct. 16th to finalize the visa process.  We fly out of Hong Kong on Oct. 18th and return to Spokane the 18th.  I plan to keep this blog updated with pictures and stories from China, so be checking while we are gone.
So, life of course continues here at home.  The boys are back in school and doing great.  They all love their teachers and have settled back into a routine.  I miss them.  Soccer is in full swing, cross country has started and Ainsley has started gymnastics.  Her ballet class starts next week.  MOPS drive thru registration was today.  We start meeting every other week next month.  So in the middle of all this, we will be plopping our new baby girl.  I am sure she will just fit right in.  She will understand the chaos that is our life :) .

The kids have started a new game after watching the Ellensburg Rodeo over Labor Day weekend.

We also took some time to go and visit Manito park and take pictures of the kids.  We don't order school pictures, we just take individual pictures on our own during the fall.  The kids did great and were, of course, the cutest kids ever.
We sold our Yukon XL on the internet last week.  It was the craziest thing.  We sold it to someone that didn't even come out and test drive it.  He had it shipped out of here and to his house in Kansas City.  And yes, we were very careful and overly cautious, but we were super relieved when the check cleared.  It was pretty cool to be able to sell it and get what we want for it.  Needless to say, we are now looking for a new car.  We need a vehicle that has two bench seats to fit car seats better than the two captains chairs we used to have in the Yukon.  We are pretty selective in what we want, but we are also being very patient.  We want to get exactly what we want.  It has been fun to look around for a bit.  Mike may have found our new car in Salt Lake.  He is going to be there tomorrow, so is going to look at it.  Other than that, life just keeps going.  Inside, I am all butterflies waiting for the day we will hold our new daughter in our arms.  We can't wait for everyone to meet her and love her.

Still waiting

Still waiting, but in the meantime, life continues.  We had huge milestones last week.  Brandt started 5th grade, Holden started 3rd grade and Wyatt started 1st grade.

Aren't they the cutest little boys ever.  Of course I forgot my good camera at home, so these pics are from my phone.  Sorry for the blur, and no your eyes are not going bad.

We just returned from a great time at the Ellensburg Fair and Rodeo.  We have such a great time every year.  Mike's extended family gathers for the weekend.  We spend lots of time swimming, visiting, watching the rodeo and visiting the fair.   This year, I had 3 of my siblings and various family members come for the weekend as well.  It was great to get to see everyone and it is a bit of a letdown when it ends, it signifies the end of summer.  We are now ready to head into fall.

Doesn't Brandt look cute in his cowboy hat?  I managed to get all four to sit together for this picture.  This is my gator (Wyatt's nickname) driving a gator :)

Brandt decided to build a large raft in the pool.  This picture is a bit deceiving.  The entire weekend, the pool was full of squirming little bodies.  If you just saw this picture you would think it was a lonely pool.  Really not the case.  

So, I will let you know that I expect to hear this week when we will be traveling to China.  If we don't hear, you may not want to call.  Mike is leaving tomorrow so I won't have him to vent on.  Just be cautious and forgiving when dealing with me this next week.  If we do get travel approval, we will be leaving within 2 weeks probably.  My life will go into overdrive trying to get all the details of our trip and the kids lives in order in that amount of time.  Mom, I love you and am so thankful you are willing to take on our crazy crew for us when we leave.  I will have everything in order, I think.  I will alert everyone when we hear, if you don't hear me screaming, it will probably be via text or phone.  We are so excited.