Robin from Holt called this morning (Thursday the 28th) and said that the passport copy has been translated and submitted to the Peoples Committee and that travel approval should come within days......I'm praying....days not weeks!! If we receive it by next Friday we can fly out on the 12th. I have airline seats on hold for a flight on that day (changeable tickets of course) so we'll see.........

Merry Christmas!! It has been a full day (week-end really). I'm really tired so I'll post more later but wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very blessed Christmas!!

Olivia, sleep tight little girl, may angels keep you safe until you are home with us...Hugs and Kisses.....love, Mommy and Daddy!!

Giving them what they want.

I know I'm posting a lot lately. I hope you all can keep up!! Holt called and they received back our authenticated passport copies today and are sending them on to Holt VN. Maybe we can get some good news by weeks end! Pray that there are no more hang up's!!

Third Days new Merry Christmas song

Merry Christmas - Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn'
Cryin' for mama's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
Where the forgotten are
But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine
It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
So tonight I pray that God will hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas
As I hang the tinsel on the tree And watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white Make angels in the snow
Half the world away You try to fight away the tears
And hope that heaven's angels Come to carry you here
It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
So tonight I pray that God will hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas
Christmas is a time of celebrate the Holy Child
When we celebrate his perfect years of love
He came to rest and give his life and prepare his place for us
So we could have a home with him above
It's Christmas time again and you're home
Your family is here, so you'll never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleepI'll hold you in my arms And tell you from my heart,
I'll tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas_________________

Red Tape!!

OK here's the word. It seems that VN has decided that they wanted notarized, state certified, and VN authenticated copies of our passports. We were informed of this 1 1/2 weeks ago, now mind you when we did our dossier (back this spring) that is the one paper they had not asked to be notarized, certified, and authenticated. When they told our agency this they said it was not going to hold up our TA but that we could hand carry it over. Also, keep in mind that we will be there with our original passports in hand!! Well, I guess the local People's Committee (the agency that produces our TA) doesn't want to be told by the MOJ (federal agency) what to do, so they are holding our Travel Approval until they receive this. As it is, when Holt told me to do this I was able to get the copies notarized and state certified in one day (luckily we live close to the Sec. of States office here) and overnighted it to Holt. They already sent it off the the Embassy to Authenticate it and should be receiving it back any day. When they get it they will overnight it to Holt VN who will translate it and they hand carry it to the P.C. in Hanoi and hopefully then, they will release our TA. So maybe by years end we will finally have it and plan on traveling the first part of January. Not what I was hoping to hear today but at least we now know what the hold up is. Keep praying!! It's not over until it is over!!

Praying we get more news on the process today!!

I thought I'd share our 'time line' with you while we wait for a call from Holt today.

**Angels danced on the day of her birth August 8th, 2002**

Conceived in our hearts - Jan. 27th (this is first day we saw her picture and thought...maybe we should get some more information on this one.

Application to Holt - Feb 2

Waiting child committee decision - March 3 - Referral (confirmation of our hearts conception!! ie...positive pregnancy test!!)

Dossier to Holt - April 27 (this was 15 separate legal documents that had to be notarized and state certified) as well as photo's of Elliott and I and also of our family and home. Holt then sent them to the Vietnamese Embassy where they were Authenticated by VN officials.

Dossier to Holt Vietnam - May 26 (dossier was translated then submitted to VN Ministry of Justice)

Family MOJ approval - June 20

Child MOJ approval - Nov 9 (this step is where things first got hung up..it was only supposed to take 2/12 to 3 months, ours took 4 months and 20 days)

Travel approval - ????????? (supposed to come 1 month after Child MOJ approval, some families from Holt have recieved this after only 3 weeks, No children from Hanoi (with Holt) have yet gotten TA......it comes from local officials.....TODAY WE ARE AT 39 Days!!)

Keep up the prayers!!

Update on Olivia with Pictures!

We received an update today!! This is not the information on the process that we are waiting to come from Carole but the regular quarterly update with pictures! My favorite part is were it says "Nien can't wait to live with her adoptive family. She always talks with her friend and caregiver that her adoptive parent gave her new clothes." It also says, "she likes color and nice clothes.....the girl finds it happy when someone says that she is a pretty girl." I'm so glad to hear that she got the gift we sent to her. Friends from Texas took it over to Holt Vietnam when they went to Vietnam last month to adopt thier son. We just sent her a Christmas stocking with hair bows, stickers, lip gloss (Hello Kitty), and candy to share with her friends. Hopefully it won't be long before she get to see all the beautiful clothes we have for her!!

Keep up the prayers!!


Ummm, this looks interesting




Where's my family???

We're going to get there as soon as we can sweet heart!!

Help At Last!!

Late this afternoon I got a call back from Holt. Carole Stiles called and said she totally understood where I was coming from that we were past due for some heavy duty advocating on Olivia's behalf and was e-mailing Holt VN to start to, in her words, "rattle some cages" to get some information on what is holding up our travel approval. It was so refreshing to hear compared to the standard, "no new news, we'll call you when we have some, it's in the hands of the VN officials and we just have to patiently wait." YEAH!!! Carole may not realize it but she was an answer to my prayers today. She promised me she would get back to me by Monday with something. I know that she can not "make" the travel approval happen but at least they can do the follow-up with the officials and put Olivia in front of the right faces so maybe will get some progress soon.

KEEP UP THE PRAYERS!!!!!

Am I Crazy?????

Time continues to tick by with no word from Vietnam. I beg(the Lord) daily, hourly, for some word. I ask everyone I know to pray. I hear of other families managing to be able to bring their children home after only a few short months, rumors of corruption are all around, and yet our daughter waits. Today I called our agency in tears wanting them to tell me what they are doing to oversee our process. All I have heard is, "they are doing all they can", I want to know exactly what that is. Diana, the poor gal at our agency who has to hear from us hysterical parents, said she understood my frustration and would have someone else from the agency call me. 5 hours later and no call. UUUGGGHHH! All I have heard is our agency is the most ethical out there and for that I am grateful. I am not asking them to participate in any bribery or any unethical behavior, I just want to know what exactly they are doing while Olivia waits. I reminded Diana, that everyday Olivia stays in that orphanage is potentially harmful to her and that our paperwork processing has already past all VN requirements (laws) and exceeded all required time lines. What kind of parent would I be if I didn't advocate for my daughter?? She needs to get home!!! PPPPLLLLEEEAAASSSEE pray for her, that God would overcome all corruption and bring her home!!

Kisses in the Wind

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are....what's taking us so long.
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch you skin...
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.
--unknown

Here's Olivia this past summer

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of our girl from this past summer.

Michael's 18!! (and update on adoption process)

Well, it's official.....we have a "legally" adult son! How wierd is that?? We did remind him that means he is only even all the more responsible for his own actions but still needs to listen to Mom and Dad! Actually, I find myself extremely proud of him as he moves into adulthood and yet am not sure how ready I am to really let him go. All of the kids honored him at dinner last night and the resounding theme was they couldn't have asked for a better big brother to look up to. Michael in a lot of ways is your typical American teen-ager, he's fun loving, drives too fast for his parents liking, loves sports (especially running and hockey), and hanging out with his friends. But in other ways, he's not typical at all, he has a very strong faith and takes that into every area of his life, sharing his faith comfortably with his peers and adults alike, he is extremely hard working, enjoys chatting with his parents, is spending a lot of time thinking and praying about his future and how he can #1 serve God and build His kingdom and #2 how if he finds himself called to marriage and family life, how he can support a wife and kids all the while in trying to find what he thinks will be interesting and challenging. Right now his latest thought is Emergency Medicine. He is planning on starting toward this goal at Benedictine College in Kansas and majoring in BioChemistry, he has been accepted there and they have offered him a pretty nice running scholarship. But, sometimes plans change (sometimes monthly at this point so will see!!)

On the adoption front, all news is not good. Actually we have received no new news at all and have once again exceeded all predictions of our travel to bring our little girl home. Travel approval was supposed to take no more then 30 days and we went past that last week. Traveling in order to be home for Christmas seems impossible at this point but I am still praying that we at least make it there by Christmas even if we can't come home for a couple weeks after. This adoption process has been very different then China's with so many more unknowns. I am really being challenged to trust completely in the Lord for "he knows the plans for Olivia, to give her a future and a hope!" But, like the blind men that followed Christ, begging him to heal them, not leaving him until he finally did, I am begging the Lord every day to make it possible for us to bring our sweet angel home. Your prayers are appreciated also!!

We're all APPROVED!!

Her paperwork is officially approved!!! We got the call this morning (after my post.....Thanks for praying!!) Olivia's dossier has received the official MOJ approval and been "matched" with ours. Now we just await Travel approval which should come in the next 4 weeks then we're off. We will have her in our arms for Christmas!!!! Yeah!!! Do pray that there are no bumps in the road this time and that the Lord prepares her heart for us and us for her.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I couldn't have received a sweeter birthday gift!! (If it is at all possible we'd love to leave on Dec. 8th....The feast of the Immaculate Conception!!)

How things are looking now

It's been over a month since we received new copies of Olivia's official paperwork and almost 5 months since our paperwork was approved in Vietnam. We still find ourselves waiting for the official approval of Olivia's paperwork. That step was supposed to take 2 1/2 to 3 months. Needless to say, we're "past due". We had hoped to have her home by now and as it stands we are still not sure we'll have her home by Christmas or not. But we are praying and so are alot of others on our behalf. I am however, constantly reminded that the Lord holds her in the palm of His hand and knows the perfect timing for all of this. Some good things have come out of this. We have decided to take along M and S. I was really feeling uncomfortable about leaving S (he's only 3) for the 2 or so weeks we'll be in VN but we also felt we needed time with O so she could get to know us as her parents before being thrown into the mix of our big family. With it looking like we will travel over Christmas break we have decided that if we take M, he can help care for S which will be great for both of them. M will be leaving for college next fall and so his time with his new youngest siblings is very limited. This will provide them time to spend together without the busyness of "senior year" life in M's way. Also, to experience another culture and orphange life we think will be so good for him before he heads out into the big world on his own. The other 3 kids will stay with my sister. She is glad to have them over the Holiday so it's a good win-win situation for all. (Thanks LA).

I thought I'd share thoughts on adoptions with you......

All Children come from God,
for some the journey just takes a little longer

I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you....
I have chosen you and have not rejected you,
So do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not be dismayed for I am your God.
I will streghthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my rightous right hand....
For I am the Lord, your God,
Who takes hold of your hand and says to you,
Do Not Fear, I Will Help You
-Isaiah 41:9-10,13

Not flesh of my flesh,
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grow under my heart....
But in it!
-Fleur Conkling Herlinger

New set of "official paperwork"

Today we received a new set of "official paperwork" for Olivia. Everything contains her birthparents names and identifying information should she ever want those when she is older. Even a hand written statement by her birthfather as to why he abandoned her. It is all very sobering. One thing he states is that he releases her for international adoption for good future. It is my prayer that we can provide that good future for her. Now with her new dossier resubmitted hopefully things will start to move along again. We were told that her visa paperwork (I-700) that needed to be changed will be processed by the US Embassy in Vietnam (instead of stateside), so that is one extra step we will have to take care of while we in VN, however, it should not cause an extention of our trip and we should still be able to be in the country for only 2 weeks. Please pray that is the case as we will be leaving all our other children in the US and don't want to have to be gone longer then absolutely necessary. (Not to mention Elliott being away from his job). Also, with us now being into October and still waiting for this next step of approval, traveling before Thanksgiving is looking unlikely and you know what December is like...(add M's 18th birthday)..and being gone will be hard (yet sweet since Olivia will finally be coming home).

Elliott's going to Boston

Another milestone reached. For the past 5 years E has been running the T.C. Marathon trying to make a qualifying time for running the Boston Marathon. Yesterday, on a beatiful MN morning he did it!! He finished the Marathon with a 3hr. 25m.49s official "chip" time. Since he had to run it in under 31/2 hours, he finished with a few minutes to spare. So now next year (in the same month in which he turns 50).....the Boston Marathon is his!! M and J also ran yesterday and both had great races. They both ran in the 10 mile race and M finished in 65m. 31s. and took 2nd place in his division (130th out of 4600 runners or top 3%). J finished in 95m. 31s. and finished 29th in her division (very good for a swimmer in her first long distance running race). She finished in the top 50% of all 10 mile runners!! E has managed to instill a love of running in all the kids so far. We'll have to see with the youngest two (but S is pretty quick at everything!!). Now if he could just get his wife out there!!

More Info. on Olivia's birthparents

I tried to post a picture but my lack of computer skills is keeping me from doing it. I'll have to work of that one. Well, I thought I'd update the latest information we know. We received an e-mail from Holt Vietnam with a little more info. on Olivia's birth parents. It seems things are very much like we thought with a little more detailed info. Olivia's birth mother suffered from heart problems and was told prior to getting married not to have children. When she became pregnant with Nien the pregnancy took it's toll on her body and she became very ill. Nien was delivered early but her mom never regained her strength. Her husband was able to bring his wife home but she died 5 months later. They were from an area outside of Hanoi and very poor, (neither Mom nor Dad had jobs). Nien was born in a hospital in their home town and because she was also very ill (and tiny) was transferred to the Prediatric specialty hospital in Hanoi. That is were she remained until after her mothers death. Her father, now without a wife and very poor felt he was unable to care for Nien and simply did not travel to Hanoi to claim her. It is my understanding that the local police were not able to locate him and so Nien was declared abandoned and transferred to the orphange that she remains in today. While Nien's dossier was being processed in the province the police were instructed to re-investigate and this time were able to locate her father. He stated that he still could not care for her and signed all necessary relinguishment papers. He is aware she is being adopted internationally. It is a very sad story and I ask that you all remember to pray for her birthfather and the soul of her birthmother who gave her life for Nien. In the meantime we now continue to wait for paperwork to shuffle through the Vietnam government. It is very hard to watch her getting older in an orphange instead of home with her family. Pray that things start to move and we are able to travel by Thanksgiving.

Update!!

Yesterday we received an update on Nien. It is good to see that she is doing well and that she has been very healthy since our last update in May. She is now more open and talkative than before and can say whole long sentences with a little lisp such as "Xin phep me cho con di choi 1 lat" (Mum, please let me go out for a while). I guess E and I better learn some Vietnamese in a hurry!! She also loves to sing and she and her roommate Hoa sing songs in bed until they fall asleep. It says that she is not as stubborn as before and that she easily follows her caregivers instructions. Also that "she is afraid when her caregivers say that they will cut her meal if she is not a good girl." She is 41.7 inches tall (the 87th percentile) and 32 pounds (the 23rd percentile). Long and lean!! (maybe they shouldn't cut too many meals!!) Mostly she does look very happy. She knows about her new family and it says "The girl also recognizes that she is going to have an adoptive family and she is happy with the news". I'm not sure how much she understands what that means but we are praying that God is preparing her heart for us and that He will make this transition as easy as possible. It still looks like it will be about 2 months before we can travel to bring her home. We are waiting anyday to hear about the next level of approval to come from VN (the Provincial approval) and also for a new set of legal documents to arrive so that we can re-apply for her US Visa approval. Please pray that that goes quickly and properly.

Wanted Children

Today my friend Kelli sent me an e-mail in which she said in response to my last blog.....Forgotten orphans....NO, wanted children! A great reminder....none of us is ever forgotten...the Father has made sure of this.
Sweet Nien....you are never forgotten....we think of you constantly and can't wait until you are HOME!! With Love, your very own family!!

Why more children?

Some ask....why adopt when you already had 4 great biological kids. I read this today and it answers that question in my soul. Enjoy!

Want to know God's will for your life? Then answer this question: What ignites your heart? Forgotten orphans? Untouched nations? The inner city? They outer limits? Heed the fire within! Do you have a passion to sing? Then sing! Are you stirred to manage? Then manage! Do you ache for the ill? Then treat them! Do you hurt for the lost? Then teach them! As a young man I felt the call to preach. Unsure if I was correct in my reading of God's will for me, I sought the counsel of a minister I admired. His counsel still rings true. "Don't preach," he said, "unless you have to."
What is the fire that consumes you? Mark it down; Jesus comes to set you on fire! He walks as a torch from heart to heart, warming the cold and thawing the chilled and stirring the ashes. He is at once a Galilean wildfire and a welcome candle. He comes to purge infection and illuminate your direction. The fire of your heart is the light of your path. Disregard it at your own expense. Fan it at your own delight. Blow it. Stir it. Nourish it. Cynics will doubt it. Those without it will mock it. But those who know it...those who know HIM...will understand it.

To meet the Savior is to be set aflame.
To discover the flame is to discover HIS will.
And to discover HIS will is to access a work like none you've ever seen..

~Max Lucado (from The Great House of God)

Parenting has made us sing, cry, dance, and pray more! Each child has brought us to a deeper understanding of God's unfailing love and care for each one of us. How else do you explain how a lost child on one side of the world and a family, who has a fire burning in their hearts for that same child but living on the opposite side of the world find each other?

Olivia's Birth Father Has Been Found

I received a call today from our agency and was told that Olivia's birth father has been found but that we needn't worry as he has signed relinquishment papers. What this means is that we now must refile a form with homeland security to get her status changed from abandoned to relinquished for her visa. The good news is that we may be able to get some information about her birth family which may be valuable to Olivia in the future. It seems that as we thought, Olivia's birth mother died at childbirth. What's not clear is if she died as a result of childbirth or from some other cause. We may be able to get that clarified. I have an amazing peace about all this. I guess it's confirmation that she has been born in our hearts and is truely our daughter. I know she will be with us eventually. My prayers go out for her birthfather, who just recently had this sad part of his life brought back forward. I don't know if he has had any contact with her at all, but whatever happened it couldn't have been easy. As things stand right now, they are redoing her birth certificate and some other official paperwork. Until that is done, we will not receive approval. Our agency thinks this shouldn't delay things more then a couple of weeks. When we receive copies of her paperwork, we will refile with homeland security here. We still hope to have her home sometime in November. Please pray the rest of this goes smoothly and that God is preparing her heart for us!!

Happy Birthday Little Olivia!!

Well this day seemed like as good as any to start this journal. We are "The Brubaker Bunch". The big difference between us and the more famous "B Bunch" is that this "Lovely Lady and Man Named Brubaker" didn't just meet but have been married for coming up on 19 years. We do have the 3 boys and 3 girls and they have come together in different ways....4 born in this family, 2 adopted into this family. One of whom we still wait for......Nien Thi Ha.....soon to be Olivia Kathleen Nien Brubaker was born on August 8th, 2002 in Hanoi, Viet Nam. We are not sure why her birth family didn't feel they could care for her but they did do the most loving thing they could do. They brought their tiny, premature baby girl to the local children's hospital and left her in a place they knew she would be found and cared for. The staff of that hospital took her in and cared for this tiny, sick little baby girl for several months until she was healthy enough to move into what would be her home for the next 4 years, until her new Mom and Dad could find her. That's where we come in......although we had no intention of adopting again this year...one night, at the end of January, while praying for children on the Holt International Waiting Child list, the face of one sweet little girl and the brief description of her (that reminded us of our older daughter Emily) drew us to her, both Elliott and I. The next few days, we thought about her and prayed about her, asked Holt for more information...found out that there were other families that had inquired about her and pursuing approval to adopt her. We prayed and knew that if little Nien was meant to be in this family the Lord would open the doors....and we would simply walk through. Well to make a long story a little shorter.....on March 3rd, 2006 we received a call from Holt that Nien would become our newest daughter. We have given her a new name to go with her new life....Olivia (peace) Kathleen (Rebecca's grandmother) and will retain Nien (for her vietnamese hertigage). And so we continue to walk (or should I say wait) and shuffle piles of paperwork, and trust that all will go well. In the mean time, little Nien celebrates one last birthday in an orphange, separated from her family.....who, with every new picture and "update" has fallen deeper and deeper in love with her.

Happy 4th Birthday Olivia Kathleen Nien!!!
We love you and can't wait to hold you in our arms!!