First Meeting

Wow. It's been a full day, and it's only 2pm! We got to sleep around 9:30 last night. We woke up at 3:30, and I was able to doze a while. Then I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep; so we got up at 6. As excited as I've been all week, I was surprisingly calm this morning. After a little breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts we headed over to the agency to meet Liv! We got there at 9:45 and received Liv's passport and immigration documents as well as a little instruction on what to do. Then at 10 we joined 2 other couples to meet Dr. Kim Sr. who is the founder of the Eastern (the agency/orphanage) and is also 93 and still working. He was a neat Christian man to meet. Eastern is much larger than I knew - they have many different facilities that meet a variety of social service needs. He speaks Korean, Japanese, and Chinese fluently and apologized for his English. I thought he did just fine,and for goodness sake - you can speak 3 other languages besides! We then met the other Dr. Kim who is the president of Eastern. She was a very kind woman who gave us some of the history of Korea as well as Eastern. Then at 11 we got to meet Liv!

I had been calm all morning, but right before we walked into to see the baby I just lost it and needed a minute to regain my composure. I didn't want to scare this little one! One thing that I'd been praying in the months leading up to this was that somehow the Lord would make us familiar to Liv, that we wouldn't seem like random strangers to her. And so we went into this little room and there she was! We took off our shoes and sat on the floor with her, and I had sat down for just a second and she crawled right over to me up into my lap! It was amazing. And she looked at me for a couple seconds and I looked back at her. Then she crawled off and moved toward Aaron. The Lord really had answered that prayer. She was definitely anchored to her foster mother but was not at all scared of Aaron or I and crawled between the 3 of us.

It was just amazing to finally meet her and touch her. She's a little peanut, not very big. She crawls really well and pulls herself up. Her foster mother was wonderful. You could tell that she loves Liv and takes really good care of her. She was very encouraging of Liv to move her toward us and volunteered so much information and was very willing to answer questions. She said that Liv is smart and curious and active. She doesn't like to be covered up when she sleeps, and she moves around a lot when she sleeps. The foster mother has nicknamed her Princess - appropriate :). It just seems like she's doing really well!

So I'm going to post this and then put up some pictures. I don't want to lose all I've written. We'll continue to keep you updated. With much love, the Joneses :)

We're Here!

We landed in Seoul at 2:30am US time - about 4:30pm here. It's now 6:15am home time, and we are ready for bed! We're just exhausted. We just ate at Outback for supper because we're too tired to be adventurous and try Korean food. Overall, the flight went well. We flew up north from Chicago into Wisconsin and Canada and then over Northern Alaska into Russia and down to Korea. Our flight had little monitors on the seat back in front of you, and we could watch a number of different movies or listen to music or play Tetris or a few other games! It was great. I think Aaron was the only one that slept a little on the flight. The rest of us tried. There were definitely moments of humor and a little adventure but overall no trouble on the travel aspect.

So now we're at the hotel and will be heading to bed! I don't know what time our appointment is at the agency tomorrow to meet Olivia, but I'll call in the morning to find out. I'll post again as soon as I can!

I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

Just a quick post here, but we're getting ready to drive (through the snow) to the cities (where it is also snowing). I'm just running on adrenaline. We went to bed at 11:30 last night, and I woke up at 4:30 and just couldn't get back into a good sleep. So at some point, I'm going to crash. We'll see how soon that comes. Hopefully I can sleep a little on the plane. I usually can't... Anyway, as far as I know we'll have internet access there and will do the best we can to keep you updated but more importantly post pictures!!! If you could pray for safe travels, no missed flights, no lost paperwork, and wisdom for the unexpected we'd appreciate it!

And for those like me that tend to overpack (which I may have done but tried real hard not to) I did mange to get all my clothes, the baby's clothes, a couple blankets, and gifts for the orphanage ALL into my 1 suitcase! I'm so proud of myself :). Our love to you all. :)

Getting ready cause she's ready!

We got the tickets booked today (I think - I sent way too much personal information through a fax machine so they better be booked!). We fly this Tuesday to next Tuesday. But when we leave we don't get there until Wednesday afternoon their time. Then the trip home we leave Seoul at noon and get to Chicago at 10:40 am! Then get through customs (which I've been through customs at Chicago and they don't mess around) and onto Minneapolis. So that'll be a long day. We'll have 5 full days there to see some stuff and the baby (!!!). I'm still relatively scattered, but I've got to get my act together cause there's a lot to do this weekend! And for an update, I ran an errand yesterday afternoon and got home and Aaron was doing the dishes! I never did get them done :). Also, we ordered 2 extra tickets cause Aaron' brother and sister-n-law are coming with! They're some of our most favorite people, and we are looking forward to sharing the adventure with them. So that's where we're at. We'll keep you posted!

She's Ready!!!!!!!!!!

We got the call at 9 this morning! She's ready to come to her new home! So we're just ecstatic! I've been on the phone with the travel agency and a few others and am also just wandering around the house in a distracted haze as I wait to hear back from a few people. I'm semi-productive but not entirely. I had a load of baby clothes to wash to pack for her, and I just did that. I've gone to start the dishes twice and gotten distracted. So I think I'll go try to do those now... put the baby clothes in the dryer... look at the weather in Korea to know what to pack... It's going to be a random day! We're hoping to fly out early next week. It's going to be great to finally meet her!

CANNOT Wait to bring this little peanut home!

So we didn't get a call today, but we DID get pictures! An unexpected surprise! Isn't she awesome! It's so fun to see pictures of her smiling, and she's just so cute! So I was just a ball of jittery excitement for a good part of the day just hoping to get a call. I talked to our social worker, and she said it really could be any time. Maybe tomorrow... :)

A few things...

Being that I love bullet points and have a few random topics to post on, here we go:

• Happy Easter! Hope you all had a good Sunday. We had such a good service which included a baptism. It doesn't get much better - a baptism ON Easter Sunday. What a great day to celebrate new life in Christ. The only thing I miss is singing a hymn that we sang at my old chuch - "Up From the Grave He Arose!". Not a well-known hymn but fun to sing. So every Easter I sing it at the top of my lungs at some point in the day. This year my mom joined me, and my poor Grandpa endured it in the living room.
• Geneva Joy is making excellent progress. She is off ECMO and is working on getting stronger. She's still on a respirator as her lungs get stronger. Keep praying for her, but it's great that she's doing so well.
• Still waiting... I knew we COULD get a call last week, but would've been very surprised if we actually would have gotten a call. But this week, now we're really hoping. I had that nervous excited ball in my stomach this morning just hoping that today would be the day. So now we have another day of waiting done, and we'll see if tomorrow is the day. I've got a load of baby clothes ready to wash and am planning to pack a few and start getting her bag ready. We only need to pack for the trip home; so it won't be a ton of stuff. I'll do my best to be prepared, though :). Thanks for being in this with us! Our love to you all :).

Please Pray

We go to just the greatest church (Calvary Baptist if anyone wants to visit :). We absolutely love it there. We're also a very fertile church - we've had 3 babies born in the past few weeks! I'd love it if you'd say a prayer for one in particular. Little Geneva Joy was born just over 2 weeks ago. She was immediately flown to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis because her diaphram wasn't closed, and some of her intestines were pushing up against her lung leaving her right lung underdeveloped. A day or two later she was put on ECMO to help her little body rest and to see how that right lung would do. She just had surgery on Friday to correct the hole, and she did great. She's such a beautiful little peanut. Here's her Caring Bridge site: www.caringbridge.org/visit/genevajoyselvig . The whole family has been on our hearts a lot, and I've been praying for them quite a bit. I know they'd appreciate your prayers as well.

Also, an update on Ben - as far as I know he's doing well. He's been holding his own. It's been good to get periodic updates from Elizabeth and know how to pray for him and their family.

No news yet...

...But I did buy diapers today! :) It was fun to be able to buy diapers again. We haven't heard anything yet, and I'm not really expecting to get a call this week. I'm hoping for next week or at the latest the week after. It's very surreal to think that in just a few weeks we'll have a child that will be ours living here. It's just crazy. But we're very excited and can't wait to meet her!

We had our last day on campus on Friday. For the remainder of the semester we'll work on raising support along with taking a week off to go to Korea and another week to settle in with Liv. We haven't had to leave campus to work on support since we initially reported 3 1/2 years ago, but I just feel like the Lord's timing is really neat in this. He's been so faithful to provide for us, and I know He'll continue to do so. And His timing in this feels like such a gift to be able to work at home together where Aaron will be able to interact more with Liv than if he was going back to campus for the end of the semester. So it was hard to know that we won't be having all the interactions with students that we had been having and connecting with them on a regular basis. I just continue to love the women God has given me to work with. But it's so exciting to get ready for this little woman God has given me.

I also ordered a baby carrier that's patterned after the Korean style baby carriers. That's what Liv will be used to, and I'm hoping it'll feel familiar and comfortable. It's sort of vest-like and their legs more wrap around the sides than down like in a Baby Bjorn. If you're curious as to what this looks like here's the link: www.hosausa.com. And I'm reading What to Expect the Fist Year. I started from month 6 and am on month 8 - Liv turned 9 months so I'm almost caught up! There's such good information in there, some that's familiar and some that's new. So we're getting there!

Approved

We got our papers from immigration saying that we're approved to bring an immigrant into the U.S. for the purpose of adoption (at least I think that's what it says :). I'm always intimidated reading legal paperwork - I think I know what it's saying, but it's always worded in an unclear way. But anyway, I DO know that we're approved. We let our social worker know. She said she had gotten the same papers, and that we're DONE on the U.S. side - now we're just waiting for Korea! I'm HOPING we go the end of this month or at the very latest the beginning of April. Weeks away... I can't believe it! 'Kay, hope you're having a great Monday!

Good fun with friends

On Sunday we drove to the cities to see Aaron's brother and sister-n-law - some of our favorite people to hang out with. Aaron and his brother get so excited to see each other, and Aaron's brother married one of my closest friends from college. Yeah, such a bummer that we "have" to see each other on the holidays :). Anyway, a friend from college hosted an Oscar party for fellow college friends (thanks Brittnie!). It was great to see friends we don't get to see very often. She had printed off the selections so we could try to pick the winners ahead of time. I did real bad with that one, but it was fun to try.

On Monday and Tuesday we had a conference which was really good. And because other staff attended we were able to see some staff friends from other campuses which I always enjoy. We stayed with our friend, Lee, on Monday night and got to catch up with him. I played Guitar Hero for the first time. I got "booed" off for the first few tries, but then finally got the hang of it. It is a fun game, though. I'd be willing to try again :).

We finished the conference off on Tuesday morning. We were able to have lunch with dear friends, Dave and Joy, that have adopted and have walked through this journey with us. They've been a great resource and encouragement. And their daughter is 2 and adorable. She likes to pretend to make pizza behind her high chair, and then she'll walk around and give you some. She gave me a piece, and they asked if she'd give some to Aaron. She nodded her head no. It was funny. She also showed me some of her toys - such a cute little thing :).

And now it's Wednesday and the week is flying by! We hope you all are doing well.

Entering the "9th Month"

So for heading into this 9th month of "pregnancy" I'm feeling pretty good, especially since I don't have to go to the bathroom multiple times in the middle of the night :). But I am feeling some of the same feelings as when we were getting to that last month before we had Payton:

• "There's a baby coming... soon!"
• "There's a lot to do!" (nesting instinct kicking in)
• "Life is going to change, but I'm so excited!"
• "I'm so excited!"
• "I have no idea what I'm doing!"
• "I'm so excited!" :)

So we're trying to make the most of our weekends to get stuff done. With about a month (?) left to go, it's coming fast! Although it was a full week this week, and I feel like I need to catch up before I can get ahead :).

Also, a friend sent me the link to this website for an upcoming movie. It's very intriguing. The preview is a little lengthy but good. Check it out if you'd like! www.expelledthemovie.com And have a great weekend!

Photos of the husband

For Valentine's Day, I bought Aaron a fundu pot (see photo) and prepared food that we could cook together. We had a good time. It's a fun dinner to have together!

So Aaron's hair was getting REALLY long. It was time to either get a haircut or just get rid of it all together. So he went back to shaving his head. So now, the photo on the blog has the "correct" hairstyles again :).
Here's the before:

And that after:

Otherwise, not too much has been happening here at the Jones household - work has been busy but good. We just get to work with the best students. Hope you have a great weekend!

Olivia Jee Eun Jones

We finally have a name! We've been looking at names and praying for awhile about it. One thing I've been praying for was that Jee/Liv would have her identity grounded in the love and grace of Christ. We had been tossing around names, and I was looking in a book with Biblical names. It listed Olive - not as a name used in the Bible but for the significance of the olive tree. It talked about how olive oil was a valuable resource used for light and healing, and I thought that was cool. Then I was reading in the Psalms a few days later and came to Psalm 52:8 which says, "I am like an olive tree planted in the house of the Lord. I trust in his unfailing love forever." So I went to show Aaron, and Olivia (Liv) was the name! Now we're trying to get used to it :). We've been calling her Baby Jee for so long, it's taking a little thought to switch to Liv. But we like it and feel like it fits her. We can't wait to meet her and see who she is!

Welcome to February... a little late

Hi! It's a been awhile since my last post. Man, I'm so excited for spring. I was talking with my mom, and we both agree this has been the worst winter for awhile. But my parents were up this weekend, and we had a great time. Often, when they come up we take advantage of their Sam's Club membership :). So we were able to stock up on a couple things, and I don't think I've ever seen them have so many samples! I love when Sam's has samples cause their good :). It was practically lunch.

Campus has been good and full! I'm leading 2 new Bible studies this semester that I'm really enjoying. One is for the women's soccer team - that one started on Friday... we had 2 there :). But I know a few more girls that are interested, and I'm hopeful we'll add a few in the weeks to come. The other is on Thursday evening with 4 junior women who are wanting to learn and grow. I'm absolutely loving it - and great discussion so far.

We had a praise and prayer meeting for our church tonight. I had a memory come back of when Aaron and I were interning overseas. We attended an international church. There were families from Switzerland, Germany, England, New Zealand, Sweden, Africa, and America. It was AMAZING to be a part of a church with so many different cultures represented, but we just came together because we had the most important thing in common - Jesus connects people like nothing else can. And I think we all understood what it was like to leave our home (and miss home!) and live/work in a new country. One Sunday during the praise time, 2 people were up front singing and playing the bongos, and they kept singing the same refrain over and over. We were sitting in the middle of the room, and behind me the couple from Africa was improvising and singing with it in their African dialect. It was one of my favorite moments of that whole year. I could have sat there and listened for hours. It was beautiful, and it made me think of what heaven will be like - people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Anyway, that memory came to me because I'm just so grateful to be a part of our church. We're small but full of heart. It's such a blessing to be a part of a fellowship that really lives what they believe. I know we'll never be able to repay the blessing that our church has been to us.

No new news on the adoption front, but we don't really expect any until we travel to get her. ...And no name yet either! We keep tossing things around but haven't landed on anything yet. I've picked up a couple items for her, and my mom and I found the cutest little summer dress at Sam's. It's fun to begin to really prepare for her arrival.

Well, I have to get to bed if I'm going to make it to the Y in the morning! Hope you're all staying warm and shoveled out of the snow! Love the Joneses :)