Day 1 - Travel & Transition

Our journey to Korea started yesterday morning and got dropped off at the airport and checked in for our long 14 hour non-stop flight to Seoul.  6 suitcases, and 4 carry ons between the 4 of us.  After a 2 hour flight delay while we waited for our plane to arrive, we were off and ready to roll!

The kids did great on the flight, thanks in part to the many movies, video games, and activities they had for them to do.  Between a large variety of movies to watch, electronic games to play (Nathan beat me in Yahtzee), and a few things we had brought ourselves, the time went by quickly.  Thankfully, we all had a chance to get a few hours of sleep, which helped when we arrived in Seoul and it was 5:30pm (and rainy).

We were met at the airport by a driver from our adoption agency who was ready to give us a ride back to our guest house, where we are staying during our time here.  He was the greatest - very kind, knew a little English, and loved the kids!  He kept commenting how we have “great kids”, and Joshua is very fortunate to have “a great older brother and sister” to play with.  So kind of him...and a great way to be introduced to the Korean people (very gracious and loving)!

After we got settled into our room, we were eager to try and locate a dear family friend of ours, Rachel, who was planning to meet us here in Seoul for the week.  Rachel attended our church and was a volunteer adult leader in our high school ministry for almost 7 years before she became a missionary and moved to the Philippines.  She’s been a close family friend of ours over the years, and had offered to spend the week with us in Korea when we came to pick up Joshua.  What a blessing!!  The kids were super excited when she appeared in the lobby of our guest house, and there were hugs and kisses all around!  We hadn’t seen Rachel since over a year ago, so it was really fun to reconnect with her.  We were also introduced to Jared, a friend of hers who she knows that lives in Seoul, and together we decided to grab some quick Korean food before calling it a night.

We ended up finding this inexpensive Korean “quick service” restaurant nearby the agency, and quickly became immersed in the full Korean experience - not being able to read the menus, unable to communicate to the locals....but loving every minute of it!  Thankfully, Jared knew the Korean language and helped us find some great food that we enjoyed (who knew fried pork with cheese inside would be so good?).  The fun part of the evening came near the end, when the restaurant’s owner (?) came over and expressed a great interest in Brooke and Nathan.  We had been told that Koreans are fascinated with blonde-haired children, and even want to take pictures with them or touch their heads, faces, etc.  We had prepared the kids that this may happen from time to time, but it was still fun to watch it.  The owner definitely enjoyed seeing Nathan & Brooke, and we all enjoyed the fun it brought!

Brooke, Rachel, & Nathan - all smiles!

Day 1 in the books.....Day 2 is now just beginning, and the first time we get to meet Joshua (in 2 hours!).  = )

Our Video Letter To Joshua

Back in February when we had our adoption dinner, we created a short "video letter" to Joshua that introduced ourselves and told him a bit more about us.  At the time, we were only able to show it to those who were at our dinner, but really wanted to share it with others - especially those who weren't able to make it!

Now that we're on the eve of our departure to Korea....it's time.  = )

Hope you like it!

Next update - from Korea!

P.S.  If you'd like to learn how you can help us as we travel (in prayer and/or financial support), please click here for more info.  Thanks!

Love in A Ziploc Bag

Throughout our waiting process we've had the opportunity to send over a few care packages with other families who are traveling to Korea to pick up their child.  Since our referral (when we were matched with Joshua), we've had the chance to send over three packages, each filled with a few different things for Joshua and his foster family.  We are limited to only sending over one gallon sized Ziploc bag of "love" at a time, so what we put in it has to fit and be sealed tightly (easier said than done).  How do you stuff all your love in a gallon sized Ziploc bag?

Well, with our most recent package (#3), we were a bit more creative than in the past.  = )   In this package we included a few new updated pictures of our family, some Starbucks VIA coffee packets (for his foster parents, not him!), and a little fun Cubs outfit (gotta start him off right!). 

Knowing that we were getting closer to meeting Joshua, we also wanted to help prepare him for that time of transition into our family.  So, Jill made a music CD of her singing some baby lullaby songs that we hope his foster family will use to help him fall asleep at night, so he can begin to get used to Jill's voice.  We also purchased a Korean-English copy of "Guess How Much I Love You" and made a video of Jill and I reading it to him and put it on a DVD and jumpdrive.  And not only did Jill and I make a video of us reading to him....Nathan and Brooke got in on the act too and picked out a story of their own to read to their big brother along with playing a few songs they just learned on the piano.  We had a lot of fun putting together a little "music and stories for Joshua."  We hope the videos will help him not only become familiar with our faces, but also our voices so he'll be more comfortable with us when we bring him home.


And here's what the result looked like.  Enjoy!

Travel Plans Getting Set!

After receiving our long awaited travel call last week to be able to go to Korea and bring Joshua home, we've been in "travel planning mode" and trying to get all our travel arrangements made and finalized.

Eastern Social Welfare Society (the agency we are partnered with in S. Korea) has requested that we arrive in Korea no more than two weeks after our travel call, so our window of time to travel is a bit tight, but not too tight that we can't make things work!  After waiting for 1.5 years for this to come, we're doing what we can to pull everything together to go see our son for the very first time!

After looking over a number of options for flights, we are booked to fly out on a non-stop 14 hour flight to Seoul on Wednesday, August 29.  Then, after spending the necessary days to take care of our adoption-related appointments and a few days to sight see and explore around Seoul, we'll arrive back home on Wednesday, September 5.....with Joshua!

We also just received our itinerary of the times when our adoption appointments will be held at the agency:


-Friday morning 8/31, 10-11am:  first meeting with Joshua & foster parents
-Monday morning, 9/3, 11am:  meeting with the Executive director of Eastern
-Monday lunch, 9/3, noon:  luncheon with Executive director, workers, and other visiting adoptive families
-Monday afternoon, 9/3, 1:30-2:00pm:  final meeting with Joshua and transfer of custody to us


We hope to blog a bit about our time while we are there, and would love to have you join us on the journey.  You can follow along with us in one of the ways listed on the right side of our blog - email updates, Google Friend Connect, or RSS feeds.  Either way, we hope to bring a little insight and fun while we spend our time over in Seoul getting Joshua and exploring the city!

T-minus 6 days and counting.....

Travel Call!!

So it just started out as any other day.....and then it all changed when....we got the call!

After hearing of Joshua's VI being scheduled, we knew it was a matter of 24-48 hours until we would likely receive a call from our adoption agency letting us know we were cleared to travel.  This was exciting to hear, but anxious since we didn't know exactly when it would come.  Every time the phone rang at home, we all jumped with anticipation a bit thinking it may be "the call".

Wednesday morning came and I (Eric) headed off to work at church for another regular day of work, while Jill remained home with the kids.  Thinking I may get a call from Jill sometime, I kept my phone in my pocket so wherever I was in church I could (hopefully) get the call.  Our cell service is a bit spotty at times, but I hoped for the best.

Then around noon, as I was in my office reading, I looked up and saw Nathan standing in my doorway with his hands behind his back yelling "Boo!" with a big grin on his face.  Jill & Brooke quickly followed, and they explained how they had a surprise for me.  Nathan gave me a bag that the three of them had filled with 3 of my favorite items - espresso beans (from Just Love Coffee), Ghirardelli chocolate mocha powder, and a new bottle of toasted marshmallow syrup from Caribou (all essential ingredients to make my favorite coffee drink, a campfire mocha!).  Also in the bag was a little handwritten note from Joshua (with a little help from Jill) which read:

Dear Daddy, I'm ready and waiting for you, Mommy, my big brother Nathan, and big sister Brooke to bring me home!  Here is a little coffee just in case you get a little behind on sleep taking care of me.  See you soon!  I love you!  Love, Joshua

My gift and note from Joshua!

It didn't take me any more time to realize that we got the call we had been waiting for since September 2010 when we turned in our initial application to our agency!  Wow!

After a few minutes of taking a few pictures and celebrating, we retreated downstairs to our h.s. room where Jill & the kids brought a quart of Oberweiss chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and we had ourselves a little ice cream party (with a bowl and spoon reserved for Joshua, of course!).  A lot of fun....and lots of smiles to go around from the whole family!

Daddy & Nathan celebrating our Travel Cal

We continued the celebration later that night by going to the local Korean supermarket (the "Super H-Mart") nearby.  Besides Jill giving me a tutorial on what types of food I may need to run out and get for our little guy, we spent the most time in the fresh bakery cafe area and each picked out a fresh baked Korean pastry.  Somehow I think this stop may be part of any future visit we make to the H-Mart.....  = )

Jill & Brooke, enjoying their Korean pastries

So now we're in "travel prep" mode as we work to finalize flight arrangements, lodging, and other arrangements for our time in Korea.  In addition, we're getting our suitcases ready and packing them tight!  Our Korean agency expects us to travel within 2 weeks of our travel call, so time is of the essence!

But for now, we're celebrating and excited to finally be at this point in the journey...and the best is yet to come!

Thanks to many of you who have been praying for us and this exciting time!  Please don't stop!  We appreciate your prayer and support as we go through the final prep and travel to Korea.  You can read about some of our specific prayer needs here.

Joshua - here we come!

VI Scheduled!

Kinda crazy how God brings surprises your direction and catches you totally off guard, isn't it?

Well, that happened this morning with us when we got word that Joshua's VI (Visa Interview) was scheduled at the US Embassy in Seoul for August 14th at 1pm!  We began to hear over the weekend of some potential delays with approving VI's at the Embassy because of the large influx of VI requests they had received recently.  Because of some changes in the Korean adoption laws that took effect the first week of August, there was a rush to get as many kids as possible through the approval process before the laws changed.  Although that's all good (and we're grateful Joshua was in that group), there was word that this "rush" was going to cause a backup for approving visas at the Embassy - a backup that could take an additional 5 weeks for the Embassy to work through.  Uggh.

Although this wasn't fun news to hear, we were beginning to prepare ourselves for a longer wait than we were originally expecting, and one that would push back our time to travel later into September.

This morning, however, Jill began hearing of some other families who had just received word of their child's VI being scheduled, and so the anticipation was growing to find out about Joshua's VI.  Jill got on the phone to call the U.S. State Department, who has the ability to look in the system and confirm if all of Joshua's paperwork has been submitted and if his visa appointment has been set up yet.  Sure enough...it was!  And she was told his VI is scheduled for Tuesday at 1pm (Korea time)!

Surprise!

We're really excited to hear this news - and even more anxious, since once his visa is approved the travel call comes next - typically in 1-2 days!  Which means.....it's time to hop on that plan and get that boy home!

With the time difference between Chicago and Korea, his VI is actually planned for 11pm tonight (Chicago time) - a mere 1 hour and 10 minutes from me writing this.  If you're reading this before then....would you mind shooting up a quick prayer for a smooth VI process and easy approval for Joshua and the other little kiddos waiting to come home?  If you're reading this after this time....would you mind praying for a quick and speedy phone call to come our way?  = )  It would be much appreciated!

All I know is that there are four people in this house that are getting a little more anxious and excited every time that phone rings......

E

**We're still in need of your support in our adoption process.  If you'd like to learn how you can support us (through prayer or financial support), click here!  Thanks!

How To Help

As we are getting closer to bringing Joshua home, we've had a number of people ask us how they can help us in these days leading up to us receiving our "travel call".  Here are a few ways that you can help support us as we continue going through our adoption process:

• Prayer:  We value and appreciate those who are praying for us!  Specifically, here are some ways you can pray for us:
• Pray for the final documentation, reviews, and government approvals to happen without any further delays. 
• Pray that we would continue to trust God and remain patient until we receive the word that we can travel to Korea.
• Pray for our family that our hearts would be prepared to welcome Joshua into our family and the adjustments needed of having a new family member in our home.
• Pray that God would give us wisdom and fill us with His love and grace as we raise Joshua to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
• Pray that God would fill Joshua's heart with peace and comfort as he grieves all that he knows in Korea and transitions his attachment to us, his family.  Pray also for us to have sensitivity and understanding in how to respond and care for his needs during his time of transition.
• Pray that God will continue to provide prayer and financial support for us during our adoption process, and that we would sense God's presence and guidance in our lives as we look to Him for strength and encouragement.

• Financial Support:  We've currently raised approximately $12,000 to offset our adoption expenses (which is expected to total approximately $30,000 - $35,000).  Part of this amount includes an interest-free loan we were granted by an organization, and will later repay.  We're grateful for the financial support we have been offered, and are continuing to trust God for his provision as we continue to move forward.  If you'd like to financially support our adoption, here are a few ways to help:

• Direct donation:  Tax-deductable donations can be sent directly to Lifesong for Orphans, an organization we have partnered with to help us with our fundraising.  Just put our info in the memo line ("Preference for Groezinger #2318 adoption"), and they'll take care of the rest.  100% of your gift will go directly to our adoption expenses - which is a pretty cool deal.  (click here for their mailing address and more info)

• Just Love Coffee:  If you're a coffee drinker, click on the "Just Love Coffee" button on the right side of our blog (or here).  When you order from their online store, a portion of your purchase goes towards our adoption expenses.  Help our adoption....and drink your coffee too!

• Donate Airline Miles:  We are beginning to research flight options for our trip to Korea, and have found a few different airlines that fly direct to Seoul.  Through past air travel, Jill & I have accumulated miles for a few different airline programs (Delta/SkyTeam and American/AAdvantage), but don't have enough to cover the entire round trip for the four of us.  If you would like to donate airline miles for this purpose, send us a message and we can give you more details!

• S. Korean Agency Needs:  Because of the recent changes in the S. Korean adoption law, children are now staying in S. Korea longer than in the past.  This has created some new challenges for the S. Korean agency and the foster families, as they have not been prepared for caring for older children.  Specifically, they've asked for help in providing some basic items they need, and we'd love to help.  If you would like to donate any of the following items, please let us know and we'd be happy to pack them in our suitcase and take them over with us!

• Child-size/toddler toothbrushes
• Fluoride-free toothpaste
• Toddler-size winter coats (size 12m-2T)
• Toddler toys
• Shoes (size 5-6)

 Thanks for all your support and interest in our adoption - we're looking forward to sharing more updates in the future!

EP Approved & Next Steps

About 4 weeks ago we mentioned that Joshua's EP (Emmigration Permit) was submitted in Korea, the next major step to cross before we are able to bring him home.

Well.....yesterday (Aug. 2) we got an email from our case worker at our adoption agency that read:


"The batch of EP's from 7/4 were approved on 7/31.  We'll let you know when you're free to travel, but we're on the home stretch.  Yeah!!!"

Jill was thinking EP approval had begun to happen a few days earlier, as she had begun to hear unofficial rumors of other families getting word of their EP's via some online groups we are a part of.  But we were just waiting for the "official word" from our adoption agency...which came yesterday.

I (Eric) had the day off and decided to check our home computer's email yesterday morning.  The kids were watching TV, when I told them we got an email about Joshua.  Nathan's first response was, "we get to go pick him up?"  After I told them what it was, they both started getting excited, as they know the time is getting closer to travel!

Nathan ran upstairs to grab my phone so we could call Jill and let her know.  Ah - the kids were excited!  (makes me wonder how excited they will be when we get the news that we can travel?!)

So what's next?

The P3 - The US embassy sends a packet of information to the Korean agency.  This packet is referred to as P3.  It requests information such as our application and legal forms we have previously filled out and sent over (I-600, I-864, etc), our birth/marriage certificates, Joshua's legal documents, his vaccination certificates, etc. The Korean agency then submits the completed packet back to the US embassy for them to review and approve the travel visa.

VI - After our/Joshua's P3 has been sent back to the US embassy, a "Visa Interview" (VI) is scheduled.  Joshua's P3 packet will be reviewed, and assuming no problems are found, will be approved....and his visa issued.

TC - Our travel call!  Typically the TC comes quickly after the visa is approved - 1-2 days after approval is not uncommon.

All in all, this next step of the process can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks, which could put us to travel in the middle-end of August. We're continuing to pray and wait patiently, and looking forward to hearing updates on these areas as we are able to!

Thanks for your continued support, prayer, and encouragement.  If you'd like to learn more about how you can get involved in bringing Joshua home, check out our "Ways To Partner" page at the top of our blog!

Hold on, Joshua....we're coming soon!