We are alive!

We imagined a lot of things that might present challenges to us as we entered back into the US and began our life as a family of 5 but we never could have prepared for what we experienced these past 2 weeks.  Jet lag got us the first 3 days, all though we were prepared for that.  But day 4 we were hit with illness after illness.  Blair began battling a kidney stone and infection that landed him in the ER. All boys had the nasty cough and cold crud.  Then Disa and Blair both got upper respiratory infections.  Gibson battled a fever and a nasty stomach bug that has bothered him on and off for a week.  We are now ending with pink eye.  One of those alone with our jet lag would have been a challenge (probably not pink eye) but all of them hitting at the same time just about did us in.  However we are so thankful to the many people who prayed for healing, brought us meals, stayed with our sleeping boys while we were in the ER, brought medicine and groceries and the list goes on and on!  We had planned to blog a few days after returning but are just now having enough energy to do so.

Friday afternoon we began to feel like we were on the mend and so we did get to do some "normal" family activities.  We went to the grocery store and got haircuts.  Then today we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked to the park.  Many have asked how the boys are adjusting but with so much of our energy focused on our health it just hasn't left us much time to process that.  Considering the 2 weeks they've just endured we feel they are doing pretty well.  They are enjoying American food, playing toys and are back to a regular sleep schedule!

Here are a few pics from the last few days as we finally got to enjoy regular things!

Chillin in the car!

Shopping with Mama

Happy eater!

Happy eater!

Park fun!

Oops!

Cheese!

Hi!!!!

How we roll!!

We've come a long way since our first bath in China!

Final China Update

I can't belied that we are actually typing this, but its our FINAL update while in China!!!!  The last few days have been filled with appointments, sightseeing, and down time at the hotel.  We discovered a park near our hotel and have visited it a couple times.  We also ventured out into the city in taxis and actually made it where we wanted to go and back to the hotel!  We found Shamian Island and loved the feel of Savanah Georgia that it had.  We will probably go back again Friday morning.  Today was our US Consulate appointment and all went well.  Now we just wait to receive the boys' visas and we are free to leave with them!  We leave for Hong Kong Sat am and stay there over night and catch our plane to the US Sunday morning.  Its hard to see all the other families leaving already, but we are just thankful that we got to come in Sept so a few extra days doesn't seem all that bad!  The boys continue to get to know us and we are getting to see more of their personalities come through.  We can't wait to be back home and feel like we can start living every day life as a family of 5.  Here are the last few pics we have from this week.  We would ask for your prayers as we prep for the 15 hour flight from Hong Kong to Chicago.  We aren't sure what to expect from them, but prayers for rest and few diaper changes would be much appreciated!!! Also, please pray for the jet lag for all of us.  We know it will take several weeks to get completely back on schedule, but quicker would be great too!  We will post once we get back home and keep everyone updated on their progress.  Thanks again for all your support!!

Caffrey's hat choice!

Cavin's hat choice!

Fish Watching

Gibson's hat choice!

US Consulate Day

Med day done!

We have now been a family of 5 for a whole week.  As a family we've now traveled on a bullet train, taken a trip on an airplane, had many long bus rides, taken a river boat ride and as of today survived the dreaded medical appointment.  We were so thankful that the medical stations went fast and the boys were mostly happy until the blood draw for the TB test.  Of course Blair was waiting with a camera to capture their pitiful crying faces as the nurses brought them out to us.  The cries didn't last long and our afternoon was filled with plenty of fun and even Starbucks for mom and dad!  We now wait in the hotel room tomorrow for the results of the TB test and pray we don't get called back for a chest x ray.  Then the next day we have our consulate appointment and then wait 48 hours for the visas to arrive so we can travel home.  We are thankful now to say with each day that it is our last Monday, Tuesday, etc.  Again we thank all of you for your prayers as we near the end of this portion of our adoption journey.

Sweet and Sour: The Past 60 Hours

The much anticipated Gotcha day was on Monday and we were so anxious to become a family of 5.  We had no idea which boy would arrive first and were excited to see Caffrey was already waiting for us.  The pictures are on our camera and so we will have to post the actual reunion another time.  He was scared and cried most of the time we were there.  Cavin arrived about 20 minutes later and began making friends with the american children and didn't shed a tear.  Once all the initial paperwork was signed we were able to go back to the hotel to begin bonding.  The rest of the night went really well and the boys enjoyed playing with the few toys we brought with us.  Gibson did great keeping them entertained.

Day 2 with our boys was busy with a trip to sign and receive official adoption certificates for both boys.  This 2 hour adventure was followed by a trip to get Caffrey's passport photo and paperwork started.  When we returned last night we were exhausted but extremely excited to hear the boys asking for us to hold them and calling us mama and baba already!

Day 3(today) has been filled with challenges.  We had to wake the boys at 6:30 to be able to take the bullet train to get Cavin's passport started and to visit his orphanage.  The boys did well on the trip to the city but on the way back the early wake up and the fact that they both missed their nap made for a restless ride.  Once back at the hotel it was too late to put them down for a nap and so we did our best to keep them busy by visiting the pool.  Neither were huge fans, but they tolerated the water and even started splashing toward the end.  Since both boys were tired we didn't want to venture too far from the hotel for supper so we ate at the hotel's italian restaurant.  This was asking too much from our sleepy crew.  Many tears and tantrums later we did finish our pizza and got back to the room for a very early bedtime also filled with tears.

We are so thankful that our only trip tomorrow is here in the city to visit Caffrey's orphanage.  We should not miss naps and should get much needed rest.   Living out of a hotel in a foreign city with children who do not speak your language isn't ideal but we know this part of the journey will soon be over.  Please pray for needed sleep.  Overall we are so thankful that both boys seem to be bonding to us well.  Gibson too has been phenomenal and does all he can to make sure the boys are happy!    

Here are a few pictures we've taken with our phone.  Both boys have great personalities and their smiles just melt our hearts!

Bedtime stories with BaBa

Cavin's Nanny

This guy is a ham!!

Mommy's All American Boy

Bullet train to passport office

His bedding/nametage were still there just in case we decided no

He loves Daddy's sunglasses

Officially a Benefield

Officially a Benefield

Breakfast with Mommy

Beijing adventure

Wow!  That's about the best word to describe the last 4 days.  We had a long day of travel to get to Beijing (almost 24 hours from the time we left home until we arrived at our hotel in Beijing).  Even though it was long it was a smooth trip.  We even ventured out from our hotel and had our first local meal-Pizza Hut.

The next morning we met up with our travel group and began touring the city.  We visited Tiananmen square, the Forbidden City, took a ricksha tour of Old Beijing and ate lunch with a local family.  In the evening we were exhausted and on our own but we did find a Starbucks and walked around a shopping mall.

Today we got an opportunity of a lifetime, and walked on The Great Wall.  After climbing for about 2 hours we stopped at a Jade showroom.  Then we ended our afternoon with a acrobatic show.  We were so worn out we decided to skip dinner, walk around and take in the local food at the street vendors, and just pack up for our early flight in the morning.

Below are a few highlight photos from our last few tour days.  Thanks for all those who are continuing to pray for us.  We are so close to meeting our boys and are getting very anxious.  Our next blog will include pictures of our boys in our arms.  We can't wait to post those pictures!

The last wait

We received notification that our article 5 was picked up in China today.  This means they recognize we have visas to travel and now we just wait for their invitation to travel.  It is the last unknown wait left in our journey.  The wait could be short but will feel so long!  We are so excited to make it to this step but here is the reality.  We must get the travel approval by September 1st (in 4 days) to travel by Septemebr 9.  That seems crazy to even ask or imagine but our God does amazing things.  It's also scary because that would mean we would get approval and leave just about a week later!  As much as we have prepared for this day there seems like a million things to get done if those dates work out.  If we do not receive approval by September 1, we most likely will get approval soon after and travel after the big Chinese holiday and leave October 8.  Either way our boys will be home soon.  Thank you to those continuing to follow our journey!  We appreciate the support we have been shown and ask that you continue to pray for God's timing.  We look forward to updating the blog next as it will mean we have travel news and the big question , "When will you get the boys?" can be answered!

Good News and New Names

Well today was another big day in our journey to get the boys.  Our Article 5 (proof that we have applied for their U.S. visas) was dropped off at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou today.  The turn around is a standard 2 weeks and then we wait for Travel Approval.  We are still praying that God would do a miracle so we can travel in early September to get the boys.  If we don't make the cutoff we will have to wait until mid October to travel.  In order for a Sept 9 travel date we need either
a) the Article 5 to not take the entire 2 weeks or b) if the Article 5 takes 2 weeks, the CCCWA to give us travel approval within a few days of receiving our file.  Both A and B would be even better!!!  Whatever the outcome we know God is still in control and we praise Him for another milestone in the process today.

On another note, many have been asking about the boys' english names. Well ask no longer because we decided that when we got to Article 5 drop off we would reveal their names.  Drumroll please....... I now would like to introduce you to...

Cavin Tao Benefield (Tao is his Chinese middle name)

Caffrey Xing Benefield (Xing is his Chinese middle name)

Now that you know their names, we would love for you to pray for them by name.

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
Proverbs 22:1

Critical Week

The question we get most often now is, when will we be traveling?  Well this week could provide that answer.  We received pre approval from immigration via a letter on Saturday.  That letter was also sent to the national visa center where we are issued a "number."  We need that number to complete the 2nd to last piece of paperwork before we get travel approval.  If we get issued our number tomorrow we have a chance to get the final 2 steps completed within the next 2 weeks and therefore could be issued travel approval for the final "gotcha day" in September.  If we do not get the number it is almost mathematically impossible to complete the final 2 steps and get travel approval before the big holiday at the end of September.  Of course we know God can do anything so I hesitate to even type the word impossible!    Either way we will know soon and should be able to definitively answer the most asked question!

On a side note we received updates on both boys from families who are currently in their province picking up their own newly adopted children.  One even sent a video as they told one of the boys that his mommy and daddy were coming to get him soon.  It was a very special moment and we are so blessed by the adoptive community we have met who have helped us keep in contact with our boys!

Here are the most recent photos taken by the families there this past week!

 

Also stay tuned because once we get this number and complete the step this week we will be announcing their new names!  Thank you again for your continued prayer and support!


Continuing to remind ourselves that God is in control and He is sovereign.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21

Big News!

So if you read the previous post we ended with a prayer request and said we would update when God answered.  We were waiting for our official approval from China and were praying to receive it before Blair left for Mexico.  Once again God had the perfect timing and we received email news on Tuesday stating we had received approval and then received the hard copy today. Plenty of time to sign and return before Blair leaves for Mexico on Monday!  The approval came just 40 days after all our paperwork was officially logged in in China.  The amazing thing about 40 days is that one of our prayer warriors mentioned a few weeks ago that God was saying 40 days was significant!  Love how God works!

Also for those of you following along on our financial journey to bring the boys home, we have big news in that area as well.  We have been blessed by your giving and have reached the $4,000 mark, which means we will get our matching grant from Lifesong!  We received this blessing within hours of receiving our official approval from China and the timing was again so clearly God designed.

With the big news this week comes the excitement of knowing travel is coming soon.  Our agency says to expect to travel within 9-12 weeks.  We mentioned before that at the beginning of October is a big National holiday in China so there will be no traveling during that time.  If we get travel approval to go in 9 weeks we would be able to go before the holiday.  If not we will travel in 12 weeks after the holiday.  We are praying for 9 weeks, but trusting again in God's timing!

The Official Documents!!

The Hand of God

We have said from day 1 we need to write down the many answers to prayer along this journey, so here are just a few.  It has been so clear to us that God has been evident throughout this journey but it was difficult to capture in a short blog!

1.  In the previous entry I spoke briefly of  how we chose our international agency after much prayer. However I didn't share that we had attended an adoption introduction class at our church last summer and heard several couples share about agencies.  One of the agencies was CCAI.  We googled and researched it shortly after but wanted a more personal connection/story.  Just a few weeks later Blair heard a couple talking to his administrative assistant  in the student ministries offices and they were sharing about their adoption process.  The agency they were talking about was CCAI, the one we were researching.  Shortly thereafter we submitted our application.  After nearly a year of research God's timing in this decision was incredible (see #2 for why).

2.  Our application was approved by our international agency and so the next step was getting a local agency to do our home study.  We had just completed that application when we received the call for the match for twin A.  All that time researching had lead to the right agency and right timing for a quick match.  This also meant we had to move quickly on the paperwork for our home study.  However the timing of the match and the point we were in the paperwork was just right for God to move again (see #3 for why).

3.  Again we didn't set out to adopt 2 children but we checked yes for multiples in case we were matched with a child with a sibling.  We also understood this was rare.  China has only recently allowed for multiple adoptions and not all agencies will even do it.  On top of that even if matched with 2, many social workers only write the home study approving a family for 1 adoption.  In order for paperwork to be completed for 2, the home study has to state 2, and you can't be too far in the paperwork for 1 already approved.  Basically it's a very narrow window!  So when we got the call that we were a match for twin B we "just happened" to be in that tiny window where we hadn't gone too far into the paperwork with 1 and our home study could still be written for 2.  However when we were matched with the 2nd we only had 5 months left to complete all paperwork for the dossier and get it to China.  This nearly impossible 5 month window was again well within God's grasp (see #4)

4.  Since we were matched with twin A in December the 6 month paperwork deadline started at that point for both boys.  We were very diligent in completing what we needed to as fast as possible, but most documents we had to send away for and wait on state departments to authenticate.  We prayed for each document each step of the way.  The final wait was for the immigration document.  This is known to be the longest wait and usually there isn't a call to check on the progress.  Following other adoption blogs we knew to expect about a 45-60 day wait.  We were informed near the end that we could call to see if we'd been assigned a case manager.  We thought we only had about a 2 week window to get the approval in order to get everything sent to DC, and then to our agency for translation to get it to China before the 6 months ran up.  So Blair made the call.  The agent informed him that our case manager was gone for the day but they did find our application on his desk.  It appeared to them that nothing had been started.  We knew that it took weeks for each application so if it wasn't started we'd never get it back in time.  We prayed that night for a miracle and went to bed restless.  The next day we received an email that our application had been approved the day before and was being mailed out that week.  It didn't show up on the desk because it was already done when Blair called! This wouldn't be the last time that paperwork showed up so quickly (see #5).

5.  After this last document came back and we had everything authenticated by the Chinese Consolate in DC it was time for final review by our agency.  We sent our dossier to be reviewed in Georgia (based on where we live) and then they fed ex it to CCAI's main office in CO.  We received the tracking info on a Friday and it said it would arrive the next Thursday.  We thought that seemed like a long time, but we tracked it multiple times a day.  By Monday it was already at a Fed Ex location about 20 miles from our agency.  We thought that meant an early delivery, so when it wasn't delivered  Tuesday or Wednesday, Blair called early Thursday to see why it hadn't moved.  They could not find our package, it was lost!  Naturally we called our prayer warriors and prayed for a miracle.  Less than 2 hours later our agency called and said the "lost package" was delivered.  As if that wasn't amazing enough 24 hours later it was on its way to China.

6.  Now the most current evidence of God happened yesterday.  We are on day 33 of our approval wait in China.  We have heard wait times are averaging 45 days.  We also knew that we would get an email stating it was out of translation and in critical review (the last step before approval).  We had been praying to get approval before Blair left for Mexico so we could sign and return the papers right away.  We knew that meant we needed to get the email this week about our dossier being in critical review.  So we called for prayer support and in amazing God fashion we had the email within 2 hours stating we were in critical review.

7.  Id love to post in our next blog about how we got official approval before Blair leaves for Mexico so if you would like to join our prayer warriors I will update as soon as God answers that prayer!  What an awesome God we serve and thank you for joining us on this adventure He is guiding us along!

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Our Journey

All though we just recently made the announcement that we are adopting, this has not been a recent decision.  We desired for Gibson to have a sibling, but knew shortly after his difficult birth that if we were to have more children we would adopt.  Adoption was something we both had a desire for but this event really began the journey.  After our move to Tennessee in 2012 we began to explore domestic vs. international adoption.  We spent more than a year reading adoption blogs, speaking to adoptive parents and attending adoption workshops.  After that year we both felt God leading us toward international adoption and specifically China.  Once we determined to explore China we began to research international adoption agencies and ultimately chose to partner with CCAI (Chinese Children Adoption International) out of Colorado.  We formally submitted our application in October 2014.

Once we chose our international agency we found a local adoption agency to begin our home study.  We started the background check phase (needing clearance from each state we had lived in).  About 1 month into our process we began to look at a file of a little 1 year old.  We had a week to look over the limited paperwork and short 5 second video clips before we said yes on December 9.  We received pre approval from China on December 22.  This meant we had exactly 6 months to complete all paperwork and get it to China.  The "paper chase" as it is often referred to in the adoption world included getting current copies of birth certificates, our marriage license, intense medical check ups, financial statements, etc.  Each of these papers needed to be authenticated locally, by the state they originated and then by the Chinese Consulate.  Simultaneous to this paper chase we began meeting with the social worker to complete our home study.

While we were authenticating several papers in Nashville right after Christmas, we received a call from our international agency.  To our surprise they said we were matched with a 2nd child if we would be interested in looking at his file.  We did not set out on this journey to bring home 2 children but we checked yes to multiple children on our application in case we were matched with a child with a sibling (we didn't want to separate siblings).  After making sure we wouldn't be "taking away" a file from another family, our agency assured us this child did not match any other family in their system.  With that information we said we would look at his file.  Strangely enough we were sitting in an IHOP waiting for our tire to get fixed (we'd had a flat at Opryland hotel the night before) and had plenty of time to check out the file.  Once we saw the pictures and read about this new little guy we were pretty smitten.

We took about a week to pray and think through logistics and officially said yes on January 8, 2015.  Since that time we finished authenticating all the paperwork, completed our home study and got approval from immigration to adopt from China.  We have also taken the time to prepare for the adjustments bringing home 2 boys will take for our home.  We still have a lot of waiting left to do, but that also allows us time to continue to prepare as much as possible.

Stay tuned for more of the story.  In the meantime, here are the first pics that we got in their files. Now you can see why it was an easy yes for us!!

Twin A

Twin B

God in His holy dwelling is a Father to the fatherless......

Psalm 68:5