What's that you say? Another delay?

I wish I was joking. Our Article 5 is scheduled to be picked up from the US Consulate in Guangzhou on 11/7. China is 13 hours ahead of EST right now, which means the consulate opens in less than 4 hours. Sometime tonight we will enter the wait for Travel Approval (TA). All of this is very exciting! With a two week TA wait (this is average) we will be on schedule to leave on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, two nights ago we found out that the US Consulate is closing from 12/5-12/12 for training. This is the exact week we were hoping to have our appointment and bring James home. Because of this closure and the Christmas holidays, the appointment slots in December are filling up fast. There is a chance we might have to wait until January. No one knew this closure was coming. Obstacles are appearing out of thin air. 

This morning I stopped to grab breakfast while I was running errands. The woman at the register made eye contact with me, smiled, asked me how my morning was going (I'm in Einstein Bagels = awesome.). When I commented on her friendliness she responded, "It's the Spirit." My heart smiled. Indeed. This same Spirit is urging me to patiently TRUST my God, to BELIEVE that He is perfect and that He is stamping His perfection on this adoption, though it seems arbitrary to me. Nevertheless, none of this feels good, and if it weren't for His constantly putting a song in my heart, I would be angry every minute until this is over. 

Do you want to see the backyard? We experienced plenty of delays there too. Our landscaper was booked longer than we anticipated. When he was finally able to clear and grade the yard and install the retaining wall for the trampoline, we entered the rainiest July in history. The sod companies were weeks behind because they couldn't drive their sod-collectors (I'm pretty sure that's not what they're called) on the soggy fields. But, like most other things in life (?) it did eventually come together. 

Just before they started it looked like:

Home to rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, deer. And yellow jackets. They found that one out the hard way. Ouch. 

After much bobcat-ing, machete-ing, excavating, raking, and hauling we were left with

Many moons later (~3 weeks)the sod went down and our property value went up. 

Four months later, the yard is littered with pine straw, leaves, and toys. Perfection!

We have a yard-sharing agreement with one set of neighbors. Did I mention that they're awesome? Isn't their yard adorable? 

They graciously allow Henry access to their swingset, and the mini-Macklers are welcome on the trampoline anytime. 

There's still plenty of work to do on the back of the house. The deck is a bona fide death-trap. Scary. Please stay off. The siding is made of something akin to cardboard, and is well past its expiration date. The windows are merely for looks. Neither cold air nor wasps are deterred. And then there's our famous mushroom-growing door. 

It's not all as glamorous as it looks over here. Baby steps.

Baby steps?! Waaaaaaah! 

Let's aim for a lighthearted post next time, shall we?