Small Step, Faithful God!

Yesterday morning I took a small step forward or giant leap, however you may want to view it, and booked our airline tickets. I have been watching the internet prices closely over the last two weeks because I knew that the airfare would increase due to the holidays. We are only working with a certain budget and I was praying for the airfare to stay within that budget. I mean praying, pleading, begging God to cause the airfare to go down in price....WAY down in price. God is so Faithful and He really does answer prayers and perform miracles today even for me! I asked our travel agency to try booking the flights one day early to see if that would get us a better deal and guess what?? The tickets were the exact amount that I had asked God for!! The exact amount! That may seem like nothing to some people but it was a HUGE answer to prayer for me! Our tickets are $1000 per person round trip and our daughter's one way ticket is under that amount!! HUGE!
I also believe that God sometimes likes to show off just a little bit and He really did that for me. I was scared and discouraged and not sure how this is going to come together and happen. But that is not all that God did. Right after I got off the phone with the travel agency I recieved a call from my dad telling me that he had a check to give us to help with our adoption. My sweet Dad has a lawn care business and one of his customers will pay him for the whole year and usually pays him in the summer. This year that customer decided to pay him this month instead and my Dad is donating that money  of $1400 to help Jaidyn, his granddaughter come home. I know it is taboo to talk about money and I know that I mention it more than most people, but to me, that is the hardest part to all of this and the scariest part. Today, God showed me that all I need to do is get out of the boat and keep my eyes focused on Him, not the waves crashing all around me, and He will be Faithful to provide and bring our daughter home!!!! God's heart is for the orphan and when we step out of the boat of safety and security, He will show up and show off!! Thank you God!!!

Consulate Appointment and Travel Schedule!

Here is our Schedule for China!!
12/07 – Depart US


12/08 – Arrive in Beijing to participate in the tours on 12/10

12/10 – Arrive in your province, if you’re skipping Beijing. Can arrive anytime on this date.

12/11 or 12/12 – Gotcha Day! This will be finalized on your inner-China itinerary!

12/16 – Fly to Guangzhou

12/17 – Medical exam/TB Test in Guangzhou

12/20 - AC appointment – Oath Taking Ceremony

12/21 - Family goes to AC to pick up passport with visa at ~ 3:30 pm

The frenzy has begun and now I gotta start packing?!? I am so far behind that there are not words to describe it! Not to mention Christmas?? How will it all get done? I have no idea.I only know that The Lord is my strength and through Him I can do all things! I am praying that scripture over and over. I am schedulesd to work until November 30th with only two days off during that time including Thanksgiving. I have to do list within the to do list. Get travel homestudy updated- need new physicals, new budget list, paycheck stubs, and police reports again because everything is over one year old and don't forget the Visas!! Nevermind the things I need to do at home. And making all the arrangements for children on who is staying with who. I will never know why this happens like this every single time. I will never know how I manage to get it all done, but somehow it works out. I only know that God will come through, give me strength, energy, wisdom, provision, and help me get to my daughter on the other side of the world because He loves her more than I could even imagine. Stay tuned and watch the miracles unfold!

Finally got the picture!

Here it is: the Kindle Fire that you can win with just a small donation to help Jaidyn Grace come home and be with her forever sisters Jordyn and Jailynn!! I just wanted to post a picture that we have the Kindle in our hands and will give it away on December 1st. Just $2.00 for one ticket or $5.00 for three. Post the give away on facebook or your blog and get another ticket! We need help to bring Jaidyn home for Christmas and reunite her with her sisters. She has been waiting for a family for a long time! Please consider being a part of her story and help her come home!! Jordyn and Jailynn

Another fundraiser for all the Scentsy fans!

 As you all know...we’re in the midst of our adoption from China and we’ve set up a fundraiser to help Jaidyn come home for Christmas. Scentsy makes beautiful wax warmers that use a light bulb to MELT fragrant wax, not burn it. They’re so much safer and healthier than candles! Visit https://jennc.scentsy.us/Buy?partyId=61522587 to find some great Christmas gifts. The page should say “Kerr Family Adoption.” Please repost this on your pages. Thanks! I am sorry that I have to do this. We are three weeks away from travel and in need of a miracle for Jaidyn.

Win A Kindle Fire: Help Jaidyn come home for Christmas!

Here is the Kindle Fire for our fundraiser. Sorry for this picture but we actually have the Kindle Fire on hold until it comes out on the Nov 15th. As soon as we have it in our hands I will post new pics. SO here is how it works: one ticket is $2 or 3 tickets for $5.00. Also, if you post my fundraiser on your facebook page or blog you will get 2 free tickets. Just leave me a comment that you posted it ;).I will also put tickets in for the support that we have already received. Every dollar raised will help Jaidyn come home for Christmas and it is all for her. She has been waiting for us for a long time and we are ready to have her home for her first Christmas.Please consider helping Jaidyn and spreading the word!! We want you to know that this is for her and not us and we are so thankful for every prayer lifted up and every donation.
                                                               

Product Features

•7" color multi-touch display
Great for viewing movies and TV shows. Brings colorful magazines and books to life.
•8GB storage (6GB for user content)
Provides space for storing books, magazines, TV shows, movies and music.
•Cloud storage
Access to Amazon's cloud storage with free storage of all Amazon digital content.
•Amazon Silk browser
Cloud-accelerated Web browser is ideal for streaming video, music, games and more. Supports Adobe Flash.
•Built-in Wi-Fi
Allows you to connect to Wi-Fi at home or to hotspots on the road.
•Amazon.com Kindle Store
Offers more than 1 million books, magazines and newspapers plus over 18 million movies, TV shows, apps, songs, magazines and books.
•Whispersync technology
Synchronizes your last page read, bookmarks and annotations across your devices so you can always pick up where you left off.
•Apps and games
Includes Facebook and thousands of apps and games to download.
•Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback with wireless off.
With the included lithium-ion battery.
•Weighs 14.6 oz. and measures just 0.45" thin
For easy portability.

Just imagine how happy she will be to spend her real first Christmas with Jordyn and Jailynn and her forever family. Thank you for helping Jaidyn!

We have the Kindle Fire in our hands and I will post a picture of it soon! Please consider purchasing your tickets for a chance to win and help Jaidyn come home for Christmas!

Exciting Times Ahead!!



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That's Right!! We have our second TA!! We are all so excited. We hope to leave on Dec 8th so Jaidyn can be home for Christmas. We need lots of prayer to see this happen. So the frenzie to travel begins!! And the To Do list never ends!! We are also going to have a some items to give away for a fundraiser. Please know that we appreciate every prayer and every dollar that is raised and we do not ask lightly. If you feel led to help Jaidyn come home for Christmas we will be eternally thankful. I will post the details for a give away for a Kindle Fire and other  awesome items. 



Mums and a Ninja

Jordyn and Jailynn with their homecoming mums watching the homecoming parade.

SO I only have two pictures to post from Halloween and homecoming right now but at least it is something. I worked on Halloween night so I did not get to take the pictures. DH took everyone trick or treating in a neighborhood close to where we live. We usually do not go trick or treating and instead go to a fall festival, but due to my work schedule this was better than nothing at all. So who is the Ninja???? My sweet little girl Jailynn. Gone are the days of princess costumes and dress up. Now it is all Ninja fighter and power rangers. She is so funny. I think she just wanted the ninja costume for the play swords. The next day everyone came home to find that Noah raided everyone's candy stash. He figured out all there hiding places and went into each room eating two or three pieces throughout the day. He was a very sneaking little guy. I told them they had to learn to find a better hiding place and to watch him more closely. He knows how to get what he wants!!!

All about the names.

So I feel the need to explain my thinking behind the names. First, I have a weird compulsion to stick with A names and J names. I have no idea why except that I started with my bio kids and felt that I had to continue the trend. My first son was named Joseph after his dad and his middle name is Edward after my father. I stuck with Joseph because, one it is a Bible name and I happen to love Bible names and, two,because it was after his dad and my dad. Name problem solved and we call him Joey. Five years later, I was remarried and we were having a girl. I was beyond excited and one day during a Bible study the Lord whispered to me that her name would be Anna Joy and she would be a Joy to all who meet her. The name Anna was special to my husband because that was his grandmothers name. That is where the A and J trend began. andA and J just had to stick. So, four years later we are expecting another baby and I was beyond excited again. I really thought I was having a boy that time and his name would be Andrew Timothy. I was shocked when we had the sono and we found out she was a girl. I had no idea what to name her and we just thought of Amanda Hope at the doctors office and knew that was her name. Just this year we had someone email us our family ancestor's traced back to 1600 from Scotland, and I saw that one of the women from 1800's was named Amanda. I thought that was kinda interesting. Four years later we are expecting again and this time we are having a boy. We chose the name JonMarc Timothy after John Mark from the Bible.  Ok, so that is why we have A names and J names.
       When it came time to choose names for our girls from China, I really struggled with what to name them. I wanted to keep their Chinese names as well as give them an American name. Mainly because Jordyn's Chinese name was You He and difficult to pronounce. Her nickname was HeHua after the lotus flower and it has a beautiful meaning that her life would blossom into beauty although she had a tough beginning. I loved that and felt it was important. I tried really hard to find an A name for her but we could not all agree on the name. At that time we were big fans of American Idol and Jordin Sparks was one of the contestants. We all liked her and liked her name. I was also reading a book about crossing the Jordan as a Christian and into the promise land that God has for us. So we prayed and felt that her name was Jordyn Faith and that we were taking a leap of faith to bring her home. This was our first adoption and there were tons of obstacles for us. God met us where we were and provided miracle after miracle to bring her home. Back to the names, we added her Chinese name as well so her full name is Jordyn Zohe Faith Hehua Kerr. There you have it. Zohe means life and I felt that it was special to add that to her name and kind of incorporate the her Chinese name into. Two years later we are adopting again, from Jordyn's same orphanage, her little friend. Jordyn is ecstatic and cannot wait for her to come home. Her Chinese name is You Yu and again we decide to continue the trend and give her an A name or J name. The J name Jailynn is chosen for her because Jordyn really liked it. We heard of her name from an adoption journey video we had from our agency and felt that it fit. We chose the middle name Charity from the Bible to continue the Bible name trend and because we had a already felt a deep love in our hearts for her. So we named her Jailynn Charity Yu. Now here we are again adopting the third little girl from their same orphanage and what do we do about the name?? I really wanted to name her with an A name this time and I had my picks: Allison, Addison, and Avery were my favorites. However, the a names were voted a no by the majority of our clan and the J name won: Jaidyn Grace Anfeng. I did not fight against the name because I absolutely love the meaning behind Jaidyn: which meant in Hebrew "Jehovah has heard". That meant so much to me and confirmed He had heard our prayers over her. Besides I won the A name battle when we adopted Noah. I changed his name to Andrew Noah. I know that it does not really go together but I was not sure if we will go down the adoption road again and I still had the name Andrew in my heart for a boy. All the names can be quite the tongue twisters and I have to confess that I usually call them all by the wrong name. Try saying Jordyn, Jailynn, Jaidyn, Anna and Amanda really fast! I usually get them mixed up and get the eyes rolled at me and the look of aggravation. I love all their names and more importantly, I love the individuals behind the names!They are all blessings and I could never imagine my life with out them! That's my story and I am sticking to it!!