Our adoption journey has been so frustrating that I've stopped writing updates. We are very excited to become parents and it continues to be a pain point for us as days, weeks and months pass us by without children.

We wanted to take a moment and do a little update and share some of what we are going through. China is still on lockdown with a zero tolerance policy towards CV-19. As most of you know, our match to sweet, little Indie is advanced to the point that all we are waiting for is travel approval from China to go pick her up. But there have been ZERO communications from China to indicate when they will allow adoptive families to travel to China. They did release a statement in January that basically indicated they intend to continue with the adoption program, that they appreciate adoptive families, but no other timelines or promises were made in that statement. We were able to facetime with her one time earlier this year and have sent videos every couple of months to her. We do not know for sure if she receives them, but are told that she does.

There have been a lot of really tough conversations amongst adoptive families this year. I'm in support type groups with a few of them and the issues facing us all are hard to navigate. We love our little Indie very dearly and we will wait for her - regardless of the length of time of the wait. There is a little bit of fear involved for us because we do worry that inter-country relations between USA and China could pose a threat to the adoption program. We do not know if it will be months, years or never. But we will wait.

In the meantime, we are thinking a lot about our desire to have a family. We just always assumed we would adopt Indie and then a year or two later, when she felt adjusted, we would pursue another adoption for a sibling for her. Dave's age continues to be at the forefront of our decision making. We have spoken to our international adoption agency about pursuing another child while we wait for Indie, but it's not possible to have two international matches at one time. So that option is out.

However, there could be an option for us to pursue a domestic adoption here in the USA while we wait out our China travel. We have begun making inquiries into that process and will update you as things progress.

We are definitely heading into a time that's difficult for us - me particularly. There is just no joy, quite like the joy of children, at holidays. The decorating, the baking and shopping... it takes on a new magic when little hearts and minds are involved. I have found my own enthusiasm for all of those things has just disappeared because it's too sad. I kind of want to just opt-out of the 2021 holidays. I know that's not the right attitude to have, so I will make an effort to find things that bring me joy this holiday season.

Thank you to everyone who reaches out to check on us. For those who pray for us. For those who love on us. We have really appreciated all the care and concern that you've shown us and it has mattered. More than I can aptly express. Thank you.

In love, faith and hope,

Stacey