Arriving Home

After 23 hours of travel, we were ready for final descent into Mobile Airport! The trip was amazing. God had been good to us and we were counting our blessings and feeling the jetlag at the same time!

Our sweet friends and my parents met us at the airport. What a wonderful welcome Nathanael received. It was a giant celebration of God making a family.

A few pictures of Taiwan

The pictures are as follows:

1. Tea fields near The Home of God's Love

2. Brian with the largest carrots I have ever seen.

3. Me with "The Blue Bomb" that we and the Elswicks drove back and forth to the apartment

4. A family picture inside Taipei 101

5. Group picture at Taroki Gorge

These are just a few of the sights we saw. I wish I could share all of our pictures, but we took over a thousand! Taiwan is a beautiful country and so are the people there. It will always hold a special place in our hearts.

In Taiwan

While in Taiwan, we were given a tour of sights of from Ted Skiles. The food there was amazing as well. We visited a local market and a handicraft center. We had so much fun! We also helped with babies and, of course, spent quality time with Nathanael.

Traveling with Ted was a wonderful adventure. He is a wonderful man of God and was such a blessing to spend time with. We were able to hear stories of God's provision for the home. What an inspiration! We met wonderful people who took care of Nathanael: Bev Skiles, Showhwa, Katie, Judith, Jess, Ellen, and Grandma. We also met Jen Jen and Janet who travel down from Taipei every week to volunteer their time with the babies. We met children who loved Nathanael and who were a joy to get to know. In Taipei, we met the Edwards family. They became good friends! It is difficult to sum up our trip here. It was amazing, tiring, inspiring, beautiful, educational, emotional, life-changing...I could go on and on, but I hear my sweet Taiwanese boy waking up from his short nap.

Meeting Nathanael for the first time!

When we arrived at The Home of God's Love, we basically ran in the door to meet our son! These pictures capture the smiles that still haven't left our faces! We enjoyed meeting Ted and Bev Skiles, Showhwa, Jess, Ellen, Katie, Judith and Grandma upon arriving at the home. I do think that we were the most excited to meet Nathanael, though!

Taiwan, Here We Come!

We are leaving in 2 days to go to Taiwan to bring home our son. We are so excited to meet all the wonderful people who have been caring for him during this time. It is hard to believe that after all the paperwork hassles, government red-tape, hours on hold, emails sent, calls made, and pictures received, we will meet him in person on Tuesday morning Taiwan time (Monday night U.S. time)!!! We are so happy, excited, and in awe of God's blessing in making us a family from opposite sides of the world. I'm reminded that we titled our blog "heart to heart". In just a few days, we will be able to hold Nathanael heart to heart and tell him how much we love him and have been praying for him.

"I prayed for this child and the Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me." I Samuel 1:27

Travel and Visa

We will be leaving for Taiwan on Easter Sunday afternoon!!! We are so excited! Please keep praying about the VISA, as it has not arrived at the National Visa Center, yet. We serve a big God who has worked out so many details and we are praising HIM!!!!

"I will be glad, yes filled with joy because of You. I will sing Your praises, O Lord God above all gods." Psalm 9:2

Updates and prayer requests

Praise the Lord! Nathanael is doing much better and should be released from the hospital at least by Monday!

Please keep praying about the VISA processing, as they have not received our information, yet and we are looking at traveling very soon.

God has worked out so many details. We are trusting him to continue to do so!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

We love you all,
Brian and Heather