In April of 2005, we saw an ad in a church bulletin for an adoption agency seeking families interested in adopting. David actually pointed it out and from then on we couldn't stop thinking about the possibility! Up to that point, we had had numerous things come up in our life regarding adoption, but we weren't catching on right away. When we saw that ad, everything came together and we knew this is what we were meant to pursue.

We went to an informational meeting with the adoption agency and received lots of details. We realized we had a lot of decisions to start making. Do we really pursue this? Do we pursue a domestic adoption or an international adoption? If so, which country?

After just a short time, it was clear to us that we would pursue an adoption through China. We've both traveled to Asia, and David has specifically been to China. So, we felt that the international adoption "fit" us with our love of culture, travel, and diversity.

At Ainsley's and Griffin's Baby Shower

Thus began the piles and piles of paperwork to be completed. It has involved pre-applications, formal applications, self-study reports, international adoption assessments, employment verifications, fingerprinting, police clearance letters, physicals and blood work, and more! It also involved meeting with a social worker at least three times and having her write a formal report to approve us as adoptive parents. Almost every single piece of paper has had to be notarized and eventually state-sealed. Some of these forms were for our adoption agency, but many of them were sent to China as part of our "dossier."

All of our paperwork was officially accepted and our “log-in date” in China was October 10, 2005! When we began the journey, we were anticipating a referral six months from our “log-in date,” but the process for China significantly slowed down and we received our referral nearly 16 months after our “log-in date!!” (For information on how we received the referral for Ainsley Xia’an, see “About Ainsley”)

The nursery is ready!

And much has happened as we have waited! One major development is the recent birth of our baby boy - Griffin Everett, born March 9, 2007 at 1:17pm, 9 lbs and 23 inches! (See "Our Family" for more details!)

We're so excited about this new season of our life together. We have created this site for those of you who wish to follow along in our journey.