Things (LOTS OF THINGS), Bow & Arrows, tortes, cookies, pies, and more! WE SOLD IT ALL!!!

We are in awe of the generousity and support from family, friends, community members, and complete strangers. Our Garage Sale for Adoption was a HUGE success. We cannot thank everyone enough---those who either donated items and goodies, stopped by to offer support for our adoption by purchasing items from our enourmous sale, or just plain offered a hug and a listening ear while we shared about our journey to Kalyn - then convinced them to buy some goodies!

 

So we are crazy! Here is how the last two weeks have gone. Yes it has been a whirlwind! It all started with a plan to ask church family and friends for donations of items they wanted to get rid of but didn't have time to sell on their own. We encourage people to drop items by our house and we would be happy to sell them - all proceeds to benefit Kalyn's adoption. A slough of families donated items. More than we expected and it was awesome! We also went through our attic, basement, bedrooms, closets, and kitchen-- daddy thought mommy might just sell him too! We sent emails and text messages to family and friends asking them to make baked goods, we ordered free "Square" readers so we could accept Credit Cards, mommy made some flashy signs, and we ordered T-shirts.

 

Grandpa Curtis & Grandma Meri showing off our "Love Crosses Oceans" T-Shirts and their new grandson!
Thanks mom for your dedication to helping and baking for our sale. It wouldn't have been possible without YOU!

 

Overwhelmed by the enourmous response we had so much stuff to sell for our Sept 13th sale. After the sale we decided that we had enough stuff (yep lots of stuff) to have ANOTHER sale on Sept 20th during city wide sales. It was like Jesus feeding the 5,000 from scripture; John 6:1-14. When Jesus started with very little, he then fed 5,000 and had leftovers - that's what it felt like after our first sale - we had even more stuff for the second sale. All things are possible through him who gives you strength. HAVE FAITH!

 

So the turnout for both days was amazing! Friends we knew, many people we did not, even folks who have adopted kiddos themselves, are thinking about adopting, or even those who know someone who has adopted. So many neat connections and amazing people that came just because it was a Garage Sale for Adoption! **Even a visit from a 90 some yr. old gentlemen who drove 35 miles to tell us about his three adopted children** GOD IS SO GOOD!

 

In the end - we had a small trailer of stuff (yep still more stuff) that we donated to a local charity, Community Health Ministry - so the items will go to those who need it. The Garage Sales were a lot of work, but the people we encountered, the quality time organizing items with grandma Meri, and all the friends and family to donated to make our sale a success --- PRICELESS and WORTH EVERY ACHEY BONE & MUSCLE!

 

We are so blessed and cannot express enough thank yous for those who have helped us along the way. You may view our FUNDRAISING PAGE to see all of the mini miracles and love that people have shown us through our many fundraisers. 

 

We cannot express our appreciation for Everyone's Love, Prayers, and Support!

KALYN is LOVED by MORE AWESOME PEOPLE THAN HE CAN IMAGINE.

Praise the LORD!

"Praise, O servants of the LORD, Praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised..."

-Psalm 113:1-3

***********

Along the adoption front we are waiting the next approval, LOA. For China families matched prior to their Dossier (pernounced do-see-ay) this is the longest wait. The "Letter of Acceptance" confirms that China has officially approved our adoption application and approves our match to Kalyn. Daddy and Mommy have to sign it and send it back to China to confirm that "YES" we want to bring Kalyn home. Then we will travel to China between 8-12 weeks later. The LOA wait typically comes to families about 60-90 days after our Dossier arrives in China. We are on day 48. God's timing is perfect...we will wait for the next excitement. In the mean time - we are preparing to get VISA's for in-country travel to China, fundraising for our last bit of travel expenses and shop for gifts that we will give Kalyn's nannies, the orphanage director, tour guides, and drivers. So excited to share with you our LOA event!!! We plan to celebrate by launching Lanterns in the Sky...

 

Blessings to you all!



Today is THE DAY the LORD has made, LET US REJOICE!

Today is the day and IT IS BEAUTIFUL! Our BIG Garage Sale for Adoption is today. We have worked very hard for over a week every night to pull this event together. Many generous and loving friends and family have given donations of items for us to sell. Really awesome people have spent hours in the kitchen, peeling apples for apple pie, crumbling reeces peanut butter cups for chocolate tortes, made brownies, and decorated some awesome minnie/mickey mouse sugar cookies. YUM!

 

God truely has given us such a gift in the people who wrap their arms around us and pray as we journey to BRING KALYN HOME!

We believe that God will provide IN HIS TIME. As a friend on Facebook (Fannie Wilks) says it best, "God funds what he favors!!!" I say, "AMEN!"

If you are in our neck of the woods, drop in for a visit between 7am - 2pm. The Big Sister's Lemonade Stand will have some pink lemonade for guests and we have a "MEET KALYN" table for all to enjoy.

Blessings to You and Yours!

LID! Say what?

Yep! We have another Hahn Contagious Acronym...we have a Log In Date as of 08/18/2014! Our dossier has made it safely to China and has been logged into the Chinese Welfare System. Praising God that the DHL, FedEx, or UPS man did a great job delivering our documents.

Now as Daddy says, "we are waiting on our YWR TTC (Yep We Are Traveling To China)!" (i.e. LOA aka Letter of Acceptance and TA travel approval which Daddy calls TSA -security prior to flight)

Until next time...

GOD is GOOD!



L to R: Jeremiah, Kalyn, Karah, & Jennah celebrate our DTC with handcrafted tshirts
and hiking at the Red Rocks in Colorado

Hahn Family has DTC

Sounds like the Hahn family has something contagious!  If you are anything like me all the acronyms get confusing.  My wife constantly throws out acronyms as if I should know exactly what they are.  As a Veterinarian I have many acronyms that I must keep track of so every time Krista mentions an acronym I think of a Veterinary related condition.  The closest I could come up with is DTM (dermatophyte test medium) which is used for culturing the fungus ringworm.  When discussing adoptions you have your LOA, DTC, GOTCHA DAY, USCIS, I-800, CCCWA, LID, OOT just to name a few. 

All joking aside we are really excited that our Dossier is in transit to China TODAY!  You may be asking who this Dossier is and why we sent him to China.  Well, Dossier is a series of certified documents about our family that is sent to the Chinese Government.  Once this arrives in China they will provide a log in date, it will be translated to Mandarin, and our request will be reviewed.  Once we have our log in date then we will have to wait until we can get our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and TA (Travel Approval).  LOA usually occurs a few months after the log in date. 

This day is truly a blessing from our Lord and Savior.  We thank everyone who has helped us get to this far.  Please continue to follow us through our blog.  We ask for your continued prayers and blessing for a quick LOA and that our son, Kalyn, continues to grow in good health.  Over the next few months we will be having some fundraisers to help offset travel expenses.  We ask that you prayerfully consider helping. 

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” –Exodus 14:14

Thank you and God Bless on this Glorious Day!

~The Hahn Family

 

U.S. Immigration says "YES"

I-800A Approval Notice Dated 07/18/14 - Received in the mail on 07/19/14

Kalyn,

Baby steps…one week at a time…YOU ARE WORTH EVERY MOMENT WAITING! Just as if I am carrying you in my womb, Kalyn, I yearn to hold you. Guess what? On Friday July 18th the U.S.A. approved mommy and daddy to adopt you and bring you home! We cannot wait to share our lives with you and love you to the end of the earth. 

Always thinking of you, Mommy

 {For those moms out there; waiting on THIS Approval Notice to arrive from the Department of Homeland Security has felt like waiting for the results of a “glucose test!” We filled out the forms and had our finger prints taken then had to WAIT for approval – you consumed a sugar drink, WAITED, then had your blood tested and WAITED for results. During that one or three hour glucose test you were probably nervous…anxious…and thinking will it be negative…will it be positive? When you hear “it’s negative and you are free to go” you feel a sense of immediate relief and think YEAH! That is what I felt when we got the OFFICIAL approval notice in the mail today. AMEN!!!!}

  Now onto bigger things…the Approval Notice was the last document to include in our STACK of documents (aka. Dossier) that will now be authenticated and prepared for CHINA. All foreign (U.S.) documents must be authenticated for use in China. This step confirms contents and validity of the issuing authorities. Once all documents are authenticated we will official have our Dossier sent to China (DTC). We will receive a Log In Date (LID) and then a notification when our Dossier is Out of Translation (OOT). We will wait the longest during the Review process and Review of our Match to Kalyn. Then we will receive an official Letter of Approval (LOA); generally 2-4 months. Wow! Those are a lot of little steps, but believe me they are pretty important steps in adoption world. Please PRAY especially for patience while we WAIT. It will be the hardest on me as mommy…because I must come to terms that now it is completely out of my hands and into the powers at be in China to make the next moves.

Thank you to all those who have given to our puzzle fundraiser www.adopttogether.org/thehahnfamily. Your gifts will go along way!
For those collecting aluminum cans for us - each ounce is worth every penny earned!
If you are following our blog and/or praying for us we appreciate you greatly! Each and every one of you ARE SPECIAL and we appreciate you sharing your gifts with our family. THANKYOU!

Please keep us in your prayers! Until next time...Dossier to China will be an EXCITING DAY!!!!

Blessings!

Meet Kalyn!

“An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, 

regardless of time, place, or circumstances. 

The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break.” 

– Ancient Chinese Proverb

The Hahn Children would like to introduce their new baby brother whom we are naming…

KALYN (pronounced CĂL – in)

In a few short months we will be traveling 7,472 miles to bring Kalyn home to his forever family.

Our household is just bursting at the seams in anxious excitement! We are so blessed to have a love and support from our family and friends. We thank you for your prayers and request continued prayers during the next stage of our journey as we become a family of SIX!

Unlike our amazing biological children whose birthing costs were covered by insurance, there is no insurance coverage to pay for adoption. Hours of adoptive parent training, tons of paper pushing, and $34,000 in adoption costs; KALYN is PRICELESS and worth it ALL! But we can't do it alone...

We have begun a few fundraisers to help offset agency fees, China government fees, and travel fees. 

You can help us PIECE together our adoption journey to BRING KALYN HOME by purchasing a $10 puzzle piece during our puzzle fundraiser. We have puzzles that will be displayed in Jeremiah & Kalyn’s room to remind us of China and remind our family of those who shared in Kalyn’s journey home. 

Visit www.adopttogether.org/thehahnfamily to make a TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation and we will add a puzzle piece(s) with your name on it. 

You may also send a check to:

AdoptTogether 251 W. Central Ave #278 Springboro, OH 45066 

Memo: “Joshua Hahn Family”

We are collecting aluminum cans to RECYCLE from our local friends/family– please call contact Krista via Facebook to inquire.

What is next?

I-800 Approval (U.S. Government approves our request to adopt from China)

Dossier to China (Hahn's formal request to adopt Kalyn and a TON of proof that we are competent parents)

Letter of Acceptance (China says Yes!)

Travel Approval (China invites us to pick up Kalyn and we book our flights to China)

Gotcha Day! (The day Kalyn will be in our arms)

 Please pray for Kalyn, for Kalyn’s caregivers, and for God to provide in HIS TIME! 

PA received from China!

We received Pre-Approval from China Monday! Next step...US Immigration approval then DTC (Dossier to China)...we are moving right along ;)

WELCOMING A CHILD...

"And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me." -Matthew 18:5

We have EXCITING NEWS and are a few more baby steps closer to bringing home our sweet son from China.

On June 9, 2014 we received a REFERRAL from Lifeline – our adoption agency. The Agency’s goal is to find families for children and we received a referral...WE'RE MATCHED. Josh got the call and was excited to make the announcement to the family. Monday afternoon when he was on his way home from work he called the family at home and announced that the agency called to say that God has provided a handsome little boy. OUR SON is amazing! Of course mommy was in tears and Jeremiah put on his BIG SMILE. Karah leaned over to Jennah immediately and said, “Jennah! We have our new baby brother!” What an amazing feeling... For all of you mother’s out there it felt much like a positive pregnancy test and still does today. We are so blessed to be on this journey and cannot wait to share more exciting news about our son very soon. Our LETTER OF INTENT was submitted on June 13, 2014. Unfortunately we can’t share too much information until we have an official Pre-Approval from China, but OUR SON is wonderful and the Hahn family is on Cloud Nine. Pictures and more details coming soon!

On Thursday, June 26th we traveled to the Department of Homeland Security office in Missouri to do BIOMETRICS (fingerprinting) and are now in the FBI Database.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will then approve our eligibility to adopt from China. Please pray that our application is processed appropriately and in God’s Time.

WHAT’S NEXT – THE WAIT!! Waiting for Pre-Approval from China and I-800A Immigration Approval. Then our DTC (Dossier to China) will be authenticated and sent to China.  We will announce the DTC DAY as soon as we know! You can follow our adoption timeline on the right of our webpage blog.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? We will be collecting items for our son’s orphanage soon So stay Posted! 

We ask that you continue to pray for us

*For our son - keep him safe and healthy

*For our family - that we are patient and at peace during the WAIT

*That all required paperwork will be processed correctly and in God's time

 

Adoption: A Father’s Perspective!

Wownesia.com 2011 (www.bing.com)

       As my morning started I received a text from my wife asking me to write our next blog entry.  Her text stated that many people have asked if I would write regarding my perspective.  Once I received the text I began to hyperventilate, brain-storm and then decided I must mow the lawn to take my mind away from the task at hand.  For the next hour between the sneezing, blowing snot rockets due to allergies from the grass and pondering while mowing I decided that I could do this.  So here it goes. 

     First I must ask you this question.  What is the one” thing” that everyone seeks in life? Some have it, some yearn for it, some long for it, some take a long time to find it, some find it early and some have it but don’t realize it.  Most would argue that this “thing” can be the cause and the answer to many of today’s problems.  I am going out on a limb by saying that even the Ten Commandments can be summed with this one word. Have you figured it out yet………………..LOVE.  Love is the answer and really when you think about it things happen in life due to the lack or the abundance of LOVE. 

     You may be wondering how this has anything to do with adoption.  The decision to adopt has everything to do with love.  As I see it our child will have known love from day one.  Many ask how could a mother do that to a child, but I would ask how this is not the ultimate sacrifice of love.  Just as GOD so LOVED us that he gave his one and only begotten son to die for our sins, these mother’s pay the ultimate sacrifice by giving up their children to help provide a better life for them.  Love guided this mother to sacrifice her own need to love, so her child would be provided for since she is unable to.  Next, the love of the Orphanage care givers is immense to try their best to provide the daily needs for these children with little supplies.  Lastly you mix in the Love of the adoptive parents.  Amazing the love of each step in this child’s life is not forgotten nor is it ever lost.  Granted this love for that child may not be realized while he/she is young but at some point they will.  My goal through adoption is to continue this love for one little boy.  

Photo by James Goll (www.bing.com)

     Over the last hours while pondering this blog post many thoughts, questions, answers and prayers have been running throughout my mind.  The one thought that sticks with me is how LOVED I have been.  To fathom the Love my heavenly father has given me through giving up his son for my sins.  My heavenly father adopted me before my conception and has continued this love to this day.  He provided me with loving earthly parents that have shaped my life over the years.  While both of my parents are important to me I would like to focus briefly on my earthly father.  My heavenly father has provided me with a loving nurturing earthly father that has provided me with a great skill set and respect for life that I can only hope to pass on to my children.  My goal in life is to pass this on to all my children.  While the orphanage has and continues to provide for our child, I feel a strong calling to continue providing more to him.  As any father knows the love you have for your children is just as strong/intense as a mother’s love.   

     Often a father’s love is shown in a different manner than a mother’s love but it is just as equally important in a child’s life.  I am reminded of a common country song that I grew up listening to called “Daddy’s Hands” by Holly Dunn.  As this song says Daddy’s hands were there when I was crying, like steel when I had done wrong, and there was always love in daddy’s hands.  This adoption is an opportunity for me to pass my heavenly father’s love on to another child in need.  As they say “FAITH, HOPE and LOVE” are important in life but the greatest of these is “LOVE.”