Well, in the world of international adoption, you could almost say that things are really moving along! After receiving approval from Immigration, our dossier went off to the Chinese Consulate for legalization on May, 25th. Zuri turned four on Tuesday (June 5), so we decided to take a quick trip to Ross Bridge to celebrate. The kids had a great time. We swam, ate great food, went on a hike, watched TV in the room, and everyone slept like babies at night. Today we were savoring every minute by the pool, trying to pretend that it wasn't our last day, when we got an e-mail from Mallory. She had received our dossier back from the consulate, processed all the documents, and sent it out to China! Our dossier is off to China! So today is referred to as our "DTC" (Dossier to China). This is one of the major stepping stones of international adoption, and cause for celebration! It takes about 3 business days for our dossier to reach China. We told the kids and shared a little moment of excitement at the news. It's becoming more real every day! After about 3-4 weeks we will receive our "LID" (Log In Date). That's the date our dossier is officially translated and logged into the CCCWA (Chinese Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption). This will be the point when we can get matched with a child, our next milestone. We've decided that this is a good time to share a little info... we've decided that our son's name with be Zachary Ryder. Needless to say, he will be a Z kid. How could he not? He will be one of us in every way, including his name! Zachary means "remembered by God" or "The Lord remembers". We think this is so appropriate. This little boy was born in China and abandoned. The world may see him as forsaken, forgotten. But God never forgot him. He had a plan for him from day one. What a beautiful picture of God's love! And it seems so perfect that this Z name was just waiting for us! We plan to call him Zac, for short. And, no, we can't stop there. Ryder means "Knight" or "mounted warrior". It's also the name of a Canadian pro cyclist who just won the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy), Ryder Hesjedal. So we kind of take a 21st century twist on the name to infer our love of cycling.
Please join us in celebrating our "DTC day" and pray for that little boy, almost 12,000 miles away, who since the day he was born God intended to be our son, Zac. Let's thank God for remembering him, as He remembers every one of us.
