Last Chance for the GARMIN!!!

*Please scroll down to the next post for updates on Andrew and continue to lift him up in prayer.

We are SO excited to see who the winner is of the GPS!! The kids are all fighting over who gets to draw out the winning number! I wish we could draw 4 winners, so they could each get a chance, but we have only ONE navigation system! Monday the 31st at midnight is your last chance! We will draw on Tuesday as soon as we can. We appreciate all of you so much who have given for this. We have had alot of fun watching the numbers GROW!

And stay tuned this week for pictures of the growing yardsale piles. The big sale is SATURDAY! The kids said we could offically open our own store, since it appeared we had as much stuff as Wal Mart! HA! We are praying for SON-Shine on us that day for sure!

We also got some "frustrating" news on our agency this week. Trying not to panic, but please just keep Mavery-paperwork-Hague Agreement in your prayers.

Please Pray UPDATED AGAIN!

Update 3/31-

We are working on a blog for Andrew, look for a link soon. He is in surgery now, she said it could be from 5-14 HOURS long. They began at 8:15am. Please join us at the throne for this family. While praying for them this song played "I will praise you in this storm" and I am just reminded that God is who He is. He holds Andrew in His hands.

Update 3/30

Andrew has a major surgery in the morning on his leg, they are doing a skin and bone graft from what I understood. This will tell them alot about the outcome on the leg. Kathy said the surgery will last 5 hours. PLEASE pray that God would heal his leg. I do not know if I mentioned this before, but Andrew is a huge basketball player, a really, really good one to. Kathy did say that they took out the breathing tube and he ate a popsicle! So that seems encouraging! Please pray for peace for Kathy as she has to watch her son go through all of this. As mothers we know that when our children hurt, we hurt even worse.

Also, the night of the accident, Kathy was on her way to the hospital to visit a friend because her children were involved in a horrible accident. The driver/daughter of the car was killed, and the other daughter is still in serious condition from a brain injury. This family had a daughter killed a few years ago in a car accident. Horrible. So while Kathy was on the way to this, she got the call about her own son. Please also lift this family up in your prayers.

I will keep posting updates on Andrew to this post, so please continue to check back.

UPDATE 3/27

Well we have some encouraging news, the doctors have been able to stabilize Andrew's left leg. They did however find what they had suspected. All of Andrew's muscles and nerves were destroyed. They were able to get a pulse in the foot, but are not sure he will have use of it. Kathy says the main worry at the moment is infection. Andrew has no casing on his leg, so he just has an open hole, if you will. The plan is to do more work I believe Saturday and then on Tuesday they will go back in to surgery and take stomach muscle for a graft and hope that takes. If it does it would seem to suggest the leg will be saved. The doctors have been bringing him in and out of the drug coma and he is able to respond to their questions, so this is very good news as well. Kathy is very tired, but very optimistic! Keep the prayers and positive energy coming, it is going to be a very long road for them.

3-26 I have talked about my friend Kathy many times. I am asking you to please, PLEASE lift her son up in prayer. His name is Andrew. He is 16 and was in a terrible car accident last night. He had to be airlifted to the hospital. He made it through the night and things are looking better than last night, but he is still in very serious condition. He had a brain bleed, and they are very worried he could lose his leg, among many other breaks he has. He is going back in for surgery on the leg in the morning at 8am.

Things like this, so sudden, it just makes you want to hold on to your kids a little tighter. We just never, ever know. We trust that God is holding on to Andrew, and holding Kathy up. Please, pray that Andrew is healed, that he can be home w/ all those sisters soon. We know very well that sisters NEED their brother! I tell Kathy all the time, he is the king in a housefull of princess'!

I'm Dreaming of a White...Easter??

Attempt #100 at family photo. Nope, Sage looks the wrong way.

Attempt #200, well Sage is looking, but Malaine is almost in the picture and not sure what face Makenna is making! Should be fun getting FIVE kids to cooperate!
Maybe no parents is better. Sage IS saying Cheese. And no Malaine is not wearing lipstick, she gets this chapped face during colds and cold weather.There is a smile from Sage! Wishing for Mavery to be here too...
The boys ready for some serious egg hunting.

The girls, well part of Makenna and part of Sage anyways.

My brother, parents & me!

Our pastor and family. Sheila is Malaines preschool teacher and she thinks it is really cool that she gets to see her at school, and church and even our house! Next year, they will have a sweet little baby girl from Vietnam joining their picture & family!


If I don't look at the camera, maybe they won't notice I found the candy!

A cold egg hunt!

My niece Tyler, Makenna, Jordan and Sage

Dreaming of a White Easter... These were the words we were greeted with at church today! Yep, it was snowing here as we made our way to celebrate. So much for cute spring dresses and open toed shoes. Pull out the warm clothes and coats.

Easter is one of my favorite Sundays for our church. We are outgrowing our current location and typically have 2 services. So on Easter, we meet at the middle school in town for just one service. I love being able to worship together. I love seeing those I don't see often or, actually ever besides this day. I love celebrating our Risen Savior. As Malaine said.. "Mommy, He PUSHED those rocks right out of the way and He ROSE from that grave!" Yep, I love celebrating that He died so we can live, forever!

We ended our service with this song and I just think it is so perfect.. "Savior, He can move the mountains, He is mighty to Save Forever, Author of Salvation, He rose and conquered the grave.." It is why we celebrate Easter, it is everything we believe in, our Hope and the reason we live.

After church we hosted Easter lunch for 40 of our family and friends. No, I do NOT cook all that food! I simply supply the house and everyone else does the rest, including clean up! We really do enjoy hosting the holidays and are thankful for a house that seats 40 people together! (and for a big driveway..) ;-) Another cold egg hunt, but at least the snow stopped! We now have candy coming out our ears. Does that sell at yard sales? ha!

We pray you had a Blessed Day celebrating our Savior!

Getting Ready for Easter

Who me, cold? Just show me the eggs!
Sweet Malaine
Hold on tight!
Looking for where she can toss the egg!
Some are more careful than others!

Wanted to post this yesterday, running behind as always!

We have been blessed at our church this year with a Childrens Director and she planned our first ever Egg Hunt! Our church is in the process of relocating, so we have lots of land that was the perfect spot for the fun. I think I heard they had 2700 eggs donated to cover the land. I went early to help set up, and quickly called Mark to warn him to add long underwear under our kids clothes! It was COLD up on that hill! Really, REALLY cold! But despite the cold(kids could care less about cold, it is just us adults who can't take it!) it was a fun time. We skipped the koolaide in favor of hot chocolate, which is so funny for SPRING! My kids came home with at least 150 eggs, plus attendance prizes so they were all very happy. Thanks Jenny for the good time! Mark sure enjoyed making fun of me all night as my face was WIND burned! hehe!
We spent the evening dying eggs. As you can imagine, that was quite fun with spicy girl! She enjoyed slamming the eggs into the dish and screaming EGG JUMPED IN, in her cute Sagey voice. We all kept saying, do you think Mavery will throw the eggs next year? What fun that will be! Amazingly, I don't think ALL the eggs ended up cracked. And we did get all the dye off before today, so no blue or pink hands for church!

My Wish..

Is for an I-171, TODAY! So I am not going to be pretend that I have patience. Everyone knows I don't, AT ALL! And especially when it comes to the fact that my baby is sitting in China and I just want her home with me! Maybe it is the never ending rain this week, maybe it is I have a cold, maybe it is my vet's office ruined me when I found out today they are NOT animal pro-life, when they should be. (I am not even going there...) Maybe it is simply this. Mavery is mine. And she is not here. My arms ache for a child I can't hold, no matter how hard I wish for it.

And yet, she is not mine. She is first God's. And sometimes I think God just sits up there and laughs at me, thinking I have any say or control over any of this! Mavery is first His. She was formed in His image, He breathed life into her. He knows every detail of her tiny face, He knows the bump on her chest, He held her before, during and after her surgery. He tucks her into her bed each night and though she does not have a momma's good night kiss, she does have her heavenly father's love. He knows all the questions that I wonder about. And so I just wish to trust Him more. I wish to lay Mavery down to Him. Where she belongs, in her Fathers arms, in MY Fathers arms.

I ask you to continue joining us in praying for our I171. While I know it will be here when God says, I also know that He tells us we should come to Him and trust that HE can bring that paper faster than any human being believes it can get here. So please gather with us and ask God to deliver that paper here soon. Pray that our girl is getting loved and hugged on and much care. We did get promising news this week. A family went to Jinhua to meet their new daughter. They took video and pictures of all the kids and said that it really is a good place and that it seems just like one big family. So we are anxious to see if they do have video w/ Mavery in it. You know I will post that if we get it!

For those keeping count...

First, I am truly hurt that none of my FAITHFUL friends have done their 100 list and sent it to me! Sad, very sad. I won't start naming names, but come on, it REALLY is fun! ;-)

Well I know that many of you will be happy to know that once again, we have caught the hamster. He is now tucked, no actually LOCKED down w/ chains (hehe) into his new cage. Which is actually a really, really old cage from MY hamster when I was a child. Forget the cool hip look of this era, we are going for the good stuff. Plain, simple and my own hamsters NEVER escaped. As you can see, he is already scheming on ways to get out though. Free run of the basement is much better than these silly cages. We will see who wins this time.

100 Things about ME!

Kathy challenged me to try this post for my blog last week. She did hers in one sitting, but by seeing number 69, you will know why it took me days to do it! It was pretty fun and I have enjoyed reading other blogs that have shared their list. SO if YOU read this blog, please try your own list and send me a link in the comments so I can learn more about you. It is only fair!

1. I am a Daughter of the King forgiven by God’s Saving Grace
2. I am almost 33.
3. I married at 19 years old.
4. Mark is 4 years older.
5. We honeymooned in Cancun.
6. I got REALLY sick! I drank the water, OCEAN water that is!
7. I married the most AMAZING man there is
8. We met in the church nursery.
9. Our families knew each forever
10. I am the mother of FIVE
11. The 5th waits in China.
12. I am in so in love with her, it hurts.
13. Mark and I have had 12 addresses together.
14. I gave up college to marry
15. I went to travel school & worked in corporate travel
16. I hated working (I am not good w/ a boss!)
17. I always wanted to be a mom to a lot of children
18. As a teen, I served summers on an Indian reservation.
19. It changed my life.
20. I used to play like I ran an orphanage as a child.
21. I lost our first baby & a tube from ectopic pregnancy.
22. In return, God gave me 5 blessings(so far!)
23. My family/extended family are VERY close.
24. My cousins are cousins on both sides. It is legal.
25. They (and their spouse) are still some of my best friends.
26. I have one brother. He is almost 4 years younger than me.
27. I used to put his hair in pigtails. Hehehe!
28. He wants to be a missionary, and guess where his heart is?
29. I received Christ in my heart as a child.
30. I did not get it all then.
31. Now I do and I am so thankful He came to me so young..
32. I am still close with some of my childhood friends.
33. I delivered Makenna in Pittsburgh, Pa.
34. I did not like living there.
35. I DID like living in Charlotte, NC.
36. But I like living here best.
37. I first heard of MOPS in Pittsburgh.
38. I helped in starting our MOPS group here in 2000.
39. I am still active in the group.
40. The first year I was leader, I would NOT speak in front of the group.
41. It has grown me and stretched me and taught me to be organized.
42. among many other things.
43. I home school my kids
44. Some days I love it.
45. Some days, I don’t.
46. I am a scrapbook want to be.
47. I own all the “stuff” and it taunts me when I open THAT closet!
48. I WILL do a lifebook for Sage and Mavery.
49. I am currently working on Sage’s.
50. I have always attended a Baptist Church.
51. I love to read. I read every night.
52. I take a bath every night and read.
53. I stay up way to late.
54. I love to write.
55. Fall is my favorite time of year for weather, but so busy here it makes me tired.
56. I am on a constant diet starting “Monday”.
57. Monday never comes. I hate that.
58. My favorite show is The Biggest Loser.
59. I hoped it would motivate me. So far, it has not.
60. I have watched every season of Survivor and Lost. (I love tivo!)
61. I like my hair long, yet I miss my short hair.
62. Shoes annoy me.
63. Shoe shopping to me is as bad as swimsuit shopping or jeans shopping. Ugh!
64. My feet are big and wide, hard to fit.
65. I love flip flops & crocs for that reason.
66. The story of Esther is my favorite bible story.
67. Isn’t it cool my new friend is named Esther?
68. I am too worried about details.
69. yet useless details bore me (following directions!) ;-)
70. My friends are mostly all Christians.
71. They challenge me to grow. I need that.
72. I am stricter on my kids than most moms I know.
73. I am ok with that.
74. I only listen to Christian music, mostly praise songs.
75. It speaks to my heart & helps me worship
76. I also believe God speaks to me in my dreams.
77. Mark laughs at this. Especially if I dreamed we were having more children!
78. I have to have perfect sleeping conditions.
79. Pitch black, white noise going, pillow between my knees.
80. I LOVE to plan parties and organize things.
81. I like to be in charge.
82. I don’t like to drive, would rather ride.
83. but can be a backseat driver! ;-)
84. I think every Christian should adopt.
85. I think this drives everyone I know Crazy!
86. I worry that I have more children out there and I will not listen to God & miss them.
87. I don’t understand how most people don’t worry about that.
88. I am not easily offended.
89. I AM easily annoyed.
90. I have a very short attention span.
91. I grocery shop on Sunday nights by myself!
92. I love to shop, IF I am kidless.
93. Marshalls & Target make me smile. They do NOT make Mark smile.
94. I LOVE to be with my children.
95. I LOVE a girls night out or a weekend away w/ my hubby! (We are all better for it after that)
96. I am a dreamer and have LOTS of ideas.
97. I get VERY passionate about what I believe is the RIGHT idea.
98. I love my children and my husband with all of my being.
99. I love Jesus even more.
100. I am so thankful I come from a very strong Christian heritage and I pray that I can pass that legacy on to many more generations to come.
     
     

No Matter What...

Doesn't Mavery look to be saying, "please, come get me?"!!

A family from our agency was in China this week, and they left with out their new son. I do not know why, I have no idea what happened. All I know is that they did not bring him home and he has gone back to his orphanage. He is almost 3. I am not going to judge that family for their choice. That is not my job.

I know this. It has made me that much more in love with my daughter who waits. And it has made me do much soul searching and praying and just crying out to our Father. We have no idea how Mavery is going to react to us. Sage was so easy! She did not cry, she slept, THAT is the kind of grieving I can handle! ;-) But what will it be like this time? What if she hates us? It is possible. What if she hits and bites and screams and kicks and does NOT sleep ever? All of that is possible. What if she shows signs of something being wrong mentally? That is possible to. Of course we expect that she is fine, but in all reality, we do not know for sure. And we realize that the little girl we meet in china will not be the little girl we will have in our home 6 months later. These kids are so shell shocked at first and their true personalities take time to bloom.

No matter what, Mavery is my daughter. God has spoken that to my heart now since I first laid eyes on her in November. No matter what, she is mine. If I get there and she is not what I expected or even what I want! She is mine. Even if she screams and refuses to let me hold her, she is mine. Even if I find out I would be changing her diaper till the day I die, she is mine. NOTHING changes that God has said, this is your daughter. The same as when I gave birth and took those babies home, there was no other option. She is already a part of our family. Not an hour goes by in this house that someone does not mention her. We pray for her at every meal, at bedtime and sometimes just because we need to. We talk about what she is doing at certain times of the day. We all are in love with this little girl that we have not yet met, but we feel her in our hearts. Mavery belongs to this family.

So no matter what, I expect that all my family and friends will remind me of this if things are rough in China! Please continue to pray for Mavery now. Our prayer is that God would plant us in her heart in some small way. Of course we want things to go perfect in China! And maybe they will.

No news to report on the paperwork. If I EVER adopt again remind me to move out of Illinois. They make you jump through so many hoops it is crazy. We thought we were waiting on the I171, but it seems our Home study has not even made it through Illinois still. Pray, keep praying. (You know Mark is going to be sweating when he reads that sentence, if I ever..hehe!) Hey, above all, and NO MATTER WHAT, we listen to Gods heart. No matter what.

Sage SITS!! And the Hamster Saga continues...

So we all know Sage is Spicy. And just does not typically stop, always in motion. For Christmas she got these lacing beads and when we first brought them out, she just really found them fun to throw! Last night I pulled them out and Mark and I sat in awe as she sat for over an HOUR lacing the beads! I asked him if he now wanted to take her to China when we go. HA! ;-)

The others are of Diva Sage, just to funny!

And the never ending saga of the hamster. Mark is so embarrassed he told me I better not blog about this, but come on, I know you want to know!

We found the hamster just in time for Chinese New Year. Then... We lost the hamster. And we thought that Sage let him out. We caught her climbing up to where the cage was and pulling open the door. Then we CAUGHT the hamster again. Mark thought he killed the hamster in the middle of catching him. He was trying to corner him and a poster tube fell over on him. Mark said it was quite the site as the hamster stood up and spun around in circles and then fell over. He picked him up and figured out he was alive but he was having trouble walking for a bit. Then after awhile seemed to be fine. So we put him back into his cage and moved it up where Sage could not get to it. Guess what? He is GONE again! We have looked all over that cage and we have NO IDEA how he escaped. Honestly. We have tied every corner together w/ twist ties, it makes no sense! Regardless of what "type" of hamster he is, let me tell you, he is AMAZING! And FRUSTRATING! How can a 2 inch RAT be outsmarting us all! I am trying to refrain from reminding Mark that I asked him if he thought we should put him in the other cage we have when he found him yesterday. Sigh... Oh well, it could be worse. We could have bought the kids a snake! And though Sage sat yesterday, she is full of spice today, on the counters as I type. AHHH!!!

Love in any Language

If you missed the post to win the garmin and help bring Mavery home, please scroll down! Thank you SO much to those of you who have already given and to those of you who told me you have TONS of time, but are planning to give! ;-)

I heard this song the other day, and while I have heard it before, this time it made me pause and God just placed Mavery so strongly on my heart. Turn up your volume and here are the words.

Speak - and say the words that no one else will ever say

Love - love like the world we know is over in a day

I'm gonna show you love in every language I'm gonna speak with words that need no form

I'm gonna give you what you never had before

You're beautiful and I am weakened by the force of your eyes

So shine bright to separate the truth from the lies

I'm gonna show you love I'm gonna show you love in every language

I'm gonna speak with words that need no form

I'm gonna give you what you never had before

So tie me to a tree and let the smoke and ash collect

No, I won't regret to let love do what love will let

We can drown in mixed emotions or walk across an angry sea

This is the cost of being free

I'm gonna show you love in every languageI'm gonna speak with words that need no form I'm gonna give you what you never had before

This little girl, who has never had a mommy or a daddy or a brother or sisters or who has never ever heard English or seen a white person, is going to be my daughter! This angel, that I have not yet seen smile in a picture, I get to make her smile! I get to show her love like she has never, EVER known before! That thought just makes me weep. What a responsibility but what a privilege! I get to give her things she has never had before. I get to give her hugs and kisses and hold her when she is sad or sick or bored or tired. I get to dress her in pink and put pretty bows in her hair. I get to take her for her first trip to McDonalds and the zoo and simply outside of an orphanage. I get to LOVE her!
Some days it is easy to get wrapped up in the “process”. You just work on paperwork, sign your name over and over, work on letters, make phone calls, write out checks, and checks and checks! You fret over waiting and you wonder and you worry.
I am thankful for these days when God reminds me WHY I am going through the process. It is because HE is holding my daughter. It is easy to forget those days of thinking she was not going to be mine, the days when Mark was so sure I was wrong. But today I am reminded; I ONLY get to hold Mavery, because God said so. I ONLY get to love her, because He first loved us both. It is not because Mark said yes, or because we are doing the paperwork, or because China said so. It is simply because God said yes, You get to love this child in any language; you get to love her like I love you. Thank you Jesus for this gift of our daughter.
Today in church our pastor spoke on true love. He and his wife are in the process of adopting a daughter from Vietnam and things are very uncertain there right now. And this is what he said. “True love is this, falling in love with a child, that you do not even know yet. I did not expect that to happen, I thought you just went through the process and then you met them and then you fell in love. But I was wrong, I love this baby girl already, and yet I may never even get to meet her. That is true love.”
So today my heart is full of Mavery. I am ready, oh so ready to hold her! Please continue to pray with us as we wait for the I-171. Tomorrow we have our fingerprints done. I am encouraged because my friend said it took her 5 weeks in Illinois to get the fingerprint appointment. It has not even been 2 weeks, so maybe my letter worked. I will breath easy once we are holding it in hand! I BELIEVE it can come next week, I really do!
And yes, these are updated pictures of Mavery! Taken in January. Isn’t she just gorgeous? I can’t wait for the day we make Mavery smile!

Want to Help?

I have watched other blogs do some really fun giveaways and in turn watched them raise some money for their adoptions. Well, I love to giveaway, and I need some money for adoption! So we decided we are going to try and see how this goes..

We are giving away a Garmin GPS Navigation System. I LOVE the one we have and would never make it anywhere with out it! Here is a link so you can read all about it. A few highlights about the Garmin.

· Travel from place to place with ease, using this GPS navigation system as your guide. The built-in MP3 player lets you listen to your favorite tunes as you navigate.
· Preprogrammed with City Navigator NT, providing street-level detail and addresses, plus listings of restaurants, hotels, ATMs and more throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico
· Integrated traffic receiver notifies you of traffic, construction and weather delays and automatically suggests alternative routes (requires a subscription service)
· Bluetooth compatible with built-in microphone and speakers for convenient, hands-free dialing on compatible Bluetooth mobile phones (not included)

Here is how the drawing works..

For EVERY $10 you donate through chip in on the side bar, you will recieve a number. So if you donate $20, I will send you 2 numbers.

Chip in is VERY easy to use. You just click and you can pay through paypal or by Credit Card.

As soon as I recieve your payment, I will email you with your number(s). If you do not hear from me, please leave a comment on here.

The drawing will take place on April 1st and we will mail the GPS out to the lucky winner immediatley! Last entry will be taken on March 31st at midnight CST. Make sure to check back in on April 1st to see who the winner is. We will be announcing on the blog!

We have been back and forth on if we should try this or not. This adoption for us was for sure a leap of faith and like most families, the money is just not there. However, we felt that God said, this is our daughter and we knew He would provide. We felt this would be a fun way to try and raise the funds, while being able to give back a little bit to you! (or at least one of you anyways!) We are still having the yard sale in April and are anxious to see how that turns out. We have been blessed with STUFF that is for sure in that area!

We appreciate each and every one of you who are willing to help, but most of all we ask for your continued prayers especially on Mavery as she waits.

Our Karate Kid

Mark claims he and Sawyer need a boy blog around here, and I told him he should become a dad blogger. We will see, I won't hold my breath!

In preschool, Sawyer took a little karate at his preschool and really enjoyed it. And while Mark was not against him taking karate, I think he was holding out hope that he would decide he loved baseball, soccer, basketball, something that HE enjoyed. But those were just not Sawyers thing and we finally let him try karate "for real" in December. Well I am happy to say, Sawyer has found his thing! He really loves it and I really love that! Instead of hearing him whine about attending practice, as I did all summer during khoury league, he can't wait for karate nights! He was thrilled last week to finally move from a white belt to a yellow belt, though he was certain I was going to ruin him when they said to have your mom just dye your white belt yellow! hehe!

The one thing I am still trying to figure out about karate(or tae kwon doe to be precise) is this. When you enter the "room" everyone bows as they walk through the door. Who are you bowing to? Sawyer claims it is respect to the room. What? Mark says it is respect to the "teacher", but the teacher is not even watching me when I walk in the room. Mark says just do it and don't question authority. I think HE is worried I might get myself kicked out of the place for not following rules! ha!

Oh So True

YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN ADOPTIVE PARENT or SHOULD BE WHEN:

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.

7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)

8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word "Dossier" means, and you can actually pronounce it!

13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

-Author unknown

I took this from my friends blog and like her I will add my own number(s).

15. You understand what it means to look into the eyes of your child on a computer screen and KNOW you are her mommy without anyone human telling you that.

16. You get excited over words that are known by initials that only other adoptive mommas can keep straight. LOI, PA, LID, TA, HS, CCAA

17. You have witnessed true miracles take place with husbands who said NO MORE CHILDREN but then they to looked into the eyes of their daughter and listened to God's voice, which thankfully was louder than the human doubt of themselves.

18. You can instantly make friends with someone you just met whose daughter "looks" like yours simply by asking, "hey, ever been to Guangzhou?"

19. Your arms can ache for a child that you did not feel kick inside of you or feel growing in your stomach, but most certainly grows in your heart.

20. You forget which children are adopted or birthed and are amazed how exactly like you they ALL are!

Sweet Blog Award

One thing I have said over and over is that I have been blessed not only with children through adoption but SO many friends! Thank goodness for blogs, so I can keep up on all the kids that have grown so dear in my heart! Shelly, one of my bloggy friends I met through my wait with Sage gave me this award today, she is so sweet and I hope that someday we finally get to meet in person!

"I thank my God every time I remember you." Phil. 1:3This award is for all those special blogger friends who have touched your life & are True Blessings from God!! What would you do without them? "We love, We laugh, We Cry, We pray, We share, We care!!"

So now I get to pass the award on and I have a list! My "cousin in law" who I am so thankful for.Then there are my Hunan Sisters. If you have never seen their Beautiful Girls, run and check them out here & here. I will bet you can tell from the posts who was Sage's roommate, as the spicy nature will give her away! This one you will remember I met during the wait and I got to see her sweetie today! Here is one of my favorites, her writing is so inspiring and it always makes me laugh and cry at the same time! Her daughter is a Chenzhou sweetie to and a mutual friend introduced us. This is one of my new friends that I just recently met and who is on the journey to her new daughter. She actually had looked at Mavery's file and we share the same adoption verse! And last, my dear friend Kathy, who has a password protected blog so I can't link her in, but she most certainly gets this award from me. She was my very first adoption online friend and I am so thankful to know her. Love you guys! Thanks for blogging and sharing your lives and hearts!

Sage visits the ER

Well, we knew it was bound to happen. One can not be so spicy without landing herself in the Emergency Room at some point! This weekend Mark surprised me for Valentines Day with an overnight stay at a hotel. 24 hours of just us time! Unfortunately during the middle of seeing the movie National Treasure, we got a phone call. Sage was running with a wand from the kids magic kit in her mouth and fell, jamming it in the roof of her mouth. My friend, a nurse, went to the house to look at it and thought she should see the doctor just to make sure it did not need a stitch. So we met the Grandmas at the ER. We waited longer to see the doctor, than we saw the doctor! He glanced in, and said feed her soft foods for a week and gave her a popsicle. Thank goodness, I was wondering how in the world they were going to stitch inside of her mouth. She acts totally fine and is happy to be getting lots of popsicles & yogurt! And do you think it slowed her down? Nope. Tonight i stopped her from running through the house with a toothbrush.

This did not happen till after we had stayed at the hotel, so we did still enjoy dinner out and sleeping in with no one joining us in bed in the night! And I guess as soon as National Treasure is out on dvd, we will be renting it to see how it ends!

US Citizenship & Immigration Services

A good valentines day! We got our invitation to be fingerprinted by the government. This is for our application to bring an orphan into the US as a citizen. They filed our petition on 2/11/08, so that means we begin the countdown with that file date. This is the paper that we were told to expect we might be waiting 8-10 weeks for, after application. I did send in a picture of Mavery and a pleading letter asking that they expedite us, so I am happy that we already have our invitation back. We just mailed it off on 2/6. And our appointment is EXACTLY when we needed it to be, we were worried because we could NOT go before the date they gave us! So on the 25th we go for fingerprints. Please join us in praying that we get this paper back quickly. I am praying to have it in hand by mid-march. After that our dossier (ALL our paperwork) can go to China! Then the countdown really begins!

Birthday time

Happy Birthday to an amazing Husband and Father. A man who has allowed me to be a stay at home mom and raise lots more kids than he ever DREAMED he would have! A man who believes we are both teachers in this homeschool adventure and happily gets up early to teach math. A man who is ok if we have cereal for dinner and who actually thinks me going out is fun for him and the kids! We are blessed to have him!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Robert Esther and Malaine making cookies!
Amy, Amber and Megan in need of some chinese clothes! haha!
Some wore chinese clothes!
Robert, TC, Esther, Eva and Davina teaching us a song.
TC, Stephen, Esther, Davina, Eva, Robert, CamLe & Shane

Me with Esther



This weekend was busy but full of many blessings! Along with celebrating Makenna being baptized,(see next post) we celebrated Chinese New Year, which for our family is becoming quite the celebration! Everyone always says our family just looks for things to celebrate! and while that may be true, we DO enjoy a good party, we have much reason for this celebration! China will forever be special to us for the gifts we were given there. It is where our youngest daughters were born, along with many other special little girls we treasure. And after this weekend, many big girls and even boys that we now call friends!


Instead of exchanging red envelopes,as is the tradition in China, we had asked if anyone would like to bring a donation to our party that we can send to China. When all the weather hit, we knew just where we would be sending that collection to this year!


My brother, who attends seminary in Louisville, Ky, brought home a group of his friends that he has made while at school. He had introduced me to Esther a few months back and she and I had become wonderful online friends. I had been praying for some time that God might allow us to have a friend that was asian that I could have a close connection to. For my sake, to learn more, as well as for my girls. As always God's timing is perfect and she and I met while I was praying about Mavery. She was a huge prayer warrior for me and just a sweet, sweet spirit. Well FINALLY Shane brought her home with his friends and I was thrilled to get to meet her! She is gorgeous on the outside, and even more so on the inside. The kids adored her as well and we were all sad to see her go. I look forward to a long friendship with her and We hope she comes back again very soon!


We were also excited to meet other new friends! We now have friends from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia! Oh and Shane's friend Steven from Virgina, can't leave him out! (who was homeschooled from 4th grade on and SO so polite and encouraging and made me think that homeschooling IS worth it!)


They all came in early for the party and cooked part of the food, which was delicious and NOT your chinese buffet fare! ;-) They taught us a song and were so sweet w/ the kids.


Saturday we all went to the zoo, and the weather was perfect. They tried to go in the arch, but the lines were to long. So, we said they must come back to St Louis for that!


So once again a Happy Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat! and yes, the girls were happy to have our rat safely tucked in his cage while sleeping here! I know one thing after spending a weekend w/ our new friends, I most certainly need to learn chinese, so I know if they are secretly making fun of us! haha!

(I am working on a flickr account, so I can post all of the pictures, check back later for that)