Christmas Countdown!

13!

The number of years this precious girl has been my daughter.

13 years ago you entered the world at 9 lbs and 22.5 inches long and our lives have never been the same.
Olivia you are a treasure. You have such an ability to touch lives in a powerful way. Your love for Christ continues to point every one in your path towards Him. Many time I have heard people call you an angel and I must agree. You are very smart and have such clear vision of right and wrong. You are very tiny and at the same time extremely strong minded and determined. I know how powerfully He has used you in 13 short years and I cannot wait to see how your passion for Christ will continue to make a big impact. Your name means olive branch, which represents peace. It is the perfect name for you. I have loved the last 13 years as your mother! You are growing into such an amazing girl. You bless me more than you will ever know.
I love you!

Christmas Countdown!

14 !
The number of shoes that will very soon line up at the door.

Christmas Countdown!

15
The number of times I pleaded with Amelia to help her with the frosting.

"Ooopps mama, I did not know it would come out the top."

A gingerbread house with a pool which is what she intended to do from the start.

Grace's masterpiece

Quinn's masterpiece

Micky Mouse

We have been able to enjoy 7 years of my parents living in Orlando, Florida or as my children say, Pop and Grandma Lulu live at Disney World. My step father's surgery was in North Carolina so I came down to watch over my teenage brother, Kurt. Pretty easy job. The condo my parents live in is a retirement golf community and let's just say my littles have livened up the neighborhood!

Yesterday was our big adventure at Disney World! Although outnumbered and a bit intimidated, 1 to 4, I managed to keep track of everyone. We had such a great time and it really kicked us into the Christmas spirit. The park is so beautifully decorated for Christmas and Cinderella's Castle is breathtaking.

The carousel, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Splash Mountain were the favorite rides. We had a packed 12 hours of fun and beautiful weather. Tomorrow we will head home to Daddy and the two older girls. We are ready.

Praises!

The surgery went very well! He was able to respond to everything they asked during the surgery and the entire tumor was removed. He woke up from the surgery with his same sense of humor. We are so grateful for this blessing! Thank you for praying.

Please Pray

Tomorrow my step father is going to have brain surgery to remove a tumor resting on his major motor control panel. 9 years ago he began experiencing symptoms of loss of feeling in his leg. A back injury was his diagnosis 7 years ago and he had surgery to repair a disk. Thankfully his tumor is very slow growing, it has only effected his one leg and there is a very high chance it is not cancer.

Tomorrow morning he will have surgery . He has a wonderful surgeon, but he will have to endure surgery awake. The surgical team will stop the surgery if they begin to see any signs of loss of speech or gross motor function. As you can imagine, he is fighting off a lot of fear.

Thank you for your prayers!

The Bug

We have the stomach bug making the rounds in our house. As each 24 hours pass, someone else begins to get sick, but it is very predictable because it ALWAYS begins around 1AM and continues until about 4:30AM. Why?

Now to my agenda,

I have the "get organized" bug because soon we will have seven ! I want to clean out every closet, pull down all the Christmas decorations, finish all sewing projects. All today!

Instead I will hang out in the laundry room and serve gatorade and crackers. All kidding aside, I would not trade this job for all the jobs in the world. I love serving this precious group of children. I am so grateful for my generous husband who can survive on 2 hours of sleep.

Clorox is my best friend this week!

It Came!!

LOA! ~ Day 68
Praises

Emotions

"Where is the LOA for my Ruthie WeiHuan?"

"Okay, if that does work, I'll try this!"

Pleeease CCAA send Ruthie Weihuan's LOA!"

Happy Fall Y'all

We have really been enjoying the fall. It is beautiful here this time of year and the temperature is amazing. It is nice to spend more time outside and the colors of the leaves are spectacular.

These are some fun pictures from a festival we went to this past weekend. We joined some good friends for a day of fun and a night of roasting hot dogs and marsh mellows. All the fun of camping and no sleeping in a tent! (LOL) It doesn't get any better!

brave

sweet

free

joy

kind

life

love

missed

Day 61 waiting for LOA. We are soooo close!

Happy Birthday Grant!

first day ~ December 2009 ~ Chengdu China

now

Sweet Grant is 4

he is

busy smart brave
highly capable
strong character quick extremely observant
Passonate about sweets funny
Joyful beautiful
easily excitable
full of love

My precious gift that only God could have hand picked just for me. I love you with a love that is much greater than anything I have to give. I am grateful for you. Happy happy birthday!

I LOVE ladybugs!

In the China adoption community there is a belief that if you spot a ladybug, then good news is coming soon. We are on day 57 waiting for our LOA (second to last approval to bring Ruthie Joy home). Yes, we are counting every single second. My sweet dear friend, who is also waiting on LOA for her daughter Willa, delivered this to my door step. We have both been looking every day for some good news. Hoping and praying we get our LOA news at the same time! This really brightened my wait!

It will be here soon and I cannot wait!

Opps . . .

I forgot to post the update of Ruthie Joy. Busy, busy busy is my only excuse. We are now on day 40 waiting for our LOA YEAHHHHHH!

Anyway, back to the report.

I love reading this report. God's plans are perfect and wonderful!

She can sit up and crawl, stand up with support, can hold on to railing when held under arms, she may walk alone in the future, yet very likely the deformity of her feet would affect her walking and motor function. (We believe she will be walking before we get to China. I will post this week about why Ruthie is considered special needs).

She is in rehabilitation at present time and is using diapers all day long. ( I am so thankful for her therapy)

She gets along well with caretakers and other children. She likes being held and every time when held, she would hold on the caretaker's neck with cheek to cheek. (Oh my, I cannot wait to be cheek to cheek with sweet Ruthie!)

When playing together, sometimes she grabs other children's toys while sometimes hers may be grabbed by others, however, she will try to grab them back as otherwise she will cry. (Perfect fit!)

Her nickname is Huan Huan which means Joy Joy. SMILE

She loves cookies and candies and uses a bottle. (Sweet tooth ~ just like daddy and Grant)

She cries when she is upset, hungry or being bullied by other children.
She stops crying when comforted. She will cry if she is not the first one to get her meal. (happens just about every meal here at home with at least one child)

She is very bright. (Just like her mama ~ LOL)

I just adore her! and do I really have to wait? Are we almost there?