We're coming baby!

Just in case you DIDN"T know....

2010-05-26T10:27:00.001-07:00

1 Year Later....

2010-01-12T18:28:00.001-08:00

Today we celebrated ONE YEAR with our beautiful daughter. You can go back and read our thoughts on that day, but one year out, we are even more grateful to the Lord for leading us on this journey. Ashley is a joy and a blessing...and fits right in here at home with her sisters. God has taught us so much through this process and we are STILL learning things! This much we know is true....she is home and she is loved. As much as we love her, the Lord loves her that much more. We cannot wait to see all the ways that He uses her and all our girls, for His glory! If you come across this blog and want to contact us, you can email us at rebsandhogs@juno.com. We'd love to share our story and encourage others that feel like God is calling them to adopt. One thing we know for sure, God blesses obedience and had we not listened and obeyed, we would have missed out on the blessing of this child. We cannot imagine our lives without you Ashley Mel!!

6 Months home

2009-12-07T11:30:00.001-08:00

Onto the next leg.....

2009-04-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

As we close this part of Ashley's journey home, there are so many things that need to be said. When Jay and I began to seriously discuss adoption two years ago...we never could have imagined the road that was before us. One thing was for sure. We were scared, excited, anxious, and totally unprepared for what was to come. One thing we did know...God was calling us to this mission and He had never led us down a path we ever regretted.

Exactly two years ago to this day, we sent off for the information packet from American World Adoption. It arrived on April 18, 2007, and shortly after that, the Lord spoke to us through this verse:

"Now the God of Peace, who raised Jesus from the dead, will equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, and HE will get the glory." Heb. 13:21

So much Truth!

He was the God of Peace, ....even when we waited and waited for our LOA.... He equiped us to do His will...financially, HE provided every dime we needed....that which is pleasing in His sight....God commands us to take care of orphans, and is a Father to the Fatherless...and HE will get the glory....it has always been our desire that GOD would get the glory thru this process, and I believe He has!!!

Over and over we have seen the hand of the Lord, guiding and protecting us, even when we had HARD days. Adoption is not for the weak! People are constantly asking me, "was it a hard process to adopt?" That is a tough one to answer, because I want to be honest, but I don't want to scare someone from being open to adoption! So most of the time, I simply answer, "Yes, it was a long a difficult process, but totally worth it!"

People also ask us if we will ever do it again someday. Honestly, at this point we feel our family is complete. But we are totally open to whatever the Lord has planned for us. We have been SO SO blessed by the miracle of adoption, and for now, feel like God has given us a platform to tell people about these precious children and communicate His desire to place them in families.

This blog will continue to remain open in the hope that someone will read it and consider what their family can do for the orphans in this world. By some estimates, in China alone, there could be as many as 3 million children without a family to love them.

The "starfish" poem that is used over and over, may sound a little cliche, but as the story goes.....the man was walking down the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean....faced with thousands of starfish, a passerby asks him why he is throwing them back when there are so so so many....what difference does it make??

His reply....."it made a difference for this one...."

"Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family,

that you have brought me this far?"

2 Samuel 7:18

What a difference a year makes!

2009-04-06T17:54:00.001-07:00

April 2008

April 2009

Thanks so much!

2009-04-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all of you that emailed me about the header....you are all so sweet to respond and be willing to help! The blog is *almost* done and i'm looking at Friday to stop posting on this one. That gives you a few days to email me and ask for the address...I will not be posting it here, but it will not be private, either. If you are a part of the AWAA WC yahoo group, I'll post it there and if you read the other blog (confessions) then i'll post it there as well. And maybe on facebook...still thinking that one over. Check back for a wrap up post (maybe a few:) as we close this chapter in our journey!

MRI...and Ashley, what does the tiger say????

2009-04-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your prayers, everything went very well!! We were VERY (long story) concerned about her having the MRI at our local hospital....they are the most UNfriendly hospital for children I've ever been in....but God answered prayers and put the most wonderful people in our path all morning long. Where have these people been??!!!

The MRI itself lasted about 2 hours because they spent the first 45 getting an IV inserted...which they never accomplished after trying....are you ready for this?? NINETEEN times. YES she was already sedated with gas and felt nothing....but she has 19 little places on her hands (6 in each), feet, ankles, and forearms....they used her like a baby pin cushion! She's all bruised up over it all.

However, she came out of recovery great, and wanted mama, and snuggled in and didn't blame me for anything!! I was very concerned about all our great attachment/trust progress and that it was going to be washed down the drain....but the Lord covered her heart and she was oh so happy to be with mama and daddy afterwards.

We haven't been told anything that they saw, as it was a Friday. I'll update when I can! Thanks for the prayers!

Prayer Need and a Request

2009-04-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends!
Just a quick note to say that Ashley will be having an MRI of her spine in the morning at 7am. It's just to see what was done before she came to us, and check the condition of the surgical site from her repair in China. She will be sedated so that is a good thing...but I always get nervous anytime they have to put my children "under" so prayers would be appreciated for me too :)

Also, I am in need of someone to make me a header for the new blog. The person that was going to do it originally cannot, and i've surfed the web for someone to do it....but all the really good people have a TWO month waiting list!! So if you are good at this, and wouldn't mind helping me out, please let me know!! I am TERRIBLE at stuff like that :) I'd actually like a total re-do but I know that takes hours and right now I am really, really wanting to open it up....it already has posts:)

Thanks, in advance, for going to the Father for us!

Can't Fix Stupid

2009-03-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I said stupid, and No we don't allow our girls to say that word but I'm assuming that not many small children are reading this so I said it. Stupid.

Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate Avery making the honor roll!! yeah Avery! This is normal for her, however, with missing a total of 14 days of school to go to China and having to make up a zillion tests....it was cause for a celebration! She has worked so hard and we are very proud!

Now back to stupid.

We got the normal questions...Are they all yours? FOUR girls? *grin*

Then she came. The waitress. Here was one for the ages....

"So are ya'll doing that thing on TV where you like, sponsor a child for $15 a month...is she one of those kids?"

Really. Really? Ya'll I was good. I could have seriously come back with something sooooo sassy...

(yeah, she's just 15 bucks a month and we can send her back whenever we want...you should do it!! It's so much fun!! Make a difference...they actually let you go and GET the child you sponsor!!")

I wasn't sassy...there were children around and you know, they watch how I react to *STUPID* questions. Praise Jesus Ashley isn't old enough to understand what they're saying. Yet.

"No, she is our daughter and the Lord led us to China to get her....isn't she just the cutest thing? Now could you bring us some more rolls please?"

Can't fix Stupid. But with the Lord's grace and some "Holy Duct Tape" (ash), maybe we can educated it.

Tammi Nowack Photography (see post below)

2009-03-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Two Months Home

2009-03-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy few weeks at our house!

Nana and Pop came for a weekend and Pop got to meet his newest granddaughter for the first time! I was a tad bit nervous about her reaction to him, but she did FABULOUS! She just "knew" that this was her pop and let him hug and cuddle and rock her! I really think the only other man that she has ever let hold her is her daddy so this was big! Nana and Pop were here for three (short) days and we can't wait to go to their house once school gets out.

Tammi Nowack also did a shoot for Ashley. When she gets nervous she puts her fingers in her mouth and apparently she was nervous a lot. Or maybe she was cold. It was about 45 degrees the morning we did pics and this bad mama made her wear a summer dress:) Go check out Tammi's site....she is AMAZING! We were honored to have her photo Ashley...and wish she could have been with us to take pics IN China :)

Well, today marks two months home with our Hunan "spicy" girl. In some ways, it seems like it's flown by and in others, I can feel everyday. I know things appear to be perfect and rosy with her, but I can assure you they are not. SHE of course, is a tremendous blessing whom we adore, but adoption is hard. This 21 month old has been through more in the last 2 months than most of us could ever imagine. She is still grieving her life in China and will for some time.

The only way I can wrap my brain around it is to think of Annalyse. She's 2 years and 4 months old. Think if one day, someone picked her up, drove her to a Chinese family, dropped her off and then 13 days later, flew her to China to live forever. Changed her diet, her language, her clothes and took away us...her mama and daddy. Ashley has experienced just that. (remember she was not in an orphanage, she was in foster care.)

For the most part, things are going beautifully....but she still has hard days. Overall, she is a JOY and we love her to pieces....and we continue to pray for her heart to be healed and mended.

The other night as Jay was praying over us, God reminded me that this was a CALLING on our life. Not some fun, cool, "idea" or a quest to "save" a little lost orphan. It was something that He called us to as a family, and being called requires sacrifice. And hard work. As a family who is called to full time ministry, I can tell you that in many aspects it is the same. God never said it would be easy....He only said it would be worth it. And even on the hard days...it is worth it.

Stay tuned....she's discovered chocolate ice cream and it's one huge, hilarious mess :)

Annalyse's favorite three words....

2009-03-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

"ASH A LEE DID IT"

"Annalyse, who got mama's diet coke and poured it all over the floor?"

"Ash a lee did it!"

"Annalyse, who got the lotion down and rubbed it in the carpet?"

"Ash a lee did it!"

"Annalyse, who pulled out 172 wipes out of the box?"

Funny....."ash a lee" was asleep.....

"Ash a lee did it!"

My Hair is GROWING! (and bath time is SOO fun!)

2009-03-11T18:23:00.001-07:00

Quick Update

2009-03-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

I have only a few minutes of silence during nap time so this will be quick.

Ashley continues to blossom and let down her guard with us. She laughs more often and is sleeping great! 12 hours straight or more at night and a 1.5 hour nap...couldn't ask for more. I really believe that she understands everything we tell her...even little specific things like, "where is your baby? Go get her stroller! Take this cracker to Annalyse, etc..." Everytime we put her shoes on she says, "bye bye" and just last weekend came to the kitchen to find her sister standing on a chair and boldly proclaimed, "SIT!" "SIT DOWN!" HA!

She went to the nursery last Sunday night (she's in annalyse's class) and I got to attend worship!!! Praise the LORD! I hadn't been to a service without her since Jan 8 and I was hurtin, if you know what I mean! She really did good and was all smiles when I came to get her....she quickly turned to the worker and said "bye bye" over and over!

The new blog is still in the works, again, please be patient with my tech. friend, she is a supermom and these things take time! Rest assured it will be good:)

Vocab. after 6 weeks with us, 5 weeks home...

2009-03-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

Maybe they're turning a corner....

2009-02-26T19:34:00.000-08:00

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

2009-02-20T07:28:00.000-08:00

We ARE having fun, right?

WOW.... I looked at the calendar this morning and all of the sudden it's Feb 20th...how did that happen? Things have been moving fast and furious around here now that all the sickness has left the house. We're back on a more normal schedule and looking forward to SPRING!

Between potty training Annalyse, Dr appointments with Ashley, and school things with the older two, the blog has not been feeling some love! I know I promised the new one would be up this week....did I mention that I can't believe it's Feb. 20th? Yeah, it'll happen one day soon :)

We spent two days in Atlanta last week and Ashley checked out just PERFECT! The Dr up there isn't even sure what she had on her back was Spina Bifida. As I try to process that and the amazing, overwhelming blessing that is...words fail me. Only God.

Ashley continues to adjust great...instead of having bad days, she's only having bad "moments" now. She has a lot to go in the area of Annalyse...she simply cannot STAND me to hold or love on Annalyse. She has no problem with Avery and Ally, but Annalyse is her rival. I am constantly taking it to the Lord in prayer and asking Him to give them a special bond. I have faith it will come, I know it just takes time. Annalyse, poor thing, has really no problem with Ashley, but she's used to sharing her mama, and trusts me and my love for her. She is confident in her place in our family. Ashley is not. How long will it take? Who knows. It will come, and she really has made leaps and bounds since we've had her.

Wanted to share a quick video of Ash eating her first Popsicle! She has "tasted and seen that American food is good!" She can put down some Mexican, and loves just about all we put in front of her. She's saying about 10 words now, and yesterday, when Elmo came on, I heard her say" na na na na...na na na na" to the "Elmos' world" song!!!!

More Pics

2009-02-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Pics from outside

2009-02-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

Finally warm enough to play outside!!

2009-02-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

Well, the temps finally got above 30 degrees and we spent about 4 hours outside Saturday! Ashley went exploring around the yard and pushed her baby doll stroller....a favorite toy! Such a favorite I had to get another one at target because it was the only toy causing a major meltdown between Annalyse and her. New stroller, no problems :) Well....not totally true....the little ones are taking awhile to warm up to each other. There has been hitting, screaming and a biting incident in the bathtub....please pray for them that they will get along better soon....and I will stay sane in the process!

Ashley continues to amaze us...she's picking up new words each day and this morning I said, "where is your nose?" and she pointed to it! We had only done that with her the night before right before bed. She can say "Asheeeeee" and follow all sorts of simple commands...sit down, come here, take that to da da...

We've had a sick kid here since about 4 days after we got home...two strep, one ear infection and two stomach bugs...I guess having a big family means big sickness? Thankfully, mom and dad have been spared but it's made for some more sleepless nights and missed school days.

This week we head to Atlanta to have her evaluated by the Spina Bifida clinic at Eggleston. From our standpoint, she seems to have zero effects of the SB, but we'll be seeing the experts to see what they say...i'll keep you posted. I will say that our pediatrician says that CHINA GOT IT WRONG. The form of SB they said she had, our Dr. says, NO WAY. ISN"T GOD AWESOME!! He says her tone, muscles, reflexes and strength in her legs and ankles, is PERFECT. WOW.

We serve a faithful God, folks.....and all the glory goes to Him.

Lastly, if you 've emailed me about the new blog (and if you have BEGGED....not that anyone has...diane...) i'll be sending out the new link soon. It's still in the works :)

NEW BLOG***

2009-02-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

As we settle into a routine as a family of 6 (gulp), I'm going to stop posting to this blog in about a week. We have a private family blog that some of you read, and that one will shut down as well. I'm going to combine the two into just one site, to keep up with the craziness of our lives:)

Over the next few days i'll be posting some wrap-up posts and setting the new one up. I'm not going to make it "private" where you have to have a password, but i'm also not going to announce it publicly. If you want me to email you the site, please let me know at rebsandhogs@juno.com soon. ****If you already have permission to read the family blog, you do NOT have to email me...I'll post the site on there.*** Look for it in a week or so.

Also, if ANYONE has any sites that will make blog books..please let me know! Blurb.com does not support Blogger anymore so I need a new avenue to make this a memory book for Ashley.

thanks friends!

A Mei Date!

2009-02-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a play date with Mei! Ashley and Mei are just three months apart and we hope that they will be great friends....aren't they cute!!!!

Three weeks ago today....

2009-02-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

In a small, cold room in Hunan, China....an orphan became a daughter, a sister and a granddaughter. Although she still has some grieving, today she is a happy, giggle box who we cannot imagine our lives without. It seems like she has always been here!

"I will not leave you as orphans...I will come to you...." John 14:18

More pics from China

2009-01-31T04:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday Morning Update

2009-01-31T04:03:00.000-08:00

Good (early) morning to all our blog readers! So many of you have been reading our story and stopped to tell us and ask..."when are we getting an update?"

I have 4 kids now under the age of 6...I'm trying!!

Ashley Mei is really doing well. She's adjusting great and attaching beautifully. Most of the time she still prefers mama, but she's got that "Daddy's HOME!" dance and smile down pat! We've had a challenge mostly at night but she's getting better, PTL! We did some re-arranging so she's in her own room, and this seems to have helped, as well as given mama and daddy their room back..all of us are happier :)

She still has some periods of grieving each day but they are getting less and less. Like in the first of the week it was lasting 20 minutes and now it's only maybe 3. I'm totally expecting this to ebb and flow...she may kick it back up to 20 today or may not have any at all. This is normal and healthy as she learns to trust us and give us her heart...and as far as how long it will last? Could last for months and could be over this week...we just don't know.

Aside from that short time each day she is a joy! She's giggling and kissing and talking! She can say mama, dada, Ashley, Ally, bye bye, and uh oh. She can sign please, more, and all gone. And, she's still saying a few Chinese words here and there. She adores Ally (who doesn't?!) and laughs and laughs when Ally comes into the room. Annalyse is doing well with another sister...Ashley gets jealous easily but for now things are going smooth. We went out to dinner last night for the first time with all 4 and had fun with friends and managed!

The questions have already begun and I'm sure will get more frequent as we get out more. "Is she yours?" (yes) "did you adopt her?" (no, we have a strong recessive Chinese gene that just popped out!) .....you get the idea. I've got to get creative....

Oh yes she is....happy to be HOME!

2009-01-27T12:38:00.001-08:00

Just a few pics for those of you who have called and emailed about WHY I haven't posted pics :)

We're all getting to know each other and resting well. We did get the Melatonin and it worked great the first night (natural sleep aid), so we're going to stay on it for about a week. Mama is still pretty worn out, but hanging in there. Thanks to those who have brought meals....it is a LIFESAVER not to have to get something together when your body is telling you it's 5am and not 5pm!

We had a very good Dr's appointment this afternoon and i'll post more about that later. Here's the pics while I still have the two little ones asleep!

Jetlag is a KILLER

2009-01-26T00:03:00.000-08:00

Well it's 3:04am here in GA and I just made scrambled eggs for two very hungry children. Ashley and Avery and I have been awake since about 2am and both got hungry for breakfast. Having two children on one schedule and two on another is NOT my idea of a fun week:)

I have no clue how to handle it, but i'm going to let them stay up till 4am then put them back to bed. Avery has school in the morning and she really needs to try to stay as long as possible. It's amazing how much I can get done getting up this early:)

Yesterday AM we took Ashley to church for the first time. I know some people think you have to hibernate in your house for 6 weeks, but if my children plan on living for the next 6 weeks, this mama has to get out of the house! Jay and I (and Avery!) have missed our church friends and family SO much over the last 16 days...we needed to see them and be in worship....oh, how I have MISSED worship at our church for three weeks! Ashley stayed in my arms the entire time really did well! She's not fond of men, so when they came up to her, she turned her head..but she was playing peek a boo and laughing up a storm with my Sunday School friends! Foster care has really saved this child in so many ways.....she's not timid and certainly has an air of confidence about her! She walked in here when we got home the first time just like she owned the place...headed straight with Avery to the toys and as long as mama was in sight, would have played the night away! She seems to have no "sensory" issues that I can tell, and is perfectly on track developmentally.

Ok so want to hear our loooonnggg trip home? Not really sure I want to rehash it but here goes....

Our Friday morning started out at 4:30am, waking up to be in the hotel lobby and ready to head to the airport by 5:45am. Head to the airport for a 9:30 flight that eventually gets off the ground at 11:00am due to weather delays. Thankfully, we were on all these flights with several other families so we had friends to wait it out with . Learned some cuss words in Chinese that a local decided a few of us needed to learn that had us laughing so hard we were crying...yes, the trip insanity had begun to set in!

Landed in Shanghai and got a quick bite to eat (another ordeal...guide told us they took American cash, they did not...) and got on the BIG plane at 5:05pm. At this point, we have the longest flight ahead of us and we've been up and traveling for 12 hours.

Another God thing, we were not seated together on this flight and a sweet man switched seats so we were all together...this would be so crucial. About two hours into the flight, we hit the worst turbulence I have ever experienced. When the pilot comes over and says loudly, "Flight attendants DOWN" you know it's REALLY bad. We dropped altitude so fast and were shaking all over the place. It was the first time in my life I really thought I was going to die. All I could think about was Ally and Annalyse and I was a mess. Avery was hysterical and so scared...that killed me but I was so out of it I was no comfort to her...thankfully, Jay held onto us both and was our rock....that stuff lasted about an hour all total and it was the most terrifying thing that I have ever been through. Ashley? She was asleep...another blessing....she slept on my lap for 10 of the 12 hours!! (and she peed on me and smeared cheese in my jeans:)

We landed in Chicago at 4pm (now traveling for 23.5 hours) and had two hours to make the connecting flight to ATL. Yeah, NOT ENOUGH TIME. We had to re-check our bags through customs, get Ashley's paperwork stamped by immigration by a not-so-kind gentleman, and ran full speed all the way to our plane that was calling for final boarding (through another security screen, I may add).

Flight to ATL was smooth as glass and Ashley made friends with the flight attendants. Landed at 9:05pm and Ashley was there to meet us. Found out our bags never made the last flight and would be sent to us the next day....grabbed some really good, american food...and drove three hours home. All total traveling....31 hours.

Highlights of the trip (there were so few) were being on all flights but the last with 7 families from our group....Ashley sleeping 10 and Avery sleeping 8 hours on the long flight....and walking in and waking up the girls, and seeing nana and nammy!

God got us here in one piece and believe me, I had a LOT of conversation with Him on that flight! The emotions of the two weeks hit me on the leg home and it was a very emotional one for me. So many thoughts and feelings...one day I'll go into that more.

For now, we are home and soaking up every sleepless minute:) Pics to come!

FINALLY MADE IT HOME!!!!

2009-01-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

Our first pic as a family of 6!!!! We got home at 1:15am after 31 hours of travel...it was long and terrible (i'll post about that later:) but to walk into the door and wake up the girls....worth every minute!!!!! Thanks to Ashley for picking us up and driving us home all the way(and for capturing the pics....love you!!

End of one journey and on to the next!

2009-01-22T04:13:00.001-08:00

Well, this post wraps up our time in China. It has been an amazing, life changing trip to say the least! The things we have learned here will shape our family in so many ways. Now, this country is a part of our family, and will forever be a heritage to our grandchildren and beyond! There have been many ups and downs on this trip, but I wouldn't trade it for the world (OK, maybe I'd trade the food:) As we head home, and try to add threads of China into our world, i'm not exactly sure what that looks like. I do know that we got the cutest and most amazing little souvenir and the best thing ever that was "made in China!" She has learned to say, 'mama, dada, jie jie (sister) and is already signing the word "please"!

Our prayer for this blog is that maybe in some way, God has spoken to you about how He might have YOU be a voice for orphans. That picture looks so different for everyone...maybe He has burdened you to give, or to pray for these precious children. Maybe He has whispered to you, just like He did to me, that one day...this would be something you would experience first hand. Maybe you have room for one more stocking at Christmas and one more car seat in your van. Maybe, like some of you I know are reading, have never been able to have a biological child.
Can I tell you something? Pregnancy is WAY over rated! This child was formed in her mothers womb, but God ordained her to be in our family even before the world was created. I have loved children both ways....and it is no different.

Please do not stop praying for us! We need all the prayer we can get as we figure out how to go from a family of 5 to a family of 6! And for our amazing, wonderful church family...we cannot WAIT to introduce you to Ashley Mei!! We know you have prayed for us and supported us, even when you probably thought..."what in the heck are they doing??!! "

To everyone who has helped with the girls...THANK YOU! You have been the hands and feet of Christ to us and we never once felt nervous that they we're not being cared for! We love you!

And, thank you to my sweet husband...who said "yes" to this burden in my heart! This is a man who loves his family, and we are so blessed to have him!

We have our bags packed and leave for the airport tomorrow at 5:45am....to start a 31 hour trip home. We need lots of prayer that we can make our connecting flights and get some sleep on the planes. God is good! All the time! SEE YOU SOON!!!!!!!!

Jay's Final post and pics from the Park

2009-01-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

This is the one lone post from me. I wanted to post once and well after the last outing I thought some pics and this post was fitting. I have done more posting on my face book but these pics and post are from Avery and I today at the park. I also took a pic of our hotel, a Lamborghini dealership( no pics inside), and of us at the park. I have enjoyed my time here in China but I am ready to go home.

The Lord and his mercies have blessed us each day and we pray that he will continue to be with us and our journey as we begin to say goodbye to China. Ashley or Hao Hao, which we are calling her to help with transition, is a blessing beyond words. This week she has really opened up to me and Avery and she is showing us the beauty that God has blessed her with. We are thanking him for the surgery that was provided her and she is walking and running everywhere. We are praying for next Tuesday for that is the day when we get her checked out in GA. Please pray for that day.

I personally want to thank our God, who has guided and given us the privilege to take this journey to bring Hao Hao home not just physically but spiritually as well. We hold a special place in our hearts for the Chinese people. We are praying for friends like Judy, Mike, Mayme and their life. We are thankful that we get to share Christ with Ashley throughout our life, home, church, and family until Christ calls us home. i want to thank Ally and Lyse for their love and we will see you in two days. We are thankful to our family, Nana and Pop, Nammie and Stephen, Kathryn, Steve, and Tyler. To Mrs. Cyndi and Mr. John, Amberly, David J, Ed B, Hayley, Marie, and the Griffins for their help from start to finish. To all who have prayed, supported both with your prayers, financial gifts, and love thank you. To Sherwood, our Pastor, Jim, and their families thank you.

and finally....

To Avery,

Daddy and Mommy love you very much. We are thankful that you got to come to China. We pray for you as you grow up to remember what you saw on this life journey, love your three sisters like we love you, and live your life to bring Glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

To Ashley

I love you and I can't wait to see you grow up and be a Flynt. Your smile and laugh are the best and you are the best thing made in China.

To Em

I started this journey call marriage almost 9 12 year ago. We have been from Arkansas to Texas, to Mississippi, to Georgia, and now to China. We have been given four precious from the Lord and I have been given five. You are the best and I am looking forward to 90 more with you. I love you

May the Grace of Jesus Christ be with you all

ba ba ( Chinese for daddy ) of 4 girls and a beautiful wife

Jay

Lions and Tigers and Split Pants, Oh My!

2009-01-21T04:54:00.000-08:00

We spent the morning in our rooms. Our guide actually goes to the Consulate Appointment for us and we just hang out in our room in case they call with questions. About 12:30 she called and said all went perfect and we were free the rest of the day. Jay has been really wanting to go to the zoo so off we went. It only cost us $7.00 total for all 4 of us to get in! It was a beautiful place and had many animals. Avery was in tears that the Panda was not out...it was the one thing she wanted to see! We saw the famous "split pants," these are potty training pants the kids wear here...warning, these are graphic :) Jay and I had a great laugh at this! We headed back for dinner here in the hotel and I've been slowly packing up to head home.

As one of the dads put it, "We're at the end of clean clothes, the end of our money, and the end of our ropes!"

Tomorrow we have our group photo shot, then we're headed to the park nearby to take pics of Ashley in her Chinese clothing we bought. (Tammi, this place is a photographers DREAM!) We have our swearing in at the US Consulate at 3pm and that's when we'll get her visa...and we'll be free to leave the country!!!!

It really is amazing to be here right before Chinese New Year..this is the major holiday in China and the people go WAY OUT for it! Our hotel lobby has been transformed in the last few days with amazing flowers, beautiful lanterns, and red envelopes hanging from the trees. You see these everywhere you go around here. It's the year of the Ox, so there are ox figurines all over. It has been a really neat and beautiful time to be here!

Tomorrow will be our last post from China! I'm going to try to organize my thoughts and make it a good one. We are actually sad to be leaving in so many ways. But we are SOOO ready to see Ally and Annalyse and all our family and friends!

Prayer Request

2009-01-20T07:25:00.000-08:00

I need you! My sweet Ally is having a hard time missing mommy and daddy and Avery. She's at my moms house and is struggling...please pray for her baby heart that it will be supernaturally comforted and that she'll be able to take her mind off us being gone! She's having fun but is having some moments! Thanks, friends....and Ally.....three more days!!

The sweet sound of grace.....

2009-01-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

This video may just sound like cute little squeaky shoes to you....but to us, it is the beautiful sound of God's faithfulness to us. When we got Ashley's referral, we knew full well that she may never walk unassisted. We were scared and anxious, but had peace from the Lord, gently telling us to trust Him. That day we decided to move forward with her adoption was the single biggest step of faith I had ever taken. But the moment we said "yes" we began to fall in love with this child, and whether or not she ever could run with her sisters was not a concern to us. We loved her just the way she was.....much the same way that the Lord loves us..."flaws" and all!

Today, as I listen to the sweet sound of "squeak squeak" around our hotel lobby...it is the wonderful sound of a God who is "able to do IMMEASURABLY more than we can ever imagine!"

So much cuteness...oh my!

2009-01-20T00:41:00.000-08:00

Today was a free day so we headed back to Shaiman Island for more shopping. I was able to get Ashley some of these squeaky shoes (like the ones in the states for 40$) for 4.00 a pair! I also got Annalyse a few pair. $4.00 is cheaper than Payless! She really loves being outside and riding in the stroller. Everyday she opens up some more to us and finally gives kisses! We are having fun in GZ but are really ready to head home. Only 3 more sleeps!! I couldn't pic my favorites so get ready for picture overload!

Medical and shopping!

2009-01-19T05:03:00.001-08:00

This morning we headed out to Shamian Island for the kids medical exams and some shopping! It was another beautiful day and feels like Spring! Ashley did fine with the medical...a joke really...they play a note on a key board and if the child looks at the keyboard, they say they have perfect hearing! She was weighed and measured as well and had her temp. taken.

Afterwards we had a few hours to walk around the island and shop! FUN! We got some goodies and met some great people that run the shops. All that shopping must have tuckered Ashley out!On the way back to the bus, we found this restaurant that had animals for sale that they would cook for you...lunch anyone??? The smell was overwhelming,I only stayed in there about 3 minutes. Jay actually watched them kill the alligator....uggg. The picture of Avery was taken with one of the many brides we saw having pictures made on the Island...it really is an amazing place for pictures!

The night ended with a pizza party in the hallway! It was yummy but the fellowship was even better than the food. Ashley and the other kids are really opening up, learning English and doing so well...it's such a "God thing" to watch! We have really made some wonderful friends on this trip and look forward to following these families for a long time.

(pictures came up backwards and I'm too tired to fix them!! Sorry!)

Running!

2009-01-18T17:10:00.001-08:00

Every night we all congregate in the hall to play with the other kiddos! Last night Ashley had a ball running up and down the carpeted hall!! Look how good she's doing!!

few things...

2009-01-18T16:52:00.000-08:00

Just have a minute and felt like i needed to address some of you who have left comments. First off, THANK YOU to everyone who has left thought along our journey! We look forward to reading every single word! It really does make us feel close to home to hear from everyone. I am sorry at this point that I don't have time to respond to everyone who has asked a question or wondered about something! But I wanted to catch up on a few things...
*videos are done with our old point&shoot...we have a camcorder but the little camera is so much easier to upload. All other pics are my DSLR (Nikon). I don't have my editing software here so some of these you'll see again once I can edit.

*thank you SO much to Sue, who left a comment....I want to contact you and will as soon as we get home!

*To the family that is from Cordele...can't wait to meet you and share stories!

*To those of you who have left messages to Avery...she loves it! She wants to know if she has any "email" every morning! And to those of you who have asked...she's doing great!! She's been such a trooper and has had a fun time and been a great help!

Lastly, thank you so much for your continued support and prayers...God has taught us so much about Himself this week and how He loves us. We have a LONG trip home ahead of us and will need you all to help us be "prayed up" for the journey home. All total, we'll be traveling for close to 30 hours....just the thought of that gives me a headache.

*Medical exam on Shaiman Island this morning and then shopping! More pics this afternoon!

Smiling and a beautiful Morning!

2009-01-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

We spent a glorious morning outside in 60 degree temps at a beautiful outdoor museum. Hao Hao was especially thrilled to be outside and I got tons of great shots! She's so funny..she'll walk holding our hands but if we let go...she stops dead in her tracks. She's probably never been out this much and gets nervous if we let her hand go. She prefers her stroller and kicks her feet the entire time. Here in our room, she runs around like crazy but in the big new world, she sticks close. She also gave us her first kisses today! Daddy was the proud recipient of the first kiss from this baby who we are head over heals for. Click on the pics to get the full effect of the cuteness :)

Made it!

2009-01-17T05:56:00.000-08:00

Arrived safely in GZ! It feels like home (almost) to see all the families from our group and all their precious children....don't worry, pics to come! Ashley really opened up here tonight, laughing and smiling for everyone...she didn't do that at all in Hunan. She would do it for us in the room, but was very unsettled in public. Here...totally different! We had dinner with friends and can't wait to do some shopping. We've been holding back but are ready to find some treasures for our girls! Pics tomorrow!

Next Stop: GZ!

2009-01-16T17:37:00.001-08:00

We're in the room now and have to be downstairs at 12:30 ready to head to the airport! Friends in GZ say it's in the upper 70's!!! We've had a long week here but we have managed to stay sane and not kill each other in the same room for 19 hours a day:)

We're 2/3 of the way through and only 5 sleeps away from our GIRLS!!!

Our Spicy Girl!

2009-01-15T22:06:00.003-08:00

Girls from Hunan are know as "spicy" and Ashley lives up to this!!

Our yummy lunch!!

2009-01-15T22:04:00.001-08:00

Today we fell in Love....

2009-01-15T21:41:00.000-08:00

Today was (outside of Gotcha Day!) our best day in Hunan! We spent a cold morning at the large, Martyrs Park. This is unlike anything we have in the US, well, maybe like Central Park in NYC....anyway....people were everywhere, singing, dancing, doing exercises, playing games. Jay got to play badminton with a local! There was a koi pond with thousands of fish, and a small amusement park (Jay called it Six Flags over Hunan!). We are definitely a spectacle here! People of all ages come up to us and ask questions, take our picture, or try out their English on us. Most are very curious about why we have a Chinese baby with us as they are, in large part, unaware of the orphanages and the plight of orphans. Some say, "lucky baby" and others are worried that she will not fit in in America (our guide obviously translates:) One woman came up and seemed almost defencive as to why we had her....our guide told her that Ashley was our biological child! HA! The lady said Avery looked like me but Ashley did not and our guide shooed her away.
We had a wonderful morning and an amazing lunch!! The food here is sooo good, soooooo much better than in Beijing! We ate and ate at lunch. It was a bittersweet day as I am beginning to feel sad that Ashley will be gone from this place soon and who knows when she'll return. It's a torn feeling really. Over the last few days we've gotten to see much more of Changsha and you can feel the darkness here. The people are so lost. Our hearts are turning to them and although we cannot wait to get to GZ and HOME, we realize Ashley is leaving so little, but so much behind.

Belly Laugh

2009-01-15T01:58:00.001-08:00

Been in room all day....reason for many posts....(wait a minute, I'm beginning to think in "Chinglish"

Hao Hao has had a wonderful day!!! Check it out!

Embroidery Museum and the Real China

2009-01-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

Our guide took us to the Hunan Museum of Embroidery today. Hunan is famous for this amazing art form and even did an embroidery of President and Mrs. Bush and their girls that hangs in the White House. These huge prints are not painted...all embroidery! Our guide took us afterwards to a back ally where they sell the prints for much less. We were able to get a piece to hang in our home and some things for Ashley when she gets older. This is the real China...

Pics

2009-01-15T00:19:00.000-08:00

Answered Prayers!

2009-01-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

Ashley has been in a great playful mood after a good night's sleep. She even woke up about 4am and I just tucked her into our bed and she snuggled on mama, fell asleep and didn't get up until 6. She giggled and smiled through her bath and was laughing out loud at Avery!

Also.....our flight has been changed and we leave Hunan on Saturday, not Sunday!! We're having much better days but are ready for GZ so this was a HUGE lift to our spirits today. It's not that we do not like it here, but it's very lonely and something you can just not imagine unless you have been through something like this. God has been so good to us and we are seeing little glimpses of Him everyday. So Chloe, Merrilee and Bekah....Avery will see you Saturday!

We visited an amazing Embroidery Museum today and it was so cool....pics to come later...it's lunch time and baby is hungry!!

Things we know....

2009-01-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

After three days, this is what we know about our girl:

*She is strong willed! If she doesn't get her way, she lets us know...loudly!

*She loves to eat! She'll eat about anything we put in front of her, and will let me feed her a bottle in the morning and at night.

*She smiles the most at Avery but won't let her touch her at all....it's hard for Avery but we keep telling her that Ashley will come around.

*She also tolerates Jay. She will sit with him and play with space, but she prefers mama. Soon she'll be screaming, " daddy's home" with all the rest of his girls:)

*She doesn't like elevators but will ride in the stroller. She promptly falls asleep in the car (taxi).

*She is grieving hard. We know this is part of the process, and means that she was very attached to her foster parents, but it's hard to watch. I would not call her a "happy" baby at this point, but we know it will come.

*We love her more everyday! She is so beautiful and we can;t wait to watch her grow and grow!!

Barbie In China

2009-01-13T23:29:00.000-08:00

This morning our guide took us to the Changsha Provincial Museum. It was a very interesting trip and we learned a lot about the Hunan Province. This is the front of the building, it was so big!

The biggest attraction in the museum is this 2000 year old mummy. She was found in the 70's and look how well she was preserved. They said they found 138 watermelon seeds in her stomach, so they think she ate a melon just before she died. It really was amazing, and we got to see her tomb and the tombs that held her husband and sons. Very interesting.

On the second floor of the museum was a BARBIE EXHIBIT. Can you believe that? It was SOOO neat and had barbies from the 40's all the way up to today. This is an amazing collection and probably had about 400 dolls total. Avery loved it! Several Chinese told our guide that Avery looked like Barbie :)

The Millennial Barbie

April this one is for you...we had these! Barbie
and the Rockers!!!!! HA!!

The entrance of the exhibit.

Smiling!

2009-01-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

We had a rough afternoon yesterday with lots of grieving but this morning has brought new mercies! We've gotten small giggles and smiles! Here's a few videos of the action and one of her first bath. "hao hao" was her nickname in her foster family so we've been calling her that. Enjoy!! Today we're headed to lunch and then the museum.

day 2...It's Official!

2009-01-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

In the eyes of the Government it's official! We had another appointment at the CA office today where we promised to never leave her and stamped our fingers (and her foot) in ink! We headed to the store to get her a stroller (this child is tooo heavy for the sling:) and some diapers, then back to the hotel to Skpye with the girls and order Pizza Hut. She went down for a nap and I am about to do the same, while Avery and Jay hit the pool. We got (or rather Avery got) her to smile and almost laugh today!

Gotcha Story!

2009-01-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Finally have a sleeping baby and have some time to post some more details! Yesterday we got picked up at 2:40 and arrived at the Civil Affairs office right at 3pm. Jay and I were shaking as we walked in...but she wasn't there yet! We only waited about 5 minutes and she came in the room in the arms of a "Dr." from her orphanage! We talked to her and stroked her face for a few minutes then I took her from the woman. She arched her back and let out a big cry!! She continued to cry for several minutes on and off....not "screaming" but crying and whimpering. It was interesting because she wasn't reaching for the woman who brought her, in fact, she seemed totally unattached to her...but she sure didn;t want the big bald man and the blond lady the people were telling her were her "mama" and "baba"! She let us feed her snacks we brought and that settled her down....FYI for adopting families....BRING FOOD TO GOTCHA DAY! It was a life saver!

We stayed there for probably 20 minutes, then left with her. We had the chance to talk to the lady that brought her and they gave us some formula and a small photo album of pictures....they are dated back to when she was about 4 months old and there are 10 in all! Priceless! We learned her schedule and that she had just been taken from her foster family that morning!! That was an answer to prayer because many times they move children back to the orphanage before they are adopted. The "Dr" that brought her really didn't seem to have a clue at all about her and just gave us generic answers to our questions.

We came back to the hotel room and had some time to fill out some paperwork and she played on the bed with Avery and I. After that was done, we played some more and she cried on and off for the rest of the night. I did get the courage to give her a bath and she LOVED it! She actually went back in there about an hour later, fully clothed, and tried to climb in! So I obliged and the second bath of the night was had!

God is so good! When we first got her referral, our pediatrician told us that he had never seen a baby with SB walk unassisted. That day was a HUGE step of faith for us, as we felt that God was calling us to say "yes" to this child. Well, ....meet your FIRST! This child can practically run!!! What an AMAZING gift! She does have a small scar where the place was repaired, but unless you look at her little butt crack, you'd never know.

We got her some rice for dinner delivered to the room...she's a wonderful eater! No issues there! She wouldn't let us give her a bottle and about 8:45 she just fell asleep sitting up in my lap. I put her in the crib and she slept for 9 hours!

On a personal note let me just say that this is HARD. VERY HARD. We are by ourselves in this place that seems (and is) very far away from home. Our guide is great but not here all of the time. I really miss my kids and cannot fathom that I have another 10 days here. Once we get back with our friends on Sunday, things will be much better, but for the next 4 days, we're here. I know that 4 or 10 days doesn't seem like a lot, but it feels like an eternity to me. Please pray that the days would go quickly and I can keep it together emotionally! Right now I feel like we got what we came for....now I want to go HOME.

Gotcha, Ashley!!

2009-01-12T04:13:00.000-08:00

Just pics for now, we are all worn out and exhausted....and Ashley is really crying hard. Jay has her in the hall to give me a break. We had an amazing day but we are physically and emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted. Here SHE IS!!!!!!

Made it to Changsha!

2009-01-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

We just got here and got into our room! We leave to get Ashley in about 2 hours!!!!! Our flight was smooth and the Asian airlines are MUCH nicer than American ones! Our room is incredible! 5 Star Hotel and not what we're used too! Jay is on cloud nine....we get ESPN! When we got here they had a crib set up in our room....so sweet! We're going to try to get some rest and get our heads together and then met our guide in the lobby at 2:40. I am excited and nervous, but also calm and just have a peace...thanks so much for the comments and prayers, we tear up every time we read them....love the details from home on Ally and Annalyse for those of you who have helped with them. They are settled in at Nana's and having a great time! Jay says china is the three C's...Crazy, Crowded and Congested!! But God IS HERE.

NEXT PICS.......ASHLEY MEI!!!!

Ashley here we come!!!

2009-01-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

**COMMENT MODERATION HAS BEEN TURNED OFF!***

Our bags are packed and we're going to be on the bus at 5:30am to go to the airport. We aren't sure the timeframe once we get there, but this time tomorrow night, we'll have a sleeping baby girl in our room!! (BTW, I am shaking as I write this....!) Here are some specific prayer requests:

1. Safe flight

2. That Ashley has a safe trip to Changsha. She'll be driven there to meet us by the orphanage director.

3. That Ashley would supernaturally know that we are her parents.

4. That we wouldn't have an expectations of how this day will go.

5. That God would wrap us all in protection and we will feel His presence.

Great Wall, Great Church, Not so Great Food

2009-01-11T05:20:00.000-08:00

These pictures are totally out of order so we'll go backwards today! We are officially tired of Chinese food as of today. Day 3. Not a good thing. This was the END of the meal. Our table hardly touched a thing. The last few minutes they brought us out the plate of french fries and we went nuts! I think they sensed that we were not going to eat much.

We spent the afternoon at the Great Wall. It was a beautiful sunny day with amazing blue skies. (very rare in Beijing!). But don't let that fool you, it was FREEZING. So cold that Avery didn't make it up a step. She sat in the warm coffee shop with the ones in our group that didn't climb. The wall itself is so hard to describe in pictures....very very steep and the steps are all uneven, making it a killer on the legs. I made it up to the first "watch tower" and took one look down and almost lost my lunch! I was done....Jay on the other hand, made it to the 4th tower....way way high!

The highest tower in this picture is where Jay made it too!

Here comes Jay!! He finally made it down and here is his, "my legs are jelly" look!

This is for our church members.......a sign on the Wall!

This little one, Chloe, is Ally's Asian twin! She has our Ally's personality and Avery has taken to her! Chloe is getting a baby brother tomorrow! We can't wait to see them in GZ and meet Jude!

This morning we went to the Jade factory and Avery was in a silly mood! I think she was just really excited that we weren't making her walk all day! We found out she was born in the Year of the Dragon so she went around and found all the dragons.

This morning started out like a normal Sunday with church! That's right, in Communist China, we went to church! The catch is that to get in the door you have to show a passport. Not even our China guides could enter the building. Jay had the opportunity to share about Facing the Giants and Fireproof in the service! The most amazing thing of it all is that at the same time our service was going on, there were 6 other services going on in the same building for other believers, from Russian to French to Malaysia. The Beijing International Christian Fellowship church reaches out to all these people groups and provides them a place to worship!! It was very emotional to me and honestly I couldn't even sing...I wept. It's amazing and humbling to be on the other side of the world and know that God is here just as He is in GA. That may sound silly, but I was just overwhelmed at the "biggness" of God and at the same time, so sad for the people of China who cannot worship freely. It was an incredible way to begin the day!

Few more pics from day 2

2009-01-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday morning here and we're just relaxing a little before church. Jay wanted me to post a few more pictures from yesterday (we took about 120:).

First off, our dinner last night. Actually looks a lot more appetizing on the pic than it was. This is why we are so hungry for breakfast in the morning!

The second was one of the dozens of huge pots that they kept water in at the Forbidden City. Avery's there to show you how big they actually were. Then the food vendors are everywhere! The sweet potatoes were being cooked in a metal garbage can on wheels.....anyone hungry? Lastly, the Olympic sites...the cube and the birds nest. We didn't get to tour these but drove around the Olympic village to get pics. Sports here is viewed totally different than the US....I asked the guide what they used the Cube for now....he said, "Nothing....you can't do sports everyday, you know!" HAHA! The Chinese government spent hundreds of billions on this stuff and here it sits.

**Also, i'm going to take the lock off on anonymous comments....so if you want to comment, please just leave your name after it...but no need to join blogger just for this....sorry De'na! Also, thanks Julie and Pam for your comments for Avery..she said to me..did I get anymore email??!! She loved getting the little "hugs" from home as much as we do! Keep them coming!

Day 2...we walked...and walked...and walked....

2009-01-10T05:05:00.000-08:00

Today we got up nice and early, thanks to our body clocks that have been so thrown off! About 4:45 we were up and ready for breakfast! Unfortunately the breakfast buffet didn't open till 6:30...and when it did, we hit it with a vengeance! It is really the best meal of the day..tons to choose from and very western. Next we bundled up and headed out for the day. At Tienanmen Square, Avery was approached about three times as people are fascinated with her blond hair! They all asked if they could take her picture...Jay is thinking tomorrow he's going to charge!

Next we headed through the Forbidden City..where the emperors lived and ruled. It is really indescribable...very large and the buildings are amazing with color. Next stop was lunch. Not too bad...."pizza" (ok, not), and a buffet with everything from fried rice to french fries. We're not too adventurous when it comes to meals here so we fill up on rice and chicken and drink a ton of water. We can't have the ice because of the water so everything is lukewarm....yum.

Then on to the pearl factory. Avery got selected to choose a pearl out of the water and it had 13 pearls inside! We got each of the girls a pair of pearls to wear on their wedding day, and some other goodies as well.

Next stop was the summer palace....summer home of the emperor. The lake in the middle was frozen solid and it was sooooo cold. Again, hard to describe but very pretty and soooo big. We finished off the tour with a trip to the silk factory and then dinner. Dinner was more interesting than lunch, as even our guide couldn't tell us what some of the dishes were! We picked through rice (again) and chicken (stayed away from the feet:) and warm drinks. We are all so so exausted! Avery has been a trooper but she hit a wall tonight and actually slept through dinner in her chair. We're all looking forward to a good night's sleep!

Tomorrow we go the the International Bible Fellowship Church and then to the Great Wall!! Thank you sooooo much for all the sweet comments...they really really make us feel like we're not so far away. We can actually "feel" the prayers...and I truly mean that in a way I cannot describe. We love you all!! Only one more day without Ashley!!! Can you believe it?? Beijing is great and all...but we want our baby!!!!!

China is a looooonnnggg way away....

2009-01-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

Good Morning! (or night?) We are totally off our schedule so we're not sure what it is!! Actually here it's 5am, and we're all awake. A little more detail about the way we got here...

We started in ATL early Thursday morning. Made it to Chicago and met up with about 6 other families from our group. We had a short layover and boarded the plane bound for China. God decided to surprise us right off the bat, as the airline has bumped us up to "Economy Premium" seating! yeah! 5 more inches of room is all that amounts to, but 5 inches is a LOT when you're 5'10 and 6'3! Avery and I were in a 2 seat row and Jay was behind us with "Jing" (see pics). This sweet woman is from Tulsa, OK and travels home to China very often. She taught us so much!

Other highlights:

*Watching the sun come up at 9pm our time, over Siberia...beautiful.

*Avery saw her first snow (couldn't touch it though!) out the windows at Chicago, O'Hare.

*Most of the time the air temp outside the plane was -80 degrees

*Airplane food lived up to it's reputation...yuck. We had two "meals" and a snack. The Chinese noodles were the best thing...Jung taught Avery how to eat them with chopsticks!

*Total Sleeping on the plane:

Avery-4 hours

Mama-3 hours
Daddy-0 hours

*The terminal we flew into was built for the Olympics. It cost 4 Billion dollars and was built in 4 years. It was AMAZING. Jay's comment was great..."see how much you can accomplish when you don't have to vote on things!"

*On the plane, Avery did wonderful! At one point she said, "Mama, PLEASE tell them to stop talking like that, it's annoying me!" (they say everything in Chinese and Eng....get used to it baby!!)

*God has put people in our path already....Candace at the hotel in ATL that let us take her car to Wal Mart because we couldn't get our computer to work and needed a new cord.

Joe the bus driver that prayed with us before we got to the airport.

HE has truly gone before us.

*As we flew, on the IPOD was "His Eyes" by Steven Curtis Chapman. As we flew over Russia, hearing the words,
"His eyes are always upon us....His eyes never close in sleep...and no matter where you go, you will always be, in His eyes"

Today we do the whirlwind tour! T'square, Forbidden City, and Summer Palace. It's COLD. Pray for these three SW Georgins....we're cold wimps!

WE'RE HERE!!

2009-01-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

We made it safe and sound! After 27 hours of traveling, we are totally wiped out. I'll update in the morning, so check back tonight!

Just Keepin it Real....

2009-01-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had "grand" ideas about getting the girls together before bed and all praying together as we spend the last night in our house as a family of 5. Yeah. So much for the idea....the intention was great but here's how it went down:

Ally: totally mad because she had to quit watching Dora. Tells me that she " DOES NOT CARE" if i'm going to be gone for 14 days. Really.

Annalyse: totally naked in pure "annalyse" fashion. Refuses to hold anyones hand. Telling Ally to "stand up!" during the entire prayer.

Avery: mostly rolled her eyes at Ally, and failed to get Annalyse to hold her hand.

Daddy: Prayed quickly, reminded me that "God knows our hearts"

Mommy: Crying the entire time

So much for my "moment"

*smile*

Email this morning from our agency...

2009-01-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

Dear Travel Group 142,

The day you have long been waiting for has finally arrived! You are about to meet your precious child face to face! The America World staff shares in your joy as this day quickly approaches.

Like most incredible life experiences, your trip to China will be both amazing and challenging. As Paul encouraged the Romans, so we also encourage you with this verse: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

Please know that you will be in our prayers throughout your time in China. We look forward to talking with you upon your return, and hearing all about your trip. If you will be posting pictures or updates to a blog while you travel we would love to have the link and follow along. We are thankful for the blessing of walking alongside you throughout this journey. May God bless this final chapter of your adoption process!

Paperwork is DONE (for now:) Bags are *almost* packed, tickets are here, and we're headed on the journey of a lifetime!!! China here we come!!!

Three more days till takeoff!

2009-01-04T11:12:00.001-08:00

I CANNOT believe that I just typed that....three more days!! My stomach does a little "flip flop" every time I think that! This time next week, we'll be sleeping (ok, maybe NOT sleeping:) for the last night ever without Ashley. It will be her last night in her foster care home. The moment we have waited for for almost 2 years is coming very soon!

I know that many of you....because you have shared privately with me.....have been reading our story and following it and that God is speaking to your heart about what He wants you to do for orphans. Let me just tell you....please do not be afraid. All the fears you have (and all those we had) He will get you through. It sounds so cliche but where He guides, He provides. Not just in financial ways, but in so many others.

This week we've been amazed at how God has provided for us. We've received gifts for our adoption expenses almost everyday in the mail. From people we haven't seen or talked to in years. From new friends and fellow adoptive parents who just felt God leading them to give. We had a conversation with our pastor this week about how most people who do have a ton of money, hold on to it so tightly. While those who depend on the Lord to provide, just give and give. It has been such a lesson to us, me especially, about the way the Lord wants us to give. i love what one friend wrote on her letter to us...."this is so much FUN!" WOW. The bible says God wants us to be "hilarious" givers....and this friend was certainly living that scripture out. Her very large check she sent was an incredible gift, but those four words spoke so deeply to me.

As we prepare to leave this week, let me just go ahead and say thank you....you all know who you are.....although those words seem so so inadequate, we are truly grateful. You will always be a part of the story we tell our daughter, about the Great and Mighty God we serve...and how He loved her and He loved us so much that He used some pretty incredible people to bring her home.

I'll probably update once more on Wednesday.....packing calls!!!!

TICKETS BOOKED!

2008-12-29T11:57:00.000-08:00

We leave from ATL on the 8th, and connect in Chicago, then on to Beijing!!

YEAH!!!

Things you can pray for....

2008-12-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

1. We'll be booking flights Monday...pray all the details will be worked out.
2. Pray for finances...we're still short with the orphanage donation going up as of Jan. 1. We know
God will provide, it's just getting sooo close!!
3. Pray for all the details to be worked out with Annalyse and Ally. They are being left in
perfectly capable hands, but they're still my babies and I want them all settled and safe!
4. Pray that I will stay organized and on task and not get overwhelmed. I want to be able to
spend real quality time with the girls before we leave.
5. Pray for Ashley and her foster parents...this is going to be very hard on all three of them.
6. Selfishly, pray for me...the very thought of leaving my two kids here brings immediate tears to my eyes. I've never left them longer than three days and emotionally this is going to be a challenge for me. The absolute only thing in the world that would make me leave them for this length of time is to get get our daughter and bring her home. I pray they understand that and don't long for us.

thanks so much...i'll update when we have flights!

CA CONFIRMED!!

2008-12-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

We got our consulate appointment confirmation today!! (Fastest thing that's happened in the whole process!)

Our concrete dates are Jan 8th -Jan 23rd! I was a little bummed about the extra 2 days but it is what it is!!!

Now on to plane tickets!!!

AND GUESS WHAT???? WE"RE DONE WAITING ON "A"'s!! Next stop: BEIJING!!!

What's next.....

2008-12-22T19:25:00.000-08:00

We got an email today that we were still waiting to hear if our consulate appointment request was approved...no worries, just has to be confirmed before they can book our flights!

Did you read that right? BOOK OUR FLIGHTS!!!

I'll update as soon as I hear!

TTTTTTTAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

WE GOT IT!!!!!! HERE WE COME!!!

Tentitive dates Jan 8th -21st!!!!!

We'll get HER on the 11th!!!

CAN YOU HEAR US SCREAMING!!!???

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!

Zilch

2008-12-18T12:23:00.001-08:00

Nothing. Nada.
Not a word on our TA.
Keep praying.

An Updated Picture!!!

2008-12-15T05:09:00.001-08:00

It won't get any bigger but look at my smiling baby girl!!!! Taken in November....

Praying we get it today!!!

2008-12-15T04:59:00.001-08:00

We're REALLY hopeing our TA comes today.....COME ON TA!!!!!!!!

It's looking now like we'll be leaving Jan1st....IF THE TA WOULD COME WE'D KNOW....COME ON PEOPLE!!!!!! MY BABY ISN'T GETTING ANY YOUNGER!!!!!!!

Growing Weary...

2008-12-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well it's official.

As of January 1, 2009, the orphanage donation that was 3,000 dollars is increasing to 5,000.

This is a China thing, not an agency thing, and is for anyone in the world that travels to China after Jan 1 to bring home a child. There have been rumors of this for months and now it's official. It's the first time it's increased in 16 years and honestly, it really is a good thing...it means better care for the orphans left behind and the possibility that more children will be made paper-ready for adoption.

It just comes at a terrible time for us and so many families. If we do not travel on Dec 25th, we'll have to bring an additional 2,000.00 with us that we do not have. And with it being Christmas, it's a hard time for people to give. I know that.

I'm growing weary. I feel 9 months pregnant with no end in sight. It's one of those days where things just seem impossible.

That means that it's prime time for God to show up. In a big way.

We're on our knees begging God to allow us to leave the 25th...thanks for joining us in that prayer.

I'll update as soon as I hear something.

Where we're at....

2008-12-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

We're BUSY!!!!! That much I can say!!! I bought a notebook to keep all my lists and reminders, and each time I mark one off, I add 5!

We're currently waiting on Travel Approval...I know, another approval.....and we're PRAYING it comes tomorrow or early next week. I know, nothing else has come when we wanted it too :) but will you join us in praying it comes in the next few days???

We were hoping to leave the 18th or the 25th, but now we're not sure. God is faithful. We'll get there.

one.day.at.a.time

that's my new motto. I repeat it to myself a few times a day :)

LAST ONE!!!

2008-11-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Sweet Ashley, this is the VERY LAST month that will go by without your mama and daddy! By the end of December we will have you in our arms forever! Oh what a celebration that will be! We know that you are being taken very well care of where you are but you are about to be taken in like you could never imagine! We love you so much and look forward to spending your 18th month, and every month after...WITH YOU!!!!

She has our nose! And Avery's lips...

2008-11-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

Earliest Picture

2008-11-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

This is the earliest picture we have of Ashley...according to her documents, she was found in yellow/white clothing at the gate of the orphanage so we're thinking that this might actually have been taken the very day she was abandoned. We plan on taking this when we get her and asking the director if she remembers. She was not given up at birth, but at approximately a month old, and it's obvious she's not a newborn in this picture....that sad face breaks my heart!! I cannot imagine the pain of having your child for a month and then feeling like your only option was to abandon her to get her medical help. Her mother, I believe, must have loved her very much to put her baby's need for medical care above her love for her child. The Lord is sovereign and we know He had a plan for this child, even in her mother's womb. My feelings and love for her birth mother are for another post, but I wanted to share this pic....we're coming baby girl!!!!

A little info on our girl

2008-11-17T05:30:00.001-08:00

Now that our little Hao Hao is "officially" ours...I can fill you in on some information!

Her given name is Lou Hao (pronounced low how) and she was born on July 1, 2007. She's currently in foster care in Loudi City, Hunan and a part of the SWI of Loudi. Her last measurements we have put her at just under 20 lbs (but probably weighed with all her clothes on...I'll believe this when we see her!), and 29 inches tall. She's been in foster care since September of 2007. She was born with a form of Spina bifida and had surgery at 1 month to repair the spot. All indications are that she is walking, praise the Lord! At her last update, at 13 months she could walk holding the nanny's hand and was cruising around furniture. We won't know for sure till we meet her but we are prepared to handle whatever needs she has!

So many of you have asked about travel. AWAA is saying late December. They send out groups on Thursdays so we are praying that we'll either leave December 11 ( this is a long shot but we can pray, right??) because that would put us home on Christmas Eve. OR we could leave on Christmas Day or the day after. If we leave on the 18th, we'll be in China the week before and after Christmas, which would be really hard to leave Ally and Annalyse (Avery is going with us), BUT we'll go whenever they say GO!!!! The little ones will be in good hands :0)

Now we wait for Travel Approval....usually takes about 2-3 weeks, so I'm guessing the week after Thanksgiving sometime. That will give us concrete dates.

In the mean time, my list making skills are in high gear! On top of this being the busiest time of year (hubby is a minister at a large church...December is so full!) for us, we're adding a trip to China!! Don't read that as complaining, just saying that we're taking things a day at a time from here on out! After we get home from Thanksgiving in MS, we'll kick it in high gear!

Please continue to pray for us!! We still have some financial needs as far as travel is concerned, and just the logistics of having half our family in China and half in the US for two weeks...it's going to take lots of organization and I can get overwhelmed in that area pretty quick.

Thanks so much....how about another picture!!????

It finally arrived!!

2008-11-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

Well the man was 4.5 hours late but that's been pretty much the MO for this paperchase right?! At any rate, he came and we got to sign the beautiful LOA!! It basically said we agreed to adopt this child, and we signed it and sent it off!! yeah!!!!!!! I thought it would have her picture on it but it didn't. Here's Jay with our "stork" delivering the goods!

CHINA HERE WE COME!!! LLLLOOOOOAAAA!!!!

2008-11-13T09:33:00.003-08:00

We are overwhelmed to announce that after 125 days of waiting....CHINA SAID YES!!!!!!!!!!!
Here she is.....is she precious or what!!!???????
We got the call at 12:20 this afternoon...i'll write more later, gotta make calls!!!!!!!
WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update and a Prayer Request

2008-11-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

First off, please take a moment to pray for Naomi and Jeff....you can read their situation that is going on in China and they need prayer warriors on their behalf. They are an amazing example of Christ's strength through low times, and are giving God all the glory, despite their heartbreaking situation.

1. We heard from our agency this afternoon...the CCAA is still processing our LOA and there are no problems...it should arrive "soon." I'm very grateful that at least we know our dossier isn't sitting under someones coffee mug! How soon is "soon?" The Lord only knows!! We pray that it's VERY soon!!!

2. The golf tournament was a great success! Beautiful weather and lots of golfers! I'm not sure the exact total yet, but we did raise about 1,000!! Thanks so much to those that played and gave!!

3. I've been so busy this week, no new cell phone. yet. I know ya'll were all wondering :)

Thanks for the prayers!

November 11

2008-11-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to make a quick post to update everyone on a few things. For some reason, Nov.11 has been coming up a lot with us lately so I'm asking for prayer over the day tomorrow. Here's a list of all the things going on tomorrow:

1. Someone we have contact with will be IN CHINA and seeing Ashley. Please pray our baby girl is doing well and she'll be able to see our picture!

2. Our golf tournament to raise money for our travel is this day! Pray for wonderful weather and
a great turnout! it's not to late to sign up....email me or call Jay.

3. It marks exactly 4 months to the day that we sent our Letter of Intent to China, requesting to adopt Ashley. For some reason, it has taken this long, and this is not the norm. Our agency has repeatedly told us there is no problem, but as of tomorrow they will be calling China (at least they better be:) to check on it for us. Please pray for good news and a quick response.

4. I am in desperate need of a new cell phone and I called Alltel and they told me I could upgrade on Nov. 11. Ok, totally nothing at all to do with the adoption, but here was that date again...Nov.11. I know, random.

So as you can see, lots going on tomorrow! Thanks for the prayers, and we'll update at the end of the week...or before if we get GOOD NEWS!!!!

AWAA families this week...

2008-11-09T13:29:00.000-08:00

I've been slack on updating the list to the left...

But here are two families (there are a bunch more, but all I could remember...) that are getting their girls MONDAY!! By the time we wake up, they will already have them! I'm especially THRILLED to see ms. Lydia Hope!!!! Naomi has been such a cheerleader for me and we have been prayer warriors on behalf of each other for many months. Also, Shannon has been a great encourager of mine and a fellow RQ buddy! Then Sarah and her sweet family...Sarah has left some really encouraging prayers for us and for Ashley. Her heart for orphans and for others shines through every comment she leaves!!Enjoy!!!

Lydia Hope

The Walker Family

The Strand Family

From Ashley's Daddy

2008-11-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I am posting a blog for prayer for our Ashley Mei Hao. These 100 plus days have been tough. We know that God is in control of when we get the RA that is needed to move forward in this process to get our baby girl. We know his timing is never late but our hearts are ready.

Beyond Ready.

I am asking as Ashley's father to interced on her behalf to pray for her everyday. We need prayer warriors who will pray these needs:

1. Pray continually- I Thess 5:17

2. Pray for specific needs. Her health

For patience and understanding for Emily and I

When do you pray. Ashley was born July 1 2007.... so Emily and I are starting a new thing tomorrow and we are asking you to join us. Everyday we are asking you to pray at 1:07 pm. This time symbolizes the day she was born and the month and the year as well.

We know that prayer, hope,, love, and faith is all we've got and need, but we need you to answer the call and help us because lately it's been hard. I need those of you who read this to take the 1:07 challenge for Ashley Mei and let's continue to be amazed at the Great God we serve. Please only post your prayers as your comments as it will encourage us to read them.

1:07 ........... are you in?

Jay

2008-11-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby Girl!!!

Your WHOLE family loves you and we are

coming just as soon as they say to come!

We know you are doing so well, and

we know that the Lord is holding you and

holding us through this together!!

2008-10-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

"Because of the Lord's Great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait on Him.'" -Lamentations 3:22-24

No, not today....

2008-10-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

AWAA got more LOA's today and ours was not included. Thanks for the prayers, we need them.
I probably won't be updating here anymore until we hear something. Our agency assures us there is nothing wrong, that we are still in the timeframe considered normal.

Although I cannot go into it, someone I have contact with will be visiting Ashley in the next few weeks. Hopefully she'll get permission to give her a family picture of us. Please pray that this request is granted.

That's about it. God is good, and we believe that, no matter the circumstances.

You have GOT to see this....

2008-10-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

I found this on someone's blog that has a child from this orphanage. All these babies apparently get their picture taken in the Hello Kitty Chair for their referral picture. Oh my goodness are they precious!! And YES, all these little ones are from just one of the hundreds of orphanages in China.....

http://www.geocities.com/FengChengHelloKittyClub/

It's the Hello Kitty Club!!!

Look what the Lord gave me today!!!

2008-10-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

From John Piper,

." God is graciously involved in adoptions. He has done it Himself.

He knows what it costs.

And He stands ready to support us

all the way to the end."

And, from the Psalms,

"For God alone, O my soul, I wait in silence,

for my hope is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my

fortress;

I will not be shaken.

On God rests my salvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust Him at all times, my people,

Pour out your heart before Him,

for God

is a refuge

for

us."

Weekend Update...and another milestone...

2008-10-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

The weekend was full of taking care of sick children :) Annalyse recovering from hernia surgery and Avery now has a fever...yuck. With everyone down and out, I had a chance to clean out the summer clothes and gear up for fall/winter...not such an easy task when you're going through clothing for 4 girls! Everything is now organized and mama is breathing easier.

As for the crib issue, and where to put it...we made a decision.

We've decided to leave everyone where they are and put Ashley's crib up in our bedroom. It's going to take some creative re-arranging, but we'll make it work. I just decided that everyone is sleeping so great now where they are, and when Ashley gets here, she's going to probably have sleep issues of her own, so why put her in a room so she can keep someone else awake? One child having sleep issues is one thing, having two or more with them may send me over the edge.

The "norm" in our house is that we put the crib up when I'm about 6 months pregnant. Daddy never let me put it up before then. So we had decided that we'd out it up when we got our LOA.

However, this morning after church he came home and said, "we're putting up her crib tonight after the girls are in bed...she's our baby and we're going to pray over it every night until she comes home."

Did I mention I love this man???? I am so excited to put it up!! Pictures to come!!

And, I saved this for last......tomorrow marks our 100th day of waiting....yep, 100 days. I really have no words. Last Thursday was a hard one, for some reason....emotionally I run the gamut, from being totally at peace to being angry, to being totally crushed. But my God can take it. He can take everything I can dish out to Him and He has been so faithful to carry me on the days that I really didn;t think I'd make it through. We are PRAYING for this week.

PLEASE JOIN US IN THAT PRAYER!

Thanks again for going on this journey with us....God has allowed me to meet some very Godly, amazing people through this road called adoption. We are so blessed.

Check back later for crib pictures!

Advice Needed!

2008-10-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

OK friends, we are getting ready for ms. Ashley and I need some advice. We're trying to figure out where she's going to sleep....here's our info: we have a 6 yo, a 4 yo and a 2 year old. I had originally planned on putting Ashley's crib in the nursery with Annalyse...but that isn't going to happen. Annalyse still wakes up sometimes at night, mostly searching for her passie....but she's a light sleeper. Avery and Ally share a room. Now we're thinking we may put Avery (the oldest) with Ashley, and move Annalyse's crib into the room with Ally.

Ashley and Avery will bond in China, so we thought it may be easy for Ashley to sleep in there with her.

Any thoughts????

Oh, and we do have a pack -n- play for our room, if she needs to be close to us for awhile. We thought we may try to put her crib in our room, but there isn't enough room. We even thought about buying one of those smaller ones used in daycares.....so it would fit better in our room....pack -n- plays are SO uncomfortable. (not that i've ever slept in one:)

Day 90

2008-10-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

I don't really have the words. I never imagined we'd be waiting this long. Please pray. There are other families that are waiting just like we are....like Karleigh Mei's mama....we sent our paperwork in the same day. In some ways, it feels like September took a million years to get through, and in other ways, I cannot believe we are already almost halfway through October.

God Provides!!!

2008-10-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

We received word on Tuesday morning that we are the recipients of a Lifesong for Orphans grant!! This is a "matching grant" that stipulates that we raise 3,000.00 and then they match it 3,000.00, making it a total of $6,000.00!!!!!!!!

Now comes the fun part... raising the 3,000! Jay is going to be hosting a golf tournament here (if you know where we live) so if you want to play, or know someone who wants to, please contact me! The date will be announced as soon as he sets it up with the course.

Also, we'll be sending support letters out to family and close friends, explaining the program, and asking them to support us. We need to get this done fairly quickly because we are still REALLY hoping to travel in late November. ( COME ON LOA!!!! TODAY!!!!)

Some of you have emailed me over the last few months asking how you could give. As you know, I have ignored your email :) This was because at that time, we had all we needed. If the Lord has laid it on your heart to give, now is the time because it will be DOUBLED!

If you are truly interested, please email me at rebsandhogs@juno.com. that includes inquiry's about the golf tournament!

Families leaving!

2008-10-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

The next group from AWAA leaves in the morning, so I've changed the links to the left!

A little retail therapy!

2008-10-02T13:46:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I was back reading on this blog and realized it's been pretty "heavy" lately. I usually come here to vent or express emotions and with all the emotions over the last few weeks, I just wanted to show that we have been having fun getting ready to have a baby in the house again!
This stuff is things we accumulated over the last few months since referral.

Her diaper bag for church! I got Annalyse one very similar and they are going to look *PRECIOUS* walking thru the halls at church together with the these!

We got this at the "after 4th of July sale" for her to wear home on the airplane to the USA! It say's "all american cutie" and it's so soft and comfy for the llloonnggg ride home.

Mama's backpack for trekking around China! It's filled with things we've been gathering. Stacking cups, Gerber puffs, baby photo album, and her Mai Tai sling wrap thing to carry her in while walking out and about. It also has some things like Tide sink packets, Bounty travel paper towels, hand sanitizer, and other travel items. We'll re-distribute them into suitcases and such, but I've been storing them in this bag. I'm going to monogram "CHINA 08" on it!!!

And lastly, BOTTLES!! I've got a few more other than these. The girls are THRILLED that she's going to be taking a bottle for many months! I've nursed all the girls and this is literally the first time we've ever had a bottle in our house at all! They are already discussing who will give her what bottle at what time of day :)

That's all for now! We have some other things, including a crib and bedding, but we're not going to start all that until we get our LOA. We also have a bazillion girl clothes, bows, shoes and such...so much in fact, that Ashley already has about 3 dozen outfits hanging in her closet. When you are the 4th daughter, you are never lack for clothing!

15 Months Old Today!

2008-10-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ashley! Daddy, Annalyse and I went to lunch and then mama went and bought you and Annalyse some REALLY cute matching outfits (shhh..don't tell daddy...)

Annalyse and I can't wait to have you here with us all day long to play. If you ask Annalyse where you are she says, "China!" Today while we were shopping, she kept asking, "for Ashee?" every time I picked something up! You and her are going to be the best of friends, I can't wait!

The CCAA is closed this week for a holiday, so things will be stalled another week. This is day 82...oh wait, didn't I say I had quit counting?! The group that got their LOA last week has tentative travel set for mid-November so hopefully that means we'll travel in early December, or maybe even late November. OR if we were to get our LOA this week (a miracle and highly unlikely) we could probably go with the group in early November. My brain is tired of trying to figure it out at this point.

The good and the bad

2008-09-25T19:45:00.001-07:00

First off, I got confirmation from a contact in China about Ashley's formula.....I had emailed her over concern about the "tainted" formula that has thousands of babies sick in China. She wrote me back today and said that the formula Ashley gets is NOT included in the recall and has been deemed safe!! Praise!

Second, several families got their LOA today but we were NOT one of them. It was a hard day to see all the emails coming in with people asking if we got it and celebrating that they had gotten them. At about 5pm we knew ours was not included. I was a mess. Jay came home with a babysitter in the car! He knew I needed to get out of this house for awhile. We spent some time praying and reading and then got something to eat.

God is still good. This morning I told Him, "Lord, I'll praise you even if we do not get it today" So tonight although I am very broken hearted and weepy, I am praising Him. Praising Him for the close to 50 salvation's/baptisms at our church THIS WEEK. Praising Him that Ashley is in foster care with a foster mother that adores her. Praising Him that her formula is safe. Praising Him that she is HEALTHY.

We have so much to be thankful for. We'll get it soon, I pray. Thanks for praying us through this!

She's Home!!

2008-09-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Susanna is HOME! I have been on my knees for this family and it us such a RELIEF that they are home safe and sound. I have never read a more heartbreaking blog post than the one that Leslie posted the day they met Susannah. However, she is now home in TN with her brothers and has an appointment at Vanderbilt today. Keep checking their site for updates!!

Also, this is day.....? I totally stopped counting.

It will come when it comes, and for today, the Lord has given me a peace about that. I admit that I really thought yesterday was the day...for some reason.

Maybe they were mailed from China yesterday? Maybe tomorrow is the day. I'd really like to have it by the 1st for 2 reasons :

1: we have always asked the Lord that we'd have it by the end of September. 2. her 15 month b-day is that day.
September 1st was a HARD day. It was a hard week, actually. If we had our LOA in hand, maybe it would be a little easier!!

PRAY HARD!

PLEASE PRAY

2008-09-16T06:41:00.001-07:00

The Irwins need a miracle in China. You can read about it here, please pray for their daughter Susannah. www.roomforatleastonemore.blogspot.com

Families leaving today!

2008-09-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

I added a few of the families that are traveling to the side bar. Most of them will get their children on Monday so keep checking in on them....we'll be on the SAME journey before we know it!!

I am OK!!

2008-09-09T13:46:00.001-07:00

I guess that some of you who know me well could read a lot in the previous post that simply said "sigh..." Thank you so much to the friends who sent me private emails just to say, "how are you?" You are truly gifts from God and thank you for being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and checking in on me. I really am doing alright! Last week was really hard with it being the 1st of the month, and knowing we didn't have Ashley on her month birthday. Thank the LORD we don't have to miss a "year" birthday...I may not have made it through that one! We really haven't heard anything new. Some of the families that got their referrals in June got their LOA's this week so that means we're getting closer. What WAS supposed to be about a 2 month wait has been stretched into about a 3 month wait. Most families are now waiting 70-90 days for them, not the 40-60 we were originally told. Of course the entire city of Beijing was shut down for a month, (Olympics) so who knows how that effected things. I'm very grateful for the fact that they are coming in for June people because that means we're next with July. Our prayer all along has been that it would come by the end of September and if it came on the last day, that would mean we would've waited 79 days. Ugg.

Our prayer continues to be that we'll get it in September. We are begging the Lord!! That would put us traveling in November or even early December. What we REALLY don't want to do is travel at Christmas. Yes, people are sometimes in China on Christmas Day. I of course, would go get her whenever they said GO! but I think Christmas away in a far away country without my girls would be so so hard. I really don't think we'll travel THAT late, but the thought does cross my mind. Please just pray it comes in September!!!!!!

We've also applied for three more grants this week. We still need several thousand dollars to complete this so we need the Lord to come through in one way or another. All of our money now is for travel.

Thanks so much for those of you that are checking in on us!! I'm going to start posting a "who's in China" link on the right to show you the families with blogs that are traveling with our agency at any given time. There is a large group there now and one leaving on Thursday so i'll get those links up tomorrow. Enjoy seeing these families unite and pray we get to go SOON!!

I'll leave you with this verse that I've been claiming all week...

"The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, "Surely, just has I have intended, so it has happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand" Isaiah 14:24

I hope that verse will encourage you in whatever you are waiting on God to do in your own life!