Best Vacation Ever

January 2009
Breckenridge, Colorado

Sometimes the Stork Comes In a Van

I didn't post these right away.
I accidently deleted every photo off my camera card.
I was so mad I'm pretty sure a bad word was said. Thanks to a very good friend, who has a program on his computer that retrieves the photos you ACCIDENTLY DELETE, I can share them with you. More importantly, I will have them for Isabella's Lifebook.

Last Week's Blizzard

Jonah and Trey

Can't Slow Down!

Everything is going so fast!

After waiting 3 1/2 years (not to mention the 2 years it took to get all our paperwork finished), my head is spinning with all the approvals that have come back from China so fast.

We sent our Waiting Child application in on November 2.

Received our referral the next day November 3.

November 13 we accepted our referral of Long Xiaohua.

Sent our EA (Electronic Acceptance) in on Monday, November 23.

Received our PA (Pre Approval) back from the CCAA on Monday, November 30.

Two days later on December 2 we got our RA (Referral Approval) from the CCAA.

From November 2- December 2 the whole process of finding our child to becoming official ours has taken 1 month. If I had known this 3 years ago........

I am now working on getting TA (Travel Approval) which should come in the next 2 weeks.

We are being told that we will travel at the end of January.

My head is spinning with all that needs to be done before we leave!!

Long Xiao Hua

Here she is!

The newest member of our family.

Chinese Name: Long Xiao Hua.

Province: Guangdong, Shenzhen City

DOB: August 30, 2004

Height: 40"

Weight: 33#

Long Xiao Hua is 5 years old and likes to sing, read books and play with her toys and friends. She is described as active, talkative and outgoing.

Our prayers now are to help her grieve her losses. She will leave behind everything she has ever known; people, school, food, language, routines. We want to be here for her through discussion, tears and prayer. Attending to her grief is a critical element to integrating her into our family. With these things she will grow, change and become stronger.

Please pray that her transition into our family will be easy for her and us.

Trey is excited to finally know who his sister is and is glad she is 5 years old.

Wesley smiled, was pretty quiet and isn't sure about adopting an older child. We respect his concerns and pray that through this we can show others that adopting an older child is a true blessing.

Trey learns about his sister-

A Shoebox Christmas in China

Trey, Emma and I went shopping tonight for Operation Christmas Child.

Before we went in to buy our gifts I asked them what age of child they were buying for and is it a boy or girl.

Trey knew right away.

He was buying for a 5 year old girl and his shoebox was going to China!

He has waited so long for a sister that he can't hardly stand it!

Every time he sees an Asian person he says, "Look, they are from China!"

Every time he hears a foreign language he thinks it's Chinese.

Every time he sees a stuffed Panda bear he has to get it for his sister.

This boy has China on his mind and in his heart!

Trey Wants A Sister

The other night I was putting Trey to bed and told him we need to pray to bring Isabella home soon! So, after we did that I asked him what he thought his sister was going to be like.

He said he wanted a sister like Jenessa because she is funny!

And then he said he wanted his sister to be 5 years old. He's never really been age specific before, so I was surprised when he told me that.

I mentioned that we are going to get a little girl with a special need which means she might be a little different, but that would be ok and we will love her anyway.

He said, "Like, she will have a disease?"

Me: "No, not a disease."

Trey: "You mean like when they have a cut on their lip?"

Me: "Maybe. That's called a cleft lip. Would that be ok?"

Trey: "Ya. I want her to be 5 years old and have a cleft lip."

Sometimes important decisions can be AGONIZING!

I've prayed that God would bonk me

over the head with

the answer.

So, far........nothing.

He has 2 days left to do it.

COME ON, LORD!

Front Row

This is why you DON'T sit on the front row!

Great Marriage Getaway with Gary and Barb Rosberg.

San Diego, CA

October 2009

TRICK OR TREAT

Scary

Change Is Hard

How many times do I have to watch this before I quit crying!!??!!
This was one of Wesley and I's favorites (along with the Lion King)
and now that Andy is going to college (and Wesley)......it's killing me!!

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

For Sale.For real.

Not sure there are words for this.......
other than "redneck real estate".

The Way It Should Be

A day at the lakehouse.
No tv, phone, computer, video games.
Just lots of room to play, run, make mud balls,
play with snakes and paint faces.
This is the way life use to be and should be.

KINDNESS

I got a call from the school the other day.

Trey was awarded the Kindness Award for the 2nd grade class.
(Along with another boy)

One more cool thing- I found out the next day that not only did Trey win the Kindness Award, but so did Jace and Emma!
See? We have Blessings on White Horse Drive."
And this is one proud momma!

Where Did The Summer Go?!

It's been since June since I've posted. Way too long!
The outdoor kitchen has been finished, 4th of July party was a big hit,
another year at the county fair, and Wesley went to China on a missions trip.
With all that went on I can't believe I didn't get anything posted.
We are still waiting to get our little Isabella home from China. We have now been waiting 3 years and 4 months. How much longer can this go on?! I did really good waiting the first 2 1/2 years. Now I am getting very impatient. Angrily impatient. Seeing Wesley with all those adorable sweet orphans makes it so hard!! I will post his video soon- as soon as I figure out how to get it from there to here!
Because I have neglected to post any photos of the summer I am going to post a few now. A few might mean a few hundred!!

Enjoy!

Sunday School Promotion- Trey, Jonah and Emma


Trey ready to go to the Hill City Rodeo with Grandma, Grandpa,
Jonah and Emma


Big Brother Wesley coaching Little Brother Trey


Trent taking the 3 Amigos and Jarrett and Jenessa to the new clubhouse


The 3 Amigos go to Church Camp!


About a month ago we had a Big Kids Party. It was ALOT of fun!
Can't wait to do it again. Good times with good friends.
After we got rained out of the pool the guys found a deck of cards.


Jeremie, Olivia, Angela and Lucas


Too many Mint Juleps!


Me with my two good friends Rachelle and Mindy!


We got caught in the outdoor kitchen during the thunderstorm.
Lot's of BIG thunder and lightening!! Which meant lots of screaming!!
Yet, none of our MEN even tried to rescue us. They were too busy
playing cards!


More to come on Wesley's trip to China!
Exciting news from Trey!

Baseball Has Begun

Baseball has officially begun.
Once again we are the orange team.
I love this age of boys. They are so darn sweet.
Trey is loving baseball. Here he is in the dugout.


Here he is on 2nd base.


The next batter got a hit and Trey is headed for 3rd!






Only it was a pop fly and he got out. They threw the ball to 3rd.
Trey was running circles around the 3rd baseman trying to get to the base.
He didn't make it and was the third out for Bridges.




He's mad because his dad told him to keep running to 3rd!


I KNOW he wanted to run to his mommy and cry.......
but, stopped himself before anyone noticed what he REALLY WANTED to do.
I was there......waiting.......wanting to hug him and tell him it was all right.
But, thought about it and knew Wesley would have died a dramatic death if he ever found out.
I mean look at that face! How could you not give love to that?




It was soon forgotten and all ended well.

Other favorite pictures of tonight's game:

Jonah
This boy seriously needs a blog detailing his most hilarious life!!
Since Jennifer won't do it.....I just might have to start it here.
What a character this sweet and not so innocent boy is.




And this is Alex.
They call him Tank.
He is a team favorite.

Sunday Funday at the Pool

We had a blast after church today. We came home and ate tacos then got our suits on and played in the pool. It was hot and sunny....a perfect day!

These two had fun splashing Emma.



These two had fun snoozing.



Everyone had fun swimming.
It was a Blessed Day on White Horse Drive!

Messin' With Tim

We have a friend, Tim, that takes wildlife pictures on some of our land. He uses motion sensors on his cameras and he gets the greatest shots of deer, bobcat, fox, coyote, racoon.....whatever happens to step in front of his camera.

We got an email from him that said, "Now I'm sure of it......."

"the possums are messing with me........."

Have a good giggle!!

Clayton's Story

I saw this on another blog site.
Wow.
Really makes a person think.

Clayton McDonald | Highlife | Nov. 5, 2008 from Atascadero Bible Church on Vimeo.

Winners!

Jonah, Trey, Emma, Jace

Trey


Jonah


Emma


See what I mean about plugging the ears?


Jace



Trey and his cousins had a track meet on Saturday.
It's so fun to watch little people race each other.
They look behind them to see who's catching up, or they plug their ears because the gun is too loud, or they stop before they get across the finish line because "that's where you stop".
The weather was perfect for a track meet and it was over just in time to get home and swim or mow or plant the garden or build fence.
What a great spring day!