Because we are led...

January

2012-02-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

Well here we are with another month's worth of what's happening with our family.

January started off of course with a new year and it was just that, another new year. It's not a very exciting day in our household, either we are getting too old and don't stay up or... okay that's it, I admit it, there's nothing else that would keep us from ringing in the new year. :D

Now the following week, we did celebrate Miss Magoo's birthday. She turned 6 this year. It's so hard to believe she's 6 sometimes. I can remember the day she was handed to us in China and it seems like yesterday when that happened.

So we celebrated with a family party with cake and a couple of gifts.

We also had a little birthday party (her first one) for her at McDonald's the following week with a couple of friends from school and with daughter's of dear friends of ours that have also adopted from China.

It was an exciting day, not only for Miss Magoo, but it started snowing which ended up snowing every day for a week after that. We ended up with a total of about 14 or 15 inches!

This was Michael's first snow since being home and he loved it! Not sure if it was because of the snow or all the snow days and getting to stay home from school.

Miss Magoo and Mister loved it too. They all went out an played in it for a couple of hours ever day.

Snow Angels


Catching snowflakes


Happy kids with their snowman

Too cute for words

The snow finally melted and the kids went back to school and they were so sad to see it go.

January 23rd marked the first day of the Chinese New Year and this we got excited about! Our church celebrates with a huge celebration, with food, crafts and even performances and a Lion Dance!

This is the year of the dragon and the kids made dragon puppets and got all dressed up in their best Chinese clothes and we all had a wonderful time at church!

We had a milestone this past month as well. Miss Magoo lost her very first tooth! It took 2 full months from when it started to become loose before it finally came out and with a little help from Mister, he accidentally kicked her and that did the trick, her tooth came out the next day.

To say she was excited is an understatement! Okay Momma was excited too! I ended up finding the cutest little Tooth Fairy pillow to put her tooth in so the Tooth Fairy could leave her some money.

The Tooth Fairy wanted to do just a little more than leave a dollar bill so the TF got a $1 coin with Sacajawea on it. When she woke up the next morning and saw the coin, she thought that was the neatest thing ever!

When I explained who was on the coin she said, "that's the Princess on the movie, Night at the Museum" Who knew she was paying attention. Lol :D

So happy!!


Front

Back

Well Michael continues to do well and continues to fit right in with our family. We went and had his gait evaluated and he will have to wear a brace on his left leg (only) to help him with his walking and hopefully it will also help to keep him from falling.

We will be going back to have it properly fitted and then he has to wear it during waking hours. It will fit up underneath his pant leg so it won't be seen.

We have also had a kink in our journey called life and God continues to take care of us! We are so blessed and THANKFUL for our blessings that He has given us!

If you should think of it, say a little prayer for us to do God's will for our family.

Thanks so much!

Blessings and hugs!

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Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-22T12:35:00.001-08:00

I've posted a couple of videos and if you are viewing this post on the blog, don't forget to scroll to the bottom and pause the music player.

Well to start, I need to back up just a little bit.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, One Happy Momma (not so much on this day, lol) slipped and fell on the porch as I was stepping out to go to church. Sprained my entire left foot. I know, crazy, huh? Didn't go to the ER until Thanksgiving night to make sure it wasn't broken or fractured. Thanks goodness it wasn't, but a sprain is just as painful, believe me. The doc put me in a walking boot and used that for just over a week and now back in shoes, but if I'm on my feet for too long, it starts to hurt beyond belief. But it's healing and even though it may be slowly, I can walk. :D

And before we knew it, December was upon us and it has been one busy month here at our house!

We started the month off with going to cut down our Christmas Tree. We got a GREAT deal and a beautiful tree. Mind you, we usually put up an artificial tree, but this is Michael's first Christmas home and we wanted to share getting a tree with him. Honestly, I don't think he realized the tree was coming into the house, until he saw Papa and Jacob bringing it in. His face lit up and all's he could say was, "wow!" Okay he also said, "cool!" :D

Mind you it took another 2 weeks to get it decorated. But it's done and the kids helped and we're all enjoying having the tree in the house and when it's lit at night, it's just so beautiful!

Then...

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On Sunday, the 11th, we had our first Family church service and both Miss Magoo and Mister performed. They looked so cute all dressed up to the nines. :D We just love to watch the littles do things like this, they just love church so much!

Next...

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Miss Magoo has been learning all about the Christmas Story this year and she tells us the story on a regular basis. I videoed her telling it the other night. She really does have it down and understands exactly what it's about, Jesus' birth! She has such a LOVE for Jesus. She is happiest when she talks about Him throughout her day or talking to someone, to anyone else about Him. I know He is smiling at our precious girl, ever time she mentions His name. :D

Oh and she is so excited that she has not one, but two loose teeth! They're right next to each other and one of them will be coming out any day now. She is doing everything she can to loosen it up so it will come out and the tooth fairy will come and visit. Maybe by the end of the year it will come out. So she hopes. :D

So these are some of the things that have kept us busy this month and Christmas is fast approaching. Looking forward to spending time with our family and watching Michael having his first Christmas home with us.

Thanking God for sending Jesus to us! We are blessed beyond words and oh so grateful!

Wishing all of you a wonderfully blessed Christmas!!

Our Blog

2011-12-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well apparently my custom domain name expired and after working on this for almost a week to get it resolved, it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon.

So in the meantime, I have had to go back to using becauseweareled.blogspot.com

But at least the blog is back up and working again.

Now maybe I'll get posting again with some of our families activities during the Christmas season.

I am so sorry for any inconvenience.

November and Christmas Shopping

2011-11-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well here we are, November already!

A few reasons why I love November.

1. November is the National Adoption Awareness month. With the actual day on Nov 19th. This year our church is having Orphan Sunday this Sunday the 6th. Adoption will be talked about during all 4 services and there will be a lunch and breakout sessions afterwards.

2. Veteran's Day. This day has become more important as we have military men and women serving to protect and to keep our country free. Also, it has touched me personally since my husband served in the Navy for 14 1/2 years and went through two wars. The stories he has shared, just makes me even more grateful to him and everyone else that has served. THANK YOU to all you Veteran's!

3. Thanksgiving. Well that is a given. But what am I grateful.for? First and foremost my family! It has been my dream to have a family and even though it came later than what I thought it would, God has seen to have blessed me with one! For that I am THANKFUL beyond words.

4. My step-son's birthday. He's turning the big 18! A milestone this year and we actually have him on his birthday this year. So looking forward to celebrating with him.

Last but certainly not least, I love November because this month seems to be when Christmas shopping kicks into gear. So for the last couple of years we've been able to shop with a purpose. What does that mean exactly?

There are more and more families fundraising for their adoptions to help bring their children home. There is some really neat stuff that are up to buy and the funds spent will go towards their adoptions! How cool is that! Okay I have to admit, I just bought something today from my friend Joleigh to help her bring her daughter home from Eastern Europe. It is so cool! She actually hand knits these hats herself. Go check it out HERE!

So I have added a button on the right hand side bar, click on it and it will take to you a blog for the families that are fundraising.

This year, I want to teach the kids about giving for Christmas and that is donating towards the families fundraising. After all we are still so grateful to everyone that helped by donating to bring Michael home!

So I hope that you will stop by the blog and check it out what you can shop for and help these families too!

Summer 2011

2011-10-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well I am so behind on updating our blog and what has been happening since Michael came home a little over 3 months ago.

First, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary in July and had a party to celebrate and actually renewed our vows and took family vows at the same park we got married at 10 years ago. I wore the same shoes I wore on our wedding day. They were an eyelet tennis shoe with lace ties. :D We even had the same gal that made our wedding cake make our cake this time.

Pastor Gary presided over our vows and it was truly magical. Friends and family came and we just celebrated and had a wonderful day!

We celebrated the Autumn moon festival this year at the park with other families that all have adopted from China. It was so great to meet new people and enjoy a nice summer evening enjoying a pot luck and moon cakes and even the story behind why the moon festival is celebrated. The kidss then had a lantern parade and the moon was out and beautiful!

Then came Mister's birthday. He turned 4 on Sept 18th, he shares the same birthday as his uncle Danny that passed away 6 years ago. I made his Hot Wheels themed cake and just celebrated Mister. Hard to beleive he's 4 already!

Then 2 weeks later we were celebrating Michael's birthday on Sept 30th. We now have another teenager in the house. He turned the big 13! He ordered a Transformer themed cake and we went to the family movie night at church and during intermission, everyone sang Hapy Birthday to Michael. It was great that friends were able to come and be a part of his special day!

So now we are caught up and hopefully I will do better with posting things on time. :D

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Helping 2 Families!

2011-09-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

I belong to a new Christian Yahoo group and have posted that I make grab buttons for anyone who would like one for their blog.

Well I heard from Jennifer and she let me know that she and her husband just received PA (pre-approval) for this PRECIOUS bundle, they are going to name Elizabeth!

They are starting to fundraise, so PLEASE stop by their blog The Race to China and see about helping to bring little Miss Elizabeth home! Grab their button and post to your blogs too.

I know I already said this, but isn't she P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S.!!!

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Leslie and her husband are also fundraising to bring home another child. She has a few fundraisers started but also could use our help.

Their blog is: Room for at Least One More

So please stop by their blog and check out what they are doing to help bring home their child!

Thanks everyone for checking out how we can all be a part of adoption in one way or another!

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

2011-09-11T04:32:00.000-07:00

1st day of school

2011-09-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today Miss Magoo and Michael started school!

We now have a Kindergartner and a 7th grader in the house!

Where has the time gone? I remember all too well the day we got her, at all of 16 mos old and now she's off to school without any momma or papa supervision. Wow!

To say she was excited is an under statement. She has been ready for a long time now.

I just know she will do great! She is very eager to learn and she already knows things that amazes me that she does.

I can't wait to hear all about her day and what she has learned.

And then there's Michael!

I can't believe it's time for him to go to school already.

He definitely was ready to go and excited as well. :D

I think he was a bit nervous, but once we got to school and one of the teacher's helped him, he was good to go!

I have mixed feelings about his school. His counselor and and one of his teacher's we met, I really like!

It is definitely different then Miss Magoo's school. I just pray that Michael doesn't get lost or overwhelmed. But honestly I'm sure it will all be okay.

Of course we can't forget Mister!

He is missing his sister and brother very much.

No sooner did we drop of Miss Magoo and he says, " I miss Camie."

We came home and he wandered around for a little bit and now he doing just fine.

I making sure to make him feel just as special and let him know, we are going to have momma and Elijah time. He really seemed to like that. :D

So now I'm here and just waiting for school to be let out and bring my chillin's home!

Prayers needed for Elisyn!!

2011-08-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

There is a family that has just very recently adopted and brought home their daughter from China.

It was posted on my Facebook wall today that sweet Elisyn is in need of our prayers. She has a very complicated heart defect and her family got some rather disturbing news from the doctors today.

I am asking for everyone that prays to PLEASE pray without ceasing!

Please let us lift this beautiful little girl up and her family too! Jaime is her mom's name.

I have created a grab button (right hand side bar) so for those of you that have blogs, could you please post it, so that when others visit your blogs they will see it and pray.

Thank you for praying for Elisyn!

Yard camping

2011-08-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

A little late in posting about this, but a few weeks ago we had such a lovely summer day here in the Pacific Northwest and we decided to do a little yard camping.

We had such a wonderful day enjoying another first for Michael and spending time together as a family!
We are blessed!

Let there be fire!

Michael roasting his FIRST marshmallow.

Look, I did it!

YUMMERS!!

Papa showing how it's done

Such concentration.

Even our kitty Miss Grace joined us.

Being silly.

More silly.

One month ago!

2011-07-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

We were coming home from China with Michael!

I won't share our lovely family photo, once we were all together, since there was throw-up stains all over my shirt. Poor Miss Magoo.

But it was a great homecoming none-the-less, as not only were Papa and Mr. J were there to meet us but so was our friend and their 4, all adopted from China, with balloon's, welcome home signs and waving American flags!

So we have had a ~~good~~ great month so far! Michael is very outgoing. He likes to take a minute and see what's happening and then jump in with both feet. He's not afraid to try anything, even if it's only once.

He's not a picky eater either. So far only one thing he doesn't like and that's cheese. He usually has seconds of pretty much everything and 3rds if there is anything left and he really really likes it!

In the month since Michael has been home, he has given me a hand picked flower. Once from our backyard and once this past weekend when we were at the river. But with it came "I love you"! Oh my goodness was I One Happy Momma!!!

Michael absolutely LOVES church! Again, jumped right in with both feet. They had a lake night a week ago for both the Jr. High and Sr. High kids. We had Mr. J. (my step-son) that weekend as well, so we dropped both of them off for a few hours of fun with the other kids from church.

At first, Michael stayed with Mr. J. and they went swimming in the lake. Okay that lasted all of about 5 maybe 10 minutes. It was so cold! Then, they had a BBQ and fun after that. I asked Mr. J. how Michael did and he let me know the kids were playing soccer and Michael was off and that was the last he saw of him for the rest of the evening. He loved it!

Not only does he like to play Soccer, he loves Origami and to draw. Both of which he is good at!

Our mini van

We also have given Michael two books, one in Chinese and the same one in English. They are 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible. You should have seen his face light up when I handed them to him. He was so happy!

Michael's English is coming slowly and he understands more and more each day. If we really need to explain something to him we use Google Translate. Other wise, we just talk and he seems to get it. He is trying to use his English more and more, but still seems a little shy about it. It will come and it has helped that the two littles are here to talk to him, constantly, lol. :D When school starts, I think is when he'll really be using it.

Well, this past weekend the weather was gorgeous and so we decided to take a drive and have a picnic near the river. It still amazes me, even after all these years, that we can drive about 45 minutes and be in the most beautiful mountain setting! We are truly blessed to be living in such a awesome state! To see God's creation is just, simply put, BEAUTIFUL!!

So Papa BBQ'd hot dogs and we had lunch and then played along side of the river and just had a great time as a family!

So that is how our month and summer has been going. We are blessed once again with an amazing child and once again that has accepted us as his family!

God is sooooo good!!!!!!

2011-07-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to scroll down to the bottom and pause the music player

I put this together a couple of years ago, so we could show it to our guests at our spaghetti dinner fundraiser we had for Mister.

It has been on my mind recently and so I'm posting it here to share with others why adoption is so much a part of my life, me, my soul.

All the children, except for the first few, are children of friends of ours and friends that I have made online throughout the adoption community.

Some say the number of orphans, 143 million, now 147 million, is not accurate because that number includes children who are also considered orphans because they have lost one parent and being raised by either the surviving parent or a relative.

So even if we were to take out the number of children considered to be orphaned this way, it still leaves a whole LOT of orphans in this world!! Children who don't have families, who don't have parents, who don't have anyone to love them and adopt them as their own!

I can honestly say that if it's not a 143 million or 147 million or whatever Million it is, there are too many orphans in this world, period!!

So to know that the few that are in this video means there are a few less orphans, because the parents of these children, adopted them into their family, makes me happy beyond belief!

I think about how I would feel if God didn't love me enough to send Jesus to die for our sins and therefore adopting me into his family. Where would that leave me? I shutter to think.

I will end with this question...Doesn't a child here on earth deserve the same? Someone to love them just as God loves us.

In love He destined us for adoption to Himself...Ephesians 1:5

10 years ago today!

2011-07-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

Since I've decided to make this a family blog and not just about the kids, I thought I would share that today is our 10 year Anniversary!

We have been together for 12 years total now. Wow! I can't believe it's been that long already!

I can clearly remember 7 years ago when we decided to adopt after trying to have children and never getting pregnant. Don't know why, never found out, just accepted it and moved on and here we are. :D

Honestly, I have always wanted adopt since I'm adopted myself. I am just so grateful to have married a wonderful man that wanted to adopt also! Or at least after I mentioned it to him and said this is what I really really wanted to do. :D He said yes, immediatley! I'm not surprised. I know my hubby well enough that he says yes to pretty much anything I ask for, well for something like this that is. :D

How incredibly blessed am I!? I really am!

Yes, we have had our ups and downs just like everyone does, but here we are 10 years later and I can't help but think or should I say know that God is the one that keeps reminding us of how much our marriage means to us and how He is watching over us and taking care of our marriage, our commitment to each other.

Happy Anniversary to my WONDERFUL husband, my love!

2 years ago today!

2011-07-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Elijah's Gotcha Day Video

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Our celebration we had for Mister this past weekend.

Don't forget to scroll to the bottom to pause the music player

We were chasing after a very active little 21 month old boy in the hotel in Fuzhou, China!

When we arrived on the conference room floor of the hotel, we stepped out of the elevator to seeing a little boy one second and gone the next! I remember saying to Papa, "boy the parents of that little boy are going to have their hands full."

A minute or so later, our guide came back to us and said, "here's your little boy." Yes, the same one, that we just saw run by and run by again and the same one I told Papa, boy are they going to have their hands full! Lol! :D

Sure enough we are still chasing our little boy, our Mister, and he has never slowed down!

We are so blessed by him and all the things that are him! He's a little shy at first when meeting new people and when that's over, he's off and running and giggling. He loves to cuddle and without any reason at all come up and say, "I love you with all my heart."

He is all boy and loves anything that has to do with cars, trucks and playing hard and just plain loves! Including his newest brother Michael! He never leaves him alone actually. Good thing Michael is such a good sport and big brother!

It's hard to believe it's been 2 years already, but we are so in love with our boy and so happy that God has blessed us with him!

Happy 2nd Gotcha Day Mister! We LOVE you with all our hearts!

XOXOXO,

Momma, Papa, Jacob, Miss Magoo and Michael

Can you help!?

2011-07-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: We have added a new family that is fundraising for their 13 yr old son Colin! They are also waiting for their Travel Approval and it may be coming in the next 4 weeks! Please check out their blog. I will be donating just as soon as I'm done with this post.

Please see below and I've added their button on the sidebar as well.

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This post may hit a nerve for some, but hopefully will inspire others, to give or at the very least see how it can be done.

We know there are different ~~thoughts~~ opinions about fundraising to help fund adoptions. We are ones that believe that fundraising is necessary to bring home an orphan, a child, to their forever family!

This is how we do it and NEVER feel that we don't have enough money or if things weren't already tight, or every other ~~reason~~ excuse not to donate.

While it's nice, okay great, to be able to give $25, $50 or even $100 to help a family. We think of more along the lines of $5 or $10. It may not be much, but it adds up and quickly. If more people would give just that small amount, families will have raised their amount in no time!

Here's another way we look at it. Isn't a couple cups of Starbucks coffee, (or whatever else $5 or $10 is spent on) worth giving up (say once or twice a month) so that same money can go towards a family to help bring a child home!? A Child! Not a tv, not some electronic gadget, not even a car, but a child! I say YES it is! In the grand scheme of things, you know, the big picture, that $5 or $10 is nothing in the long run! Also, it just brings us so much joy knowing that we were able to help, even in some small way.

We will say that once we started ~~thinking~~ believing that we can find this small amount and we quit thinking, we don't have it, we can't afford it, whatever the reason is why we can't, and believe that we can, we have found it and we want to give more and more often.

Sorry if this sounds like we're preaching, but this is serious stuff and adoption is our passion! It all comes back to following God's lead to care for the orphans and widows. God says we must, not should, but must do it!

All's we ask is, if you truly feel that you can't donate, then pray about it, ask for God's help how you can and listen for His answer. If it is not to donate, even a small amount, then please pray for the families that are fundraising so they can raise all the funds needed.

So with all that said, we we want to bring attention to a few families families that are still needing to raise funds to bring their beautiful children home! If you are reading this and you are fundraising for your adoption, please let us know and we will be happy to include you on our blog! We will post about it and if you have a grab button, we will put it on our sidebar so folks can click and go to your blogs. So please, please let us know, so we can get the word out about your adoptions! Thanks!

Also, be sure to check out the Helping Families tab above, as we will be adding the families below and others there as well.

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First up is Karen and her family and trying to bring Max home!

Here is their blog. From Louisiana to China with Love (just click on the blog name to take you there) they are waiting for travel approval. She is also selling the Blessed By Adoption car vinyls and every little bit helps!

I too am selling the car vinyls, left over from our fundraiser, until I run out. See the sidebar to make a donation. If you buy one from me I will donate your purchase to Karen for her adoptions! So please go and check out their blog and bless them in any way you can. Thanks!

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Next up is Anita and her family. They are adopting Faith! Faith is from Tianjin, same orphanage as our Michael!

Here is their blog. Adoption, miles of the heart (just click on the blog name to take you there)

If you can spare even a few dollars to help bring Faith home, it will be greatly appreciated!

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Next is Sharon and her family. They are adopting John Wesley! Sharon is a new friend and the designer of our blog makeover!!

Here is their blog. Our Family Our Story (just click on the blog name to take you there)

They have a number of things they are doing to fund raise to bring John Wesley home!

Such as selling Ugandan Bead Necklaces and Goat Milk Soap (the best soap on earth!)

So please stop by their blog and see what you can do to help!

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Next is Angie and her family adopting their 13 yr old boy, Colin!

Here is their blog: Ryland's Family (just click on the blog name to take you there)

$10 that's it! Also, a Thrity-One fundraiser and Scentsy fundraiser.

Let's help bring this older boy home to his forever family!!

A very full weekend!

2011-07-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Don't forget to scroll down and pause the music player at the bottom

What a weekend!

We have never been so busy in our lives, okay at least not for a long time. :D

It started on Friday afternoon, I decided at the last minute to go pick up Papa from work (he works in Downtown Seattle) and it was a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest, so instead going straight home, we decided to go to the park and let the kids play.

We hung out at the park and then went to dinner and then onto church for a family movie night.

They were keeping with the theme from VBS this year, Junkyard Dogs and showed 101 Dalmatians (animation) and Beethoven.

We brought our camping chairs and had free popcorn. What a great way to spend time as a family, watching kid friendly movies and watching them at church!

We didn't get but about 15-20 minutes into the 2nd movie and Miss Magoo was ready to call it a night.

Now that we've done it, we'll know for the next time, to bring blankets and pillows and have the little put on jammy's. Then if they fall asleep we can pack them into the van and go home and tuck them into bed without waking them up and trying to get them changed.

So every summer Seattle celebrates Seafair from July through August and it's celebrated in different communities around Seattle for different events, usually centered around marine events. After all Seattle claims to the boating capital of the world. I have to say my most favorite event is when the U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly overhead and over the buildings in downtown Seattle. They actually close down the I-90 floating bridge over Lake Washington. It is a sight to see and hear! It is truly awesome to watch!

So on Saturday we went this year for the first time to watch the Seafair Pirates land on Alki Beach. Oh my goodness, it is CRAZY how many people show up! I will say, we won't do it again. :D Nothing to write home to mom about. But we had a great day at the beach and the weather was phenomenal!!

Michael let me know this was the first time he has been to the beach! Aww, a new first, love it! We also met up with Jacob and his mom and her boyfriend and his 3 daughter's visiting for the summer. That's who all the kids are in the one picture in the slideshow.

After being there all morning and most of the afternoon, we called it a day and came home and Papa made homemade chocolate ice cream! Actually having some now as I'm typing this up. :D

So here it is Sunday and we let Michael know that we were going to church and asked him if he wanted to go be with the kids his age or stay with Momma and Papa and go to church with us. Without any hesitation he said he wanted to go be with the kids his age.

When we got to church, we went downstairs to find someone who could help us and help Michael out and explained the particulars. We were introduced to a very nice young man (quite honestly we thought he was a high school student) he was more than happy to help Michael and made sure he felt welcomed and invited. Come to find out he is the new Jr. High Youth Pastor!

So Michael took off and that was that! After church I went to pick him up and wanted to see how he did and one of the Jr. High boys introduced himself to me and said that he was the one that hung out with Michael and said he did great! Asked if he could come to church on Wednesday nights too.

I asked Michael if he had a good time and with a big smile on his face said, "yes."

Tonight I gave him 101 Favorite Stories of the Bible in Chinese and in English. Again I was met with another great big smile on his face and "thank you!" I am definitely one happy momma!

Michael is very outgoing and so willing and open to all the new things that he faces. What a blessing he is! I've said it once, I'll say it again, I can't wait to see what God has in store for him!

Enjoy the slideshow and sorry this post is so long. I told you we had a full weekend!

Blessings and hugs to you all!

Home!

2011-07-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Don't forget to scroll down to the bottom and pause the music player

Well I'm a little behind again with posting.

Let's see...

We got home Friday June 24th and things were going well until Sunday the 26th.

Mister developed a fever during lunch, we got home and he took a nap after we gave him some Children's Tylenol. He didn't want to eat anything for dinner, he still had a fever and sat him on the couch with a cold wash cloth on his head. He kept taking it off and wouldn't leave it on.

Next thing he said he didn't feel good, I picked him up and next thing I know he had a seizure!

I start screaming out, "call 911!" So my hubby called and I got him to the bath tub to get the cold water on him, in the meantime he went unconscious. I found out later from my hubby that he also turned blue. Yes, we were scared! Hubby was talking to the 911 operator and losing it and I was losing it with trying to get Mister taken care of so we switched roles and I was able to calm down and he was able to get Mister to start breathing again!

In the meantime, I hung up with 911 and started praying and so was Miss Magoo. She told me later that our sweet boy was trying to pray also!

The EMT's came and we took Mister to the ER. They ran a bunch of tests, gave him fluids and antibiotics and couldn't find out why he had a fever to begin with.

The EMT's told us we did the right thing and acted as fast as we did by getting him in the tub with the cold water. Good to know we did something right. I just felt so bad for my little boy!

They let us know that he had a febrile seizure. While yes they may be somewhat common for children to get when their fevers spike, it was the first time we have ever experienced it and something we never want to experience again!

While at the ER, I tried to explain as best I could about what happened and Michael shook his head yes and went with the flow.

So we got home from the ER at 1 in the morning and still on China time and scared about Mister, I was up until about 7am, checking on him.

On Monday we took him to the Pediatrician and she looked at his throat and noticed it looked a little red, She took a culture and it turns out he had strep throat and that's the reason why he had a fever. So she gave us antibiotics and little by little his fever broke and Mister was back to himself within a day or so.

We are thanking and praising God for taking care of our boy!

After all of that, we continued to celebrate our boy coming home and things have been going well since. He is very outgoing and eats everything we put in front of him. Good thing, he needs some meat on them bones. :D

On Friday we went to Seattle to pick up Papa from work and he actually got sick when we got there. Not sure why. Maybe everything finally caught up with him after being home for a week. Bless his heart.

He has a new best friend, Bucky, our cat. Bucky loves him and won't leave him alone. He does great with our 4 dogs as well. We had the 3 cameras worth of photos developed and come to find out he had a dog with his Foster Family. All the photos were of him and none of his Foster Family or anyone else.

He also brought a photo of all his foster brothers and sisters, 5 in all. I have been able to locate 2 so far! We know the names of 2 more, and put a request out on the groups I'm on to see if anyone knew them or knows the families that adopted them, nothing yet.

We went to church yesterday for the first time since being home and it was our summer celebration and so instead of a regular service they had the crew get up and perform some of the songs they did for VBS. Junkyard Dogs was the theme this year. I volunteered, but with all the happened with Mister we couldn't make it.

They called all the kids to come up and sit around the stairs of the stage and Michael went along and as soon as they started the first song, Michael was up on his feet, clapping along and had the BIGGEST smile on his face!

It was so cool to see him so excited about it all! Even neater that it was all about Jesus! Afterwards we had lunch, with BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs, ice cream, popcorn, cotton candy. There was face painting (which Michael didn't want to do) and a craft for the kids to make. The biggest hit was the HUGE bouncy house type thing, that all the kids loved going on. As you can see by the pictures. :D

So here we are on 4th of July and plans are to go to some friends later and have a BBQ and set off some fireworks.

We hope all of you are having a fun day celebrating our country's birthday (#235 to be exact) and staying safe!

God Bless!

Day 14 - Last Day

2011-06-23T04:10:00.000-07:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today is our last full day in Guangzhou.

This is always the longest day on the trip for me. Waiting around until 4:00 to get the Visa for Michael and the "brown envelope" that we dare do not open! In all seriousness, it's for his immigration when we go through customs once we land in the US.

Today has brought a down pour (more than once) of rain and wind.

We happen to have to go out in it when we walked to Lucy's for lunch one last time. We got to see and have lunch with our new friend and her children.

We just made it back to our hotel with minutes to spare before our facilitator was here bringing our stuff for Michael.

The photos are random from over the week while we were here in GZ, ending with the famous red couch photos.

I have found out that the White Swan will be closed for renovations starting in September. I also found out that they are moving the Medical Clinic off the island and to downtown GZ and the Consulate will move right next to it, to keep it all together. Not sure when that will happen though.

Well it is always bittersweet the last day in China. Sad on one hand, as once again I have to say good-bye to China, I really do love it here! But happy to be going home to my hubby, Mister and Jacob and for Michael to start his new life with his forever family!

God has brought us every step of the way and has shown us what faith is all about! We are thanking God for our wonderful son that has become a part of our family!

We are so BLESSED!

Zaijian from China!

Day 13 - CA

2011-06-22T23:04:00.001-07:00

We had an early morning today. An 8:30 appointment at the Consulate.

It's done a little different now. Your facilitator no longer goes up with you to turn in the paperwork, it's done ahead of time and then the families go up alone, take the oath and wait for their names to be called and give everything through the window. They check over the paperwork to be sure it's all there and done correctly and then you are finished!

Still not allowed to take in cameras, so no pictures to share. But I have to say it was so neat to hear Michael say to the lady at the consulate, "hi, good morning, how are you?" in perfect English. :D

We then came back to the hotel and got snacks at Jennifer's place for later in the day. Boy I'll tell you it's dangerous being right next door to Jennifer's place. :D

So just a short update and then one more day while we wait for Michael's Visa and the big brown packet. :D

Until tomorrow.

Be sure to scroll down and see the post from when the kids went swimming.

Day 12 - Free Day

2011-06-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today was a free day and Miss Magoo was asking over and over to go swimming.

We got there just as they were about to close for a couple of hours, but the guy was nice enough to let us swim for a short while.

We then went over to Lucy's for lunch and to the White Swan to meet our new friend and her kids to come back to our hotel to swim some more.

By the way, to have guests swim at the WS it's 100 Yuan per person. Ouch! It's free at The Victory.

The kids swam the afternoon away until a thunderstorm started and we made them get out.

We were going to go to dinner with our friends but after being out in the heat all afternoon, it did me in and called it a night since we had to get up early for our Consulate appointment the next morning.

Well enjoy the pics and video.

Blessings and Hugs!

Day 11 - Walking Street

2011-06-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today was a the reading for Michael's TB test and it came back negative.

Afterwards, we walked over the bridge to the Walking Street for some shopping.

They had the same stuff as the last time when we were here and I'm so excited to say that I was able to buy some more of the cute little dresses (all of $4.50 a piece) like I did last time for Miss Magoo.

We decided to take a taxi back since it was so hot!

We went to lunch with our facilitator at the local Thai place before she went on to help the other family that is here. We had a great conversation and have found she is such a nice person and it has been a pleasure to have her as our guide.

We came back to our room after lunch and just hung out and relaxed.

I have to say what a great traveler Miss Magoo is! She has been such a trooper during this entire trip! Mind you, she has been pouty at times, you know, not getting her way, but no melt downs or anything like that. She mentioned to me that she is missing Church and Papa and Mister and Jacob. She has been such a blessing to me during our time in China.

The kids are getting on so well! Once again, God has blessed us with another child that is adjusting so well and is excited about coming home to start his new life in America! He told our guide this and she let me know what he had said. :D

Thanking God for our blessings and for the wonderful time we have had in China!

Day 10 - Safari Park

2011-06-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today we went to the Safari Park and we all enjoyed it! It was very impressive to say the least!

We took what they call a Safari on Wheels and saw all sorts of animals and the sky opened up and we had a down pour during the tram ride, good thing we were covered. :D

Afterwards, we walked around and got to see some amazing Tigers and of course the Panda's!! You'll see in the pictures just how hot it was. Check out poor MM hair. :D

They have 12 Panda's in all. Four to begin with and they acquired 6 more when the Panda Center in the Sichuan province was damaged in the earthquake and they bought two more last year for the Asia games.

Michael's favorite were the Tigers, Miss Magoo's were the Elephants and White Tigers and Momma's were the Panda's and the Tigers.

I saved the pics and videos of the Panda's until the end of the slide show. It'll be worth watching to the end I promise! :D

We made it back to our hotel around 3:00 and went to dinner at Lucy's. We ended up meeting a gal traveling on her own with her 2 kids, ages 10 and 7, and they adopted a 14 mos old. We hung out afterwards at the park. The kids played so hard with each other and had a great time! I had a great time talking with another adult and making a new friend.

Michael continues to make strides and an effort with his English. He understands quite a bit and doesn't when (I don't think) he wants to. You know selective understanding. Lol. :D I think he even talked back to me once, in Chinese of course, after I told him no to what he was doing. :D

But all in all we are having a great time! And he and Miss Magoo are thick as thieves.

I couldn't be happier with the way our trip is going!

Day 9 - Medical Appt.

2011-06-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today was Michael's medical appointment.

The doctor's checked him out and he is well!

He has perfect vision, not mentally delayed (which might have been a possibility because of his CP) in any way and even his feet and legs work without problems. They were a bit confused about why Michael walks the way he does since his legs and feet bend like they are supposed to.

So once we are home we will have that all checked out and see if we can't find an answer or at the very least start him on physical therapy and see if it will help him.

Otherwise, he checked out great! He only needed two immunizations and a TB test and we were done.

We came back to the hotel to rest and to be sure that he didn't run a fever from the shots, which he didn't.

We then went to dinner and walked around the island a little bit and called it a night.

Day 7

2011-06-16T04:19:00.000-07:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today was a very good day!

After breakfast we went to the Natural Museum and while it was small, it was well done.

We then went to the Ancient Culture Street for some shopping and got a few small things to take home for all of us. MM was excited to buy a few wind up toys for the bath. She couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to get into the bath to try them out.

But the highlight for the kids (okay for me too) was going to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D!! What a great movie! They did an excellent job with adoption part of it.

We don 't go to the movie's at home, but Papa was a little envious that we were going to see it and he wasn't. When we get home we'll have to take him for a belated Father's Day.

Now for the highlight of my day...

Michael called me Momma for the first time! Talk about music to my ears! It was in passing without any fore-thought, he just said it. :D

Next, I let him know that we were leaving for Guangzhou tomorrow and will be there for 7 days and then we'll be on another plane for home.

He got the biggest smile on his face! I asked him if he was excited about going home and he said, "yes" and gave me a high five! It doesn't get much better than that! :D

While I've enjoyed our time in Tianjin, I'm looking forward to Guangzhou. Interesting, I don 't usually look forward to GZ, at least not the last two times. Maybe because this time I'm missing Papa, Mister and Jacob and can't wait to see my boys.

Enjoy the pics and the video.

See you in Guangzhou!

Day 6

2011-06-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today was a free day, and we didn't do much.

We walked to the Carrefour and found some DVD's, Toy Story 3 and Beauty and the Beast. It should be fun, they're in Chinese. We also got some snacks for later.

It was HOT today, 90! Too hot for my liking, but at least there was a breeze, which really helped.

Did you know there is a universal telephone number to Pizza Hut and McD's? You can call the number and order anywhere in the world and they will deliver to your hotel room. Cool!

We had lunch and then MM and I took a nap. We're slowly getting on time here.

I've uploaded some photos that the kids took with their cameras as well as one of a ladybug that was on the inside of our window, all the way up on the 10th floor. Not sure how it got in our room. But neat none-the-less.

The video is of the firecrackers being set off for a wedding that was being held here at the hotel. It was so loud!

Tonight, MM received the cutest panda from our guide. He said he saw it and thought of her and got it for her. How sweet is that! :D She loves it!

So we will be going out tomorrow and will try to take some pictures.

Hope you enjoy these!

Hugs!

Day 5

2011-06-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

No new pics today.

We have had a busy day getting all the paperwork done for the adoption to make it final!

And I'm happy to say, it's done! Michael is officially ours!

We are back at the hotel room and just played a few games of war.

There are two other families here adopting, one a 3 year old boy and the other an 18 mos old girl. Cute beyond belief!

The mom of the 3 yr old boy and I were talking this morning at breakfast and when she asked what our sons name was, she says, "oh, I know who you are. I've been to your blog, your name is Cathy. What a small world." It really is!

Today, we have learned that he like soccer and his favorite colors are blue and green.

Oh and before I forget, Michael has been saying in English, "oh my g*d." MM tells him, we don't say "oh my g*d, we say oh my gosh!" So I explained to MM he doesn't know that.

So we sat down at the translator and explained about not saying that and how we go to church and learn about Jesus and pray and how nice everyone is at church.

He said, "okay." Oh I can't wait to see what God has planned for our son!

We have a free day tomorrow, and hoping to get together with an American volunteer at Michael's orphanage and then Thursday will be a fun day for the kids! You'll have to wait and see what is planned. Miss Magoo is excited!

I'm one happy momma!!

Until the next post!

God bless!

Day 4 - We have a new son!

2011-06-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We headed out to the Orphanage this morning at 8:30 and it was a short ride there.

On the way both Miss Magoo and I prayed.

I signed some paperwork and then he came in! It couldn't have gone better!

He gave me a hug and showed me all of his things he brought with him. A backpack full of things! Pictures of his friends and I believe his foster family? He also had, everything we sent him in the care packages. Our guide asked him what American name he would like to have and he chose Michael! So it's official, Michael JinPeng!

After some time in the reception room, we walked around the orphanage and he said good-bye to his friends and his teacher.

She was saying something to him and you could tell that she was very fond of him. She began to cry when he was walking away, and I lost it. I waited till she was finished and hugged her and said thank you, thank you. She hugged me back. She was so sweet!

Miss Magoo and Michael are getting along famously! You would think they have been together always. They haven't stopped playing together.

We stopped by Wal-Mart on the way back to the hotel and it was so sweet. Michael, would help Miss Magoo along and let her go in front of him. They even had a good chase each other around while I was looking at clothes for him. Okay, I wouldn't usually let them do that, but they were bonding and no one was around.

We brought a camera for him and MM has one too, so they're now taking pictures of each other taking pictures and of everything else.

He just showed me 3 disposable cameras and he let me know it has pictures of his friends and foster family. Can't wait to get those developed when we get home.

Michael isn't timid or shy. He seems to be very comfortable with us. Thank you God! He just gave miss Magoo a present. What a sweetheart!

Oh and he's asked to be called Michael, already!

We are so blessed!!!!

Thank you everyone for your prayers, I have definitely felt them. God is so good!!

Day 3

2011-06-12T00:44:00.000-07:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We were up and ready to take the bullet train from Beijing to Tianjin this morning and all I can say is boy am I glad did we have a guide.

It made sense once I looked around and could figure it out by the signs, but I just love the whole organized chaos thing. Lol. :D

But thankful for Ray! He is a great guy! Miss Magoo is quite taken with him. When we got to Tianjin, she asked if he could have lunch with us. "I like him" she says. That's high praise coming from MM. She's quite shy with people in general, but warmed right up right away to Ray.

So we took the bullet train and loved it! I truly do love to travel by train. And to go over 200MPH is the best!

That's right, the highest speed we reached was 202 MPH!! We made the 2 hour trip by car in 30 minutes! Can't wait to take it again, when we go to the acrobat show later this week.

Well we are checked into the hotel and our room is NICE! I've posted some pictures as well.

The count down has begun! We leave at 8:30 am tomorrow morning for Michael!!

So bear with me tomorrow if I don't get a post or get pics up right away. After we get back to the hotel, I'll be Skyping with Papa and mister!

Hope you enjoy the pictures of the train and the ride from the station to the hotel.

Until tomorrow!

Day 2 - Sat, 6/11

2011-06-12T00:18:00.000-07:00

Well we went for breakfast downstairs in the hotel and it was yummy! Then we came back to the room, hung out and then ventured out for some lunch and ended up at McD's, Miss Magoo's favorite.

I explained to MM that people will stare and it's okay, they're not being rude, just curious, since she is Chinese and I'm not. :D Miss Magoo's comment was, "you're not Chinese?" Boy did we laugh. :D

The time difference has us all messed up. Going to sleep in the afternoon and waking up at midnight. I'm sure it will change once we're here for a bit.

We leave for Tianjin in the morning on the high speed train. Can't wait! And then we'll have Michael on Monday the 13th!

So the next time I post, it should be with pictures of Michael and gotcha day!

Day 1 - Fri, 6/10

2011-06-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

1st post from China!!

We made it! Safe and sound. Didn't get to the hotel in Beijing until 2:00 am China time.

So we're all thrown off by the time difference and stayed up for a couple of hours before going to sleep

Tomorrow is another day..

Oh so soon!!!

2011-06-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

What a week this has been!

I have been crazy busy with trying to get things finalized for our travel.

Miss Magoo (our 5 yr old daughter) and I leave for China on the 9th!!!! 6 days!!! Gotcha Day is the 13th!!

God has provided all the way for us and we are blessed beyond belief!!! Praising God today and always!!

Also, THANK YOU to a dear friend of ours (she knows who she is) who worked on our behalf to make this happen!!!!!

I also have to say THANK YOU to all of you that have encouraged, supported, prayed and donated to help us bring our son home!!

A SPECIAL thank you to our agency, Madison Adoption Associates! Without them, I don't think any of it would have happened like it has. God brought us to them for a reason! And we know what that reason is, Michael! They are truly a fantastic agency and we will be forever grateful to them for allowing us to bring our son home!

All of it has not gone unnoticed and my family is blessed, blessed, blessed because of your generosity!!

Woo hoo!!!!! We're going to China!!!!!!!!

We hope you will follow along with us while Miss Magoo and I are in China. I WILL be blogging!

Look what we got!!

2011-05-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yep, it came today!!

Our agency has requested a Consulate Appointment of June 21st. We will know for sure on Tuesday (since Monday is a holiday) if it is confirmed.

If it is, I could be leaving as early as June 10th! With a Gotcha Day of June 13th!

So with all the excitement of TA, we do need the rest of the funds.

So please pray it will all come in just as God has planned. :D We just know that God hasn't brought us this far to not let it happen now!

We are so close!

Hold on our sweet boy, Momma and sister are coming!!

We wait and wait and wait

2011-05-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well here we are.

At the hardest part of the wait during the entire adoption.

Waiting for TA (Travel approval).

During this time, I struggle to keep busy, to stay focused, to concentrate on anything other than, is today the day we'll get TA!?

Of course I know it will come and in God's timing, but it's hard none-the-less. Just knowing we are so close to going to China to bring our boy home!

I also sit and wonder how he is doing? We pray for Michael's health and happiness every time we pray. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and at bed time.

There isn't a moment that Michael isn't on my mind. I miss him so much! Actually we all miss him so much! Mister, said again last night, "I sad." "I miss Michael."

So here we wait and know that we are getting closer! Our Article 5 was picked up on May 11th and TA may come between now and ??? We will have to wait and see.

What we have left to raise

2011-05-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our Goat Milk Fundraiser has ended and we raised $71 from it. It may not sound like much but, it's $71 more than we had yesterday and we are so very grateful for every little bit!

As we wait for our Travel Approval we are still needing to raise $5000 to help with the rest of the in-country fees, such as hotels, in China airfare, official fees, etc.

We've had a couple of more donations to our matching grant at Lifesong, so that leaves $652 that can still be matched. Please see the right sidebar for information on our matching grant. All donations made on our behalf through Lifesong is tax deductible.

We've added a Donate button, also on the top right hand side bar for donations through Paypal, you can also use a credit card.

We think we will have Travel Approval by the end of this month.

So please pray we will raise the rest of the funds. If you feel led to donate to help bring our sweet boy home, we would be blessed!

Thank you for your prayers and thank you for the donations we have received so far!

God Bless!

Getting close!

2011-04-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE EXTENDED OUR GOAT MILK SOAP FUNDRAISER UNTIL

SUNDAY, MAY 1ST

Scroll down to see our soap fundraiser and the scents available

So here we are the end of April and waiting for our Article 5.

What is the Article 5? It is a letter to inform us that our petition to adopt Michael has been sent to the appropriate visa-issuing post where the adoption interview will take place.

What does it mean? It means that we have only 1 more step before we receive travel approval!!

How long will it take? 4-6 weeks is all!!

So what does it mean in the long run? It means we still need to fundraise. We have raised $4215 so far and thanking and praising God for it! We aren't quite there yet though.

In addition to our Goat Milk Soap fundraiser that we have extended until Sunday May 1st, we also have the matching grant with Lifesong. We have posted on the right hand side bar how donations can be made to our family.

Please pray that we will raise the rest of the funds before we travel. Thank you so much!

Blessings and Hugs!

Goat Milk Soap Fundraiser

2011-04-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here is our newest fundraiser and can't wait for all of you to try this soap!!

I will say that we have personally used the soap (Clean Cotton and Nautical) and actually I'm still using it and ABSOLUTELY LOVE it!!

Each bar is hand cut to weigh 5 to 6 oz and comes packaged in it's own cotton bag. When you get yours in the mail and open it, be prepared, it smells wonderful!!

This soap is great for sensitive skin and doesn't leave any residue. It is made with Raw goat milk; Saponified natural fats, coconut oil, olive oil, soybean oil; Fragrance; Natural color.

Gotta love it's all natural ingredients!

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask and we'll be happy to help!

The soap is $6 per bar.

How to order:

Please email us at weareblessed@clear.net with your order. Please include your name and address, scent and quantity.

How to pay:

We accept PayPal. Please use the donate button on the Top Left Hand Side Bar. We also accept checks. Please include the shipping charges (see below).

If you would like to pay by check please email us (at the above email) and we will be happy to send you our address.

Orders will be shipped USPS Priority Mail and shipping charges are as follows:

1 - 7 Bars: $6

8+ Bars: $11

Our fundraiser will go until April 27th and we will place an order then for all soap that have been ordered.

Black Raspberry

The sweet raspberry scent is softened by a hint of vanilla. This is an across the board favorite, delighting little girls, ladies, and grown men alike.

Clean Cotton

Yes - this really does smell like freshly laundered cotton and people just love it!. It is a very fresh and clean scent.

Nautical - Great for Men!

This is a masculine scent (that the women love). It's perfect for all those men out there that want a soap just for them.

Oatmeal Milk & Honey

It is hard to resist the wonderful fragrance of oatmeal, milk & honey. It is a very clean and warm fragrance that pulls you in with that sweetness of honey.

Ocean

This is a beautiful bar that is swirled with different shades of blue and white. This is an amazingly clean scent that appeals to both men and women.

Pink Sugary


It is so hard to resist the scent of Pink Sugary. A wonderful sweetness, the hints of vanilla actually turn the bar a deep shade of brown instead of pink.

Luv Spell

This is a lovely, feminine scent that smells of citrus and florals. It is a very pretty, scent for all the ladies. Similar to Victoria Secrets Love Spell

Lavender - Essential Oil

The scent of lavender is a perennial favorite and one of our best sellers. It is made with lavender essential oil.

Honeysuckle

Remember walking outside during the summer and catching the scent of a nearby honeysuckle vine? This soap smells just like that. It is a truly beautiful honeysuckle scent with a hint of jasmine.

Purity (Unscented)

This soap has no added fragrance for those with dry, sensitive skin. It's just plain, good for your skin, goat milk soap! Lots of people use this soap on babies or people with eczema.

Letter and photos, again!

2011-04-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

The title of this posts says it all.

Look at our boy!!

We are so happy to know that he is so excited about having a forever family!

We have been asked, when do we think we may travel? Our best guess is June. Yes, that's right, it's coming up and quickly!

Still fundraising and keeping the faith that God WILL provide! Even though the enemy is trying to tell us otherwise. We'll leave that for another post.

So without further adieu. Here's his letter we received with the photos.

Dear Baba and Mama,

I am so happy to get the gift of study machine from my forever family.

I am very very happy to own the study machine because it will improve my English.

I cannot wait to meet you and my older and younger brother and my little sister. I am so dreaming of be together with my forever family. When that day comes, my family will be full of love and happiness.

Now I am the class monitor in my classroom. I can help my teacher to do some works for my classmates. My study is excellent. But I study harder.

Thanks again for the very nice gift for study from you. I will use the study machine very well.

H J P

Apr 4, 2011

We are blessed!!

Matching Grant!

2011-03-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

Where to start...

On Orphan Sunday back in November, our church started an adoption ministry through Lifesong for Orphans.

We were blessed to be the first family chosen to be a recipient of this ministry!

We were asked to speak at all 3 services and share our story to and about Michael. It was an incredible honor to share our God filled story.

Quite a few people came and spoke to us afterward and wanted to know more. Not only about our story but about adoption in general and about adoptions from China! God truly blessed not only us but I believe everyone who was there that day.

And here's how we were blessed! Not only did we receive a $1000 "direct grant", but we also received a $1000 "matching grant"!

So what that means is, all funds donated to Lifesong on our behalf will be matched dollar for dollar up to $1000 giving us a possible total of $2000! We also have already received $244 of that to be matched!

Amazing indeed! And thanking God, our church and Lifesong for helping us bring Michael home!

If you would like to donate to our matching grant, there are a couple of different ways you can.

First by check:

Make checks payable to:

Lifesong for Orphans

Their mailing address is:

P.O. Box 40

Gridley, Il 61744

Be sure to note on the Memo line of your check: For Cecil and Cathy W. #1704

The second way to donate is by clicking on the link below:

Lifesong for Orphans

Click on the "Donate" button and this will take you to the Paypal screen.

In the Purpose box (top left), please be sure to type in:

For Cecil and Cathy W. #1704

This is how Lifesong will know the donation is for our family.

Once again our family would like to thank you for supporting and blessing us to bring Michael home!

God Bless!

And the winner is!...

2011-03-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Don't forget to scroll to the bottom to pause the music player

DEBBY H.

Congratulations Debby!

We would like to say thank you everyone that joined our giveaway and for blessing us to help bring Michael home!

We raised $91!! We are so grateful for that $91, really! Every little bit adds up and honestly, God showed up (yet again) for us. You see, this morning we were behind and we ended just a few hours later, $91 ahead! See how great God is!

We are still in awe and very humbled that friends and even those we don't know would be willing to donate to help bring our son home!

Thank you just doesn't seem like enough, but we are so so appreciative!

Also, we finally have an update on our Hip Mom Jewelry fundraiser we had in January.

We raised $108.00!!

Unfortunately, other than 2 people we know that ordered, there are those we don't know who you are. But our gratefulness isn't any less appreciated! So thank you for your support and for blessing us with your orders!!

So in the next day or two we will be announcing a great blessing bestowed upon us.

Thank you again and God Bless!

It's here!

2011-03-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

We got word on Monday that our agency received our LOA!!!

We couldn't believe it! Our LID (Log In Date) was 2/18 and here on 3/21 we have our LOA!

It was actually issued on 3/17. Just 28 days after our LID!!!

Now let me back up a little bit and explain how it all went. I wouldn't usually go into detail, but honestly it had God written all over it and I just have to share!

On Monday morning, I checked my email and there was one from our agency to the group saying they received 3 LOA's and 2 TA's.

I just knew we weren't one of the three since it was only a month after our LID. In other words, it wasn't long enough.

Then the phone rang about 15 minutes after getting their email and my heart skipped a beat and it turned out to be someone else calling for my hubby.

So I got the kids breakfast ready and said prayers and asked God to please let our LOA come soon.

After getting the kids fed, I decided to tackle the paperwork that needed to be done for the next step for the adoption. After all, I thought to myself, I might as well get it done, just in case our LOA comes next week.

So while I was working on the paperwork, I heard that another email came in, so I went to check it and it was from our caseworker at our agency sayng she wasn't able to have Fed Ex deliver a package to us over night, but we would have it Wednesday.

I thought, Fed Ex package? What would they be sending us? I mean after all we didn't get LOA.

So when I scrolled down, there it read, our last name - LOA.

I jumped out of the chair and ran down the hall (to wake my sleeping husband who was home) screaming, "we got LOA!!!!! "We got LOA!!!!!"

So I worked like a crazy woman getting the paperwork finished while we waited for our LOA to arrive! 2 whole days from the email date saying we got our LOA.

Today once the Fed Ex guy pulled into our drive way I was out the door with camera in hand. :) Poor Fed Ex guy, he had no idea what was about to happen. :)

I asked if I could take a picture of him delivering our package and he was like, "um yeah, sure." You know what I mean, with the sound in voice like okay this is weird.

So once I explained why I wanted his picture, he got a big smile on his face and said, "congratulations!" "Why yes, you can take my picture."

So here is the nice Fed Ex man letting me take his picture with our LOA.


Look at his smile :)

And here's the coveted LOA!! That means so much to parents that are adopting.

So all the paperwork that I was working on the last couple of days is finished and copied and is now on its way to various places it needs to go.

Thanking God for delivering our LOA so quickly and confirming one more time that we are supposed to bring Michael home!!

A special date!

2011-03-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

We got news today that our LID is 2/18!!

What does this mean? It means that it took only 7 days from when our dossier was received in China to be logged into their system!

What does it mean to be LID? It means we can officially start counting down the days we are into the wait for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance)!! We are on day 20, as of today 3/9, for our LOA!!

Looking at the time frames for others receiving their LOA from our agency, it's on average about 1 1/2 months to 2 months.

So we could possibly get our LOA at the end of this month? We can only speculate we may get it sooner rather than later, but we ultimately know that is all in God's timing and we know one thing for sure, it WILL happen!!

So something as little as knowing our LID date is something very dear to us, because we know it's one more step down to bringing our sweet boy home!

Another Letter!

2011-02-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

We were siting down for dinner and I can see the computer from where I sit at the table and I had the email open and from across the room I could see there was something with an attachment.

So I got up during dinner, which I don't usually do, and saw it was a letter from Michael!

Everyone was excited to know what he said, so I actually printed it out and sat back down at the dinner table and read the letter to them. :)

I have said it before, but I will say it again, Michael has such a sweet soul.

This is EXACTLY what this momma needed tonight!

Thanking God for giving us such a blessing, in such a simple way as a letter from our son.

This the the "snack pack" we sent Michael for Chinese New Year

Dear Baba & Mama,

How are you? I have got the gifts which you sent me in the New Year. I love it very much.

Dear brothers and sisters I am looking forward to seeing you! I miss you very much!

I wish that I can bring you happiness!

Mom, I have eaten all your chocolates and candies. They are all sweet from the mouth to my heart!

Thank you very much !

I wish Baba, Mama very healthy. I wish my brothers and sisters very happy!

H J P

22FEB,2011

Giveaway Time!

2011-02-21T06:58:00.000-08:00

Kodak Playsport HD Video Camera Zx5

We are having another giveaway and we are excited about this video camera! It is so new it isn't available until the end of March!

All donations will go towards helping to bring Michael home!

There is a "Donate" button at the top of the left hand side bar, under the photo of the camera.

So here's how the giveaway works:

For every $10 donation you will get one entry.

You can also have a chance to receive additional entries by:

Posting an entry to your blog about our giveaway - Gives you 1 additional entry

Change your wall status on Facebook with a link to our giveaway - Gives you 1 additional entry

If you do both - Gives you 3 additional entries

You will need to leave a comment here or on our Facebook group Help Bring Michael Home (click here) with a link to your blog or Facebook entry.

Click HERE if you would like to see a video about this video camera.

The winner will be drawn on Sunday March 27th.

Product Specifications
Sensor type	1 / 3.2–type 5 MP CMOS
Lens	5.5 mm, 35 mm equivalent
Zoom	4X digital
Image stabilization	digital
Display size	2.0 in. 154K TFT color LCD, 4:3, auto brightness control, LCD Glare Shield
Storage	128 MB internal memory[1], SD/SDHC card expansion slot (up to 32 GB)
File formats	video: MPEG-4, AAC-LC still: JPEG/EXIF v2.21
Video length	~10 hours of HD video with the expandable SD/SDHC memory card slot up to 32 GB (~20 min. per 1 GB at 720p HD @ 30 fps)
Focus system	continuous TTL multizone auto focus (auto macro)
Focus range	auto: 10 cm–infinity macro: 7–17 cm auto underwater: 13 cm–infinity macro underwater: 10–22 cm
Face Detection	yes
Capture modes	1080p (16:9)—1920 x 1080, 30 fps 720p (16:9)—1280 x 720, 60 fps 720p (16:9)—1280 x 720, 30 fps WVGA (16:9)—848 x 480, 30 fps still (16:9)—5.3 MP
Capture effects	vivid color, normal color, sepia, B&W, high saturation, 1970's film look
Weather/Outdoor ratings	waterproof—IEC 60529 IPX8, up to 10 ft dustproof—IEC 60529 IP6X shockproof—MIL-STD-810F, 5 ft. onto plywood
Review mode	delete, playback, FF, rewind, pause, volume control, tagging, Share, e-mail, add e-mail
Editing options (video)	trim, extract pictures
Share destinations	FACEBOOK, FLICKR, KODAK Gallery[2], YouTube, TWITTER, ORKUT, YANDEX and KAIXIN001 sites[3], e-mail, and KODAK PULSE Digital Frame[4]
I/O interface	micro USB (2.0 high speed)/AV out/5V DC charging; micro HDMI (type D)
Tripod mount	1/4 in. standard
Microphone	yes—monaural
Speaker	yes—monaural
Power	internal Li-Ion battery (service replaceable), in-camera charging
Dedicated buttons	power, capture, review, menu, 5-way switch, delete, Share
Remote Control	optional
Dimensions	2.3 × 4.4 × 0.7 in.
Weight	125 g

Can you say...

2011-02-07T23:07:00.000-08:00

We are DTC!!!!

Can you believe it!? After 8 Loooonnnngggg months, our dossier is on its way to China!!

For those that have never had to gather paperwork, made sure not to forget one piece of paper, made sure to get each one notarized, then Sate Sealed, then Authenticated, it can be a daunting process.

But with every piece of paper, filling out every form, making sure it is all done correctly, we would say it is WORTH all the effort we put into it!!! Every single minute, worth it!!!

Taking each step to get our dossier gathered and sent on its way, means we are closer to bringing our sweet precious son home!

We are DTC baby!!!

Happy Lunar New Year!

2011-02-03T15:25:00.000-08:00

It is the year of the Rabbit (tu zi) and we are starting our Lunar New Year off with a bang!

Our dossier is back from the Chinese Consulate and all authenticated!

It is now on it's way to our agency, it will be there tomorrow (Friday) and they will do a few more things with it and then it will be on its way to China!

Can't wait to post that we are DTC!!

Xin Nian Kuai Le!! (Mandarin)
pronounced Sin-Nien-Kway-Leh

Gong Xi Fa Cai!! (Cantonese)
pronounced Gong Hay Fat Choy

But it all translates the same to...

Happy New Year!!

Because she is led

2011-01-24T13:04:00.000-08:00

On this day, January 14, 2011, CYJ accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior!

We have thought about not posting about this. My thought was, this is a personal and private moment. But after thinking about it some more and discussing it with Papa, we realized that God would want us to share!

We need to share how God is working not only in our lives but in our children's lives as well.

We want to give God all the glory for what has happened with our sweet daughter!

On Friday, January 14th, Miss C. accepted Jesus into her heart and into her life! She is 5 years old and took it very seriously.

Talking about Jesus is what she does, all the time, all day long, every day (not exaggerating) and has been since she started talking. When she was 3 she always would have us clip a little blanket around her neck to make a cape and she would say, "I am a Superhero for Jesus!"

So on that Friday evening at home, she told us that she wanted to accept Jesus. Imagine our excitement! She said her prayer and then we prayed over her. Yes, momma AND Papa were crying happy tears.

We are just so happy for her and we know that God and the angels are singing too. :)

God Bless you, our sweet Miss C.!!

More good news!

2011-01-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

Approval!!!

What a week we are having so far and it's only Tuesday!

New pictures and a letter yesterday and today we received our I800-A Approval!!!

There was a hiccup with my fingerprints failing and having to have them redone at an office that is 3 hours from us, a whole long story for another post.

So what does this step (approval) mean exactly? It means we have been approved by the US Government to adopt from China!

So now onto the next step. Getting ALL our documents together to be state sealed.

Little steps that are getting us closer to Michael!

New Pictures and a letter!!!

2011-01-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

Look at what we got in our email this morning!!

First we want to say a great big THANK YOU to Gifts to China with Love for sending over our package and getting these wonderful photos and letter for us!!

We sent a package for Christmas and he's wearing it! It has that super scrumptious fleece on the inside. We also sent over a little Christmas stocking with candy and something for his foster parents.

So pictures first or Michael's letter? Okay a picture and his letter. :) What a sweet, sweet, boy!

Han Jin Peng

Letter to his Forever Family

Dear Baba Mama:

NI HAO! How are you?

I have got the X'mas gifts. I love the gifts you sent me very very much! How are you and NI HAO little brother and sister?

I so long to see you.

I wish Baba Mama will be very healthy and happy in the new year! I wish that all of our dreams come true!

I wish little brother and sister happy forever!

Han Jin Peng

Looks like maybe doing school work

A little something he has made? We were told he likes to draw.

Rejoicing today with seeing his sweet face and reading his sweet words.

Thank you God for making us One Happy Momma, Papa, Little sister and little brother!

A new year is here

2011-01-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well here we are, a new year! 2010 has come and gone and looking back we have had so many blessings this past year.

We celebrated many things. Miss Magoo being home 3 years in May, Mister being home 1 year in July and opening our hearts and stepping out in faith to bring Michael home! God has blessed us so much and we thank Him every day for all our blessings!

We have enjoyed the holiday's and now we are ringing in the new year with a new fundraiser!

We have been chosen by Hip Mom Jewelry to help us with our fundraising efforts! Her jewelry is amazing! It is ALL hand stamped and just BEAUTIFUL! There are a few that I personally would love to have! Such as the one above. :)

So what better Valentine's Day gift than a personalized piece of jewelry?! There is something for everyone. From bracelets to necklaces to adoption jewelry to even something for Dad's!

When you order you will need to use our Family Code - 2011JANWor in the checkout process so we receive the credit for your purchase.

We hope you will stop by Hip Mom Jewelery and check it out at: http://hipmomjewelry.com

Once again we are so grateful for our blessings and that includes all of you that are thinking of us, praying for us and for Michael or purchasing something from one our fundraisers.

Thank you for helping us bring Michael home!

No news and waiting

2010-12-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well we hope that everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

We sure did! The littles had a blast on Christmas morning for sure!

We thought we would give a little update on our adoption and that is, there's not really much to tell.

We had our fingerprints taken on Dec 15th and we are waiting to be assigned an officer at USCIS so they can go over our paperwork that we filed with them. So we are waiting for that and then their approval.

Once we receive approval, we can move onto the next step and that is to get everything authenticated at State level and then authenticated by the Chinese Embassy. Once that is all done we can send our dossier to China! ~~Hopefully,~~ Prayerfully it will go to China in January.

Let me tell you nothing ever moves quickly in an adoption, it's all hurry up and and then wait. Which we are good at, since this is #3. :)

So in the meantime, we sent a Christmas package to Michael and a letter along with a camera, so hopefully we will get some photos back and soon. :) Here's a picture of what we sent. Hope he likes it. :)

So now onto the New Year! Wishing everyone a Happy and blessed one!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T10:45:00.000-08:00

May we all know the Love of Jesus this Christmas.

Blessings from all of us!

Don't forget to scroll down and pause the music player.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Look at what we have...Again!

2010-12-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to announce the Adoption Car Vinyls are back!! Thank you to Remarkable Walls for doing this for us!

They may be a little different then the last ones but love them just as much! We put it on our mini-van the day we got them in the mail. Yep, that's it in the picture. :)

These are a perfect gift for someone you may know that has adopted or even one for yourself or both! :)

Cost is $6 / includes shipping.

*** Please use the Brown Chipin on the top right hand side bar.

When ordering it will show 1 in the Quantity. Please ignore that number and only put in the dollar amount of what you want to order. Such as $6, $12, $18, etc. and I'll know how many you are ordering. If you would like to then add a comment before submitting your order, you can put the number of vinyl's you want there.

We apologize for the inconvenience. It's something that Chipin has done and can't get around it.

Thank you for your understanding.

Kindle Giveaway Winner!

2010-12-04T09:36:00.001-08:00

Well before we find out who the winner is.

We want to say a great big THANK YOU to everyone who entered and spread the word about our giveaway! We raised $471! Oh my goodness, we are blessed beyond words!

We have been so blessed by everyone that came forward to help us bring our precious boy home!! We appreciate it more than you know!

We need to God all the glory for providing once again for our adoption and without Him none of this would even be possible. He truly keeps showing us that Michael is to come home and have us as his Forever Family!! We are in awe and so excited!

And now...

The winner is!!

Don't forget to scroll to the bottom to pause the music player

Also, check back on Monday to see what our next exciting post will be!!

Giveaway time!!

2010-11-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

UPDATE:

We need to push drawing the winner's name for the Kindle to a couple of extra days. So instead of tomorrow, Dec 1st, we will draw a name on Saturday Dec 4th.

Sorry for the extra time needed, but appreciate your understanding and thank you!

You may have noticed that the Chipin shows very little, that's because the original one expired and I had to create a new Chipin.

Okay so we are having a new giveaway and just in time for Christmas!! Check it out!!

A 3G Wireless Kindle from Amazon!

Here's how it works:

For every $10 donation you will get one entry.

You can also have a chance to receive additional entries by:

Posting an entry to your blog about our giveaway - 1 additional entry

Change your wall status on Facebook with a link to our giveaway - 1 additional entry

If you do both - 3 additional entries

You will need to leave a comment here or on our Facebook group Help Bring Michael Home (click here) with a link to your blog or Facebook entry.

There is a Brown Chipin (on the top right hand side bar) you can use to submit your donation or if you want to mail us a check, please email us at: minnie dot goofy at comcast dot net or leave a comment and we will send you our address.

We will announce the winner on Wednesday, December 1st.

Here are some of the features the Kindle has:

All-New, High-Contrast E Ink Screen – 50% better contrast
Read in Bright Sunlight – No glare
New and Improved Fonts – New crisper, darker fonts
New Sleek Design – 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6" size reading area
15% Lighter – Only 8.7 ounces, weighs less than a paperback
Battery Life of One Month – A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off
Double the Storage – Up to 3,500 books
Books in 60 Seconds – Download books anytime, anywhere
Free 3G Wireless – No monthly payments, no annual contracts
Built-In Wi-Fi – In addition to the 3G wireless, you can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots
20% Faster Page Turns – Seamless reading
Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights
New WebKit-Based Browser – Free 3G web browsing (experimental)

Hand knitted hats!!!!!!

2010-11-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

I have met and made a new friend through another adoptive momma friend of mine and my new friend Joleigh L. has knitted these gorgeous hats and has donated them to us to sale to help bring Michael home!

Once again, we are blessed beyond blessed to have her come forward and take time out of her busy schedule to hand knit these. All to help us raise some more funds!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at: minnie.gooofy@comcast.net

SOLD!

Lime green with fabulous matching flower.

Can be worn with or without the flower. (We love options!!)

Size 0-3 months.

Cost is $20 plus $3 shipping and handling.

Beautiful rich purple with matching flower.

Size 0-3 months.

Cost $20 plus $3 shipping and handling

This hat is a very rich plum color -- no flower.

$18 plus shipping and handling.

This is can be a little boy hat, in spite of the model's little pink dress. Left off the flower and the pom-poms in the interest of gender neutrality.

Size is 0-3 months

Cost is $18 plus $3 shipping.

Beautiful autumn red had WITH a flower if you so desire. This one has pom poms, as well.

Size 0-3 months.

Cost $20 plus $3 shipping.

This beautiful pink yarn is, believe it or not, 100% merino wool -- the softest thing you can imagine and not at all itchy.

Does need to be hand-washed, but is so worth it in terms of warmth and the fabulous feel.

Size 6-12 months

Cost $22 plus $3 shipping.

It's the same fabulous non-itchy merino wool as the pink one so it, too has to be hand-washed. Toddler hat that I guesstimate at about a size 18-24 months

Cost is $22 plus $3 shipping.

Paperwork Update

2010-11-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

I just had to share that we were able to send all our paperwork and home study to the USCIS, which is the US Government, to ask them to please approve us to adopt Michael.

They received the paperwork yesterday and so we now wait for them to send a receipt saying they received it and also for our fingerprint appointments. We then wait again to say they have approved us!

We're not sure what the time frame is for all of this, but ~~hopefully~~ pray-fully it won't take too long.

Mary Kay Fundraiser

2010-11-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

Nov 10th - Update on Mary Kay

Today is our LAST DAY for our Mary Kay Fundraiser.

What better Christmas gift than say one of their hand lotion sets! So please take a look (click on the link below) and type in Michael W. in the comments section so we can get the credit for your sale,

Thank you for helping us bring Michael home!!

Who likes Mary Kay? I know I sure do and just in time for Christmas!

Mary Kay Consultant, Carrie R. has come forward to help us bring Michael home!

She has offered to donate 100% of her profits to us!

The fundraiser will start today Nov 1st and run through Wednesday Nov 10th.

Here is the link to her site:

http://www.marykay.com/creimer6

Please note Michael W. when checking out so she will know your purchase is for us.

Thank you for checking out her site and thank you for wanting to help bring Michael home!

Happy shopping!!

Christmas Frenzy!

2010-10-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

So another adoptive Momma and friend of mine, thanks to the adoption community is having a Christmas Frenzy to help families that are fund raising for their adoptions.

Here's how it works. Adoptive families post what they are selling and link to Stacy's blog My Cup Overfloweth and then anyone can go to their blogs and shop for Christmas!

So here's a what we are selling to help raise funds to bring Michael home. Happy shopping!

Dutchman Tree Farms - It's that time of year again! Christmas time! We have a fund raiser with this wonderful company! You can buy Christmas Trees and wreaths on-line using our code HBMHWA and we will receive $10 per tree and $5 per wreath sold! You will receive a PREMIUM tree or wreath delivered DIRECTLY to your door and there is FREE SHIPPING! And when you place your order you can select the date you want it shipped! Can it be any easier than that! They deliver to all 48 contiguous states. Please click on the photo on the left hand sidebar to take you directly to our store.

Just Love Coffee - A wonderful organization that sells awesome coffee and other items. Click on the photo on the left hand side bar to take you to our store. We receive $5 per bag of coffee sold.

Tea District - Same ideas as the coffee but with Tea! Click on the photo on the left hand side bar to take you to our store. We receive 10% of all sales

Healthy Legacy - This is a friends (and fellow adoptive parents) of ours store and they sell everything from bath and beauty to home and even Green items! Click on the photo on the left hand side bar to take you to their store. We receive all proceeds of sales made at their store.

Thirty-One - My friend Trisha and fellow adoptive momma is a Thirty-One consultant and she is donating 20% of all sales made for us all they way up until we travel to bring home Michael! Click HERE to see what awesome things she has for sale! Also, when you place order please note: For Cathy and Cecil W.

T-shirts and Totes - Because We Are Led shirts and totes. Click on the tab above

Miss C's Jewelry - Michael's sister, she's 4 yrs old. makes beaded necklaces and bracelets. Check it out HERE To donate for this product there is a Chipin on the right hand side bar.

Koolzees - These are fun neck bandannas that help keep you cool in the heat. Michael's papa makes these. Go HERE and check it out! To donate for this product there is a Chipin on the right hand side bar.

Also check out these adorable gently worn dresses for little ones! The first two are just in time for Christmas!

Perfectly Dressed

- Size: 3T
- $12 plus shipping

Jona Michelle
- Size 24M
- $10 plus shipping

Biscotti
- Size 18M
- $10 plus shipping

These next 3 dresses are all Size 2T.
Price $10 each plus shipping

NOTE: This is not a stain on the dress just a discoloration on the photo itself.

Now onto some items still left from our auction.

Reusable Large Snack Bag - Green polka dots $9
Reusable Small Snack Bag - Flowered $8

Crochet blanket donated by our friend Cheryl of CBJ Creations.
       - multi-color green with cream and black
       - Size 35 x 35
   - $15

Handmade Glycerin Massage soaps also from Cheryl at CBJ Creations.

- Natural pure vegetable glycerin soap with one third humectants moisturizers
- Some are enriched with Coconut Oil and some are enriched with Aloe and Vitamin E
- $3.50 each or 4 for $12

4 piece - Decorative Crochet Hanging Towel Set
- Includes 2 dish towels, pot holder and oven mitt
- $20

Look at what we got!

2010-10-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

Look at that cake and food!

Maybe lunch?

Hope he's making a wish

Looks like he's enjoying his cake. :)

The Birthday Boy!

Opened our email this morning to find 5, count them 5 NEW pictures of Michael!!!

As you can see they are his birthday pictures that he celebrated on Sept 30th. He turned 12.

We used Ladybugs-n-love to send the cake and a little present and some photos of all of us and even a picture of a map of the United States so he can see what state we live in.

I can't imagine what he must be thinking about all of this, being adopted, coming to America. I ~~hope~~ pray he is happy that he is being adopted and have us as his Forever Family. Because I know we are so excited to have him home with us!

2010-10-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

I had completely forgotten how much I said we needed to raise in order for our paperwork to go to USCIS.

So I went to our Adoption Update and much to my AMAZEMENT here is what I wrote...

'So now we are needing only $212 and then we can send our paperwork off.'

$212 needed and we raised $211 from the auction! Can you believe it!?

There's even a little more because the winners gave little extra and others have been so kind in making a donation or purchasing coffee.

Now tell me God isn't providing every penny we need, exactly when we need it!

Singing praises to God!

Once again we are blessed!

Grab Buttons

2010-10-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well I have found a fun little way to help other families adopting and that is making Grab Buttons!

They are those thingy (love my technical wording here? Lol) on peoples blog to show they are adopting and it helps bring traffic to their blogs.

So far I have made 2 grab buttons for friends of mine that are adopting and I'm getting ready to make another one also a fellow adoptive momma.

For a $5 suggested donation, if you would like me to make one for you, I would love to!

Please send me the following information: minnie.goofy@comcast.net

Wording
Colors
Photo if you want one to be used

All funds will go towards our adoption.

Thank you!

And the Winners are...!

2010-10-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

First we want to say THANK YOU to everyone who placed bids on the items for our auction!

We have been so blessed yet again! We're finding it hard to find the words to convey how God is working to bring Michael home! But this just may say it for us.

1 Chronicles 29:13
Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

So not only are we THANKFUL to God and all of you. We are also humbled by all of this. Honestly, we are downright overwhelmed that folks want to help us Bring Michael home.

Below are the winners and here is how much was raised. $211!!

So with this and the $500 donated to our Kingdom Kids account by someone we don't even know, (God at work again) we now have enough funds for the next step of our adoption. Wow! We are in awe!

Now onto the winners!

#1. Portrait Innovation Gift Certificate - Diana B.

#2. Because We Are Led Tote - Amy P.

#3. Ling and Ting Book - Leda P.

#4. Satin Blanket - Terry F.

#5. Adoption Today subscription - Amy P.

#6. Car Vinyls - Virginia S., Lavonne D., Tammy, Julie

#7. Thermal Lunch Tote - Tara A.

#8A. Diaper Wipe Case - Amy P.

#9. Target Gift Card - Amy P.

#12. Hanging Crochet Towels - Cheri K.

#NI2 - Chinese Painting - Terry F.

A Birthday celebration

2010-10-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the blog

This past Thursday, Sept 30th. was Michael's birthday, he turned 12! And we celebrated with a making and decorating cupcakes for his special day!

The kids got into decorating them and really enjoyed knowing why we were making the cupcakes.

We also sang Happy Birthday and loved eating them afterwards.

We sent a birthday package with a present, letter, a little photo album with photos of us, a camera and cake for Michael to celebrate with in China. So if he got our package he now knows about us and we hope, I should pray, we will get an answer back to our letter and some photos!

But in the meantime enjoy watching our little celebration for Michael. :)

Guess what we got yesterday!!?

2010-09-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

An email with answers to our questions about Michael!! Okay can you tell we are excited or what!?

1. What kind of things do you like? Answer: Play games
2. Do you like sports? What kind? Answer: Run
3. Do you have any favorite foods? Answer: Potato
4. What are your favorite colors? Answer: SkyBlue
5. Do you know any English? Answer: Will not
6. What grade are you in at school? What is your favorite subject? Answer: 4th grade, Math

Also, we have a NEW item for our auction! Just scroll down to the next posting that says Auction, to see what it is!

Because we are led...

January

Merry Christmas!!

Our Blog

November and Christmas Shopping

Summer 2011

Helping 2 Families!

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

1st day of school

Prayers needed for Elisyn!!

Yard camping

One month ago!

10 years ago today!

2 years ago today!

Can you help!?

A very full weekend!

Home!

Day 14 - Last Day

Day 13 - CA

Day 12 - Free Day

Day 11 - Walking Street

Day 10 - Safari Park

Day 9 - Medical Appt.

Day 7

Day 6

Day 5

Day 4 - We have a new son!

Day 3

Day 2 - Sat, 6/11

Day 1 - Fri, 6/10

Oh so soon!!!

Look what we got!!

We wait and wait and wait

What we have left to raise

Getting close!

Goat Milk Soap Fundraiser

Letter and photos, again!

Matching Grant!

And the winner is!...

It's here!

A special date!

Another Letter!

Giveaway Time!

Product Specifications

Can you say...

Happy Lunar New Year!

Because she is led

More good news!

New Pictures and a letter!!!

A new year is here

No news and waiting

Merry Christmas!

Look at what we have...Again!

Kindle Giveaway Winner!

Giveaway time!!

Hand knitted hats!!!!!!

Paperwork Update

Mary Kay Fundraiser

Christmas Frenzy!

Look at what we got!

Grab Buttons

And the Winners are...!

A Birthday celebration

Guess what we got yesterday!!?