Five for Friday

For my photography class at school, we have to submit 5 pictures every Friday. (Maybe I'll post the ones I choose every week!) So, yesterday, I took the girlies outside and we had a little photo shoot. We even saw a bunny while we were out! They were both so cooperative and I got some really sweet pictures of both girlies! We then went on a little walk and they helped me find some pretty flowers to take pictures of. Lets just say picking just 5 was a little difficult... I'll post some more sweet ones later on :)

First Day Of School (Monday)

Here's a picture from the first day of school, which was on Monday. It was sad awkwardly standing there alone... and driving by myself. School is pretty good so far! I'm taking three AP classes, so that's going to be hard, but other than that, it's fun. And when I say fun, I mean it's as fun as school can possibly be. I have a pretty good schedule, which is good. All of my classes are HUGE (well, for my school anyway. My smallest has 22 people and my biggest has close to 30. Last year my smallest had like 12 and my biggest had just over 20!) I enjoy big classes though, and I have good friends in every class, so that's good :) I'm also excited because this year, they are letting all juniors and seniors who have first period study hall have an "off campus" during first period! Which means I don't have to come into school until 8:30 on Wednesdays and 8:45 on every other day! (Our Wednesday schedule is different because we have chapel.)

So anyway... junior year has started off pretty well. I can honestly say I'd go back to it being summer in an instant though!

I also want to ask you to pray for two of the guys at my school. They are brothers and one's a sr. and one's a sophomore. Their dad died over the weekend after battling cancer on and off for 25 years. So please just remember them in your prayers. Almost our entire high school was able to go to the funeral yesterday morning. I thought it was pretty amazing that they let us out of school at 10 so we would be able to go and be there for these two guys. Not many schools would do that... But anyway, please just remember them and their mom in your prayers... they are definitely hurting right now!

double digits...

We've had Miss Katie Cakes for 10 months now. I'm honestly at a loss of words to say... I think the picture itself speaks enough. Just look at her smile... her eyes... remember the picture I normally post with the monthly updates? The one with big tears running down her cheeks? The one she is absolutely screaming in terror in? Or maybe you remember it because of the blue M&M that she is drooling? What a difference 10 months makes...

I'll let the picture do the rest of the talking.

God is good.

In the past week ~

Will headed to college at Bay*lor...

I started my junior year... well sort of. Our first three days of school are spent at a camp in the mountains (about 3 hours away) enjoying good food, games, square dancing, a zipline into the lake, pool/hot tub, blob, a two person swing thing, fellowship with our entire high school, worshipping, etc...


and we had our second homestudy visit!

Today was not quite as exciting, but the girlies and I still had fun while Mom was celebrating sweet Sara Beth at Jeanette's shower. AnnaClaire kept asking, "are all the ladies takin' showers?" It was funny. We went to lunch and played by the fountain and then ran to Old Na*vy, where we saw little stainless steel water bottles for only $5. AnnaClaire is obsessed with those little water bottles, so of course we had to get one. Of course, Kate had to have one too. And the girls insisted that we get one for Charlie, as well. So we had a fun morning out with some new water bottles to prove it:)

I know it's been awhile since I've truly posted and I apoligize for that! There is just so much going on with work, school starting up, having my license and therefore not being home all that much, etc., so I find very little time to take pictures of the girlies and to post! I hope you enjoy the pictures... every time I look at my precious sisters playing together, holding hands, laughing together, and giving kissies, I can't help but think of how amazing it is that although they don't share any of the same DNA... they are the very best of SISTERS! I just love it :)

Some little BOY clothes!

Mom made the first Charlie clothing purchase today... some jammies :) I think that's been a first purchase for all three of the little ones! Who said shopping for a little boy wasn't fun?!

We love Cost*co organic cotton pjs... which are only $11.99, may I add!

Just cannot wait to see him in them!

Thinking of...

our sweet, sweet Charlie. Oh I just cannot wait to bring him home!

Look Who...

finally decided to go off the diving board?!?!

But that's not all! She also decided to...

willinging (and excitedly, may I add) put her face under and swim for diving rings!

And another little Miss decided that the water isn't so bad... in fact she LOVES it!

(Pictures) Mountains with Mia!

We had...

our first homestudy visit today!!! :)

Praise God!

What do the girls think?!

They seem pretty excited! They are always bringing up "baby" Charlie and having another brother. I'm not sure that they understand that he won't be a baby, but that will come! I witnessed the SWEETEST moment every a few weeks ago... We had given AC a picture of Charlie to look at, and she found a few more and just sat by Kate, showing her the pictures. She explained that this was, "baby Charlie and he has no mommy and daddy so we are going to go to China on the big airplane and bring him home! He's my little brudder!" They were just looking at the pictures and giving them kisses.... soooo sweet.

Speaking of the girlies, they have been pretty busy lately! They were gone a couple days last week with Mom, Mia, and Mrs. Tracey in the mountains! They stayed two nights in a cabin (or cabinent as Booie would say) and just had a ball! I have a few pictures to share from that (yes, Mom took the camera!!!)

We also went to lunch at Chickfila with Jeanette and her boys! They are traveling soon to go get their little Sara Beth FINALLY! So we had a nice little celebration lunch. We also ran into Lainie's family, which was fun! Lainie and AC lived in the same room at their orphanage, so it was very special to finally meet them in "real" life!

As for the adoption front, we are still at a stand still in the homestudy, which has been very frustrating. It looks like our first homestudy visit won't be until Aug. 20... :( PLEASE pray along with us that God would work miracles and allow our dossier to be to China by Oct. 17 (3 months from the day our PA was dated)! That's our deadline... it can be extended, but we are praying that we can somehow make it. Right now, it seems impossible, but we we serve a God who NOTHING is impossible with!

Thank you so much for all your comments and encouragement. It means soo much to us :)

It's a BOY!

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5

It is with great joy, excitement, and thanksgiving that I announce my little brother,

Charles DaShan, "Charlie"

He was born on January 5, 2006, which makes him 3 1/2, 2.5 months younger than AnnaClaire and almost exactly 14 months older than Kate! His name is Zhou Da Shan and he has lived at the Chongqing SWI in Chongqing, China since he was 2 days old! He is described as a clever and lovely boy who is loved by all. He is tiny, weighing 26 pounds and is 33 inches tall!

And we are SOOOOO excited to bring this little guy home!

I know you all want the story of how exactly Charlie came to be... and it's a good one. I am just amazed at how God brought him to us... so here we go.

We've always said that AC and Kate would be it... before we even knew what we were going to name them, we knew we were going to adopt two little girls from China... and that was it. Yet, my mom has also dreamed about having 6 kids since before Dad and Mom even got married. But then we went to China for Kate and we just knew that we were done. Our family was complete with the seven of us... or so we thought.

For the first few months home, those hard months with Kate, we were sure we were done. And then, on Mom's birthday, we took a picture of all the kids... and it looked so empty... like someone was missing. Our family started talking and Gracie/Charlie constantly came up. However, although we talked about it, from what I saw and heard, I knew that God was literally going to have to drop a little one in our laps if he wanted us to adopt again.

April came, which was when our 6 month post placement took place... when we could apply to AWAA again. We didn't, and I was sure that was it. We still talked but it started feeling more like a dream than a reality.

In June, we started talking more about a "Charlie" than a "Gracie" and knew that if we went back, it'd be a little boy. That is when Mom really felt that God was calling us back, and that he had a little BOY in China who was OURS. She started looking at lists (I don't even know why I said started... we looked at lists long before... but that's when she REALLY started looking at lists... as in not just thinking, "aww he/she is cute!")

And then on July 2nd, I was lifeguarding when Dad brought AnnaClaire and Kate to the pool. He came over and said, "You will NEVER believe what your mom is doing right now." I laughed and said, "What?" He then told me that she had found a little boy on a list named "Charlie" and she was asking for his file. He also told me that his SN was club feet and he was a little older than Kate (we later realized we had gotten the birthday off by a year, so he's closer to AC.) I asked if he was cute, and he said they hadn't seen pictures. I knew it must be serious if Mom was asking for a file without even seeing pictures first!

I got home and everyone was around the computer talking about him. All there was was a little line that said, "Charlie Male 1/5/06 club feet Chongqing." Mom had found the list through the No Hands But Ours website. She had seen the agency before, Madison Adoption Associates, but she had never asked to join the yahoo group... until that day.

They had all the referrals in the files. I then was able to find his entire FILE on the yahoo group. We saw the little picture of him holding the pink ball and we just KNEW he was ours.

My mom emailed D. and told her we had found his file and were definitely interested (thankfully, he was on the individual list, not the shared list... so we had TIME! Which was nice since it was a holiday weekend!) Now remember this was a Thursday NIGHT after hours. She emailed back with a form to fill out and told us that she had just received on update on Charlie and she would get it to us soon. On 4th of July morning, we got the update... 3 more pictures which had been taken not even a week ago, and his measurements.

However, our biggest concern was still not answered... was he walking or not? In his initial referral information, which was done when he was 2.5, he was not walking. We knew he was ours though and that he would walk eventually (him not walking was due to his club feet), so we sent off our LOI, asked them to hold the file, and filled out a few other things that MAA needed.

That week, we brought the file to the dr. and got the official okay. We also found out that he WAS walking... a definite praise! Our LOI went out on July 10th and I was in China when we received the news that we had PA, which was on July 18th! (oh and MAA allows pictures to be posted after PA, which is why I can post them!)

So that's how Mr. Charlie came to be... a story perfectly orchestrated by the God who LOVES and CREATED him...

What's next for us? We are busy with the paperchase! We have a deadline to get our dossier in China by 10/17, but it can be extended. Our biggest issues have been with our homestudy... we are doing it with our last social worker (our new agency isn't licensed in NC, so we are using our old agency for our homestudy.) Let's just say, we applied 3 weeks ago and STILL haven't been approved. So very frustrating, but I guess we are going to have to learn a bit of PATIENCE... not easy for me! God has definitely given me peace in the wait so far... I hope that he continues to show me that good things come to those who WAIT! He has promised us little Charlie and in his perfect timing, we will get to meet this precious little boy that we have fallen head over heals in love with! We are hoping to travel in the Spring of '10!


Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;
Jeremiah 1:5

The Backpacks...

January 5, 2008 (his 2nd birthday!)

Bill asks if I want my "Charlie"! (Charles Henry~ yes we have a boy name ready to go.) I think Kate will be it, for us, though. I don't know if I'll have it in me..... Bill seems to think HE will!!!!

January 17, 2009

I’m really not sure about going back. But I have swayed from my thoughts in China the 2nd time that “this is it”. God still has some work to do on both of us, if it’s to be. We do have a name though~ Charles Henry~ Charlie. We’ve had that as a boy name since we were pregnant with Emily.

To Be Continued...

Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.
Proverbs 24:12

Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west....Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.
Isaiah 43:5-7

Happy Referral Day, AnnaClaire!

Three years ago today, our lives were forever changed by a phone call. Let me back track a little and say that it was just a week before that we had filled out a SN application. Then, on Friday the 21st (the day before our LID), we had seen the following posted on the AWAA website:
"America World was surprised to receive four Special Needs referrals this week and anticipates the receipt of the remainder of the set in the upcoming weeks. The Special Needs Coordinators are unable to predict precisely when they will arrive. The four Special Needs referrals are being translated and eligible families will be contacted once the translations are received. The Special Needs Coordinators are unable to give out any information on these four referrals until the complete medicals translations are received. When the remainder of the referrals do arrive, the Special Needs Coordinators need time to translate these referrals to process them accordingly. All applications received on or before Friday, July 21st, will be considered in the matching of this Special Needs referral group. Please understand that there are many families on the Interested Families list that have requested female, 0-2 years, with minor special needs. Due to the increase, not all families on the Interested Families list will receive a call with this upcoming Special Needs referral group."
I had asked Mom if she had seen, but obviously, we thought nothing of it. Afterall, we were looking for a baby girl and we had JUST been added to the list.

Our "surprise referral girls"... Lucy, Shaoey, and AnnaClaire (the 4th one was a little boy who was adopted a few months after our girls)

And then on Tuesday, July 25, 2006, our lives were changed... with that phone call I just mentioned. It was just after 1 when that call came... The day before, our family coordinator had called, but we were out (getting a carseat... which we thought we'd have for years! ha!) so she had left a message. Mom called back, but she had already left. They called and missed eachother a few more times, but this time we were home. We had just gotten accepted into the waiting child program and my Mom had called the Friday before, because she had some questions about the program. So we thought this call was just a response to Mom's call. What we didn't know, is that we were about to learn firsthand how the waiting child program worked.



I was reading The Waiting Child when the call came... I had run to see who it was and knew it was our agency. I knew that a surprise list of 4 referrals had just come out, but I also knew that my mom had just called to ask questions, and as I mentioned, that is why we thought Tabitha was calling. I listened and heard my mom, who was close to tears, say, "Of course! We would love further information!" They talked for a few more minutes and I just knew that we had received a referral... I ran downstairs and Mom told me she was not even 9 months old, from the Chenzhou SWI, and her name was Chen Xun Hui. We called Dad and waited an agonizing 15 minutes for an email to come with our sweet girl's pictures and file. When it finally came and we saw that precious, chubby, baby face looking back at us, there was no doubt in our minds that this was our sweet girl... our precious AnnaClaire Chenhui.


I love looking at the pictures of AnnaClaire holding her referral picture... how different she looks... a big puffy red jacket to sweet, girly clothes... an orphanage wall in the background to a door to her house in the background. Yet, at the same time, SHE looks so the same... that sweet little round face, those gorgeous brown, almond eyes...

July 25, 2008

July 25, 2007

Happy Referral Day, precious girl!

and Praise HIM who perfectly brought us together and made you a part of our forever family.

Could it be...

Another little sister?

Or maybe, a little brother?