Let me introduce you to our daughter!

This is our sweet girl! We received our PA (pre-approval) last night. We can now share her pictures and her story.

Her Chinese name is Tu JieRun. She lives in an orphanage in Ningbo City which is a few hrs from Shanghai. She was born on Nov. 1,2010 with 3 issues in her heart. These made her very sick and extremely weak. In Jan., 2011 her mom and dad decided to abandon (its illegal to put a child up for adoption) her in an ER. She was then turned over to the CWI (Children's Welfare Institute.) In March 2011 the hospital performed surgery to repair her heart issues. Since then she has not had any complications and shes had several followups and echos. They released her to become eligible for adoption and now she's our sweet one!

We are thinking this picture was taken when her last medical report was updated which was Dec 2011. Plus she's in several layers of clothing so it was during a time that it was quite cold!

Now we are waiting on our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) which takes approximately 3 months. We hope to receive an update on her during this time and we will send her a package.

Can't wait to hold her in my arms!

Much love,

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We saw Grace!

Good news! We met Gracie bug!! Well not officially but we saw her picture and learned very important information about her.

This is how it all happened...
We got word from a good friend this past Friday that the Shared List was coming out on Monday. Then we heard from our case worker Sunday and she confirmed the news. She said Monday night the list would be released and we would receive an email if we had a referral. If not, she would call Tuesday morning. So Monday night Jeremy and I decided that we would go to bed at normal time considering we both had work Tues and we weren't sure we would receive a referral. After all, we didn't receive one last month. I even put my phone on vibrate so I couldn't hear the "dings" every time I received mail. I knew I would sleep light! I woke at 12:47 and decided to take a peak and noticed 2 emails from Karla. The first said, " Call me if you are still awake.". About 45 min later she sent the actual file with pics and all. It said call me in the morning! Before I opened it I whispered to Jeremy, we have one! His head popped up and said open it!! We immediately read through her file and instantly fell in love. I felt so strongly that this is Grace. Now we just needed Dr. Wang to give a doctors perspective and a good feeling. Tuesday was stressful. Working, gathering all paperwork for acceptance, and making major decisions. We had barely any sleep Monday night and very little Tuesday. This morning we finished up all paperwork needed
for our LOI (letter of intent.)

Now we wait for our PA ( pre approval) from China. This could take up to 2 weeks. When we receive that we will be able to share her pictures and her personal information with you!

Can't wait!!

Much love,

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Sale Dates are Set

We will be having our fundraising yard sales finally! We plan on having the first sale at our house in Trinity on April 21st. Since we have so many donated items, we will probably need to have a follow up sale. This is scheduled for April 28th at Aunt Lisa's in Decatur. I am not certain if we will be having the sale on the Fridays before. We are still trying to determine if we will be scheduled off work and have enough help.

If you have any items that you'd like to donate to us, let us know! We will pick them up!!

We have been so fortunate to have so much support! I knew that we have received a lot of items but when we started pulling everything out again and categorizing, I was shocked! It takes up half the garage. This is even stacked in boxes on top of each other.

We have a few more pick ups this week/end and then it's on to the set up.

Much love,


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It's official!

Karla emailed us yesterday and said she had received our official "log-in" date with China!  We are LID in adoption terms.  This simply means the date that China officially logs our dossier in and we are listed as adoptive parents.  She told us before that in the event that we receive a referral the LID would be expedited that day.  However we didn't receive a March referral so there was no need.  This milestone was set on 3/31/12! (Jeremy's birthday)

Now we patiently await a referral.  We hope to have a couple options this month.  Maoming orphanage is releasing a list sometime this month.  If that doesn't work out,  there is also the shared list that releases at the end of the month.  I am feeling like this month will be a major blessing for us. 

Continue to thank Him for all the blessings and say sweet prayers for Grace and her little friends!

Much love,

Love this time of year!

This has always been my favorite time of year.  The grass turns green, we work in the gardens, put out all the bird feeders, and stay outside til dark. The spring days just seem to put a permanent smile on my face.  Spring brings new beginnings and new life to everything.  Not just to my attitude after my "winter depression" I seem to face every year (now that I'm old!)...but everything comes alive! 

One of my favorite things is that Easter typically kicks off the spring season; and not to mention Jeremy's and my birthday all in the same week!  I love the weeks leading up to Easter.  I'm not referring to the egg hunts (although those are a blast) or the baskets full of chocolates and goodies.  I love the sermons at church.  Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter service are probably my favorite sermons to hear during the year!  Every year since a young child I have listened to the sermons about when Christ is Risen and every year it still moves me and brings tears to my eyes!  New life and new beginnings!

This year, Jeremy and I will be starting a new beginning in our life.  We will soon meet (via picture) our precious daughter. (Wow, I'm going to be a MOM!) We will prepare for her arrival home, prepare for our trip to China to pick her up, and most importantly prepare ourselves to become parents for the first time.  What a blessing this sweet girl will be in our lives and she will be an orphan no more!

Much love,

It's that time again!

Yard Sales are going strong right now! Ours is not far behind. I talked with our neighbor on Thursday night and she is all for a neighborhood sale again this year. She and another neighbor have always been the organizers. We are discussing for mid April. We should have an exact date within a week or so.

Last year our sale was a success. This is an easy fundraiser for us! We seem to always accumulate a huge amount in one year plus we get so many donations to sell. We even have items to pick up today! Since we expect this sale to be so large, we also plan on having a follow up sale in Decatur, if necessary. Our goal this year is $1000.00 . We have already sold our table and chairs, bakers rack, and treadmill. So to start our sale we already have $350!!

I don't want to forget...
We have had the most amazing emails, phone calls, texts, and messages this week! We are truly blessed and loved. Jeremy is so strong so I don't worry about him often. He stays so positive and always finds the good in the situation. I started realizing this week that this is all supposed to be happening. I know that sounds crazy but I mean exactly what it says. We all know God has your life planned way before you live it but there are times you think, that wasn't supposed to happen that way. I will break down a few milestones for you...
2008 begin planning for a child
2009 fertility clinic
2010 adoption begins
2011 turned 30 (can adopt from China!)
2012 the year that everything becomes final in China
February: did not receive referral due to paperwork glitch
March: did not receive referral due to no match
I have finally realized that these weren't bad points in our timeline! These were supposed to happen because Grace, our perfect little Grace was not in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, February, or March. God can't promise that we will understand why things happen at that moment and He can't promise we will always feel on top of the world. BUT He will provide! I have to scoot (as I say "scootch") over and let him take the wheel. He's got this! And she's coming in perfect timing.

Thank YOU for being such good friends and sharing your love with us!

Much love,


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Back on the waiting train

Karla called this morning and told me exactly what was expected. The list came out too soon and we did not receive a referral this time. I wish I could say I handled it like a dignified strong young woman but I can't. I stepped out of the office, sat in my car, and cried. I discussed it over with Karla and then made the call to Jeremy.

I was completely at peace last night. Prepared for whatever outcome. We know Grace is there waiting and we know we will travel to pick her up. We just don't know when. It's all the uncertainties and unknowns that break me.

Jeremy and I have gone through so many ups and downs since 2008 when we decided to extend our family. By all means I do not compare our situation to anyone else because everyone goes through terrible times. I have to constantly reel myself and my emotions back in and realize the whole picture. For me, I have grown and matured into a much stronger person. I also realize that I have to take moments to cry. If I don't...the tears don't go away, they only haunt you at a later time. Patience. That is a word that I really thought defined me. I learn day by day, minute by minute that this is an ongoing process that I am still learning.

The texts, emails, calls, and messages have meant millions to me. I was told to get my prayer chain going and I learned quickly how many people pray. That is amazing!

Hopefully we can meet Grace's precious face sometime next month. In the meantime, pray that baby home! Continue to pray for the other orphan angels that need a mommy and daddy.

Much love,


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