Our First Fundraiser;)

To All My Sweet Friends in Blog land,

Many of you have been following our family blog for several years now. You rejoiced with us as we journeyed through Sophie's domestic adoption a little over three and a half years ago. You followed along as we welcomed our first foster daughter, Miss A, into our home, and cried with us as we said goodbye a few months later. And now, as we prepare to welcome our newest little one home from China, you have loved, encouraged, and supported us with your kinds words and sweet comments. 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! 

Yes...in just a few short months, Shane and I will board a plane and head to the other side of the world. This summer, our lives will forever be changed as we meet our newest addition for the very first time. Little Miss Yu Hu Ying (soon to be Adelyn Kate) is waiting for us in an orphanage in the Shaanxi Province of China. She will be turning two on June 2nd--just three days before Corban's 9th birthday! My mommy heart is praying that we will have her in our arms ON or even before her second birthday, but we have to wait several more weeks before we know our travel information. Needless to say, our hearts yearn to meet our little girl and our arms ache to hold her close, but we trust the Lord is keeping her safe and comforting her little spirit until the time comes for us to be together.

When our family decided to embark on this exciting journey, Shane and I agreed that we would have to get creative in order to come up with the money necessary to fund this adoption. The Lord had already proven Himself faithful to us as we walked through Sophie's domestic adoption a few years ago, so we had no doubt that He would do the same for us this time around too! This adoption will cost us around $24,000.00. However, a portion of that will be given back to us in the way of the Adoption Tax Credit, and Shane is also eligible to receive an employee adoption credit from his place of business once our adoption is finalized. After those credits are in place, our family will still be responsible to come up with about $6,000.00. We talked about doing different fundraisers, but nothing seemed to be the right fit for our family...until now. We were just recently introduced to Coupaide.com and the wonderful fund raising opportunities they have available for adoptive families. To us, this type of fundraiser just seemed like a win-win for all involved. Basically, for ONLY $20 you will receive a $50 E- gift certificate to restaurant.com. These gift certificates can be redeemed at over 18,000 restaurants nationwide. For every purchase made, our family receives $10 which will go directly into our adoption fund. You can check out our web page at www.coupaide.com/adelyn for more information and to see a list of participating restaurants. 

We totally understand that you may not be able to purchase a gift certificate at this time, and that is fine. We would then ask you to consider passing our web site information on to others you know who may be interested. Above anything else though, we truly covet your prayers for our family as we prepare our hearts and home for Miss Addy-Kate!

We are humbled to be on this journey and thank each of you from the bottom of our hearts for you willingness to partner with us!!

With Much Love, 

Shane and Jenny

Corban, Riley, Sophie, Hudson and (soon to be)Addy-Kate 

DTC baby!

OUR DOSSIER IS OFFICIALLY ON IT'S WAY TO CHINA TONIGHT!

WE ARE SO SO SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Groundhog Day and the UPS truck.

Well, I guess since Mr. Groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, we should prepare to endure six more long weeks of winter, right!?!? 

If "winter" means we get to enjoyed more days like yesterday though, than sign me right up!!!!

No winter blues going on here at our house.

No siree...it's more like a case of spring fever!

And while the kids spent most of the day outside playing, I spent time working on

 THIS...

Yup...that is our dossier!

All ready to be sent to China!

After waiting all day long yesterday,  the UPS man finally arrived at my doorstep last night and dropped off the last few documents that were needed to complete our dossier. He didn't get to my house until well after 5:00pm and our goal was to have our dossier turned around and bound for our agency in California the very same day. That left me with a little under an hour to make the proper copies needed AND get everything back in order so it could make the final pick-up from the UPS store at 6:00pm. Talk about a major time crunch. I wish I could say I do well under pressure, but unfortunately I don't. 

I had to call for back-up!

Shane left work a little early and met me at the UPS store so he could help me get everything done!

In a little less than 52 minutes (yes, Corban kept himself entertained by timing us) we were all ready.

Just as the UPS man drove up for his pick-up, we were finally DONE!!!

And there it goes!!! 

One more short stop in California before it heads to it's final destination....

 China!

We will be DTC (dossier to China) on February 10th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still cannot believe it!!!

And to celebrate Groundhog Day (and our new DTC status)

...we enjoyed a yummy treat after we finally got home for the store;)

How cute are these little Groundhog Day pudding cups!

Of course, they tasted a lot better because we ate them on the "ground"--ha!

Silly...yes, 

 DELICIOUS???

...you bet!!!!

Looking for the Rainbow;)

It was a rather cold, dreary and rainy Monday. The BIG boys had the day off from school due to a teacher workday. There were no alarm clocks to set before going to bed on Sunday night, no lunches to pack, and no buses to catch first thing in the morning. Everyone slept in and we all enjoyed a little extra rest.

PURE BLISS!  

What a nice way to kick-start the beginning of another full week.

And because it was rather blah outside, I thought a little something extra was needed to ensure our day wouldn't turn out like the weather;)

I surprised the kids by making them rainbow pancakes for breakfast.

Yes...it kind-of looked like they were eating play-dough, BUT even so...
 my kids thought they were AWESOME.

I mean, who wouldn't enjoy eating a bright blue or purple pancake, right!?!?

After breakfast, I asked the kids if they wanted to hit the Y pool for a swim.
A unanimous "YES" was heard around the kitchen table.
 So off to the pool we went.

Going swimming in the winter is always such a fun and unexpected treat!

We met my sweet friend, and her four little girls there for a morning of swimming fun!

We stayed for several hours before it was time to head home for lunch.

The BIG boys hated to leave, but the babies were tired, hungry, and getting a little grumpy;)

I think swimming wore everyone flat out though, because as I type this...

 my house is really quiet. 

No one is actually napping, (I'm banking on a 7:00pm bedtime for ALL) but everyone is content and playing quietly!

***We received BIG news today concerning our adoption! 
Our I-800 was approved!!!
This is HUGE!!!

What we thought would take up to 60-90 days waiting for approval, happened on day 46!!! 

What this really means for us is that now we have EVERYTHING we need in order to send our dossier to China!

Our paperwork still has a few more "stops" it has to make (like Raleigh, Washington DC, and California) before it will be bound for China, but it will be on it's way VERY, VERY soon!!!!!!

This was the best news we could have received on this gloomy Monday;)*** 

What IF...

What if she would have chosen convenience?

What if she had been selfish?

What if she would have thought it was nothing?

What if she would have thrown it away?

What if she would have believed the lies?

What if she didn't listen to the truth?

What if she thought she had the right?

WHAT IF this precious little girl, who brings our family extraordinary amounts of joy would NOT have been born????

The thought alone BREAKS MY HEART!!!!!

Yesterday was Sanctity of Life Sunday, and once again my heart was flooded with an overwhelming  gratitude for sweet Sophie's birth mommy. 

We live in a world that believes in the name of ease and convenience, you have the "right" to take another innocent life. We live in world that believes human life is disposable.

 I am beyond thankful that Sophie's birth mommy did not believe those lies.

But despite what was "easy" and "convenient", SHE CHOSE LIFE!!

She chose to give my sweet angel the gift of LIFE.  

And then, what was probably the most difficult decision she would ever have to face...

 she didn't just choose LIFE, but she chose a better life. 

She chose us.

Remember that there is no difference between an unborn child and one who has already been born except size, location and feeding ability. At conception a child has 46 chromosomes, is male or female, has his/her own DNA, has it's own fingerprints, and in fact has every piece of genetic information it will EVER have. 

Abortions happen every 30 seconds in this country at a pace of over 3000 per DAY in the name of privacy or choice. 

Psalms 139:13-16

For you created my inmost being;

   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

   your works are wonderful,

   I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

   when I was made in the secret place,

   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

 Your eyes saw my unformed body;

   all the days ordained for me were written in your book

   before one of them came to be. 


**I just wanted to add...please understand that if you are reading this post and have experienced an abortion, or someone close to you has...I am in no way standing in judgment of you OR them!!  I have not walked in your shoes, or traveled the road you have.  But I know that we ALL have done things in our lives that if given the opportunity, we would go back in time and do differently. 

There is forgiveness. and there is healing! God LOVES you!! You matter to Him! He paid a GREAT price in order to help you! He knows you and is willing to forgive you. All you have to do is ASK!

Isaiah 43:25

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake
      and will never think of them again.

Fingerprints and a little black book

 This has been such an AWESOME week for us. Shane has had two FULL weeks off from work and we are enjoying EVERY MINUTE of having him home. He was off last week AND this week--which has been such treat! We have been able to get a lot done, especially concerning our China adoption. 

Anytime we accomplish something adoption related, we celebrate! It makes us feel good to cross off another item on that endless "to-do list" AND it makes us feel like we are that much closer to bringing our Addy-Kate HOME! This week we had to be fingerprinted! No camera's are allowed in the support center, so in order to properly document this event, we had to take this picture once we got home. 

So now you know why we are all waving our little fingers in this picture above--

this was FINGERPRINT day;)

And since Shane has been home this week, we have made great strides in getting our dossier ready for China! 

This little black notebook may not look like much to anyone else, but to us it literally holds OUR ENTIRE LIFE. Almost everything we need in order to bring our Addy-Kate home is contained in this three ring binder!  Countless hours of work have gone into getting this note book together and if our house caught fire tonight, THIS BOOK would be the first thing I think I would grab-ha! 

Yup, we are paper chasing like CRAZY, but it's so worth it...

SHE'S WORTH IT!!!

We cannot wait to bring her home!!!!!

A Look Back at 2011

2011 will FOREVER be remembered as a bitter sweet year for our family! For it was the summer of this year that the Lord graciously called my Grandpa home to heaven. 

Oh how we long to feel his arms around us again and count the kisses he places on our cheeks. --One of the many silly things my sweet Grandpa was known for:)

But we also rejoice knowing that one day we will see him again! 

And even though he is gone physically, his godly legacy continues and I'm certain will continue for MANY years to come!

Yes, our year had moments of tears, 

but THANKFULLY it was also one filled with JOY too!

 Great, abundant, exuberant JOY!

We smiled a lot, laughed a ton, and simply relished in the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us!

We rejoiced as rewards for hard work were earned!

We cheered each other on...

 as goals were set... 

and accomplished!

We finished preschool

 

and started Kindergarten!

We turned EIGHT years old,

and entered the THIRD grade!

We enjoyed a SURPRISE trip to Disney with just the BIG boys!

We went to baseball games...

and cheered our team on from the sidelines!

We painted with pudding...

and made fools of ourselves with Oreos.

We played lots of FUN games...

and usually got messy in the process!

 We did A LOT of baking...

and even more crafting!

We made many new friends...

and had to say goodbye to old friends as they moved away;(

We skated and...

learned how to make ice cream!

We spent a week at Surfside Beach and

enjoyed a week of fun in the sun!

We played pretend...

and dressed up like a princess!

We started ballet...

and continued to play soccer!

We picked strawberries,

visited the apple orchard,

and found the perfect pumpkin!

We took bubble baths,

turned THREE, and

hiked in the mountains!

We dressed up like super hero's...

and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We grew up A LOT
 
and became more independent.

BUT above all else,
2011 will FOREVER be remembered as the year we saw
this precious face for the VERY FIRST TIME!

It was in September of 2011 that God confirmed in our hearts His call for us to adopt again.

So it with great anticipation that we say "Goodbye" to 2011 and welcome in this new year! For this is the year that that precious face will no longer just be hanging in a frame on our wall, but we will wholeheartedly welcome that sweet face into our HOME!!!

We can hardly wait to experience all that the Lord has in store for us THIS year!