Merry Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas but a few of our kids weren't home for Christmas this year.  Next year will be fabulous and we will have a full house for sure!  I can't wait until the kids are all together for it.

Maddie, Macy and Molly got matching personalized bags!

Max likes to be the center of attention!  He knows how to work a crowd!

Mia was so happy because the snack table with all the goodies on it was low enough for her to reach.  She walked in the room with a piece of fudge and the biggest grin on her face.  I didn't have the camera ready to catch it but it was huge and she knew she just got away with something!

 

Macy showing a little excitement for her present.

Maddie loves owls!

Christmas morning Macy came downstairs dressed for church!  I have to give her credit for wearing red and green but she was less than thrilled to change because she didn't want to be "fancy" for church.

She did change though and even looks happier about it :)

 

Madison

Cinderella lost her shoe and kept trying to get it back on!

Christmas is exhausting and sometimes calls for a nap!  That is her daddy she is snuggled on.  Her nap only last 5 minutes and his lasted a lot longer!

All the cousins in new pjs! 

 

Mia showing a little excitement too!

She has the best smile but tries so hard not to share it with the camera!  ugh

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was Max's first one at home with us! He loved every part of it. I am very excited to have all our children home next year at this time and we shouldn't even be in the adoption process! I hope everyone else had a great Christmas!

Christmas and Molly

This is the third year in a row we have been in the adoption process at Christmas time.  First we were waiting for Mia to come home and praying it would be in time for Christmas but God's timing isn't always our timing.  It was tough but Mia was sick and in the hospital in Hong Kong so she had to wait a little longer. 

Last year we were in the middle of the process to bring Max home.  So again we had a child half way around the world on Christmas Day.  Max was in the most loving foster home though so that helped a little.

This year we are at it again and Molly sits in an orphanage on Christmas.  We can't do anything about it so tomorrow we will focus on the blessings we have at home.  But, a piece of my heart is in China.  I am very thankful that we have found Molly though and she knows we are coming and she will be home next year to celebrate with us.  Her days are numbered in the orphanage and we are working as hard as we can to come and get her.  Hopefully she got the package we sent and has a piece of home with her for Christmas.

Next year we will all be together for Christmas though.  How wonderful that will be!  There will be 7 stockings hung!  We don't have any plans for future adoptions so every child of ours will be under the same roof for Christmas 2013.

Please say a little prayer for the 163 million orphans that don't have families coming for them.  Look around and see if you may have room in your heart and home for one more.  These children don't want much and their biggest wish is probably for a family!  Could that be you?  We would love to talk to anyone anytime about adoption!

Chris and Melissa

A week after Molly came into the orphanage Melissa walked in the doors.  She was planning to foster another little girl but instead ended up leaving with Molly.  She took her home, named her Hylah Jessie and loved her like her own.

She had been through so much before Melissa got her.

Melissa then met and married Chris who loved her like his own as well.

Most orphans don't get this kind of love.

You can see in all the pictures how much they love her.

I also can see a difference in Molly when she is with Melissa and Chris vs pictures taken in the orphanage.  The sparkle is gone but quickly returns when she is with them again.

Melissa loved/loves this girl so unselfishly that she took her back to the orphanage this past spring to give her the chance to get paper ready and find a family.

There are so many waiting children in China.  The chance for older children, especially those with special needs, is slim at best.  Their future in China is grim.  At 14 they age out of the system and all chances are lost if they don't have a family by then.  14 and no family.

Thankfully Hylah Jessie had so many people that loved her and weren't going to rest until she had a family.  There were several people involved in this and lead us to our Molly.  We are beyond thankful for all of them.

Max was just home and we weren't looking to adopt at this point.  But, we kept going back to this little girl with a tragic yet amazing story.  All of which we don't really even know yet.  We kept asking if another family stepped forward yet and no one had.  We didn't want her to wait any longer.  We emailed back and forth with Melissa and even got to skype Melissa and Chris.

When we prayed and searched deep we couldn't find one reason not to adopt her.  Well I guess money was one but God has that covered.  

Molly is currently in the orphanage but they got her for a visit recently and soon will be bringing her back home until we can come and get her.  I can't tell you what a blessing that is.  The wait will be easier knowing how loved and taken care of she will be.  She will also freshen up on English and be as ready as she can be to come to the US.  It will help make her transition to our family as easy as it can be.

But, Melissa and Chris have a lot going on right now aside from Molly!  First Chris shares a birthday with Molly and second Melissa's is today!  The most important thing is they are expecting their own little girl any day now!  Sweet Rayna is going to make her entrance into the world at any minute.  She is going to have the best parents ever!

Happy Birthday Chris and Melissa!  I can't wait to see pictures of Rayna in your arms!  You guys will always be a part of our family and we are so thankful for that and for you guys!

Happy Birthday Molly

I can't wait to snuggle with her myself!

We love you Molly Kate!

There are so many people in China loving on her until we come!  What a blessing!

I think she will love having brothers and sisters!

Her and Chris (her foster dad) share a birthday!  That is so special!

People love this little girl!

Older pictures.  How cute is she?!

Half way around the world a very special girl is celebrating her 9th birthday in an orphanage.  Thank God it will be her last one there and she will be home with us next year!  I can not wait to celebrate it with her.  It is so hard to not have her home but God's perfect timing.

Here we sit at home.  Everyone is here because of the big blizzard we got over night.  The snow is going to blow all day so they will likely be home tomorrow and rest of Christmas break as well.  Oh how I wish Molly was out playing in the snow with them!  She won't know what to think!

We have been so blessed the past couple of weeks with donations to bring her home.  One wonderful and amazing family donated all the money they would have spent on Christmas gifts to us.  Can you believe that?!  So humbling.  Then an old friend mailed a check with her Christmas card and a co worker gave Larry a check.  Again it is so humbling.  We were blessed to be able to save and pay for our other two adoptions on our own.  We are still doing what we can to save as well.  We have gotten incredible deals on Christmas gifts and it blows me away every time.  God definitely provides!  We just won't be able to come up with the full amount on this adoption so are so blessed by the generosity of others.  I also have been getting orders for name puzzles and that money goes straight to the adoption fund!  As hard as it is to take money I just remember it isn't for us.  It is to bring a beautiful girl home and give her the one thing she has been asking for...............a family.  We will do whatever it takes to make her wish come true!

Happy Birthday Mia!!!

Mia turns 4 today!  So hard to believe my little peanut is 4.  It is our 2nd birthday with her.  I can't not express how much I love her.  She is just the sweetest little girl.  We are so incredibly blessed to have her in our lives.  I can't imagine our life without her.  Because of her we went back for Max and continue to adopt.  We see how amazing and wonderful the children sitting in the orphanages are.  They just need families!  Everyone that knows her falls in love.  How could you not!  I just went through pictures and just posted some random ones to share.  She has changed and grown so  much since coming home in every way!  God was showing off when he made Mia!!!

 This is the first time I held her and at a mall in Hong Kong that sameday.

First picture we saw of her and knew instantly she was our daughter!  We had seen several other waiting kids but when we saw this picture I burst into tears and said she is ours!!!

The next picture is right before she came home when she had just turned 2.  Oh how my heart broke that Christmas because we had hoped and prayed she would be home by her Birthday and Christmas and it didn't happen.  We later found out she spent it in the hospital in Hong Kong.

Just cute ones from her time in the orphanage.

When she came home and still liked Santa!  Not happening this year!  She will tell him bye bye from a distance!

 I can't believe how much all three have grown since she got home!

Never hard to get a thumb sucking picture of her!

Sometimes (ok most of the time) she doesn't cooperate for pictures.  At    All!

She still does this in her carseat and Max now joins in!

This was at the same time she would pretend she couldn't do anything for her PT when he came and then as soon as he left she would do this stuff.  Nice one Mia!

 

She knows she is pretty!

We love you sooo much Mia and are so blessed to have you in our lives! I thank God every single day for you!