Trunk or Treat!

We almost always miss out on our church's Trunk or Treat fun because of marching band--they usually have it on the Saturday before Hall*ween. I guess the fact that it fell on a Friday night this year changed things and we were able to go.

Graycen was a butterfly~Gavin was "the" Donkey from Shr*k (well, at least the head of him).

There was candy, pumpkin painting, giant slide and bounce house fun! I got to join in on the fun so that Graycen could enjoy the inflatables. I was the only adult on them! It was worth it to see her having so much fun. Kevin came a little late in his very authentic police officer costume. He even had a car to go with it! He was a hit with the kids, giving them badges and stickers. He will have a very long night tonight--hoping to be done at 3am.

Gavin got a lot of compliments on his carved pumpkin. Some people even said they would have paid him to make one for them! Too bad we didn't think of that before tonight.

Graycen's friend Owen was Spidey. He loved posing for his picture with her.

Garrett helped a friend move today, so he didn't participate in any holiday activities. Tomorrow is off to Mizzou for the last marching band competition of the year. Go Cutting Edge!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe night!

Can you help?

This family lives near us. Click on the picture above to read their story. You can donate money, bid on their auctions or donate items for their auctions. They have really had a difficult year. Do what you can to help bring Rachel home to her forever family. I am donating some extra treasures that I purchased in China when we adopted Graycen. Be part of this wonderful story of another child coming home!

Another video of horse therapy

Graycen's riding Mama here. Notice how her helpers cheer her on...I think she's a favorite :)!

Referral Day-Saturday

I remembered it was the THIRD anniversary of Graycen's referral as we were driving up to KC for Garrett's marching band competition. So, no pictures of her holding her referral picture this year. BAD mommy! She is watching a movie with headphones on so she doesn't disturb Gavin while he was reading.

We had a great weekend. The Cutting Edge won first place in prelims and finals! We are so proud. Here are some pictures from the Legends, where we went on Sunday before coming back home. It was a nice day, but really windy.

Horses of Hope

Graycen has been going to horseback riding for 3 weeks now. She loves it! This picture is from the first week when she rode Slugger. She rode Lilly last week and Mama this week.

We are so fortunate to have this opportunity through our school district and Horses of Hope. They have just started a group in our town.

She talks to her side walkers and horse leader the entire 45 minutes. The people that walked with her this week told us they know "a lot" about us! She loves to talk, that is for sure. This week she did "tricks" and rode on her stomach side saddle. This should really help with her trunk strength and balance.

Here is a short video:

I am also feeling so much better! Still not totally normal...not that I ever am, but I hope to be myself soon.

We have started our marching band season. Last Saturday our band placed 3rd out of 27 bands. Tomorrow we are off to KU to compete. Last year we placed 1st at this competition, so the bar is set high! GO CUTTING EDGE!

Prayer changes things!

This little angel is on her way home to the USA! Click on the picture to read how our Mighty God has answered the prayers of so many. Simply amazing!

p.s. I went to the Dr. today and hope to be finally feeling better within the next few days. All from my severe ragweed allergies! Ahhhhhh!

Sicker than a dog

Even though I did a little research on this phrase, and it actually might make sense if it was "As sick as a dog," as dogs will eat just about anything, many times making themselves SICK.

I have been coughing my head off for a week and a half. No fever or really any other symptoms, besides a very hoarse voice and absolutely no energy. I finally got antibiotics on Wednesday--the Dr. didn't even want to see me. I guess it's going around. I hope to feel better soon! I have too much to do to be feeling this BAD.

Next Saturday marching band season kicks off with 6 weeks of Saturday contests (one Saturday off in there). I need to have some energy to cheer!

Please Pray for this Family

This family is in China right now, facing a heart-wrenching situation.

http://www.roomforatleastonemore.blogspot.com/

Please pray that God will move the mountains He can to bring this sweet girl home to the level of care she needs.

A Blog All Her Own

Please check out the blog we have created for Run Yi:

The Little Girl in Pink

Hooray!

INTRODUCING OUR NEW DAUGHTER

We received a call from our agency today...we are preapproved to adopt:


Lu Run Yi

DOB: 5.26.04

Hefei City CWI, Anhui province

This picture was taken last October:


She has an amazing story, one that I can't wait to share. I am working on her own special blog. I will be sure and let you all know when I get it ready to share.


Now if that blasted paper would just get back from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago! We will then be DTC and the real waiting will begin.
*********UPDATE************
The UPS man just rang the doorbell and delivered the paper! Hooray, we'll be DTC Friday!

Amazing Blessings!

We received a letter today from Shaohannah's Hope (click on picture above to go to their website). We applied for a grant with them back in May. We were awarded an amazing amount from them! We are so blessed to have this help as we gather the funds we will need to bring our girl home. We feel so honored to have been given this grant. Thank you, Shaohannah's Hope!

We have also been awarded a matching grant from LifeSong (click logo to go to their website). We have sent out letters to our family and friends. We will hopefully meet the maximum amount that they will match by Sept. 12--we had over half when I called to check our status 2 weeks ago. This was our first blessing, we found out about this at the end of July.

It is so affirming to receive these grants. We truly stepped out in faith to proceed with this adoption, and God is truly sending the money our way. How overwhelming to feel His hand as we get closer to bringing our girl home.

We should be DTC by the end of next week! I cannot wait to have all those papers out of my hands and on their way to China. As soon as we get our I-797C back from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago (hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday) we will be sending it all to our agency. Hooray!

Busy Week

This week has been crazy! Monday we finished up school shopping with the dreaded new shoes shopping trip. Tuesday Garrett and Gavin started school and Graycen had her "visit the classroom" day at her class. Wednesday was Graycen's first session of pool physical therapy--which went great! Thursday was Graycen's first day of school (and first day riding the bus). Yesterday was Graycen's physical therapy in the morning, came home to find our I-797C (immigration approval)! in the mail, which meant a wild goose chase to get it notarized, state certified and off in an envelope via UPS to get to the Chinese Consulate by Monday for authentication. Whew! I was a little stressed (just ask Kevin, as I had a mini meltdown in the police dept parking lot). Oh, and I also had to take Graycen's wheelchair to the medical supply place so they can order the part that it needs, as the brake on one wheel is not working. I had less than 2 hours to get all this done, including driving time, but with God's help I was able to complete all my tasks :)!

Here are some pictures from our crazy week:

Gavin head off to 7th grade with his trumpet--first smile on the first day of school...EVER!

Garrett is a sophomore

On our way to visit her classroom

Practicing using the lift on the school bus

In the hallway of my school

Exciting Day!

This morning, I finally got the call I have been waiting on for so many months. Our agency called to say that they have received the file of the little girl we are wanting to adopt! We have looked it all over, and found out some things we didn't know, along with most we did. One thing we found out is that she was found when she was around 2 years old. My mind can only imagine all she has been through, and her birth family. Many things we will never know.

Our Letter of Intent (LOI) will be sent to China later today. This is the first step to bringing our girl home. Once we receive Prior/Pre-Approval (PA) from China, I will hopefully be able to post a picture of our girl. PA is the first thing China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) gives to families when they are adopting a waiting child. Our dossier should be ready to go to China by the end of next week. I am so happy to by typing these words! What a wonderful gift we have been given today. If all goes smoothly, we could be in China before the end of the year. What a wonderful Christmas present that would be!

Married almost 5 months

It looks good on them! Anna's brother was married on August 1st. Anna was a bridesmaid and Grant was an usher. They are really happy, which of course makes a mama happy.

Standing tall

Okay, I know this doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment to some, but look at my girl STANDING next to the chair. Could she look any more sweet? She has such a smile and she is so proud of herself. She was able to stand for about a minute, and even had her feet flat (she usually stands on her toes when she doesn't have her braces on). Oh how I can't wait to have her standing and walking around here someday.
















Then she and Daddy had to have a "Cheese" picture together. She loves her Daddy!


Still no news on the adoption front. We have sent in our new and improved homestudy to USCIS. I will be surprised if we get approval without more changes--it has been their pattern to request changes more than one time. I know it's all in God's hands...just wish he'd give us a clue about how this was all going to turn out. Our agency has not heard anything about her file for over a month. So we are still waiting on that front, too.

Graycen's eyes have done really great after her surgery. We go back in November to see if it was her last eye surgery.

I will post as soon as we hear anything about our adoption. I hope to be shouting from the rooftops soon!

Great Reunion, Surgery Complete

We had a wonderful time at our travel group reunion! It was so much fun to see all of the girls and their families. I will try and post more about it soon, but here is a picture of all the girls in their matching shirts made by Olivia and her Mommy! They were perfect for our trip to play in the park.

After leaving Milwaukee, we stopped in Springfield, IL, to see our friends Chad, Shauna & their boys. Graycen had so much fun playing with these "bubbies" as she called them. I think she was definitely missing hers at home.

Finally, Graycen had her eye muscle surgery in St. Louis on the way home Tuesday. It made a very long day, but it worked out well to coordinate it all in one trip. We won't know how the surgery did for 3-4 months. This is her sleeping on the way home - which she thankfully did the whole way :)!

Father's Day--I know I'm just a little late!

On Father's Day we went to White Water in Branson. Grant and Anna were able to come along, too! This picture is of the 3 handsome Holle's all in the back seat on the way down. When I turned around and saw this, I had to take a picture of it. I don't know if I have ever seen this before. Whenever we would go anywhere, we always tried to keep them separate to cut down on the "brotherly love". Anna got the seat of honor next to Graycen. Graycen loves her new sister!


Graycen got some bug bites on her forehead. They turned into the nastiest looking purple then brown spots. It took over a week, but they are finally gone.
This was a cute picture from tonight. Graycen loves her daddy, and is really going to miss him when we are gone for a whole week! She loves to sing and make up silly songs with him. He is so much more fun than boring mommy.

We finally hear from USCIS - twice!

This week has been exciting, receiving 2 envelopes from Homeland Security. First we received a receipt from USCIS (Immigration) Adoption processing that they have officially "received" our application. We applied on May 15, it is dated June 12 (yes, it's her birthday).

Today we received the thing we were wanting most, the list of "Additional Evidence" needed for our home study to meet the new requirements. Only 6 things! I hope to get all this sorted out before I leave next week on our little trip.

Graycen and I will be heading to Milwaukee to see her China sisters for our second reunion. We will be meeting for a long weekend. 11 of the 12 girls will be there this year. We are getting very excited! We are making this a yearly tradition, taking turns planning near each of our homes each year. Next year is the Pigeon Forge area - yes, we're already getting excited for it!

On the way home, we'll be stopping in St. Louis for a quick eye surgery for Graycen on July 1. This will be her second one, and hopefully her last.

Graycen in her new sandbox

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Still waiting on news about our sweet girl. Hope to be sharing good news soon.

Sorry I keep changing my blog layout. I really want a new one, but don't want to spend the $ right now. I'm sure I'll change again soon...change is good, right?

Some good news and video

While we were in Iowa, Graycen became the proud owner of a pink Lam*borghini. She did figure out the gas pedal, but still has a little trouble with the steering. Thankfully, Gavin served as her "steerer" and as long as he was willing to chase along side her, she was loving her new driving freedom!

And finally: we received some very positive news on our adoption front ~ yes, we heard it on the Thursday, her birthday! We are still hoping and praying that we know something FOR SURE next week. Stay tuned....