Oh Happy Day!

PSALM 118:24

This is the day which the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Newest picture of Eli received just today!

Fire Chief Philip

Today Philip got to wear his costume to preschool. He thought he looked mighty fine!

The Phone Call

We are praising God for amazing news today . . .






We got it!






Our Letter of Acceptance









Whoo - hoo baby! We are going to

C h i - i - i n a!

Hang on Eli. Here we come!

Our special little boy turned two today in China

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Eli

Today is Eli's 2nd birthday! It will be the last birthday he spends separated from his forever family. We celebrated this afternoon in honor of him! Hope he will enjoy his presents once home. We certainly enjoyed his cake and ice cream!

First, we enjoyed a homemade pizza by Chef Kevin!

Then we had yummy carrot cake.



Oh boy, this is good!

Eli's birthday presents -
A toddler sling, some bright colored loud toys, and
two curtain rods from the four of us and even a snowsuit and backpack
from Grammy.

Eli -

Your family wishes you a "Happy Birthday" and wants you to know that you will be home celebrating your third birthday with all of your family and friends next year! We love you and can hardly wait to hold you in our arms.

Hurry LOA!

Pictures from the sick bay and other thoughts

Philip is beginning to feel better. The fever is gone - yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even with a high fever, he can still muster his famous sweet smile!

Some thoughts on the timing of our adoption . . .


I just read a blog about the long, frustrating wait a family has had waiting to travel to adopt their newest daughter from China. She said something in that post that got me to thinking . . .

Stefanie commented on how long this adoption is taking as compared to their other special needs adoptions. She said that she knew God had a reason, maybe Vivi wasn't ready yet, or maybe she needed more time, or just maybe there was someone God wanted her to meet up with in China, and that person wasn't ready yet. She asked if anyone was going to be in China around that time!

I commented on her blog that we are hoping and praying that WE ARE IN CHINA AROUND THAT TIME! This family's adoption journey to their son Jude, along with another family's journey to their son with special needs, inspired Kevin and me to begin to look at boys on the special needs list. Their journeys helped lead us to our journey - our journey to Philip!

When we were in China receiving Philip in the summer of 2008, Stefanie and her husband were there ahead of us by a couple of days receiving their son Shepherd!

How cool would it be to be in China around the same time as they are this time! What a hoot and so like God to arrange it. We will have to see how it plays out.

And another thing . . .

That other family who inspired us to look at boys on the special needs list . . .

Their names are Linny and DW, and they are waiting and praying for word on their travel to receive their daughter Jubilee! Again, we will wait to see what God's perfect timing is.

DAY 78 on our wait for our LOA

PHILIP UPDATE

Took Philip to the doctor today and had the H1N1 test. It came back negative. If it had come back positive, we would know for sure he had it, but with a negative result, we really don't know for sure that he doesn't have it!

Crazy - I know!!

The doctor said that about 30% of the people who get it test negative, so you really don't know if they have it or not by the test.

She does feel his symptoms are that of the flu and is treating him accordingly. Bed rest, plenty of fluids, and controlling the fever. He is pretty miserable right now with his high fever.

Can you pray for Philip to heal quickly and that Kevin and I do not catch it? Thanks everyone. Stay healthy out there!

SICKIE IN THE HOUSE

Our little guy is ill tonight with a fever, congestion, and sore throat. After speaking with the doctor and our friend who is a nurse, we think there is a good chance Philip may have the H1N1. We are going to the doctor in the morning first thing.

Pray that it isn't the swine flu but just something else very easily treated. However if it is, please pray for a mild case for Philip and for us if we come down with it. This can be mild or it can be nasty stuff.

DAY 70

DAY 70 in the wait for our LOA . . .


But who's counting?? LOL!

THANKFUL THURSDAY

Today is Thankful Thursday. There is so much to be thankful for that I don't know where to begin. Here goes . . .

I AM THANKFUL FOR


A God who loves us and never lets go
Who is there through the highs and through the lows

Our precious sons who bring light to our lives

My amazing husband for the way he loves and cares for us

My mom and dad and Kevin's mom for always being there when we
need them. You never really stop needing your parents.

For another wonderful father we had once upon a time -
Kevin's dad who still lives on in our hearts

Our brothers and sisters for all they do to support us -
bring us our other car at the hospital after our first accident so we had a car seat for Philip,
take us places and pick up our junk to drop off at "big trash drop off day" because we don't have a vehicle, offers of help with Philip when we go to China again

Sweet comments from even sweeter bloggy friends - your comments
encourage and lift us up

The fact that no one was injured in my wreck of a week ago and
I was only slightly injured in the first accident

Our vehicles are being fixed

Our insurance agent and dear friend Jessica

Jen's husband Ric, another sweet bloggy friend who
gave us great advice about our injured autos

The world-wide adoption community that we have become a part of -
how beautiful it is to see Jesus in action on this planet

The Phil*p Hayden Foundation for the work they do in Christ's name for the orphans of Ch*na

The new world that is opening to us since we have become parents of a little one again.

The list could go on and on. My heart is so full of thanks tonight even considering the last couple of weeks we have had.

What are you thankful for this evening?

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of our goofy four-year-old who was supposed to be fast asleep as it is now well past 11 P.M


.

STILL WAITING FOR NEWS

Waiting, waiting, waiting for our LOA to arrive.

Day 64

A NEW DAY

A new coat of paint makes it look almost new!

Well, it's a new day. Thought I would post a few pictures of the weekend. We did do other things besides wreck our car!

We painted a new color on our trim (actually Kevin did - I just supervised), and Philip has claimed the boxes of the new lawn mower and his new car seat. What fun can be had with a box!

Such fun!

WILD SATURDAY AGAIN

Thank you for your sweet comments on my last blog post. It helps to know people are praying and sending such nice thoughts our way!

Yesterday started out bright and beautiful. We painted our house a new color with great results. We had Kevin home all day, which is a good thing considering his small business in addition to his teaching job takes him away from home often.

Then I got in our remaining vehicle (our older son's car that just had a new engine installed) to go get Chinese food for our dinner.

AGAIN. It happened again.

Only less damage and no injury - Praising God for that. This time I was the one to cause the accident - never in my 50 plus years have I caused an accident! I ran into another car when the light turned green at a stoplight. The car in front of the car in front of me stalled after we got to moving, but I didn't see it! I ran into the car in front of me. Wasn't going fast at all, but nevertheless, I did run into them.

Such sweet people on their way to church - they kept saying that it was ok. They said they were unhurt, and their car did not have much if any damage. But I was horrified that I had done this, and Ted's car did have some minor damage in front that will have to be fixed. We can't even open the hood to see if his new engine is unharmed because the front bumper is crushed! Oh! I have grieved all night and into this morning. How could this happen??!!

I have prayed for those sweet people that they truly are unhurt. Could you pray for that too?

It has given me new empathy for the people who hit me, no matter that they ran and tried to report their own vehicle stolen.

I have to tell you that sitting there in the parking lot last night, waiting for the police to arrive to complete the accident report, and worrying about the people in the other car, I felt helpless and hopeless too for a time. I would have given anything to go back and do over those last few moments.

Perhaps the people who hit us last Saturday have felt that way too in the span of the last week. No matter. During the night, God pointed out to me that I needed to forgive them completely as I would want to be forgiven.

And this morning as I was reading His word, I came upon this verse from 2 Samuel 22:29

"You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light."

Here's praying that our darkness will be light soon.

FEELING DISCOURAGED

Today I am feeling discouraged.

Our "huge honking car" will probably be totaled. That means we have to begin the hunt for another vehicle all over again even now as we are closer than ever to receiving our LOA for Eli.

Don't get me wrong. I am thankful every day that we WALKED away from the accident with minimal injury to us. That is the best blessing of all.


If we happen to come to mind, could you lift a prayer for us today?