Shepherd's Party and Prayer Time

We had a special party for Shepherd tonight. It's his birthday, so we had to celebrate. More importantly, we prayed, prayed, prayed:

For Shepherd's health and well being

That he would feel special today, his birthday

That our paperwork would get finalized so that we can go at the end of May


I got some beautiful pictures of our prayer time. I don't usually do this, but I wanted, for all of us, a reminder of our prayers to show Shepherd one day.

We also had cookies with icing and a couple of gifts. Shepherd got a car and a swim noodle!

Hadley had "Baby Shepherd" there to represent her brother. You can see "him" in the pictures.

Happy Birthday, Shepherd!

Remember to share "the little things"!

I got an email from a precious woman at my church. Anna Braswell sent me an email telling me about what Hadley said tonight at Cubbies... I wanted to be sure it was on the blog so she could see it in years to come. From the mouth of babes....

"Also, Hadley was so sweet tonight at Cubbies. We were asking in circle time for the kids to share anything you did this week that was fun, or special way God has blessed you, and questions like that, and Hadley said she was thankful for her brother Shepherd in China, that you are going to bring him home soon, later i asked her if you did anything special for shepherd's birthday today, and she said she blew out the candles, I didn;t quite get all of that sentence when she said it, but it is very obvious she is excited to be a big sister,and it blessed me to hear her speak tonight. Anna Braswell"

Hadley was referring to her blowing out the candles on Shepherd's birthday cookie. We explained that she got to blow out the candle because Shepherd wasn't here yet. She took it all very seriously.

The next time you notice something from your friend's child, be sure and tell them, you may never know how much it means to someone to hear the sweet words your child it saying....

Happy Birthday, Shepherd!

Today, our boy is turning 1! I wonder if they are celebrating it? My heart aches just a little at the thought. We are celebrating here, today with a bday cake and special prayer time tonight for him. Would you join with us today in praying for Shepherd? Here are some things to pray for, for him: That today one of his nannies would make him feel special today, that they are aware it's his birthday! For good health as we are getting closer to picking him up. For our 171H to be processed this week so we can travel at the end of May... For Shepherd, that he will accept us easily as his parents Just pray that he will be a happy boy, that chases after God! Happy Birthday, Shepherd!! We ALL love you so much! Take a look at Hadley singing Happy Birthday to her little brother! We had a special birthday party and prayer time for him tonight. Enjoy!

Update on the PROCESS!

Saturday, we had to leave during the garage sale to go and get fingerprinted for the 3rd, yes, 3rd time! I wanted to ask these folks if they thought my fingerprints might have changed. Chad said that I needed to keep quiet. I opted for his advice.

We showed up at the office. I am sure if I worked there, I would die of quietness. Is there such a thing? Everyone working there was quiet. Lots of rules - you cannot bring cameras, cell phones or any electronic devices. Obviously another rule was that you have to put on a solemn face, show no emotion and enjoy blank blue walls.

I will have to say, though, that the folks doing the fingerprinting were so nice. They even let Hadley do one of her fingers. She was thrilled.

That is the last hoop we hopefully have to jump through. Supposedly, the fingerprints will take a week to clear and then they will push our paperwork through.

If all goes well, we will leave May 22 or 23. Now, I am not making any promises (to myself or anyone else), but that is what we are hoping for.

We'll keep you posted!

Turns out, God does Garage Sales!

This weekend, we had a huge garage sale to help raise a little money for our adoption. I come from a long line of garage sale shoppers, but even I have never been to a garage sale at someone's home this big! My grandmother would have been so proud. She would have also walked away with the gravy maker.

Our church members made donations to the garage sale, and boy, did they come through! On Thursday evening, Chad made a bunch of stops at people's houses with the help of Mr. Jim Byler. By the end of the night, our garage was full and so was the big truck they had used to pick up all the goods!

At 5:30 the next morning an army of help showed up to help drag it all out. By the moon's light, they sorted everything from candleholders to Christmas items.
By 7:30, we were open for business and in need of coffee.

The following details some of the highlights of the sale.

1. April Vest knows Antiques: My friend and her husband, Dennis came to help work the sale. Little did I know that April knows EVERYTHING about antiques. It didn't take her long to spot 2 vases and some pyrex dishes that were worth a pretty penny. God sent us an antiques dealer to help us out!

2. Mrs. Terri and Fancy Nancy: Terri Burnside and Nancy Sarson are total workhorses. They were there throughout the entire sale and they work. Straightening clothes, talking to customers and best of all - entertaining Hadley!

3. My NightWatchmen: This is hilarious. I was concerned that we couldn't get all of the goods back into the garage on Friday night, so what could we do? I jokingly said that we needed to hire security, well once again, God provided. Kyle Burnside and Shane Stoltzfus who are sophomore in high school, came over and "camped out" in our front yard. Well, they slept on a couch a air mattress with a crowbar, bat and curtain rod to protect themselves and the boy and girl stuffed reindeers that were for sale... The picture you see above of the couch actually has Kyle laying under that blanket and the air mattress was home to Shane, under that blue sheet. Hanging out with them a little that morning over sweet rolls (hey, I had to pay them!) - confirmed for me that I cannot wait to have a son! What fun!

Thank you to everyone that donated, worked, came by just to say hi, petted our dog, loved on us, entertained Hadley, and encouraged us. You all went over the top and we couldn't be more thankful.

The Grand Total of our garage sale was $2,452 - AWESOME!!!

And the Winner is...

I just made the phone call to inform the winner of the IPOD Nano from our "Chip In" contest!

Amy Maze is the lucky winner.

Hadley picked the name, as you can see in the photos.

We would like to thank everyone for participating. I wish we could give you all an IPOD, no, strike that, I wish we could give you a cruise! Or a year's supply of Chick-fil-A sweet tea, whichever one floats your boat.

Congratulations, Amy! Now, all you need is to locate a 6 year old to teach you how to use it...

We are holding our breath!

I got an email from our adoption agency on Friday. They had written the immigration office in Tampa and got a response right away!

Now, keep in mind that we have called, emailed, visited 2 offices of our Congressman and even called his wife at home.

For 2 weeks we have carried around the "not knowing". That has been so hard, I will admit.

When they finally emailed them, I was relieved. I wish they had done it sooner. It might have saved me many hours of laying awake at night. Let me put it this way, I am very up on political matters, as I have watched about 10,000 Resmussen polls on FOX in the wee hours of the morning...

We know we won't travel on May 1 - but we are hoping to travel in the next group on May 22 or 23. We promise to keep you posted!

It is amazing, though, how, during the day, I have felt mostly happy. I have had my moments, but I really am thankful that the Lord has provided me many distractions, mainly a blonde headed 4 year old... She has been an angel and has made me laugh more than usual. Turns out, laughter IS good therapy.

One, little, bitty, tiny, miniscule piece of paper..

is standing between us and our son.

This particular piece of paper is in Tampa, possibly having a cocktail by the pool. I don't know what is going on with that paper, but I do know 2 people in Sarasota beside themselves with anticipation, waiting to hear.

On Tuesday, we get an email that states that our 171 H has not been processed.

This is the same piece of paper that we submitted earlier this year and they said it was "too early". Seems as though this paper is a little touchy if you ask me.

This means that we may not be going on May 1, that we may be in the next group leaving the end of May.

Yes, it's not that much of a wait, but at this point, I can almost feel him in my arms. I need to hold him. I need to go on May 1!

Would you pray that this situation will be resolved tomorrow? That God will do something only He can do.

This is emotionally draining. Chad even mopped tonight, we are all trying not to think about our friend, Mr. 171H.

So you see, what 1 piece of paper can mean. Right now, to me, it means the differnce of me eating or not eating, the difference of us going to China or not going to China, the difference of me getting to celebrate Mother's Day with my new son!

1 piece of paper.