She's Finally Earning Her Keep

Frannie is doing her chores before she heads off to work at Home Depot. She is their tiling and chainsaw specialist.

What a Great Christmas

Most Sundays we go to Mass with our friends and neighbors, the Michaels. Mary Pat and Dave are Frannie's Godparents and they are very good to her and to us. What a wonderful day to have them over for Christmas breakfast to watch Frannie open her gifts. Traditionally, they invite friends over for Christmas dinner and have fun games and lots of good food. Although Frannie didn't burn or maul herself this year at their house, she DID wet her pants so the Griswald tradition lives on....

Neener Neener Neeeeeener

I got to meet Faith the other day at McDonald's. I know, I know -- how did I get so fortunate? Donna called me on my way to Dunwoody, saying she wanted to meet for lunch and we were both equi-distant from the spot so I got to hear all about the lurid details of the trip. Yeah! She is just adorable and soooo good.

From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. Because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:16-17.

Late Pics from the Holidays

Give Thanks

Today I am thankful for the friendships that have come from adoption. I love it when people see Frannie, stop me on the street and share their adoption stories. There is such a wonderful bond among all the families.

I read an acquaintance's blog today and she inspried me so much about how our next adoption is such a good thing. It may be difficult at times, I may want to cry in frustration with CC*I changing it's rules, with USCIS changing it's rules, agencies changing their rules ("NO, TODAY YOU HAVE TO WEAR purple PANTS AND SPIN AROUND twice *THEN* YODEL AND BARK LIKE A DOG! COME ON!! GET IT RIGHT ELLEN!!!"). Those who have done this know I'm not exaggerating too much.

Some angel put a Gymboree coupon on my office door this morning and I got the BEST deal on a Christmas gift for my niece in Seattle. Check out their sales!

So much going on

Hi -- Photos are about Locks of Love. New photos to come from our fun SEC fanfare event this weekend. Frannie was on tv twice -- she knows people. We got our fingerprints complete this morning -- check. We are planning Christmas, our trip to NY the day after and all the families we love and who need prayers this year. Just when you think you have stress and issues -- you hear about a family that is in dire straights and still manages to smile. Please pray for my friend Lisa who is this angel. No details required, but she needs a LOT of prayers. If you only knew.....

We would like to make some donations this year and forego all gifts for adults. I plan to make my usual little treats for those around us, but the rest of you will receive a card and our prayers. God bless!

Friend in China

My buddy Donna ("Digit" friend #1 returning to China for Chinese child #2, child #4 in the family) is in Hong Kong as we speak. I'm so excited for her. It makes me weepy thinking about it. God bless her and her family!

We are moving forward!

It's nice to at least check one more thing off the list -- moving forward to Gracie.

Changes have been made recently with the procedure for getting approval for Gracie to come here and be a citizen. The US government has to "check us out" and we were told the process has been streamlined and if our fingerprinting appointment is any indication, it's true! We are going to be fingerprinted next week and hopefully approved and ready to send our dossier to China in the next month.

All this means that we MAY be going to China as early as May!!

Friends

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;
he who finds one finds a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price:
No amount can balance their worth - Sirach 6:14 and 15

First I must ask for prayers for my friend Lisa. She is going through what may be the most trying time of her life so far. God bless her with peace!

We had our 2nd annual photo shoot with Santa at Discover Mills. We had lunch and bade Donna farewell to head off to China for Faith! She leaves in 10 days! Hooray! Lucy is shortly behind her and hopes to leave before 2009. Wow, soon it will be our turn for Grace. If you want to see Grace's photo, send me a comment or e-mail and I'll send you her pics.

Frannie and I leave on Wednesday for St. Augustine while Kevin will spend Thanksgiving in Mississippi with his SEC buddies. Grrrrrrr.

Good News/Bad News

We got our Pre-Approval this week!

Our adoption agency went under and locked its doors!

What?!#

Yep, actually it's not as bad as it sounds, we can transfer agencies, but we need more information. I'll post more when we know more.

 

Just some more fun photos from the last few weeks. Thank God for good friends.

Frannie is heading to the mountains

We leave tomorrow after school for my cousin's cabin in North Carolina for a girls' weekend. Kevin and I have been there a few times before and it's always such a treat. We are meeting my girlfriends from Spokane, which is an even bigger treat. We have not all been together since Angie's wedding almost 6 years ago? From L to R, Ellen, Jennie, Angie and Lynne. This photo was taken in Chicago about 10 years ago on St. Patrick's Day. How fun to spend time with such close, good friends and get caught up on life and laugh a lot. Can't wait!

Frannie's Birthday Party

Happy Halloween

What fun they had!

The Day Has Finally Arrived

We have a baby! Kevin and I were presented with a 14-month old from the Sichuan Province and we both felt it was a good match. We are not allowed to post photos yet, per our agreement with the agency and the CCAA. She will be named Grace Elizabeth. A friend from blogging has a daughter from the same orphanage (they live on the other side of Atlanta) and she has already gotten me excited about going -- although this is the province that was the epicenter of the large earthquake in May, we hear it is a nice, large city with lots to see. You can see where it is in relation to Frannie's province (left click on the bottom photo, see Xian just above the marker) More to come....

Happy Birthday Dear Peggy

I miss my husband!

Kevin has been working the baseball playoffs -- in Philly, in Tampa, and now, in Boston. I never thought I'd cheer for the Red Sox to lose in my life -- but I want him HOME! If the Sox lose tonight, Kevin will be here tomorrow! If the series drags on, it could actually be .... Sunday? before we see him. He's been gone for almost 2 weeks straight and Frannie is getting awfully confused.

Potty Training

Now for the REALLY important things....

Who wouldn't be proud of her bodily functions? I mean, it's not everyone that can actually aim for a potty AND hit the target. I'll spare you the pictures of her accomplishments. Additionally, who wouldn't be proud of that little bum bum?

Relaxing Day

One of the things I love about Frannie is how much she shows her joy with simple things. The summer of 1994, I think, was the 3-month stretch that I spent backpacking in Ireland and England and it gave me a wonderful, renewed sense of calm and relaxation that I had not known before. I came back from the trip so filled with awe about God's beauty in the world and I enjoyed the simplest things like warm sun on my face on a chilly day. This photo reminds me of lying on a hillside in Northern Ireland, watching the long, green grass wave in the wind and hearing only baaaaaa and mooooooo from afar and watching the sun twinkling on the Irish Sea. Thanks be to God for Frannie to help me remember the (reckless) simple times!

Xiangyang Friends

The guy I met at Home Depot got his son about 3 and a half years ago. No such luck. How's everyone?

Next Child

In case you were wondering, we are actively looking for another baby on the Shared List, but it just hasn't happend yet. We have passed over a few because the feelings were not right -- it feels so different from the last time, but we are just waiting for a right fit for our family and for both of us to feel a connection with a child.

Today at Home Depot we went in search of paint for our rental property and we met a paint guy who is waiting for his LOA for his 2nd son from China. His first son is from Ally and Frannie's orphanage! Imagine that. I'm going to check back with him in a few months and see how things are going.

Yesterday we were lucky enough to see the daycare's caterpillar emerging from his/her cocoon (and promptly die, oh boy). They had it in a cage and we've all been watching the metamorphosis with anticipation.

Our Funny Girl

I know every parent thinks their kid is the best, but they are delusional and we actually have the cutest, funniest one.

Pray Even More

This is by far the worst part of my job -- my sweet little Brenzelle passed away last night, no big drama, just gone. Please pray for her family and her nurse. She had a wonderful sense of humor, a great crooked smile and she taught me a thing or two about being a good friend. She didn't love me because I am thin or rich (because obviously, I am neither), nor because I'm particularly funny, smart or pretty. She just liked to see me a few times a week and hope I didn't make her work too hard. Frannie met her once and was a little scared maybe because she moved in an unusual way, but she never forgot her name and still occasionally says "Bwenzelle" out of the blue.

I hope she's now eating a big fat cheeseburger, fries and an ice cream sundae, because she has never experienced that before in her short life. She ate via tube. I hope she is climbing a tree, petting a dog or having a day without pain or discomfort (because I don't think she knows what any of that was ever like either). God bless you Yolanda for being such a good and loving Mom.

Man, Who Is This Woman?

Sarah Palin impresses me for so many reasons, but mostly due to her apparent disregard for what others think.

In Case That Wasn't Clear

My friend Lucy pointed out that I never really stated the fact that WE ARE GOING BACK TO CHINA FOR ANOTHER GIRL. I've asked so many people to pray and e-mailed friends and family about this, but my last blog was somewhat ambiguous. We have our home study almost complete (about 1-2 weeks until we are finally final), then we file a form with the US Immigration, wait about 90 days for that to be complete and sometime during this 90 day-period, we hope to find our next daughter on a Waiting Child List from our agency, Hope for Children. In the meantime, Frannie is calling the baby "Cherylina" after her beloved Cheryl. We can travel to China, probably, sometime between April and June. It would be CONVENIENT to wait until school is out and Kevin has some free time from work, BUTTTTTTTTT.......(that's a big buttttt) (as Pee Wee Herman would say "everyone I know has a big butt...."

Some of You May Know This Story....

We met these 3 families about a year and a half ago -- we had all applied for girls from the Waiting List and happened to be numbered 6, 7, 8 and 9 on the list. We all keep in touch, get together as much as possible and love each others' girls immensely. God has put it in all of our hearts to go back to China AGAIN so this time next year we should have a photograph of EIGHT beautiful girls. By the way, Kevin and I are the only ones who have no biological kids so actually, the photograph should have FOURTEEN beautiful kids in it!

I Really Can't Believe It's Been a Year

Frannie was placed in our arms one year ago -- tomorrow. I think I'll be busy so I'm doing this today. Look how much she has changed! My vocabulary is not adequate -- the pictures say it better.

Fun Times with Shelby

Frannie hung out with Shelby on Saturday and her family always knows the hot spots to hit in town -- the Bass Pro Shop, namely

She couldn't be funnier

This was taken a few weeks ago. In case you don't understand what we are singing, or attempting to sing, it's "I'm a Little Teapot" and apparently it's the funniest thing she has ever heard.

Okay, so I've been busy

To some Moms it may sound like a usual few weeks, but I have been concentrating on our home improvement projects(see attached -- like the old wall paper we found behind our mirror? It says "Valley Forge" in case you were looking for a great retro wallpaper for yourself), having a car accident and dealing with insurance issues, having guests (who were very welcome and fun to have, I might add), getting ready for school to start and being sick. Not whining, mind you, just not putting the blog high on my list of priorities.

Kevin is in Chicago, school starts in less than 48 hours, we are about to close on a piece of mountain property in Tennessee (yippee) near Lake Ocoee and my stuffy nose/allergies are going to be the death of me this week. Frannie has said "bless you Mama" about 100 times today, what a sweetie.

We had our final home study visit this week, due to our impending 12 month anniversary of having Frannie! Thanks be to God for our funny, sweet girl.

More photos to come of Kevin's latest project, installing hardwood floors in our hallway.