Meant To Be

New Pictures of Charlie!!!

Charlie

After arriving home from Kelly's Wedding, I received an incredible e-mail.

Sheri, from Gifts to China With Love, e-mailed that she had received new pics of our boy!

What a wonderful surprise!!

We received 11 new pictures!!!!!!!!!!!

And he is smiling!

That was a big burden to me! In all of his pics, he never smiled.

The Girls smiled in most of theirs, so it gave me a peace about their situation.

On Wednesday morning, I prayed and gave God all my worries about our LOA, Charlie not smiling, travel, school, work, etc. EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

HE has so blessed and honored that prayer!

We received our LOA and SMILING pics of Charlie this week!
GOD IS SO GOOD!

Charlie with a moon-cake and gifts we sent.

A Beautiful Wedding (and tons of pics)

Friday night, my cousin, Kelly, married the love of her life.

Anthony (or Ant-B as he is affectionately called by the Girls) is a wonderful man.

It seems as if he has always been part of our family.

He and Kelly had hoped to marry before our grandfather passed away.

Unfortunately, that did not happen.
They honored Grandaddy's memory by having pictures of him in a special area by the Bride's cake. It was so hard not having him there. He would have loved all the music, dancing, fun, and fellowship that we enjoyed.

Aunt Kelly and Ant-B, we are so blessed to be your family!

You both have added joy, laughter, and fun to our lives!

We love y'all!

JuJu, Kelly, Mama, and Aunt Linda

Ant-B, SH, HG, and Aunt Kelly
We owe Ant-B a lot!
SH has not been excited about having a little brother.
Whenever asked if she was happy about a brother, she would just smile and not answer.
That was her way of being polite. She did not want a brother.
Every time Ant-B is around, he plays constantly with the Girls.
After playing with him, SH said, "Mommy, I glad I get a brother, now. I not know boys be so fun. Ant-B so fun! Him love him girls. I like a brother."
He totally changed her mind, and BELIEVE me...
it is HARD to change her mind! :)



SH, Keaton, & HG
So handsome in his tux!

NaNa & the Girls

The Girls Dancing

SH is our dancer in the family.

Little did I know that Greg can dance. He has danced with me only twice.

Not that I'm bitter. :)

But, he spent a lot of time on the dance floor with SH.

My family and I were shocked at his incredible moves!!!

He tore up the floor!

Seriously!

Greg and HG

One of the BEST things that I have seen in my life!

I am not exaggerating!

It was such a blessing to see Mama dancing with Jason and Wayne!

The joy in her face was priceless! It was absolutely beautiful!

She said,"G.W. (my grandfather) would have loved that! He would have laughed!"

Yes, Mama, he always loved to have fun!

I can see and hear him laughing now!

Happy Moon Festival!!

Today is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in China. It is also called the Moon Festival.

It is the Fall equinox. The next time the moon will be at this point is 2029.

Normally, the Chinese celebrate with lanterns and eating moon cakes.

The Girls are not crazy about moon cakes, so we went with a Southern alternative...

Moon Pies.

We enjoyed spending time together as a family!

It was so relaxing!


OH!
I need to share some news!
Madison Adoption Agency received our
LOA (Letter of Acceptance/ Confirmation)!
We are soooooo thrilled!!!!!

Charlie's Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Care Package

Hope he and all his friends enjoy it!

Good to see more Chocolate Mushrooms! :)

I see the perfect spot for Charlie!

Our Family picture, but one is missing.

Hope that will change soon!

Crazy, Busy Day

Thursday was CRAZY!

I told the Girls to be ready to run after school,

and BOY did we!

School dismissed and we ran to Dance for SH.

After Dance, we ran to Gymnastics.

After that, it was Open House at the Girl's school.

WHEW!

We did not have time for both of the Girls to change,

so they had to wear their leotards to the school.

They were NOT happy about this.

(Because you know they are teenagers...WAIT! They are 5!)

We barely made it to Open House.

BUT, we made it!

SH and Greg in her seat in the class.

HG, The Amazing Mrs. Thames, SH

Their teacher said they are helpful and creative.
The assistant principal said they were good listeners.
Good listeners? Really?
WOW! I am sooooo glad!
I was also happy to hear that they do NOT turn flips or climb the walls in the classroom.
I am sooo happy about this!
ONLY at home do we turn flips inside and climb the walls!

Being Salt and Light

My heart was truly thrilled today!

One of my former students came by to visit.

This summer, Carole Ann spent 2 weeks working at

Maria's Big House of Hope

in Luoyang, China. This is an orphanage for special needs children.

They actually perform surgeries and recovery at this orphanage.

(MBHOH was built by Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth.)

Carole Ann is an absolutely, wonderful, young lady!

Her heart truly yearns for God and His will in her life.

I could talk about her amazing qualities all day long!!

She truly blessed me with her visit!

She brought a book of pictures from her trip.

It just reminds me of how much I miss China! I would live there (if I could convince Greg)!

The pictures of all the children were so precious!

My heart is so burdened.

I am burdened for Charlie to be home.

But, it is something more than just my son.

My heart is burdened for more. There are more...

So many more! So many hurting!

So many without food, clothes, shelter, hope, and love.

So many without HIM!

So many without the One and Only True Hope.

So many without the One and Only True Love.

When I see their faces, I think of Him.

I think of how much He loves them and desires only good for them.

My heart is burdened for them to know Him!

A burden for them to know Jesus' Love.

How can I make a difference?

How can I help these children?

Our Pastor talked about letting God's light shine through us,

so that we can be the salt of the earth.

How can my light shine for these children on the other side of the earth?

I believe God places concerns/ burdens on our hearts for a reason.

So, now what do I do with this?

What do I do?

I'm praying and reading His Word.

Please pray with me.

Thank you, my friends!

The Princess and The Gymnast

That should be the title of a children's book.

HMMMM...

Maybe when I get time.

They will be in college by then!

The Princess

She is modeling her beautiful ALABAMA purse.

Greg likes to get surprises for the Girls when he is at the game.

She loved it!!!

It is VERY Prissy for a Prissy Princess!

The Gymnast

Greg found HG an ALABAMA gymnastics leaotard.

She was thrilled with her surprise.

She would wear it 24/7 if I would let her.

OH!

I almost forgot!

ROLL TIDE!!!

Care Package for Charlie

OK

So, how do I deal with the waiting?

You would think by now that I would be a pro.

But, you can never be OK with the wait when your child is

LITERALLY

on the other side of the WORLD!

So...I shop!

We sent Charlie another care package through Gifts to China With Love.

I really like the monkey shirt and shorts!

Ladybugs everywhere!

Ladybug sitings everywhere!

Home...work...school...

Good news is on the way!

SH's Re-Adoption/ Greg's Birthday

SH and Judge Fuhrmeister

We were blessed to have Judge Fuhrmeister perform SH's re-adoption.

He was the Judge for HG's re-adoption, as well.

It was so good to see him again!

He adds so much to the experience!

He loves the children and their families!

He let the Girls talk in the microphone and put on his robe.

He even let the Gingerbread Man wear his robe.

**The Girls GBM come with us to the re-adoption. It was his first time in court!**

SH was so glad to have him there! :)

The Girls and GBM behind the Judge's desk.

Judge Fuhrmeister, HG, Greg, SH, Me, NaNa, and PaPa
What a Great Day!

OH!

And it was Greg's Birthday!
We did not plan the re-adoption this way, but God did!

It was a special to celebrate THEIR Day together!

NaNa made the poodle...well... Alabama skirts for the Girls for Greg's birthday.

They are too too cute!

More Adventures with the Gingerbread Man

Saturday was Game Day in Alabama!!

Greg offered to take the Gingerbread Man (GBM) to the game.

The Girls were afraid their Daddy might forget about GBM, so he stayed with us.

I hate GBM missed out on an Alabama Football game!

Sunday, GBM joined us at church.

Some of the young ladies were sooo excited to see the handsome GBM, that they posed for a picture with him!

He loved the music and fellowship.



The Girls and their Buddies

On Monday, we thought we would hang out at the park.

What are we going to do without the GBM?

The Amazing Barrows

Let me tell you about the WONDERFUL, AMAZING Barrows Family!

They are an INCREDIBLE family at our church!

Our Girls absolutely adore all of their children!

Natalie and Noelle are their "Buddies" at church.

SH and HG want to be "just like" their Buddies.

And both of my girls believe that they will one day marry Nicolaus

(the oldest son).

Noelle, the youngest, has Type I Diabetes.

The video is about her and how she lives with Diabetes.

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, we (the Girls and I) will be walking with JDRF to help find a cure for Type I Diabetes. To support Team Noellie Bellies follow this link:

http://walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&confirmid=87710184&sr=facebook

Our family and church has been richly blessed by the AMAZING Barrows!

Please help us bless them!

Adventures of the Gingerbread Man

The Girls were THRILLED to bring the Gingerbread Man (GBM) home today!

Each weekend, someone in their class is selected to take the GBM home.

We will be going on many adventures this weekend!

We were so surprised to see that the GBM LOVES Alabama Football!
He is begging Greg to take him to the game tomorrow.

But, the Girls are afraid that their Daddy will forget the GBM at the stadium.

HMMM...

we'll have to see.

He loved playing dress up and doing homework!

Sleepy Town with SH

HG has started sleeping with her Bible.

I promise that I did not pose her for this pic.

She insists on sleeping with it.

If I try to take it when she is asleep, she will hold on to it even tighter.

Maybe God is trying to tell me something.

The Gymnast

HG is loving her gymnastics class.

She is already performing a cartwheel dismount from the beam.

The Silly Girl

Playing on her cousin's baby seat and rocking horse.

She cracks us up!

Another Package for Charlie!!

The Girls were still sleepy,

but they humored me with posing for a picture.

We are sending Charlie a care package and I wanted to send him a pic of his sisters.

"Gifts to China With Love" sent our last package.

They were wonderful!!!

We received pictures from Charlie's Birthday actually ON HIS BIRTHDAY!

It was a great BLESSING!