Two beautiful Waiting children ~ Update ~

Sweet Christopher, where do I begin with him???? He is a cute little guy with a sweet smile. Christopher is also from Hope's orphanage in Baoji Shaanxi. So he is extra special in my book!!

His DOB is 9/2009. He has limb differences. Looks pretty mild and again, did you see that smile??





Mya is breath taking and her needs, well a little out of the ordinary but still pretty mild and may require no surgery. She has the eyes, you know the ones that draw you in and don't let go....

Makes you just want to give her a hug and put a smile on her face. Her DOB is 7/3/2008. She is in Guanxi.
Virtually a July 4th baby!! Her special needs are Limb Differences.







Take it from me, limb differences aren't such a hard special need to deal with. Our girl Rachel, she is amazing and can do what ever she pleases. She is very determined and you can hardly tell her leg is 3-4 inches shorter than the other.







Here is something from an orthopedist in regards to Mya's special needs:







"I would definitely cast her, She has bilateral significant club foot, so it will take a while longer but I would expect a good result. Her knees appear smooth and dimpled, she may have a systematic condition, perhaps arthrogryposis as it can affect just the lower limbs."




















For more information or to request her file contact Kathy at Wasatch. (kathy@wiaa.org) or email me at hopeyfopey@yahoo.com





Let's all pray this sweet girl finds her forever family!!

Ok, all, sweet Christopher has a family!!! What a wonderful New Year they will have to be blessed with such a sweet little guy!!!

Just the girls, having some fun.

Christmas 2010

There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day anymore to edit and post to the blog. I am trying but....

These are in no particular order and haven't been edited. We have our former exchange student staying with us since school got out so I have been busy keeping up with 7 (yes 7!!) kids.




Maggie our very old but sweet pug even got in on the Christmas day fun.

The girls' big present, something they have been wanting forever.

And of course what is Christmas 2010 without Pillow pets?!?!

Not awake yet.

Christmas Eve shot before church.

A Quick Update ~

Just because I know you are all dying to know whether or not I fell off the face of the earth, right??

We have just been super busy. The grandparents were here and we picked Sunny (our previous exchange daughter) up from the airport on Sunday. She will be with us through December.

We celebrated Kerry's big 40th birthday and we actually had a date night!! Can you believe it!?!

We haven't been out on a date since, well, I can't remember when...Lets just say it's been a few years .

'One Less'

An eventful day ~

Thursday started out great for us. We went to the local mall to meet one of Gracie J's care takers while she was in China. We had corresponded back and forth for some times and she was finally in the area to meet up with another family who is also blessed to have a Hanzhong honey!!

We didn't get to spend much time together but what we did have was precious. Just hearing stories about Gracie as an infant brought me to tears. We are truly blessed to have this connection and for Grace to have felt the love of someone special while waiting for us to come get her.



The last part of the day was very eventful. We have all had the flu the past two weeks or so and Rachel had the flu shot, so I thought we were safe, it would pass right over her.

However when we came home from the mall, she was running a fever. Not a little fever a whopping 104!! I immediately gave her some tylen*l and thought she was doing better. Once Kerry came home she seemed ok. He took the big kids to church and I managed getting the Little's settled for the night. Rachel then took a turn for the worse. She started wheezing, the fever returned and her face was all swollen. I ran to the med center, they saw us and sent us to the ER. They wanted to call an ambulance, however I talked them out of that and drove.

They couldn't find any veins for the IV. It was not fun. She just cried and cried. Still no IV, so we were set up with bottles of juice, Popsicles and water, a nice smallish bed, a TV and hours to spend in the ER trying to get a very tired grumpy baby to drink.

She did manage to gulp down one full bottle of Gatorade and a small Popsicle before 2 am, then with the sugar started bouncing off the walls. I promptly, dumped the other water down the drain, ate a Popsicle and said we were ready to go. I assume they thought she drank/ate it all and said we were free to go.

Rachel was a sweety and went right to bed once home. I however was not so lucky, Gracie woke up and decided it was morning. When I got her settled I manged to grab about four hours of sleep before the schools decided to call it an early day and send the kids home.

Sigh~ I guess I can sleep later, knowing that Rachel is better is worth more than my sleep.

Oh and the diagnosis? Bilateral ear infections with dehydration. Something so simple .....

New Digs...

So I changed the blog....just a little. I was toying with the idea of moving to a new place, but most of you know me here and I thought I would just change the name.

That won't be the only change....I have been reading some things lately that frankly are pretty scary. Things about privacy and such. I am not going private, but I may change the way I post photos and names. You never canbe to careful.

Plus, the older kids, they are not hip on being here, in a public place, where their friends can see. I also want to procect the Little's.

But, I don't want to stop posting, or stop advocating for those left behind, because there are litterally millions left behind. As for adoption, I don't know what the Lord has in mind for us. Right now, I know we need to play catch up with medical stuff. As for the rest, we'l take it one day at a time.

So what do y'all think of the new design? Keep it or change it back?

It's snowing!!

And according to Hope Santa can come any day now, because it's snowing!!

I know it's not much but we are in VA. The kids really miss MI this time of year and all the snow we used to get.

This is the first time Rachel has seen snow. She was mesmerized. Just look at her face, isn't it sweet!!


And ignore the fact that my sick, flu infested kids are standing outside without coats checking out the snow...

Something you have to watch ~

Happy Birthday to me....

Yep, it's that time of year, the time to reflect and well, I was kind of hoping to be forgotten on this particular birthday...you see I turned 40. The big 4 0.

Ugh. It's really just a number, something I don't think to much about. But, I really expected something big to happen, some revelation or something. You know?

We didn't really celebrate. Kerry is working A L O T lately and hardly ever home. Plus, there is the fact that we just came home from China with our sixth blessing. And really that is a gift enough for me.

I am hoping to get some pictures this weekend. Maybe a couple good ones. You see, I did something really stupid, something I vowed I would never do again...

No, sillies, it's not adopting...at least not this year LOL!!

I chopped all my hair off. Well, the salon guy did anyway. And it ain't pretty. It was the day after Thanksgiving, you know the day I spent awake for 24 hours straight. So that's my excuse.

Anyway, he cut about 6 inches off the length and layered it. And I just can't do layers, don't have the time and I am all about neat clean lines and layers, they are not neat clean lines.

So what do I do? Well, I waited one day and cut all the layers out myself.

Yikes, yes, I did. And like I said it isn't pretty. And to fix it, well I will have to go short, as in pixie cut short...or wear a hat for months...(guess it's a good thing it's winter, right)

So, a poll, should I cut it all off or just throw on a hat? Oh and because I am very brave (or not very smart) I am also going red....

One last plea~

For this little guy that has completely captured my heart.

He is in Beijing and healthy. Completely healthy. I simply can not understand why he has not been spoken for. He is all boy and simply adorable.

Please say you have room in your heart for this sweet little guy....please?



For more information contact Kathy@wiaa.org or me at hopeyfopey@yahoo.com

Wasatch is offering a grant in the amount of $2500 if you qualify.