Do they make pizza in China?

Tianjin International Committee for Chinese Children took 35 kids out for pizza the Friday before Christmas. Jenny, who works there, has been a gift for us as she gets us ongoing info on Maeleigh, and these priceless pictures!

All these kids need for Christmas is a family!!!!

Hail and Blessed be....

Hail and blessed be the 

hour and moment

in which the Son of God was born

of the most pure blessed Virgin Mary

 at midnight, in Bethlehem, 

in piercing cold.

In that hour, vouchsafe, oh my God,

to hear my prayer, and grant my desires,

through the merits of our Lord, 

Jesus Christ, and of his blessed Mother, Amen.

Beginning on the 30th of November, our family prays this novena every day, at least 15 times a day. Sounds crazy, sounds repetitious? Oh, my, it is the most comforting and wonderful prayer to help to prepare for Christmas. I began praying this when I was introduced to it about 6 years ago and I have loved it ever since. I think about the words, and really picture the moment Christ was born...in piercing cold. Those words cut deep inside of me, and I think of the infant lying in a manger with only the warmth of the animals and his parents' love to keep him warm. I think of how in our culture too often we leave the infant Jesus in the cold, and wonder how many would find room, do find room, for him. This novena prayer brings to mind every day the realization that we are there at that moment as well, since God transcends time. Our prayers we pray are there at the "hour and moment" that Christ was born, and God, in His joy at the birth of his son, will hear those prayers we pray. And I feel such comfort in the fact that we were chosen to be a part of the family that Jesus was born into, chosen to be adopted. Of course, my thoughts also go to the child who is left every day, in China, and around the world...the orphan.

  I started writing this post Christmas day and one thing or another kept me from posting it. Maybe it is the fact that everyone is home, sleeping in, chilling out, making cookies, eating all day! Our house is full as Mick is home from college in Vermont, and Sarah is home from college in Maryland. Inevitably there is an extra friend a day, at least, over, or they are running out to see other friends. We have had two or three movie nights with all of us home, snuggled on couches, making me realize we will need another chair or couch when Maeleigh comes home. Those are the moments Matt and I treasure more than anything...having the kids all home under our roof, knowing they are happy to be there, knowing that the time is short for these moments, and appreciating each and every one of them.

We had a wonderful Christmas starting with Christmas Eve with all of my family, and my parents who are 80 and 83 and truthfully have more spunk and energy than any of us. Between us and my three sisters we have 13 kids, ranging in age from 27 to 6, with one son-in-law. The 'kids' do a Pollyanna each year now, eliminating lots of crazy shopping and making for lots of fun and laughs. It has become a tradition that I know they will continue for years to come.

Matt and I celebrated our 29th Christmas, 28 as a married couple. I can honestly say that we are more in love today than we were that first Christmas in 1982. I say more because we have been through so much, we have been so blessed, and we so appreciate each other with every year. It is such a wonderful gift from God that we have each other and we love our lives.So, "We ain't got a barrel of money..." (anyone remember that song?) but we sure are living our lives 'side by side'.

We received a wonderful Christmas gift the day after Christmas of new pictures of Maeleigh. We are waiting for Travel Approval, which should come any day now...The wait is long...but ti will happen, most likely some time in February for travel which means I will be traveling with Sophie, and without Matt.

We have been so blessed by the generosity of our friends, many of whom ordered bracelets or donated to our adoption fund. You are all in our prayers and we are so grateful for your help. Someday, when our adoptions are through :) my dream is to start a foundation to help other families make it through the process of adoption. But, that is for another day...

Have a wonderful day, hopefully before the New Year we will have news about our travel!!!

We are still making bracelets, so check them out. We have had such wonderful compliments about them. You can order them right here by clicking on the Bracelets button, or send me an email and let me know waht you want, the size and colors! Thanks so much for your support!

What child is this?

We are fully into the season of great joy and hope, the season of Christmas. As we approach the joyous holiday, in the midst of shopping and decorating, we remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. I love the old Christmas carols, just love them, and could listen to them all day. One song that always brought a tear to my eye, but now even more so, is "What Child is This?" Since adopting Sophie, when I hear this song, I think of all the orphans being abandoned every day, thousands of them, being left alone, left to hope for a family. I think now of Maeleigh, who has waited more than 13 years to know that she will be a part of a family, and who will once a gain miss Christmas with them. I think of the children ignored and forgotten, and how much we are not doing to help them.

Adoption is often difficult, and is always a financial issue. My experience is that families who adopt do not have lots of money, and often go into debt in order to do so. Is it smart financially? No. Does it make more financial sense to invest in your 401 K or add to your savings account? Sure does. But then, really what are we asked to do in our lives? Not all of us are asked to adopt, I know that.It is not right, not feasible, for every family.But we are all asked to do the things we need to do to live the life that is meant for us.

As Christmas comes closer, we have lots of ideas for Christmas gifts for your family and friends. The links on the right will take you directly to our tee shirt fundraiser from Adoptionbug.com. There are shirts for all family members, not just adoption shirts. Your support helps us directly as we gather together the necessary funds to finalize our adoption of Maeleigh. This is a time of great faith as we are all challenged financially, and pulling together this money is absolutely a leap of faith. There is no price tag, however, to giving our daughter the family she deserves, and for getting her as soon as possible. For other adoptive families, we know they feel the same way, and so we do what we do.

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Thanks for all of your support. We are waiting on our Travel Approval (TA) which should come in a few weeks, slating us to travel after the New Year! Not in time for Christmas, but not in our time, as we are always reminded.

Getting closer, and new pictures.

Not at all shy in front of a crowd!

She always has that big smile.

The kids performed for the fundraiser! Look at those two cuties next to Maeleigh, especially the little guy!

So many children without families

From the beginning of our adoption process, more than 5 years ago, we have been blessed with so many pictures of each of our kids.Families who go before who get pictures of your child, in Sophie's case, we had Pam who sent us many pictures, and now with Maeleigh we have a wonderful woman, Jenny, who works for an international agency and sees Maeleigh often.She and I email, and she lets me know how Maeleigh is doing. She sent me these pictures the other day that were taken at a fundraiser for the kids at the orphanage. She said the kids had a great time and were dancing with the band.


We found out that our Article 5 will be picked up on December 9th. for those not in the process, we are getting very close to travel, but it will not be before Christmas.We were so hoping to have Maeleigh home for Christmas, but it is not to be. So, now we are just hoping to be able to travel before Mick and Sarah go back to school for their Christmas break so Matt and I can travel together, even if part of the time.

Christmas shopping has begun in earnest, and I was awake last night with Shane (something new and different!) and I got this intense feeling of nesting, like I needed to begin packing and preparing for Maeleigh. We will be sending her a package for Christmas so that she can feel a apart of a family this year for the very first time at Christmas.

Much to do...thanks for all your support. Don't forget about our jewelry and tshirt fundraisers! Great Christmas gifts!