Merry Christmas everyone! On Christmas Eve morning we received the most wonderful gift…SIX new pictures of our daughter! She is growing and is absolutely beautiful, albeit somewhat serious. I love that they put a party hat on her for her birthday and it looks like she really enjoyed the birthday cake we arranged. I had [...]
Lord, today is the first birthday of one of Your precious children. You know how my heart is breaking that we are not together for this joyous occasion. But I know that You are always with her, and that gives me comfort. I know how You have led us to her thus far and how [...]
Tonight, Emily was telling me about a story they read in school today about giving gifts vs receiving them, and Santa was involved in the story as well. Then out of the blue, she asks, “Is Santa someone dressed up, or a real person?” Stunned, I said, “What do you mean?” and she said, “I [...]
So yesterday, somewhere in between Norah coughing so hard during the night that she threw up, and last night when her whole body was trembling as a result of her fever, we had some awesome moments. Since Norah was sick we stayed home from church and had an important lesson about how we can worship [...]
I was in my office trying to wrap up for the day today when Dan called. After teasing me for my lack of enthusiasm when answering the phone (hey, I was distracted) he asked me “What are your 3 favorite letters in the English language?” I gasped and said, “LOA?” Yes!!! After 50 days of [...]
To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in northern China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, [...]
Today, President Obama signed in to law the International Adoption Simplification Act. There are several provisions in this bill, but one in particular is of importance to us. This law puts into effect the same vaccination exemption that was part of international adoption prior to the Hague treaty. In layman’s terms, this means that Julia [...]
