Help Bring Sophia Home!!!

Hi Everyone,

One of my dear friends from our trip to adopt Piper is adopting her 3rd child from China, a little girl to be named Sophia. Mandie, my friend, is holding a raffle to raise funds. TRUST ME - every dollar is needed and appreciated. Please consider going by and entering the raffle.

http://www.bringingsophiahome.blogspot.com/

Please Pray for Jacob Jai

Jacob Jai is our sponsor child at Phillip Hayden Foundation and was one of Piper's dear friends when she was there. We instantly fell in love with him as we waited for Piper and noticed that he was in all of her photos. We went early to China to meet him, feeling that we would be pursuing his adoption when we returned. He is AMAZING. The picture below is the first one we saw with Piper where we fell in love.

Obviously, that was not meant to happen.

We came home and Piper had problems bonding with daddy so we delayed. Then, months later we felt comfortable and started moving forward. We had many agencies looking for his file and one in particular went above and beyond - even calling China on many occasions. The foster home reps were also helping us, but everyone's story was the same in the end....the orphanage prepared his paperwork and then sent it to the local provincial office, which allegedly it has sat on the officer's desk for over a year. All contacts claim there is nothing they can do. I was heartbroken, but then we got the call about Dang Gang and I thought maybe it was meant to be that Jacob Jai be the son of another family. To date, there is no movement on his adoption. His file is probably still sitting on that desk - I am afraid to ask or check whether he is on the shared list - because then what would I do.

Today I received our sponsorship update report and many pictures of Jacob Jai. I just cannot look at him and not feel that he is meant to be a part of our family. It is very hard. Mike said that there is no way we could adopt another child after Dang Gang. I hope that he changes his mind and said that if I EVER hear that he is on the list, I will come asking.

So here is my request...I need prayers that his paperwork will be found and processed through the system, and that a wonderful family will step forward, and that wonderful family will have a blog or something where I can get a glimpse of this amazing kid's life.

He is amazing - a child that stands out and captures your heart.

Scottish Rite Test Results

We found out today that Piper's tests from Scottish Rite all came back PERFECT!!!! We are so happy. Now we just need to pray for Monday at Eggleston Children's Hospital - for Piper to not be afraid and have a good recovery, for the doctors to have very steady hands as the operate on my sweet girl's eyes and for Mommy to find some calming medicine so that I don't cry all day :)
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I promise I will tell our new son's story soon. Thank you for being so patient!

Piper's Prayer

This was Piper's bedtime prayer last night:

God, thank you for food, thank you for a family, thank you for saving Jesus.

So sweet and so heartbreaking in many ways. Piper had come up to me the day before and asked me to promise that mommy and daddy would never leave her. Those words just shot through my heart. When I mentioned it that night to Mike, he said that when he was talking to her about going to the hospital for some tests, that she asked if we all go with her and not leave her. When he said we would all go and would not leave, she said, "everyone leaves me."

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Piper has now been with us longer than any of her four previous "homes." I realize that at a little over a year, she must now be dealing with so much.

Little Brother

Meet Harrison and Piper's little brother. Isn't he just edible?

Happy Anniversary Piper

Piper,

A year ago today we landed in Atlanta and you became a United States citizen. We are so proud of all of your accomplishments over the past year. This past year has surpased all of our hopes. I look at you and see the face of my little girl that I have dreamed about since I was your age only you are more perfect in every way then I could have ever imagined. We love you!

Our Snow Day

We do not get much snow in Atlanta, but when we do we try to make the best of it. Luckily Mike passed a man selling sleds, which is a rarity here and we were able to get 4. Once he got home, we bundled up the snow babies and headed out. We learned several things. First, that it is hard to catch a sled with two flying kids on it. Second, an adult weighted body should not go head first down the hill straight for a tree because the only way to save yourself from a snapped neck is to do a back flip in the air and land in the woods. Third, I should ALWAYS keep my camera out in case my dear husband does the second. Shoot!