Some much needed bonding....

                                          Noah telling a story and really having fun with it!

                                          Gabrielle eating her smore with Daddy!

                              Noah being proud of himself for his scary story telling abilities!

                                                      Daddy getting into his story!

                                               Serious story listener!

                                             Serious story listener #2!

                                                 Gabrielle being silly with mommy!!

This evening was awesome!!!  Although Noah had to leave church this afternoon after throwing up, he slept for a looooong time and woke up feeling great!  We grilled out, watched a pretty lame movie, but then we made a fire in the fire pit and had smores and told stories!!  This is one of my favorite things to do with my family!!  Noah LOVES telling stories, and Gabrielle's pure joy of listening to his stories never grows old!!  I pray that when Asher gets here he will like love these times as much as we do!!  Noah called him his "little cutie pie" tonight!!  They are finally starting to get excited and understand that he is coming!!  Can't wait!!

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

This bad week turned out to be the BEST week ever because today we got an update on Asher!  The last pictures and information we had on him was when he was 13 months old.  He is now 20 months old and they finally gave us some new information!!  He has been in foster care for 9 months, which is totally shocking to me!!  We had NO idea!!  And they already did the surgery on his palate that we were expecting to do when he got home!!  We are thrilled that now we know he was with a family during that time, and that he is with a family now who we pray is giving him love and attention!!!  That could make a world of difference for him once he comes home!!  And the best part...the pictures!!  I have stared at them aaaaaalllll afternoon!!  He has grown soooo much and while I'm sad that I am missing it, I AM glad that he is growing and looks well cared for!!!  Boy God is sooooo good!  He is ALL OVER THIS!!!  Thank you God!!!!  Continue your prayers for travel SOON!!!

Waiting for some news!!!

If adoption doesn't teach you some patience I am completely convinced that NOTHING can do it!!!!  Waiting for this document and that document and this approval and that approval!!!  It's insane!  Right now we are waiting to hear when we can travel, exactly, and we are waiting for an update on Asher and to hopefully learn whether he got our package or not.  Please pray for those things!!  But most importantly please continue to pray that he will bond with us quickly and that he will KNOW we are his parents and feel loved!!!  That is want I yearn for the most!!!  My heart is partially in China and that is NOT a good feeling!!!  :)  Thank you all for the prayers!!

Is this for real?

It's been soooo long since I've written a post that I'm sure no one is reading my blog any more!  I quit because continuing to write that we still had no news was starting to be hard for me!  But voila, we have news!  We have a baby boy, 19 months old waiting for us in Henan China!  We have named him Asher Solomon and we get to travel in 10-14 weeks!  I am going to assume that since we have received conformation that he is definitely our baby, that I can FINALLY post a picture of him!!!  We are so excited and so anxious!  It is still hard for me to believe this is actually going to happen, and it is such a surreal feeling for me at this point.  But I would like to say that I feel a total peace that God is in this!  He has been part of this process from the beginning and has worked in so many ways through it!! I have had a REALLY bad day today!  Just the normal over scheduling, over stressing day, but at the end of it I am remembering what is REALLY important.  Those who are precious to me need to see Jesus in my life! What am I going to do to show Him to them?  I pray every day that ALL my children, but especially Asher, will see that God truly does have a plan for our lives.  Going to China to get him, was part of my plan.  I am completely confident that God planned us to be his parents all along, and I am SOOOOOOOOOO thankful that we have this opportunity!  What will his plan be?  I CAN NOT wait to find out!!!!  And here he is..............drum roll.....well since I am such a computer idiot his picture is at the top!!!  Isn't he the cutest little guy?!!!  Pray for his little heart to trust us quickly!!!