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!!! 

Christians can't adopt?

I haven't posted for quite a while but got a VERY disturbing email from Focus on the Family that I just HAD to vent about!!!  The article said that a Christian family in the United Kingdom who had fostered around 17 children and had previously adopted were being banned from any further adoptions BECAUSE they were Christians and held the belief that same sex relationships was not what God intended and that they would be raising their children to believe in one man and one woman for life.   This completely floored me!!!!!!  First of all because how could you deny a child a home and a family PERIOD!!!!  There will be one less child touched by that family and their desire to serve God and raise happy, healthy, and LOVED children! 
Second, it scares me that once again it is Christians and Christians only who are being discriminated against in our society today!!!!  We are no longer worthy of raising a child because we choose to follow the Bible and God's word?  What if the same was done to a Muslim family because of one of their beliefs!  I have a lot of trouble imagining it would even occur!  And it made me realize that it is time Christians!!!  It is time for us to stand up and be courageous about what we believe!  It is time that we start fighting against the media and our society for trying to paint us as bigots and unloving people!  God calls us to love everyone, and that we will be known by our love.  I believe we are.  Christians all over the world are showing love by being present in starving countries, feeding the poor, helping the weak, rebuilding broken cities and adopting many of the world's children without parents!  We are there for each other with open arms when we fail to do what is right, but also hold each other accountable for the wrongs we have done.  And countless other ways Christians are lights in this world.  We truly can love the person but not the sin!  Don't we do that for each other every day?!  But that doesn't mean we have to compromise our beliefs of how God calls us to live! 
We are being tested people!  Are we willing to stand against this and show the world that we will choose Jesus, NO MATTER THE COST?  HE DID THAT FOR US!  He chose us no matter the cost to Him!  Isn't it the LEAST we can do?!
FOR I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, BECAUSE IT IS THE POWER OF GOD FOR THE SALVATION OF EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES!
Romans 1:16
If you look at history, all nations that turned from God, and God alone, were at some point destroyed!  Do we really want to let someone other than God dictate what is best for our country and more importantly, our children?  I am proud to belong to God and to be HIS child!  I don't want my life in the hands of ANYONE else!

I've been busy!

I have been very busy making bags of all kinds to sell as a fund raiser for our adoption!  I have posted pictures of several kinds of bags available.  I can do custom bags, and bags of just about any color scheme.  Three of the bags on here are already sold!  If you like one that sold, I can most likely duplicate it for you!  All of them are TOTALLY hand made by me and fully lined.  Some are little girl bags and others are more diaper bag style and some purse style.   I must warn you I am not a professional, but it is for a wonderful cause, bringing our baby home.  Remember, any help you give us gets us that much closer to being able to bring our baby home!!  They are not priced on here, but I would like $30.00 dollars for the smaller ones, and $50.00 for the larger ones.  If you are interested you can email me at c.morine@hotmail.com.  Shipping will be around $4.00 and for locals, I will hand deliver them to you!  Thanks for looking, and please continue praying for us!!!

Charity

Hope in the Lord...

Today this verse has been on my mind.  Isaiah 40:31  But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
When you think about this verse physically, it is truly hard to imagine!  Can you imagine being able to soar on wings like eagles and run and never grow weary?!!!  I have tried lots of running in my life, and EVERY time, I'd say I get more than weary!!:)  This life is very limiting!  We can't do all the things we'd love to do because our strength, be it spiritual, emotional, or physical, is limited!  But the complete and awesome beauty of this is that IF we hope in the Lord, He will renew our strength!  I believe that does apply to us here on earth.  If we put our hope in God, we can overcome so much!  But in the end when we meet our maker and He tells us well done my good and faithful servant....we will be soaring like an Eagle and we will truly be like Him!!!!!  Hard to imagine, but I sooooo want to experience it!!!   To see His face and be with Him and hug Him in all His glory...doesn't get ANY better than that!!!