Is your home cozy and warm? Are your children?

Philip Hayden Foundation needs your help to keep the children at Shepherd's Field warm this winter. The heat is supplied by the government from a central boiler located a mile away. It gets turned on on Nov 15th and turned off on March 15th. We need to pay for the entire winter so that they can buy enough coal to last through March. No gift is too small. Just go to China Orphans to send some warmth to the kids this winter.  

Our sweet Grace was there at this time last year...  Here she is now, celebrating her first birthday in a family. In this picture, she is standing here amazed, pointing at herself asking if these toys are for her.     Yes, baby girl, all for you!  Your own gifts, your own clothes, and YOUR OWN FAMILY!

Other children waiting at PHF...

 I can't tell you what it meant to me last year to know that our little girl was being kept warm because of loving and caring people who took God's command to care for the orphans literally.  Each of these children is someone's child, God's.  And hopefully each of these children will one day know the love of a family here on earth; but until that day, will you help care for them?  NO amount is too small.  Please go to China Orphans and donate whatever you can.  Thank you!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27

Our wild week...

We have had a wild week!  It started with us not being able to go to church because so many of us were coughing and sneezing.  Then came our usual Monday therapy and errand day and baseball practice.  It was a day of celebration though, because it was our sweet Grace's 3rd birthday--her first birthday in her forever family!  Connor had his pre-op appointment on Tuesday.  Our appointment was for 9:30; but that was just for the actual doctor's office, not the surgery center downstairs...  That was another hour mainly of waiting.  That's when Connor found out he needed lab work!  So off to dad's office to draw blood.  My baby is growing up--he chose dad this week (to be with him for the blood draw AND his surgery!) which is as it should be, but it still makes me sad.    Wednesday was surgery...

Thankfully he slept most of the morning at he came home.  Then he asked to play computer games and have pudding, Ale 8, and root beer floats.  Isn't that what having surgery is all about--the treats!?  LOL Troy left to go hunting in Illinois.  Today Grace woke with what I thought was bug bites, but there seem to be more of them this afternoon...chicken pox?  Thunderstorms threatened all morning and let loose as we were heading to Shaoey's gymnastics, of course.  The ride home was scary to say the least!  All the roads were flooded.  We'd look down the side roads and couldn't see the front yard--one big lake!

Looks like Connor's feeling pretty good today!

 

How's your week going?

Happy birthday, Grace!

We had the wonderful blessing of celebrating Grace's 3rd birthday today, her first birthday as a part of our family.  The day was truly  a day of celebrating our princess.  She KNEW it was her birthday and shared the news with everyone she met throughout the day!  She went around all day pointing at herself saying "gai gai (her name for herself) happy day!)" and holding up 3 fingers!  We went to Toys*R*Us and picked out some Fisher Price Little People which she LOVES!  She got a crown from T*R*U and a balloon (well, 2 and she lost both of them to the sky...) and they wished her a happy birthday over the intercom!  She was giddy at the delight of it all.  Then we went to the grocery store and let her pick out a cake--she lives for chocolate-- and a balloon (to make up for the other 2...).  She was so excited, every time she would see the cake or balloon or presents, she would point to her self and giggle and laugh.  Hard to believe that this time last year she was still in the orphanage...  It really was a wonder and delight to see her celebrate her birthday, the pure unadulterated joy of a child on her birthday.

Grace Fushuang, we love you so much.  We are so blessed to be given the wonderful privilege of being your mama and baba!  You have brought so much laughter and smiles to our family.  Happy birthday, Gracie!

The wild and crazy adventures of the CGG and Ricky the Raccoon

The kids and I spent the weekend in TN with our CGG friends.  On Saturday evening, we looked up and were quite surprised to see a raccoon looking in the sliding glass door at us!  All the kids (and us moms!) ran over to look at it.  After a few minutes of being oohh'd and ahh'd over gawked and pointed at, it must have felt dejected and left.

Later that evening, after the kids had gone to sleep, we were sitting around reading the guest book.  Numerous guests made comments about the raccoon (and sometimes her little one) and a mama bear and her 2 cubs (which we found out later we missed out front--bummer!).  One of the guests named the raccoon Ricky and it stuck!

Not long after that, I looked up and there was Ricky again.  He was just sitting there at the door,so sad and pitiful ferocious and vicious looking.  He looked like he was going to try to snuggle on our laps eat us up!

Since we'd read that it was a regular visitor, I decided to feed it a piece of bread...

As I opened the door an inch to throw the bread out, you should have heard the squeals and shrieks from the other moms who BOLTED for the stairs, leaving poor injured Dawn and Julie sitting on the sofa to fend for themselves from the vicious raccoon.  Mind you these moms can handle 4-5 kids at a time, but ran for the hills when I opened the door about an inch to throw bread outside!

I love you scaredy cats girls so much!

(p.s. notice what's playing on tv?)

My baby turns 12!

Connor turned 12 earlier this month.  Where has the time gone?  He is turning into such a wonderful young man!  So proud to be his Mama!

Happy birthday, Connor!

Dad decided to get a four wheeler for both boys!

Connor's birthday was a good day to give it to them.

One of our favorite pasttimes--looking at clouds and seeing what items we can spy!

Florida vacation pics...

How did I get so far behind on posting?  We spent a week in Sandestin, our favorite close beach vacation.  Some friends were there for a few of the days and the kids had SO much fun with them!