Love without Boundaries Walk Sunday 10/16/2011 in Cary NC!

Dear Friends!
We are excited for the Second Annual “5K Walk for Hope and Healing” and hope that you all are as well! According to the weather forecast it is going to be sunny and 78 degrees. Perfect walking weather!
The order of events for tomorrow will be as follows: Registration will begin under the tent behind the Amphitheatre at 1:30 p.m.. There will be a few signs on the streets to direct you in, as well as some at the venue. The address for the Amphitheatre is 8003 Regency Parkway, Cary, NC 27511. Parking will be at the Amphitheatre gate entrance. Around 2:00 p.m. we will say a few words and then the walk will be underway! The path for the walk will be contained to Symphony Lake. It will be three times around to total the 5K. Light refreshments and water will be provided.
Any donations that you have received in the form of check or cash please bring them with you to the walk. We will be collecting those when you register and sending to Love Without Boundaries. The top three participants will be announced the following week and prizes will be sent in the mail. We want to be sure we allow enough time for all donations collected to be counted.
As you make your final push for donations we want to share six more photos with you of the vulnerable babies you are working so hard to raise funds for. Without your love and support so many of them would not have a chance to be in a “forever” family. So thank you for all that you have done and continue to do to work on their behalf.

We are looking forward to seeing so many of you there! Thank you again for your participation and support of these beautiful children!
As always, please continue to keep these children, as well as all God’s children who are in need involved in your prayers.

Blessings,
Jody Brannon & Lisa McNutt
Event Coordinators

James 1:27

Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Cali!

Yeah for Cali, she turned 5 today! Sweet, nutty girl. You bring so much spunk into our house! Love my girls!

Mia updates!

Because of new regulations, we can not post photos of our sweet Mia Caili but we received updated photos and can I say oh so pretty! Smiling, giggling, jumping, playing... Oh to my delight! She looks wonderful. The note included"they are calling her both Mia and her Chinese name and she answers to both". One of our considerations in choosing the name Mia,was trying to find a name that would be easy for her to say (both because of the cleft and Chinese). Mei Mei (pronounced May May) means little sister so I thought it would sound some what familiar to her, not thinking they would start calling her Mia but this is super. Any little thing that may make the transition smoother is welcomed!! So happy dance for me today!

Parenting Class Check

One more item to check off the adoption list...12 hours of Hauge (government) mandated parenting class. Yes, that is right we had to go to parenting classes...my poor first 6 kids-we parented them without a class, how did we do it?
One more step closer to Mia...Yeah!

Finger prints check!

Finger prints complete!!!! Need I say more???
Do I have to include that PB "almost" went to the wrong airport or that his flight was delayed or that all the remainder flights from NY were cancelled that day or that we could not find the USCIS office ??


No, I will just say YEAH YEAH! Finger prints done!

Finger print Friday!

Please pray that PB gets home tomorrow uneventfully and that our finger print Friday goes off without a hitch. I have sent in all the additional items to the adoption agency. Now it is back to waiting for approvals, authentication of documents and then some more waiting. Hopefully all the paper work will be approved in the next month or so and be sent to China!

Just a moment to complain

I would assume most people who read my blog have some interest in adoption, perhaps adopted, thinking about it or maybe you are my friends and have walked down the adoption journey with me. I am going to say now that I am going to complain but I hope that once it is off my chest I will be done with my pity party and put big girl panties back on and continue the incredible journey that God has allowed our family to be on with Him.
We have our finger print appt set and the airline ticket purchased for PB to come home from college because the US government requires that any one over the age of 18 is required to have finger prints taken for international adoption. I sent an email to our adoption agency telling them that our appt is set and casually said , "just checking to make sure this is our last item that needs to be checked off before sending all the documents to China". Well I got back an entire page of NEW requirements that the US just initiated for adoptions. Are you kidding me?!?!? Nope she is not kidding!!!!! Believe me CB and LB keep me busy busy busy but the fact remains there is a little girl across the ocean that is part of this family!!! I am so very blessed to know that she is being loved and prayed for in China. But as she gets older each day I know it will be harder and harder for her to separate from the life she knows in China to the new life as our daughter. Her pain will be my pain.
What is going on with international adoption? That is not really a question , I do know. The secular anti God world that we live in is against all things good and right. But I do find peace in knowing that we are doing what is good and right. Nobody ever said it was an easy path.
OK I am finished complainig. tomorrow is a new day and I will get that list done from the adoption agency! Good night sweet friends!

One more step

We have our little check list of details that need to be checked off in order to bring Mia Caili home.
Recent items to be checked off-
1. We got our finger print appt, yeah! New requirement, PB and TB need to have their finger prints since they are over 18, even though they are in college. So we have to fly PB home from college for a day. Weekends do not work since government offices are closed weekends.
2. We went to one session of the parent/adoption education class. We are required 12 hours so 6 down and 6 to go. We drove 1 1/2 hours from home for the class. The info was actually very well addressed and the day was well worth the time and drive!
So two more things to check off, but neither one actually complete and so the list goes on...
But it will all get done.

Three years ago!

Three years ago, my have you changed!

Our sweet Cali was handed to us today for a 24 hour harmonious period. Well 3 years later I can say not every moment is not harmonious but every moment is RIGHT!
It is right that she is part of a family, our family,
right that she has 5 sisters(4 home, 1 waiting in China) and 1 brother,
right that our family has shades of different colors,
right that for her gotcha day lunch she will want Chick fila,
right that she her roots are from Southern China and she grows in the south of America,
right that her face, once thought of as a curse now lights up a room,
right that her giggle that was once silent now makes everyone giggle too.
Thank you God for making it right.