The Best Christmas Gift!

We just got an update and pictures of our sweet Addie! She is becoming more comfortable each day since her fracture, and was even comfortable enough to be upright! The Wyse family had all the children from the Agape House foster home up to their personal residence for Christmas dinner and presents! Unfortunately our package didn't arrive in time for Addison, but I'm sure it will show up soon. We have some more news on Addison's femur fracture, it runs the length of her femur zig zagging from side to side. She will need to have surgery, but it will have to wait until she has had at least 3 doses of he medication that make her bones stronger, and she grows bigger, as she is only 12 pounds! So it sounds like she will probably have surgery once she is home with us. As you can see from the pictures below she looks pretty happy!

Look how cute she is.....cast and all! We were surprised to see that the spica cast only went down her fractured leg and not both legs. In our past experience Nathan had both legs casted!



Looks like our sweet little Addison enjoyed the gifts! Oh how I can't wait to get our butts to China and bring her HOME!!!

Sad News

We have just received some news on Addison. Keith had emailed me tonight to let me know that she had broken her femur (thigh bone) not only is it broken, but it was broken from top (head) to bottom of the femur, and the fracture runs parallel with the bone! This is something we have never dealt with before, and we don't know what that means for Addie, as with a "normal"femur fracture the child would have surgery and have a nail inserted in the the bone for stability. We are devastated, both Howard and I wish we could be there to comfort her, as she is in a spica cast (from armpits around her torso and both legs to ankles with a cutout for diapers) We don't know what this means for her future when it comes to being able to walk, and strength of this bone. What a sad way to celebrate Christmas. It was last year almost to the date that Nathan had fractured his hip and we had to cancel our Christmas travel plans to see our family. I hope that this will maybe speed up her refferal process as she will probably need surgery if we ever hope to see her walk. Please pray for our sweet Addie girl, femur fractures are major, they take a long time to heal from and are very painful! My heart is breaking for her! Obviously we will not be Skyping with her for a while, but when I receive an update I will let you all know! God has a plan for even these things that WE think are awful, and his plans are for good and not for evil, and he LOVES her more than even we do. So that is what I will take comfort in as I head off to bed.

O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. ~2 Samuel 22:29~

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

~Psalm 34:18 ~

Sweet Addie Update

Well, we are making plans to Skye with Addison and the Wyse family next week. I am very excited! I guess our girl has blossomed into a joyful, smiley, exuberant little one! She is now sitting up all on her own!!! She has no interest in trying to stand or walk, but Nathan waited until he was 15 or 16 mos old to walk as well, and we were doing tonnes of water therapy etc. as soon as he was diagnosed, so I am sure that helped him. Poor Addie hasn't had any of that, so rightly so she will be a little behind with these milestones. Keith informed me that they have moved Addison out of their private home and into the foster home. I was a little surprised and saddened to hear that, but I understand having a baby is time consuming, and they are very busy people. I am just sad to hear she is being jostled around to different homes, as it may effect her attachment and trust in us once she comes home. Apparently the nannies and older girls in the foster home are head over heals in love with her and she is still being doted on. I know that God knows all and sees all, and this is part of his good plan for her and our family. I know I want this journey to be his will not mine, BUT.....we want to show her love, hope, faith, understanding, family and trust. How long must we wait? I am sure once we get her referral everything will move so quickly that I'll will not remember how hard this waiting was! I was okay with the wait when we didn't know who the Lord had planned for us, its the knowing who she is and that she is getting older by the minute that is difficult. Listen to me! When there are families whom have waited almost 4years for their referral!!!! I am thankful, beyond thankful that He has chosen us for this purpose! We are so very blessed! And I DO trust his good and perfect plan for us! Have a great day!

The Nutcracker!

So my sweet Riley girl, our dear friends T & M, and myself braved the cold on Saturday, to see the Royal Ballet of London's production of the Nutcracker. It was beautiful, the sets and costumes were amazing and the dancing was mesmerizing! So much so that a 4 yr old (Riley) and a 6 year old (Miss M) sat and watched with very few interruptions! I just found out that the Cineplex Odeon presents ballets and operas quite often! I think the Nutcracker will be one of our new traditions at Christmas! If you are interested in seeing the Nutcracker at the Cineplex search your local Cineplex Odeon and I believe they a showing it once more on the 23rd of December! I would highly recommend it! In our city there was all of maybe 15 people who came and watched! It was nice to have the theatre to ourselves! I was thankful to have some special time with my Riley girl :)

You know its cold when.....

The last two mornings this is what we woke up to! Yesterday it was -56C with the windchill and today it is -53C with the windchill! I guess you know its cold when....your natural gas meter freezes!!! Yes ours did! What does that mean? Well....it means we had NO heat yesterday! We were so blessed that Howard came home Saturday night to pick up heaters for his crew at the job site and spent the night at home because, at 4AM I awoke and was freezing! I asked him to see what was wrong as we could see our breath!!! My lovingest husband went to check out the furnace and came up saying some words I will not repeat! He phoned the furnace repair guy, and explained what was going on. The repair guy told Howard to call our natural gas provider immediately as we were the 15th person to call with the same problem ( a frozen regulator valve on our gas meter.) We cranked our oven so we had some heat, and made sure our kids and the extra kids who were having a sleepover were well covered and warm as they still slept, and Howard went out to his office to "raid"there space heaters as we were afraid our pipes would freeze! Our kids woke up and I had them dress in layers and I took them over to our friends house which was cozy and warm and then I ran to the church to "raid"some more space heaters. We are very thankful that Howard was home, we could find some heaters so early on a Sunday morning and that we had friends that would answer the phone so early (I waited until 6AM) and that our pipes didn't freeze. We are also so very thankful for the ATCO Gas guy that came and replaced our meter! I can't imagine working outside in that cold! We finally had heat at 3PM and I will never take for granted the luxury of a warm house again :)

Holiday Entertaining

Last weekend we had a wonderful get together with our dear friends. Riley and I decorated the tables and we made a feast for a king! We had the yummiest prime rib roast ever!!! bacon chive mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and a delish veggie casserole. I think it was the best meal I have ever had in my life! Top it all of we had the company of our dear friends Trina and Vince and their 4 fabulous kids! We had tonnes of laughs and then after dinner we went to an outdoor production of Bethlehem Live at a local church. It was awesome! And their youngest daughter who has been home now for a year was in awe, there were times she just watched with her jaw dropped and eyes as big as saucers. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen! To think just a year ago she was in foster care in China! Now she is learning about the true meaning of Christmas with her forever family here in Canada! We followed up our frozen trek with dessert and warm drinks and more fun and laughter! It was one of those nights that won't soon be forgotten. I can't help but be amazed by God and how he loves us enough to put such wonderful friends in our lives! Here are some picts from Nathan's camera of our evening and table, my kids were quite ecstatic about the "fancy"table setting :)

Sweets for our guests. You can never go wrong with hedgehogs!


Just before we ate.

the dinner table.(I think I put the napkins on the wrong side!)

LID Finally!!!

We finally have a log in date (LID) for those of you not navigating the adoption world, that means our dossier (story of our life) has made it to the officals in China. I say finally because our agency received our paperwork in August, so I was expecting to be logged in by the end of October at the latest. I guess it doesn't really matter because we "found" Addison on our own anyways. I just received an update on our sweet little Addie and apparently she is being spoilt rotten and doing very well she has started sitting up and they are waiting for the orphanage to mail them the paperwork to bring her to the doctors for her adoption physical, once that is done her paperwork goes to the CCAA and then we pray her paperwork miraculously shows up in FOI's (our agencies) private list! Tada just like that;) Yeah right! So we would be humbled and honoured if you would lift us and Addison ( Xue Ying Liu) up in prayer, we are praying that her physical will happen quickly, that she will be fracture free, that someone at the CCAA will have the heart to put her directly on our agencies private list and not the shared list, that our heavenly Father will prepare her little heart for us, and prepare us for her, we pray for peace, wisdom and discernment and most of all (for me anyways!) Patience!!!! We (Howard and I) have a certain date we hope to have Addison in our arms by and its not at all out of the question, however it does mean we would probably need to have her offical referral by the end of January. We serve an amazing, powerful and loving God and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt He is still in the business of miracles, so I am praying for this, our own personal miracle! Every night as I fall asleep I think of our sweet angel baby Addie just waking up in China, and I pray she will know just how wanted and loved she is! I read recently in my devotions, that in the Bible, in the book of Habakkuk it says to write down your vision, and make sure to back them up with God's Word. Then get alone with God, and take a few minutes everday to declare good things over your life. Something supernatural happens when we speak it out. That's how we give life to our faith. Here is the verse...
And then God answered: "Write this.
Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
pointing to what's coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
And it doesn't lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
It's on its way. It will come right on time. ~ Habakkuk 2:2-3

So I am deciding that IF our words can prophesy our own future, I will choose to predict blessings and good things not defeat, failure and mediocrity.
Wow! My intentions for a quick post turned into something completely different! I hope you have a fabulous rest of your week! 9 more sleeps until Howard is back home!!!

Family Pictures

Whew! That was quite a job getting five of us ready for family pictures! I wonder if there is a rule that says all family photos MUST be stressful for the Mom? These two are the favorites of the shoot, yet still I can find some issues with each of them! What do expect trying to get three kids and two adults looking and smiling at the same time though :)


I loved the kids coordinating outfits this year. Usually I go with the traditional red and black, however Josh loves green and when we saw this line he begged me to do the pictures in green this year :)


This was the first year that Riley didn't freak out and cry at our holiday pictures! I have a tradition of getting the kids pictures done during the holidays, and buying a new pewter frame every holiday that holds a 5X7 we have 5 of them so far and all the previous years picts come out during the holidays for us to display. I much prefer doing this then having school pictures displayed, as I am not a huge fan of the overpriced usually tacky (in our case) school picts. Costco has some beautiful wallet size embellished frames that would be perfect for our holiday pictures, as the 5X7 frames will soon outgrow the cabinet I put them on, and I would like to keep up this tradition until the kids leave home, or when they refuse to have the pictures taken ;)
We also finally set up the Christmas tree since Howard came home, I will post in the next few days with the pictures from that evening. Tonight we have some dear friends coming over for a holiday dinner party I think I'll try to take some picts of tonight as well and post on that later this week as well.

Cinnamon Buns for our Ladies!

I am feeling quite adventurous tonight and we are making cinnamon buns for the ladies group I attend. There are only a few of us, however I so enjoy their company! So since this the last official coffee time we will have together before Christmas I thought I would surprise them with some fresh cinnamon buns.

On another note my Hubby was home for one night,last night. What a treat! We have been missing him, but Thursday will come quick!

Is anyone else wondering how December crept up so quickly? I just realized the kids only have 14 days of school left until Christmas Holidays!!!! Yippee! I guess I need to get my butt in gear :)

Addie's Christmas Package

I am just packaging up Addison's Christmas package. I wanted to send alot more, however another family who is traveling to China to spend Christmas doing mission work at Agape house (where Addie is living) will be carrying these things for us so I wanted to keep the weight and size down :) I thought I would share some of the things we will be sending. I will also be sending a photo album of our family and a "crinkle"toy as apparently our Miss Addie LOVES to play with anything that crinkles (think shopping bags etc) It makes me a little sad to think we won't have her home for Christmas. I knew it wasn't possible, and hope that she will be with us next year for summer holidays and her birthday :) The kids were excited to pick out some of the stuff especially the Ni Hao Kai Lan doll that will clip to her stroller.

Howard just called, he has to drive one of his employees back to town tonight and will be home for one night, so I am ecstatic! We will see him for one night and then he will be home on Thursday night for 4 days! Hurray!

Also I would like to encourage those prayer warriors out there. I just heard through our Families Helping Families Ministry, that 27 families in our community are homeless do to a fire in their apartment building. Please pray for them and pray that those in our community will reach out to them in their time of need. From the info I received the families will not be able to re-enter their homes, so basically they have lost everything (material wise) I pray we can provide these families with some meals and basic supplies, so I will be on the phone and emailing my team and anyone else I can think of once I have a few more details.

Oh and for those of you wondering, Nathan is doing quite well. He is up and at em and will be back to school on Monday (I think) He is such a trooper! Hopefully his shoulder will heal quickly and be pain free by the end of the week :)

Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday!

Fracture!

Poor Nathan has a broken shoulder! We are not sure how it happened, however it has and he is in alot of pain! This part is the hard part.....the watching you child suffer and not being able to do anything about it. Nate has a pretty dapper looking sling with snoopy characters all over it and I am keeping him well medicated.

We are so blessed with a wonderful Doctor, he was on his way to the airport and met us at the Future Shop parking lot and examined him!!!! And then called the Xray department to order the Xrays! So we had seen the Doctor, had xrays, and bought a new sling and were home in less than 2 hours! We are so very thankful for our Dr.O.

Normally this sort of thing would be a little upsetting but we would put on our happy faces and move on, today is however only day 2 of 10 days that Howard is out of town for work. So I'm not feeling so tough at the moment:) I know I am exactly where I need to be and that God is at his strongest when I am weak! Right now I am feeling really weak! I know what I need to do (pray, and give it to God) but somehow I keep taking it back:) I know that He works using all things for the good of those who love Him. I just wish I could take this cup away from Nathan and bear it for him! This too shall pass!

Well I guess now that we are unable to be out and about this weekend, I can stay home with the kids and get all my Christmas baking done! Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:28~

11 Years of Wedded Bliss!

Our wedding day 11 years ago! I had to take a picture of picture as there were no digital cameras back then ;)






And then today.......well this summer, its not too often we get our picture taken together:)

I am so very blessed to be married to my favorite person in the whole world! I remember never being nervous on or leading up to our wedding day, I had no doubts because I knew that Howard was always meant to be my husband! We had a very quick courtship, met in February, engaged in June, pregnant in August and married in November! My parents really wanted us to wait at least a year to get married.....that was before I got "knocked up" Then there tune changed pretty quickly:) My Mom planned pretty much my whole wedding and it was lovely, I couldn't have planned a more perfect wedding myself! Thanks Mom! However more importantly our marriage has been a joyful one, we have always supported one another and knew when things were tough, that the valley we were in,was just a season and we would soon see brighter days! We have done so much growing together and even accepted the Lord and were baptized together! I was only 19 when we were married, and I thank God everyday that He gave me Howard. Most 19 year olds who get married and have kids that young don't have such wonderful stories! So I am thankful and I joke with my friends that, I love my husband and I even LIKE him too:)
Happy Anniversary Honey! Here's to another 50 years!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

~1 Cor. 13:13

A great cookbook for busy families.

Hmmmm....... we have been busy, doing what? I'm not really sure. Just the regular stuff kids to school, kids club, play dates, etc, etc, etc. Nothing really exciting, just regular life. Nathan and Josh had report cards and parent teacher interviews both our boys are doing well and have wonderful teachers. Riley is still loving preschool. Howard will be working away from home starting next Tuesday for 10 days and then will be home for4 days, neither one of us are very happy about that situation as it may last upwards of 6 months! So I have been praying that God will provide Howard with a different opportunity where he can still be fulfilled and challenged and paid well but be home every night and on weekends. We are thankful he has work that he loves and pays well, however we both acknowledge him living away is not healthy for our young family. I trust that God will provide us with what our family needs, and I will work at being content in all things:)





On a lighter note one of my dear friends T and I got together for a cooking marathon. I found this awesome cookbook called "Fix, Freeze, Feast" the whole theory is cook in bulk and freeze the meals, so they will be ready for busy weeknights. So my friend and I each chose 2 recipes and doubled them and we both walked away with 12 meals!! All made from scratch not a thing was from a can! We made beef fajitas, bourbon bbq chicken breasts, honey glazed chicken, and salisbury meatballs. The bonus was we got to hang out for the day and cook & visit! My friend T has some pictures of us with our treasured meals, I will have to get her to email me a pict and I will post it! I must admit we were quite proud of ourselves:) And the meals are delicious.





I have to admit I have been a little discouraged with the adoption progress. We haven't had much news lately, as they have been really busy at the foster home. I know that the bumbo chair made it to Beijing and is waiting for Keith to pick it up. I am so thankful for the family who brought it over for Addie. Also the orthopedic surgeon took a look at Addison and she looks really good no sign of hip issues or scoliosis, which is great! She will start an IV treatment called Pamidronate soon, this medication will help strengthen her bones and take away alot of the bone pain she has. Our eldest son Nathan has been on this medication since he was 3 mos old and it has changed his quality of life significantly, we were told by specialists that he would never sit up, walk or run. All of which Nate is able to do thanks in part to this medication Pamidronate. So needless to say we are quite excited to hear Addie will be receiving this med while in China! Now that I read this we have much to be thankful for! I just find that I have been "missing" her! Is that even possible? I don't even know her! I find it discouraging to think we are missing out on seeing her sit up for the first time and rollover etc. I guess that is my own selfishness. I just want to be able to hold her and hug her, and be there for her first treatment to comfort her when the nurses have to stick her with an IV needle. I love her and to think that we don't have an official referral yet is frustrating! Our agency says it looks good, 98% she will be ours, but in the back of my mind I still think theres a 2% chance things could go the other way. What this tells me is I need to put my trust in God and stop trying to take control of these circumstances! I need to learn patience, have more Faith, and trust that His ways are perfect!





Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 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 be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31








So as you can see nothing major this week thus far. I am certainly in need of some quiet time and prayer to get my thoughts back on track! I am looking forward to the next few days! Tomorrow night we have a women's banquet and fashion show at our church, its always a fun bring a friend event! The kids are all having sleepovers! And Howard's and my 11th anniversary is on Saturday! Hard to believe its been 11 years already, it seems like it was just yesterday! Although when I looked at our wedding pictures the other day I couldn't get over how young we were! I'm hoping to make a nice dinner and celebrate with some friends and the kids. Looks like we have a fun weekend in store! Hope the rest of your week is fabulous!

Olympic Torch and Great Days Off!

These last 2 days have been so wonderful. The Olympic torch came through our community, and the boys school decided to walk down to see it. Nathan's teacher and I were not too sure how the trails would be for Nate's wheelchair, as we just had snow before Halloween. So Howard and I decided we would take him ourselves. His aid offered to come with us to help out, which was awesome as she had Nate, I had Josh and Howard had Riley.I even got a little emotional when the torch went by!!! Not quite sure why.... but, whatever!
Also yesterday Nathan went to a birthday party it was a pool party and sleepover. Not a big deal, however we have never met the parents before, and we have a rule that no play dates, sleepovers, etc. unless we have met the parents. We did however decide to let Nathan go for the evening and picked him up at 9PM. I don't usually get anxious when he is on a "play date" however I usually know the parents quite well. So needless to say every time the phone rang last night I was a little jumpy. His right leg has been bugging him since he had a fall last weekend, and he has had a hard time walking since then.(Nate has brittle bone disease for those of you wondering why I am being neurotic:)) I don't believe its a fracture, but with him you never know! Josh and Riley both had friends over for the evening and we had a Chinese food feast and a "fancy"dessert! My kids think the cream puffs from Costco are super fancy!?! It was a fun evening for all of us and everyone was safe.Phew!!!
This morning was one of those awesome lazy, read the newspaper, build Lego, make a second pot of coffee mornings. We finally got on with our day around 10:30!!! We collectively agreed that today would be a great day to hang our outdoor Christmas lights. Yes I know some of you are thinking its way too early! However in our neck of the woods it could be -30 next week with 3 feet of snow!!! (I just looked at forecast and its suppose to get really warm next week! DOH!) Anyhoo they are done! Yay! We also made the yummiest ribs ever and a batch of cookies, even the kids rooms got cleaned! WooHoo! We all had fun actually, I think because we all worked together. Howard still has 2 days off. Tomorrow we will be off to church in the morning and who knows what in the afternoon? Monday I believe Howard has plans to go Moose hunting as his tag opened last weekend, and then he will be back to 10 more days of work, and I will start counting down until his next 4 days off:)
On the adoption front we haven't heard anything from China or our adoption agency. So we are sitting and waiting. I know the foster home was a buzz as they had a group doing a short term mission with them. Also the orthopedic surgeon from Shriners hospital in Chicago was with them. So I suspect they are very busy. I believe the birthday package we had sent for Addie was arriving with this group! I can't wait to hear if the outfits were the right size and if she liked the toys! I am also very curious to hear what the Doctor had to say about Addison's condition. Its funny I feel like I miss her.....yet I have never even met her! As much as I feel impatient and want things to speed up, I still know that God's timing is perfect! And trust his plan for our lives.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." ~Isaiah 30:21~

Howard hanging the Christmas lights!



Josh and Nathan with the Olympic Torch! (lighting wasn't so great for the picture)


The Flame running past us!

Finally I missed days 5 & 6 of what I am Thankful for! I think I may update once a week on my Thanks as its hard to get time everday of the week to blog it!

Day5 Thanks~ I am so very thankful for the wonderful children I have been blessed with! I pray everyday that I will be the Mother they need me to be. I never dreamed I would have three children let alone be adopting our 4th from China! I can't even put it into words what an honor it is to be my kids Mom!

Day6 Thanks~ I am thankful that I am able to stay at home with my children. I know there are many Mom's out there that HAVE to work, and would give their left arm to be at home with there kids. When Howard and I started out as a young couple I never dreamed we would have the luxury of having a parent home fulltime......yet here we are! I treat being a stay at home mom as a huge gift for me and my kids!

Thanks & Giving Day 4

Today I am so very Thankful for my church! Our whole immediate family has accepted Christ because this church was in our community! My family has a hope for heaven because this church was a Light! We just started a 6 week study called "Fearless" by Max Lucado, I am looking forward to hearing how lives will be changed throughout the study!

Days 1,2 and 3 of Thanks & Giving

I thought I would post here the things I was thankful for and will posting on the Threads of Faithfulness blog. You are welcome to join in just follow the link on the post just prior to this one.

Day1- My husband as he is my bestfriend, a wonderful father, that loves us all and provides for us!

Day 2- My best girlfriends whom I had lunch with! They are such a support and I am so blessed to have them in my life Thank Karolyn, Jodi, Karmen, Jodica & Kathleen! What an amazing small group we have:)

Day 3- I am thankful for my health, that I am able to serve others!

Now hopefully I will be able to keep up with this daily;)

Threads Of Faithfulness: 30 Days of Thanks and Giving is underway! ***UPDATED DAILY!!!

Hi all! One of the ladies whose blog I follow is doing 30 days of Thanks and Giving. What she is doing is everyday posting a quick note of 1 thing she is thankful for and one thing she has done for others! You can join in and add to the post at the end of the month she will blog a big post of Thanks and Giving! Just click on the link below and it will bring it to her site. Have an awesome day!

Threads Of Faithfulness: 30 Days of Thanks and Giving is underway! ***UPDATED DAILY!!!

Halloween Week In A Nutshell.

What a week! We were quite busy around here with some of us getting over the flu and Halloween festivities, we were on the go! Nathan and Josh seem to be improving from their bouts with the flu. Riley had her first Halloween party at preschool, boy has our girl come out of her shell! She is now making friends and had a blast! What a relief to see her doing so well. Both of the boys had parties on Friday at school, they both insisted on bringing pumpkin triffle so the pictures I added are them making the triffle. Howard is busy working his 10 days on, so we don't see much of him, however Friday will be here soon enough and then he will be off for 4 days! Hurray! I have been quite busy as I am now overseeing our small group ministry at church, I am really excited and have dove in head first as today was the first day of a huge campaign and study, we have started church wide called "Fearless" based on Max Lucado's new book with the same title. I am really passionate about the people of our church getting connected in small groups. Also what this study could do for the people of our church and community!

Saturday was a great day the kids and I hung out at home and got ready for trick or treating. We had some dear friends of ours come over for nachos and finger foods and then the Dad's took the kids out trick or treating! Yay for Dad's! The kids had fun and hauled in the candy, and I think we adults also had fun visiting, and "sorting"through the candy bags :)

On the adoption front not alot to report, which is very frustrating! Addison is doing well, she will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon from the Chicago Shriners Hospital next week. He is in Bejing doing some training with the doctors out there. Her foster Dad Keith hopes to hear from the orphanage director next week, so they can take her in for her adoption physical. That would be great news and quicker than Howard and I expected. We were able to find a lovely family travelling early in November that was willing to carry Addie's Bumbo chair out to her in Bejing, we are so very greatful to them!

Well that was our week in a nutshell. Hope you all have a wonderful week this week!

Happy Halloween From Our Munchkins!

Impossible to get them all together in a picture!




"Nathan Potter"



"Count Joshula"

"Riley The Fairy Princess"

We Skyped With Addie!!!

Wow we just spent and hour skyping with Addison and her foster family! She is so lovely and sweet and wiggly and small 6mos size clothes fit!!! She has two bottom teeth, she was very sleepy as it was 9PM her time but she chatted a couple times and drank her bottle and wiggled and wiggled and wiggled :) She will see the orthopedic surgeon from Chicago, Dr Miller, November 4th! From what Keith (her foster Dad) said she has only had one femur fracture that they can see! Nathan had over 100 at birth! So Addie is looking like she is a very mild case of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease) Keith asked us when we were coming out to visit!!! Jokingly of course! But gosh it would be awesome! It's just not in the budget. We are so very blessed that we got to chat live with our sweet baby girl! Her finding ad is in the paper right now so Keith said soon they be receiving a call to bring her in for her adoption physical! It's so nice to know that things are heading in the right direction! Poor Addie has been in the orphanage since birth and the ayi's (nannies) were too scared to hold her, so the first couple days she was in foster care she was uncomfortable with being held, however now she loves it! And is attaching to this family! She is not sitting up yet and they said they are looking for a boppy chair to help her gain strength in those muscles. I'm hoping to find someone heading to Beijing that would be willing to carry a boppy chair! As they can't get one in China. If anyone who follows this blog knows someone heading that way that has room to carry one (they are very light , just awkward in size) Please leave a comment we'll get in contact :)

On another note our Nate boy is doing well he is still very sick but he is a little improved today, Hurray! So far none of the rest of us are showing symptoms of getting sick!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

FLU!!!!! Yet God is Good!

He loved us so much he died for us!


Well our sweet boy Nathan woke up this morning with high fever, chills, headache, severe cough, and no energy. So he is home. As he has brittle bone disease he is at risk for lung complications, so I phoned our doctors office and it took 2hrs to get through!!!! Poor staff, they're swamped! Anyways apparently in our community they have stopped testing for H1N1 as it is the dominate strain they are seeing when people are being tested with flu symptoms, and if you have the flu symptoms you are being treated like you have it!!! Our Doctor advised that Nathan start Tamiflu immediately and that we stay away from the public, he didn't even want us to come in to asses him! I don't blame him! Fine with me we spend enough time in hospitals and doctors offices! So now we are just praying the other two kids don't develop symptoms and that Nathan's symptoms won't worsen. Poor guy! I'm trying to keep the other two away from him and he's lonely! I was also told to advise the school of his symptoms! So of course they are in panic mode. I hope they don't scare all the parents! It's obviously too late anyways! I was just amazed at how quickly our sweet boy got sick! He was fine last night and now he looks like "death warmed over"







On another note our scheduled Skype with Addison didn't go well, I guess they had a power outage in Beijing and we were not able to get through. So we have rescheduled for Saturday morning our time! We are all still very excited!







We had something very interesting happen last night. While we were trying to get through on Skype I decided to check my emails and we had 3 from our adoption agency, apparently a little girl with brittle bone disease "showed up"on the shared list!!!! (this is the agency that said they have never seen this disease on the list before!) They wanted to know if we wanted to look at her file! Well we knew for sure this wasn't Addison, and we truly didn't know what to do! In our hearts Addie is ours, however in our minds we still know that its not guaranteed until we have an official referral. Our agency says it looks promising for Addison referral but no guarantees! So what was this? Why was there a little girl on the list now? Howard and I decided to take a few minutes and pray together and after praying we decided not to make a decision until morning. Well not 20 minutes later we got another email saying that we should forget it as the child on the list was much older than the age range we were approved for. In our own selfish way we were relieved! And so thankful that God hadn't made us make that decision! You know I am still in awe of how much God loves us! He saw how hard it was going to be to make that decision and he chose to help us! Its kind of surreal! What an amazing sovereign God we serve! He knows all, and sees all and if we just ask for help He will show us the right path! So I challenge you to add a comment on how you have seen God reveal His love for you! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Skyping with Addison!!!!!

Oh my is Skype the best thing ever invented? In my books.....right now it is! Keith the gentleman that runs the Foster home that Addie is in suggested that I sign up for a skype account and then we can chat with her once a week!!! What a blessing! She'll actually know our faces and voices a little bit before we take her out of the only loving home she has ever been in. I have been struggling with that lately, they (the foster family) truly do love her and want whats best for her....but is us bringing her across the world the "best"thing for her? I am preparing myself for a heartbroken little girl for the first few weeks we have her in our arms. My heart wants to break just thinking about it :( Apparently Addison learned a new trick yesterday... she was playing on the floor and rolled over!!! I guess it scared her quite a bit, and they all got a good chuckle out of that! Also she is soooo wanting to sit up on her own but doesn't quite have the strength yet. I'm sure we will have a report that she is sitting in the next few weeks! I'll post when we actually see her and chat with her on Skype! I think I am floating on cloud 9 we can't wait! Riley is planning on singing "the wheels on the bus"for her when we chat!lol! Well I must go and feed the troops!

Wow!

Check out what this young man is doing! Its a great video! We will definetly be supporting him! http://www.vimeo.com/6674672

Hurray! They've Made Contact!

Oh me oh my I am so relieved! We got news tonight that our agency got ahold of the orphanage! God is good! Addison's profile is being prepared and we should have her official referral "shortly" Okay! so what does shortly mean!?! 1 week? 1 month? Next year? Hopefully they can give us a guesstimate! Apparently Addison is receiving the same medicine our Nathan is on! And it will allow her bones to become stronger and more dense! We were not expecting that so the fact she is on this medication is HUGE! And will drastically change the quality of her life.

I'm not sure what happens next with the adoption referral, I pray things will go smoothly with us receiving the official referral of Addison. To be quite honest I was beginning to doubt that things would work out and my heart was getting weary! It's such an odd thing to fall in love with a picture of a little person whom you don't know, but you know you want wonderful blessings for them! We have had several mix up with phone numbers of the orphanage and we were starting to wonder what was going on!

We're surprised to find out Addie is from the Henan Province, as our dear friends new daughter is from the same province! She was sooo excited, as she was thinking that when the girls get older we could do a heritage trip together! These friends are such encouragers for us and we are so blessed to have them in our lives!

Well I should head off to bed! Friends if we can ask you to please pray that the paperwork will make it's way to our agency (FOI) private list as quickly as possible, for Addison's health, that the Lord will prepare her heart for us, that He will place a hedge of protection around her, that we will have prepared our children at home for Addison, and that they will adjust to having a new sister smoothly! We feel so blessed to know that many of you are praying for us! We are honored to have you all following our journey to our sweet baby girl, and we pray that our journey will truly show how amazing our Father in Heaven IS!

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. ~Psalm 28:7~

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for Nathan. Because he has taught me about strength!

I'm thankful for Riley, because she taught me about sensitivity.

I'm thankful for my husband, because he taught me about love.

I'm thankful for my parents, because among a million other things they taught me about positive attitude. I'm thankful for my sister, because she taught me about everlasting friendship.

I'm thankful for my children's father, because he makes up for what I lack and then some! My kids are so blessed to have him as their Dad! And I'm blessed that he is my partner.

I'm thankful for Josh, because he taught me how to be fun!

I'm also thankful for Addison and she has already taught me about patience. ( although Istill have much to learn about that :)) We can't wait to meet you!
I hope those of you in Canada have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with the people you are thankful for! And those of you elsewhere cherish the ones your lives have been blessed with, and give thanks for those blessings! I know I will be giving thanks for those that are near and far!Happy Thanksgiving!

They've Attempted Contact!

Well our adoption agency attempted contact with the orphanage director. I guess the phone # I gave them did not work! But they did send an email! So I am checking with the foster family to see if the number I gave the agency is right. We are heading into Thanksgiving weekend so I think that we will hear nothing until after Monday. Please pray that the email our agency sent is received by the right person, and that Addison's referral will miraculously show up on our agencies list! I know it probably won't happen that quickly but even if the steps towards that happening are started I would be ecstatic! On another note..... SNOW ...... alot of it again this morning! I can hardly see the grass peeking through! Sigh, well I better go put extra socks in Josh's backpack as I still need to go buy him winter boots. I probably should have done that last night after Kids club! Whoops! I am adding another picture of Addison as her cute little face is slipping further down the page on the blog! Please Lord bring her home to us!

First Snow!

Well this morning we woke up to a frosting of fresh snow! Yes I said snow. It was absolutely beautiful! The kids woke up and were sooooo excited! It snowed all morning the big fluffy kind of snow flakes, and then melted this afternoon. What all the white stuff made me realize is that I need 3 new pairs of winter boots for my kids and only one needs a new snowsuit. Also I need to organize our "mitten"drawers. So today is the day I go to this wonderful women's book study at another church I love going however this year Riley has decided she doesn't like going to the preschool class that they provide while the Mom's are busy visiting and sharing how they liked/disliked the chapter they read. Well I thought maybe I'd bring Riley with me to see how boring for her it would be to stay with me! The fellowship part she was great colored had a snack and was very well behaved. Then for the small group part she was getting bored. I checked with the class to make sure they were okay with me bringing her in and they "all said yes of course we have all been there. " So I hesitantly brought her along. Well she started to tap a lip gloss on the table and I whispered to her to please stop. She wouldn't of course! :) And then the lady next me took it from her and said "She is really annoying me!" Well I was stunned! I sat there for a minute or two and then decided I should probably leave before the situation escalated and this lady made anymore comments.(And I said something I would later be ashamed of) So I packed up and left. As I was leaving a sweet lady came out after me and said "she just want to say sorry for what that lady said she was so rude, please come back." I thanked her but declined. I was very touched by the women who came out it was so kind of her! And I probably will not go back until Riley is ready to go to class. As for the other women I was a little mad. I started thinking what if I had been new to that church and had no friends or family and my child was really clingy and that was my only adult interaciton I had all week? How would that have affected my attitude towards that church? Its sad. I know we are all humans and we all make mistakes, but please someone when my kids are all teenagers and I have forgotten what its like to have toddlers please remind me to show those young mom's some grace! Sorry about the rant. I just was a little shocked by the whole episode! On another note I am so thankful for my kids I love,love,love them! Even if Riley is going through a clingy stage ;) Thanks for listening to my belly aching :) Here's couple pictures of my munchkins.


How could this little one annoy anyone? She is more precious than gold to me :)

Fun With Friends

We had such a wonderful weekend! Saturday was spent having play dates (for Riley) and baking treats for the Mid Autumn Moon Festival. We made our version of moon cakes (thumb print cookies with jam in them) and the kids loved helping out, I think this will be a tradition I would like to carry on with them, the cookies were easy to make and tasty! We also made some pumpkin pie as Nathan hates jam :) And then we packed those up and headed over to our dear friends house. I had put some stuff together to make traditional kung pao chicken and asian style green beans, our friends had made a marinaded chicken dish, appetizers and rice. It was DELICIOUS!!!!! What a treat! Our friends have been home for almost a year now with their beautiful daughter who was born in the Henan province of China. They also have 3 other children close in age to my 3 so it was a full house, but a blast. We finished our evening off with a fire outdoors and dessert admiring the huge beautifully lit moon thinking of our family and friends that couldn't be with us. I wish I had pictures it was such a fun evening full of laughs. Since my camera broke this summer I have been a bit of a slacker with the photos sorry. Hopefully Santa will be bringing me the one I have been hoping for! (wink, wink) We have all been loving the Fall. The weather has certainly changed and it is now cool and crisp! Howard has 4 more 13 hr days and then he will have 4 days off. Hurray! I think the 10 13hr days in a row are really starting to get to him. I know they are getting to me and the kids we miss him and hate only having an hour or two a night with him, however I know we shouldn't complain as there are many people without work. So we feel blessed. I have been very busy with two ladies groups that I attend as well as the families helping families ministry that I facilitate. And soon we will be starting a 5 week small group study on Max Lucado's new book Fearless. I quite looking forward to this study to see how many lives this book will change. On the adoption front we are in waiting mode Waiting for our agency to get ahold of the orphanage director,to secure a referral for little Addison. I have my moments of weakness where I feel that this will never happen or I am crazy to let myself get so excited for this little girl, as so many things could go wrong. However I do trust my heavenly Father and I do know his plans for me are good..... so I wait trying to be patient, trusting that there is a plan and if this is our child everything will fall into place in its right time. And if she is not our child then there is another little one that is meant to be with us. So this week will be a busy one and then Thanksgiving weekend. We are not sure what are plans are yet as we don't have family close to us, but I hope this will be our last Thanksgiving as a family of 5 and next Thanksgiving we will be celebrating as a family of 6!