THREE WISHES...

I made SOME headway this weekend as far as getting documents that are needed for travel. I did manage to make a list of everything needed, and checked off about a third of them! Each day this next week I hope to check off a couple more!

My three wishes for the upcoming week are (1) that we receive our TA from China and can begin to make travel arrangements, (2) that Kim receives her long-awaited LOA from China, and (3) that all goes well for the Clark family as they welcome AJ into their family!

I will only be posting this next week if we receive TA, or if we receive updated pictures of Haley from the Clark family. Otherwise, I will be focusing on gathering the rest of the documents needed for travel! So, I wish you all a very happy and SAFE 4th of July (hooray, it's a 3-day weekend)!!!!!

OUR MOST RECENT PICTURES OF HALEY (WHO JUST WOKE UP FROM HER NAP)! SMILE, MY LITTLE PRINCESS....YOUR DADDY WILL BE COMING FOR YOU SOON!

LOOKING BACK!

I was looking back through some of the pictures we've received of Haley, and I just can't believe how much she has changed since the very first photo we saw of her! We are so thankful for all of the families who have traveled and taken pictures for us! The pictures have made the long "wait" just a tad bit easier!



Haley is truly a little princess!! My heart is just "aching" for her to come home! I can't wait to finally be able to hold her!! The clock is ticking....and it will soon be time to plan for her arrival!! FINALLY!!




I thought I would share a few pictures from over the past year..

This was the very first picture we saw of Haley on our adoption agency's list of special needs children!

This is still one of my favorite pictures of Haley! She reminded me of a "butterfly"!

These were updated photos that we received from our adoption agency in December!

I loved this sweater the minute I saw it on her! It reminded me of something my grandmother Millie would have made (I probably wore something similar to it when I was little)!

I think this is the only picture we have of Haley without "pigtails"!

These were taken in March of this year. She had just opened the envelope we sent to her with the princess bracelet and necklace (and rings)! It was so nice to see her "gleaming" with happiness!

This picture brought tears to my eyes when I saw it! And many of you commented on how nice it was to see somebody "holding" our little girl! YES IT WAS!!!! Thanks for the great picture, Allison & Patrick! How funny that Allison made the comment to me that Haley reminded her of a little butterfly (the same connection I had made several months prior)!!

I've always called her my little princess! She looks like one in these pictures! She received another envelope/package from us (with the traditional picture of her on the front)! We were told that when she saw this envelope, she smiled and knew right away what it was!

This is the most recent picture we have received of Haley. When I zoomed the picture in closer, I noticed that she was wearing the Tinkerbell barrett that I had sent in the care package above!!

There is a family who will be in Hefei on Monday, June 30th, to adopt their new son! We sent another envelope/package for Haley with them. We are hoping they will be able to get a few pictures for us! These will likely be the LAST pictures we receive of Haley before travel!!

WE HOPE THAT TRAVEL APPROVAL (TA) ARRIVES SOON!

FULL SPEED AHEAD WITH THE PAPERWORK!

We had our "travel meeting" via telephone today with the adoption agency. We didn't have many questions since we've been through this a time or two before!! But, there are a lot of forms that I have to sign and have notarized before Michael travels (since he will be traveling without me)! And, copies of this and that, and copies of tax returns and all attachments for the past 3 years.....LOTS OF FUN!! I'm going to try and get a good portion of this done THIS WEEKEND! What I don't get done this weekend....I'll finish next weekend! So, we'll be READY when our "TA" arrives from China! And, we're hoping that is VERY SOON! The adoption agency said "within two weeks"....could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be the week after!

We should receive the Passports back next week with the Visas to enter China! I've got Haley's suitcase packed! So...I think I'm on top of things here!!
HANG IN THERE, HALEY....WE'RE SO CLOSE TO HAVING YOU HOME!!

We're going to order Lauryn's birthday cake tomorrow! Her birthday is July 5th (next Saturday)!

OUR LITTLE ANGEL GIRL!! HARD TO BELIEVE SHE's TURNING 5!

HERE's WHAT's HAPPENING...

NOT MUCH TIME TO POST BECAUSE I HAVE A BUNCH OF RUNNING TO DO TODAY! BUT, WE GOT OUR TRAVEL PACKET FROM THE ADOPTION AGENCY TODAY AND WE HAVE A TRAVEL MEETING SCHEDULED WITH OUR ADOPTION AGENCY ON THURSDAY (TO GO OVER TRAVEL PAPERWORK, CONSULATE PAPERWORK, ETC.)! WE REMEMBER GETTING TO THIS POINT WITH OUR LAST TWO ADOPTIONS AND....IT IS DEFINITELY A GOOD FEELING! IT MEANS WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO BRINGING OUR DAUGHTER HOME!

I'M HOPING THE ADOPTION AGENCY CAN TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT OUR "TA" ON THURSDAY TOO (MAYBE THEY'LL KNOW THE STATUS).

I'M SENDING IN THE PASSPORTS TODAY AND APPLYING FOR VISAS TO ENTER CHINA! WE'RE SENDING CARLI's PASSPORT ALONG WITH MY HUSBAND's. SHE DOESN'T KNOW IT YET!! WE'RE HOPING TO SURPRISE HER AND TELL HER THAT SHE CAN GO WITH HIM TO CHINA!! WE'LL HAVE TO SEE HOW MUCH MONEY IT WILL COST FOR HER TO TRAVEL, BUT HOPEFULLY WE CAN AFFORD FOR HER TO GO!! SHE IS GOING TO BE THRILLED WITH A CAPITAL "T" IF THIS ALL WORKS OUT!!

IS IT MY IMAGINATION OR DO THESE TWO HAVE THE SAME "LOOK" ABOUT THEM!!!

WHAT A FUN DAY!!

Our very good friends, Larry and Sheryl, had a birthday party for their son today (he turned 21)! We spent the day outside, and what a BEAUTIFUL day it turned out to be! The kids had a great time in the swimming pool and now they are REALLY excited to be getting one of their own next summer! There was also a lot of 4-wheeling today! We love to go to Larry and Sheryl's because they live in the "country" and there is soooo much open space for the kids to run and play, and HAVE FUN!! We even walked to the farm next door to see some baby lambs (so cute)!

Hope you all have a great weekend! I'll leave you with some pictures from today...

The girls before changing into their swimsuits (they could hardly wait)!!
Austin, Carli and Dylan having fun!!

Jessi and Lauryn!

Geeze, does Lauryn get full service or WHAT?!

My "Carli girl"!

I told you we were in the COUNTRY! Look at the nice OPEN FIELD behind the pool! No need for a "privacy fence" here!!

Carli loved the "noodles" once she figured out what to do with them!

Dad and Lauryn!

Dylan and Austin took turns fighting over the goggles!!

Jessi and Andy on the 4-wheeler!

I don't know WHAT Jessi was doing, but she was acting goofy and Andy was trying hard not to laugh! Hmmm...must have been an "inside" joke!

No...they did NOT ride this by themselves! They were only sitting on it (and Lauryn sitting on the one behind)! Austin DISAPPEARED after the swimming pool! We found him in the house playing on the wii (he is hoping he will get one for his birthday in August! HAAA....at almost $400, I don't think so)!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Today is my birthday! It is a day that I truly enjoy...not that I look forward to turning another year older, but because my kids make SUCH a big deal out of my birthday! It's just....FUNNY! I woke up this morning to about 20 or so homemade birthday cards!! I have been given homemade "tickets" for a free back scratch, and foot massage (I'm gonna collect on that one TONIGHT)! I've been told Happy Birthday about A HUNDRED times already....and it's only noon! I also got some store-bought cards and presents (mmmm....very nice perfume)! But, it's definitely the homemade gifts and cards that are my FAVORITE! I'll take those ANY DAY over the ones that can be bought in a store!!

So, Dylan said to me earlier "Mom, we're taking you out to dinner anywhere you want to go....and we're taking you to the mall so you can pick out whatever you want to buy.....cuz it's your birthday mom, and we love you"!!

How sweet is that?!! But...um.....anywhere I want to go, and anything that I want to buy?!! And WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT?!! Oh, yeah....MOM!!! Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Check back later....I'm sure I'll have pictures to post from my big day!!
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PICTURE TIME....

The "Curve" perfume smells GREAT! One thing my husband can do is pick out GOOD perfume!! And the Vera Bradley bag is WONDERFUL (I can find 100 uses for it)! And the sunglasses...LOVE THEM!! Here's Lauryn! She couldn't stay away from my lap very long!! Can I just say that it was like 90+ degrees here today and HUMID! It was NOT a good hair day! It's days like these that I think about getting my hair cut REALLY short!! You may see me sporting a new "hairdo" soon!

Lauryn at Olive Garden! Dylan did say that I could go anywhere that I wanted...and we hadn't been to Olive Garden in quite a while! It was VERY good! Love the salad and breadsticks!!

We had a GREAT lunch! Then we came home and had cake & ice cream!

The kids all took a bath and got their pajamas on earlier this evening, Jessi ordered pizza (from Oley's....mmmm mmmmm goood) and then we watched the Disney Channel premiere of Camp Rock! It was a very good movie!! And, now...the kids are all tucked in bed!

I had a WONDERFUL day today!

THE WAIT....

I must admit...this waiting for TA and anticipating when it will arrive is going to kill me!! I think it's fair to say that Michael will travel sometime next month (July) to bring her home, but I don't want to hold my breath! I can't say for certainty yet, but it does not look like I will be able to make the trip to China (for several reasons). It's very depressing, but...I'm trying to stay focused on our main goal.....GETTING HER HOME!



I went shopping yesterday and bought some new clothes for Haley...since the ones we originally bought were obviously going to be too big for her! Thank goodness for sales!! Target had a lot of very cute outfits (size XS), and JC Penney had all of their summer clothes 40-60 percent off! Can you believe it?! Summer is not even officially here yet and the clothes are already on clearance! I spent $65 and SAVED $116! Now THAT's my kind of sale!!



I've already started packing her suitcase and her little backpack for Gotcha-Day with all kinds of "goodies" inside (jewelry, sunglasses, stickers, notebook, crayons, and candy of course)! I'm going to have that suitcase packed and ready! When we get the call about our TA arriving, I want to make arrangements for a flight ASAP!! My goodness...do you think it has taken us long enough to get to this point?! If travel comes next month, the process will have taken us 13 months!! YIKES!



Come on TA....make it here in record time!!

These pictures were taken by the Frederickson family in July of 2007! Almost a YEAR ago! It's definitely time for our daughter to come home!

MORE CLEAN-UP....

Do you remember my post from Monday, June 10th, when the tornado went through our neighborhood? We've been busy cleaning up all week...the sound of chain saws has been almost never-ending here!

I posted these pictures of our neighbor's tree that was struck by lightning (almost splitting the tree directly in half), leaving half of the tree standing and the other half falling and landing across our street.

Tuesday brought lots of City trucks into our neighborhood to clean up trees that had fallen.

These trucks removed the half of the tree that had fallen across the street after being struck by lightning. Many of the neighbors begged these workers to cut down the remaining part of the tree that was left standing because it looked like a light wind could blow it down!! The workers said they could not cut it down because they were only removing trees that were blocking streets and intersections (over 100)! But, they assured all of us in the neighborhood that they would be back on Wednesday to cut the rest of the tree down and remove it. They did not come back on Wednesday. They did not come back on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Today, this is what happened to the rest of the tree that was left standing....

This is all that remains now....


I can only say that it is a MIRACLE that nobody was hurt, especially children. This house happens to be a "gathering place" for all of the neighborhood children! Had it not been Father's Day when everyone was busy having cook-outs and celebrating, most likely there would have been several children playing outside at this house!

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The tree crushed their station wagon and their red pick-up truck (you can barely see the red truck under the tree). It destroyed a good portion of their backyard fence, their swingset, and their above-ground pool. This family happened to be INSIDE their house when the tree fell (another MIRACLE)!

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There were no strong winds today or other precipitating factors! This tree just simply FELL over, like many of us feared would happen!

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I, LIKE MANY OTHERS HERE, AM COUNTING MY BLESSINGS TODAY!

HAPPY FATHER's DAY!

Happy Father's Day to all of the Father's out there! I wanted to do a special post today for my husband....to tell him how very much I love and appreciate him! I am so thankful that our paths crossed almost 12 years ago, and I will forever be greatful to him for the family that we have made together! Happy Father's Day, Michael!

We're pregnant!! With twins!! The fun begins!

I've never seen a father so proud of his new daughter! These two have been inseparable since the day I gave birth!! REALLY!!

How did we do it?! I've asked myself that a hundred times! We have no family close to us...mine in Wisconsin, and my husband's in Michigan! I cannot even tell you how EXHAUSTING it was to have twins!! Let me just say that we had to "catch a nap" whenever and WHEREVER we could!

Are you getting the picture of how "exhausting" it was?!!

Nevertheless, we were very PROUD parents!! We were extremely blessed to have two HEALTHY babies!

Mealtime was always a challenge! And these two were well known for making mealtime VERY messy!!

Dylan and Carli, you have brought such joy into our lives! You are truly a blessing!!

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When Dylan and Carli turned 4, we were ready to add another child to our family! We chose international adoption, and off to Russia we went!! Welcome, Austin!!

We now have 3 little ones!! The fun continues!!!

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Big brother, Alex (Michael's son from a previous marriage) has been great! The kids always enjoy seeing him...which isn't often enough!!

And big sister, Jessi (Erin's daughter from a previous marriage)! What would we do without her? She's like a 2nd mom to our little ones!

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Two years after Austin joined our family, we were sent an ANGEL from heaven...Lauryn!

We now have 4 little ones! And.....still having fun!!

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A year after we brought Lauryn home from China, we fell in love with a little girl's picture, and we knew that she was meant to be part of our growing family! We knew that her special need was profound deafness, but it didn't matter! We really didn't even have to THINK about it!! We love her DEARLY, and we cannot wait to bring her home!

Happy Father's Day to my husband from your family!

XXOO

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HAPPY FATHER's DAY TO MY FATHER-IN-LAW....FRANK! WE SEND HUGS AND KISSES TO YOU IN MICHIGAN!

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HAPPY FATHER's DAY TO MY FATHER...TOM!! WE SEND HUGS AND KISSES TO YOU IN HEAVEN!