SUPRISE SHOWER!

WOW! What a fantastic surprise! My oldest daughter Kayleigh is so very thoughtful! She planned and hosted a surprise baby shower for me! It was so nice. The day ended up being very snowy and the roads were getting horrendous, but we had so many people come to help celebrate the impending arrival of Eli! Ican't thank them all enough! We received so many nice things for our sweet boy! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and thoughtful daughter and friends!!

~~OUR DS230 is on its way to China~~

Our Letter from the National Visa Center came today! I had already sent our I800 approval, as well as our signed LOA & my travel info to FTIA on Monday! Betty looked over it today and it is now officially on its way to China to be walked into the American Consulate!! They will receive it on 12/9, it will be picked up on 12/23 and sent back to FTIA. This is called our Article 5!!! Then we wait on TA!!! I am so hoping we will travel in Jan! CNY begins on Feb 3 and the prices on flights and hotels will sky rocket!!I AM PRAYING BIG!!!!

Bring Me Hope

A TIME FOR THANKSGIVING!

I absolutely love the holidays! I love the sights, the sounds, the smells, the food. I LOVE it all! It is hard for me to understand where the year has gone to! It just seems like it was summer, and now here we are celebrating the holidays! This will be a very different Thanksgiving for our family. For the first time since I have become a mother, my oldest son Zach will not be home with us. Zach is serving as a proud United States soldier to the GREATEST country in the world! As hard as it is for me to not sit around and cry, I know that Zach is right where GOD needs him for now!

I have always felt that we should not just be thankful one day out of the year, but every day! This year I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my family. I have an awesome husband who loves God, loves me very much, is a hard worker, wonderful provider, awesome daddy, and has a heart for the orphan just as I do! My husband has given up many things for this family, and I love him for always putting his family first!

I am thankful that I have four children living on this continent! I have a son who I am extremely proud of, and a daughter- in- love that I adore! I have a daughter who is beautiful inside and out, and is my best friend! And then there are my 2 little daughters from China! What blessings they have been to this family! We love them both so much and we are thankful that GOD chose us to be their family!

And last but not least, I am so thankful for our baby boy that is waiting for us in China! He is beautiful and we can not wait to get him home! Thank you FATHER for breaking our hearts to the things that break yours! Thank you for our good health and all the blessings that you continue to rain upon us. We are undeserving, but ever thankful! May GOD bless all of you this Thanksgiving!!!

New pics & I800 Approval!!!!

A very inquisitive boy!!

Love those chubby little cheeks!!

My ALL time favorite picture of Eli!

He CAN smile!!

He is a pip squeak!

I spent my day Thursday at the hospital with my mom & dad. My dad was scheduled for knee replacement surgery. When I came home that evening what a surprise to find 5 new pictures of Elijah!! He is just an absolutely beautiful little boy! Then, what an AWESOME surprise and BLESSING to open my mailbox on Saturday morning to find our I800 approval!!!! 2 weeks is all it took! So it looks as if I might be traveling sometime in January! I can't wait!!!

I Believe in the power of ....

I have been doing a lot of praying! Praying that our I800 approval will come soon! I emailed USCIS and they said I could expect to hear something around the 15th! That is tomorrow!! Ephesians 1:19-20 says, "I also pray that you will understand the incredible greaness of God's power for us who believe in him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at GOD's right hand in the heavenly realms."

I must say that as I thought about the power of prayer I thought that if GOD has the power to raise the dead, he has the power to answer any prayer regardless of how big or small the request may be! We should be praying the BIGGEST prayers. NO prayer is too big for our GOD! No prayer is so big that in answering it, God wishes that we would have made it even bigger!! There is absolutely nothing too big for GOD! So from now on I am praying BIG!!!