Hope's 2nd Care Package

Our family has prepared Hope's next care package. Cherish decorated the box with stickers (once again, the box has to be the size of an average shoe box to fly through Customs) and drew Hope a picture of our family. There's Daddy, Mommy, Cherish, Hope, and Andrew. I labeled each person in the picture in Chinese so Hope could see where she fits into the family.

I want to thank Lil who provided the "multicultural" crayons so that Cherish could draw her family in the correct skin, hair, and eye colors. Those crayons are a hit!

Also, we added a photo album to the box--with pictures of Hope included in the album. Once again, in Chinese, I labeled each person in each photo so that the nannies will be able to talk to Hope about us and prepare her to join our family.

There is also a dress Cherish once wore. It is size 4T, and I'm hoping it shows up in one of her pictures so that I will be able to tell what size Hope wears (so I can pack properly for her when we head to Ch*na). We are also sending along matching bows and barrettes, frilly socks, a snack, and socks to share with her friends--thanks to Liz and her thoughtfulness!

In addition, my friend Kristin wanted to bless Hope--and us. She bought Hope lots of stickers--most of which are Hello Kitty--and a Hello Kitty booklet. Little did Kristin know when she purchased these things that we were hoping to include something "familiar" for Hope. Do you see the Hello Kitty balloon in the picture below? There is the "familiar" link that might make Hope feel comfortable with us.

Here is Hope in the dress we sent in her last box.

She is the one talking with the man in the forefront of the picture.

May God use the contents of this box to bless Hope...

...soon to be a daughter.

And, may God abundantly bless Lil, Liz, and Kristin for their blessings on our family!! Thank you, ladies!!

Forts are a must...

...and they are so much more fun when you dress up!

So, here are our Indian children:

Here's to creative summer days....

So. thankful. for. pictures!!

...of our silly girl!

Dancing Feet

This past weekend was a dancing weekend! Cherish had dress rehearsal on Friday and two performances on Saturday.

Here she is at dance rehearsal:

Her ballet performance was to "I Choose Jesus" by Moriah Peters.

Talk about powerful and touching!

Her jazz performance was to "Shake It Up" by Selena Gomez.

She had such a blast leaping, jumping, and dancing!

 These two ladies are THE BEST dance teachers and role models

any parent (or daughter) could ever hope for!

THANK YOU, Pappy and Nanny,

for gifting Cherish with dance lessons!!

She thoroughly enjoyed her year!!

Holding Hands

Andrew took Derek's hand and put both his hands in Derek's.

They remained this way for quite some time.

There will come a day, I am sure,

when Andrew will outgrow this kind of expressive love for his daddy.

But for now, we are holding on to the sweetness....

Blessed with Pictures

We have been blessed to receive pictures of Hope! Such pictures fill our hearts with great joy and peace--knowing she is so well loved and cared for!

 

And here she is in the dress we sent her!
The best part?
She has our family photo album that was in the same package!
She knows she has a family coming for her!!!

Thank. You. LORD. for. these. pictures!!!

Derek turned 40!

This past weekend we celebrated Derek turning 40. And, might I add: he still looks FANTASTIC!

Derek with his parents:

 Who, by the way, treated us all to the Rainforest Cafe:

And, we went to Animal Kingdom for his birthday. How did we do that on an international adoption budget? We said "yes" to touring a vacation property (kind of like a timeshare).

Sit through a presentation and receive a free (birthday) breakfast at Houlihan's and free Disney tickets? Yep. Count us in.

 Andrew ran up and hugged Mickey. J

He's getting brave in his "old age". 

 Aww! He held Mickey's hand.

 Watching a show:

 Birthday guy with "The Thinker":

 Our "Wilderness Explorer":

 So brave! (Trust me, I was shocked!)

We hope Derek had a great 40th birthday celebration.

We had fun being with him!