LegoLand

With birthdays just days apart, we have been celebrating Hope and Andrew this week!

Together Hope and Andrew decided they wanted a day at LegoLand for their birthdays, so we went on a "Home School Day". (What an amazing discount! Our whole family got in for a little less than the price of one regular ticket!)

These best friends compliment each other like

"peanut butter and jelly",
"ketchup and mustard",
and "sweet and salty".

Happy Birthday week to these two awesome kids!

...from everyone!

Mr. Independent

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Andrew is 6!

What a JOY he is!!!

Derek and I continually marvel at how kind and gracious Andrew is. He is our teacher!

God bless Andrew!

Andrew

Andrew told me two nights ago: "The Angel of the Lord came to me to tell me to be a missionary."

Andrew told me last night: "God told me to be a missionary to Asia."

Andrew told me today: "God is like a bubble around me. He will go with me to Asia."

His momma is wordless.

Just playin'

 Best Buds:

 Just watchin' the craziness:

Ready for Samuel...

...to take a ride with Daniel:

Thank you, Collins family!

DTC!!

We are Dossier to China!!!! (All our adoption paperwork has passed inspection! Samuel's timeline is now in China's hands.)

New Picture and Information on "Chen"

We have a name!

We will be naming little guy Samuel Yao-Chen Bollinger.

He will go by "Sammy".

At 1 year and 3 months old, Sammy has 6 teeth, weighs about 19 pounds, and is about 28 inches tall.

Here are some videos of our little guy:

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Video #4

No matter how short the videos and no matter how good of quality the pictures, each one is a gift--like an unexpected present! Each one is a treasure, giving us a glimpse into the life of the son we will hold soon.

Sammy is at the Lily Orphan Care Center--which is a section of the orphanage that cares for those with the greatest needs--in Kaifeng. We have been given the precious opportunity to be his sponsor and to begin caring for him even before we receive him as our son.

God bless Sammy!

♥♥♥
"We love you, little guy!!"

Yard Sale Results

Well, Cherish and I had decided to have a yard sale to help raise funds for little guy's adoption. Our community was having their sale and had done all the advertising, so we decided to join in on the fun.

As it turned out, so many people graciously donated items for us to sell (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!), AND Derek put in for a vacation day to be able to be home from work to help us with the sale.

On Friday evening, it became very clear that the weather was going to be stormy. Our family prayed and thanked God for being in control of the weather.

Saturday morning came with torrential downpours, thunder, and lightning. But, God brought the customers despite the rain!

Due to the outpouring of love and donations, the sale raised $419.15 towards "Chen's" adoption expenses! We are so thankful to the LORD for being in complete control and blessing the day!