A Big Day!

One Step Closer. . .



We were in the midst of homeschooling this morning when we heard the Fed Ex truck pull in our driveway.  What a great excuse to ditch homeschooling and run to the front door (Ethan is being homeschooled again - long story).  The boys were so excited even after they heard is was just a package with lots of papers.  Yes, our dossier arrived today, fully authenticated - Yippee!  Well, our dossier minus the USCIS approval letter.  As we wait for that last document, we will send our dossier on to our agency, BAAS, so it will be ready to go!



Ellie is super excited about Leiney Grace becoming a member of our family.  She prays for her daily.  It's so cute - she always asks the Lord to help Leiney Grace feel better.  We haven't heard Leiney Grace is sick so maybe Ellie just thinks she feels bad being in China without her family!



This was the one gift that Ellie specifically asked for - "A boy Barbie".  I am sure her smile reveals just how excited she was with this gift.  She and Lilly have enjoyed playing with Shelby and Katie's old Barbies so now I guess it is time to add some new ones to the collection! 





Happy 5th Birthday, Ellie!



One Less

Waiting in an orphange in Hunan

Leiney Grace Qingquan

Soon to be an orphan no longer

One less.





Quite an assortment of pictures which sum up the month of August for our family.  The highlight of the month was celebrating Granny's 91st birthday.  This birthday, celebrated in a nursing home, was vastly different from last year when we grilled steaks at our house.  Yet we did have a wonderful time, and I think Granny really enjoyed seeing so many of her friends and family all at the same time.  She surprised us all when she started attempting to blow out her candles.  She gave it her all and with a little help, blew them all out.   Granny told us her cake was delicious, and she also loved receiving such a big bouquet of red roses from my father.

August always means the start of a new school year.  This year we have changed things up a bit!  Shelby, now a high school freshmen, is being homeschooled except for 3 classes which she takes at a homeschool resource center.  Fulton is reluctanatly at home for all of his classes, but after a fairly rough start, he has accepted his fate -at least for his 5th grade year - and is making the most of it!  Ethan and Lilly are venturing away  from home at a Chinese immersion school.  It too has been a little bumpy! Who knew 2nd graders were suppossed to know SO much?  Not this homeschool mom!  Hopefully the sailing will be much smoother for the rest of the year.  That leaves Ellie and Hudson who are also being homeschooled.  Ellie and I are using My Father's World kindergarten curriculum although she is technically K4 age.  She loves it and is so eager to learn!  Hudson, well, he gets a little preschool time in when one of us finds a few free moments.  He also likes sitting in during my lessons with Ellie so I know he will get more than I may think.  Hudson is very proud of homeschooling as he says quite often "I homeschool." Last but not least, Katie!  No pictures of Katie, our 7th grader, because she hasn't started yet.  She will be attending a brand new Christian school which has been under construction and will open on Tuesday.  She is excited to say the least as she has wanted to go to school for a long time!  I sure will miss her though because she has had lots of free time which I have helped her utilize with all kinds of tasks - babysitting, watering plants, preschool time, babysitting while I pick up the other kids, etc.  She may miss us when she is gone all day but not all of the extra things I have asked of her.   Yet, she has been a good sport and had a super attitude.  However, she did mention that she hopes next year her school starts when everyone else's does : )

Although way over due, Hudson was finally baptized at the end of August.  He wore one of Fulton and Ethan's old outfits.  I am so thankful that I saved a few special clothing items from the older girls and the boys.  After Ethan, I sure thought our family was complete.  Well, God obviously had a very different plan.  More about that in the very near future! 

The snake. . .well, let's just say we are very thankful that we have outdoor dogs who alerted us to the rather large canebrake rattlesnake in our backyard. 

It's Official. . .


Summer is over, but here is just a glimpse of all the fun we had!

We have made many trips this summer to visit with Granny.  She had 2 additional strokes in early May.  She is now under Hospice care.  It has been so difficult to watch her decline day after day, but we all cherish our time with her.


  Our annual trip to a nearby beach affords us such wonderful memories year after year.  This year we quickly learned there was something new. . .an ice cream truck.  No doubt it was a hit with the kids.



Lilly and Ellie love ballet.  They took 4 classes during the month of June and enjoyed every minute!





Horses are still a tremendous part of Shelby and Katie's lives.  They enjoyed riding and practicing their jumping together throughout the summer months.  The girls also took their horses to horse camp for a week with their trainer.  I wasn't sure if they were coming back home after that.  They are counting down until next year's camp.  In this photo Fulton was being a most helpful little brother by setting the jumps back up after the horses knocked them down.



Summer at our house always involves countless hours spent outside - early morning and late afternoon only due to extreme temperatures.  The younger children have such fun using their imaginations, climbing trees, building forts, etc.



Katie has come to love the stage.  She has been in 3 plays so far.  This summer she had a blast playing Esmerelda in our local theater's production of Snow White.  As her parents, David and I were so very proud.  She did a fabulous job and even sang a solo!



Yes, we actually humbled ourselves, dressed up like cows, went out in public, and endured the stares, smiles, and laughter of many.  But it was worth it since we all enjoyed free meals at Chick-fil-a - not once but twice in the same day!



No summer is complete without a few trips to a nearby pool to cool off from the sometimes unbearable heat!  Shelby and Katie also enjoyed having their best friend, Emily, who lives several hours away from us, down for a few days.  Here Shelby, Emily, and Katie relax in the shallow end.  Shelby enjoyed a visit to Emily's house as well this summer, but Katie was busy with rehearsal for Snow White so she missed out on that trip.  On another note, little Ellie learned to swim this summer.  She has a ways to go before I would trust her swimming, but she swam quite a few lengths between David and me.  She was so proud of herself.

What a blur!  Where did summer go? 

Homeschool has already begun for Shelby and Fulton.  Ethan and Lilly start next week at their Chinese immersion school, and Katie begins after Labor Day at a new Christian school. 

Recent Happenings

This is Shelby's first blog post.

 Hudson's 3rd Birthday was on February 20.  (Sorry we have not posted sooner. Life has been crazy.)  He had a wonderful birthday party with extended family members and some close family friends.  He had so much fun opening his many gifts, and he LOVED his Percy train cake.  For those of you who do not know about Percy, he is the green train from Thomas and Friends.  Hudson has two new Percy trains and now his favorite color is, of course, green!!!

Easter~ we had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We went to church, then ate at Gabby's house ( mom's mom), visited Granny and also visited Mimi ( Dad's mom).   It was a wonderful ( and busy!) Easter Sunday!!!

Fulton's 10th birthday was on April 18.  For his birthday party, he played football with his friends, then we ate cake and ice cream, he opened his presents, and then they all went fishing with Dad and Uncle Tripp . After fishing they were so hot that they decided to jump in the pond.  Let's just say, when they came back for hotdogs and chips, they were quite a mess!!


Dad celebrated his *** birthday on May 14.  That same day was Lilly's 4th Gotcha Day.  We had a great time eating cake, ice cream, and opening presents.  Lilly received a Chinese toy drum.  Dad got some nice clothes, and the kids gave him some beach flip flops he wanted.  I don't have any pictures from May 14, but as soon as they are downloaded, I will post them on the blog.

This past weekend we had Mom's cousin, Sheri and her little boy, John Parker down for a visit.  We had a great time "checking up", and the little ones had fun with their cousin.  Then on Monday after they left to go back home, we went to the pool with some friends.  We had a great holiday weekend.

Enjoy all the pictures I have posted!!!