My Lovey Award

My sweet, sweet Lea over at Oh My #6, awarded this very special blog award. She has quickly become my friend, sister, and confidante. I love her with all of my heart and I can't wait to meet her one day. Thank you Lea.


So here is how it all works!

"These blogs are exceedingly charming.
These kind bloggers aim to find friends and be friends.
They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.
Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships will be propagated.
Please give more attention to these writers.
Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly- written text into the body of their award."

Again I love receiving these award , BUT it sooooo hard to pick only a few of my Blog Family members. Just know that you are all loved!! The friends that I chose for this award are all so special and dear to me. They each have their own distinct place in my heart. So much Love and Blessings to all of you.

1.Bailey at The Martin Zoo
2.Catherine at Catherines Chatter
3.Sherri at Journey to Emma Rose
4.Vicki at Our Journey to Jadyn Nicole
5.Gwen at The Oatsvall Team
6.Cyndi at Waiting for Lilly Rae
7.Kirsten at China's Gift
8.Meredith at A Mother Singing (If you have time go to Meredith's blog and read the post that she has for January 29th and the previous one that she links to. It is the most real, raw, and extraordinary post I have ever read. She is an unbelievable writer.)

We've received an AWARD!! (updated)

We have received a "Fabulous Blog Award", from Alyzabeth An's Mommy and Daddy!!!! Thank you so much Alyson and Ford. You both are incredible people and have touched my life in so many ways. You and your beautiful daughter have been a blessing to me. And today 2/5/09 I received it from Beverly also. I love this girl, we think sooooo much alike and her little angel is just precious. Thank you so much B.

So here are the rules to the award and I will try my best to pick 5 of my bloggy friends to reward this to, but it is going to be so hard because I absolutely love all of the people that I have met along the way. So if I don't get to you this time I will get to you the next time.


Here are the rules for this award:

1. Pass it on to 5 fabulous blogs, and include the one that gave it to you (and link them).
2. List 5 of your fabulous addictions.....

#1. Kim at the Byrds Nest...She has such a beautiful family and this lady writes so beautiful.

#2. Denise at Theres always room for one more....This lady is incredible. She has endured a tremendous loss, but she keeps on keeping on with all of her children. She is soooo funny!

#3. Sharon at And Baili makes 3...She is an incredible photographer, and her subjects are just beautiful.

#4. Rebecca at Mother of two wife of one....She is an incredible wife and mother of two adorable little people.

#5. Don and Be at Joanna Mei, Bebe and Home Daddy...These two people have been so good to me over the what seems like years. I have the upmost respect for the both of them and you just have to see their beautiful little Joanna Mei!

My 5 Addictions!!

1. My one cup of 1/2 caff coffee in the morning

2. Blogging (my husband calls himself a Blog Widow)

3. I am addicted to loving my FAMILY!!!

4. I love those big dill pickles..you know the ones you get at the ball park!!!love,love,love, them!!! I get mine at Costco.

5. And I just can't seem to stop chewing ICE...isn't that just weird???? I know it is not good for my teeth, so I buy soft ice!!! lolol

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

With a week of vacation getting ready to begin in China, my prayer is that the CCAA gets alot of rest and relaxation so when they come back to work they are energized to start matching our baby's with their Forever Families a whole lot quicker. And maybe in February they can cover more than the two days they covered here recently.

P.S. Next week I will have some news on my book, "God Made Me In China". Printing is to start very, very soon!! I am so excited!!

ALMOST THERE!!!!!!

OH I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL FACES OF ALL OF OUR BABIES!!!!!!!

Inauguration Day 2009

Although I did not vote for President Obama, I am overcome with emotion today at the thought of our country inaugurating our first African American President. On a September day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to start the process of freeing the slaves. Thank you Mr. President for you are a True American Hero!!!!!!

So on this day my prayer is that President and Mrs. George W. Bush have a safe trip back to this Great State of Texas and that today is the first day of the rest of their lives.

Also on this day I pray for President and Mrs. Obama that all that he does is in the best interest of his American public. I pray that he and his family are always blessed and safe in their new life. I want to be able to put all of my trust in you President Obama. I am so proud of the fact that as an American I am blessed enough to be here to see history being made.

May God bless both of these families always. President Obama may God bless you and the task at hand, for it is going to be trying at times. Your task is quite a large one,so may you always look to the Lord for guidance, and comfort, as you work to get America back on track.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS,AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!

HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND!

Here we go......

This is my Pantry door and since the CCAA started February 2006, we have had the calendars up here to mark off the days, so here we are with March , and The Red Thread Chinese Proverb and I just can't wait to start marking off days !!! I am so excited!!!! Rumor has it that there is going to be a big batch of referrals, so to protect our hearts AGAIN.....we try not to get to excited, but God is good and I know that this is really going to happen soon! I am so excited for Melissa,Sea Star,Catherine,Lynn, and Christie and so many others. I so want to see the beautiful faces of their daughters...and then its our turn to see our precious Franceska!

Astrud's Sweet Sixteen Dinner

Sixteenth year in a row of covering her ears, when singing Happy Birthday!
Our Family
Our Kids
Nonny,Poppy and Astrud
Daddy,Mom and me!
Christopher and Amy
Steven and Megan
Craig and Traci
"Sisters"
Astrud's Protectors...her Brothers!
Papa's girl!
Mommas Angelbaby!
Jena, Emily and AstrudMe and the Girls!!
Soooo Pretty!

Astrud and friends
Just having fun!

Astrud and Kelsey got the Driver License!!!! Help us!!!
TOO MUCH BIRTHDAY!!

Just some Saturday Sweetness!!!

I just had to share this little piece of Heaven with all of you!!! Jessica gave me these little socks for Christmas, she got them at JCPenney's and let me tell you something....Once you put these little babies on , your brain just tells you to cuddle up on the couch and not do anything ALL DAY!!!! They are soooo comfie and soft! I love them!!!
These would be the Cadillac of all heels for me! They are Michael Kors peeptoes and although I would never pay $200 for a pair of shoes for me, I can dream!! Aren't they Fabulous!!!!

p.s. Today is Astrud's Sweet Sixteen Dinner , her and all of her friends are SOOOOO excited so there will be pictures soon!!

p.s.s. Are any of you having trouble with Blogger posting pictures???? It takes me a minimum of at least 7 or 8 tries to post pictures, and it is sooo frustrating!!!

Happy Sweet Sixteen Astrud!!!

Free Comment Graphics by ShoutPix


Dear, Astrud Alise

The day you were born the Angels in Heaven danced....You are the light of our lives. We love you so much and want so much for you. You are a young lady of integrity, loyalty, compassion, and you are a girl after God's own heart. Your thoughts and ways amaze us everyday. We admire the relationship with your Creator so much, knowing that we weren't there at your age. Our prayer for you is that God wraps a hedge of love and protection around you as you enter this new season of your life, that you always grow in HIM, that you always try to make the right choices and decisions in your life. May your dreams always come true Angelbaby. We love you so much and we are so proud of you. Even in the normal rough "teenager" spots of our lives , we hope you always know that you are our beacon of light that drives us to want to be better parents everyday.

We love you,
Mom and Papa

Just some pics and thoughts!

The first 3 pictures are my parents and are so special to me and bring out so many different emotions. The 1st one I will titile "THE KISS" , if only my Mom knew what she was doing when she was doing it. BUT I will treasure this picture forever.

The 2nd one is my Daddy and as I look into those eyes, I see such a tired, troubled man that is and will always be my Hero. He is so so good with my Mom, but yes it is taking its toll on him. He takes care of her everyday, with the only exception being when he lets us take care of her so he can have some down time. I love you Daddy.

The 3rd one is my Momma, and at the very moment this picture was taken, she really was making no sense in what she was laughing at, but we have learned to just go along with it, even the kids do it. Rayn, my 4 year old neice will just shake her head and say, "Nonny you are so silly"! It is just priceless. But I will always love this picture because this is how my Momma used to look when she would be cracking up at some dirty , nasty joke she or someone else told, or this is how she looked when she was just being herself, always laughing , joking and picking on someone. OHHHHHH how I miss that lady. Alzheimers is no fun. I love you Momma.





These are some of the most special people in the world to us. These are our PARENTS! From lt. to rt. My Momma and Daddy, Aunt Ida, Uncle Freddie, Aunt Joyce, Uncle Richard, Aunt Margie, Uncle Bob, Aunt Mary, Uncle Bill and Aunt Sara. Now that our grandparents are all gone, these are our "leaders' , our "examples", our Matriarchs and Patriarchs, and it is soooo scary that they are the "old people" now, but I thank God everyday for them. We are a close family , that loves hard and that argues hard, but at the end of the day we always know who and what we belong to and we always know that we are FAMILY and that we are always here for each other.





This is just a few of my cousins, my sisters and I with our signigficant others! There are about 25 ot 30 more! But as we were taking pictures we were recognizing that we have all really "GROWN" through the years!!! Dangit!!! That's me the tall wide one in the middle!!


And here are "OUR" kids...the great grandkids, it may not be all of us, but all of these cuties are quite a handful and we would not know what to do without them. We only wish that our grandparents were still here to see them.


My prayers for all of these people are for God to put a hedge of protection and love around all of them , and for each and everyone of them to ask God to reveal himself in their lives everyday. And for them to always Trust in their Lord and Savior.

Jacy and her family gave Franceska this ladybug cup/place and saucer set, and these precious bows!! (see the ladybugs..too cute)



Aunt Kerry gave these panties to Franceska, she bought them in 3 sizes, aren't they just too cute!!! I love ladybugs!

WARNING WARNING!!!! This will be a long post!!

I have alot of Christmas pictures that I want to catch up on, and I have soooo many and I can't seem to pick only a few, so bare with me in this video there are 41 photos and then more seperate pics (when Blogger lets me) so I apologize ahead of time, it will be a long post!

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