Open Eyes.......

....Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.

SUPER SPRINT ANYONE???

Pete has informed me that he will be participating in the annual "Super Sprint" over Labor Day weekend. Thus the reason for the new running shoes last night.
http://www.triniles.com/ check it out. I am really excited for him and totally in awe of his enthusiasm to just step out of the box and jump in! I'll be the photographer and cheerleader, totally within my comfort zone! tee hee

Pray he does well and comes out of it injury free!

8/18/08 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Monday was our (me and Pete) anniversary! Peter gave me a new cross necklace, that I love. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner out and a little shopping for some new running shoes for Pete. It was a very nice evening.

Air Show

Well, for some reason I cannot post photos right now???? Sunday Sam and Pete also attended the Duck Airshow 20th anniversary. We were invited from some of our dear friends, The Ramsey Family, to join them for this annual event. As it turns out there were some of our neighbors and friends there that also attend this every year.

I was at Macy's game so I cannot tell you how awesome it was, I can only tell you what everyone shared with me....."that it was awesome"! Hopefully I can post pictures soon.

Sunday, Sam at Notre Dame

Macy's Weekend...

Macy is on the Echo Travel Soccer Team this fall and her team played two games this weekend. Saturday they won 1-0, Macy scored the only goal!!!!!

Sunday they won 1-0 as well. They are doing very well.

Over the Weekend

This past weekend was full of activity. Saturday Connor took a driving course called "Street Survival". It is founded by BMW and is offered all over the states. It is primarily for teens to learn a little more than the typical driver's training class teaches. Check it out at www.streetsurvival.org. The parents are welcome to stay, only a few did not. It was worth it!

Connor also played in the Eddies Alumni game Saturday evening, just a tradition to open the season. The weather was beautiful!

Congratulations Xander!

YEAH!!! Connor is the Captain of the JV Soccer Team. Thanks for all your prayer support for his tryouts this week. Saturday he plays in the Alumni Game and we have our home invitational on the 23rd. He will also find out the end of next week if he will be chosen to be a "floater" to play on the varsity team occassionally as well.

GO EDDIES!

Did you know????

If you live your life right, God will bless your kids!

I love this picture, it was taken last summer in Port Huron, MI

Now That's a Chair!

I was browsing through pictures tonight and came across this one. It was so much fun to sit in that chair. It instantly made you giggle, smile and feel like a little tot. This was taken almost a year ago at a corn maze near our house. I hope they have it this year too. I want to take a family photo in it.

LOI Submitted to our Agency!!!!

We submitted our LOI (letter of intent) to our adoption agency today stating that we intend to adopt our new son. Our agency, Christian World Adoption (CWA) will now translate our letter and send it, along with a few photos of us, to China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA). CCAA is located in China, they processes all adoptions for China whether non-special needs adoption or special needs adoption. Once CCAA reviews it, they will (hopefully) send our agency, CWA, the PA (Pre-Approval for us to adopt this little guy). This starts the clock ticking faster for all other processes.



Upon PA, we then have only 3 months to get our approval from USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and receive our I171H or I797C, which states we can bring an orphan child into the U.S. The timeframes for this procedure can take 2-5 months! So it could be sticky. We will ask for many, many prayers to be said on our behalf that we receive great favor and our file is processed quickly. It is what it is and God's timing is always perfect, that is all we can focus on.



Enough blah, blah, blah for now. Thanks for reading this far if you actually did.

peace,
Tam

Maria from Norway

Maria has been here since Saturday afternoon and seems to be a very sweet girl. She joined us while the boys were fishing. Pete didn't hold back with his sense of humor of course....he told her that the rule was: "the first fish you catch you have to bite the head off". Maria didn't have any problem telling us she woudn't be doing that. Poor girl, I told her she didn't have to believe anything Pete ever says.

good 'ole boy fun....

...fishing at Uncle Mike's pond. Pete, Sam and I went to Mike and Tina's to visit and enjoy the pond tonight. The weather was perfect and so was the company!

Good Luck Xander!!!

Keep Connor in your prayers this week, he has soccer tryouts all week. (yes, I call him Xander, short for Alexander which is his middle name). Good luck bud, you'll do a great job!

Happy 1st Birthday Little One

Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear little one, happy birthday to you! It's so hard to know that our little guy is having his first birthday without being here with us. However, he is definitely in our thoughts and prayers.

Who's Cake is Sam frosting????

Samuel is going to be such a good big brother! It helps that he himself has an awesome big brother to learn from!

Sam is frosting a birthday cake to celebrate his new little brother, from China, turning ONE today!!

Maria, Mike and Tina

Welcme Maria from Norway!!!!!!!!

We all went to the airport Saturday to meet and greet my sister Tina and her husband Mike's new foriegn exchange student Maria. We happily welcome her into our family. She will be here for the entire school year and we hope she has a wonderful experience while she is here.

Over the weekend

I messed up on the photos below as they are in reverse order from when they took place....I'm a dork.... Saturday we spent the day with our dear friends Jeff and Dawn and their family for a cookout, pool time and wathcing the Olympics. Sunday after church the kids had some friends over for some vball, monkey bikes etc. Connor and Ryan played Wii.

My amazing husband worked ever so hard on stripping a cabinet that has been like an olympic event it's self. For two years and several trips to the home improvement stores and a final visit to a professional paint store, we finally have the right chemicals to do the trick. You know, one of those products that there are so many severe warnings on the label that you wonder how they can even sell it to the general public????? THANK YOU for your hard work honey!!

More Sunday Activities

Boys vs Girls

Great Times with Friends

Pete & Tam; Lake Huron, MI July '08

It's Wii Time!!!!!

Every call has a beginning
A quiet moment when God whispers a promise to a mother’s heart
A holy place where a father bows and faithfully accepts the journey set before him. A miraculous morning that unexpectedly dawns…
Casting its first light on a chosen threshold
A gentle knock..a closed door opens.
A sacred invitation sent by the Father..
Leads to the other side of the world.
Where lonely hearts stare out orphanage windows
Praying for someone to care..
And then one morning, On an ordinary day
An orphan’s life changes...God sends them a second chance...Through you..--author unknown

Poem

I took this from another blog site as I loved it.

Not flesh of my flesh Nor bone of my bone, But still miraculouslyMy own. Never forget For a single minute: You didn't grow under my heart But in it.-- Fleur Conkling Heyliger

Kisses in The Wind

Kisses in the WindKISSES IN THE WIND I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams. You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems. I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind. May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind. May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night. --- Author Unknown

Powerful Women's Motto....

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders & says...Oh NO....she's awake!!

Adoption Slang/Terms

"Birth Parent/Adoptive Parent", rather than REAL Parents...we are all 'real'.

"Referral" = the child that you review a file of whether by choice or by assingment if your country assigns a child to you.

Dossier = A file made up of numerous documentss with all your personal info, etc. for Country to review

LOI = Letter of Intent = You intend to adopt this particular child
PA = Pre Approval = You have been approved to adopt
DTC = Dossier to China
LID = Dossier Logged in to China (they now recognize you to be processing an adoption)
LOA = Letter of Acceptance from China to adopt
TA = Travel Approval/Invitation from China to come to adopt your new son/daughter

No photos Yet

Yes, we have seen photos of our new son, however, we are not able to post any photos until we actually travel to China and meet him. It's to protect the children. Many of the countries apply this policy as well.

Once the adoption is finalized (in China) we can post photos. That is usually within the first week there. We will be there for approx. 14 days and it takes about 26 hours of travel to arrive in Beijing. At this time Pete and I plan on travelling, and we are pondering whether to take Samuel and Macy wants to go if school is not in session. That will be tricky. Much to consider, that's for sure.

ADOPTION JOURNEY & TIMELINE

4/17/08 Applied to Christian World Adoption Agency (CWA)
4/24/08 Fist Contact with Home Study Agency
5/19/08 Sent Application Packet to CWA
5/20/08 Officially CWA Clients
6/17/08 First Homestudy Visit
May-Jul Paperchasing the Required Documents for Homestudy and Dossier for China
7/09/08 Second Homestudy Visit
7/21/08 Accepted File of our little guy from China!!!
8/05/08 Final Homestudy Visit!!
8/10/08 HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY little one!

Now we wait for Homestudy Report to be written, reviewed and sent to USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) to approve us to bring an Orphan into the USA. The USCIS approval can take 1-3 months...we'd rather watch paint dry!

Here we are where the Tennessee and North Carolina state lines meet, right in the middle of the Smoky Mountains. This was so beautiful, but the ride to get up there was a challenge for me (Tam) as I get car sick being the passenger on a straight-away, and this was all switchbacks! Well worth it though.

Macy, hold me up for the picture, all those curves through the mountains made me dizzy! WHAT A VIEW!!!!! Thank you God!

There has to be some beach glass in there somewhere.

Pete....just being one of the kids :)

Myrtle Beach, Lakewood Campground '08

Myrtle Beach Trip 7/24-7/30

There isn't anything more relaxing to me than sitting at the edge of the ocean watching and listenting to the waves repeatedly crashing into the beach. It is so beautifully orchestrated how they rythmically wash in and roll out again, turning the sand and shells over and over for us to uncover and keep as memories and treasures.

The weather was great, the campground was unbelievabely huge and we had a very nice time. God is so good to us. Just being able to see and hear make us so grateful to Him.

I Would Gather Children...
I WOULD GATHER CHILDREN Some would gather money Along the path of life Some would gather roses, And rest from worldly strife. But I would gather children From among the thorns of sin, I would seek a golden curl, And a freckled, toothless grin.
For money cannot enter In that land of endlessday, And roses that are gathered Soon will wilt along the way. But oh, the laughing children As I cross the sunset sea, And the gates swing wide to heaven, I can take them in with me!~Author Unknown

October 2007

We hadn't had a family picture taken since Sam was 2 so of course we chose a 90 degree day to do this. Overall it was a great time. My friend Jean took wonderful pictures and spent so much time with us. She is a so talented words cannot describe her. Check out her site JEANKIMPHOTOGRAPHY.COM.