Gotcha x 2! Round 1...

I will post more tomorrow. But for now we have to go to bed. It was an amazing day!

Soooo funny!

Praise God!!!!

We are headed to the airport to pick up luggage...5 hours before the babies arrive! HE IS NEVER LATE!!!!!

Thank you for praying!!!!

Truth Is...

They were at their wits' end. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.

Psa 107:27-29

As the Lord would have it, this is my devotional passage this morning. We have no luggage, we have no cute Minnie Mouse backpack full of goodies for Kennah at Gotcha, we have no soft lovey for Kasidi at Gotcha, we have no bottles, we have no diapers...but we have Him! We have His truth, His promises, His comfort, His goodness. And soon we will have His girls!!!! Oh my, this mama's heart is overflowing with thankfulness.

Our prayer requests:

That the Lord has prepared Kennah and Kasidi for this moment.

For safe travels as Clayton transports our littlest kiddos to the Smiths in Missouri.

For the sanity of the Smiths in Missouri ;-)

For my biggest guys to be productive the next 2 weeks, including finishing our 2 Both Hands projects (they were too large to finish in 1 day)

For our bags to arrive this morning!

Thank you all for praying for us!!!!

Next post ~ Gotcha x 2!!!!!

My Travel Gals

Sheri and Kenzie. They are the best!

Pr*yer Request

Our luggage did not arrive today and has been lost in never never land. Please pray that it will appear soon. All my baby supplies, gifts and of course, clothes are missing!

Point A+B+C+...=China!

WE'RE HERE! Praise the Lord!

Our first flight out of OKC was delayed due to weather, so even though we ran like track stars we missed our connection. The oh-so-helpful D*lta rep offered to get us here by Sunday morning, and that just wouldn't do. After all, we're getting 2 babies Monday! So with a little gentle persuasion he put us on standby for the next flight to Seattle...and after much prayer we made it! Even though 2 of our bags didn't make it, we landed in China at 9:30 pm Saturday, completely wiped out but so glad to be here. We walked into our room to find this...

Be still my heart, 2 cribs!!! Rumor has it we're getting both babies Monday afternoon. That would be the wee hours of the morning Sunday for you.

Signing off for bed...

Honey, Kuyler, Kolton, Kooper, Kayden, Kambry, Kaeleb and Kinley Grace, I LOVE YOU!!!

"Mr. D*lta Man, you don't understand. Sunday morning simply will not do. We need to rest!!!!"

Of course, ice cream makes everything better.

And a smoothie too!

We cleared the standby list!!!!

Next stop, Beijing!

While in China

I think blogger will work just fine for us, but if there's a problem we have an alternate site...but I won't confuse me you with that now :)

Also, if you send me an email while I'm gone, please send it to this address. For some reason I can't send or reply via my primary server. I will get your email, but I won't be able to reply, unless you use this address.

And for the record... one bag is 39 lbs and one is 48. Of course, we don't have my sister-in-law's luggage yet - bahahahaha.

48 Hours From Now...

...we will be on a looooong flight to the babies! Oh my! It's been a busy week, and there's still more to come.

Kambry's pre-K ceremony.

Kambry and Kayden's track meet. "You want me to take my hands outa my pockets and do what???"
Today Kenzie and I took time out of our crazy schedules to chillax and get a pedi. It was a rare treat!
And tomorrow is Kenzie's 8th grade graduation! Which I'm afraid will completely miss the blogosphere radar since we're leaving her party to head to the airport!

For all I know, this may be my last post till we're on our way! Crazy stuff to do: documents to review and complete, luggage to zip, weigh, unload and reweigh...

Oh, and I guess I need to prepare food for tomorrow's event...and pick up the cake...and finish packing 4 kids...and...I have no idea what else.

PRAISE HIS NAME!!!

Matthew 14:13-21

When Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to Him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."

Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.

"Bring them here to me," He said. And He directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

You've probably read this passage many times, just like me. But did you know that Jesus still, today takes our 2 fishes and 5 loaves and 'feeds the 5,000'?!?

After 9 months of fundraising, we are FULLY FUNDED!!! What's the significance of this? It's all HIM!

And I got to share about it today as I was checking out of W*l-Mart for the 132nd time this week. The checkout gal noticed all my travel supplies and asked if I was the 'lady with all those adorable kids?' Ummmm, yep, that's me. I told her we're leaving in 3 days (eeeeeek, 3 days!) to bring home two more Treasures.

She said, "It's so nice that you have the means to do that." Helllllooooo?!?

Even in my chaotic state of mind I recognize an open door when I see it.

I replied, "See, that's the cool thing ~ we DON'T have the means to do it. Nine months ago we sent a Letter of Intent to adopt one precious little girl with a scary.to.us medical special need, and we started our first fundraiser that same day because we had nothing." Nada. Zilch. Zero.

I remember the day we said, "Yes, Lord." The choice was obvious really. The Lord had spoken to my heart, "Say yes, and just watch what I will do."

With every ounce of faith we could muster, realizing without His provision we would fail miserably, even possibly make complete fools of ourselves, we stepped out of the proverbial boat and into the water.

We have worked hard, and when we didn't know what to do next, we waited for His direction. We held a huge (epic, in Kuyler's words) garage sale; 6 drawings/giveaways (1 HP Netbook, 2 Canon Rebels, 1 $500 gift card, 1 Xoom, 1 iPad (none of which were donated); we received 4 grants; we had 2 special friends making hair bows; we sold squeaky shoes, mums, poinsettias; we received multiple 'surprise' gifts from friends and acquaintances; made our Kandles, duct tape wallets; 2 Lifesong/Both Hands Projects; 2 matching grants; Wild Olive Tees; our Adoption decals...and there are probably some I'm forgetting.

Make no mistake about it, it wouldn't have been possible without ya'll! You have been the hands and feet of Jesus to us!

We are so humbled and so grateful.

Whatever reservations or hesitation we had at the crazy notion of adopting again have been repeatedly eliminated. We laughed at the idea of coming up with $30,000 for an adoption. And then when the Lord clearly asked us to bring home a second Treasure at the same time, we figured He could just as easily provide the additional $20,000 :)

And a further cool factor, we never waited on funds. Never. Many times we needed funds within a day or two, and the Lord miraculously provided. Our paperwork never sat still due to lack of funds.

And since we have so many friends who are also adopting and holding fundraisers, we were convinced we had to help them too. It didn't matter that we were fundraising. It's all His! And every single time we gave to another family, He returned the blessing many times over. Every.single.time!!!

Now, please don't think we're super spiritual or anything like that. Last Thursday, 8 days from travel, we were still $6,000 short. With our latest fundraiser ending in 2 days, we made a tough decision. Lifesong had also awarded us a $4,000 interest-free covenant loan which we'd hoped not to use. We simply don't need any more debt. But it was available to us, and we didn't know what else to do but utilize it. So we requested the loan proceeds be disbursed to our agency.

The very next day we received our travel cost list. It was $6,000 less than we estimated. $6,000 less! (Oh, ye of little faith!) Even though we requested the loan proceeds be disbursed so our agency could wire them to China, we now have the funds to repay the loan. It's all His! It's all Him!

Even today, He takes 2 fishes and 5 loaves and multiplies it!

PRAISE HIS NAME! We stand in awe!

...and I look forward to blogging about something other than fundraising for a while :) :) That's uber cool!

)))))Pinch Me((((((

We are so ready to go - NOT! But at least we're throwing stuff in the general direction of the luggage.

But we still have a crazy schedule and a lot of reality to live this week before we leave.
Pinch me, please!!!!

Oh, to answer your question ~

Yes, I will be blogging while in China!!!

iPad Winner!

is JOHN WESTROPE!!!
John, congratulations!!! Please contact me so I can get your iPad to you before we leave!

I want to thank each of you. You have been such incredible support and encouragement. We've never taken for granted that our drawings would be successful, but each of them has been, because of you! Thank you for loving our girls and helping us bring them home. We appreciate your emails, comments and text messages.

Thank You, Lord, for placing such dear people in our lives!

Drawing Tonight, Ya'll!

Around 8 pm CST we will draw for this bad boy! If you haven't seen the original post with the scoop, it's here. We are so humbled and grateful! Have a beautiful Saturday!!!

I Feel Like Dancin'

Go Kinley...go Kinley...

We all feel like dancin' these days! We're so excited to draw for the iPad winner tomorrow, and we are so very grateful to everyone who has spread the word and contributed! Would you look at that ticker!!!! We serve an awesome God!

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, May 14, is the day we draw for the iPad! There's still time to get in!!!

You can see the original post here.

Wheels Up ~ Knees Down!

It's official! We head east in the wee hours of the morning, Friday, May 20th!

My goodness, we are excited! Just the thought of all that God has done in the last 9 months leaves me in awe. Miraculous, no doubt! We are standing in prayer that He will continue to show up and show off as we prepare for travel.

A huge praise is that the match has been met - praise Him!!! But we still need $6,247. Will you stand in the gap for us?

He is never late!!!!

Happy Birthday, Kambry Hope!

Warning: The following pictures are in random order because...well, frankly, I've lost my mind!

The last two weeks of school are insane with 573 banquets and every other activity we can cram into a 10-day time span. With 8 days till we leave, I still have 2,852 trips to W*l-Mart, 1 graduation banquet, 2 graduations, 1 video to prepare, 1 book summary to write...ah well, you get it. All this craziness leading up to the glorious homecoming of our girls. I'm sure things will settle down once Kasidi and Kennah are home - bahahahahaha.

Way to go, Kolton Tee, lettering in football, basketball, baseball and track!

Kambry wanted her ears pierced for her birthday. And ice cream for being a big girl.
We managed to squeeze a celebration into our weird schedule, even if it was at 9 pm. Kambry Hope, you are a joy!
Just what she wanted, another pillow pet and purple earrings.
How do you really feel about that?


I hope you have a wonderful day! I need to book flights...and run to W*l-Mart...

Two Beeee-yuuuuu-teeee-ful Letters!

We have

We will most likely leave next Friday! Gulp.

Will you please join us in praying for a specific request?

God has been so good to provide for this process, in so many ways, through so many faithful servants! We praise Him and are grateful for each of you!

Will you please pray with us that He will provide the last $6,481. Yes, that's all we need! And He provides more every.single.day. This is so doable for Him!

Berries & Coffee

They don't go together. Oh, no they don't! Ask me how I know...

10 minutes into our weekend road trip we received news of TA, and well, I was so excited I dropped my ...

...into my hubby's...
Went something like this ~

Seriously? We are leaving for the weekend. I can't be without my phone cuz ya' never know when our agency will call...or email. And, honey, why would you drink coffee without a lid in my car, anyway?

Oh, never mind, we're going right by the A*&T store now. Whew, we have an upgrade and Mama has a new phone.

And after a day of a luxurious rice bath the old Berry came on. Although it reeks of coffee and there seems to be a hint of cream and sugar in the screen :)

When Bloggy Friends Finally Meet in Person!

What an amazing weekend we've had! We took a 3-day road trip to another state. I finally got to meet my friend Lori!

Lori and I connected over a year and a half ago because we've both adopted teenagers and ... well, we need the connection.

She is a prayer warrior and a teacher extraordinaire! Lori's husband Kelly is presently in China with their two newest Treasures!

Yes, we do have us some fun...cuz that's what hip mamas like us do ;-)

Then we continued down the road to our final destination, my friend Susie's. We also 'met' Doug and Susie a year and a half ago because their daughter and Kooper are from the same orphanage. We've chatted, skyped, emailed and texted, and finally 4 weeks ago we met for the first time when they came to help with our Both Hands project.

We were so blessed by finally meeting them, and several of our kiddos have really connected, so we wanted to help with their Both Hands project...because in a few weeks they will be traveling to China for their 2 newest Treasures!

It was an exhausting but productive weekend! In addition to their Both Hands project, their church family held a huge (and I do mean huge) garage sale!

Umm, we picked up a few things at their garage sale! (No, not the teenager - he's already ours ;-)

Did I mention it was exhausting?!?

It was a beautiful weekend! Thank you, LORD, for bringing Lori and Susie into my life!

Another Matching Grant!!!

Not only did we get TA yesterday...

...but we got another matching grant!

The same family who offered the $5,000 matching grant added $1,000 to it!!!

Seriously!

We think we will travel in less than 2 weeks, and we still need $7,900. To us that seems impossible. But we are trusting the Lord who has provided $40,000 in the last 9 months...so what's $7,900 in 2 weeks?!?

Our family wants to THANK YOU for your incredible response to each of our fundraisers. The Lord has blessed us beyond our imagination, and He's used YOU! We couldn't do this without you.

So...for every person who contributes to our matching grant we are offering the opportunity for this iPad (First Generation) 16g.

Each $25 contribution = 1 opportunity.

Each $50 contribution = 3 opportunities.

Each FB or blog post = 1 opportunity. Please leave a comment or email me if you do this.

You can use the ChipIn in the upper right-hand corner or you can mail your contribution to our church using the address above.

But you have to hurry because this only runs till May 14!!!!

GOD IS GOOD!!!

If We had TA...

…you would hear me scream

T

A

!!!

(did you hear it????)

In tha Muthahood

Truth with hilarity :) :)

Perspective

Okay, I just couldn't let the post below be the post at the forefront of my blog ;-)

Even though I've lost control - er, wait, did I ever have control? No, not really. But there are a few things I can control, like:

1) the repeated choice to eat copious amounts of junk food,

2) to let my imagination run wild,

3) to bark military-style orders at my family,

4)to shrug off my responsibilities as I do the aforementioned things in hopes our TA will come.

None of those will change a single thing concerning our TA. So I'm slapped in the face with perspective, and I have nowhere to go but the cross!

I am reminded of my devotion a few days ago from Titus 1:2 ~

God, who does not lie, promised.

The author says, "I often hear people praying for more faith, but when I listen carefully to them and get to the essence of their prayer, I realize it is not more faith they are wanting at all. What they are wanting is their faith to be changed to sight.

Faith does not say, 'I see this is good for me; therefore God must have sent it.' Instead, faith declares, 'God sent it; therefore it must be good for me.'" ~ Phillip Brooks

So I declare, God has ordained this waiting; therefore it IS good for me. How will I respond to His goodness? Where is my faith?

I have to trust without seeing and cling to the peace that surpasses all understanding...and get on with my life.

May His peace, love, mercy and grace surround you today!

Public Service Announcement

If our TA doesn't come soon...

...I'm gonna need two seats on the plane.

I will not eat Cheetos at 8 am...I will not eat chocolate at 10 pm...I will not eat everything I can find...

I Just Have to Say...

We serve a God who is Awesome!

That's all.

And The Winner...

...after a scientific drawing...

...is DIANE DOWNING!
Congratulations, Diane! You win the Xoom! Please contact me!

THANK YOU ALL!

We are so grateful for your generosity and investment in our girls!

May the Lord return the blessing to you!!!!

XOOM Tomorrow!

Tomorrow (Monday) night we draw for the Xoom! Everyone who has contributed to the $5,000 matching grant is entered, as well as those who have given to the Xoom! Thank you so much!

Eatin' Dust

Gotta admit, I'm kinda bummed, and on the other hand super excited. An online friend I thought we'd travel with posted that they have TA and CA (K, I'm thrilled for you!!!!). I so hoped we could travel together and finally meet in person. But we haven't received the same good news from Lifeline, so it looks like we've been left behind.

But I'm not gonna cry...

...wonder why...
...or pout... (even though I'm pretty good at all those things)!
Nope, I'm not gonna! Because my friend K is leaving in 2 weeks!

And we just couldn't do that.

Not because we don't want to. My sister-in-law has agreed to go with me, and my niece graduates high school in 2 weeks; then Kenzie graduates 8th grade 5 days later! I've promised all of us I would wait till after those milestones to travel (even though in the past I've been known to drop everything and board a plane ;-)

So, I'm just gonna rejoice! Rejoice for those leaving in 2 weeks and rejoice that I don't have to decide whether we're leaving in 2 weeks ... because we don't have TA or CA yet!

Besides that, we are still raising funds for travel.

Sometimes it's just best that I don't have a choice. Thank You, Lord, for your perfect timing!!!!