Mei Mei Adventures

Blog Move..

2011-05-19T23:09:00.002-05:00

Ok, I decided it was time for a change for the blog and have moved over HERE to: radicalabandon.blogspot.com
I promise, there will be much more posting over there than there has been over here! So move on over there and keep following us! Update your links, blog feeds, and click on the sidebar of the new blog to become a "follower" to stay updated :)
Thanks and see you over there at the new blog

Daddy Daughter Ball

2011-03-21T22:54:00.015-05:00

A few weeks ago, Sarah and Chayah were cordially invited to attend the Daddy Daughter Ball with their daddy. Of course, we all had an absolutely wonderful time getting two certain little princesses ready for their very first ball. Curls, glitter, and ballgowns later, they were off to the ball.

Snowy Days

2011-02-11T00:18:00.004-06:00

The Movement

2011-02-05T21:16:00.004-06:00

We love Show Hope and are so extremely thankful for their help in bringing both Chayah and Sarah home! Tonight, they are launching their new student initiative called The Movement. It will work through groups in schools to raise awareness and funds for orphans. The Movement is to help students care for orphans. I can't wait to learn more about this new part of Show Hope and get more involved in helping orphans!
To learn more about The Movement, visit the website at: themovementclub.org
To learn more about Show Hope, orphan care, and adoption grants, visit the website at: showhope.org

School Spirit Week

2011-01-25T14:07:00.000-06:00

School spirit day!

Clash day!

Crazy hair and sock day!

I love my girls!

2011-01-17T14:02:00.001-06:00

Two Years with Chayah

2011-01-11T13:48:00.005-06:00

Celebrating two years with our Chayah! Chrissy made Chayah a life book and gave it to her on her gotcha day.. it is beautiful and Chayah loves it! Happy 2 years Gotcha, Chayah! I love you!

2010: A year in review

2011-01-01T09:55:00.034-06:00

January 2010

In January, I didn't take too many pictures because I was very busy with school.. but we had a very fun month and loved getting this big package from sister Chrissy!Sarah and Chayah love their Panda mommy and baby!

February 2010

In February, Chayah and Sarah received yet another gift-- beautiful pioneer girl dresses! They love to play "Laura and Mary" after the Little House books.

March 2010

March brought lots of fun and a trip to Shriner's hospital!

The weather started to warm up, but we still had some snowy days too!

April 2010

Easter is always so much fun and the weather started to get nice outside so that made for lots of fun!!

May 2010

Summer really started in May with hot weather and getting out of school. I graduated with my Associates and Sarah and Chayah graduated from Kindergarten!

June 2010June 11 was one little Sarah Lu's special day! Of course, she's growing up and turned SIX years old!!!

We had lots of fun just enjoying the time off and getting to be together :)

July 2010

In July, we celebrated a very special and impressive 4th of July! We went on vacation and had a blast!

Sarah and Chayah loved their first trip to the ocean!!

July was also a very special time because it was Chayah's EIGHTH birthday!! :)We had many adventures, including Sarah and Chayah going horseback riding for the first time!!

August 2010

We had even more "first's" in August-- including the girl's getting to go flying for the first time in the small planes- and by themselves, too! Sarah went up with just her and the pilot and Chayah went up with the pilot and a friend from school.

August was also the time when two little girls started FIRST grade!!

We also had more adventures and lots of fun!

September 2010

Apple orchards are always a fun fall tradition!September was a fun month- getting into the swing of school again, but still having a great time!

October 2010

In October, we had Queen Esther and the Princess of the Nile with Baby Moses :)Sarah and Chayah's school had a fun day where everyone dressed up as a Bible character! In October, we also volunteered at a Steven Curtis Chapman concert for Show Hope and had a fantastic time!

November 2010

In November, Sarah and Chayah were the very proud recipients of a very generous gift!! They absolutely adore their "Mya" and "Kate" (AG) dolls! :)

Just like twins :)

Sarah Lu fractured her ankle at the end of October and got her leg cast. She had her colorful, Christmas-y cast on for most of November!

December 2010

December is always an especially fun time, celebrating Christmas! The girls performed beautifully in their Christmas program for school and looked so gorgeous all dressed up :)

And as always, Christmas morning is an awesome time :)

We have been very blessed this year! Now we're looking forward to new adventures in 2011!!

For 2009's year in review, click HERE.

For 2008's year in review, click HERE.

For 2007's year in review, click HERE.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T23:26:00.015-06:00

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas, from Chayah and Sarah!

We had a wonderful Christmas, being together, although missing parts of our family too and wishing they could have been with us as well. Most of all, Christmas is a time to celebrate the reason for the season, Jesus' birth. And as Sarah and Chayah will be quick to sing to you, the message of Christmas truly is and should be, "Happy Birthday Jesus, I'm so glad it's Christmas. All the tinsel and lights, and the presents are nice, but the real Gift is You". And not just celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, but praising our amazing God who was, and is, and will always be and who holds us all in His hands and has a plan to work everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

We had an awesome time at Christmas this year; one highlight of the day was one particular present, from big sister Rachael and big brother in law David, that two little girls had each been wanting for for oh so long.

Of course they were... Pillow * Pets!! "It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a pillow pet" :)
Sarah got the dolphin and Chayah got the panda. They absolutely adore them and are so thrilled to finally have them (both girls have been saving up their money for several months now to go towards pillow pets.. and now they have them! definitely made them very happy :)

Another highlight (every year) of Christmas is when we give our dogs their presents. We get different bags and boxes of treats and wrap them up and put them under the tree. It is SO much fun to watch them find their presents and then, with encouragement, open them up by pawing at them and ripping off the paper with their teeth--soo adorable!! Our Wesley even tried to help everyone else open their presents afterward for the rest of the morning :)

With their presents from big sister, Chrissy! Chrissy, we love you and wish you could have been with us for Christmas! We can't wait to see you soon!

As I'm sure you can easily tell from the pictures, Sarah and Chayah were thrilled with their Zhu *Zhu *Pets that they also have been asking for :)

Two beautiful girls on Christmas morning! Opening their present from big sister, Staci!

A part of our gang this year :)

The girls had made presents from Mom and Dad at school before they went on Christmas break. They had them all wrapped up and place under the tree weeks before Christmas. Finally, on Christmas morning, they got to give Mom and Dad their presents!

They each made the most beautiful Christmas tree and decorated them both however they chose to. They both did such an amazing job and I am extremely impressed by both girls!

Oldest and youngest.. Rachael and Sarah- 1st Grade Picture ornaments

Love you Rachael and David!

Our sweet Wesley

New purses are lots of fun to get on Christmas morning!

School years memory book :)

Wesley and Lilly

The sneaky, silly Tara puppy stealing a slipper :)

Beautiful Sarah and her doll, Mya, in her new dress

Our sweet Lilly boo

Merry Christmas! Hope everyone had a fabulous time with family and friends, celebrating and remembering the reason we are celebrating and always praising Him!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T09:19:00.000-06:00

The Christmas Picture

2010-12-24T02:18:00.004-06:00

When I decided it was time to take a picture for Christmas this year, I planned everything out. When we went to finally execute those plans, one little participant was a little, uhh, not so ready to participate in our picture taking excursion.

Sarah had been so ready for the pictures we were going to take that morning, but when the time actually came, sitting down and having to pose for pictures was not exactly what one thinks could be the funnest use of their time. Thus, a bit of difficulty ensued when we started taking our pictures, in great hopes that we would be able to get at least one good one out of the bunch.

Some things are pretty tough, and taking pictures can sometimes be one of those things.. I was so proud of my Sarah though when she turned herself right around and wanted to have the prettiest (along with Chayah, of course) smile.

This picture? Was a huge improvement-- we're all smiling in this one! And I absolutely love Sarah's big and very animated smile in this one! But, we took a few more, too, especially since we were all happy with family pictures then :)

And then we got our final picture and I am so happy with it! Only wish that our whole family could be in it together.. (my two older sisters and their husbands). I love this picture though and am so happy that it all did work out after all!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

"C"

2010-12-17T23:28:00.006-06:00

Chayah is:
Charming

Compassionate
Cheerful

Caring
Clever

Courageous
Compliant
Colorful
Courteous
Creative
Curious
Cute!

A Birthday

2010-12-14T20:07:00.000-06:00

Sarah and Chayah had a very fun time helping Daddy with his cake for his birthday and celebrating! Happy Birthday Dad!

Four Years Gotcha!

2010-12-11T22:16:00.000-06:00

I can hardly believe that today marks the four year anniversary of Sarah's Gotcha Day! It was four years ago today that we finally had our Sarah Lu placed in our arms forever! Our cute little 2 1/2 year old is now our beautiful 6 1/2 year old! Today also is Sarah Lu's half birthday so today officially marks her turning 6 1/2 years old! I love you, Sarah and I can't believe it's been four years since we finally had you in our arms!

Horseback Riding, Take 2

2010-11-30T06:19:00.000-06:00

Okay, so back here on THIS post, I put up the pictures of Miss Sarah Lu and the horse she rode. At the time though, I couldn't put up the pictures of Chayah and still have not put those up.. until now, that is. Here (finally) are the pictures of the beautiful Miss Chayah Elizabeth riding her "pony" this summer! She was a little scared of it, but she still had a fun time!

Matching!

2010-11-28T06:04:00.000-06:00

I just love these outfits that we found- matching sets of girl clothes with baby outfits. Chayah loves her Bitty Baby "Gracie" and she loves getting to have matching outfits to her! :)

Sarah and Faline

2010-11-26T11:40:00.008-06:00

Faline is Sarah's deer. And Sarah absolutely adores her Faline! She's had Faline for quite a while, since she was three years old! She picked out Faline at the Disney store with Daddy. Sarah takes very good care of Faline, who will sometimes join us for dinner and is always tucked into bed with Sarah :)

Operation Christmas Child

2010-11-24T07:39:00.000-06:00

Sarah and Chayah's school had a project to fill boxes for Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan's Purse. Each class was assigned their own ages, so they were to get items that they would like themselves and then send them to other kids in the shoe boxes. This was part one of our shopping for items for the boxes. The girls loved getting to help get everything together to send! Sarah, again, said right away that she wanted to get BOY stuff for a little boy somewhere in the world. And Chayah went for a girl, of course. :)

Chayah's Story

2010-11-21T14:01:00.001-06:00

If you have not read Sarah's Story yet, you might want to read it first HERE. :)

This is Chayah's Story though, so follow along..
For years, we had wanted to adopt. Finally, in December 2006, we welcomed Sarah Evangeline LuHua home from the Langfang SWI in Hebei, China. We were ecstatic and all of us were so in awe of her. Whenever we would go anywhere, Sarah had five of us (my parents, two older sisters, and i) following her around- all wanting to hold her, help her with anything she needed help with, and of course, to take pictures of her! She was our baby girl. Little did we know that our family was not yet complete.

As soon as Sarah came home, she began telling us about her friends in China. My sister Chrissy and I would be on our computers, looking through pictures from the orphanage, and Sarah would come over, point at the screen and name each of the kids. We learned these kids names and they became a part of our lives too. Their pictures went up around our house and we would continually talk about each of them by name and pray for them.

There were three kids that she always talked about: "Di Di" (meaning little brother), "Tian Ai", and "Duo Duo". We fell in love with these kids and longed to see them be adopted as well. We would be driving in the van and Sarah would say "(insert friend's name) doesn't have a mommy or a daddy or jie jie's (big sisters) or gou gou's (dogs)!! (Insert friend's name) needs a mommy, daddy, jie jie's and gou gou's!" One day in particular, she went up to my dad, grabbed onto his arm, and very seriously said, "Daddy! Didi is crying for you!" We caught on to Sarah's passion and wanted each of these three little ones to have families of their own.

In April 2007, as Chrissy and I were searching through every waiting child list possible for China, we found Di Di's and Duo Duo's files listed on Rainbow Kids. We were so excited! We had only been home with Sarah for 4 months at the time though, and most agencies would not allow you to start another adoption until you had been home at least one year. We were thrilled to contact the agency anyway though and keep in touch with them. We told them how we knew these kids, had extra pictures and videos of them, and how our Sarah had been telling us how they needed to be adopted. They did have several families interested in Di Di and Duo Duo, but after three months on their list, still no one had committed to bringing either of them home.

In July 2007, their files were returned to the CCAA. We were devastated that they still did not have families. But the story doesn't end here because God always has a plan and that plan is always better than anything we ever could have imagined on our own.

Fast forward a few months, during which we continued to pray for these three kids and the families we knew they must have- just not yet. In late November 2007, as we approached our one-year anniversary of having Sarah home, we knew that we needed to adopt again. My mom began to contact a few agencies with waiting children, inquiring about a few little girls who had not yet found their families. The crazy thing is, each time my mom would inquire about a child who hadn't been placed, a family would step up for that child! This happened five times in a row.

The last time, we were looking at the agency CCAI. We noticed on their waiting child listing that they had several referrals from around Hebei province, but none from Langfang (Sarah's orphanage). My mom sent my email to the waiting child coordinator and asked if they ever received referrals from Langfang, specifically a 5 year old little girl named Dang Duo Duo. Immediately, the lady at CCAI wrote back. "Call me ASAP!!!!!!!!!" and her phone number was all the message said. Of course, my mom called right away. The lady at CCAI told my mom that she had Dang Duo Duo from Langfang's file out on her desk and that she had just been getting it ready to send it back to China for the second time as they had not had a family step up for her.

Out of all of the agencies for China adoption, it was the ONE we contacted. Out of all the kids in China, we were were matched with the ONE we knew. "Dang Duo Duo" is my Chayah Elizabeth! If you don't believe God still performs miracles today, I'd tell you to just look at Chayah- and then, you have seen a miracle!

It is amazing how God worked to bring Chayah into our family! Through my dad and sister Chrissy meeting her when she was 2 years old while on a missions trip, to being matched with Sarah and bringing her home from the same orphanage, to Sarah's passion for her friends to be adopted, and to the true miracle of finding Chayah's file- it is all just so amazing!!

I am so incredibly happy and blessed to have Chayah in my life! She is my little sister and she is the silliest little girl. She is now 8 years old and has been home for not quite two years. I love you, Chay Chay!"For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him." ~1 Samuel 1:27

Here is Chayah's adoption video, which I think is a great video (but again, I may be a bit biased ;) ... Make sure you have your sound on to be able to hear the music and video clips:

*Also, if you were wondering about Sarah and Chayah's two other little friends, Di Di and Tian Ai.. Di Di was adopted, after the then 3 year old Sarah talked to the coordinator at a local adoption agency and that lady in turn was able to place him with a family who lives just less than an hour away from us! Tian Ai is still waiting in China, but not for much longer now! Good friends of ours have been matched with him and are now just waiting to travel! We are SO excited!!

Baby Clothes

2010-11-17T08:00:00.003-06:00

For the past few weeks at church, the kids have been taking offering for the local pregnancy center. They could bring money for their offering, or they were accepting gifts for the pregnancy center, like diapers, formula, or baby clothes. The girls thought it would be lots of fun to take baby clothes and I have to agree!

When we went shopping to pick out a few little outfits, we asked the girls if they would like to take boy or girl clothes for babies. Sarah immediately jumped up saying that she wanted to take "Baby BOY clothes", so Sarah was the bearer of some adorable little boy onesies which she thought were the cutest things ever (and again, I have to agree)!

Chayah wanted to take Baby GIRL clothes and so a sweet lamb and panda it was! Seriously, how adorable are these? I love them! Chayah thought they were so adorable too.. when she first saw them, many "ooo's" and "aww's" were heard. :)

Number 2

2010-11-16T07:37:00.002-06:00

Tooth number 2 that is, for a certain Sarah Lu. She lost her second tooth on Saturday evening and was so excited about it! She was in the kitchen with mommy and was wiggling it back and forth. She had been wanting that loose tooth to come out for some time! Then, as she was wiggling it, it came right out! She was so excited! She then ran around the house to find me and daddy to tell us her big news too! :)

Twins

2010-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Snapped this picture quick before the girls went off the school. I mean, just look at them! How could I resist taking at least one picture of them? :) Don't you just love how "twin-ish" they are? The other evening they were talking to each other, first Sarah was saying how "wouldn't it have been fun if we were born as twins?" then the Chayah said back "yeah! wouldn't it be fun if we were connected twins?!" (like conjoined twins) and Sarah replied, "yeah! or we just like hold hands all the time.. like when we're awake and when we're sleeping!".. Silly girls!

And since we're on the topic of twins, do I have the cutest dogs ever or what? Such adorable little "twins" :)
Wesley on the left, Lilly on the right

Sarah's Story

2010-11-13T22:00:00.003-06:00

Every adoption story is amazing. Each one is a miracle. Adoption is a miracle. It is completely amazing how God connects families despite nationality or race or anything else. Sarah is my little sister and I am so blessed to have her in my life. The story of how she came home is amazing. We didn't think it was possible, time and time again. But God made it possible for Sarah to come home. And He made it possible for this one little girl, out of all the world and all of China, to be the one that would be my little sister (and now two little sisters)! Her story is amazing and just thinking about it blows me away with all the little miracles and connections that happened in order for this one big miracle of Sarah finally being our baby girl happened! So, without further ado, here is my Sarah Lu's story....

The story really starts way before Sarah was ever born. Back in the mid-1990's actually. It was then that my mom first read an article about orphaned baby girls in China. From then on, she wanted to bring home her own baby girl(s) from China. Rachael, me, and Chrissy about the time my mom first wanted to adopt from China

Fast forward several years to about 1998. It was then that my older sister, Chrissy, caught on to this need in China. She drew pictures with the face of a Chinese baby girl with Bible verses about adoption and put them up around the house. I quickly decided that Chrissy was a genius in her efforts and I would then support every word she said. Still, nothing happened. The "campaigning" continued. For years. And years.
Fast forward again, this time to 2002. My sister, Chrissy, had been diagnosed with scoliosis. The curvature of her back was getting so severe that she needed to have a major spinal fusion and to have her back rodded. We went to Shriner's Hospitals for Children and there she had her operation completed. Before she went into the 9 hour surgery though, my dad asked her what she would like as a present to look forward to. He says he was thinking "a bike or something".. But Chrissy had something else in mind. She said she wanted our family to adopt a baby girl from China.
When she got out of surgery, a few days later while Chrissy was still in intensive care, the craziest thing happened. A tiny little girl in a wheelchair wheeled right into Chrissy's room and said, "Hi!". The crazy part? She was Chinese. And adopted! Her dad came in after her and as Chrissy talked to little four-year-old R., my mom talked to R's daddy. As it turns out, R. and her twin sister were adopted, as were the family's two older daughters. The family was also planning on moving to China just a short while after this! Needless to say, we were blown away!

We kept in touch with this family and got together every now and then before they left for China. On one meeting, they introduced us to other friend's of theirs. This family had twin little girls from China and were soon to be getting their third. We became very close to these two families and still are very close to them! We now had two families that we were close to who had adopted from China. All from one connection made in Chrissy's hospital room at Shriners. None of that was an accident, it was all part of God's amazing plan for our lives!!
Fast forward a few more years to 2005.. The first family we had met was now living in China and the second family was planning a trip to China to visit them. Chrissy desperately wanted to go along. So we all started fund raising to help Chrissy be able to go. My dad decided he needed to go along too "to keep Chrissy safe"- so in January 2005, we sent them both off to two weeks in China. Now, Chrissy and I, who were still very much campaigning for a little sister from China, thought this was all just turning out perfectly. Now, Dad was going to China too! "Perfect", we thought, "if anything is going to change his mind to move forward for adoption, this is it!!" So for the next two weeks, the rest of us waited at home and prayed, while Chrissy and my Dad traveled around to several orphanages throughout Beijing and Langfang in Hebei province. Then it happened. On February 8, 2005, they visited the Langfang City Social Welfare Institute. There they saw the kids that would change all of our lives. There was a tiny baby girl, just a few weeks old. She was bundled in blankets and laying in a crib. She had been abandoned the night before. She was beautiful, and that baby changed all of our lives. When my dad saw that baby, his heart was totally broken for the orphans and he knew needed to act. Chrissy and my dad also saw other kids there- a row of little toddlers, being fed a chopstick-full of food down the line, and a seven-month-old baby girl who had a prettiest eyes and definitely captured Chrissy's heart within the short time they were there. After their visit there, my dad told Chrissy he knew we needed to adopt. A few days later, the rest of us got to find out the news too!
Upon their arrival home, we looked into starting the process. Finally, we were adopting! Well, that is until a car accident, in which we were hit in the side by the driver's door by someone who ran a red light and our van was totaled.. I am convinced that the accident was something that tried to stop us from adopting. But, it didn't stop us. It just delayed us, which wasn't really a delay when you think about it.. we were perfectly on time for what God had planned for us!
After we got all that cleared up with our vehicle and we fully trusted God for the funds we needed, we started the process with American World. In January 2006, our home study was underway and we were starting to gather all the necessary documents and such. In June, we completed our dossier and sent it off to China. We were logged in on July 14, 2006 and then the wait began. We also filled out a form to be added to the "waiting child" program. On August 10, 2006, we received a call from our family coordinator. It wasn't just any call either-- It was THE CALL!!!! Through friends, we had learned that the little seven-month-old baby girl's paperwork had been completed and was waiting for a match. She had been born with a cleft lip and cleft gum line, so she would be placed on a waiting child list. Amazingly, our agency was able to get the file of the same little seven-month-old baby with the most beautiful eyes that Chrissy had fallen so desperately in love with, and we all followed her in that love for this little girl!"Dang Lu Hua" was then 26 months old and just as gorgeous as can be. We were amazed! We were in awe! And we were completely overjoyed that she was ours! And would soon be our "Sarah"!
The next few months while we waited, Sarah did too. Our friends, the ones we met at Shriner's hospital back when little R. rolled into Chrissy's room on her wheelchair and had then moved to China, worked with Sarah's orphanage. And since the orphanage now knew that Sarah LuHua was soon to be adopted, they wanted to place her in a foster home. The family that was given permission to foster her? Our good friends!! So from August until December, Sarah was able to live at their home, being fostered, until we got our travel approval to come get her!
On December 5th, 2006, my parents and I finally boarded a plane for China. All the paperwork had gone through and we were clear to bring Sarah home at last. On December 11, 2006 we went to Langfang orphanage and finally had Sarah in our arms!
Now, almost four years to that day, I am still completely in awe of how she was able to be placed in our arms. I am so amazed that we were able to bring home the same 7-month old baby that my sister had held in China. I am convinced that Sarah was meant to be our little girl and through amazing miracles, God placed her in our hearts and then in our arms. I love you Sarah Bear!

*And yet another miracle is this: the story is not over. Next week, I'll post Chayah's Story!! Believe me, the miracles just kept coming! You don't want to miss reading about Chayah's journey home next week and Sarah's part in that! ..check out Sarah's video below too!

I have just re-uploaded Sarah's adoption video, if you'd like to watch it. It's a little less than half an hour long (23.5 minutes to be exact), but I think it's definitely worth the time..I may be a bit biased though. Make sure you have your sound turned up and no other music playing. Here is "Sarah's Story":

Apple Orchard Day

2010-11-09T11:36:00.000-06:00

Giveaways!

2010-11-09T10:57:00.005-06:00

One of the awesome adoption blogs that I love to follow is Ni Hao Y'all. This Christmas season? It may just be even more awesome. Stephanie has put together the "30 Days of Giveaways" where each day, starting THIS Thursday, November 11th, there is a giveaway of some amazing items! Be sure to remember to check in each day, starting this Thursday for your chance to win! :)
*Update: the 30 Days of Giveaways have begun--go check them out!

Also, TODAY, November 9th, is the last day to enter for the Wild Olive and Women of Faith Giveaway! If you've never heard of Wild Olive tees, you're seriously missing out. They are so cute, ultra fashionable, and have such a great message on each one. Go to their website and check them out HERE. And don't forget to enter today for your chance to win some amazing prize packages from Wild Olive and Women of Faith!

Orphan Sunday

2010-11-06T22:23:00.002-05:00

This Sunday, November 7th is Orphan Sunday. Across the country, churches have prepared special services for today regarding the plight of the orphan. People are drawing attention to the need for orphan care and adoption. Raising awareness for a need that is greater than ever and praying that eyes will be opened to see the need and act in response.Here's why: Did you know that there are over 140 million orphans around the world? 140,000,000. That's 48.3 million orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa, 73.7 million in Asia, 10.7 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with many, many more throughout the rest of the world.

These aren't just statistics; each one "number" encompassed in these huge and overwhelming figures is a real child! A child who does not have parents and is likely growing up in an orphanage. Many of you have seen your own precious children go from being "just a number" in these statistics to being your beautiful little princess or your perfect little prince.

I came face-to-face with the miracle of adoption when my little sisters, Sarah and Chayah, came home from China. They were orphans, but they're not anymore.
How many more children though remain as orphans right now, in this moment? As you read this, there are over 140 million children throughout the world who have been orphaned. We can't just forget about them, pretend it's not real, or tell ourselves that someone else will step up. We have to act.
Once our eyes are opened, we can't 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.
Proverbs 24:12

Below is a new video I made about the 140 million orphans..

for the other videos I have made, please go to the My Videos page

Cry of the Orphan also has just released a new video on orphan care specifically for Orphan Sunday featuring Steven Curtis and MaryBeth Chapman, Francis and Lisa Chan, Mark Schultz, and many others. It is a beautiful video and I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to watch it! It will be available online HERE until November 14th. Or visit HERE to learn more information on Cry of the Orphan's website.

Source for statistics: http://cryoftheorphan.org/Learnabouttheissue.aspx

Little Artists

2010-11-03T15:53:00.002-05:00

For Grandparents Day, Sarah and Chayah's class made special pictures with a photo of themselves and a note describing what the picture was of. This is Chayah's adorable picture!

And here is Sarah's beautiful picture! They are both such amazing little artists :)

Beautiful Girls and Cute Dolls

2010-11-01T20:22:00.005-05:00

Sarah wants to say, "I like my doll best! My doll was so needing full and I wanted one. Thank you for one! I am thankful. I like everything the best about my doll! I am thankful sooo much that I'm gonna get a pillow pet too so so so so! Sooooo oh oh oh oh we will take our toys, A*merican Girls, to school! "

Chayah says, "I love my doll! She is pretty. Thank you that you gave us the doll! You are so kind to us. You're pretty! I love my doll sooooooo much that I'm gonna bring her for my show-and-tell tomorrow! I take her wherever I go. This is her first time going to a Christian school and that she love me! The end!"

Two very happy little girls

2010-10-30T21:42:00.009-05:00

There is an amazing story behind these A*merican G*irl Dolls!! A few months ago, Sarah and Chayah were playing with some good friends at their house and their girls told our girls about how they were getting AG dolls and showed them the ones they were getting. Since then, Sarah and Chayah have loved them. On top of that, Chayah has recently decided that J*on and K*ate plus 8 re-runs are her favorite things to watch on TV..one of the episodes that she kept seeing was where the twins get AG dolls. Needless to say, this led to even more desire on the girls' parts for AG dolls. Then--just several weeks after all of this, we were at church one night and the sweetest lady just "happened" to come up and ask the girls if, by any chance, they had AG dolls!! She said that her daughter had grown out of her dolls and was willing to give them to Sarah and Chayah! What an amazing answer to prayer!!! This just amazes me! It's just one more thing that shows how awesomely God cares for His children! He cares for even the desires of our hearts--even the desire of the hearts of six and eight year old little girls for special dolls! How amazing is that?! Sarah and Chayah absolutely adore their dolls and have had such a fun time playing with them all evening since they got them earlier today! It was hard getting them to put them down this evening for bed time! Sarah's is beautiful "Mya" and Chayah's is beautiful "Sonali" (Chayah had her heart set on the name "Kate" though, so I'm fairly sure she will be called "Kate").. A huge THANK YOU to our friend for the dolls- they are beautiful and such a blessing!!!! And what an awesome reminder of how God answers our prayers! I'm still in awe! :)

She broke it.

2010-10-29T15:58:00.006-05:00

Sarah Lu will be spending at least the next several weeks walking around with this..

Chayah's old walker has turned out to be so incredibly useful.. especially since they couldn't find crutches little enough for Sarah to be safe using. So walker it is! Which makes Sarah incredibly excited.. she wanted to use it soo bad when Chayah needed it after her surgery and was in her cast last year. Now, Sarah's pretty happy that it's her turn to need the walker.

The other day I mentioned how Sarah hurt her ankle on the stairs when we were at the SCC concert. Well, it kept hurting her. A lot. And she couldn't walk or put any pressure on it, so it was no school and off to the doctor the next morning for Sarah. And what we found out after x-rays? She broke it. Or fractured a bone in her ankle, to be exact.

So for the next several weeks, Sarah will be sporting this cast! She got to pick out the colors herself and picked not one, or two, but three colors! Green, of course, since she has decided it is her new favorite color (although her favorite definitely was purple until just a few weeks ago..). Then white and red, of course, just like a candy cane! Her doctor took the time to wrap it up with all three colors of her choice (after having found every color they had in stock) and made it "pretty" for her. She's pretty proud of it, too!

How she broke is something I've tried to find out, but from what I know, she had been playing on the stairs and then started to fall. She caught herself and kept herself from falling, but she landed on her ankle sideways- fracturing a little ankle bone.

Sarah is doing so well with her new cast though and is getting around great! At school, she can't go out for recess, so her teacher is keeping one friend (a different one each time) from her class to stay in the room with her to play during recess instead..which I'm guessing will be the new fun activity that everyone in first grade will want to be chosen for :)

Sarah is definitely a little trooper and is handling it all so incredibly well! When she found out at the doctor's office that it was broken and then came home and told me, she had the hugest smile on her face and started laughing!! Not too sure I'd be laughing if I broke my ankle, but I'm glad she thinks it's fun and is pretty entertained with the fact that she gets to use the walker now!

Show Hope

2010-10-26T00:22:00.001-05:00

We got to volunteer at the "Night with the Chapman's" tour for the Show Hope booth! It was so so much fun and was especially fun being our first time with Chayah there with us! Chayah absolutely loved being our little helper for the whole evening. She even stood behind the Show Hope booth after intermission and helped the new Show Hope sponsors fill out their sponsor forms! Sarah had a very fun time too, seeing as she has proclaimed herself to be Steven Curtis Chapman's "biggest fan" :) She was playing before the concert started though and fell on the stairs at the venue and hurt her ankle..so she spent the rest of the evening either sitting and watching the concert (always fun, and also does not require moving), hopping on one foot, or being carried around. Poor girl, her ankle was in a lot of pain but she was a little trooper and still had a lot of fun watching SCC and helping out for Show Hope!

Show Hope is such an awesome ministry, started by the Chapman family. For those of you that aren't familiar with Show Hope, they offer adoption grants to families with financial need to help bring their child(ren) home. They also have started Maria's Big House of Hope in Luoyang, Henan province, China which is a special care orphanage for special needs orphans in China. They have also started two special care units in other orphanages in China, each as an entire floor caring for special needs orphans and have a vision to start many more!

Both Sarah and Chayah were special needs orphans in China. Then God spoke to our hearts and led us to bring them home. And He provided the way-- every step of the way. Sarah and Chayah both came home through Show Hope grants and we are SO grateful to them!! At the concert, we had the opportunity to represent this amazing organization that is making such a huge change in the world- through care of orphans and through helping orphans become beloved children with forever families of their own.

And for $35 a month, we saw lives changed by signing up to become Show Hope sponsors- giving to help children still left as orphans and also helping to provide grants to families who otherwise would not have been able to adopt.

This little girl, my Chayah Elizabeth, came home through a Show Hope adoption grant. Show Hope and those partnering with Show Hope as sponsors made her adoption possible.

I just don't know what I'd do without my Chayah! I am so happy that God chose me to be her big sister-- I am so incredibly blessed!

The fact is that the world we live in is so far detached from the orphan's world. And that makes it so easy to just turn away. It makes it easy to say that we've done enough already and to question whether what we have to give is really good enough.. It makes it easy to say that someone else will step up, or someone else will show hope..

But with over 145 million children as orphans throughout our world today, I think each and every one of us needs to step up and follow God's calling to care for the "least of these".

And when you do that, you may just get to see a life totally transformed from being a six year old orphan in China, with hair almost shaved off, and no one to call "Mommy" or "Daddy" to being the happiest, silliest, and sweetest, most beautiful little eight year old girl you will ever meet.

Or see a little girl go from being the most fiercely independent and self-sufficient two year old the world has ever known to being such a sweet, loving six year who is so breathtakingly beautiful inside and out and has a huge heart for those children left as orphans and a desire to show them hope!

Or you may find that by changing an orphan's world, your own world is completely different. Your goals, your hopes, your passion, and your life mission have been totally shifted. And it's all so worth it because it is so much better than anything you ever could have imagined for yourself.

The concert was awesome and the message shared for showing hope to orphans is the best!

Steven Curtis Chapman

Caleb

Mary Beth Chapman

"Showing hope" is an extremely important thing to do! Reaching out and caring for these orphans that literally have no one is what this is all about. It's about showing God's love to "the least of these" through caring for those who have nothing or no one. Through showing hope to them, we can be the hands and feet of Jesus.See these kids on the sign - they were once orphans too before they were shown hope.

Daddy and one of his little Cinderella's The beautiful Sarah Lu

The adorable Chayah

With the very awesome Julia of Show Hope

There are 145 million orphans around the world today. No matter how hard we try to put that fact out of our minds, that is the reality. No matter how far detached we try to keep ourselves from the situation, that is the truth. And it's important that we respond to that.

"Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

"I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." Matthew 25:35-45

How will you respond?

Necklace with a vision

2010-10-25T14:46:00.004-05:00

Personally, I am absolutely in love with my new necklace. I think it's absolutely fantastic. One of the best parts? What it says.. I had the first part of James 1:27 put on it.. The first tag says, "Pure religion is to care for orphans" and the second says the reference, "James 1:27" (which you can see more clearly in the last photo). To me, I think this necklace is inspiring and serves as an awesome reminder of a very true fact that I want to live by! More info on this will be coming soon... This is a necklace with a vision!

Pumpkins

2010-10-24T09:08:00.003-05:00

The girls painted pumpkins for church this week with Mom's help. They are very proud of their pumpkins! They turned out very cute and the girls definitely loved getting to use all the colors and make them so pretty. Lots of fun :)

Chayah did a puppy on one side and a bunny on the other.

Sarah did a puppy on one side too and a cat on the other.
(Sarah found this eye cover thing and now has decided it is her favorite thing ever and has taken to wearing it around the house all the time..even though it hinders her vision, she thinks it's hilarious ;) Note: in the picture, she is kissing her pumpkin

Happy Birthday Chrissy!

2010-10-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

From two adoring little sisters :)

Sarah and Chayah's Birthday message for big sister Chrissy:

Kings, Queens, Princesses, and Shepherds

2010-10-22T12:24:00.016-05:00

The adorable first grade class dressed up as people from the Bible

Waiting in the older kid's classroom to go see the other grades of students..

So cute all lined up :)

Sarah and some of her friends

Chayah and some of her friends

Everyone all dressed up! There were Bible characters, Historical characters, and Career people (based on grade level).

How awesome do they all look?!

We all kinda stopped traffic for a little while too.. taking pictures of this was very important!

Walking back to the classrooms..

Beautiful Chayah all dressed up as Pharoah's daughter, the Princess of the Nile, complete with Baby Moses

A beautiful princess and a beautiful queen!

Family :)

Chayah and Mom

(note: Chayah lost another tooth. see the little gap on the side? sooo cute!!)

Gorgeous Queen Esther

Back in the first grade room.. all the kids got a chance to go up and give three clues to who they were dressing up as. After the clues, the other kids got a chance to guess who they were.

Chayah in her desk!

Sarah in her desk!

Chayah telling her clues...

Sarah telling her clues..

Sarah's reaction to her friend correctly guessing who she was! (They were both Queen Esther!)

Telling their clues to the Kindergarten class.. The kindergartners' turn to guess who each of them is!

Then it was time for Fall Parties, which meant fun snacks and games!

Toss the ball game.. Chayah's team

Toss the ball game.. Sarah's team

The two Queen Esthers :)

The straw game.. Chayah's team

The goal was to use the straws to suck the little pieces up and hold them with the straw, taking them over to the chair and dropping them on. Their team did it in just 29 seconds, so they were very excited to have set the class record!

Next it was on to a craft before school was out...

They made little candy corn guys and Sarah worked very hard on her's.

She did a great job!! Isn't her candy corn cute? :)

A Sneak Peek..

2010-10-20T18:06:00.003-05:00

..into what two beautiful girls will be doing tomorrow! Tomorrow the school is dressing up as Bible characters. Each student gets to pick who they want to be. Sarah and Chayah have chosen two girls from the Bible who they would like to dress up as, so this evening we did a little pre-school photo shoot when we were trying out their outfits. But don't tell anyone, cause it's a secret until they dress up and everyone will have to guess who they are!

Introducing..

Queen Esther

And....

The Princess of the Nile, with Baby Moses

Beautiful Girls

2010-10-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Quotes

2010-10-07T12:23:00.000-05:00

Sarah went up to Mom and asked her for a chocolate. Mom said she could have one and passed her the bag. Sarah got "one" out and went back out to the tv where Chayah and I were sitting. When Sarah had finished eating two chocolates and still had two more in her pocket, I asked her why she had so many chocolates. She replied, "Staci, they're just SO divine!! They're like chocolate and caramels inside them!" (they were actually just plain pieces of Dove chocolate, no caramel, but evidently Sarah thought they were divine ;)

Sarah: "Whoever I marry has to be a soldier! Cause I wanna know what it's like to be a soldier's wife." ..inspired by the fact that one of our brothers-in-law is a soldier ;)

Sarah: "Look there's a flock of birds! It's a bird stampede!!!" (after seeing birds flying in the sky)

Sarah, to Dad: "You're funnier than the average dad!"

Chayah: "Mom, you're trying to make your family laugh. (pause..) Well, it's not working!"

The girls were practicing reading out loud to us. Chayah then decided she didn't want to try to sound out words anymore. Sarah hears that and comes over and explains to us all how she always wants to sound out the words because she is such a good reader. Then Sarah got a book and started to read out loud to us. After reading about two words, she says, "Ummm... I think this is in Spanish..." (just cause she didn't want to keep sounding out the words ;) *Note: both girls are such good readers and are learning so well and so fast!! I'm a proud big sister :)

Sarah gets home from school and first thing she does when walking in the door in go up to our dog, Wesley, and says "Wesley, who's a good boy? You're a good boy, Wesley!" (in the cutest/sweetest voice you can possibly imagine).

Look who lost her very first tooth!

2010-09-30T20:39:00.006-05:00

Sarah Lu lost her very first tooth this evening! I was at school taking a test and mommy was at a Bible study. Sarah and Chayah went out to get ice cream cones with daddy and that is when it happened! According to Sarah, it went like this, "I bited into my ice cream and bited on my tooth and I spit it out!" :) Sooo cute! Her first tooth was lost biting into her ice cream (from what I can gather, it was the ice cream that she was biting into, not the cone).. As she was telling me about it she asked me about the tooth fairy and asked, "Can I have four dollars or one? Either is fine.. But, I can I have four??" .. You see, she is currently raising money to buy a p*illow pet. She has wanted one for sometime and is always asking for one- which makes the perfect opportunity for her to have to earn it through doing some extra little chores around the house to earn money for it. (As I was posting this, she just came in to my room and tried to sell me a brownie. for $1. yeah, she's a little salesperson now ;) But this little salesperson now has one less tooth in her mouth and is super excited about that!

see the little gap? its on the bottom and super tiny, but there used to be a tooth there!!

ps. watch the video of Sarah explaining how she lost her tooth. soooo cute :]

Winter

2010-09-26T16:20:00.005-05:00

Today Chayah started telling me about how excited she is for winter to come. When I asked her why she was so excited for it she replied, "'Cause we get to push Micah down in the snow and put snow in his face!!" (last winter, she did this. evidently it was the highlight of her time playing in the snow)... I then decided to ask Sarah what she was most excited to get to do once it is winter again.. She replied, "We get to eat ice sickles! ... And I have one more- we get to have snow ball fights!!". Chayah also had to add in, "Oh, we should make a snowman too", but of course, that was only after we had discussed pushing our brother-in-law into the snow, putting snow in his face, and having snow ball fights... this is comforting ;) Sounds like we are going to have a great winter this year!!

note: picture is from last winter..but it is oh soo adorably cute! i may be a bit biased, but my little sisters=prettiest little girls on the face of the planet :)

Just a stop on the road

2010-09-22T07:24:00.001-05:00

As we were driving back from a fun Historical day where we were visiting one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, we saw this adorable church along the road and just had to stop to see it. It is so cute, and with all the trees around it, it really is just a beautiful spot.. also, did you notice the amazing blue sky in this picture? I love the sky when it is bright blue with puffy white clouds, I just adore it. It's beautiful!! Anyway, we all got out to stretch our legs on the trip and had a very fun time walking around and seeing this gorgeous little spot.. which I of course decided was the perfect photo op for two certain little girls who were looking especially cute in their little matching dresses that day (despite the fact that a certain someone decided to eat her lollipop and have a sticky blueish green face.. ;) Just makes it all the more Sarah-like and authentic!

Sarah and Chayah in the wagon

Two gorgeous girls in the gazebo.Beautiful Chayah.

I love how this picture turned out. So grand, yet so simple. The grandeur of the setting ..take a look at that archway! it's amazing! and huge!.. with the simplicity of barefoot little girls in white dresses smelling flowers :)
Smiles :)So sweet.

Sisters :)

Love this. love those girls!

Sweet Sarah

Remembering those left behind..

2010-09-17T08:58:00.015-05:00

Adoption is an amazing miracle. It is beautiful and it is hard. But through it all, it really is a miracle. I'm so extremely blessed to have been touched by the miracle of adoption. To see and experience your family growing from across the world is amazing. To have Sarah and Chayah home now, after waiting, praying, and dreaming about them being home for so long is amazing. There are really no other words to describe just how awesome it is. And it is all by the grace of God that He showed us His plan for our lives and the lives of these two little girls from the other side of the world and gave us the courage to follow Him even when it seemed impossible.

our family of seven..
most recent picture: from my graduation, May '10
(not pictured are my older sisters' husbands)

One thing that completely amazes me about adoption is that before you step out and are touched by it, you don't realize everything that you are missing. There are 143 million orphans around the world right now. They don't have moms, they don't have dads, they are orphans. So many of these children are available for adoption. So many could be adopted into a forever family of their own, if only the family would step forward and have the courage to press on even when things got tough to bring a new little person home and love them forever.

China. Ethiopia. Uganda. Russia. Haiti. Ghana. Ukraine. Korea. United States.
These are just a few of the many countries that have adoption programs. And many have waiting child programs.

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend their not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes."
-From the book Radical by David Platt

Right now, one of Sarah and Chayah's friends is waiting to be placed with a family. She is from their same orphanage. She is now almost five years old. She came to the orphanage when she was baby. I met her in December 2006 when we traveled to bring Sarah home. She was a baby then. My parents met her again in January 2009 when they traveled to bring Chayah home. She was about 3 years old then and wanted to be held. She is now almost 5, and is an absolutely gorgeous little girl. She is described as being very smart, talkative, and happy."You are not told that children of the orphanage are all coming home with you. That these kids with their wan smiles and growling stomachs are going to follow you across the ocean, move into your house, and inhabit your dreams."

-From the book China Ghosts by Jeff Gammage

She is in the front, middle.. with the pink pants, orange shirt, and cute little yellow shoes :)

She is on the shared list. She has been on for a long time and no one has stepped forward to call her their own.

This beautiful little girl and literally thousands more little girls and boys are waiting around the world today.. I checked China's shared list to see how many more are waiting today and there are 2088 other children just on China's shared list alone. They don't have mom's or dad's. They live in orphanages. They are orphans. Today, I'm remembering those that are left behind. Those children who have not yet been touched by the miracle of adoption. What will you do to show those children hope?

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' . . . 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' "
Matthew 25:35-36;40

Flying!

2010-09-11T14:54:00.016-05:00

Sarah and Chayah's school had a Young Eagle's event at our little local airport. Each of the girls got to go on airplane ride and they both absolutely loved it!! They even cried a little because they wanted to go up again so much.. but there will be another Young Eagle day in the Spring, so they can go again then. ;)
Sarah flew by herself with her pilot and Chayah went on with a friend from her class, another little one, and her pilot. Sarah flew first, and then Chayah and her group-- but in different planes. It was crazy to look up at the sky and not even be able to see where they were.. a little nerve wracking for sure, but all is well and they are both safely down on land again :)
They had a blast though and I'm so happy they got to go up and have such a great time!!

Sarah and her pilot, walking out to the plane

A little blurry, but so sweet :)

Sarah and her pilot almost to the plane!

Getting in and getting ready

Starting to taxi!
If you look in close, you can see a little Sarah head peeking out from the window!

Going out to the runway!
Getting pretty far out there..

And taking off!! (the plane in the background, not the one closest up)

Yes, that is SARAH up in the plane wayyy up in the sky!!!

Landed!

Sarah and her pilot safely back down :)

Sarah adored her plane ride!! She even got a button (that she has on) and a certificate for flying!

Chayah and a friend from her class, hanging out, helping to work the food booth, and waiting to fly.. right here Chayah was saying to him "Hello Husband!" and he was saying back "Hello Wife!".. haha, they're cute ;)

Chayah and another friend from her class, meeting their pilot.. almost time for them to fly!!

Going out to their plane!

Chayah and her group getting in the plane!

All in.. almost time to take off!

Starting to taxi..

Going to the runway..

Going farther... and then they were off!!

Finally-- landed!!

Safely back on the ground :)

Coming back

Chayah and her friend very excited to greet us all again and tell us about their amazing ride!

Sarah ran out to meet Chayah and greeted her with a huge hug! This was the sweetest moment ever!

Chayah and her friend, with their certificates from flying! What big girls they are!! (1st graders are pretty big, after all ;)

First Day of First Grade

2010-09-10T14:15:00.006-05:00

Growing up so fast!! Sarah and Chayah all ready for their first day of school for the 2010-2011 school year. Going to 1st grade!!

Their adorably cute and ultra-patriotic backpacks. love them. :)

Chayah ready to be a first grader :)

Sarah ready to be a first grader :)

Chayah and I

Sarah and I (while Sarah talks on the phone to other big sister, Chrissy)

The girls with Mommy and Daddy before heading off to the first day of first grade!!

The girls had their first day of first grade a few weeks ago. They are at the same amazing Christian school they went to Kindergarten at and so they have all their same friends plus one new friend who joined their class for 1st grade! They are doing so well and enjoy being in class together :)

Summer Fun

2010-09-06T14:00:00.000-05:00

Little watermelon cuties :)

Playing at the park!

Icee on a hot day

Fourth of July!Awesome and amazing vehicle behind us.. I loved it!!

Baby Sarah :)

Eating a ring pop while climbing across the monkey bars.. very impressive!

Me and my girl!

Gorgeous!!

Talking on my phone :)

Somehow, I just love this picture :)

Pretty girl with the pretty flowers

Chayah's favorite restaurant.. her "Mon-don-low"

Chay's favorite food.. french fries!

Pretty Sarah

Lots of fun with friends!All five beautiful girls together :)

Horseback Riding

2010-09-05T14:00:00.004-05:00

While on vacation we went to a stable where both Sarah and Chayah got to go on "pony rides". When we signed them up to go, we thought of ponies.. as in, little, like the ones that kids ride on for pony rides at the zoo.. but in the pictures above is one of the "ponies"! They were quite big!! But the girls both did so well and had a very fun time!

{note: if you're wondering why there are only pictures of Sarah up, well.. that's cause that is all I have for now.. however, pictures of Chayah were taken on another camera and I should try to remember to get those up soon ;) }

Now, is it just me, or does someone look exceptionally grown up??

Chayah's New Brace!

2010-09-04T22:19:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago, when Chayah was at a doctor's visit, she started walking around and putting pressure on her leg! This was a huge step for Chayah, as she had never done this for us before! But she was able to walk on it very well and so the doctor ordered a new brace for Chayah! Her new brace only comes to right below her knee, whereas her previous brace went up almost to her hip. She was very excited about getting her new brace!!
{above: Chayah waiting for her new brace!!}

Chayah and Mommy

New brace!!! This time with hot pink, by Chayah's request.. ;)

Sarah needed a picture too.. after all, sisters are so great and they come along to help!

My girls.

Gorgeous girl and her beautiful new brace!

My two beautiful mei mei's :)

Meant to Be

2010-08-29T22:55:00.001-05:00

Adoption is such an amazing miracle! I am so blessed to have been able to be a part of the miracle twice through Sarah and Chayah's adoptions! Still, there are 145 million orphans around the world today.. Can we do something more to show hope to those who remain as orphans?

First Trip to the Beach

2010-08-24T15:49:00.003-05:00

In July, we took a trip to the Atlantic ocean! It was both Sarah and Chayah's first time to the ocean and can you tell from the pictures that they loved it?! Cause they most definitely had a blast! Sarah was so excited, she could barely contain herself once we finally got to the beach. She just wanted to rush right in the ocean and was so brave in the water! It even scared us a little because she didn't seem to have any fear of the ocean at all! But she loved it and wanted Mom and Dad to take her out deeper. We had "boogy" boards and I took Sarah out to try riding one. After a few tries, it sort of worked as long as I was holding on to it too and we had lots of fun doing that! Chayah was very excited to see the ocean too, although she was a little bit more reserved about going into the water as Sarah was. She did go in though and had lots of fun! Mom and Chayah played with another boogy board and Chayah rode in the waves a little bit and had lots of fun too! She also loved to play on the beach in all the sand, as did Sarah. It was a great time at the beach and so much fun!!

Dresses and Pearls

2010-08-08T21:42:00.007-05:00

Today, Sarah and Chayah attended a friend's F*ancy N*ancy Party! It has been a long awaited day since the day they received their invitation. It said specifically for all the girls to come dressed up, so the girls were all dressed up to attend the party. And, of course, we needed a quick photo shoot before they were off to the party.. because they are just so beautiful and it's not everyday you get to go to a F*ancy N*ancy party all dressed up. ;)

The Birthday Celebration

2010-08-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

The birthday girl!

Blowing up balloons

Dora table cloth :)

Chayah and Mom

Kisses for th birthday girl

8 years old!

Outside fun with new puppy, Tara

Chayah the 8 year old Birthday Princess

2010-08-05T07:53:00.003-05:00

Chayah had her birthday almost a month ago while we were on vacation. We celebrated at big sister Chrissy's house, with her husband Micah, and... brand new puppy Tara! Before we went on vacation, Chayah would tell everyone (literally) that she was going to her sister's house in North Carolina for her birthday. She was sooo excited and looked forward to this day so much! Chayah is such a sweet girl, almost always has a smile on her face, and is so caring towards others, especially her sisters. If we are playing a game and she thinks I was treated unfairly she will start crying. She is very sensitive and also loves to joke! She loves laughing and getting others to laugh. She can also be quite bossy! At school her friend prayed "Dear God, please help Chayah not to be so bossy!" She seems to have a motherly instinct and likes to tell people what to do and what not to do. She is a funny girl! Her favorite food is french fries. I think she would be thrilled if they were all she had to eat, but there would have to be alot of them to keep her filled! Even though she is itty bitty she loves to eat! Minutes after dinner she will say she is hungry again, still she has about the tiniest wrists and waist I've ever seen. She doesn't like chocolate much though, about the only food she will refuse! (I think she's crazy).

She can get scared very easily sometimes but was so brave this Fourth of July as she watched the fireworks and cannons go off on either side of her, I was so proud! She is our little patriotic girl for sure. She loves America, the National Anthem, the pledge of allegience, the flag, the military, everything!

I love our little Chayah so much, it's crazy to think of her being 8 already and home now for 1 and 1/2 years! She really has grown up so much since she came home. She loves going to school (and has the best school too!) and will be in First grade this year!

You're growing up so fast Chayah! We love you and are so proud of you!

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-24T18:14:00.017-05:00

At the beginning of June the girls graduated from Kindergarten. It was a very momentous occasion because you don't graduate every year. Sarah and Chayah are in the same class at the most AMAZING school! Their school really is fantastic, has the best teachers, awesome activities and trips that they've taken over the year, and best of all is an awesome Christian school where the girls come home singing Bible songs and reciting Bible verses. Oh, and both of my little sisters are geniuses. Did I mention that Sarah scored on the fourth grade level for math?! And got the best possible score for Bible?! Amazing. And Chayah is simply fantastic as well.. she does such a good job on everything that she does and I know she would have done excellently as well but she didn't have the same testing as she is still learning to read English. :)

Now introducing the graduating class of 2010..

Leading everyone in pledges

Singing

One of the features of their graduation was that they recited the alphabet with a Bible verse for each letter. Each child was assigned two verses to memorize and say by themselves and the rest of the verses they did as a class. They had been learning these verses each week since the beginning of the year. Sarah reciting her verses.. She had the "I" and "M" verses:
"If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." John 14:14
"My Son give me your heart." Proverbs 23:26

Chayah reciting her verses.. She had the "K" and "S" verses:
"Keep your tongue from evil." Psalm 34:13
"Seek the Lord while He may be found." Isaiah 55:6

Chayah, after receiving her diploma, with her amazing teacher and principal

Sarah, after receiving her diploma, with her amazing teacher and principal

The graduating Kindergarten class with their diplomas.. all ready for 1st grade!!

Our beautiful little graduates :)

Me and my Chay Chay

Chayah and Chrissy

Chayah with her favorite teacher's assistant :)

Me and my Sar Bear

Sarah and Mommy

Chrissy and Sarah

Sarah and her amazing teacher and teacher's assistant.. she LOVES them both! (as does Chayah)

I am so thankful that we are so blessed to have such an awesome school for the girls to go to. I love their school and the girls definitely love it too! :)
During graduation, their teacher gave each of the kids a Fruit of the Spirit award, presenting each child with the fruit she saw most in them over the past year. Sarah received the "Kindness" award and Chayah received the "Goodness" award. :)
At the end of graduation, the parents were given a book for their child (or two books in our case ;). The books are so beautiful..with pictures from the first day of school all through the end of the school year. Each of the trips that they've taken is highlighted with pictures and stories, as well as the special days they had over the year such as their Pilgrim and Indian feast for Thanksgiving with the Preschool class (the Kindergartners were the Pilgrims and the Preschoolers were the Indians), Pajama Rama Day (where they got to wear pajamas to school and meet the Spring Bunny..a REAL bunny that came to school for the day), and so many more. Each book also includes their artwork and little stories that they have written. The books are truly beautiful and such a treasure to be able to look back on this last year, their first full year of school and have it as such a wonderful memory filled and beautiful book. Their school just amazes me!! And I am so proud of my two little Kindergarten graduates.. they're growing up so fast!

The Birthday Princess

2010-06-11T23:11:00.008-05:00

Happy Birthday..

2010-06-11T13:06:00.003-05:00

to the 6 year old Princess Sarah!!

Fun at the Park

2010-05-18T16:40:00.000-05:00

Sunday Snapshot: Sarah

2010-05-16T23:05:00.008-05:00

Sarah Evangeline LuHua.

Turning six in June.

Loves animals. And calls herself a "nature lover".

She is absolutely stunning.

And knows it. Her name does mean "Princess" and she lives up to it.

She loves the Barbie princess movies and thinks they are the best ever.

She is the silliest little girl ever and loves to laugh. And makes everyone around her laugh too.

She is a genius. Just finishing up kindergarten, she is running right through all of her homework- is excellent at reading and is even doing great with basic math!

She can be serious too and is extremely sensitive. She sometimes cries when watching a movie if she sees someone get hurt or in pain.

She is such a helpful girl. When we were at the grocery store, a lady behind us accidentally dropped a block of cheese out of her cart. Sarah ran over and picked up the cheese and handed it to the lady so she wouldn't have to bend down to get it.

She loves being outside. And is a very outdoorsy-girl.

She is quite the little gymnast. She has started climbing everything- trees, the swing set, etc. She tries to do flips too, which scares me, but she is very good at it. That and cartwheels, which she is now able to land perfectly.

She is very athletic and competitive and loves to play.

She is determined and strong-willed. She can do anything she sets her mind to.

She is my little sister. My mei mei.

Everything about her is just simply my Sarah. She is the funniest, silliest, smartest, most awesome little Sarah sister I have and I just simply adore her.

Be Thou My Vision

2010-04-22T14:46:00.002-05:00

There are 143 million orphans in the world today.. What will you do?

Sarah

2010-04-12T21:44:00.005-05:00

Too Cute?

2010-04-12T21:06:00.002-05:00

I think yes. They're just too cute for words. :)

Pajama Rama Day

2010-03-25T11:48:00.004-05:00

Who is the spring bunny and why does anyone wear their pj's to school? Well, you'd have to
be a kindergartener to know! Yesterday was the little girl's very first pajama day. Initially, they weren't too sure about the whole 'wear your pajamas around in public' thing
...it was perhaps too good to be true. It is a well known fact that mom always says, "Girls, you have to get dressed before you can go outside!". After some convincing, they grabbed their pillows and a cuddly toy each and headed off to school
in all their pajama adorned beauty.

There they found fellow pj wearers all sporting the anxious, 'I hope mom didn't get this wrong look,' which quickly turned to multiple smiles of delight as they each saw bunny slippers, fuzzy bathrobes and fluffy pillows in the hands of their classmates.

The highlight of this wonderful day followed the children's tracking of mysterious bunny prints, first within their room, then to the first grade classroom, followed by the ...gasp...principal's office (oh, the awe)...then downstairs to the gymnasium and finally ...outside where they met the perpetrator of all this excitement; the Spring Bunny! The spring bunny was a real bunny they could pet and snuggle.

He "gave" them baskets of candy and goodies and was an affectionate receiver of the kindergarteners' attention. They were quick to learn that the "spring bunny" is not an easter bunny...and that Easter isn't about bunnies at all; In Sarah's words, "EEE...ster is about how 'da son of GOD (strong emphasis here) came alive again (new emphasis here) after he Died on the cwoss! It's NOT", says Sarah," about bunnies!"

Sarah sews!

2010-03-24T12:53:00.005-05:00

Sarah has been very interested in pioneer life lately. After having Mom read the Kirsten American Girl books to her and watching and reading Little House on the Prairie, she loves it all. Sarah and Chayah both have little pioneer dresses, but Sarah wears hers more often and loves to pretend to be "Mary" from Little House on the Prairie (even though she acts more like Laura, Sarah prefers to be the older sister ;). The other day she sewed for the very first time! And the little quilt is what she sewed- ALL BY HERSELF! She worked straight on it with deep concentration until it was done. She did such a great job on it, did she not? She made it as a blanket for her little deer stuffed animal that she loves. Such a grown up girl! Great job, Sarah Lu!!