Our song for the Orphans

The song I have chosen for our blog is by Steven Curtis Chapman, and it was written after he adopted his first child from China. The process of adopting has opened our eyes to the plight of the orphan throughout our home town of Orange County and the world. Did you know:

• There are over 143 million kids in this world with no parents to take care of them? No one to tuck them in at night, sooth a wounded heart or hurt or cheer them on in a victory?
• Every 18 seconds, a child in Africia loses a parent to AIDS?
• In Orange County, there are over 3000 kids available for adoption?
• That over 30% of families have considered adoption, yet less than 2% actually follow through?

These are just some of the facts about adoption - to learn more, visit Voice of the Orphans . You can learn how you can help the orphan - and see the heart of God.

What we are doing while we wait

The CCAA (Chinese Council on Adoption Affairs) updated yesterday and we are now hopefully expecting a referral in March, but more likely it will be the beginning of April. We are excited that the end of this wait is getting closer, and we are praying every day for our baby girl somewhere in China.

So, while we are waiting for Baby Rebecca, I thought I would share what we are doing:

Ashlee moved into her new apartment....

Karen went to North Carolina to visit some of her CWA (our adoption agency) moms and their darling daughters. I am so blessed to know these women & have them in my life. They have truly been a lifeline during the long wait - and one of God's gift to me!

Matt continues to "rock out" on his guitar - getting better every day! We are heavily invested in earplugs at the house!

And Doug & Sailor are just hanging out!

A Great Milestone!

We celebrated an awesome milestone in June - Ashlee graduated from high school! She had a great time celebrating with her friends and family. We started the celebratory time with a graduation gathering with her family the Sunday before graduation. Her grandpa was here from St. Louis, and grandpa George came down from Northern California.

We are so proud of her & what she has accomplished - and what the future holds for her. She is going to start college in the fall with the intention of majoring in nursing - way to go Ashlee!

We Wait for God's Child

Hi all – we are still waiting! The wait is now expected to be at 24 months from our log in date (1/9/06 - the date when our documents were officially received in China) to when we get our baby’s referral. Once we receive our referral (which we anticipate to be in early January) it will be about 7-8 weeks until travel to China. While we are waiting, I am starting a project for baby Rebecca. Yes – we have actually chosen a name. The name Rebecca was the name that Doug’s mom had chosen for her baby girl – that after 5 boys, she never got to use. We chose this to honor Margie and to keep her alive to this baby. Now – on to the project:

While we are waiting for the arrival of our daughter, we are working on a project with which we need your assistance. We are creating a 100 Good Wishes Quilt.
To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes Quilt." It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, (prayers!) and good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. We ask that you please participate in this project. We love the idea of welcoming our daughter into our home with a quilt that represents the good wishes for her from our family and friends.

Here Is What We Would Like You To Do - 1) Choose any 100% cotton fabric that you like. 2)We ask that the fabric is pre-washed (to prevent shrinkage). 3) Cut one 8" x 8” square from the fabric. 4) On an acid free piece of paper (so it will last a long time), attach a small piece of the fabric on the note (so she will know what piece of fabric goes to each wish) and include your prayer or good wish note (this can be any type of good wish for Rebecca) with your name. The fabric will be used to make a quilt, and the notes will be placed in a a special book that we will give to her when she is older.

Ideas For Selecting Quilt Squares - Select a fabric that is meaningful to you. 100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better. If there are several members in your family, please feel free to send more than one good wish note and pieces of fabric. In China, these quilts were originally made from the garments of family and friends surrounding the child with luck and good wishes.

The Note - Keep in mind that our daughter will not see your note until she is older but we would like to have this done for her before she comes home. Please take a few minutes from your busy schedules to help us create this very special keepsake. The miracle of this adoption has been prayed through & nurtured by so many of you and this will be so incredibly meaningful for us as well as our new arrival!

Welcome

We are a new family - just a little over 4 years old...and growing! In mid 2004, we felt God calling us to expand our family through the marvelous journey of adoption. After much prayer and seeking of His will in our lives, we began the laborious paper work process. We have been officially "paper pregnant" since January 9, 2006 when our documents were logged into the Chinese Council of Adoptions Affairs (CCAA). At the time our documents were logged in, the wait time to be matched with a waiting child was 8 months. It has sinced stretched out to 16-17 months. We now anticipate being matched sometime over the summer; then we wait 6-8 weeks and travel to China to pick up our baby girl.

The wait has been long, but the good thing about being as old as we are is that time seems to pass by more quickly. We are busy with Ashlee's high school graduation plans right now and that is filling the time. We are also trying to agree on a name for our new addition, as well as get her room ready.

We know that the Lord is in control of our adoption and is watching over our baby even at this very moment; He has so blessed our lives with the family we have and we are excited to see how He will continue to work in our family.