Hoping for more news soon....

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all

Emily Dickinson

Anthony continues to do well.....

I will ask his Mom for permission to link to their blog. Basically lots of tests to evaluate his ticker and then a whole lot of dental work and an upcoming surgery on Oct 22. He is in great hands from a surgical stand point and definitely lucked out on the family front. Adorable brothers and amazing Mom and Dad. Keep them in your prayers please.

New feature......

Heard about the new blogger feature called "followers". If you come here regularly you too can become a follower and you will receive updates automatically. Click to the left. That way you can tag along until all of the friends we met at Starfish find a home.
That is as long as we will be here. When all of the original 21 are with their forever families I will have our blog published to a book and Isabel will have it forever. Maybe it will be an heirloom for she and her family yet to be. Maybe it will lead her back to China again.

I also hope you will follow Grace & Beth as they travel back to China for their chance to volunteer and to visit the land of their birth. It will happen in beginning February 27th 2009 when we leave home for the airport. See the link to the left. It will be a totally different experience because we are going to a different foster home in a different city. My hope is that this trip is just as meaningful to them as Isabel's was to her.

Bon voyage.....

On Friday two families right here in our community are leaving for China to meet their new daughters.

One is a sweet 13 year old girl. How I wish there were more of those older child adoptions. Imagine how that young lady is feeling this weekend. What must she be thinking? How brave to take such a leap of faith and yet she gave her permission for this adoption and is fully aware of what is happening. How special are her parents to do this? She will have two little brothers who are also pretty amazing boys. I am praying for a smooth transition for this family. I can't wait to meet her.

The other baby is coming into a family that has wanted her for a very long time. They have loved her before they met her and she is coming home to what I am sure will be a very special life too. Her parents are over the moon crazy happy and it feels me with joy to just see that.

We welcome these children with open arms and hearts full of love.

Lucky thirteen.....

Gabriel is with his family in Xi'An. He has sisters and brothers and what a happy bunch they look. Amanda reports that 5 more children have been matched but no news yet on when they go home. That leaves eight to go. What a joyous day that will be when the last of our 21 is united with their families. Of course, our prayers will still be with all the ones who continue to wait.

Tiny bits of news.....

Emailed Amanda......the Starfish director... to ask about Lily and Caitlyn. Lily was Isabel's little sidekick and she would have liked nothing better than to have brought her home with us and been her Jie Jie (big sister). Lily had spina bifida and surgery before we were at Starfish. She had mobility issues and was able to stand but not yet walking. Still not sure what her status is but Amanda says they are getting her fitted for a brace or braces. Caitlyn was the smallest and frailest little Starfish. She was a very poor eater and I tried to hold her and feed her to assure myself she was getting enough. Amanda says she is putting on weight, but not how much. Sadly she also said they think she is blind. Gabriel was to be adopted on the 31st of August but so far no news of that.
Please continue to pray for these children. Jade and Rebecca must be three by now or close to it and no forever family in sight.
We will continue to hope.

My girls have resumed school and today Beth came home with a fire in her belly for a new project the class is considering. This year they want to support a worthy cause and do some fundraising for it. I gave her some information I had on New Hope Foster Home where we are going in March........see our site in sidebar "return to China 2009".. We looked at their webpage and she will take in the brochure I gave her and peruse the website with her classmates and do a little presentation. That would be great!!!

Here is a sweet photo taken recently of Rebecca (L) and Jade (R) by one of the nannies. So adorable.