Ahhhhhh, LOTS and LOTS to update! It’s been an exciting couple of weeks!!!!
First, of all….let’s start with the BEST news yet!!!!!
YES, we are officially (as of Jan 31st) DOSSIER TO CHINA!!!!!
we are now awaiting our Log In Date (that is when we will officially be logged into the Chinese Computer systems)
Then, we will be officially waiting for our Letter of Approval (LOA) from China to bring baby girl, Gia, home!
We love her so much and every step closer feels like a miracle from God!
And, let’s just say the timing was so perfect because the news of DTC came right on the first day of Chinese New Year!!!
We made lanterns to celebrate…bringin’ the light!
We use this traditional Chinese celebration as a reminder to bring the light of the Gospel to China and to pray for all those that don’t know the love and grace of our Savior in China. We pray that they will be able to find His light among the darkness.
We especially pray for Gianna and Tahlia’s birth parents and their biological extended family. We pray that God’s hand of protection and blessing and salvation would reach their lives.
We also use the holiday to be reminded of the many missionaries (past and present) who serve to bring the light to China, and we hold these dear precious and brave people up in prayer!
I love these crazy babies so much, can’t believe I get to be their momma.
..MY TREASURES
…….ahhhhh, can’t wait till all 6 of my babies are in their Chinese silks in one pic!!!!
Then, to celebrate we got to go to the GREAT WOLF LODGE!!!
We were so thankful to get away in the drags of winter!
The Grandparents had given us a gift certificate as a family Christmas present and we were able to stay the night and play around in the water park! Such a gift!
It also snowed and iced a lot while we were there! We almost got snowed in for another night, but we finally dug ourselves out of the parking lot!
Such a fun adventure!
SO MANY FUN MEMORIES!! Thank you Grandparents for the priceless Christmas gift!
Finally, if you’ve been following our journey to Gianna then you know that we have started a Puzzle Fundraiser to help bring her home and help raise funds for our $5000 required Orphanage donation.
You can read more about our “be A part of Gianna’s Puzzle” here.
Each child has excitedly joined in to the puzzle building adventure for their little sister…and each has celebrated when a new piece would be sponsored!
The kids and I have been talking about how the exhilaration of putting a jigsaw puzzle together is so symbolic of the adoption journey.
When you ache to find that next piece to further your journey to the goal of completing the puzzle.
And, you celebrate when it’s found and when it perfectly fits into place.
But…..you can’t spend too much time celebrating that one piece because your aching heart is already thinking about the next piece to the puzzle that needs to be located to get you closer to your goal.
Each step is a short lived celebration, yet a reminder that you are moving along.
Because the celebration never truly commences till you are THERE ….DONE….and complete.
Just as we will not completely feel the FULL peace and true celebration till
SHE IS HOME and IN OUR ARMS.
But, each step….with each piece we are one piece closer to HER. God’s little miracles along the way….
His fingerprints of provision and promises fulfilled.
We just keep pluggin’ away….because every part matters, every hand is vital.
We trust and continue in faith.
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| TEAM WORK!!!!! |
And we celebrate each reminder of HIS power and love…..we celebrate the village of friends and family coming together to help bring a little girl home so she can be an orphan no longer.
We are so thankful to those that have sponsored pieces thus far. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of Gianna’s miracle. We are humbled and grateful.
Currently we are at 60 pieces sponsored out of 500!!!!! WOW….God is moving!
Though the puzzle is done being assembled thanks to some AWESOME, ROCKSTAR siblings, it is NOT complete until every piece is spoken for.
This puzzle is being built in other ways then the assembly of little hands.
It is being built by the village.
We pray that each piece, when turned over, will tell a story of love through your sponsorship.
To purchase a piece of Gianna’s puzzle, you can click here:
THANK YOU for being a part of Gianna’s miracle!
Love this idea for the puzzle. We had thought about doing the puzzle too. 🙂 may still have to do it. 🙂 Love the lanterns. We have been looking at Great Wolf Lodge for a couple years now. LOL Great minds really do think alike. So hilarious!!!!!!!
Your pictures are so fun and full of life! Love it here!!