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I was reading another family's blog this afternoon & came across this disturbing video. I think everyone in our country should watch & think--do we really want this man running our country?? We value life. Do you?



(Do not watch this video with children in the room!)

Our Favorite Playmate

Susannah Update

Susannah is home but has been admitted into the hospital. Her heart defect is much worse than her referral indicated. She will have a cath procedure tomorrow & possibly open heart surgery next week. Leslie (the mom) is having a rough time right now with the lack of attachment & such--you can read more about it on their blog (just click the Susannah button). Please continue to keep the entire family in your prayers.

Hook'em Horns

This awesome shirt was PJ's when he was much younger! PJ passed it down to Philip & then it was passed down to Ashlyn a couple of years ago. I wish I could post Philip's picture in it also but that was before our digital camera! Hook'em Horns!

Face/Arm Painting from the Fair

Susannah Adopted

The Irwins finalized the adoption today & Susannah is able to come home to the States. Susannah has already been on a two hour plane trip! I'm sure the Irwins can not wait to get home. Susannah looks so much better in the pictures. God is amazing!

Susannah Update

Another AWAA family in China posted an update on their blog-

"Update on the family – they got to take Susannah to get her passport picture made today which is great news! And they will hopefully be taking her on to Guangzhou tomorrow morning to get her home quickly and on to Vanderbilt. We are praising God for all he has done in this situation!"

I thought you guys would love this update! I sure do.
Have a great weekend!

Susannah's Update

Susannah is doing much better today. Yeah! Please continue to pray for this family & Susannah. Also, pray for Susannah's nanny (kinda like a really nice foster mom in the US). I'm sure this is very difficult for her. She has not left the hospital in days. I think that I read that Susannah has been with the nanny for three years!
The family opened their blog back up. If you have a chance, get on and check it out. Their family is precious. There is also a brief video of Susannah at the end of the posting.

You can click on the "Susannah Button" to the right & it will take you to their blog.

Constitution Day & Field Trip to the Fair

Prayer Request for AWAA Family

I do not know this AWAA family personally but I have been following their adoption blog. They are in China. They had their "gotcha day" in a hospital room yesterday. Their daughter, Susannah, is very sick. They need to get Susannah back to the States for proper medical help. Their blog is
http://www.roomforatleastonemore.blogspot.com/


It is not password protected. The pictures are heart-breaking. Please pray for this family & their little girl.
AWAA-America World Adoption Agency (our agency)
Gotcha day- the day you finally meet your daughter (or son!)

Home Study Over!

The home study is over! The SW was here for 4 hours today. Yes--4 hours! On the bright side, we are done with the interviewing part. She requested that Philip & Ashlyn be here today during the interview. The SW interviewed both of the kids in their bedrooms. Ashlyn was first & then Philip. I think they were both nervous but did great. I could not really hear the questions, but PJ was majorly eavesdropping. Are you excited about getting a baby sister? What happens when you get in trouble? What kind of parents do you have?
The SW interviewed PJ & I together for almost 2 hours. And then our individual interviews lasted an hour each. The questions were more personal than the last interview. More personal than we expected! The SW will drop back by tomorrow. China requires 3 meetings on different dates. I think she said she will ask the kids a couple of questions but nothing major. It will take the SW at least 2 weeks to write up our report. She will then send it to us & to our family coordinator (FC) for review. Our FC is very picky! I mean that in a good way. We want to presented to China accurately. Reviewing might take awhile!
I'm glad it is over. We treated the kids (& ourselves) to ice cream. Thanks for the emails & prayers. We really appreciate them.

FC-Family Coordinator

Home Study Moved

Our SW had to cancel our 2nd HS for Friday night. I was really hoping to get it over with before the weekend started but no biggie. She is going to come on Saturday at 2pm. SW said we might be able to get the majority of the interviewing done. I'll let you know how it goes!

SW-social worker
HS-home study
I have learned a lot of these through the adoption process. I thought I would start using them!!

Lance Armstrong Back?? Yes!

We are so excited! Lance Armstrong is returning to professional cycling! We started watching the Tour de France while living in Austin. We can wait to see Lance return. Lance is a seven time Tour de France winner. He mentioned that he is returning to cycling to raise money & awareness for cancer. Rock on Lance!

This is just a video of Lance explaining his return to cycling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9QOifA68ac

Dossier Family Photos

Another item that we have to compile for our dossier is family photo pages. We have a page full of instructions from our agency, but I'm still like "what"? I went to our local scrapbooking specialty store a couple of days to get supplies. I was totally overwhelmed. Where does anyone get the time to do all of that? I'm really impressed if any of you do. Can I look at your work??

Anyways, I went to our big craft store yesterday & found some stuff. I'm hoping that I can create something marvelous! And that our family coordinator (& China) likes it & does not veto anything on it which makes me have to start over again.

Short List of what is required-

2 formal photos-full faced,everyone smiling & looking at camera

2 family photos-reflect a candid,comfortable viewpoint of family

1 photo outside of house-NO people

1 photo inside of house-room where we spend most of our time, 3 walls in picture

All photos less than 1 year old.

Only 8 1/2 x 11 paper

I'll post our final copy!

Ashlyn's New Bike

We had promised Ashlyn a new bike once she was on "two wheels". Tonight was THE night to get the new bike. Ashlyn wanted a bike with pink on it & a handlebar brake. She found exactly what she wanted. She needed a new bike helmet also since the old one did not match anymore!! Pretty cool bike. She looks so big on it.

Ashlyn took the bike for a test-drive when we got home. She almost biffed it into the back PJ's truck by testing out the spiffy handlebar brakes! Ashlyn just looked at me & said "They work!".

Lake Tanglewood Triathlon

PJ & I arrived at the lake around 8:15am. PJ felt like he could sick at any time--he was really nervous. The race organizers decided to let them swim even with the dead fish floaties. PJ said the water was much colder than he thought it would be. Several competitors wore wet suits! PJ rocked the bike part! His final time was 1:12 ish. We have not gotten the official results yet. PJ's watch said 1:12:52. PJ improved his time by 6 minutes from the last race. PJ did AWESOME!

PJ wants to thank everyone who donated to Children's Miracle Network. He really appreciates your donation & so does CMN. He was the big raiser of the race!

1st Homestudy!

We thought it went really well. Our Social Worker (SW) was super nice & friendly. She was here for almost 2 hours! She basically has a list of questions that she asks us. PJ thinks we probably answered around 50 questions. Some were really easy & then a couple of hard ones. SW said the rest will take around 4 hours. Not bad at all! Our next interview is Friday at 7pm. Her schedule is crazy, ours is sorta-of crazy!
Thanks for all the prayers, emails & kind thoughts. We were feeling them tonight.

We are headed to Lake Tanglewood in the morning. PJ is competing in the Children's Miracle Network Triathlon. He is going to do AWESOME!
Some of the fish decided to "float" (aka die) so the swimming part may not happen. It is supposed to be smelly, not the sweat kind!

Homestudy is Tomorrow. Yikes!

On one hand, we are super excited that our 1st homestudy interview is tomorrow night. This means that we are a little bit closer to seeing our sweet Hope. But on the other hand, we are really nervous! If you have time, please say a little prayer for our family & Hope. Thanks!

Homestudy is Scheduled

Our first homestudy interview is Friday night at 7pm. The Social Worker (SW) said the interview will last a little over an hour. The total homestudy process should take about 8 hours! The SW said it depends on how much we like to talk. Good thing she is not interviewing Ashlyn for any length of time. The kids will need to be interviewed without us for about 5 minutes sometime during the process. Wonder what they talk about???
Please say a little prayer for us. We really have no idea what to expect during this interview.

Labor Day Weekend of Fun!

We went to my parents ranch house in Clarendon over the weekend. We always have so much fun at the ranch. PJ killed a rattlesnake on Saturday! Seriously. He was out with my dad & brother. The guys brought the snake back (minus the head) to the house. It kinda freaked Ashlyn & myself out--it kept moving around like it was still alive. Yuck! Philip kept the rattles. The kids had a big scavenger hunt that Melissa (my sister-n-law)put together. I seriously think she must have gone to a scavenger how-to class. She is great at entertaining the kids. Making melty beads & playing Sequence consumed a bunch of our time. The kids love playing with Ava. We are still trying to figure out exactly what Ava is saying. There is a lot of "Oh baby!" when she hugs Philly & Ash. She sure is a cutie! The guys baited the hog traps but no such luck this weekend. Philip & PJ broke off Philip's hog's tusks from the July 4th hog hunt. We had a fun-filled weekend!

Hoping to start our homestudy this week. Also, PJ's triathlon is Saturday in Lake Tanglewood. Please say a little prayer for him.