Merry Christmas To All!

Merry Christmas to you!  Hope your Christmas was a blessed and peaceful one.  Here are some pictures and a video of our activities over the past month leading up to and including Christmas.

J, D and the dog in front the tree we picked out at the tree farm (11/30/10).

D with fellow shepherds at the church Live Nativity (12/12/10)

J sporting the latest in traditional shepherd fashion. YO!! (12/12/10).

J playing "Away In A Manger" on the guitar for Pre-service on Christmas Eve. (Turn up your volume to hear)

J (upper left) and kids singing "Silent Night" in Spanish on Christmas Eve.

D (upper right) as part of the German contingent singing "Silent Night" in German on Christmas Eve.

B, her sister and here mom on Christmas Eve.

S,J, D and B on Christmas Eve.



The Christmas tree on Christmas Day.

Again Merry Christmas and may God richly bless you and yours in 2011!!

A Pleasant Surprise

Today we received a new picture of our sweet little peanut.
We also got a little info about her current health and
development.  We also found out that she received the
care package that we sent her a couple of months ago.

What a wonderful early Christmas gift! 

We're still hoping for our LOA before Christmas, but for
now, we'll take what we can get!

She looks good and happy. LOVE her smile. :-)
We're thankful for the love and care she's received and
for God keeping her in His care.

DTC and Hip Mom

We got news on Friday evening that our dossier is on it's
way to China!  Yeah!!  Another step completed and one
more step closer to our little sweetie!   We're waiting for the
next e-mail (anyday...hopefully!) saying that our dossier has been
delivered to the CCAA and logged in. 

We also look forward to getting updated information on her and
maybe some pics.  That should happen sometime this month.
It seems like forever since we've been matched....

Don't forget about Hip Mom!  Now's the perfect time to get
some Christmas shopping done for ladies in your life.
Remember to use our family code gay1110 when you check out
so that we can get credit for your purchase.  Please spread the
word to family and friends.  Thank you again for helping us to
bring this little one home!

30 Day Holiday Giveaway!

Stefanie over at Ni Hao Y'all is at it again with a cool giveaway.
She's calling it 30 Days of Giveaways.  The gift giving starts on
Thursday, so click on the button below or on her web site above
get in on fun!

While you're there, take some time to read her blog.  She and her
husband are amazing! 

Shopping for a Good Cause

We're so excited...Ann from Hip Mom Jewelry has chosen us as one of
the families to be a part of her November Adoption Fundraiser program!
We will receive a portion of the profits from each piece of jewelry that is
purchased during the month of November.

You can enter her website from the button on the side of our blog or
click Here.

She has some really great pieces.   Some are adoption related...

While others are not....

Now is a great time to shop.   Christmas is just around the corner and these
would make wonderful gifts for the ladies in your life.  Remember when you
check out use our family code gay1110 so that we can receive credit from
your purchase.

We hope you enjoy looking at Ann's designs.  Please spread the word on
the web site as we only have one month to take advantage of the proceeds.

We thank you for all your support and prayers as we wait! Our dossier
should be in China very soon and then we wait some more until we get
our TA (travel approval).  We look forward to receiving more info
on our sweet pea sometime this month!  Please keep her in your prayers
as she awaits our arrival. 

Our Daughter

Meet our daughter, Qiana Rebekah.  Isn't she adorable!
She was born in April 2009 and currently lives

in an orphanage in China.  We don't have too many
pictures to share right now. We're hoping for an update
sometime next month.  New pics are possible.

We can't wait to bring her home! 

In the next couple of days, we'll share some ways that you can
help us to bring her home!

Early B-Day Gift

These arrived at our doorstep this morning.  They are an early birthday
gift from my mom. I'll share with the family as eating all of them won't help this
almost 40 year old gal in keeping somewhat of a modest figure
(insert laughing here). :-)  The card in the box says to consume them within
48 hours of arrival.  Darn.  I guess we'll have to eat them today as I don't think
they'll stay fresh for another 10 days!   The boys think they are very cool! 
They especially like the chocolate b-day card that was included  in the box.
They will have to wait for that until my birthday. :-)  Thanks Mom!!!

We do have reason to celebrate, so I guess they arrived on an appropriate day.

Our dossier is completed and on it's way to our agency!  It's amazing how much

paperwork is required to adopt a child.   There's been a lot of hurry up

and waiting involved.  That's okay though because we have a wonderful

reason to have gone through all of this...she's waiting for us in

Henan, China and we can't wait to meet her and bring her home!

God is so very good!!

Progress!

Okay, so it's not like we're ready to travel, but we're one
step closer.  It's been almost a month since we heard
from USCIS saying they were processing our
paperwork.  The next piece of paper would be the appt.
letter for biometrics.  Once the prints are taken,
then we get the piece of paper that approves us
to adopt from another country.  The very last piece of
paperwork we need for our dossier to be complete.

Well, I've waited patiently each day for the postman
to deliver our mail and nothing. No letter. 

Yesterday seemed to be another day of nothing. I have
to admit, I was truly sad when I took the mail from the
box and there was nothing from the USCIS.
Then about 30 mins after getting the mail from
the mailbox, the kids came to me and said the
postman was back.  I quickly ran up the stairs to
find a book that I ordered plus two letters from the
USCIS. Yeah!!

So today we decided to try and get the prints
done a week early and we were able to get
in!  Thank you!!!

Our hope is that we'll get the final USCIS paper
by later this week/early next week so that we can
get it sealed.  Then.we're.done.   Our paperchase
will be complete.  Everything will be at the agency
for checking before sending our dossier to China. 

We're getting closer to meeting our daughter and
we can't be more excited!

We would post pics of her, but we want to wait until
we get our LOA before making it official on
the blog.  Just a little longer. :-)  We can't wait to
share pictures with everyone!!

Meet the Champ!!

The Wild Thing Kart Series at Stafford Motor Speedway has come to an end for 2010. The final race was last Sunday, September 12th. It has been an interesting season. Not many updates were posted because of our busy summer schedule both on and off the track, so here is a quick wrap-up of the season at SMS.

D ran the Tiger Sprint ‘B’ class this year. He qualified for the 1st feature race (which pays the most points) all but one time this season. He has two 3rd place finishes to his credit. His consistency has allowed him to accumulate enough points to finish 2nd overall in the point standings. Congratulations D!!

J ran in the Jr. Outlaw and Tiger Sprint ‘A’ divisions this year. He finished 8th overall in the Jr. Outlaw division. His best finish was 5th. Not bad for the first season. The biggest surprise was how he finished in the Tiger Sprint ‘A’ class.  J has four 2nd place and one 3rd place finish this season.  He was third in the overall points going into the final race last Sunday and ended up with a 6th place finish. This put him second in the overall points standings. However the kart that won the race, and was leading in the points, was found to have an illegal muffler and was disqualified.  He received zero points because of the disqualification which put J in the first place overall.  Congratulations J on becoming the Tiger Sprint ‘A’ division champion for 2010!!

There is still some racing left in 2010, all of it in New Hampshire. J&D Racing will be racing at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH on 9/26 and 10/10 and at Route 106 Racepark in Concord, NH on 10/2 and 10/9. Stay tuned for more updates now that summer is over.

We Have An Announcement to Make......

As you can see from our Adoption Timeline, we received
a referral a couple of weeks ago. :-)  We were totally
blown out of the water by the phone call as our
dossier is not completed and logged in with CCAA.
We had always thought and understood from others
that you NEVER get matched prior to being logged
in.  So when the phone rang that day and I saw
it was from our adoption agency, I thought it was in
regards to paperwork that I had been e-mailing them
for pre-approval for notarization, etc.

Imagine my surprise when the person on the other
end asked if we were still interested in the special
needs program.  Of course we were!  She said
that was good to hear because she had a file that
she wanted us to look at. 'Excuse me, you know
that our dossier isn't completed, right?  Yes, we
know exactly were you are as far as paperwork goes'. :-)
Silence on my end.  She asks if I'm still there....yes,
just trying not to cry....trying to slow my heart rate down. :-)
She then tells me some info about this sweet little girl and
tells me to get to my computer as she'll be sending the
file very soon.

As I wait for the file to show up, I call S at work.  He too
is surprised.  We weren't expecting a match for many
months yet.  But who are we to question God's timing?!
We spent a few days looking over her file, talking to
our pediatrician and the specialist at our local children's
hospital who will be taking care of her.  Everyone
we spoke to gave us no indication of any problems with
her file.  We also prayed for our decision and this special
child. 

We officially accepted the referral on August 23rd.
We submitted our LOI to China by Friday the 27th, and
we heard today, August 30th, that China has given us
pre-approval.  We still need to submit our dossier and
there's always the possibility of us being unmatched with
her, but as of now, she's our daughter! 

We now have permission to send her a care package.
So, along with completing our dossier and immigration
paperwork this week, we get to send a package to a special
little girl waiting for us on the other side of the world.

How's It Going?

Summer is quickly coming to an end here in our
quiet little corner of the world. Although the
past few weeks haven't been so quiet in our
household. :-)

Our church's Worship Team, which S and I are
blessed to be a part of, hosted an Evening of
Worship with Robin Mark this past Friday.
If you don't know who Robin Mark is, you're
missing out! Robin is a remarkably gifted worship
leader from Ireland. Each summer, he travels around
the U.S. and plays with local church's worship
teams and provides communities such as ours
with an amazing evening of not just great
music, but powerful worship! Our WT has
been preparing for months for this evening
and they didn't disappoint! They were awesome!
We were thankful to be able to be a part of this
event and meet Robin. He's a truly down to earth
guy who simply loves the Lord and loves to share
that love with those he encounters through music. 
Below is a picture of Robin practicing with the team.

 

The boys are wrapping up their racing season.

About two weeks ago, S's sister, brother-

in-law and niece came for a visit. They are one of

sponsers of the J&D Racing Team. That particular

Monday night, they were also Event Sponsers.
They were able to hand out the trophies to all
those who placed while getting to know some of
the racing families. A good time was had by all!

 

Our adoption paperwork is coming along. We

are ALMOST done with all the papers required

to complete our Dossier. This week, we hope

to have all but one document notarized, certified,

and on it's way to the New York Chinese Consulate
for the final special piece of paper needed to 'seal'
them. We will also apply for our immigration paperwork.
That piece of paper gives permission from our government to
adopt a child from another country. We will be given an
appt.to get our fingerprints taken (again) and then we wait
for them to clear. Once this is done, and we receive our approval,
then that will go through the process of getting 'sealed' and
our Dossier will be complete and ready for our adoption agency
to give final approval.  Once that is done, it will be sent to
China to be officially logged in!

Things have been moving very quickly with matches in our
agency. We could be traveling to China within the next
6 to 8 months to meet and bring home our daughter! :-)
We can't wait!! We ask that you please pray for things
to go as smoothly as possible and that all the paperwork
is processed in a timely manner! Thank you!

THANK YOU!!

We just received our first check from Just Love Coffee Roasters,
the company that is helping us with our adoption fundraising
efforts. :-)

A big THANK YOU to the family that purchased coffee to
support bringing our little girl home!! Enjoy the coffee!

Adoption Update

Just an update on where we are in the process. We're
currently in the middle of the paperchase. Sending
out marriage and birth certificates to get certified
by various Secretary of States and then to be sent to
the appropriate Chinese Consulates for authentication.

We will have our first home study visit this week.
We hope to have the home study completed and ready
to send to our agency for approval by mid July.

Right now, it's a lot about the hurry up and wait.
If you know me, then you understand that this is
very difficult for me. :-) I keep reminding myself
that this is all part of the process and EVERYONE
has to go through it and at the end of the paper-
chase is a precious little girl waiting for her mama
and baba. :-)

Things that make us uncomfortable

Okay...let's face it. There are just some things that are
uncomfortable talking to friends & family about....one of them
is money. This is not a post asking for money...don't worry. :-)

Although in the next few months, we will have 'fundraisers' of
sorts that you might get an email or phone call about asking for
support. Please don't feel that you HAVE to participate.
Follow your heart. :-)

One of the first 'fundraisers' is located on our blog. It's a
win/win kind of thing. :-) Lots of you like coffee. So, if
you buy some coffee from this site, you'll be supporting coffee
growers & children in Ethiopia while helping our adoption fund
in the process. :-) Click on the Just Love Coffee link
to check out all the great coffee they have available.

You see, when we first felt the call to adopt, we didn't know where
we were going. I prayed many times for God to 'give us a sign' about
the country we should adopt from. I've had several dreams over the
past year and a half. In some of the dreams, I would be holding her,
but would NEVER see her face. I would have dreams about laughter
in the house and I would hear the boys laughing but also the laughter
of a little girl. One of the last dreams I had before we put in our
application to our agency was of us meeting our daughter. I saw her
face! I knew where she was! Although I woke up right before I got to
pick her up, it gave me comfort in knowing He was giving us guidance
in which direction we should be looking.

So, this leads me back to the coffee. You see, Ethiopia is still on my
heart. If I could, I would adopt from both China and Ethiopia! I can see
your eyes rolling and hear the deep sigh right now dear. :-) My Godson
was adopted from Ethiopia as well as a couple of other children in our
congregation. Ethiopia will always hold a special place in my heart.

So, in honor of my Godson, E, and the children in Ethiopia who wait
for their forever families, we're supporting this company selling this
coffee. If you've never tried Ethiopian coffee, you're missing
something really good. :-)

If you decide to buy some coffee, thank you. If not, that's okay. We
appreciate you stopping by. :-)

J&D Racing Update for May

The green flag has dropped on the 2010 go-karting season. J&D Racing has had two practices and two races so far. J is doing double duty in the Tiger Sprint “A” class and the Jr. Outlaw class. D is continuing in the Tiger Sprint “B” class. Here’s the run-down of the events so far.

5/2/10 at Stafford Motor Speedway
Opening practice was good. J’s Tiger Sprint was hopping coming out of turns 2 and 4. This is basically from J outgrowing his kart. No extra weight needed for his kart to make minimum weight with him in it. He is getting taller, so the Center of Gravity (CG) is higher causing the kart to shift more weight to the right side while in the corners. This causes the right side tires to dig into the track then loose grip, dig in and loose grip, etc. We have some work to do to shift weight around to try to get the weight redistributed. J ran well in the outlaw. It seems to suit him well. D had a little bit of hop in his kart too. We can get this out as he has not outgrown his kart yet.

5/17/10 at Stafford Motor Speedway
D started 6th of 7 in the third heat of the Tiger “B” class and finished in 4th. So he started 12th of 12 in the first feature race. D finished 8th. Not a bad finish, but the kart was hopping coming out of turn 4. J started 8th of 8 in the first of two Tiger “A” heats and finished 2nd. He started 3rd in the feature, but due to the ill-handling of the kart coming out of both turns, he kept dropping back and finished 8th of the 15 karts. J had a harder time in the Jr. Outlaw. The chain came off and bent the rear chain guard and stripped the teeth of the rear gear on the first lap of the first practice. The chain popped off again on the first lap of the second practice. After putting on a new chain, rear gear and chain guard, J started 5th of 6 in the third heat. He finished 3rd. This earned him the 9th starting spot of 18 karts in the feature. Unfortunately when the karts were sent out to the track from the pits, J drove 20 yards and the new chain (with 8 laps on it) broke. We couldn’t get it fixed in time, so he had to scratch, which put J in last place in the overall point standings after week one. Not a great start to the season for J&D racing, but hopefully it will only get better from here.

5/22/10 at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH
A brand new 1/8 mile go-kart track was built in the middle of the stock car track at this facility. This was a practice only and the first time karts have ever been on the track. The asphalt was just put down the first week of May, so the track is smooth (D likes this), but doesn’t have much grip. All three karts seemed to run well, but it was hard to tell, since it was a practice and many of the people were not able to make it. J&D Racing will be racing the 4-race New England Challenge Series at TSS. Race #1 is on Sun. 6/13.

5/24/10 at Stafford Motor Speedway
D started and finished 3rd of 6 in the third Tiger “B” heat. This was good enough to get him into the first of two feature races (the one you want to be in). He started 9th of 9 and was able to drive to a 5th place finish. Pretty good for him since his kart is still jumpy in turn 4. We will address this before the next race on 6/7. J started 3rd of 7 in the first heat race of the Tiger “A” class. J took down the checkered in the heat and started on the pole of 14 karts for the feature race. J finished 3rd and brought home a trophy for his podium finish. Enjoy the video of J’s heat win!!



We were able to fix the chain problems on the Jr. Outlaw kart by changing the drum and a spring on the clutch. One of the clutch springs was stretched and causing the clutch weights to vibrate too much. Since replacing the spring & drum, we have not had any problems with the chain. J started on the pole of the third Jr. Outlaw heat and was able to finish 2nd. He started 4th of 16 karts in the feature race. He fell back to 7th on the first lap, but was able to maintain this position when the checkered fell. Not bad for his first time in a Jr. Outlaw feature race. This kart was handling well and J put down some very fast lap times in practice. We are pleased with the set-up in this kart for now. Once J gets some experience in it, we think he will be able to run towards the front of the pack.

As mentioned, the next race will be at SMS on 6/7. We will try to get some photos posted of all the karts soon.

Have a Happy Memorial Day and remember those who have given their lives for our freedom. God Bless you all!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day. So many emotions....years ago, this day would
have left me sad as I had thought I would be a mom only to
find out that I wouldn't. That happened twice, then God blessed
me with two wonderful boys.

I grew up with a sister. When J was born, I didn't know what
I was doing. I mean, I didn't grow up with a brother...what was I
going to do with a boy?! All I knew about were dolls and playing
school. I knew nothing of toy cars and trains. I've since
learned to play with toy cars, build things with lego's, and have
an occasional battle with a light saber. :-) Oh how God has
blessed me with these two boys!

As I sit here this evening, my heart is a little empty. You see,
we are awaiting an addition to our family...a little girl. :-)
I know where she is, I just don't know who she is...yet.
Even though I don't 'know' her, my heart longs to hold
her. Last March, I bought this bunny. I don't know why I felt
compelled to buy this bunny on that day. Maybe it was the day
she was born. All I know is that I felt a push to buy this bunny
and name it Hope. I remember crying while putting it's little heart
in with the stuffing and making a wish (according the lady at the
stuffing station). I didn't 'make a wish', but I did pray that God
would guide us in the timing for our adoption and and for Him to
watch over our little girl until the time we would be together.
This bunny will be sent to her when we mail her her first
care package. :-)

So as I sit here this evening very thankful for the blessings
that He's given me, I look forward to the day I get to play with
toy cars (which have turned into real go-karts and I only watch
the boys drive them), build things with lego's, have the occasional
light saber fight or n*erf gun battle, AND co-host tea parties. :-)

A New Journey Begins

Today we got some wonderful news. We are going to be parents
once again. :-) No, I'm not with child. God has led us down
the path to adoption. We found out today that we were accepted
to adopt a little girl from China.

Words can't describe the emotions right now. The seed was
planted almost two years ago. After much prayer and waiting
for His time, we submitted our application. We don't know how
long this will take as time frames change from month to month,
but we know she's so worth the wait!

We look forward to sharing this journey will all of you.

2009 Wild Thing Kart Series Banquet

The annual banquet for the Wild Thing Kart Series for the 2009 season was held on Jan. 10th. All three drivers of the 2009 J&D2 Racing Team received awards.

S received a plaque for the 14th overall place in the Sr. Outlaw class.

D finished 7th overall in the Tiger Sprint ‘B’ class and received a plaque. He also received a picture and a cap for his participation in the Triple Crown Series.

J was the big winner for the team. For finishing 3rd overall in the Tiger Sprint ‘A’ class he received a trophy and a $25 gift certificate. He was the overall winner in the Triple Crown Series for the Tiger Sprint ‘A’ class. For winning this series, he received the Cup Trophy, a polo shirt with his name embroidered on it, a Triple Crown cap and a $25 gift certificate.










Congratulations to all the members of the J&D2 racing team!!

We want to thank all of our sponsors for 2009 – Service Master Clean of Fargo-Moorehead, Uncle Larry, Grandpa & Grandma in FL, Grandpa & Grandma in ND and Garrett’s Carpentry. A special THANKS to B for the great pit crew work and video job she did throughout the season. We also want to thank all of our friends & fans for your support by coming to the track, watching the races and cheering us on this season. We hope to see you at the track again this year.

The schedule for the 2010 season looks something like this.

Wild Thing Kart Series at Stafford Motor Speedway (Monday’s)
May - 2 (Sunday Practice), 17 & 24
June - 7, 14, 21, 28
July - 12, 19, 26
August – 9, 16, 23, 30
September – 12 (Sunday, Triple Crown)

A new go-kart track is opening at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH. A special four race series will be held on the following Sundays - June 13, July 25, August 8 and September 26.

The Triple Crown Series will be held at the following tracks on Sundays:
September 12 – Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford Springs, CT
October 3 – Twin State Speedway, Claremont, NH
October 10 – Sugarhill Speedway, Weare, NH

What to look for in 2010. As of now, J&D2 Racing will go back to J&D Racing as J will do double duty in the Tiger Sprint ‘A’ and the Jr. Outlaw classes. J will run the kart in the Jr. Outlaw class that S was running in the Sr. Outlaw class in 2009. D will continue in the Tiger Sprint ‘B’ class.

A Puppy

I guess you can tell from the previous post that we got a new
puppy. He's the cutest 6 month old silky terrier ever. :-) His
name is Jake. The boys adore him and have been a great help
with his care and training.

A New Excuse

Here's a new excuse for not having your homework done....the puppy
did it's business on it! :-0 Sorry, no pics. Needless to say,
D got a new copy of his math work and he won't be leaving it on
the floor anytime soon. :-)