So sorry I haven't checked in!

I'm so so sorry I haven't checked in since our referral pictures. Maybe one day soon I'll blog about everything that has happened. I just have to get my head on straight again from all the travel. First and most important is that Ariel-Layne is a dream! She is so perfect for us. We love her so so much and can't imagine life without her. She is happy most all the time with the exception of having her diaper changed and going to sleep. I'm sure her internal clock is on a whirl and it will take a bit for it to be normal. I know mine is as I've been sick for 2 days with fever, chills and just feeling awful. At least her not sleeping doesn't keep me awake because I can't sleep either.

We had our first doctors appt. and Dr. Montesi says she is healthy and happy! I'm so so glad! Anyway hoping in the next few weeks to talk about China and all that happened there.

PICTURES!!!!!!

We just got home from a trip to Jackson and are so tired. I will blog more tomorrow but since so many people are asking, here is our GORGEOUS baby girl Ariel-Layne (That is her final name, haha)

We are beyond in love with her!!!!!

The box changed!!!!!

Also quoting Bethany's Blog!


06/09/2008
REFERRALS!
Bethany Christian Services just received 7 female referrals from the Guangxi Province!!! Five are for our January 17, 2006 LID group and two are expedited referrals for families with LID's in November 2006. Congratulations! CCAA has confirmed matching referrals through January 20,2006. Our next LID's are: January 24, 2006, February 6, 2006, February 20, 2006 and February 22, 2006.Families will be seeing their children's referral information tomorrow. When CCAA updates their "referrals matched through LID" notice on the portal, we will update the blog. We did receive notification from CCAA that these June referrals will most likely not be able to travel until after the Olympics.

Love at first sight!

Peggy sent us faxed pictures of Ariel today. They are a bit blurry and of course black and white but we are in love! She looks so chubby! She has a little double chin and is simply gorgeous! I just want to hold her in my arms and never let go!!!!

From everything I can tell all of her medical reports are normal. On her behavior report it says that she is a deep sleeper and very active. She would rather play then sit quietly and she is LOUD! It also says she is Impatient, just like her mommy!!!!!!!!!

We should have pictures in full color by Thursday. We are going to Jackson tomorrow to get her real colored pictures and then spending the night and picking John Cole up from camp on Thursday.

When he finally called me yesterday the call went like this,

"Hey Big Brother!"

"For real?"

"Yep"

"Wow, I'm not supposed to be on the phone but I snuck a call because I figured this was it!!!!"

"Sure is, do you want to know her birthday?"

"Yeah"

"September 18th, 2007!"

"FOR REAL!!!!!! That is the coolest thing EVER!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!! WOW"


Then last night when he called his daddy he said "Wow, I'm a brother it hasn't sunk in yet, it's like it's not real." Believe me we know the feeling!!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!

We just got the call!

Her name is Jiang Yi Yu she was born on 9-18-2007 and she is waiting for us in Guangxi Province! We are beyond thrilled.

We got the call on June 9th around 1:30.

We will have a lot of sharing birthdays in the future!!!!

I will post more later when I calm down!!!!!

I'm Scared and Excited and Nervous and Crazy!!

Yep I'm terrified! It's 1:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. Tomorrow could be the day. I pray that tomorrow is the day because I think I might literally end up going nuts if it isn't. I don't know how to express the emotions that are going on inside me right now. We took John Cole to Jackson to Hinds to Natural Resource Camp and I hated letting him go. I want him with me during all of this. Anyway I've been shaking pretty much all day long. I ate dinner, got a little sick so didn't eat supper. Now my stomach is growling but I couldn't swallow food if I tried. Wow, I guess you miss all these feelings going through labor because of the pain. This becoming a new mommy through adoption has labor pains that are far different but no less fullfilling and rewarding although terrifying. Just like labor pains. With John Cole I was in labor for 18 hours. I've been pretty nervous for a few weeks now but I can honestly say the sheer terror/panic/excitement/shaking/not eating came on around 4:30 or so this afternoon. So as right now we are over 9 hours of labor. If anyone besides me is reading this I commend you because I am probably babbling and making no sense.

It's just really funny the similarities of labor with John Cole and now with Ariel.

With John Cole I looked forward to seeing him for 9 months. With Ariel it's been 28 months. Wow, big difference there!

Labor with John Cole started around 2 in the morning and with Ariel it was about 4:30 in the afternoon.

Labor with John Cole lasted 18 hours, with Ariel......................it could be tomorrow or the next day.

Labor with John Cole was painful because of real true life pain! With Ariel it's painful because of my nerves. It's a mental pain of I'm going crazy!!!!!

The expectation with John Cole and Ariel is the same. I'm awaiting MY CHILD! I will finally see my child's face! The love is no different. I was in love with John Cole from the moment he was conceived and I've been in love with Ariel since we knew God had our daughter waiting on us in China.

One thing that's funny. After John Cole was born the Dr. gave him to John to take to the nursery. Right after John had put John Cole in the nurse's hands he fainted. I'm really wondering if I will be the one experiencing the fainting this time, LOL!

This is truly going to be one of the most memorable days of my life and one of the most important. First was our wedding. Marrying my best friend and soul mate on March 9th 1991. Second was the birth of John Cole. Our first baby and our son. He is the world to us and growing into such an awesome young man. I thank God for him every single day. Now the birth of our second child, Ariel. Born in our heart over 3 years ago but finally hopefully tomorrow a face to put with the name. Our child given to us by God.

I think another thing that's so important for me tonight is to pray that God gives a certain peace to Ariel's birth mother. A women who we will never know but who is so important to us. Who loved her daughter so much and went through so much to bring her into this world. I just pray tonight that God gives her a kind of peace to know that her daughter will be introduced to her forever family tomorrow. God please let her know that her daughter will be loved and cherished and taken care of forever. Please let her know that we will protect her with everything that we are, and that we will love her with everything that we are. That she will have everything that it's humanly possible for us to give her. Lord just let her know how deeply deeply we love her and appreciate her and how Ariel will always know about her and the sacrifice that she has made. Two mothers feeling very similar feelings of fear and uncertainty but the universal feeling of true and deep love for a daughter.

I suppose I should try to sleep. Funny thing, sleeping during labor. At least trying. God I'm putting all of this into Your Hands! My fear, panic, excitement, crazyness. Lord this is a huge day for all of us. I put YOU in the middle Lord. I put my faith, hope, and trust in Your Hands. I know this is Your Will and again I know that Your Will will not take us where YOUR GRACE will not protect and lead us. I love you God. Thank you for bringing us this far into the journey for our daughter. Again I put my trust and faith in you to bring us through the rest of the journey and to help us in raising a wonderful daughter! She will always be brought up to love and trust you Lord.

Sleep now........Lord keep our baby girl close in Your Heart!

Rumor Queen and Agency Updates as of Friday June 6th.

Well it looks like the cut off for the month of June is going to be January 22nd!

That means,

WE ARE IN!!!!!

Agencies are expecting the arrival of something Monday. Everyone thinks that it is proably referrals. According to Peggy, Grand Rapids will get the referral and then call her to let her know they are here. She will then call us and let us know. I hope that she has the information on who our daughter is, her name, her age, where she is, etc. Then I believe Grand Rapids overnights the package to Peggy and we will go and pick it up in Jackson either Tuesday or Wednesday! I can't wait! Finally after all of these years!

John Cole has Natural Resource Camp so he won't be with us to actually pick up the package but we will take her picture to him so he can see her!

Right now it's up in the air about whether or not we will travel before, during or after the Olympics. That's something that we will see what Bethany says. Of course we would love to get her as soon as possible but know that realistically it could get very expensive and hard to travel during the Olympics. Some people are saying that their agencies say that we can get there and back before the Olympics start. Others say that as long as we don't have to travel through Beijing that we will be fine. So we shall see.

I'm going to end by thanking God for everthing he has gotten us through. God please kiss our baby girl and let her know that we will know who she is very soon and hopefully will have her in our arms soon. Let her know that we love her more then anything and can't wait to see her. Let her know that she has a family who can't wait to get to her. Love you God, Amen.

A Sign from God

So tonight John and I decided to go outside in the pool for awhile. We were actually looking to see if we could see the International Space Station but we never saw it.

Anyway I love floating around the pool and looking at the stars and the sky. Of course, living in the delta mosquitos are horrible. Anyway it was still beautiful. Finally John had enough of the mosquitos and he said let's go inside. It was about 9:30.

So as John was getting out and drying off I was floating around just thinking and decided to pray. I was thanking God for getting us this far in the adoption process and thanking him for everything. Then I said "God I love you so much, thank you so much for everything but if you could show me some kind of sign that we will finally see our baby next week. Show me that it will all be alright."

Well not 30 seconds later as I was floating there and it was all quiet a beautiful shootin star streaked across the sky. Immediantly in my mind came the words,

"Ask and you shall receive."

Oh wow!!!!!

Some more things I want to add!

Today I want to add some pictures! The first two are from the Matching Room in China. This is where we are matched with our child. I think God is at work the hardest here. Or maybe it isn't so hard for him because of course he knows who our daughter is.

Songs

These are some songs that I want to look at when I have the time. No new news on the referral yet. Jus hanging in there and being scared to death, LOL!

New News from CCAA

Notice on Temporary Extension of the Validity Period of Notice of Coming to China for Adoption
Date of Release:May 21,2008　　Source:CCAA
Central Authorities and adoption agencies of adoptive countries, Considering that a number of people will travel to China for match-watching and tour during the Beijing Olympic Games, China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) decided to extend the validity period of Notice of Coming to China for Adoption from three months to five months for referrals in June and July in order to help adoptive families avoid the travel peak and have more time to arrange their journey in China for adoption. By that time, please check the validity period and remind the adoptive families to make proper arrangement of their travel to China for adoption. For those who plan to travel to China for adoption during the Olympics, please contact the provincial departments of civil affairs for registration at least 15 days in advance so that the adoption process here will go smoothly.
China Center of Adoption Affairs

What I see this as meaning is that we will have the choice to travel DURING the Olympics and hopefully skip Beijing if we want! I am so thrilled to read this. Maybe this is the start of good news for awhile!!!!!

I'm so ready to see our Ariel's face! Lord watch over her and keep her safe and be with all the people effected by the earthquake!

I'm so excited I'm shaking!!!!

Where will Ariel be from?

Thought I would put up a large map of China to see where Ariel could be from. Because of the Earthquake we know she won't be from Sichuan or perhaps a few around there. So, where will our daughter be from?

China Earthquake so so sad

Yesterday China had one of the strongest earthquakes in their history. After being in the adoption process for so long I feel as if China is a part of my heart. My prayers have gone out to all of those in China. To record this historic event I thought I would copy and paste the updates from Rumor Queen from today,

Quake in ChinaMay 12th, 2008
Please scroll to the bottom of this post for updates.
A magnitued 7.4 or 7.6 or 7.8 (preliminary numbers at this point, but still big, no matter what) quake hit China last night, in Sichuan province. News reports say that there is no serious damage in the provincial capital of Chengdu.
They are reporting that cellular service has been disrupted. Knowing how communication channels work in China, I’m betting the land phones and internet are probably spotty as well. Which means that if you’ve got a friend or loved one there and you haven’t heard from them and can’t reach them, that is probably why.
The news reports say the quake struck 93 kilometers from Chengdu, which is around 58 miles, so anyone there likely got quite a ride from it.
Other news reports say that the Chengdu airport is closed, and flights are being rerouted to the Chongqing airport.
While there are reports of it being felt pretty strongly as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, so far I’ve only seen reports of damage in the Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality.
Here are some eyewitness reports from some of the surrounding provinces.
The sad news right now is that of the schools collapsing, and of the school that was buried by mud, and of the collapsing watertower. There will probably be more bad news as the news begins to find its way out of the area, but I really hope not.
I’m guessing that Half the Sky will have some sort of update at some point about the state of the orphanages in those areas, they seem to be pretty on the ball about that kind of thing. If anyone sees them reporting on it, please let me know.
Also, if we have any families in the area it would be nice to hear how they are. I doubt they can get to the internet, but if anyone hears from someone please let us know about it.
——————–
9:00 Update:
There are now damage reports in Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces as well as in the municipality of Chongqing
Chengdu has power and water outages as well as communication problems. An underground water pipe ruptured near the city’s southern railway station and the immediate area is flooded. There are report of buildings with cracks in their walls but so far no reports of collapses.
—————-10:45 Update
I’m trying to report the stuff that isn’t on the news. We all know of the school collapses and the mudslides, I’m trying to give information that isn’t hitting the mainstream news so much.
Reports now have the magnitude at 7.8 or 8.0.
There are some reports of cracked buildings that have been evacuated in Chongching municipality.
Estimates of a death toll are now at three to five thousand in some reports and as high as 10,000 in other reports.
The epicenter was in Wenchuan county in Sichuan province. There are some pictures out there of collapsed buildings in Wenchuan county. I won’t point to them here, as most of them show bodies.
The water tower that collapsed was in Mianyang, in Santai county
There have been 44 aftershocks so far, and rain is predicted for the area. Most people are staying outside right now, out of buildings that could be unsafe.
There are also reports of fatalities in Beichaun county, where it is reported 80% of the buildings have collapsed.
—————-
11:10 Update
Fatalities also reported in Dujiangyan City.
Wenchuan County, the epicenter, is home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, China’s leading research and breeding base for endangered giant pandas. (In case someone has been there, you’ll know that’s where this is.)
Public transportation in Chengdu is said to be operational.
Electricity and water are said to be fine in the city of Chongching.
Eyewitness report of Canadians from Chengdu, seems to be okay where they are: http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/424499
——–
11:30 Update
Two chemical plants were damaged and the areas around them have been evacuated. This is in Shifeng, about 30 miles from the epicenter of the quake.
It is also being reported that the trembling felt in Beijing was from a second 3.9 quake located in the eastern part of Beijing. I don’t believe that’s been decided for sure yet, though.
Death toll is now reported at 7,600 for Sichuan province.
USGS list of quakes and aftershocks: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Asia_eqs.php
———-
12:50 Update
After the country was paralyzed by the snow storms in February the leadership was criticized for a Katrina-like slowness in dealing with the problem. There is now prominent coverage of officials responding immediately to this disaster. Premier Wen Jiabao is in Sichuan. He gave a televised speech as he was flying to Sichuan on Monday. He said the Central Committee of China’s ruling Communist Party and the state cabinet had ordered party members and officials at all levels ‘work on the front line’ of disaster relief.
Wen Jiaobao stated he will be in charge of the relief work headquarters that has been set up with eight State Council departments.
More than 5,000 PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) officers and soldiers, and 3,000 police are being rushed to effected areas to assist and lead the rescue efforts.
There are reports that five schools have collapsed in Deyang city in Sichuan.
Death toll is now reported as “more than 8,500 in Sichuan province.”
The only way into the epicenter areas are by helicopter at this point. Roads are not passable and bridges are gone.
Sichuan has about 40 percent of China’s natural gas reserves and produces about 22 percent of the nation’s output. PetroChina is not yet reporting damage to any of the fields in the earthquake zone, but it may be too early for that kind of information.
Ford, Honda, and Nissan all have factories in Sichuan. At this time none are reporting damage to their factories.
WalMart in Chengdu is closed and will be closed tomorrow as well (it’s midnight there now). Items were knocked off of the shelves and must be put back. Also, the power and water supply is out to the store.
Since it is the middle of the night now, I don’t expect we’ll get much more new information until later tonight (morning in China).
USGS Info:Map: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/105_30.phpList: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/105_30_eqs.php
————-
1:50 Update
Besides the “more than 8500″ deaths listed in Sichuan, the national disaster relief headquarters reports 48 killed in northwestern Gansu province, 50 in the municipality of Chongqing, 57 in Shaanxi province, and one in southwestern Yunnan, according to Xinhua.
At least one of the two chemical plants in Shifang city (that were mentioned above) completely collapsed. Estimates are that it sent more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia into the air.
The U.S. Consulate in Chengdu had no apparent damage. No one is injured and all are accounted for.
Wenchuan, the county where the epicenter is located, has a population of 111,800.
——————
6:00 pm Update
LWB (Love Without Boundaries) is reported to be checking on some schools that they work with in the earthquake areas. I haven’t heard any news yet, though.
HTS (Half the Sky) reports that they have had contact with the Chengdu, Chongqing and Yibin orphanages and that all is well. The children were all evacuated until the tremors passed, the buildings suffered no great damage, and no children were injured. Half the Sky will reach out to other orphanages in the area today (our tonight).


I do know that Bethany does not have any families in this province but there are other agencies who do. God please be with these families and all of the people that this quake has effected.
As of now we haven't heard anything about the quake effecting the adoption. Of course I feel selfish for even thinking about it when so many thousands of people have lost their lifes or the lifes of loved ones. Beijing felt the quake but there has been little to no damage reported there. As of right now the CCAA has referred through January 12th. 3 whole days last month which was a real let down. We are still hoping and praying for a referral at the end of May or beginning of June but of course I'm guarding my heart for July. I just want our daughter home with us where we can do our best to try and protect her from any and everything.

On the name front we have been looking at the history of referrals and if possibly Ariel is born in late November to early January we are thinking of the name Noelle. It's a Christian name and not as common as Grace. Of course there is also Faith which is what we have had this entire time.

Anyway Lord please be with the many people in China as they are facing this devistation. Please keep them safe and help them to find a peace in their hearts. Lord be with our Ariel who we love so much. We are so ready to bring her home. Lord please let her little heart know that mommy and daddy love her and are coming just as soon as they will let us. Guard her for us Lord, keep her safe and warm and happy until we can get there. I love you Lord and I trust you and I know that you have our perfect daughter in mind and when Your time comes we will get her. I can't wait to hold and kiss her! Amen.

On the John-Cole front, 10th grade is over after the Awards Assembly tomorrow morning. My son is officially a Junior. Wow has time flown. I'm so proud of him and his grades! He is exempt from everything and was inducted into the Beta Club. I'm just so proud of him. This summer he is going back to Natural Resource Camp at Hinds Community College for a week and then he's taking the ACT. He says he's going to work on golf all summer and he also might go to a Football Camp for Kickers. He's so active in everything at the school and he's just such a danged good kid. I'm so so proud of him and love him so much!!!!!

Well I guess that's about it for now. I'm really hoping to be able to post pictures of our daughter soon!!!!

Copy of Rumor Queen's Predictions!

Rumor Queen made new predictions today and we are in!!!! I'm hoping and praying that we will have our referral in June but still guarding my heart for July. But here is a post of Rumor Queen's Predictions!!

John Cole and his request today!

So I pick John Cole up from school today and the first thing out of his mouth is,

"Oh mama, me, Dustin, Carver, Davis, Chris and Bryan are going to leave Saturday and spend the weekend in Helena and we will be home after the golf match on Monday."

Me,

"Oh really where did I hear an adult in there?"

Him,

"I don't think Logan is going, it's just going to be us."

Me

"And you would think I would be okay with this in WHAT WORLD?"

Just thought it was an interesting conversation and shows how the teenage mind works!

Update for April

Well let's see, referrals are into JANUARY, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! As of today the CCAA has referred through January 9th. ONLY 8 DAYS AWAY!!!!!!!! The sad news is that it will probably take China until June to get to the 17th. We are so close though. We have never ever been this close! We are still up in the air about Ariel's middle name. When we see her face we will know though. I just finished reading a post on Bethany's Blog and thought that in years to come it might be interesting to have this information. It's about a referral. I just copied and pasted the information,

Several comments have come in requesting that we talk about “what is a referral”, the process, what to expect, etc. Although lengthy, we hope this blog post helps answer some of your questions. If you have more specific questions, we encourage you to talk with your social worker.Q: What is a "referral" and what is the process? A: A referral is the much anticipated answer to all of our prayers. It is the matching of an orphaned child with their forever family. Once your dossier is received and LID ("logged-in") at CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs), it gets translated. The dossier is then placed in the holding area until it enters the Review room. The Review room is where your dossier is closely reviewed to ensure 1) eligibility and 2) appropriateness. The dossier then travels into another holding area until it is ready to enter the Matching room. When it is time, the referral is made by matching families' dossiers with children's paperwork. God's Plan for your family is already in the works! The "referral" itself is the child's identifying information on paper.What's next?Note: Each branch may operate slightly differently in order to better serve the needs of their families. Depending on your branch office/social worker, your referral process may vary slightly from the process below. Please check with your social worker as to "what to expect."The referral process: When a referral arrives at Bethany-International from CCAA, it is a celebration of joy! The referral typically arrives among a group of referrals for Bethany families across the U.S. whom all share the same LID (log-in date).1. International sends an email to all the branches and social workers whose families are in the "batch of referrals." We notify them with your family name, the child's given name, gender, given date of birth, and the orphanage & province your child calls home. You then get "the call".... we hope you are ready!!! :o) 2. We review the paperwork and the referral is overnighted to your local branch office/social worker. You will then schedule a time in the next day or so to meet with your social worker to review the referral... and see your child's face for the first time!!!3. The original referral documents are yours to keep. Within a couple days, the English translation of the medical and social history section are emailed to your worker, who in turn, gets them to you! The Hague Convention states that a family can have up to two weeks to make a determination of acceptance. Families are not required to use the full two weeks, but are encouraged to have the referral reviewed by a medical professional.4. The acceptance documents are then overnighted back to Bethany-International.5. Once Bethany-International has received all of the families’ acceptance documents, they are forwarded back to CCAA. This prompts the preparation process for travel invitations and then travel.The referral presentation:When you meet with your social worker to meet your child "on paper," please bring the following:1) The name(s) you have picked out. Your child's new given name will officially be written on the acceptance document at this time.2) A check for the acceptance & referral processing fee. 3) A list of any significant changes that have occurred in your household since the home study has been approved. These changes may include but are not limited to; new employer, new job, decrease in annual income, criminal, health, moved to a new home, additional persons in the home, etc... your social worker will also ensure that your fingerprints and USCIS approval will be valid through travel. 4) A camera; some families like to document this long awaited moment!*Tip: In preparation for your referral and travel, please check your I-171H/I-1797C for the expiration date of your fingerprints. This date is located at the bottom of your I-171H/I-797C form. Fingerprints are valid for 15 months out from the date you were printed. These prints must be valid through your travel dates! With lengthening referral and travel timeframes, most families are re-fingerprinting at least once and renewing the I-600A at least once. Please check with your social worker for specifics.

We just got back from a bowling trip to Albuquerque New Mexico and had a blast. We went up Sandia Peak and went on a Ghost Tour. Just had an overall wonderful time!

Oh and the Mississippi River is at it's highest point in years. We are going to try and get some pictures this weekend. It's really high! For the first time that I can remember in my life they have actually closed the hard top levee down. You can't even go up there anymore.

John Cole is almost finished with 10th grade! It has been a great year for him. He won class favorite again and also most spirited or something like that. His class ring (almost 700 dollars) should be in soon and he got his letterman's jacket! Wow, he's growing up so fast. Their team made it to the State Playoffs in Basketball although they didn't win it was still an awesome experience. They also have made it to North State in Golf!

Humm, I can't think of much else right now. I just hope that CCAA has a large months worth of referrals this month and that we finally see Ariel's face in June!

Lord please keep her strong and healthy and let her know it's not long now. Please be with her birth mother and give her a peace that her baby girl will be loved and cared for and will have everything possible. Please be with John and I and John Cole and Mama as we prepare ourselves for this joyous addition to our family. Give me the strength to get on that airplane and not panic. Show me the true reason why I am flying which is our gorgeous daughter. Give me peace and calm while in China. Lord also be with the matching room at CCAA. Be with them as they choose the daughter that you meant especially for us! Thank you Lord for giving us the strength and endurance to wait 3 years for the perfect child that is your will for us. We love YOU and give you all the praise Lord. This is all because or You! Please help me remember that YOU would not take me where YOU would not protect me if we are fulfilling YOUR will in our lives. Amen.

Breath IN, Breath OUT

Well I'm officially freaking out! There are rumors that they have made it at least through January 4th but possibly as far as the 6th. Wow, FINALLY they are in our month. After 3 years we are so close to seeing our baby girl! We have started seriously saving money and think that we will finally see her face in April or early May.

We have finally decided on a name and it will stick. Her name is going to be Ariel-Alayna Barbara Kirksey. Ariel after my love of Disney, Alayna after my daddy, Wayne and then of course Barbara after Dootsie. I'm so nervous. I'm a little afriad of flying but I'll be okay. God will protect us all!

I thought writing would calm me down but I'm so anxious. I just want her home!

Let's see, basketball season is over, our boys made it all the way to State before losing. How cool is that! John-Cole made pitcher on the baseball team. We are so proud. He hates baseball but had a great time pitching. He also made the Golf Team which he loves. Oh and he is serving at Prom. Gosh to be so popular, LOL!

I don't really know what else to say, just pray to the Lord that he is watching over our baby girl. That somehow he is telling her that mommy and daddy will be there VERY soon to be with her!