17 Years Ago Today...

Seventeen years ago today Jordan made his arrival into the world...it was exactly 8:00 a.m. and as we were watching Sports Center he was born to the music that begins the show...we should have known then that he was going to be our little athlete! Jordan's two passions in life are God and basketball ~ we love it that he puts 110% effort into everything he does and couldn't be more proud of him! We know God has an incredible plan for his life and we feel very blessed that God chose us to help lead and direct him:)

A year ago today we had given Jordan his gifts for his birthday and we then went out to eat...we told him he could open his last gift at the restaurant yet he did have to share it with all of his family. We had accepted Gabriella's referral earlier that day... he opened a picture frame that said 3 Brothers and a Little Sister and saw a picture of his little sister. Tears filled his eyes and he said "It's really happening, I AM going to have a little sister". This year she is here to celebrate his birthday with us and for that we are all very thankful!!

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, an ordinary day became an extrodinary day!

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Years of prayers were answered when we saw this precious little girl.





A couple of states away this families prayers were answered on the very same day!

This is Emily's referal picture ~ what a beautiful little girl! If you look at the girls referral pictures you can see they were taken on the same date and just a couple of minutes apart!




Many prayers were said by several family members asking God to keep our girls safe until we could bring them home.




Gabriella and Emily's lives began together in China. Their foster parents loved and cared for them very much and for that we will always be thankful! The girls were "Mei Mei's" from the begining...



and we are ever so thankful that God has allowed our families to grow through Emily and Gabriella! They will continue to have each other as sisters for the rest of their lives...even 8000 miles away from where their life first began:)

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One year ago today two families in the Midwest and two little girls being raised as sisters in a small China town, lives changed forever! It was one year ago today that our family received the call and first saw Gabriella's sweet little picture. I will never forget the feelings of excitement, wonder, a million questions and looking at her sweet little face hundreds of times on my blackberry:)

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The very same day Robert and Mary who live just two states away and were using an adoption agency several states away from our agency, had their very first look at the picture of their beautiful baby girl Emily. At the time our families did not have the pleasure of knowing each other, however God made sure that we would meet through divine intervention later that summer:)

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Both of our families could not have asked for a better Mothers Day gift in 2009! This year on Mother's Day, without each of us discussing it, both of our families wanted to give our thanks to God and asked that our girls be dedicated at church; imagine my surprise when I not only found out that Emily was being dedicated the same day as Gabriella but that both of the girls will be dedicated, two states away from each other at 11:00 am.

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God has given us such a precious gift with our daughters and we want dedicate our lives to raising them to follow Him and help guide them down the path that they can be everything God has planned for their lives to be.