More anniversary weekend photos

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Steve and I got married on October 6, 2001. We spent this anniversary weekend at Kristi's mother and father's cabin in Wears Valley. We had such a wonderful time!
Kristi and Peggy surprised us and decorated the porch and kitchen counter with rose petals, a bouquet of flowers, a scrapbook page for us from Sarah and a sweet bib with an "S" on it. It was such a touching gesture and made our weekend even more special.
Steve gave me an mp3 player and I got him some clothes and a Wustof knife. I'm excited to take the mp3 player with us to China.
We had such lovely weather! On Saturday we did a little shopping and both night we cooked dinner together. On Sunday, we hiked in the Tremont area and saw some beautiful cascades. We had fun taking pictures and Steve got some great shots!
Wow, I can't believe that we've been married 5 years!

Where Have We Been?

Well, I guess I've been avoiding the blog quite a bit! I think it has to do with the fact that Sarah's not here yet. We were originally hoping she would be home late this summer, and that didn't come close to happening. So, maybe it's a mental block or something for me.
We've kept ourselves really busy this summer though. We spent a lot of time at the lake. For the 4th of July, we were at Steve's parents house and had an awesome time.
We spent a week at Pawley's Island with my aunt Mary. We got to see Charleston and loved it! Philip, Holley, Lauren and my friend Stephanie went with us. Hopefully next year we'll get to take Sarah for her first beach trip.
In August, we visited Steve's family in KY. I attended our Reveal Shower for our Secret Pals from my KnoxChinaMama group. (Second pic) I found out that my secret pal/s were Jeff and Shelley Brockleman. I got an adorable ladybug backpack filled with all sorts of goodies and a sweet ladybug burpcloth. Also we all went to P.F. Changs with our husbands. I went on a trip to Shelbyville, KY to my cousin Lindsey's wedding. It was great to see my family, and especially my grandfather.
For Labor Day, we visited our friends Cheryl, Alan and their kids. We had a nice day fulled with swimming, eating and fireworks. Philip, Holley and Lauren were there too.
Sept 8-11th, Steve, his dad, and I went on a road trip to NYC and NJ. I got to meet Steve's cousins. They are amazing! We stayed 2 nights in Sleepy Hollow, NY and 2 nights with his aunt and uncle in Tenafly, NJ. I have always wanted to see NYC and it was wonderful! Not enough time though! One of my favorites was St. Patrick's Cathedral. This is a pic of Steve lighting a candle for Sarah at St. Patricks. I really enjoyed garage sales in NJ!
Well, you can tell we've been filling our time with activites and it helps to pass the time while there is just 2 of us. We can't wait to share our time with Sarah, but know that each moment we have together now is precious!
Thanks to everyone for their continued support and prayers!

December out of Review!!!!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo!!!
Just a little about review:
Generally speaking, once your dossier has made it through the "review
room" which is actually a department within the China Center for
Adoption Affairs, you can assume that they had no questions or
concerns or require further information from the adoptive family and
now you are just waiting to be matched with a child.

So, one more hurdle we've crossed to Sarah! Steve and I were both really excited to hear this wonderful news Monday morning (Sept 18)!!

Happy Father's Day, Honey!

Steve,
Happy Father's-to-Be Day! We are soon going to be parents and I know you will be such a wonderful father! I am blessed to be your wife and thank God for you each day!
Sarah is so lucky to have such a fun, lovable daddy waiting for her and loving her already!
All my love,
Julie

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

You were such an awesome, caring, sweet dad! I sure miss you!!!

Mary Jane Grace 1925-2006

Today is a sad day. Early this morning, my grandmother lost her battle with melanoma. She is in Heaven today and that makes me smile.
She was such a strong woman! She graduated college the day my dad graduated high school. Everyone said I resembled her and my mom always told me that I had her hands. She made the best Thanksgiving dinner! She could talk your ear off.(another thing we had in common) She could play the piano/organ like an angel. She used to love to hear me play my flute in high school. She loved to read, anything!
Mamaw, I sure will miss you! I am sorry that you suffered so much in these past months but am thrilled that you are now pain-free! I know that you are with Momma and Daddy and I know I'll see you again someday!

Knoxville ChinaMama's Cookout

We had a cookout, Saturday, May 6th, with many of the Knoxville ChinaMama group with spouses and children. What great fellowship we had! It was such a nice evening! Many thanks to Ginger, Jeff and Caleb Cook for hosting us.

Wow, I have some special secret pals!!

Many of you know that I am participating in a few secret pal exchanges with others going through this process. It's kind of a like a drawn out baby shower and it's nice to pass the time buying gifts for someone else along the way.
Well, today I got the gifts from my KnoxChinaMamas group. She sent me the sweetest bear for Sarah, with the Love postage stamp on his t-shirt. I thought I'd add the photo with Tigger checking out the new addition to the family. :) Also, I got a 'princess tiara' silver charm for my charm bracelet. How appropriate!! I can wear it and think of my little 'princess' waiting to come home.
I hope my secret pals out there know how much I appreciate their kindness!!!
That's not all!!!
Over the weekend, I opened a package from my DecDTC Yahoo group and the theme was 'Lucky Ladybugs.' Inside there was a precious ladybug basket, which will be perfect for Sarah's first Easter next year!!! Also, there were 10 little ladybug die cuts for my scrapbooking, a ladybug pencil sharpener, ladybug shopping list and ladybug post it notes! How adorable! AND, my secret pal handmade the card to go along with it! Thanks so much DecDTC secret pal!!!
I have started a bib swap on my CCAI Dec/Jan DTC group with 16 members. We mail out a bib to 2 people a month and receive 2 bibs a month that way. So, I'll be sure to post photos of the bibs I get!
I love it all! It's such great fun to open these thing with Sarah in mind!

Happy Birthday Honey!

April 4th was Steve's 34th Birthday!

It was been WAAAY too long!

Hello everyone! I guess I've neglected to post here lately, since the wait seems neverending! No one knows when we'll go to China, so maybe I've just been trying to deny it!
Here's what we've been up to:
I went with 3 of the ChinaMamas group to Kristi's mom and dad's cabin/house in Townsend for a scrapbooking spend-the-night! We had a blast! More talking than scrapbooking, but fellowship is so much more fun! The next day we did a little shopping and Kristi and I tackled the Scrapbook Clearance store. Like we need more?!?!? :)
A few weeks ago, we went with my brother's family to our lake cabin for a little spring cleaning. It was a nice little getaway!
Easter was a great time with family! I'll add a pic here of Amber, Cannon and Lauren, before they began the egg hunt. They're all ready to see their new cousin, Sarah!
Also, Cannon had a very productive day learning to ride his bike without training wheels! Great job, Cannon!
I've slowly began trying to work on my wedding scrapbooks and one for this adoption journey. Hopefully, tomorrow Holley and I will get a little more done!
Also, we have decided to close our Walden's Landing Tool One on May 1st. It's a hard decision, but the best we feel at this time. Soon after, Steve will be leaving with his dad and brother to NY for 2-4 weeks. They will be doing a remodeling job that will take a while. I sure will miss him, but hey, the money will be worth it!!
Well, that's enough about us for now!
Just please keep us and Sarah in your prayers! We know that God will watch over us during this wait and bring her to us when the time is perfect!

Prayers appreciated

I just found out that my grandmother was put in the hospital today. She has cancer and her health has been declining rapidly.
If you are the praying kind of person, I would so appreciate your sending up prayers for both Mary Jane and Joe Grace. They live in Jackson, TN and I hate being so far away, especially at times like these.
I am planning on going for a visit next Friday and staying for the weekend. I just know that I need to be there with them.

Travel Packet #1 and LID 2 months already!!

I can't believe it's been 2 months since we've been logged in! How cool is that?!? So far, time seems to have flown by! Let's pray that keeps up!
Also, CCAI sent us our Travel Packet #1 today and it's full of nice info about traveling to China. Woo Hoo!!!
I just thought I'd share the great news with all of you.

Waiting and waiting and waiting....

Here's something someone posted on one of my Yahoo Groups that I thought was just how we who are waiting for our children feel!

Waiting…The feeling of limbo, not exactly torture but certainly purgatory; the Wait for a child is like being caught between heaven and hell. It is a time filled with emotions and nerves on edge, and yet it is a time of hope, of promise, of expectation. It is a time pregnant with possibility…and yes, it is indeed a pregnancy…for at the end of this long Wait, we give birth, if not to a baby, then to our dream, to our family. It is hard to let go and sit back, allowing the control of your life to be handled by someone half a world away...It is hard to let go of your feelings and watch as other families begin their lives together. It is hard to let go of your dreams and hopes and lay them on the doorstep of someone, of fate, of destiny…to let go and allow the world to continue, while you Wait, counting the days, the weeks, the months...the minutes, until the Wait is no more, and the reality of the possibilities becomes just that, reality.But you do…you do…somehow…because you know in your heart. You do not waiver, you remain steady, waiting in the knowledge of what is possible…your daughter or son…your family…your life together. It requires patience, but that which is worthwhile is sometimes created slowly. And so we wait with certainty…knowing that this time, this time, our prayers will be answered."

Bonnie Ward, Love's Journey, publisher: Love Without Boundaries, 2004.

I can't wait to see my husband as a Daddy

Here is a pic of Steve with our friends' daughter, Lydia. She absolutely loves Steve. She goes up to him and kisses and hugs him. She says, "Come on, Steve" when she wants him to follow her.
It's adorable and I love it!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is the gift I got Steve today for Valentine's Day. It's a GIANT fortune cookie with a personalized wish inside--You will soon be BLESSED with a daughter from CHINA!

Let's hope it's soon and this time next year, we'll be celebrating with Sarah!

We celebrated tonight with dinner at the Mandarin House with Debbie, Steve Sr., Mike, Helen, Amber and Cannon! Thanks Debbie and Steve!

The Brown Envelope Came!!!!

Our Brown Envelope came yesterday! The brown envelope is from the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China and included our Visa paperwork for Sarah and more paperwork that we will take with us to China. It's just one more confirmation that they have approved our adoption and are awaiting our trip! Yippee!!!

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html
Check out the link above for more info about Chinese New Year!

Officially a LID (Log In Date)

We are thrilled!!!! I had seen a bunch of LID's being posted today from CCAI and was hoping, hoping, hoping ours would be here soon.
So, our official date to count down from is 12/29/05, just before the new year!! I was hoping it was going to be a Dec. date and I was right!!!
I thought I'd add a picture of our 'ultrasound.' Hope you like it!

The Red Thread

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break."

--An ancient Chinese belief.

A Red Thread To China (Author Unknown)

A red thread to China was cast today

From us to a child so far away.

This thread symbolizes an attachment of hearts

That distance alone can't keep us apart.

Her mother and I are caught in a chase

That time alone will bring us to face

This loving young child we want so much to greet

With love in our hearts before we did meet.

This tiny, thin thread may stretch, tangle or fray

But our love for her grows stronger each day.

Through the test of time it won't break or sever

She'll be part of us forever and ever.

With oceans between us, the distance is spanned

By a love that is greater than man could have planned.

For God in His mercy loved her and us

And decided our family would be a great plus.

So for now we'll just love her and pray every day

That God keeps her and loves her for us till we may

Travel to China, that land of great past,

To the side of our daughter, to hold her at last.