Bittersweet~

The past week home has been incredible! Our family is soo Blessed-- Lilly is such a sweetheart- and she is a TOTAL fit into our family!

The bummer part is her health... her heart. Next week we will begin a series of very intense hospital visits to the state children's hospital. They are the best of the best~ God equipped them with knowledge and skill this school teacher lacks. We pray they mend this baby girl's heart ~ and we get much more time w/ her.

Love and hugs to all....

Day 8 - "In China"

Today was amazing! What a great day in China :)

We all slept until 6:30 am -- woohoo! The breakfast was incredible-- and even more incredible- it was FILLED with USA families and their new little ones. Conversations and smiles everywhere.

At 10:00 we boarded our bus to go get Lil's passport photos and medical exams. The exam office was crazy. We had 4 areas to bring her through-- height & weight, ENT ,TB test/injection, and lastly, medical/surgery . We were nervous -
1. Height & Weight-- so she's a runt-- but we lOVE her !
2. ENT- all looked good
3. TB- Daddy held her for the injection- I held her head - watching their face change from soo happy to fear crushes me.
4. Med-- first thing they did was look over her paperwork. Downs? They have another name for it. Then... the doc listened to her heart. And listened to her heart. And listened to her heart. Then he went to get another doc. He listened to her heart. Listened to her heart. Listened to her heart. The 2 talked several minutes. They make notes on the paperwork ( in Chinese ) and tell us-- OK- move on.

So, I wanna throw up. Literally. Or cry. I find out translator- and ask her to read the medical report. She said "Oh, JinYu has a heart murmur- and it is a 2. Never are they concerned unless it is over a 3. " Oh THANK YOU LORD! We will have her thoroughly examined when we get back. But- right now- we are just thankful!

Then we had 2 hours to walk about shops. They are soo friendly. We got Lil several authentic dresses-- they are like $4.00 - $20.00. She will be so beautiful in them :) Our China doll!

Then - back to the hotel. Quick run to McD's . Then-- We had to get all our laundry bagged up and sent out. Then I had to go do the final paperwork-- but I must say- the most stressful paperwork. 2 hours. Done! The 4 other families from "our" group are very nice-

Now it is 5 pm. We are going to order our Lilly's 3rd Birthday cake. She has a lot of new friends ( families of adopted children we have met) who we invited to our room Wednesday to have our Birthday party :)

Tomorrow (Sunday for us) is a guided touring date. We are going to a safari . We will be gone for most of the day-- but will look for you on Skype or Gmail. We are feeling abundantly Blessed right now--- both girls ( & my baby boy back home) are such gifts from God! Thank you for trusting them to us !

Hope all is well back home! Can't wait for you to meet our new addition!


Lisa & Bill



And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
(Genesis 33:5 ESV)

And we're off.....

I can't believe we are writing that! The day is finally here ! This will be my last update on American soil for a long time. I am hoping we can use this blog in China to update everyone... I have a good feeling it will be filtered?

Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for!


Our Sweet Little Lilly~
One last road to travel
One last way to go
One more day to forever
Just to let you know
The wait is finally over
The journey now is through
So now this comes to let you know...
Dreams really do come true.

We are coming to get you Little Girl!
We love you <3


'Til our update in China~ have a beautiful day & Be Blessed!! We love you!

Amazing grace...

I forgot to update our blog-- life has moved so fast. A week ago today we received word we would be leaving this Friday. It has been a WaVe of emotions. WE hit a slight(huge) speed bump when we found out our airfare was considerably more.. on top of ... not realizing we owed $5440 in travel expenses for "in China " stuff. Top that off with the $5000 orphange donation.. we were ready to throw in the towel. Then God told us different. In a matter of days- friends and family came to our side. Luke 5: We were exhausted- and we were catching nothing. Tired. Worn out. And then He told us to go back out... "again"- only this time- go in deeper. Over our heads. On the ground of His word- we lowered the nets. 3 days 'til we board that plane for China... we do believe in miracles ! Our Lord has ALWAYS provided!!!! At Thanksgiving... we have soo much to be thankful for!

In 6 days, Little Lil will be with us! Sad, Scared, Fragile... But the good Lord is with us. We have seen the power and miracles of God-- we are forever changed.

As soon as we get Lil- I will be able to post pictures . For her safety.. they have required us to take them off her until we get her. Get ready my friends... she is awfully cute !!

We will take many prayers Friday-into Sunday on our long journey to China! We are ready!!

Love you's!!

The bus is movin....

My cell phone rang at 5:00 tonight. I looked at the caller id-- it is our adoption agency . I hold my breath...

Hi Lisa, this is Heidi. Are you sitting down?

Yup! What's up?

Well, we have your travel approval. That is awesome news-- congratulations.

OK... what does that exactly mean?

Well, it means they gave you five dates you prioritize and choose....

Heidi- seriously? Yesterday wasn't soon enough. We'll take the 1st available date :)

OK... well- then I guess you are leaving next week !

OK... ok...
Heidi will be confirming our date w/ our China agent-- barring any over bookings or problems- we are scheduled to leave next Friday! Yup-- Black Friday-- or beautiful colorful Friday for us! We will arrive in her province on Sunday - and they bring Lilly to us 1st thing Monday morning- and turn her over to us .

So- 2 weeks from today- we will have the little girl -- that has felt so surreal to us -to have and to hold! Oh- she will be so loved and taken care of ! She has no idea how loved.... what a precious gift from God she is !

Lil will get her US Visa on her 3rd Birthday (the final appointment and step on the trip) -- and we are approved to leave right after.

So-- we pray , friends. Somehow, someway- God has and continues to move mountains. We are FULL of joy and happiness. We are filled with anxiety as we know we have a week and a half to get the final money together - $500 for medical expenses and roughly $4000 for airfare .

We look ahead at the next chapter God has written for us. It all works out- it has and it will :)

Selfishly, we ask for prayers. Prayers for His hand.. His will... His work to be done! Our confirmation phone call SHOULD be coming tomorrow (as soon as she tells our China agent which date(s) we selected and they nod in agreement)-- we book our flight and move that bus!

We thank you for your continued love and support! We love you's!!

It is another week & NO news from China:( I am trying to keep my spirits up but it is really getting tough. My nerves are shot, I am eating everything that is in front of me, I am crying about nothing. I am "short" with my students, & I am not sure how any of my friends & family are tolerating me right now. So, if anyone from China is reading this, PLEASE LET US COME & GET OUR DAUGHTER before I gain another 20lbs, lose my jobs, have NO money to travel to China or lose all my friends & family!!!!

So on a positive note we did receive our China visa's, our queen bed downstairs has everything laid out and ready to pack (including the Jif peanut butter and Hershy's bars), meds are ready, and we are very ready for our breakthough! I look around at all we have-- we are all very Blessed!

Even though our timeline is not looking like I had planned I am not giving up HOPE that we will be eating turkey with Chopsticks!!!

Found this incredible story - thought I would share:

My Adoption Story

I don't know if I have ever shared my adoption story with you all so I thought today maybe I should.

I was adopted at the age of 30 years old into the most amazing family ever.

Statistics show that I was the least likely to be adopted.

I was the child who had waited- far too long- to hear the good news.

I was the child who waited because I had one too many labels, made one too many mistakes, and was viewed as unlikely to succeed.

I was the child who most believed was not worthy of the risk...

not worthy of the effort...

and not worthy of the price.

I was the the child who most people would have never considered.

The child with scars, the child who was dirty, the child who didn't appear to have much potential.

But then one day they told me about The One who was able to see past all of that.

The One who loved me regardless of the mistakes I had made.

The One who saw what I could be- instead of what I was.

The One who thought I was worth it all- so much so that He was willing to die for me.

The One who saw my worth.

The One who saw my potential.

The One who saw what I could be- if I was given a chance.

The One who never gave up on me.

I am so thankful for The One who paid the price for my adoption.

I know it was expensive.

I know it cost more than anyone could ever imagine.

I know it wasn't easy.

I know that it was painful, that it was hard and it was heart wrenching.

And I know I didn't deserve any of it.

But He came for me anyway...

Regardless of what others would say or think.

Regardless of all of the work that had to be done.

Regardless that there was no guarantee I would love Him back.

Regardless of the cost.

And today I am forever changed.

I am no longer alone, scared, scarred, overlooked and viewed as no one.

Today I am a child to the king~ precious, loved, forgiven, healed, whole.

All because of my adoption.

Adoption is the perfect picture of God's amazing grace and love.

It changes lives and saves souls.

Adoption is...

the heart of God.

So today-- God - I ask that you open doors. May resources be shown for the remaining $5,600 we need, and the call come TODAY that we need to move those mountains and get Lil home! We are forever thankful for all you have abundantly Blessed us with! In Jesus' name...

Nothing...

Yahoooo~~ It's November ! November is National Adoption Month. We celebrate all the friends and family who have adopted :) THANK YOU for making a difference in a child's life!

As for our adoption... we wait ! I thought for sure we would have heard SOMETHING today? Not yet! I woke up feeling like a little kid at Christmas. Now Daddy? Can we have it now? And then..... 10 minutes later - I find myself in prayer again "How about now, Daddy??" My good Lord is smiling and shaking His head at me. I am behaving like my 22 eight year olds . THAT must make me a better teacher---> feeling what they feel all the time, right?

I just know that it is all in good time... HIS time! Until then , I am going home to have a family dinner and spend some good family time with the gifts I have! I am forever thankful... for you, for friends and family who always stand by us and never let us down! YOU are a piece of Heaven ! God Bless!