Jacob's 11th birthday

Big brother Jacob turned 11 on June 12. He chose to spend the day at a local waterpark with a couple of friends, so we loaded up the suburban and grabbed some towels.


Maimie Beth really enjoyed her first waterpark experience. She played in the water well past naptime, and mooched some of Mikaela's chocolate ice cream.


Jacob, Joseph, and Mikaela were all so great about spending some of their time splashing with their little sister and making her smile.

New Photos of the Lovely Miss Maimie

Recently we had photos taken of Maimie Beth. Here are two of our favorite poses. She is wearing some of the beautiful silk outfits bought during our stay in China. Notice the "squeaky shoes" and the tiny bracelet. The bracelet was a gift to her from her orphanage. It is so dear to us!
It was just 4 short months ago that we first met our little Guo Zhen in Nanning, China. Next week she will turn 20 months old. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

Zoie, Lily, and Olivia

Jacob, Mikaela, Maimie, & Joseph

Our friends and (former) travelmates have all received their referrals. We're just thrilled for them! Wednesday they each received "the call", and today they received photos of their beautiful little girls. They range in age from 7-8 months old. Please check out their little sweeties at the following blog sites:
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Zoie -- http://waitingforbabyz.blogspot.com
Lily -- http://themaninfiors.blogspot.com
Olivia -- http://mgdtochina.blogspot.com

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Congratulations Candi, Amy, and Gina!

Waiting for Referrals

Reading to Daddy

Hopefully this week will bring with it the newest batch of referrals from China. It should include families logged in on November 3, 2005. Our original travel group should be seeing the faces of their children any day now. Their dossiers, along with ours, were sent to China in late October of 2005 and logged in on November 3, 2005. Had we not decided to adopt a child with special needs, this week would have been our special week, too.
I feel about as nervous and excited for Amy, Gina, and Candi as I did waiting for our call. I can hardly wait to see the sweet faces of Lily, Olivia, and Zoie, and find out what province they are waiting in.

Patriotic Maimie

Last weekend Maimie enjoyed her first Memorial Day weekend. Despite the rain, we honored some of our veterans and included Maimie in one of our family traditions. She rode in the stroller and waved her little flag as we marched up the hill to the cemetery in my old hometown. Then we went to the parade where her big sis and brothers shared some smarties with her. The festivities ended in a cookout at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

"God bless America..."