Time Flies!

So, tell me this, why does the clock seem to tick ever...so...slow...ly while we wait for word from China?

Because time obviously flies since my niece Kerra is off to the same college that I attended **GULP** the year she was born! I am literally twice her age!


Ask me how I feel about THAT! Go Ahead!
ASK ME!




From left it is Kerra, my niece, with roommates Emily & Amy.




My brother, Paul & wife Roxanne, sending their oldest off to college.

So while I hope that I can see Olivia soon, I hope the next 18 years don't go as fast as the last 18!

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ANOTHER BIG CHANGE FOR ANOTHER NIECE!

I just got word that my niece Melinda, from CA is officially engaged! Here is a picture:

The wedding will be in February and then they will be Michael and Melinda Rose!

To the left is their pup Virginia, sticking out her tongue at the camera!!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Good: More referrals came today
The Bad: Only two groups got them (for AWAA)
The Ugly: Referrals are coming in at 13-14 months!!! UGH!!!



A reminder that we are group #252 and our paperwork was received March 13, 2006.

Fri Aug 25, 2006 12:26 pm (PST)

America World is pleased to announce the receipt of 13 healthy female referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs on July 15th and 20th of 2005 (groups 222 and 223). The little girls are currently located in the Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces. We are also excited to announce that one of the families received a set of twins, which is very rare! America World has not received a set of healthy twins in over a year so we felt very blessed to discover twins in this batch of referrals! The children range from about 6 months to 17 months old. Please join us in congratulating these families, and in praying for them as they prepare to travel.


The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before October 31, 2005. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before July 22, 2005.

100 Wishes Quilt

Olivia got her very first piece of mail today when we received the first piece of fabric for our 100 Good Wishes Quilt! It was from one of my nearest and dearest, Margie, who has been my friend since the 7th grade. Here is the album that I am using, too.

When I got married, I received a fabric box from my sister's mother-in-law, Barbara, for special items. I got it out the other day to pull out the special items I had in there: my baby quilt and the first outfit Lee ever wore as an infant. But there was one other item in there and it choked me up! I couldn't believe that there was a little pair of Chinese pants in the box. I remembered that I put them in there years ago, since I thought they were sweet and if someday we had a child...but for that to be the only other item in there? I call it divine providence!

Looking forward to receiving more fabric! I am excited and energized by this project and hope it makes the wait more tolerable!

Love,

Dawn

Am I A Mama Yet?

My little friend Zoe, just celebrated her 4th birthday a few weeks ago. She keeps asking me, "Miss Dawn, are you a mama yet?" And I say, "No, not yet", to which her mom, Sandy, says, "Yes you are!"


Well, for my birthday this year Lee gave me a slice of French Silk Pie (mmmm, my faaaavorite) with a candle in it. He knows I have to blow out a candle on my birthday!!



But the gift he gave me made me feel like I am already a mama because the items were really for Olivia. It was a wash puppet & hoodie towel wrap from Pottery Barn Kids - something I wanted to get her but felt that it was a little too spendy. (Good thing he got it,too, because it is already discontinued.)

Here is a picture of the hoodie:



I liked it because it looked like a particular rug-rat that is laying on my feet at this moment...June!



So what are the opinions out there? Am I already a mama? Are "regular" pregnant women already moms when they are pregnant? What say you?

The CCAA is Moving Along!

From the CCAA's website (China Center for Adoption Affairs):




The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before October 31, 2005.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before July 13, 2005.

A reminder that our documents were registered on March 13, 2006. Also, for some perspective, we are in Group #252 and Groups 219-222 recently got their referrals.

Love y'all,
Dawn

FIVE MONTHS DOWN!

Yippeeeeee!!!

Nearly to the half-way point from our log-in date! To mark the occasion, we painted Olivia's room. We moved Lee's clothes out of the closet in her room and for the first time since we have been married, we are sharing a closet!! That should be interesting! We also moved his dresser into our room.

We won't do all the decorating right away, but since we had a weekend free, we thought we would get started. To top it all off, we are gearing up for ANOTHER fundraising garage sale on the last Saturday of August, so our house looks like the Salvation Army again! Please keep us in your prayers as we do another sale, since frankly, we really don't WANT to!! haha!

Take care!

Dawn

Summer Pics

Our dogs, Abby & June, hanging out

Kerra Wilson, my niece, graduates

Visiting my friend, Jen, in Chicago

Lee and I at the International Barbershop Convention in Indianapolis. (Lee's chorus, the Great Northern Union, took 8th place in the chorus competition.)

With Rick Mannor at Sugar Creek near Thorntown, Indiana. My grandfather, Paul Hutchens, wrote the Sugar Creek Gang books. (Be sure to check out Rick's Sugar Creek Gang Site.)

Our friends Tom and Sarah with their newly adopted daughter, Demaris.