We are paperchasing again!

Today, our home study and I600a were mailed to immigration!! The I171H is the last piece of paper we are waiting on before we can send our paperwork to China to bring our little Allie home. We are hoping to travel before the Olympics! Please pray for immigration to send our approval quickly, and for CCAA to work very quickly as well!

Thanks!
The Bishop's

Emma's Princess birthday party

Our little one is two years old! We had a birthday party yesterday in our church fellowship hall. We had about 40 people, including family, and friends. We had deli sandwiches, with all the fixings, three kinds of chips, fruit, a veggie tray, peanuts, and of course, a princess cake and ice cream!

Emma was still a little quiet, still not 100% well from her ear infection, but she had a good time. She received lots of nice gifts and well wishes. During the party, we played the video of pictures and her first birthday party in China with her foster family. Here are some pictures from her special day.

Happy birthday sweet girl!!

Today, our little angel is 2! It is hard to believe it has come so quickly. It is strange, but it is her bith mother that has been on my mind a lot today. I wonder if this woman half a world away was sad today because she still misses the little one she left behind. We hope she can feel in her heart that Emma is loved deeply by us as our daughter, and by our family and friends as well. Little did she know when she left this precious child two years ago today what a gift she gave to another family who so very much wanted a little girl.

We are having a birthday party for Emma on Saturday, but did take a few pictures tonight. We had cake, and gave her a red wagon for her birthday today. Enjoy the pictures...

We've had a sick baby

Poor Emma has had an ear infection since last Thursday. During the night, she had a fever of 105! Scared us to death! She got to the doctor first thing Friday morning, and we found our her right ear was really infected, and she had lots of drainage (including a bad cough). Nobody in the house has slept a full night until last night, since last Thursday. We have been on amoxicillin since lunch time Friday, and she's feeling better now! Praise the Lord she is, because tomorrow is her 2nd birthday!!

That's right, our little angel will be 2 tomorrow, January 24! We are taking cupcakes to the baby sitters for everyone, and will have a small celebration at home tomorrow night. We are having a big birthday party Saturday with family and friends to celebrate her first birthday in the US with her forever family!

Posing for pictures

After church today, Emma wanted to play in her kitchen. She didn't want to change clothes, so I decided to take some pictures of her in the dress she wore today. She decided she would pose for me in some of them. She is so funny!

The New Year

The New Year is about new beginnings, resolutions, and such. This is our first full year as a family of 5, and we are looking forward to number 6 joining us mid-year. Today in church, the pastor spoke of the future for Green Ridge, and plans for the years ahead. One of those plans is to have a Children's wing dedicated entirely to raisings kids up to know the Lord. We hope to have an after school program one day, and people to teach them and work with them during that time who have a fire for the Lord, and for these children to meet Him, and to accept Him as their personal Savior. We look so forward to the day when Emma will make her decision to live eternally in Heaven with us! Until that day, we will keep raising her as the Lord leads, exposing her to everything we possibly can so that when the time comes, she will make the right choice.

We are blessed with a wonderful family, wonderful friends, and a wonderful church family! We have a lot to be thankful for in 2008, for sure!!

Enjoy some pics taken since New Year's Eve...