Praise the Lord - LOA Today!!

Today, we officially received our LOA. It came via DHL just before 10:00 this morning. We had received an email from our agency on Wednesday that we had a present in the mail, and it should be to them by Thursday, and...it was! We signed it and sent it right back out via FEDEX to be delivered to the adoption agency on Monday. They asked everyone to get them back by Monday so they could send them right back to China. Now, we are praying for our TA, or Travel Approval to come within the next 2-3 weeks. If that happens, we should be ready to leave for China by the end of the last week of June, or possibly, the first week of July!! Sweet Allie - mommie and baba are coming soon!!

Bobby signing...



Regina signing...


Emma celebrating sissie Allie coming home

Wonderful Memorial Weekend!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend! We spent the weekend in Pigeon Forge, TN with Justin and his wife Megan, Josh, and friends from Roanoke, Deb and Russ, and their two sweet girls.

We had dinner together Friday night, and spent the day at Dollywood Saturday, then Gatlinburg on Sunday. The girls had a great time together, and rode the kiddie rides on Saturday. We did some outlet shopping too while we were there - always have to check out Carter's and Striderite!!

Below are some pics from our weekend...

Today she is three and a half!!

Today, our sweet Allie is three and a half years old! We were hoping to have her home by this time, but are really praying for our LOA to come this week, or at least by the end of next week, so that we should still be able to travel to China to get her before the Olympics.

Please pray for her adjustment - that it goes well, that she knows already she has a family that loves her so much, and that we can comfort her when she joins our family.

Blessings,
Bobby, Regina, Josh and Emma Grace
waiting on "sissie Allie"

Praise the Lord

Our fingerprints are done. Our fingerprints for our adoption expire on June 8, which will be before we travel. We had to travel to Charlotte, NC to have them renewed, and since our oldest son Justin and his wife, Megan live there, we got to visit with them. That made it a great trip!!

Our appointment was at 1:00 on Saturday, and we arrived at the USCIS office about 10 minutes before our scheduled appt. They took us right away, and by 1:00 we were done - the last two times we've had prints done, we were there over an hour and a half each time. We met Justin and Megan at the mall, got Allie and Emma a matching dress, and lots of books, then went back to the kids apartment for dinner. Emma loved seeing her brother and sister-in-law, and we all played and had a great time! Emma loved Megan's little puppy, and playing bubbles outside too. Here are some pics from our visit - enjoy...

Nine Months Ago Today

A sweet, beautiful little girl was placed in our arms to be our daughter forever. She has been such a blessing to us, and we are amazed by God's grace in the gift of this little one every day. We pray that God will give us wisdom and guidance in raising this precious gift, as we are once again entrusted with the awesome privilege of raising a little one up to serve Him.



Our first picture together with our daughter



In her swing here at home, 9 months later...

Mother's Day Weekend

On Friday we mailed another package to our sweet little Allie in China. We sent sunglasses, a couple puzzles, a book, and camera with some snacks for her and for her foster family. On Friday night, we started cleaning up because we were having our families over for lunch after church on Mother's Day. I took a few pics of Emma eating her favorite veggie, corn on the cob.

Saturday evening, Emma went to her first ballet performance. Our wonderful friends, Deb and Russ Bishop's oldest daughter, Lily was a butterfly in a local performance of Anastasia, so we were very excited that we got to see her perform. Emma loved it, and was standing up moving her feet and hands trying to imitate the dancers. Maybe in a year or two, we'll have our own little ballerina!!

On Sunday, we participated in our Parent/Baby Dedication, where we committed in front of the congregation to raise Emma in a Christian home, and where the pastor and congregation committed to be there to help us - it is such a wonderful thing to be children of our Lord, to know that in this world of constant change, one thing always stays the same - His love for all His children. How wonderful it is that He has adopted us to spend eternity with Him. How blessed we are to get just a glimpse of how much He loves us all through our adoption experience.

I have done two short slide shows, one from Friday and Saturday, and one for Mother's Day, Sunday - enjoy the pics...

Strawberry festival, Pastor Mike's celebration, and more

On Saturday, Emma went to her first Strawberry Festival downtown. She enjoyed the music, and had a chocolate dipped strawberry, and a strawberry sundae too. The sundae was her favorite. We forgot the camera on Saturday morning - I can't believe it!! We always have it with us.

Anyway, on Saturday night, we celebrated our pastor and his wife with 20 years serving the Lord at our church. He is a wonderful pastor and friend. His time with our church was celebrated with a huge potluck, and a really funny roast afterwards. It was a wonderful evening, and we praise the Lord for such a pastor - one who speaks the truth from the Bible and shares his heart for the Lord.

I have pics from Saturday night's fun at church, from Sunday morning, with Emma playing with one of our cockers, Sandman, and at church today - enjoy!!