HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!

Our sweet little Josh turned 21 today at 11:47am. I can't believe our baby boy is 21!!! Where in the world did the time go??? The girls sang Happy Birthday to Josh, and we took him out to dinner at Texas Steakhouse. We had a great time. I have a few pics, and will try to post them later.

Our busy weekend

On Friday, we had Allie's doctor's appointment at the cleft clinic, then home and started working around to clean the house, and get the pool ready for Saturday. Josh was having his Sunday School class over for a swim party and food frenzy. They had a great time. After most of them had gone, Bobby & I and the girls went to our Sunday School fellowship, with about 6 other SS classes. It was held at one of our church members homes. They have lots of land, horses, a pool, they had volleyball, table tennis, swings, lots and lots to do.

We all had a great time. The girls loved the swings, and they just loved the horses. They weren't afraid to pet them, and loved to ride. I think they will want to do this again soon!! See some pics from our weekend fun...

A beautiful week for lots of outside fun

The weather this week was beautiful - some days almost like fall! We really enjoyed spending lots of time outside with the girls. They played on the swings, in the yard, walked to the school and played on the slides, romping with BaBa in the yard, and just having a good time. On Friday, Allie had her appointment with the doctors at the cleft clinic. The appointment went well, and we had pretty good reports. The first doctor we saw was the dentist. He told us what we already knew, Allie needs some major dental work, and pretty quickly. So, we will be calling the pediatric dentist on Monday. The second doctor we saw was the plastic surgeon, and he said that the doctors in China did a pretty good job with Allie's repair, that they would most likely do a lip and nose revision in a few years, but it looked good. Then we had a visit with the speech folks. Since Allie has only been home 6 weeks, they couldn't really evaluate her speech, but are sending a recommendation to the school system on Monday for Allie to have some speech therapy. They said this will help her in her language acquisition as well as in the pronounciation. We didn't get to see the ENT or the orthodontist, but will see them next time. When we were done, and as we were leaving, Allie did finally say something to the "speech lady" - Bobby got her to say, "bye-bye, I love you" - they melted! So, we go back in 6 months for a further evaluation on her speech, and to see the doctors we missed this time. Enjoy some pictures from our busy, and fun week...

A year ago today

was our last full day in China on our journey to adopt Emma!! We had our swearing in at the U.S. Consulate, promising to love & provide for her & never to abandon or abuse her...who could abuse this sweet girl???

She is a joy to our family, and we are thankful to our Lord for this sweet gift!

Two weeks home...

Every day, the girls are playing more together, laughing, fussing, hugging - fun!! We are really enjoying having two daughters now! They played dress up with glasses and hats this week, played on the swings, in theirlittle pool, played with baby dolls, and read books. Emma had one of her Bible books, and opened it to show Allie. She said, "Now, Allie, this is Jesus." - too sweet!! One day soon, Allie will recognize Jesus in the books, and she is learning about him in church. Early in the week, my camera wasn't working, so I couldn't get as many pics as I wanted to, so most of these are from today, before church.

One month today

Today marks one month with our sweet, beautiful new daughter, Allie Faith Yinong - it was faith that brought her to us, for sure. We began her adoption just 10 weeks after returning home last year with Emma. We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for this precious little girl. She has such a personality, and is very outgoing - not what we expected from her referral pictures - we thought she was quiet and shy - NOT!! She is a perfect fit for our family, and we love her so much! It is amazing how love grows - you don't have to share or spread out what you already have, it just multiplies!! God's greatest gift to us - love!!

Allie a week before she was 3 years old


Allie with us 2 weeks


Allie today, at one month home

Today we celebrate one year

Today we celebrate one year with our sweet little Emma Grace. August 13, 2007, God answered our prayers and we received little Emma in our arms to be our daughter forever. It was 3:30 in the afternoon, and she did amazingly well, not even crying, but smiling, when they handed her over to us. She is such a blessing, and has given us so much joy over the past year. We are looking forward to sharing in her life for many years to come, and watching her grow, learn about the Jesus who wants to adopt us all, and accepting Him as her Lord and Savior. She already sings Jesus loves me, and can tell me what her Sunday School lessons are about. She is very smart! Enjoy some pics of her in the same outfit we received her in. There are also a few from "gotcha day" included...

Busy week and a half

We have been busy playing and visiting, and playing some more since we've been home. Last week the girls played a lot on the swing set, played in their little pool, played with lots of toys inside, went to a welcome home party for another little friend, Noah Benjamin Miller, and went to an FCC pool party!! Enjoy some pictures from our great times together since we've been home from China...

One year ago today...

I can't believe it's been a whole year!! One year ago today, we left for China to bring home our sweet Emma Grace. She has been such a blessing to us and to our families. It seems like she's always been here. Here is the picture we posted the morning we left...

We're home!!

Praise the Lord, after 30 hours of traveling, we arrived home at 11:16 PM on Friday night. Yesterday, we were really tired, today, a little better. The girls did well on the flights and in the airports as we traveled home. They played most of our first flight, napping about 40 minutes of the 3.5 hour trip. They played and did great the entire 6 hours of our layover in Beijing, were awake about 2 hours of our 12 hour flight, and slept for 10. They were in a good mood for our last layover and flight, and wanted to play after we got home. We went to bed around 2 AM and slept about 3 hours.

On Saturday, we went to meet the Millers as they came in from China with their newest addition, Noah Benjamin, then drove to Lynchburg to see our son, Justin and his wife Megan's new townhouse. After a stop at Walmart, we were really tired, and everyone slept pretty well last night.

Today, we headed to church, and introduced Allie to our church family. Enjoy the pics from our trip home and since...