Daddy & G on the River

This past weekend Daddy and G had a date day. Rob took Graham (he's only 3 1/2) kayaking for the 1st time down the Coosa River in Central AL. They were both looking forward to it all week and were excited to meet up with our friend, Mr. Platt, to begin paddling. They took plenty of snacks, drinks, hats, and sunscreen to help make their day a fun adventure. We are so proud of Graham, he did so great exploring, faux barefoot skiing behind the kayak, swimming with the current, and just enjoying one on one man time with Daddy. (Ford can hardly wait for his turn next!) Way To Go Guys!

Love~

Ginny

The Men

Wheeeee!

Leaning Way Over....

Flip Floppin Birthday Fun

Yesterday my Mom brought some of the cousins (Tiff, Haylee, & Austin) over for some summer fun and a surprise celebration for TIffany's 13th Birthday. I cannot believe that she is already 13 and going to be in high school this year. She is extra special to our family because she was the only grandchild for 6 years. We enjoyed lots of splashing, cheering, water guns and laughs! Thanks cousins and Nannie.

Love~

Ginny

Happy 13th Birthday Tiff!

The cheering section

A few More from the Beach

We had such a great time at the beach, the boys (we) really want to go back! I couldn't resist sharing just a few more pics, it helps to keep the 'beach memories lingering'... Have a great weekend!

Love~

Ginny

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

PRE-APPROVED!!

We spoke with our agency today and found out that we are Pre-Approved!! Some of you may be asking, what on earth does that mean?... We have been waiting for about 2 1/2 weeks to find out if the Chinese gov't. accepted our request to adopt Qin Ji Hong into our family (Nara Josette). Yes! our petition was accepted to precede forward with our adoption of her and we'll wait a few more months (5-8 mos.) to find out when we will receive a Travel Authorization to go to China and bring her home! The boys keep asking when, when, when will we bring her home?... Patience. All things are in His perfect and absolute timing, even when we doubt Him. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We're waiting to bring home our daughter (sister) to join the fun and business of the boys (brothers)!

Love~

Ginny

Life's a BEACH

We have been enjoying a fun-filled time at the beach. It's the annual family trip, with over 20 of us all in one place. Lots of Sun, Sand, Water, Great Meals, and truly Memorable Times with everyone. This year we added another new babe, Kylie, to the family. That makes 5 little ones, and by next summer there will be 8! We even squeezed in a baby shower for our soon-to-be-cousin, Tamara. We're expanding by giant leaps. Thank you family - far and wide - for a wonderful time with you all!

Love ~

Ginny

Summer Fun

Well, it's been a long and busy week at home. There's been a lot of fun with the boys, anticipation with the adoption, and ups and downs with all the stress related to many life decisions/events in a pretty condensed period of time. We're in a good place. We're looking forward to our family beach trip and what the next several months will bring to our family.

Rob and I are really making a focus on God and putting Him foremost in our lives and teaching ourselves and the kids His word in daily living.

Thank you family and friends for your sweet love, support and accountability to seek Him daily.

Love~

Ginny

Yipee! We've Received and Accepted our Referral for Qin Ji Hong

Yipeee! We received and accepted our referral!  Yesterday and today have been very exciting days for our family, also very tiring. We received the referral for our Daughter, Nara Josette yesterday and made it an official request tonight! She is precious, a jewel. Her Chinese name is Qin Ji Hong, she was born November 26, 2007 in Xianjang City, Shaanxi Province in China. Ji Hong was brought to the orphanage when she was one day old and seems to have been very well cared for and hitting most milestones, especially considering her circumstances. She lives at the Xianyang Social Welfare Home (the orphanage for her region). 

Ji Hong's is considered special needs, but it's just amazing that could be true. She had a cleft lip surgery when she was 12 mos. old and will need another in a few years.  In one of the three pictures that we received of her, she is even smiling with a beautiful smile and a little headband that has red horns on it (not sure about that, I think maybe a bow would do ;-) ). How Miraculous - we cannot wait to meet her! We will post some pictures as soon as we can. 

She is about 2 months and a week older than Whit. We truly know that we are already blessed by God allowing us the honor to be her family and finally bring her home to join us. The boys are very excited about us finally "finding out" where she is in China, so that we can go get her and bring her home. We hope to receive our Pre-Approval in about 2 weeks, which will mean that the CCAA has accepted us as Ji Hong's parents. We hope to be given Travel Approval for December or January.... Still lots of 'loose ends' to tie up with our dossier, authentications, etc.

Today, God has really reminded me to Thank Him for this blessing, Thank Him for allowing us to parent each of our children and to live on this earth each day. We know that we are not promised another breath, yet so much of our time we waste in trivial ways. God is our source of Life and He has given us the great commission to spread and share his Love in this world. For our family, this has especially grasped our heart for orphans and adoption. For others of you, God may ignite you in another way. Thank you God for your Crazy Love and our challenge to Love you Like Crazy as well. (from Francis Chan's book, CrazyLovebook.com)

Please pray for our family; for God to guide us on this journey, for all of the kids during the process, the expediency of the process, as well as our agency, the gov't. agencies/officials, and her caregivers. We're so excited to bring you home to your Dad, Mom, and three Brothers!

Sincere Thanks,

Love~

Ginny & the Guys

 

Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province

 

Xianyang Welfare Home in the Shaanxi Province of PRC

Hanjiang River in Shaanxi Province

Terra Cotta Warriors in Shaanxi Province

Chosen Name, Nara Josette

We've shared with some of our family and friends about how we were led to name our daughter, Nara Josette. If you haven't heard it... We've had her name of the top of our baby list, since before we had any of the boys. During each of our pregnancies, we had it at the top of our list every time, but since God blessed us with 3 boys biologically....

Nara Josette is a family name from both of our families. Nara, was Rob's great grandmother's name. Josette, is from one of my grandmother's whose name is Josephine, with Josette being a form of her name. 

The meaning... Nara - a safe place and is a prominent Japanese (Asian decent) city and was the capital of Japan for many years. Josette is translated directly from the Hebrew - an addition from the Lord into the family.

When we began our search for a girl name several months ago, Rob felt strongly that Nara Josette was still her name, though it had been selected several years ago. I on the other hand wasn't so sure. I prayed for God to lead us to the name He would have for her. After a couple of weeks of searching and praying, I was compelled to lookup the name again for it's meaning. It only took about one second before the tears began to roll and I realized that God had given us her chosen name long ago, NARA JOSETTE.

Love~

Ginny