The secret pal strikes again

I have the greatest secret pal !!!

Our August theme was "something personal".

I swear my secret pal is sneaking in my house and looking around when I'm not at home.

I just finished reading James Patterson's 5th Horseman...low and behold, she sent 6th Target.

I just used all of my Bath and Body Cherry scented bath gel ... and what did she send???

JAPANESE CHERRY BLOSSOM GEL AND LOTION.

She picked out some of my favorite scrapbook stickers.

She is awesome !!!

Thank you so much (if you are reading this).

SO, How'd I spend my 1 year LID anniversary ???

Today I hosted a Spa Party. My friend, Melissa, is a Beauty Control Rep.
So she provided the supplies, and I provided the space ... and we had a great time.

I had 14 people at the party. We laughed and talked and beaut-i-fied ourselves.

I had lunch with my friends Whit, Karyn, Kaleigh, and Elizabeth.

Then ... I had dinner with Whit, Karyn, Kaleigh, Elizabeth, Melissa, Randall, Susannah,
and my mom and dad.

Kaleigh is from the Guandong Province and her 1st Gotcha day anniversary is Aug 29.
Kaleigh just turned 2.

Susannah is from Jiangxi. She celebrated her 1st Gotcha day anniversary in June.
She will be 2 in September.

These two little sweeties are what remind me the wait is worth it. Looking in their
little eyes, and seeing the sparkle and seeing their smiles just lights up my heart.

They remind me that the process is long, and sometimes frustrating, but every minute
is for a reason ... they fit their families ... and their families are the perfect match for them.

It is amazing to see God's hand at work thru these families.
Melissa and Karyn have both been great supports. As China adoptive moms ... the understand
the stress of waiting.

I have made such great friends the last year. It is amazing the number of wonderful
people I have met.

God blesses sometimes in ways we don't expect. This process has been an example of just that.

ONE YEAR SINCE LOG-IN-DATE

As of today, it has been 1 year since my LID. It is hard to believe how quickly time has passed.

On one hand ... the time is creeping ... I want my baby in my arms. There is not a day that
goes by that I don't think of her and wish she and I were together.

BUT .. WOW ... a year has passed ... it seems like just yesterday I went to Fort Smith to process my I-600 and get fingerprinted. I remember the feeling of excitement when I found out my paperwork was rushed to the Consulate in Houston for authentication, and then added to the Dossiers for August 2006.

I was so excited to find out I was DTC on 8/7/06.....then I waited for my log in date ... I didn't know my log in date until Late September ... by then I had been logged in 6 weeks.

Every day, I remind myself that I have prayed for God to guide this process. I am and will continue to pray for the safety and well-being of the birth-mother. I pray for her strength and courage ... because it takes courage to abandon a child. I pray that my baby will be found quickly ... and taken to someplace safe and warm. I pray that she will be well cared for until I can hold her in my arms.

I reminded myself today that she is on, what I call, "Special Order" .... that God is creating her just for me, and I shouldn't rush perfection.

New Blog added

Hello everyone.

I added a new blog to my list on the right. It is for Mari-Grace's 100 good wishes quilt.
I am including a photo of each square, who sent it, and the wish itself.

It was too much to add here.

Hope you enjoy seeing all of the great fabrics I received. It has sure been fun collecting ... and I am still receiving squares.

Toodles.

www.mari-graceohgwq.blogspot.com

The Beach Adventure ... 8/9/07 to 8/12/07

These are photos from our hotel. We stayed at the Sandestin Hilton Beach Resort....great accomodations.

In the photos, you can see the outdoor grill restauarant and 2 of the 3 pools on the grounds. One of the pools is inside.

Around the hotel, there are 4 golf courses, and about 4 miles of paved walking trails.

The hotel also has a great spa. I had a fantastic massage.

The Dolphin Cruise

These are photos from the Dolphin Cruise we went on Saturday afternoon.

It was a great trip. The boat was the Southern Star....an 80 ft glass bottom boat. The cruise was 2 hours ... and we saw several dolphins, including a couple of new additons ... the baby dolphins we saw were 5 months old.

The seagulls followed the boat, hoping to be fed. One of them pooped on Hannah ... which was quite funny.

This is Daddy, Momma, and Hannah waiting on the dock behind the Lucky Snapper restaurant.

We were getting ready to leave on a 2 hour dolphin cruise.

This is me, Daddy, and Momma. Enjoying some sand and sun in Destin. I had to go for a Continuing Education seminar. . . darn . . . life is tough. I spent 3 hrs each day in morning seminars and had the rest of the day to bum around.

Talk about motivation for more weight loss ... this photo will do it !!!!!!!