Our Both Hands Project

This past weekend 45 of our friends and family gathered to help fix up the home of a widow in our community while raising funds to help bring Timothy and Annabelle home. How awesome is that! It's not too late to donate. You can connect to the link by clicking on Annabelle and Timothy's picture to the right. Hope you enjoy the video....

Click here to see Our Both Hands video

Look what we got....

Pictures!!!!
We sent Annabelle a care package a few weeks ago, and she got it! (We haven't heard if Timothy received his yet.)

Here they are... enjoy!

"It's a bunny!"

Someone from True Children's Home made the hat and scarf. It is really too warm to wear right now, but isn't she a cutie?!!!
Looking at her new hair bow/clips

"Is this all for me?"

Wearing her new backpack and shoes while reading her book.

Looking at Mommy and Daddy

Looking at Alexandra, Hunter, Timothy and herself


Her hair is a little longer than the last pics we received. The bow clips we sent should work well for now. I think my favorite pic is Annabelle with the bunny.... but they are all so incredibly cute!
~B

Their Names....

Well, upon receiving the LOAs we needed to fill out paper work for immigration. This meant that we needed to fill in the blanks for Annabelle and Timothy's new names.... their full names. So, we chose...

Annabelle Hope

and

Timothy Justice.

Annabelle Hope: Annabelle means grace and beauty. Hope means trust and faith.

Chris and I chose the name Annabelle before we ever saw our precious daughter's face. We knew she would be brought to us by God's grace, and we knew she would be beautiful. We pray that she will grow in God's grace and true beauty. Throughout this process our hope in Him has grown. We've learned to trust Him more. We've seen hope and faith grow in others as they have listened to and seen how God has worked in specific ways in our journey. We are blessed to be used by Him.

Timothy Justice: Timothy means to honor God. Justice means fair, just- guided by truth.

We also chose the name Timothy before we saw our son's sweet face. We felt called to this journey and that by following it, whole heartedly, not knowing where it would lead, we were honoring God. We want and pray for him to be fair and just and for him to be guided by The TRUTH. Also, his initials will be TJK... the same as Chris' dad.

We know that this journey will be difficult for them at times. They will have questions about their pasts. We hope by choosing these names for them, they will one day understand how much they are loved, wanted and hoped for.

Blessings,
Bethany

After waiting 100 days...

Guess what is finally here...

That sure was a long wait, but we are all so glad both LOAs are here now! We must fill out more paperwork, then wait some more. It goes like this...
Receive LOAs, then we must sign them and send them back to Lifeline along with some other forms. Then Lifeline sends all of our paperwork to USCIS for specific approval for Annabelle and Timothy to return with us to the US. At the same time we also need to apply for all 4 of our visas so we can travel to China. We must wait for approvals from USCIS and for our visas. Once those are approved we will wait for Travel Approval from China. All in all it should be about three and a half months to travel. That will be about mid to late February... which means Hunter may have his birthday in China!

93 and counting...

Today makes the 93rd day of waiting for our LOA (letter of approval). We are already pre-approved to adopt Timothy and Annabelle, but the LOA is the formal paper work to get immigration papers started... and of course, more paperwork and another wait and more paperwork...

This mommy must admit that this has been a long, hard wait. We've waited for papers before, but now we've seen their sweet faces.

We know who they are... they are the ones God chose for us long ago. And... His timing is perfect. So, even though it seems like a long wait to me, the timing will be as it should.

Of course we are keeping very busy, and there's still lots to do. Lots of cleaning out, painting, crawling around to see what is not toddler proof :) and most of all... getting ready for our big Both Hands project which is just about 2 weeks away. Click here for more info.

So, I'll keep doing what I can to take care of my family and prepare for our little ones' arrival....and wait (try to wait patiently) on God's perfect timing.

Blessings!
~B

The heart of a mother

There is something about the heart of a mother. It is an amazing thing to watch. The mother doesn't need to "meet" a child before she loves the child and is willing to go to the ends of the earth for that child. I have been witness to this phenomenon for months now. Watching Bethany attack this adoption with the same energy that she did when she was pregnant with Ali and Hunter. This is one of God's most amazing creations. The heart of a mom. There really is no stopping it. It is hard for us dad's (mere mortals)to truly comprehend but we are the lucky one's that get to see it happening and be blessed by it. I am here to tell you that when you couple the heart of a mom with the will of God, just hide and watch because something unbelievable is about to happen...

Get Your Chick-Fil-A 2012 Calendar!

If you love Chick-Fil-A, then you need a new 2012 Calendar! Your purchase will help us with our expenses while we are in China picking up

We are selling the calendars for $8 each. There is something yummy each month.

Please leave a comment, email, facebook or call us if you would like one... or some. They make great stocking stuffers, too.
Thank you!