What a wedding!

I-797C Came in the mail yesterday!

Our Notice of Action from The United States of America came yesterday. This is the approval to adopt one child from the convention country of China. This approval is restricted to a special needs female child from newborn to 4 years of age, with special needs such as brain disorders, developmental delays, hydrocrania, limb deformities and correctible heart defects.

Now our next step is to file form I-800 to classify Faith (HengSi) and an immediate relative to us! How exciting. We have paid to expedite this process!

Once we receive the I-800 our Dossier is wired to China. Then we wait on a log in date, an approval date and finally a travel date!

Our dear friends at Our Little China Girl celebrated their" GOTCHA" date a year ago today. This little girl has blessed so many lives, including ours. She is a big part of why we decided to adopt a daughter from China...Lucy we love you and are so happy you are a part of our lives!

Day at the lake!

We are so lucky that we live about 5 minutes from a beautiful lake with a view of Mt. Rainier. We were able to pack a picnic and go enjoy the sunshine for a few hours on Saturday! There is nothing better than a sunny day in Seattle!

Girl's Camp Overnighter Pics.

In our church the young women (ages 12-18) attend a camp once a year for 5 days. The camp is run completely by volunteers in the church. I am one of those volunteers. I have been asked to work with the 15 year old girls. Part of my responsibility included taking them on an overnight high adventure. We went camping in Yurts along the Green River. Here are some pics.

They all rode together in our friends motorhome! Thanks Steve & Beth!

Uplifting Message...

I sure hope I raise children to respond to situations like this older boy did. What a sweet story and a great lesson for us all.

Boyz will be Boyz part 6 & 7

We got a twofer. ( translation two-for) We live in a neighborhood where we all look out for each other, our neighbors on either side are always on the look out for my boyz to do something wrong. Well last week we really gave them their money's worth. The 1st indecent happened when my daughter's friend dropped by the house to hang out and brought with him some fireworks. He and my boys went outside and decided to have their own show off our back deck toward the wetlands behind our fence. (seems harmless enough since they are wet lands and not dry lands...right?) Well three hours later my neighbor knocks on our door and informs me that they have called the fire department because some "kids" had started a fire in the wet lands with fireworks. He also asked me if I had seen any teenagers lighting fireworks back there. Hmmm...moment of truth. What would you do? Well, I fessed up and told him, " Sure I did, it was my kids!" I think he knew it was us all along and was being passive aggressive about his approach. I felt like knocking on his door and asking him if he knew a little boy who was learning how to ride his bike in our cul de sac and ran into my husband's new car and left a dent without fessing up... I witnessed his son do this about a year ago, but said nothing.
By the way, the fire was a little smoke, and I could have put it out with my bare feet.

The second part to my story happened a day later. I came home from the store to my husband giving a stern talk to our youngest Dallin. Seems our other neighbor had just stopped by to return a golf ball that had just came from our back yard toward his house and broke his back deck light fixture, he wondered if somehow my children were involved? Hmmm, Dallin is holding a golf club in his hand...what are the chances? It seems after Dallin took his practice swing, (watch out Tiger Woods) he realized his aim was off, and ran as far away from the scene of the crime...which happened to be our front yard, and began to play basketball like nothing had happened. So like a good parent, I marched him over to the neighbor's and he apologized for the broken fixture and for his dishonesty.

Now aren't you glad you're not my neighbor?

Happy Birthday my little girl!

Hooraay! We got pictures of Faith celebrating her birthday in China. We were able to send money for a party and a cake through Ladybugsnlove.com this is the same organization that we sent her birthday packages through. They have done a wonderful job. These pictures are just treasures to us. When I received them Jeff was upstairs getting ready and all the kids were asleep and I just gave a loud " Come look at her smile!" My husband rushed down, and we couldn't be more thrilled. These are the first pictures we have seen of her truly happy. What a gift she has given us on her birthday. It's amazing without ever meeting her, how we can be so completely captivated by her and the few pictures we get of her. I love her already so much, and I have never even heard her voice or held her in my arms. I believe our spirits must have memories of each other from before this life, and I knew my daughter in heaven, and she knew me. These strong feelings I have now for her, are so real and tangible it's hard to put into words how connected we already are. Faith...mommy is doing everything possible to get to you as quickly as I can!!! Happy Birthday my little peanut!

It looks like Faith is just like big sister Kylee...Boys make the best friends! And bodyguards!

The biggest smile is when she is holding a phone...hmm that reminds me of Lucy!

PS.

I have a teeth fetish and her's are fantastic! I can't wait to brush those babies!

Envy...

Spencer...Happy 1 year Anniversary!!!

One Year ago in the Missionary Training Center: Provo, UT

Last week, in Manhattan Beach, California

I miss my boy...it's a guilty feeling, because he is serving the Lord and I know he is where I want him to be and where the Lord wants him to be. To get past these feelings I remind myself how proud I am of him; my barely 19 year old boy who we drove to Provo, Utah, where we dropped him off knowing we would not see him for two years. He learned in two short months how to be a polite missionary, how to speak another language, and how to devote the next two years of his life to God...He is no longer a boy, but a strapping, handsome, obedient, honest, and honorable man. He has given his will to the Lord who in turn has molded him and directed him to those that are lowly in heart, and need comfort and love. It's so amazing to witness the change that comes about when we are selfless and only concentrate on others well being.

I wish I could have served a mission, I take comfort in the fact that I have raised a better person than I was able to be. Spencer I love you...it's been wonderful to watch you grow and progress. I recall the words you mailed me early in your mission, " The Lord doesn't expect perfection, only progression." Thanks for your service and example. We have all been blessed because of it. Love Mommy! ( He won't see this for another year, but I use it as a family journal, and my backup memory. )

Paris White

My husband Jeff created and manages a web site for our friends who lost their daughter to drowning in 2005. Today is the date that horrible accident happened 4 years ago. We were present when her spirit departed to heaven, and that day has changed us forever. We mourn with them and know that they will be together again. The family now advocates for water safety and are doing a wonderful job in education others about how quickly it can happen. We miss you sweet Paris. Take a look at her website. www.pariswhite.com

Fingerprinting appointment today for our Dossier...YEA!

This is our number in line...not one line, not two lines, not three lines but four lines. When we set out to the Department of Homeland Security, we had an appointment, and like all our appointments we usually get there 10 minutes early. I started to stress after I saw all the lines we had to go through to make our appointment. It took us about 40 minutes to get through all the lines and finally get the fingerprinting done.

Perspective is such a funny thing. As we were walking out, we thought it took us forever, however we realized that we had been greatly blessed, because there were only about 5 people in front of us, and as we were leaving the building there was a line of at least 100 people waiting to just enter the building, it had backed up in the 40 minutes we were there. We were so grateful at how smooth this experience went for us, another small blessing.

Wordless Wednesday...

Spencer's July 4th...

Spencer blowing a kiss...this must have been sent to his girlfriend Teiha. Funny!

Hey mom!

so yeah the XXXX's told me that they sent you those pics! actually that is the family that i was talking about last week.? yeah thats him! haha he is a really neat guy! im glad it got to you :) so no i did not get that suit from them (that is actually them too), but i did get a tie it was nice! oh and we are living in a small house that was given to the church by a member. its really old like i said, but its nice. its not an apartment so thats cool. So it sounds like your 4th was good! that is awesome! yeah i remember last year we went to the Lewis' house for the 4th... i think that was last year i cant remember haha. and yeah thank you so much for the camera! im exited to recieve it and start taking some pics! i cant believe my one year is coming up! its next week!! haha that is so crazy...

well as for me not too many stories this week. we were teaching a born again catholic jew named Andrea on Wednesday and boy that was crazy haha we have been teaching her for 3 weeks, but i dunno if she is going anywhere. we brought a member with us to that lesson, but that made the situation a little bit harder. she would bring up deep doctrine with Andrea concerning (we were teaching the 2nd lesson) the war in heaven and Heavenly Mother. ahh!! haha, but it still turned out to be a good lesson thankfully. We have also been teaching another lady named Bonnie and thats been ok, but it still has its tweaks in it. haha oh well we will just keep teaching people! The 4th was pretty good i guess haha. we tracted a lot on that day and also just tried to visit families until about 6 o clock then we had an activity where we played soccer and made smores. it was pretty fun actually! Later that night Elder Mcdonald and I got on the roof and tried to watch fireworks, but good luck in Manhattan Beach. they are SUPER strict on fireworks here, so all we could see in the distance were glances of fireworks in another city and thunderings all around, but it was great nonetheless. i made the realization that being an american is awesome because of our freedom of religion! i love being an american! haha.

Alright mom well i love you so much! thank you for all the support you give me and for cheering me on! i really am grateful for your support. i love you and miss you! have a good week!!

Elder Flitton

Happy Independence Day!

We had a wonderful weekend. July 3rd we enjoyed a party and fireworks at our friends home, July 4th we had a church breakfast where we got to serve the firefighters and thank them for all they do to keep us safe. In the afternoon we enjoyed a BBQ and swimming with fireworks in the evening at another friend's home. Dallin got sick at the end, and I took him home. He had a reaction to his immunization shots. So the picture of him and Jeff laying on the grass was right before we left. He is doing better now. We love our traditions and our friends who have opened up their homes to us!