Small Boy ~ Great Wall

Kim, Sam's foster mom, has a friend visiting China from the U.S. They made the trip (only about three hours by car) into Beijing to see the beautiful and famous GREAT WALL OF CHINA. This photograph truly does not do it justice but what an adorable little boy sitting on the step! Bob had the opportunity to camp out on The Great Wall the last time he was in China with a group of Cedarville University kids. He has amazing photos of their time there.

The wall was built to protect the various dynasties from raids. Amazingly, it stretches over 3,948 miles. Madeleine and Samuel are blessed to come from such a beautiful country full of rich history and customs. We love this country and its people.

Anxious Hearts

With anxious hearts and open arms,
we sought you everywhere.
You, dear child, are a gift from God,
The answer to our prayers

A home is blessed from above
when caring parents claim their child,
a family is formed by love.

You first came to us in an envelope
with letters, forms and such.
Just two tiny little pictures
with nothing warm to touch.

You grew in our imagination
in our hearts and in our minds.
You brought us greater joy
than we ever thought we'd find.

A phone call started labor pains
which lasted 'til we met.
Strangers brought together
A day we won't forget.

~Author unknown

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!! We celebrated with Dad and Mom and had a great family dinner together. The kids and I decided that our Daddy would like tickets to China for his Father's Day gift so that is what we got him! We also celebrated FOUR YEARS since we brought Miss Madeleine home from Changsha! What a great Father's Day that was! So hard to believe she will be five this summer!

We also got to web cam with Sammy this a.m. and he had the kids howling with all the words he says! He particularly likes to do the monkey sound and jumps up and down and rubs his ribs with his little fists! He is a ham!!

We will be leaving Dayton on July 20th and will return to Dayton on August 3rd!

Tianjin here we come!!

OUR TRAVEL APPROVAL IS HERE!

Oh, the Kinney's in Cedarville are doing the HAPPY DANCE tonight!!! We got the call late this afternoon. We do not have our exact travel dates yet but it looks like we will not leave until the 21st of July. We are so thankful that Sam is in good hands. Kim and Shaun are planning to have a party for his second birthday and take LOTS of photos for us!!

Amy Grooms had a Welcome Home Samuel Shower and the kids just loved this cake she got for the party!