Day 2

Good morning (evening). Today was a jam packed day! First and foremost my calf is 95% better. Huge Praise because today we did allot of walking and stairs. A wheelchair would not have worked well. Our tour guide kept us busy! We started our morning visiting the Temple of Heaven which is one of the most famous places in China. It was the venue for Emperor's to worship heaven. We then visited a 4th generation Chinese family. We were able to see where they live, take a tour of their home and any ask questions we might have about their culture. The mother played a beautiful song that was played in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics on a instrument that resembles a large harp. They had grasshoppers as pets, I took a picture for Rylan, I am sure he will want us to have one too ;-) We can just add that to the other 7 pets we have.. After our visit we rode on a Rickshaw through the tiny alleys (Hutong)  looking at shops and small houses.  We then went to see the Birds Nest and the Watercube at the Olympic Park. For lunch we ate a nearby KFC and it was delicious ;-) Our last stop was the Summer Palace, it has many gardens and palaces. Mostly a recreational park that is on Kunming Lake. We took a dragon boat on the lake and it was a beautiful sight overlooking the mountains. (If I could only post a picture) it was gorgeous!
We finished around 5pm and came to our room to rest before heading to Pizza Hut for some very fine dining (here in China it is not considered fast food). We ate some pizza and enjoyed the familiarity it brought. We bought dessert at the corner of our hotel in a bakery. Tiramsu never tasted so good!!!

That was our day! We are really enjoying the culture and everyone has been very friendly. I am surprised at how many people don't speak English in such a large city like Bejing. Crossing the streets is frightening and so is their driving. I showed the other family pictures from Brooklyn's birthday party and we realized their daughter Lucy is in the pictures next to Brooklyn. So sweet knowing her friend will be with this sweet family we have gotten to know. Denise (mom) saved the day and brought Nathan and Daniel Ramen noodels as a snack for them. The snacks I brought are going quickly. :-) I have been able to check on the littles and they are having so much fun! I even got to see sweet Rylan's face on facetime and it made my day (thank you Jennifer)!

Day 3 will consist of touring the Great Wall and traveling by plane to Kunming which is about 3 hours from Brooklyn's orphanage. We will meet up with 2 other families in Kunming.  The day is getting closer and I am beyond excited. I may have to send the Gotcha video or her pictures to a friend to post on here for me!!!

Please keep the prayers coming!! We love you all!!!

Blessings,

Greetings from Bejing, China

Greetings from Bejing, China!!

If you can read this, this alone is an answered prayer. We have had major technical issues. So, I may have to update as much as I can with words and add photos later (insert sigh here). Trying to be flexible and adaptable!

Day One

We started our day early with a tour of Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was really interesting and we have an amazing tour guide named Candy. For those of you that didn't hear, I pulled my calf muscle the night before we left making it extremely painful to put ANY weight on it! Seriously! I felt like having a moment out of the movie War Room where Priscilla yells outside her house at the devil to LEAVE your not going to win here. Well, I did this but I didn't yell outside my house ;-)Prayers answered as of today it is so much better.. So during our tours I was able to get a wheelchair which helped tremendously (including cutting the lines)..haha

During the Forbidden City tour, Nathan was pretty fascinated that the Empire had 8,000 girlfriends as said him and the Empire had lots in common. :-) The boys are at such a great age they are taking  it all in. Including the lady that asked me to take a picture with her.. I joked maybe I looked like JLo....HAHA

After the two tours we ate at a great Chinese restaurant. We have another family that is from Michigan with us. We will be with them the entire trip. They are so nice and have 3 children with them that are so sweet. They are adopting alittle girl named Lucy that is missing a bone from her arm. She is gorgeous! I know its the beginning of an experience we will share together that will bind us together for the rest of our lives. 

We went back to our hotel and opted to check out Starbucks and the mall instead of sleeping.. Jet lag was wanting to take over but we knew we needed to stay busy. I love that the young woman at Starbucks spoke little English but knew Starbucks lingo and its universal. HAHA!

After Starbucks we met our tour guide and the other family to go see an Acrobatic show, it was some of the same acts from the opening of the Olympics. It didnt' disappoint. Some really cool things you don't see in the US. Like 8 motorcycles inside a small circled cage inches from each other. It was enough to make you cover your eyes but still look at the same time!! 

That was Day One.. I am so upset I can't upload pictures but I determined to figure out how to do it! We want you to know that our ENTIRE family feels your prayers. My calf is better , Dan's back is holding up, older boys are having a blast and the little ones too! We LOVE you~ 3 more days till we meet Brooklyn! 

Sneak Peak….

As of today we leave in approximately 72 hours…. AND I must say its starting to look like a little girl will be ruling living in our home!! I have had WAY too much fun buying bows and these cute little shoes!!!

Its been so fun to watch the little boys play with the kitchen and doll house in our playroom! Little do they know its all preparation for whats to come ;-). I have seen Hulk sleeping in the doll house and it makes me giggle… I still have a few final touches to make to her room but here is a little sneak peak!

I will be using this blog to update while we are gone… The single most important thing we would love is your PRAYERS.

*prayers for safe travels

*health for all of us especially Dan as he is still healing from surgery

*the little boys while they adjust to being home with my mom and Dan's mom

*for Brooklyn's heart as we prepare to transition her into our family

A Birthday to Remember

Do you EVER have one of those days where you lay your head on your pillow at night with a grin from ear to ear thinking that was the most incredible day?? This past birthday was one of those for me!! One that I felt was worthy enough to document…

My day started off little stressful when my 4 year old refused to get out of the car for school in the carpool line. The sweet woman opened his door and he shook his head NO clingy to my counsel in the front. With the sweetest voice said she has had to do this in the past and literally climbed into my car peeling him out. Closed the door and off I was to the gym to start my day.. I knew he was in good hands..

After almost passing out in my class Celebrating my health for my birthday.. I checked my emails and to my surprise. The greatest gift appeared, pictures of our daughter blowing her candles out on the cake we had sent to her orphanage.. I squealed in delight and couldn't wait to show my two friends in my class. We all hovered around my phone taking in her precious little face.. Haircut and all ;) Since we have the same birthday.. Let the party planning start NOW for next year!!!

And of course having two teenage boys on social media they dedicated a post to me which I LOVE!

We ended the night after football practice at one of my favorite new restaurants here in downtown Mckinney Sugarbacon. The older boys surprised me with a Kendra Scott necklace (can I just say my job may be done raising these young men..haha) and Rylan gave me a coffee traveling mug because I always drink coffee and I am always in my car.. My boys know me well!!

And don't you LOVE it even more when your birthday is celebrated more than one day!! My friends threw me a pool party with the sweetest gifts that touched my heart and a cake that was perfectly made! 

This was definitely one of the most cherished birthdays but next year it will be EXTRA special!

2015-Year of Many Changes

Its sort of breathtaking to read my last post knowing what doors were opened last year!! The door of ADOPTION. Here is a brief story on what lead our hearts to adopt from China… I am hoping through this blog I am able to document our journey and update our friends and family.

If you asked me if we would adopt 2 years ago the answer would be No! We have 4 beautiful boys that are healthy and expensive to feed ;-). Our hands were full and so were our hearts .. But You see there has ALWAYS been this deep desire to have a little girl in our family. I yearned for the mother-daughter relationship. Not just to dress her up in cute bows (although that will be so fun) but because the relationship I have with my own mother is lets say strained and complicated… I had 101 reasons why we DIDN'T need to pursue this desire in my heart but still my heart felt like a piece was missing.

We have traveled to China, had a nephew adopted from China and good friends whom we have prayed for their little girl from China. But in my mind it still wasn't for us….(little did we know that a seed was being planted and all these events would be part of our story)

God slowly started to work on my heart. When he moved our family to Melissa, he didn't just move us in a neighborhood with 4 other families that had adopted from China but right smack in the middle of two of them. Our families grew closer together and witnessing first hand the love between all of them was indescribable. One night one of my best friends said to me.. I could see you adopting and I don't just say that to anyone… Say what?? Then later in the year of 2014 a family we had grown closer to through our church plant and community was on their way to pick up their little boy. I followed her updates every day and my heart would explode at all the pictures of them together.. We went to the airport in anticipation to greet this sweet boy we had prayed for along side many other friends. The Holy Spirit was in that airport waiting area. I could feel this overwhelming sense of love and compassion that brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps to my arms. This sweet boys was with his FOREVER Family. It was about 2 months after that I said let's do this!!

So here we are… One year after starting the process and as we are estimated to leave in about 3 weeks to go get our little girl Brooklyn Emilia Stoltzfus! My heart is so full and I can't wipe the smile off my face thinking about the day I get to wrap my arms around her!

I am also including some pics from the sweetest shower my friends and family threw me this past week! So much love and thought went into each detail of this shower. It was a moment I tried to soak in as much as I could. I am blessed to have such a strong support group of friends and will be forever grateful.

2014-Let us begin the New Year of things that have NEVER been

This is kind of my own personal journal for 2014 to document God's amazing grace through our lives in this upcoming year. I can feel God is going to move in a mighty way this year. After much prayer and discussion we decided to leave our church home of 6 years and go with our dear friends to plant a church in Melissa. We felt the Lord lead us to Melissa for a purpose, at the time I prayed.. Please LORD we just want to do your will. If any doors need to be closed then please let that be known to us. The process was a seamless as possible. From the door being closed on building to the one being opened on 15 Shady Bend Dr (our new home). The boys being transferred to Melissa from Mckinney schools with ease. Making friends before we ever moved and having wonderful neighbors who made us feel welcomed from day one. Starting a bible study before we moved here and God clearing marking the path before us. We are blessed! I am excited to see where this new journey leads.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:19

2 yr recap

So...let's see its only been two crazy busy years since I posted last! I thought to myself well, its something I need to start doing again and why not put it on my resolution (AGAIN) for this year. I honestly can't remember back to 2012 much. I do know 2013 was a year full of change, blessings and major milestones in our family.
*We moved two times in 4 months to our final forever home in Melissa. TX
*We moved Daniel and Rylan from MCA to Melissa schools
*I completed the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon early in the year and a full marathon in Dec. Two bucket list items on my fitness journey checked off
*Nathan made the Varsity Melissa basketball team
*Daniel started playing indoor soccer
*Rylan played baseball with the Oilers
*Colton has tagged along to all our events and been the best trooper through the moves.
*Rylan lost his first tooth
*Took a trip to West Monroe, LA for Daniel's birthday to see Duck Commander