New Care Package

So, we thought that we would be in China by now. Regrettably, due to the new NVC letter requirements, we lost a month. Since we are now hoping that we can travel in April, we decided to send a new care package to our precious Rachel Lian. This package was put together by Ann at Red Thread and should be delivered this week. It includes pajamas, a Hello Kitty doll, camera, sweets, pictures of us and a letter explaining that we will be there very soon to get her.


Dear Rachel,

We love you very much and are so sad that we are not already there. We can't wait until we can hold you in our arms and tell you how much we love you in person.


Until then, Dad and Mom

A5 Update

We got a call this morning from our agency. They have confirmed that the A5 was delivered to the CCAA on Monday. The only thing left is for them to issue the Travel Approval (TA). It takes about 2 weeks and then we will have our travel dates confirmed. We are hoping for the first week or two of April to beat the GZ trade fairs.

We also sent another care package to Rachel Lian today. It included a letter from us thanking her for sending us the beautiful new pics and letting her know we will soon be there. We also sent her a blanket, some candies, PJ's and a doll. Our new theme song is "Hold on, I'm Coming".

Here are a few more of the new pics. Thanks to Adele for sticking at it until she got them. Enjoy...

NEW PICS-UPDATED MEASUREMENTS

Adele, at Blessed Kids, has been working for a month to get us some updated measurements and pictures. We were greeted this morning with 8 new pics she sent us overnight! I didn't think she could get more beautiful, but each time she does! We couldn't believe how much her hair has grown. In the last pictures from the summer, it was short. She did receive our package and we will be sending more. We love her more each day. Olivia took the pictures to her school and shared them with her class.

On the Articel 5 front, we confirmed that our agency rep picked it up from the GZ office last Thursday and sent it to the Beijing Office to be hand delivered to the CCAA. Come on TA, we gotta go! I'll be down at the airport waiting if anyone needs me.

Olivia's Corner - I WANT MY SISTER!

How long do I have to wait? This is getting ridiculous! Dad says the Chinese New Year is over and that he will be back to aggrevating people everyday until the TA arrives. I have been reading and looking at everything to get ready for our trip. We are still trying the chinese foods but I have 1 problem. Now I know why my sister is so skinny. How can you ever get enough to eat using those chop sticks? Here are a few pictures of me trying to eat rice with them. I finally got some help from CJ and figured out how you are supposed to hold them.

So, I have few pictures left over from the snow. Dad used the lid to one of my toy boxes and a rope as a sled. We had a great time, sliding down the hill next to our yard. Dad even pulled Josh and made Josh pull him. We had a blast! And I took my picture with the neighbor's snowman since their's was much bigger than ours.

A DAY OFF - SNOW in ALABAMA

So, we have been hard at it for weeks now trying to clear the last hurdles of A5 and TA so that we can travel for our precious Rachel Lian. The process has been exhausting and we finally reached a point where we needed a break in the worst way. Today we got that chance.

It snowed in the deep South today, and not that little dusting we got last month. It snowed, and snowed and then it snowed some more. For a place that gets a few flakes every 3 or 4 years, we had 6" today. I know that doesn't seem like a lot to our friends in the north, but it might as well have been 6 feet deep for us.

I took the whole day off. All of the schools were closed. All we did all day was play in the snow, come in and thaw out, change into new dry clothes and go back out again.

Olivia helped me build a snow woman, possibly the ugliest one ever made. The boys filled the big wheel barrow with snow and went down the street to have a snowball fight with the other kids in the neighborhood. They came back hours later with an empty wheel barrow and frozen extremities.

The dogs didn't know what to think and Joy, who lived once in Chicago, was in heaven. She sat on the porch, drinking coffee, and loving every minute.

We had a blast! This was just what we needed to relax and recharge. Sometimes we spend so much energy trying to get over the next hurdle that we forget to enjoy what we already have and to be thankful for the things that God has provided. The apostle said, I have found that no matter the state I find myself in, there I will be content. That contentment comes from knowing who is in charge and in knowing He loves and takes care of us always. We know and trust that all things are being done in God's time and wisdom.

Hope you enjoy the pictures,

The Graham's

Olivia's Corner 3

Well, it's official. Mom has totally lost it! Ever since she figured out how to make clothes for me and my sister she has been hard at it. It started out to be just 1 matching suit. Now we have 10 each, complete with hair bows and other cool accessories. She also matched 8 sets of PJ's and made us matching coats that say "Spoiled" and "Rotten", apparently I'm Spoiled!

I can't wait until we can go get my Gi Gi. Mom and Dad have taken me to several Chinese restaurants trying to see what I might like to eat on our trip. So far it's only plain rice and fortune cookies. We better take snacks and spoons and forks! How are you supposed to eat ice cream with CHOP STICKS??????

Anyway, me and Gi Gi are going to have so much fun together. I am going to have tea parties with her and make her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The first word I want to teach her is "Sister". I can't wait till she is home. It will be much better to have a sister to play with instead of brothers. Also, the dogs look funny in a tutu.

Mom found a place to get an Asian baby doll for Gi Gi. I told her that I wanted one too. The room is finally done and the tree house is next. Here are some of the new clothes that Mom made.

Love, Olivia

Joy to the World

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Joy, mother of four wonderful young people (soon to be five) and wife to my amazing husband, Coy! Yes, I’m not kidding we really are named Coy & Joy!

I am an Artist and Writer that loves to create EVERYTHING! My mind is involved in the “NEXT PROJECT” at all times.

Last night I could not sleep pondering over the plans I have for the girls, Olivia & Rachel’s, tree house. At 2:00 a.m. I figured out how to supply power to the crystal chandelier that will proudly hang in their hot pink tea room amongst the gentle breeze and honeysuckle.

I visited a Children’s Boutique this morning to purchase matching outfits for our girls and my heart sank when I saw the $72.00 price tag. That’s $ 144.00 plus tax for just two outfits! Soooo I purchased two $3.00 shirts, two $5.00 leggings, $ 7.00 of ribbon and two appliqués of poodles and TAH DAHHH!!! Two outfits for $23.00!
I love it when a plan comes together.

I find that lately I can’t work fast enough to get ready for sweet little Rachel Lian to come home. I want everything to be finished and waiting for her when we return from China so that I can devote all attention to her needs as she adapts to her new home and family.

Coy has done an amazing job preparing all the paper work and following up on the adoption process. I don’t see how he found the time to develop this blog! That is just how he is, always taking care of business.

Our family is like a puzzle that God keeps fitting all the pieces together until we are completed. Coy has shared with you earlier that we have suffered many miscarriages. What you don’t know is how we have four wonderfully different, yet beautiful kids.

At the age of 21 I gave birth to a perfect 4 pound baby boy, Blake.
He looked just like a tiny cabbage patch doll ! I looked into his eyes and felt a bond that words can not explain, I still feel it every time I see his gentle eyes. Shortly after he was born my husband at the time explained to me that I was not “cool” and no longer a trophy wife that a “Mom” was not what he wanted. We divorced and I worked as a pre- school director to support the two of us.

Then one day in walked Coy with two little guys, 18 months and 3years old, full of energy and ready to be “Mothered”

It took all I could do to stay composed when the 18 month old, blue eyed, boy with a head full of bouncing blonde curls climbed up my leg and into my arms....HE SMELLED LIKE MY SON AND HAD HIS EYES TOO!!! His chubby short arms wrapped around my heart and has not let go in 14 plus years! This is our son Joshua...the one full of love and compassion.

The 3 year old was the leader of the pack so to say. Always thinking and staying a step ahead of the rest! He is the one that made a list for Santa before we met. Coy kept the list it goes like this: Dear Santa (scribble writing) I want a new house, yard with a swing and slide, swimming pool, trampoline and....a Mommy.

Coy explained to his young sons that he was in college working two jobs and just could not buy the things on their list nor could Santa provide such big items in his sleigh.
Then C.J., with his sparkling know it all eyes replied, “We did not ask Santa for these things! We asked GOD! Silly....Santa can’t find us a Mommy.”

One year later Coy and I had married and adopted each others kids. We lived in a very small house with an above ground pool, found a swing set on sale at Wal-Mart and got a phone call out of the blue from a relative wanting to know if we had a use for a used trampoline!!!

Our sons are now 23, 18, 16 and all gifted with different talents and yet they all share a bond, the bond of a family’s love.

This brings our puzzle to the surprise piece God has amazingly fitted into place, Olivia. As Coy explained earlier we suffered years of miscarriages and after I had given up hope of ever holding another baby Olivia made her grand arrival! GRAND is the best way to describe her since Olivia does everything in grand style! She is sooo funny and DRAMATIC! I can’t wait to see her grow with her new sister! Olivia is now 6 years old and her, soon to be sister, Rachel Lian, is 5 years old.

Finding Rachel Lian was not hard at all as Coy explained in his original post. It all happened just that way...we both picked her out of 50 or so photos on the waiting child list. I was not surprised when Coy showed me his picture of her cause that is just how God puts things into place. Rachel Lian’s profile sounds just like Olivia! WHAT HAVE WE DONE!!!!!!

OK, I tend to talk too much. I’m surprised Coy has not hidden the computer from me yet. To sum it up for today, I’m crazy with excitement and can’t work fast enough to find all those outfits with matching bows for two future drama queens!

Can anyone tell me where to find a Chinese baby doll or Barbie type dolls I want Rachel Lian to have dolls reflecting her culture too. Please let me hear your ideas too! -Joy