Sorry..........

I just wanted to let everyone know that we have been home for almost 3 weeks now and we are doing well. I cannot believe the changes in these 2 little ones! God is amazing and he certainly picked the perfect kiddos for our family! I have been swamped with crazieness. We have had so many things such as sick kids, dr appts, IEP appts, kids sports, and so much more!

If you all would like to see updated pics and and such of our newest blessings, please check out my oldest daughter, Alexis' blog HERE. You can also read all about her  adventures with the crazy crew while I was in China. I am so proud of her!

I promise I will post a long awaited update in the next few weeks! We are just in the adjustment stages and I want all my energy and attention on my newest kiddos and my family!!!

Thank You everyone who has helped us make this all a reality!!!

Zekiel's Gotcha Day and Adoption Day

First off, I  gotta say how sorry I am to not post sooner but its been a very tough couple days, things like missing my family, no sleep and some concerns on my mind. All this resulted in this afternoons melts down and tears for me......I am better right now but we certainly could use lots of your prayers right now!

Monday was Zekiels Gotcha Day and once again I did not sleep much waiting for my little guy and wondering all the things about him. We were at the office for a 10 am pick up and paper signing. We finally seen him arrive from outside and were so excited to see them come through the door. He came over with a huge smile on his face and his nanny had him talking in Chinese and he even said "momma" in english. He was super smiley and you could see his amazing, happy personality and his dimples that are huge!

He came right to me and kept smiling and was pretty happy for about 5 minutes while my friend Wendy and our translator asked his nanny lots of questions. That was pretty much it, and things went downhill from there!! He began screaming for his nanny who quickly came over and took him. I then filled out my paperwork quickly so we could leave. We tried to mingle a bit but he just screamed so we left. He pretty much screamed the entire way back to the hotel and he is strong and certainly did not want met all! He then fell asleep in my arms after finally giving up once close to the hotel. I carried him right to the crib and hoped to see that smiley boy when he woke up.

He woke up with a smile but was still pretty uneasy with us as you would expect. He played a bit but we could see his struggle with us. He is also struggling to move since he is VERY big. He is very overweight for a child this young with dwarfism. So much so that he can barely move and its very hard to breathe sitting still. He also has a pretty large head that makes his mobility much harder. He is not very stable moving about and we figure he sat most of his time at the orphanage. He has beautiful teeth unlike Miss Rowyn. His legs and back look pretty strait even. I just know his weight was a big concern but in time, he would be fine, especially keeping up with all his crazy brothers and sisters and some physical therapy to strengthen his muscles to make moving easier for him, just as Kullen needed.

Rowyn is not too sure of him yet as hes not as active and plaful as she is yet. She is also a bit jealous and I dont think she wants to share her momma! I would tell Zekiel to come sit with momma and she would give him an awful look and want to be on my lap too, with him not touching her of course! She will certainly get used to sharing quickly at our house!

We gave him and Rowyn a bath that night which he loved and going to bed seemed pretty easy for him but our night was anything but good.....it was very hard on this mommas heart. It seems that Zekiel has some awful self soothing issues from being in an orphanage. He rocks his whole body and literally bangs his head into the mattress and on the crib railings. We now figure this is where the scab on his head came from. This is so very hard to explain and so hard as a momma to watch. Mommas are supposed to fix things and I cannot fix this, I can only protect him from hurting himself while hes doing this. It also makes an awful noise as the crib literally moves with him. Anyone that knows me, knows I am a super light sleeper so there was no sleeping this night either. I just feel so helpless knowing he has learned this because there was no one to hold and love him at night when he needed it. Would love some prayers and suggestions for my little guy. God  is bigger and I know he will guide us along this path in helping Zekiel heal the damage to his little heart.


ADOPTION DAY

Tuesday was Adoption Day where you go and sign all the official paperwork. We headed out pretty early and super sleep deprived. Once we got there Zekiels nanny was there with a big smile and I totally cringed knowing this was not going to be good for him. Our guide, Nancy quickly went and asked her to go in the other room so he did not see her but I am certain he already did, not to mention she kept looking out and he seen her then too. He cried and it was pretty much a Screaming day again. I just felt awful as all the other parents there were so happy and their kids were not crying and my guy cried, or rather screamed both days! Our Adoption Day photo is of me, looking very frustrated and a screaming Zekiel o my lap.

Once back in the hotel he was settled but still a bit shy and off. I cannot wait to see my boys shining , happy personality the nanny described how he is daily. I know he will settle in and finally trust us but oh my heart hurts right now! We really could use lots of prayers right now.  I had a little bit of a meltdown after he fell asleep this afternoon, I am just so exhausted, missing my family terribly and worried about this precious little boy and how I can help him......

Hoping the next few days look better...........

A quick update.....

Well, things are not as easy to communicate back home as I had hoped they would be. I guess most social media networks are blocked here in China and my crazy iphone and ipad are having issues....big surprise. I am on Wendy's computer quick just to give a brief update. I hope to add some new pics soon!

I am totally missing home, not really my house but all  the people that fill it! Its great seeing new things and learning so much about the culture here but I miss them so so much and its incredibly hard being away. I continuously pray for Gods help in getting me through this and home. Wendy has been a great help as well but she too is missing her family. We could totally use some prayers right now as we have been gone from our family over a week  now.

Rowyn is doing great and we see a little bit of her personality each day. Shes very stubborn and strong willed but I am used to that! She has been saying lots more english words and can even say all the kids names! She does have a hard time pretty often as she looks out the window and gets a bit teary eyed. I can only imagine whats going through her head.

We flew to Zekiels providence yesterday and she did pretty good on the flight. For the record....I still HATE flying!!  Shes had a tough time with the move and has been quiet. She was just getting used to there a bit and now we move again. We will get Mr. Zekiel tomorrow morning at 10 am! I am so so excited but so nervous once again. Please pray for our lil guy.

Also, since we have had such crazy internet service here, I finally was able to read my daughter Lexi's posts from how things are going back home! I gotta be honest here.......It brought me to tears, alot of them! I am so thankful that they are being loved and taken care of by such an amazing big sister while daddy is working. I am so proud of her! Please check out her blog HERE

Thank you alll so much for your continues prayers and support! I promise to find a way to add pictures tomorrow so you all can see my little man......

Adoption Day... Mondays post

Well.... We have been busy so I did not get to post last night and quite honestly we were exhausted!

We drove all over in the morning doing official paperwork. Rowyn is officially
Rowyn Dan Zhen Sharp and we are the most blessed parents in the world! She truly is amazing!

So much of her little or shall I say BIG
personality is coming out! She's very smart and can copy things I write on paper such as a circle and triangle! She is super active and very spunky! Her laugh is just so funny and she keeps us laughing at everything! She is just one amazing girl!

We have also seen her stubborn side and we think she was pretty used to getting her own way. She is also testing everything to see what she can get away with and what's not allowed.

She has a very hard time eating since her teeth are so bad! She will put things in her mouth and leave them in her cheek to soften before chewing and swallowing. She's a very slow eater because of this too.

She also has been using the potty and has had no accidents although we are using pull ups anyways. She does not tell us she's gotta go yet but we have just been taking her. She will get it I am sure once she can figure out what to say.

She has said no English words but listens to everything! She will speak in Chinese quite a bit but we have no idea what she's saying most of the time.

As far as her dwarfism is concerned, she looked wonderful! Her legs are super strait as well as her back. Her body proportions are very different than Kullens. She has longer legs and a longer, thinner torso. She has a very skinny tummy. She sure has the little Acon bottom and fingers! She looked to be taller than Kullen but I am not certain. She weighs 28 lbs according to the scale here in the hotel.

Thank you so much everyone for your continued prayers! God has truly blessed us with this amazing girl and she will fit perfectly in our family! I miss my family so much so please pray for them too!

Please also pray for a special adoptive family we met here as they are going through a difficult time. I won't mention any names. They were here to bring home their sweet little girl and she was not what they were expecting as there was so much more going on with her. She went the dr here and they re diagnosed her and their agency told them she needed to be released since their home study was not approved for such severe issues. I cannot imagine their heartbreak as they now go home without the little one they worked so hard for, prayed for and loved. I know God has a mighty plan and I am sure he will guide them! I want them to know that we are praying for them along this difficult journey!

Here are a few pictures but please be patient since we don't have the best Internet things have been hard.

Gotcha Day for miss Rowyn!

I still cannot believe all this is actually happening!

Our guide, Mary got to our hotel at around 2:30 since she needed to get paperwork done. We went through papers I brought and with all the craziness.... I did not realize I was supposed to bring 2 pics of George and 2 pics of myself! Ahhhh.... I started to panic! Mary assured me that we could fix this and will have George send us one of him by email and we could take one of me and just print them out! Whew! There has been so much paperwork and I really thought I did everything needed!

We had to wait until 3 pm for them to bring her to our hotel. The wait was awful as I had to be in the lobby early so we could see her brought through the hotel doors! Then she arrived at a little after 3 and she's just so so beautiful! She was covered in sweat from the 4 layers of clothing she had on.... Yea...4 layers! Little ones with dwarfism sweat alot and get hotter than most so I smiled knowing why!

I then was given her by one of the nannies and quickly realized that I was holding my girls bare butt! They put what they call split pants on kiddos here and basically not undies so its easier to go to the bathroom!

She went right to me and was very shy but she did not cry. She was curious and just kept looking around. We asked a few quick questions and then they were off to take a little girl to her new parents at another hotel.

We went to our room with our guide Mary and talked a bit. She tried to be so tough but just ended up crying.... Really crying and kicking her feet yelling "an nah" ... Not sure if that's what she called her foster momma but we guessed so.

She then stopped, warmed up a bit and played with a ball. She was so funny and she even smiled and laughed, which was so amazing since every picture we have of her she was not smiling!

We tried to get her to eat and she was not having that. We also kept trying to get her to go potty but she would not and quite honestly, I was afraid she would pee on me.

We did end up showing her the water in the tub and she got super excited so we figured that I guess it's bath time. She then gladly helped us take off her clothes so she could get in! She was so silly wiggling all around with her arms and legs. She loved playing with the stacking cups and got me really wet!

She's then was so so tired and we could tell as her little head kept dropping as she fought sleep. So aunt Wendy made her a bottle of formula and she gladly took that since she's still very used to them. We also noticed that this is prolly why her poor little teeth are in the shape they are! They are really bad, what's left of them and that's no exaggeration! Our dentist is so wonderful and she is certainly going to be needing to be seen ASAP!

I held her while she dozed and tried laying her in the crib they put in our room and she screamed and wanted down. She then pointed to the bed so I tucked her in and she was asleep! As I sat her writing this she moved alot and we were afraid she's going to fall off the bed so I gently put her in the crib where she whimpered until I rubbed her back a minute. She's now asleep and wiggles quite a bit.

i don't know how tonight will go but please say some prayers for my girl! She is struggling and is trying to understand so much change that's happened so very fast! She's absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to see that spunky little personality that we have seen some of come out! We have lots of paperwork early in the morning so I have got to get to bed........





I know..... You all want pictures! Lol

We made it to China!

I can't believe I am actually here!

I hoped flying would be better this time but,  nope.... I still totally hate flying!  Between getting car sick from movement and I have issues with my equilibrium,  which makes me dizzy and George would say all those equal to me being blonde. 

Our first flight was pretty rough and bumpy due the plane being one size up from a crop duster.  Second,   from
Rochester to Beijing was so incredibly long at 13 hours.  Sitting in a cramped seat was not easy and there was no way you could get comfortable to even sleep if you wanted to.  I truly envied the first class passengers and wished I was one of them!  Wonder how much it would cost to get an upgrade for our long flight home with 2 kids?  I don't know how this is going to happen!  I also felt awful sitting next to a lady that thought it was okay to gag everyone around her when she kept spraying her perfume to cover up someone's gas, most likely her own. This was a perfume that smelled awful and burned your nose when you breathed,  I would have preferred to smell the other,  that's how bad it was!

Beijing airport is huge and totally confusing as we had to go from floor to floor to do this or that.  We were also crazy hungry for real food
And  they would only take Chinese currency in the airport which meant Wendy had to rough it and go back through security to have her second full body pat down!  I I love her so much for volunteering to do this because I was so tired and needed to sit down!  What a great friend. And I am so glad she's here to share this all with me!

So,  now that we are on our hotel room and have met our wonderful guide Mary.  There are A lot of differences in China,  many I has not expected!  First,  the beds are hard, not comfy and soft.  I really thought all beds were like ours,  once again I was wrong.  The beds are also funny sized and I don't know what size you would call them since they are too big to be twin size and too small to be a full size.

The hotel has an amazing breakfast buffet,  and I mean amazing! 
There is stuff on there that you would eat for dinner and there are tons of choices,  problem everything you can think of and more,  not to mention things you have no idea what they are!

Our guide,  Mary took us for a walk around town.  Wow....  Things are very different here as she explained that this was a poorer providence where the rest is pretty rural.  There are scooters/ motorcycles everywhere and I mean everywhere!  They drive along the roads weaving in and out and even on the sidewalks as they beep away at people walking.  There is no parking lot at the local store,  they simply pull up on the sidewalk and stockpile the motorcycles/ scooters side by side.
I had heard about our next shock and thought I had prepared myself but no...  I was still shocked at this one.  Walking down the busy street,  filled with people shopping a little boy about 3 or 4 years old pulls his pants down and just poops!  I could not believe it!  It was just like a dog  and the parents just left it there and walked away!  We will NOT be carrying on the Chinese tradition once home!

I totally miss my husband,  George and kids back home and I am sure it's going to be a long few weeks!  We have been able to Skype but it's hard since there is a 12 hour difference in time.  We are also working on ways around things since Facebook is blocked here!  Ugh so please be patient as we figure things out,  once again I am glad to have Wendy here since she knows computer stuff.  I am writing this blog post on her phone even which is kind of a pain.

Please continue to pray for us,  my family back home,  Wendy's family back home, and Rowyn and zekiel.

We get Rowyn tomorrow... Sunday!  So,  when you get up Sunday morning,  we will have my girl!  I can't wait and they are even bringing her directly to our hotel!

Oh and my oldest daughter,  Lexi who is holding down the fort at home is going to be adding her own blog posts from home,  this could be interesting as I tried telling her I needed to approve of what she writes first but she insisted that censorship was not necessary!  Lol

I am blown away at what God has done for our family!!!

God truly performed a MIRACLE for our family yesterday!

If you dont believe in miracles, you are crazy because I sure do!

I knew God had guided us along our adoption journey and each little coincidence,

was simply God guiding us. 

As most of you know.....

Our family lacked quite a bit of funds needed to bring Rowyn and Zekiel home.

After getting our Travel Approval and looking for flights to China,

I was feeling pretty down, upset and hopeless.

I cried...I cried ALOT!!

I prayed for guidance.

We were given a very special gift, a gift I will NEVER forget!

A gift our family will NEVER forget!

A gift we will one day explain to Rowyn and Zekiel.

We were given by an anonymous person $10,000!!!!

Oh my Heavens........

I cried.....I cried even more and still get teary eyed writing this,

 as I am still in amazement at such a an enormous gift!

I prayed and thanked God through those tears!

I want this person to know how much their gift meant to our family,

and we will NEVER be able to Thank them enough for their amazing generosity!!

THANK YOU....from all of us!

If that were not enough.....

We were blessed with even more generous donations as our sponsor page went from

around $13,000 to the $25,145 that it is now,

in just 1 day!!  ONE day guys!!!

So many people lovingly giving to help bring home 2 special little orphans home.

Once again, Thank You to each and every person that has helped our family.

You all have blown me away!

We are still not completely funded but,

 so much closer as Airfare costs were so much more than expected.

In country travel fees were more than expected, 

but God has provided so much and we are so incredibly grateful!

 

God truly does perform miracles guys, BELIEVE IT!!

***********************************************************

So.......We are off to China on Thursday 

I will have Rowyn in my arms next Sunday, March 17th

I will have Mr.Zeke on Monday, March 25th!!

God is so good!

Please pray for safe travels for us and a smooth process.

Pray for my husband and kiddos back home.

Pray for Rowyn and Zekiel......their lives are about to change drastically!

 

We have Travel Approval!!!!

What does this mean????

It means.....
WE ARE GOING TO CHINA TO GET OUR BABIES!!

When you may ask?
We are working on the details now!

We do know that we should leave next week sometime, maybe Friday or Saturday!
Oh my goodness.....next week!!!
I cannot believe it!!! 

We should know all the details of who we get to pick up first....
We should know for sure by this weekend!
Next Sunday or Monday I will be holding one of our little ones! 
I am so excited...I think I said that already!

We are still desperately in need of last minute funds and we could use all the prayers we can get!
We need it fast and God knows our need.
He wants our little ones home, with their family!
Where they belong.......finally! 

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

If you would like to help our family, 
Our Sponsor page  on Reeces Rainbow
is HERE 
I am in tears each time I see our FSP move, and its because of so many great , loving people.

Once again I would like to Thank ALL the people who have helped our family!
You all are so amazing!
 We cannot thank you enough for you generosity .


Here are my babies that I will get to bring home
because so many people love us and have supported our journey!

Sorry this post is kind of a ramble but my mind is pretty crazy right now.
So many worries, so many things on my mind.......

 

Waiting, Waiting and more waiting!

I keep telling myself that the next step in our adoption process has got to get easier!

So far....nothing is Easy!

Waiting for the next step is so incredibly hard as it seems so very far away!

Each step is still as hard as the last step.

Still waiting for the Easy part to come.....will there be one??

We are now waiting on Travel Approval, aka TA

This gives us the green light to GO!

Our Agency can then make us a consulate Appt.

And then everything goes around that!

We could leave a week or 2 after TA!!

I am so excited, nervous, scared and so much more!

I can say that I cannot wait to have Rowyn and Zekiel in my arms.

Then we can begin to move forward as a bigger family!

 I worry/ fret so much lately over stupid things that will probly not matter and BIG things that do!

I fret over making sure we have everything ready and the things they will need.

I fret over their adjustment and how things are drastically going to change for them.

The one thing I HATE worrying about the most....Money

Money is the price we have to pay for our children's ransom.

God had been so faithful to our family as we struggle to remain faithful trusting in him.

Its been difficult, but we must trust in him!

If you would like to help our family bring home our babies, We have a great Sponsor

Page at Reeces Rainbow. Its even Tax deductible!!

HERE is our families page if you feel led to help raise the ransom for our babies.

We have been so incredibly blessed when each and every donation has been made!

I wish I knew exactly who has helped our family as we have no way of knowing 

We are so very Thankful as God helps provide. 

Thank you to each and every person out there that has helped...you know who you are and so does our God!

God is so good!

 

Sweet Surprises.....

I LOVE surprises!!!

Especially unexpected ones!

Yesterday I opened my mail to find 2 new pictures of Miss Rowyn.

I was so incredibly excited as pictures are all we have to feel close to them when they are so far away!

She looks so sad and it breaks my heart.

Is she happy there and just does not smile for pictures?

I cannot wait to see some precious smiles on this girls face!!

She is also pictured with her foster momma.

This means shes still with them and not alone in the orphanage yet.

That made me happy.

We were also given updated size information.

She seems to be a bit bigger than her last measurements.

Did they make a mistake last time or this time?

I hear they sometimes weigh them with clothing on.

They wear lots of layers too!

I wonder which one is correct as it cannot change that much since our update in Nov.

I guess we will know for sure in a few weeks time!

I cannot wait!!

I cannot wait to finally get to know her and not wonder about this picture staring back at me!

We will finally hold her soon!

Hold tight little girlie....we will be there soon.......

 

 

See.....I told you she was precious, but she needs a sweet smile on her face don't you think?

If you would like to help us get her home ,

We still lack lots of needed funds and our sponsor page is HERE

I am in complete awe each time I check our sponsor page to see it move.

 It totally makes us feel loved and brings me to tears each time.

The kids have asked many times whats wrong mom?

I just keep telling them that God is good and we are certainly loved!

Thank You All so much!!

Finding Peace and Getting Prepared..........

Finding Peace has been difficult, but I am trying.

There is so much to do and so little time.

We still lack lots of funds and are looking at options.

Still praying for a couple grants to come through.

Worried about leaving my children and being so far away.

Worried about Rowyn and Zekiel and their adjustment

Praying for their little hearts.

Trying to prepare my children and our home for their arrival.

Trying to maintain our everyday life but lots more extra stuff added in each day.

Wishing I had more time each day to just hang out and play with the kids as I am busy preparing.

Wishing I could think of something else but our adoption timeline.

Praying ALOT for guidance and Peace.

Worried about being away from my best friend/ husband.
Trying to enjoy my family.

My list could go on.......I am not so good at putting all of my worries down at God's feet,

but I know that is what he wants me to do.

******************************

ADOPTION UPDATE INFO

Right now Our article 5 was picked up in China and now we are on to the next step.

We are now on the TA wait (travel approval)

This could take 10 days or a few weeks.

Then our agency makes us a US consulate appt. In China

We then have to be there a couple weeks before that to go through the procees,

get the kiddos and be back for the appt before leaving China.

That means we could be leaving a week or 2 after getting our travel approval!!!

Thats only about 3 or 4 weeks from now!!

Yikes!!!  

I am so excited, but so nervous and scared for so many reasons.

I am anxious to meet my babies just as I was anxious to meet my little ones when they were born,

or Kullen when we first met him.

Its so surreal that its so very close....finally!

*********************************

 There is so much going on right now and I don't even know where to begin.

Its busy, that's for sure!

We have been busy moving bedrooms around and making room  for our newest little ones.

This also means that our 2 sets of twins,

Menzo and Mavis who are 7 years old 

and 

Mathias and Matayah  who are 5 years old

will be in separate rooms away from their twin for the first time.

So far the adjustment has gone well but it still broke my heart!

If they were in a room alone for the first time, It would be so much harder.

George is one amazing guy! He can fix or build anything. God has certainly made the guy I love very gifted. He Loves building and creating things for the kids! 

Once again, I am amazed. 

He and Cory built some really great new beds for the kids.

We now have a triple bunk bed for Kullen, Beckam and Mathias.

There is alot more room on each bed than it looks and the kids Love them!!

He has also made a double bunk bed.
That is a full size bed on the bottom and a full size bed on the top.
Its not completely finished but the girls are still sleeping on it.
It lacks the ladder which is almost complete and
a big drawer that is going to go underneath the bed.
This is for Mavis, Matayah and Rowyn.
Check out the cute little steps so Rowyn can get in bed!

And Zekiels bed is all ready and waiting......

All this preparation and now we are working on going through clothes bins,
 washing up everything we think will fit them.
We just need them to be home now.

I still cannot believe that they will be sleeping in these beds, being loved by us in such a short time!
God is Good!!!

If you would still like to help our family bring Rowyn and Zekiel home,
 Our sponsor page is HERE!

Once again, I want to thank each and every person who has donated, shared our story,
 prayed for our family and our adoption journey!
THANK YOU!!!

Heart Explosion Winner!!!

First of all....I want to Thank each and every person for their amazing generosity!!  I am in complete awe at all the LOVE shown to our family and help in bringing Rowyn and Zekiel home!! You ALL are amazing!!

Check out our Heart Explosion on the last day, Monday Feb 18th

( yes....I am a few days late posting all this due to my kids being off school for break! They keep me very busy, but I love it!))

In the last week our Sponsor Page has jumper over $4000!!!

God Is Good and he is providing. We are incredibly grateful!

We still lack ALOT of funds and could travel in 3 to 4 weeks time! 

So if you would still like to help us bring Rowyn and Zekiel home, our sponsor page to donate to is HERE!

Thank You so much and keep spreading the word!

Our winner of a $100 Subway Gift Card is.......
LYNETTE MENOLD!!

She has also graciously given us this card back to use for more fund raising efforts!
Thank You so much Lynette. We are extremely grateful!

Heart Explosion!!!

Valentines Day is coming and what better time to show Rowyn and Zekiel some love?

This was made by our daughter Lexi in honor of her new Brother and Sister!

Flowers will die

Chocolate will melt

but the Love 

of a Child will live on

Forever and Ever!!!

I just know so many people love them as much as we do and cannot wait until they come home!

We will be traveling in the next month or so and still lack lots of funds needed to bring them home.

Here is how you can help......

 We are going to show them lots of love by sticking hearts to our livingroom walls! 

The kids are beyond excited to help with this project and they will be putting your name on the heart before they stick it on the wall!

Here is how its going to work...

$10 gets you the larger red heart

$5 gets you the medium pink heart

$1 gets you a small white heart

 You donate any amount to our Family Sponsor Page HERE!! ,

then please send me a message ASAP,

 either through FB,

 my Contact Me at the top,

 or leave a message on this post.

 Please include the amount you donated and how you want it spread for your hearts and names you would like on each one of them.

We will do this for 1 full week!

It starts NOW...today, Feb 11th

and will end next week, Feb 18th

Each night I will add a new picture here posting each days progress so you all can see the LOVE going to Rowyn and Zekiel!!

Come on guys.....Lets show em lots of LOVE!!

Here is Today's picture!! Monday Feb 11th
Obrion and Taegan so excited to see all the LOVE on our wall!
Check out today's LOVE for Rowyn and Zekiel!!!

We are also going to make this a little bit sweeter!!
A great friend of mine donated a $100 gift card for Subway.
So, for every dollar you donate, your name will go into a drawing to win this!!
So, every dollar counts!! Its a chance to win Subway!!
$10...gets 10 chances!
$5...gets you 5 chances!
$1 gets you 1 chance!!!

Here is todays picture, Tuesday Feb12th
NO new HEARTS and NO LOVE to add to the wall!!!

And here is a close up of the girls sad faces.

They were so bummed to not get any new Hearts today! They even made lots of extra Hearts waiting for todays Explosion of Hearts!

Tomorrow has got to be better!!!!

Oh my Goodness...Look at all those Hearts/ LOVE being sent for Rowyn and Zekiel!
We got quite a few more today( Wed, Feb 12th)  and I cant wait to see what tomorrow brings since its
VALENTINES DAY!!

Feb 14th, Thurs, Valentines Day brought Rowyn and Zekiel  only 1 more heart!!
We really thought today would have been the BIG day!!

Feb 15th, Friday was an AMAZING DAY!!
The girls added lots of hearts/ Love today!!!
This has been the most amazing day ever and we even needed to buy more red paper for hearts!
Check it out!!
The little kids were so excited to see all the hearts today!

Feb 16th, Saturday. We got a few more hearts to add!!!

And Sunday we not NO new Hearts to add!
Sorry it took me a few to add our updated pictures!
It was a very busy weekend at our house! Thank You to everyone who has donated or shared!
You are all amazing!

Finally an update and pictures of Mr. Zekiel!!

When we got our update of little Miss Rowyn, we were sad as Zekiels orphanage would Not give us an update. After getting our LOA, We decided to try again! Yesterday I recieved a sweet surprise in my email with a little update and new pictures of Zekiel!!! This was so great as we needed this surprise to help us focus on our adoption and why all the stress associated with it are so worth it

He is just so stinkin cute, dont ya think?? What a handsome guy we have.....thats for sure!!

They say he is 26lbs and around 29 inches tall so he is pretty much the same size as our Kullen! I cannot wait to see them together! Little Miss Rowyn is quite a bit smaller so shes going to be quite the dainty little girl!

They say he is very proud, but shy in front of strangers.

He likes to eat everything and anything. That will be a big difference from Kullen!

He sometimes loses his temper...hmmm, he will fit in perfectly!

He is walking steadily.

He likes to play with other children.....Thats a good thing, wait till he sees how many brothers and sisters he has!

He loves to be played with

He loves treats! ....So do I!!

He sleeps great!

He loves toys!

I cant wait to meet this little guy and to get to know him finally. We have waited so long for him and he will be home in such a short time! He is going to fit in perfectly!

Our big boy walking!!

Checking out a book!



I cant wait to share the next step of our journey with you all as we bring home our 2 sweet little ones. We are still lacking quite a bit of funds so if you would like to donate to help, Here is our REECES RAINBOW SPONSOR PAGE. Its also a tax deduction!!

We are so busy preparing our home for their arrival with Making 2 sets of new bunk beds, moving kids rooms around and working on getting a couple new dressers! Its been hard as we juggle the kids daily activities, our household and preparing for them. We also just realized that they are going to need carseats! I dont know how I forgot about that! We have clothes, shoes and coats that they will need since we save things to hand down to the next one.

Ahhhh.......so much to do and so little time! We really appreciate all  your prayers right now. Prayers for Rowyn and Zekiel as they have no idea how their lives are about to change, and that we can get everything in order for them, including funding, which has been difficult. We are still praying that we are accepted for a couple grants!  Thank you so much!
God Bless!

Recent Sporting acomplishments for some of the kiddos!

The kids certainly keep us busy with their sports! Each season it changes but we love going to games, meets, tournaments and competitions no matter what sport it is! We may not know alot about a particular sport but we are usually there supporting our kids in any way possible! I LOVE watching them and we are so proud of them!

I am so so proud of my first year wrestlers, Menzo and Mathias!

 Menzo is 7 years old and tried wrestling for a couple weeks before but was just not quite ready. He is wrestling a tough age group, 7 and 8 year olds where many of the wrestlers, its their 3rd year wrestling. He has been to 4 tournaments and we are so proud of his determination and his never give up attitude! At our home tournament last week, he once again had a tough bracket but he fought hard and still did not give up. He placed 5th and here he is with his trophy and tournament t-shirt.

Mathis is 5 years old and this is his first year wrestling as well. He has alot of spunk and his crazy little attitude. I would love to say that he never gives up but he has just laid on the the mat "tired" and was pinned a couple times. He certainly makes you laugh while wrestling his little heart out! At our home tournament he placed 1st, pinning 3 kids and winning the last match to a girl. The same little girl that almost pinned him!! He now has one BIG trophy thats almost as big as he is! He is so proud of his Champion Shirt, bracket and trophy!

Here is both the boys showing off their trophies!

Zander has wrestled 6 years now and this is his first year on Varsity wrestling as a 7th grader. He has way more trophies than I care to admit as they are filling his room!! He has done so very well in his first year and I am secretly happy that you dont get many trophies in Varsity wrestling! He did however get his first one on Varsity a couple weeks ago as he placed 2nd in the State Farm duels! Not too bad for your first year!

I am also very proud of my 2 Varsity Cheerleaders! Paige is a Senior so this is her last year and Madi is a Sophomore, so she has a couple years left. Some years they have not placed too well in competitions but this year, they ROCK!! They have an amazing team who have all put their hearts into Cheering! They have had 2 competitions this year and have placed 1st at both of them! Their most recent, they got 1st place, best choreography and Grand Champions! Thats huge for our girls and our little school! So proud of them all!!

Check out the girls with their 1st place ribbons, and grand Champion shirts!!