Family

Despite the sad circumstances, we did have some real blessed time while we were in Nashville. My older brother, Seth,and his wife, Julieta, got to meet their two nephews for the first time.

It's hard to believe that they had never met Sam before, but it's true. We had fully intended on taking Sam through LA to see them on our back to China, but, well...you know that story. Crawford (above) will turn one in a week's time. He had grown so much since we last saw him. Carolina is almost exactly 6 months older than Crawford.



We got to take a few family photos while we were together too. Here is one of my immediate family.

Here is some GREAT news, that I just couldn't wait to share. Our church, Perkinsville Baptist, is going to throw a fundraising dinner for our adoption on May 27th. I will post more details about it later, but I'm so excited that they want to help! There have been so many people involved in helping to get something off the ground, but Casey and her husband Michael are the real heroes.

Bill and I will be in charge of publicizing the event. Other than that, we will just go and participate with everyone else. Things are really moving along!

Just in case someone reading is wondering about why we are doing a fundraiser for the adoption, I'll give a brief explanation. When we started the process, over five years ago, we were in a great place financially. Once we learned of Sam's heart condition and had to be hospitalized eight times last year, we quickly lost our momentum. After we decided to (wisely) stay in the States, new costs came up, like buying two cars and some furniture. Then some of the costs rose (like the orphanage fee went from $3000 to $5000 on January 1st this year). So, we are trusting in the Lord to provide all of the money we need for this adoption. In doing so, we are trying to raise all that we can with the abilities we have. There are lots of people behind-the-scenes helping us too.

More details to come...