HAPPY 1ST GOTCHA DAY ANNIVERSARY!

Hard to believe but one year ago today, we were sitting in a government office in Changsha, Hunan China waiting to be united w/our daughter! It feels as though she has been in our family forever. Yet it feels like just yesterday we were in China! I miss it!!!!
Claire has done wonderfully attaching & adjusting. She has gained over 10 pounds and grew a couple of inches! She is still a petite thing though!
Thanks again to everyone who supported us & prayed for us through this whole process!!!!!!
Enjoy a few new photos of her & her family!!!!!

If you ever feel that pull................

As we come up on our one year "Gotcha Day" anniversary w/Claire, I sit & wonder about all those orphans across the globe waiting & hoping for their Forever Families. If you ever feel the pull to consider adoption, pray about it and watch this video. It is eye-opening............

Happy 2nd Birthday Claire!

tuesday, Sept 9th was Claire's 2nd birthday! Her first w/her family! We went to eat @ Applebee's and had a homemade cake here at home. Saturday we are having a large party w/lots of goodies & friends to celebrate!

NEW POST FINALLY!!!!!!

We are finally posting something new! Jeff has been saying we need to keep up this blog to keep in touch w/family, friends that are out of state. So here ya go!
We have been very busy w/the holidays coming up, basketball, AWANAs, etc. Claire is doing wonderful and settling in very nicely! She is really loving her brothers and finally her daddy! In fact, she is really a daddy's girl which is bothering me a little bit. Oh well, I get to spend all day w/her so that makes up for it!
We will try to keep this up, not daily but maybe weekly and continue to post new pics of the boys. I'm going to try and post some that we have taken over the past 2 months........
See ya!

Last post from China!!!!!!

Hello everyone! It is Monday evening here and we thought we would post one last time from China. Our Tues will be busy as we have our consulate appointment, last minute shopping, packing, etc.
We just want to thank everyone for your continued prayers and support through this whole adoption process.
We are still in awe of our daughter. She is truly amazing and makes us smile every time we look at her. We cannot wait to introduce her to her 3 big brothers, grandmas, grandpa and everyone else waiting for her at home! She is a very beautiful, smart and funny girl!
We are ready to get back to Iowa and become a family of 6!!!
Let's hope for a smooth flight back home. We are going to have a full plane of babies from here to Tokyo and several to Minneapolis. We are fortunate enough to have a family from Knoxville fly to Des Moines w/us.
Our flight into Des Moines from Minneapolis is on Northwest #5692 arriving approx 4:40pm.
Thank you all again and we will see you WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Mindy, Jeff & Claire