14 months & 60 Days

Liliah is 14 months old today! We are at Day 60 of waiting for our LOA (letter of acceptance) from China. By the way, until we receive our LOA, we are not allowed to publish any photos or personal information about our daughter. I can tell you that she is from south China. The picture is the area she is from. We are excitedly expecting when it is our turn. Many families who are ahead of us in the process received their official news yesterday and we are happy for them. Once we have that LOA in our hands things will move very quickly and there will be lots more to do in a short amount of time prior to leaving for China. DADDY & MOMMY ARE COMING JUST AS SOON AS WE CAN :D

The Day We Got The Call

We received the best call of our lives on Monday, August 25, 2008! (It was the day after the closing ceremony of the summer Olympics held in Beijing) Melissa our family coordinator rang us up at 6:52 AM PST. Your daddy received the call as I was still sleeping. He came into our bedroom and started opening up the shutters and said, good morning, sweetie, it's time to get up! I asked him, why am I getting up....I'm on vacation? He said, our agency called......and instantly I sat up in bed. We looked at your sweet face together and fell in love on the spot! I ran downstairs and contacted our agency as quickly as I could. What an amazing surprise that you came to us so soon! In March of this year, we felt God opening our heart to the possibility that our daughter may come through the special needs group. We placed ourselves on the family waiting list in April and were told that it could be up to a year before we heard anything. So, when we got the call for you 4 months later it was such a BIG wonderful, sweet surprise! It was an exciting whirlwind of a couple of days as we only had 48 hours to complete the required paperwork, get it back to our agency for translation and into China's hands.


My parents were visiting from California. They come up every year right around the 4th of July or by mid-August. This year, my Dad told me that he thought they'd do something different this year and come up the last week of August. It was so neat to be able to be able to ask them when they came downstairs for breakfast if they'd like to see their granddaughter! It was such a gift from God and a priceless to share this with them.

August 25, 2008 was also very special because it was your 1st birthday! I love that we will celebrate the day you were given to us on the same day. Daddy, mommy, Papa and Nana Judd celebrated that evening at PF Chang's. Afterward, I called my sisters who were on vacation with their families. Lori/family were on the east coast in Connecticut when I called them. They were SO surprised and excited. My sister said she had just be thinking that morning how neat it would be if we got the call when Dad & Mom were here...then she thought, yeah right.

I called Diana/family who were vacationing in Las Vegas. They happened to be in line for one of the roller coasters there. We had fun talking about our good news. I woke @ 2:30 AM (never happens) & just could not stop thinking about you...so I got up to read over all the little details about you and figure out where you are from and now living. I also took the time to finish up paperwork that had a deadline that day to get to China.

A couple days later Mom & I went shopping for Miss L's first outfits. What a dream come true to be able to go shopping for my baby girl for the first time!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

My sister Lori made this gorgeous quilt for Liliah last Christmas. It was very special to have a present under the tree for her.

Look at the detail.....it was hand stitched with LOTS of love!

Can't wait to see a cute little face peeking out of this hood

First denim skirt from Uncle Randy, Auntie Lori, Lacey & Kimberlee

Daddy's picks

Sweet in Pink

Wordless Wednesday

2008 - A Momentous Year

We started this momentous year with your Baba's (daddy) 50th birthday. I shared with him that in the Bible it describes the 50th year as the Year of Jubliee. I told him this was a year for us to rejoice and come into bigger blessings! I had no idea how true that would be!!! The call for you came on August 25, 2008 (more on that later).

March - headed to Arizona to catch some sun, spend time with my parents and watch some MLB Spring Training. We had such a nice time sleeping in the RV, eating at PF Chang's and In-N-Out. Once you live in the north, you get the whole flyin' south for the winter...or least escaping for a long weekend. April - my sister Diana & my mother, Connie came for a long weekend visit. We celebrated my mother's 70th birthday. We lots of fun gal time. We toured the local museum to see the "Romans" exhibit and the Gates of Heaven, both were fascinating. At the end of April, my sister Lori & Randy came for a couple's visit. We had a great time touring the tulips, dragging the guys shopping and visiting Pike's Place. We had a beautiful evening of snowfall which was very pretty. July - joined a group of families from our community in having (39) 16 year old Japanese girl exchange students. Miho was from Tokyo, Japan and stayed with us for 3 weeks. It was her first time in the USA. The 3 of us had fun learning to communicte with one another. She was such a polite, bright and sweet girl. We very much enjoyed getting to know about her, her family & culture. August - we took another summer road trip with the Spencer family. The dogs even got to come. This time we pointed our compass towards Idaho. I rented a cabin in Grand Fork, Idaho just north of Sandpoint. We fit 4 adults, two teenagers, & 3 dogs in a cozy cabin. We spent lots of time on Lake Pend Orielle riding wave runners for the first time. What a blast we had! We also did some off road driving and target practice way up in the mountains. Brandie & I learned to shoot a riffle for the first time (no animals were harmed). We used old plastic milk jugs, plastic bottles, stumps....The scenery was great & we will definately go back to this area.

Here are some fun things we did to keep busy while waiting for you:

Diana & I smilin' in the daffodil fields! Good sister time...

Angel Fans!
Tip toeing through the tulips...in the cold

Glorious Spring......

50th Wedding Celebration in Hawaii Sept 2007

We had a very special time celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary as a family on the Big Island of Hawaii. We stayed at the fabulouso Hilton Waikoloa. This place is amazing and a special treat to stay at. From the main lobby you may board a tram or "jungle cruise" boat to your accommodations. The grounds are spectacular with a beautiful lagoon to swim in, several pools and tons of artwork on the grounds to view on your walk abouts. You can even swim with the dolphins (for a nice little fee). I just love this island as there is such diversity in the landscape and activities to enjoy. We spent a day at the volcano, took a glass bottom boat tour, 4 wheelin with the locals who took us for a swim in the waterfall pools of the former kings, and did a WHOLE lot of laying around in the sun. Even though we did not know who our daughter was at this time, we talked about her joining our family. The special thing that we NOW know is that Liliah was left by her birthmother at the orphanage this same week.

2008

Coming soon!

2007 Happy Trails

We hit the road with the Spencer family with our sites set for Yellowstone Park and a cattle ranch in Billings, Montana. It was the first time for my husband & the Spencer's to see Yellowstone. It was as beautiful as I remembered it. We saw Old Faithful at sunset and toured the 100 year old hotel. We saw lots of wildlife and were like kids each time we spotted them! We will definately go back. We then headed to Billings, Montana for some fun at a cattle ranch. Our first night was a riot as we got there just about an hour before sunset & had to get our tents up in very windy conditions....us girls were a little worried about sleeping conditions that night! They cooked our daily meals in a cook tent...just like if you were on a cattle drive. Three square meals that outdid any restuarants. We rode horses, branded cattle (the guys) and rode 4 wheelers. I found a new passion in riding a 4-wheeler (woo hoa fun). It was such a wonderful trip for everyone and we will definately go back.

W