Loveless Cafe

You just can't visit Nashville & not go to the Loveless Cafe, it just wouldn't be allowed. Plus, it's just got to be the right place to take someone who is visting from China ... southern food, what could possibly be better? I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did Amanda!

What An Opportunity!

Amanda, Rebecca's foster mother from China, is in the US and her itineary included a a few days in Nashville. What a great opportunity for us since it's only about 3 hours away so we headed out Thursday afternoon to spend some time with her. I wasn't really sure how Rebecca would react, but since we do speak of her often and have been able to skype with her, I really thought it would be fine. Well, fine doesn't even do it justice - Rebecca was so happy to see her! We had the best time.

We had been invited to a small gathering that had been scheduled for Amanda to speak about her home and mission to help the medically needy orphans in Xi'An. It just so happens that several of the people who attended were also people who had sponsored Rebecca. Brian & I have talked about going down one weekend and attending the church there in Franklin that is such a big supporter of the Starfish Home but we just hadn't gotten around to it yet. I've written about this before, but it's so difficult for me to find the adequate words to share just how very much we appreciate the support shown to Rebecca and to the Starfish Home. To use a line from the Starfish Legend ... these supporters "made a difference to this one". Several people from their church traveled to Xi'An and volunteered there in the home (which is how I was able to get several pictures of Rebecca early on) and then others sent gifts to Rebecca. Her favorite little pair of pink crocs were sent by one of her supporters, another had sent her a build-a-bear. Lots of love was sent to our baby girl from one side of the world to the other! Simply amazing to me and so humbling.

The other little 'red thread' in all of this is that we were in Nashville when we first found out that Rebecca's file had been sent to the CCAA.

Here's a few pictures from the coffee/dessert thing we attended with Amanda.

July Tradition

Not sure why, but I take a picture of the kids every year on the 4th - well, the Sunday closest to the 4th anyway. Typically I take it outside but this year it was raining. Oh, and this year it's now 3 munchkins instead of 2!

Fun Fourth

We celebrated the 4th with several friends last night and a fun time was had by all despite the drizzly weather. Yummy food and time to fellowship with one another is fun regardless of what's going on in the sky. Thanks Marla for having us!

On the left side of the fountain: Jake, Ryan, Emma & Rebecca.
On the right side: Ava, Adalyn, Lily, Ella, Dalton & Leslie's niece

Happy 4th of July!

Here's to a Happy 4th of July to all! We'll be off in a few hours to spend the evening with friends and fellow adoptive families. The girls are napping, the deviled eggs are made as well as a pasta salad. I hear my buddy Leslie is making some kind of dessert with twinkies. Yum, can't wait to try that! Looking forward to an evening of fun & fellowship!

Warming Up With The Team

Rebecca just amazes me at how she pays attention to things, a lot more than I would think she would. I posted the other day about us playing ball in the back yard and her putting the gardening glove on. Well, the other night at Emma's t-ball game the team was warming up and she grabbed Emma's t-ball glove and headed out on the field for first base. I think baby girl is ready to play ball!

Red Sofa Photo Op

A tradition among China adoptive families is to have a group photo taken on the red sofa at the White Swan hotel in Guangzhou, China. That's another photo I need to go snag off a drive for comparison's sake.

Mattie Grace wasn't included in that shot because, well - how do I put it ... her dad knew what time the shoot was scheduled but for some reason didn't realize it was important and failed to tell the mother. Not sure he ever lived that down. Anyway, one of the moms mentioned the other night that since our hotel had red sofas in the rooms that we should do an updated red sofa shot. So, after bath time and jammies were on we met up in her room and took this. This time Mattie Grace was included.