Grace, Faith and Our Journey to Hope

Birthday, birthday, birthday!

2009-09-13T04:59:00.000-07:00

This is who Dan, Mimi and I spent our birthday's with!

We ate a ton of cake - great cake!

We wore birthday buttons for days at Disney World

Cool place to stay - The Grand Falidian - as the girls call it!

Happy and relaxed!

Mimi's class party - she turns 7!

Now everybody pose!

Best friends and think it's awesome because they are now 8 and 7!

More cake!

Our beautiful Mimi is 7 years old!

Young Love!

2009-08-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Grace and her buddy John Robert! Grace has had a crush on John Robert since Kindergarten. It's so sweet, he would just "wave" to her, no words would come out! But, now they are in 3rd grade together and in the same class, he gave her a pack of oreo cookies! Oh, the thought of young love just makes Dan almost cry! haha

Tubing in Lake Alatoona!

John Robert and his mom (Karen) we have been really good friends for many years ... I know they are only in 3rd grade, but as parents we can only wonder!

Our very good friends John and Karen.

What a fun day!

First Day of School 2009 - Go MPCS

2009-08-13T04:18:00.000-07:00

We are ready to start the year! Grace is now in third grade and Mimi is in first! Mimi said she was so nervous to start because, to her, she hadn't really been in school yet because this is the first year with a number in it "1st Grade" . Now the real school begins! Go Mo Jo!!

Grace has a great teacher and class. The best news of the year is that her BFF and next door neighbor, Kenzie, are in the same class! Doesn't get much better than that! Also, Grace has had a crush on one very sweet big brown-eyed boy and he is in her class too!! Life is good in third grade!!

Mimi's teacher Mrs. "O" who is awesome and a good personal friend! It is so nice to know she is with Mimi everyday! We love Mount Paran and are so blessed to have such a great place to send our kids to not only learn but to gain such strong life skills. It is so awesome to know that if your child is struggling with something a teacher can stop and say "let's pray about that together" and also that the kids openly pray for each other and with each other in small bible studies during the day. That is God working in a big way! We appreciate this environment our kids are in each and everyday and know God is helping raise up a very strong generation who will be there to serve Him in a huge way!

China...we found a few babies!

2009-08-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

If you are waiting to adopt from China, please be patient, there are so many kids still there. Sometimes our "waiting time" just doesn't make sense...but believe me so many little ones need you to "wait" and not give up hope, they aren't!

Shoots and scores! We had such a great trip to China, so much to do, but God has a big plan and we are ready to go to work!

Look at all these sweet faces we found along our way!

Love the hat!
This little guy loved to throw the ball and throw the ball and throw the ball!!
If there ever was an angel that fell too close to the earth, we found her.....

What can you say, we fell in love with this little princess!!
Grace's pen pal in China....they had a great day together! We love you LiKe!

We can shop even in the rain! Our friend Faith!
Having some fun!Could be me in a few years!!

God has such a great sense of humor...who would think you could just run into, actually be seated next to someone you know from Georgia, in China? The Nolan's and our good friend Wes...we love you guys! Congratulations to you guys on the newest Nolan and on getting home in one piece!

Always time for Gardening and Fort Building

2009-06-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

A favorite during the summer around our house is building forts and then camping indoors!

One of my all time favorite things to do is garden and over the years I've developed many perennial gardens (which mean the plants come back on their own every season) I love daylilies and have found these to be one of the most successful plants in my garden. I just discovered a great local daylily garden called Kennesaw Mountain Daylily Garden 310 McDaniel Road, Marietta, GA 30064, which is just off Barrett Parkway near Burnt Hickory Road. You have to call (770) 429-0204 and the owners Bill and Diana Waldrop would be happy to show you their awesome gardens! This garden is all daylilies with many plants that they have cultivated on their own! I hope you have an opportunity to stop by to checkout this local treasure!

Life is good this summer and we are gearing up to leave for China in a few weeks - God is opening so many opportunities in China and as always, we are waiting to see where He wants to use us.

Mother's Day, Chess Club, Schools Out!

2009-05-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

My girls made me a card on the driveway for Mother's Day! It was so thoughtful and one of the few days of no rain....thanks girls you are very clever! I love my role as a mom to two awesome, God-filled, loving kids and know I am blessed!

Our last week of school was FUN, no stress, just, let's party! The girls got to "dress-down" for the last three days which is so different for them to wear regular clothes to school instead of a uniform everyday. I love the uniforms! ha
Grace participated in Chess Club after school during this past semester and received a trophy for placing in the top five for Blitz chess and 3rd place in Bughouse Chess.....she really learned alot and hopefully can teach us a few moves!

We are officially on summer break! It takes me a few weeks to figure out what everyone is doing kind of "getting a flow" to our days...thankfully, my girls love an organized day "stuff to do", which we have plenty of things planned over the next month and then getting ready to leave for China in July (Grace and I), Dan and Mimi get a trip to the beach while we are gone.

We are prayerfully getting ready to "plant" our first orphan home in China and thank God for being so gracious in sending us the right people, as always, at the right time! Working over in China and exposing our family to what it is "really like" orphanages, etc... brings alot of interesting conversations between Dan and I and the girls. Mimi has been exposed to alot of conversation about China, but watching her begin the process of "who she is, her identity" is sometimes fun and sometimes very hurtful to experience. She has ALOT of questions and many theories about why, what and how everything happened for her in the first year of life at the orphanage. She said to Grace a few days ago "take a good look at my skin, my hair, my eyes, you, mom and dad are all the same, I am different...this is why I get frustrated sometimes and get mad at you because I don't fit in." Mimi is almost seven and I know, for us, keeping everything right out in front of her is so healthy, Chinese friends, learning the language, culture things...the confusion on her face sometimes as she tries to process "it" looks painful .....I do know that everything we do to "keep it real", as Dan says, heals her soul and continues to bring her a sense of peace. "Identity" is a big word, it's relevent at almost every age and what a huge gift you can give your kids by helping them find the tools to master the ability to find their identity.

more beach fun!

2009-04-15T06:29:00.001-07:00

I guess it's obvious at this point that we love the beach. We stayed at my mom and dad's for about 10 days and just had so much fun! We biked, swam in the pool, hung out at the beach, and played alot of cards! Since we are approaching the eligible age to buy a house in this retirement community, we actuallly talked about buying a place. We'll see :)

Bike, birthday, sick kid & Chinese school

2009-02-22T05:07:00.000-08:00

Mimi learns to ride with no training wheels!! Go Mimi!! After a few days, in the bitter cold, she got it and now she is a maniac......

MPCS future cheerleaders!

Our Grace turns 8! We love her teacher, Mrs. Dodson, she looks like one of the kids! What a blessing to have such a loving, hugging, warm environment to learn in!! Our girls love to go to school, they miss it when they aren't there....thank God for providing this wonderful place and these wonderful people to embrace our kids and give them confidence to pray together and to pray for each other, learn about giving to others, and not feel they have to follow the culture, which these days can be pretty scary:) We are blessed!!

Family photo! Maybe next years Christmas card! ha

New China Tree school opened in January - Gwinnett! We have 15 students and two awesome teachers! The school is designed for kids 5+ years old. Our teachers Yumin and Hong Ma are both getting their Masters Degree's at Georgia State in Linguistics. They are fabulous teachers and with their dedication and love for these kids we are off to a great start!

Making and eating dumplings! We handmade over one hundred dumplings!

Three beautiful girls - loving learning Chinese language and about their culture!

Class picture taken to send to our new friend Li Ke, whom China Tree school is sponsoring. Li Ke lives in an orphanage in ZhengZhou and is 10 years old. Our goal is to have the kids from China Tree go to China in two years and we will definitely stop in to see our friend Li Ke.

Our first trip to Scottish Rite - Mimi had such a bad stomach virus. They made her feel so much better...

Mt. Paran's annual daddy/daughter dance! The three of them had a special dance they worked on...lots of foot moves and booty shakin! I heard tons of stories about the night, my girls loved their date! I sat at home by myself, which was such a rarity for me these days, and just enjoyed quiet!

I am working on a new blog design, not my forte, but it's fun learning. We are getting ready to go to China in a couple of months and are getting our first medical mission team in place. If you are ever interested in traveling other than an adoption (hopefully one of our trips will be for Hope) please let me know. We have this upcoming trip and then another in the fall 2009 and early 2010....we will "always" swing by Xian to visit with Amanda at Starfish....this is an ongoing "need" and she is an incredible person who is doing so much for these kids.I hope to get my new "blogsite" up soon...there is so much we are working on and I hope to pass along some of these opportunities to those intersted in getting involved over in China.There are big things and small things to get involved in....we sure have seen the incredible "need and appreciation" from those who are working with the orphans who "still wait". I never knew how much these workers appreciate our involvement and our comittment to supporting them each and every day. They work very hard and sometimes the "daily grind" can seem overwhelming and hopeless..but I've seen the gratitude from a caregiver's face when we showup with supplies or just a fresh look. Let me know if you have any interest in joining some of the work in China....just e-mail me at chapmansk@bellsouth.net

My sister is on the Today Show - Today!!

2009-01-09T05:01:00.000-08:00

We are so excited for my sister, Cheryl and her husband, Jeff, as they share their story live on the Today Show with Kathy Lee Gifford. They will be on today, Friday, January 9th at 10:00AM if you have a chance to tune in! Their book "I Do Again" was just published and you can purchase a copy on Amazon. Jeff, Cheryl and their two BEAUTIFUL twin girls, now 20 years old, are so special to Dan and I....we love you guys!

Vacation Part II

2009-01-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

We swam at the pool.
Played in the waves
Looked for shells
Celebrated Grace's 8th birthday

We had so much fun on the second part of our Christmas vacation. We flew down to Ft. Myers Beach and stayed with my parents, in what feels like paradise after coming from the hectic pace of Atlanta. My dad says the people in their community call where they live "God's waiting room"... pretty nice set-up! We really didn't do much which was fine with us. I went on a nice run every morning and we all get into the pace of life on the beach really quickly. Dan is a born beach guy and loves the beach, which will be just fine with me one day!! Oh, we did celebrate New Years Eve on the beach watching fireworks...Happy 2009 to all!

Making Cookies and Grandpa's Birthday

2008-12-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

The "Girls" making cookies....cousins Brit and Lauren (twins)

Grandpa turns 78! We celebrated my dad's birthday in Dallas, TX where some of my family came out to celebrate my sister's surprise 50th birthday! We all had such a great time and so many laughs! We have so many inside jokes in my family, that we laugh for hours about stuff nobody would ever get. My nieces (the twins above) are now 20 years old and our girls just loved hanging out with their "big cousins". We shopped, went to their church, and just loved hanging out together....we can't wait to see you guys soon!

China Tree Lunch!

2008-12-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

Some of our kids from China Tree School and Ming (teacher). We had a fun lunch at Classic Gourmet for our last day of the semester, we had over 70 people attend!! Thanks to all our families and for your dedication to your kids!! Great job kids and you deserve a huge "round of applause"!!

Our friend who just came home from China with now her 4th child (and she is a single mom)

Some of our dedicated teachers, who are awesome!!

Well, we are finished with our first semester at China Tree School. Dan and I feel like things went well especially with the classes for the 5+ year olds, but we struggled abit with the "little ones". I know we worried and struggled over this class, but just couldn't get this little ones class to "click"! We know the issues were varied but found out this the most difficult class to teach.
Seems simple enough, teach a little language, learn some Chinese games, sing some songs, but the "vibe" of the class comes from the teachers. We have found out how difficult it is to find preschool teachers who teach Chinese language. If you talk to the Chinese people they don't understand how a class doesn't involve, for use of a better term, "strict learning". I guess in some ways it is really against their grain. We have had to really work with our other teachers to get them to "lighten up" and just look at learning Chinese as fun! In talking with all our teachers they have never experienced the concept of "learning is fun" as they have gone through school!! We are going to make some changes in the school for January, and will probably discontinue the little ones class for awhile until we can correct these issues. I wrote some thoughts in our newsletter and feel so passionate about these kids learning and embracing this wonderful language! We will move into our next semester in early January and just thought I would share our newsletter with you, if you'd like to take a look...just go to:
www.chinatree.org ....We are very excited to start a new China Tree school in Gwinnett in January and we are also getting ready to open another one in Nashville, TN in the fall! Now those are some southern talkin Chinese folks!! All the China Tree classes will begin at ages 5+ and we will no longer offer classes for the little ones until they reach age 5. We are excited to help more kids around the Atlanta area and have just received our 501C3 (non-profit status).

We Still Feel Like We are on Vacation!

2008-12-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

Grace has her dad's sense of humor and always tries to make us laugh...seems like lately we all find humor in the smallest things, but sure starts the day off on the right foot when everyone "gets it"!! Grace thought pulling her hat down low would keep her brain warm so she would learn so much more today! Mimi agrees!!
I can't image getting serious about school for the next few weeks...we are in a vacation mode and will probably stay in this gear until after Christmas...sounds good to Dan and I!

Mimi Chapman

2008-11-15T04:38:00.000-08:00

Chillin before the big night!

Our sweet Mimi in her first violin recital!

Mimi and I have had many talks since we came back from China about how unfair it was that Grace got to go with me for 11 days, just the two of us...well my come back has been that when she and I were in China together (when I came to get her, "finally", that's Mimi's version) we got to stay 14 days together. Well our next trip, looks like spring, will involve all of us or at least a combination of the four of us...
We have had the most fun with Mimi learning the violin, she is so confident and serious when she plays, sure makes for a great student! The two numbers they played were (Mississippi hot dog (like twinkle, twinkle) and then the real version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

A Glimpse into our China Trip

2008-11-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Our trip to China....we went to three orphanages and 7 cities! What a trip! One of the most interesting parts of traveling in China is how you really need each other and must "pull together" as a group.....so many millions of people and so few amenities. A couple of cubes of ice, a breath of fresh air, a big glass of cold water! Did I mention a Starbuck's coffee????? We accomplished so much, but there is so much more to do...I guess next trip....

Sun Village...our group and the director (she carried this torch for the Olympics)

Nothing like the split pants!

Starfish Foster Home....Amanda (the director) is awesome and loves these kids!

Amanda's newest addition, baby Faith, isn't she cute (very tiny only one week old)

The nannies take a minute to eat lunch....20 babies one apartment!

Our group and Amanda set a plan for this orphanage in Shizong...they need so much!

This is it...20 kids and these are their rooms (an old motel converted to an orphanage)

Xian - Terra Cotta Warriors - coming to Atlanta soon!

Our "box" - don't loose that cab...this box must find Starfish!

We could eat here....

or here...three meals a day with Ronald...it works!

Our visit to Hope Foster Home (Bejing) this little boy is kissing the pj's we brought from his mom and dad who live here in Atlanta, he is so excited for them to come get him!

Grace and I are officially "warriors" who climbed the Great Wall!

A tradition at Mt. Paran - 50th day!

2008-10-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

Mimi looking so sweet in her fifties clothes! We love this day at school (even though the girls have no idea what the fifties is)...It's fun to wear real clothes instead of uniforms and just play all day! Of course, Mimi is already juggling boyfriends, homework and all the important things a kindergarten student has to deal with! They just grow-up so fast!! haha

Mommy's been a little busy, so we scoured Target to find this combo...we called it the late 50's early 60's look!

Did you ever have one of those days?

2008-10-10T05:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days where everything just falls into place? Well this week, I must say I have had, for the first time, in a long time, a week where things are "clicking" (I always say this to my girls) My gardening is finished for the fall, my laundry is caught up, my house is deep cleaned (thank you Rosa!) I've actually grocery shopped, I've had several awesome work-outs .... I think you get the picture....
My world, as I used to know it, has been put on hold for the last couple of years! God has called our family to some amazing "projects" over the last couple of years! To name a few "the First Fridays" community, the Chinese school "China Tree", Dan playing in the band at North Metro,
Dan being on the board at North Metro, paperchasing to adopt our third daughter, and of course raising two spirit-filled girls!
True to form, as God always seems to do with Dan and I, has "charged us" with a new plan! Why would God want to shift our focus to the orphans who are still in China? I have learned over the years to listen for God, this is challenging for me, but, I think He knows we are doers! Well, over the past 6 months God has done a number on us as a family! We have had opportunity after opportunity to "look within ourselves" to see where God wants us to "be". The "needle" keeps pointing to the children who are still "over there" ( as my friend Rebecca D) always says. As our focus has changed, we find ourselves asking these questions...why is this process so slow (does God have a bigger plan for these kids) of course, what can we do? Well, we went to Washington D.C. a few weeks ago and had an opportunity to talk to several Congressmen (women) who want to help...I have been communicating with them and they are interested in what we have to say! We have made some awesome contacts in China over the past 6 months (Grace and I are leaving in two weeks for China) and can't wait to follow up on several projects which are already underway! I know God only knows "what the heck is going on" with these children who are left as orphans, but one thing I know for sure is that He loves these orphans and wants our help to love them too! The challenges are big, but that is o.k. and Dan and I (and of course Grace and Mimi) are thrilled to answer God's call to "get busy" changing some things to make it easier for families who want to "love these children" and not let government get in the way! Surprisingly, the delays are something we can change, but someone needs to speakup for these kids....we are working on this! One thing I know for sure is there is not a shortage of kids who need homes! We talked with Amanda at Starfish the other night, she was at an orphanage in Shizhong (where we are building the bathrooms) and a newborn little boy was dropped off at the orphanage while she was there...this is not unusual! I guess my point is, even one child left without a family needs us to "speak up" and make this process easier "for them" to be matched with a loving family!
We will continue to "speak-up" for these kids who are desperate to "have someone speak-out on their behalf".
So, with God's prompting Dan and I have shifted our focus to the orphans who are still in China. In the meantime, if you are waiting to adopt, have adopted, or just want to check out this whole adoption thing, check out the new First Friday group called Adopt Option http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AdoptOption and join in a community of so many who love these children!

Our New Addition

2008-08-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

One of the things Dan and I have always talked about was that we wanted both of the girls to learn an instrument. We both think this is so important, "a life essential" so to speak. Of course Dan plays guitar so a natural for Grace was learning the guitar and she did get a guitar last year. Daddy has been teaching her and they are awesome together! They even sing songs and play together. Mimi's has had an interest in the guitar but her hands are sooo small! So, we've been talking about other options and she chose the violin. I had no idea they made such small violins! We started looking and they really do come in all sizes (the first one we found Grace told Mimi it looked like an American Girl Doll size!) We ended up finding one on "Craig's List" and it's a perfect fit...the lady we bought it from was even nice enough to send us a chart for fitting Mimi perfectly so we didn't make a mistake starting her out. We all drove out to Douglasville (almost to Carrolton...it was "out there") yesterday to pick up the violin. Through a friend we found out that Due West Methodist church is offering a program (music and arts) for the community. Mimi will be taking individual violin lessons from a very nice girl who has a master's degree in violin and we were able to set it up right after school. The contact is Glen Conger @ 770 427-3835 if you are interested in this great new program for the community. Let the concert begin!!

First Day of School

2008-08-13T05:51:00.001-07:00

Today is the first day of school! Mimi starts full day kindergarten and Grace starts 2nd grade. We went to our family celebration and party on Monday and everyone was thrilled to be back. We have been at Mt. Paran for four years and the great thing is the "family feel". We all "know each other" and this makes starting back to school very low anxiety for the kids. Grace's parapro from last year finally got her own class (2nd grade) and Grace has her for her teacher this year....Grace is thrilled! Mimi is going to fit right in and told us to tell the teacher "that she may be a little embarrassed that she is so smart in math"... I think they will adjust! As for Dan and I, we both are ready for a routine and we sat last night at 8:15PM and watched the Olympics by ourselves!

6:30AM - still sleeping!

Grace is awake early and can't wait to get movin!

Ready to go by 6:45AM - now that was easy!

I love my girls - they are so happy to be together in the lower school, down the hall from each other but the best thing is they get to be picked up in carpool together, finally!

Summer's End!

2008-08-10T04:03:00.000-07:00

As our summer closes, we all feel very blessed by the fun we shared these past several months. To sum up our summer, we "grew", we got very close to each other and enjoyed our time together.

We spent many hours at the barn, riding and hanging out!

Grace is a natural horse person....looks just like me when I was her age.

We visited the Braves museum and went to a game.

Grace is a fan!

We brought home a couple of Indians from Tennessee!

Mimi is an Indian too!

Grace has been working very hard on her guitar, thanks to daddy!

The best times were on the boat...these smiles tell it all!

We're Going to Washington, D.C.!

2008-07-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

The girls and I got home yesterday from being gone all day and I listen to our messages and one call was from Washington, D.C....the message was to "please call Marcy at CCAI in Washington, D.C." I'm thinking our agency CCAI but no it's the CCAI (Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute) www.ccainstitute.org Well, it was too late to call back so this morning I called Marcy who was very pleasant and excited to tell us, "Mrs. Chapman, you and Mr. Chapman have been nominated and chosen by Phil Gingrey (R-Rep) for an Angel in Adoption Award and you are invited to come to Washington, D.C. in September to receive this award." Wow! I couldn't believe it! She said they would love to have our entire family, (even knew Grace and Mimi's names) attended the gala and all the events for this very special award.

One really awesome thing during our visit to Washington, D.C. is that Dan and I will have an opportunity to sit down with several Congressmen in a very informal setting. We will get to tell "our story" and ask specific questions or bring up concerns about International Adoption issues. There is so much that can be done to improve the adoption journey and these guys are very influential in how things get done.

There will be lots of attendees like Bruce Willis (above) who will attend this big day! I asked Marcy, who called us from CCAI, who the keynote speaker was this year, with this being an election year, she said it will be someone "very special"!! Can't wait to find out who that could be....

As I thought about this opportunity to have this time with these Congressmen, I thought what questions would our FF community like to have answers to. So, if you have anything we can ask these Congressmen please either e-mail me or call me with what is on your mind. chapmansk@bellsouth.net 0r (678) 574-9596

2008-06-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

Dan and I are so excited to introduce our China Tree - Language and Culture School website. Thank you Tymm Hoffman for creating an awesome website for our school. If you have any questions or would like us to hold a spot for your child for this fall please e-mail or call me.
http://www.chinatree.org/

*New this Fall*

We will add a child class for the 3, 4, 5 year olds which will be the kids with their parents in class with them.

A beginner class for kids who have never taken any Chinese language classes (ages 5, 6, 7)

* Each class has two teachers, both teachers are Chinese but fluent in English. The curriculm we will be using for the second year in a row is from CCAI's Joyous Chinese School in Denver, CO (now over 350 students enrolled) and we thank YuLi the Director of this very successful school for working with us and giving us an awesome curriculum for our children to learn and continue to learn Mandarin Chinese.

We hope you consider joining us this fall! To me, it is still the most amazing experience to watch the faces of all these kids in the classroom speaking Chinese to each other and having real conversations with other kids in the class. Our school is becoming "top-notch" and we have some unbelievable opportunities with Kennesaw State University this year as the University begins a brand new International Chinese Program. We will have access to many of the International students who helped us very much last year in our classes!

Contact me with any questions! 678 574-9596

Horsing around!

2008-05-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

We wanted to start "right out" this summer with an activity, so the girls picked horse camp! We have had the most fun this week and the girls are loving the camp and Miss Beth the owner and "camp director" of Greenridge Stables. We have met so many new friends and love the atmosphere of being around the barn. I know what is coming next, horseback riding lessons and then a horse of our own, horse shows.....I know how these things go in our house. I hope Daddy isn't reading this!!

Grace and Pearl .....

Today trotting and walking .... tomorrow jumping! Give me a heart attack!

MiMi and Brandi getting their horse Prince ready to ride!

That is my little MiMi coming in from the pasture on her first trail ride. They actually rode on their own, not just follow the horse in front of you......MiMi has no fear and she loved it! Not sure if sweet Prince knew anyone was riding him!!

Family needs prayer!

2008-05-22T04:24:00.000-07:00

Please pray for this very special family. Last evening they lost their littlest girl, Maria Sue, to a tragic accident and need prayer now! They are a family driven to "give" unselfishly and have dedicated their lives to helping orphans in China. We love you guys and know God will cover your entire family during this unbelievable time. We continue to pray for all of you..

Boat - again!

2008-05-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

I hate to post again about our boat, but we never knew this would be so much fun! The girls got out of school early today and when I told Dan that we would be home around 12:00pm, it took all of a minute to get him to take off work early and get out on the boat. It was a perfect day, Dan said it is like "all the stress" just leaves when you get out on that water (and go really fast) I love to watch the girls just "having a blast" and the girls talk and we all just spend family time together! Thank God for small miracles like a boat!!

Sisters!!
We think MiMi has a cute booty!

We bought a boat!

2008-04-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

We have been thinking of a way to spend some family time and camping just isn't our thing, but boating, now your talking!! So far, we have the boat, a slip, a couple of life jackets, and a cooler, sounds good to me......not sure if we will ever learn to waterski but a big tube and a couple of floating rafts work fine for us! Sorry David!! We took "her" out for a ride last night, it was cold but we all slept very well last night. We have all agreed on the name, I guess everyone names their boat, so she will be called "Iona"..... like Iona boat!! Looks like we are going to have a great summer!

Our boat "Iona"

First trip out, not a boat in sight, never hit anything!

First Fridays - May (already)

2008-04-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

First Fridays Guest Speaker - Jeannie Butler "Annabelle's Wish"

We are thrilled to have our good friend and her family come to First Friday this month, all the way from Nashville, to speak to us about their invaluable experiences of working with and helping Chinese orphans for the past 10+ years. Jeannie is dedicated to serving the needs of these little ones and has been to China almost 30 times. She is going this month to finalize the plans for our first First Fridays China trip this fall! More details to come this week at FF!! You may want to join us on this awesome trip October 25th - November 5th!!

We hope you make an effort to come this Friday to listen to her speak about orphans and what they endure while they are in an orphanage. She has such a wealth of knowledge and personal experience, we are so excited to learn more so that we can all be better prepared and understand the reality of where our children have started out.

Bring a friend or family member so they can learn along with you!! We have free childcare and are hoping to have a huge support for Jeannie and her family as they share their stories with us!

First Friday - April Check This Out!

2008-04-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

We hope you can join us for a great First Friday this month! We will be walking through attachment issues, grief, rejection, jet lag, and the first week home ( the wonderful world of sleep deprivation). Our incredible panel of guest will discuss first hand their experiences and share with us the "real stuff" about what you may encounter during your Perfect Storm!!

During our preparation for this months FF, I have learned so much from two wonderful ladies, Liz Steinberger and Kim Perry. I have always thought of attachment as just something that happened and then you were "good to go", boy was I wrong. I also didn't realize that "all" kids who come from the background our children come from, either foster care or orphanage care are "special needs" kids. These kids have missed so much and in listening to Liz and Kim, they have "painted a clear picture" of what "needs" these kids really have.

The most amazing thing was that I was unaware, even though we have MiMi, who is now 5, how important it is as a parent to become an expert in attachment. I have learned over the past month not to be afraid of attachment issues but to learn as much as possible because this is what will help you guide and become you child's cheerleader! Dan and I want to be the ones to really understand MiMi's grief, not just on "gotcha Day", but today and everyday as she looks pleadingly into our eyes looking for the answers to "why did my birthmom leave me?" "did she not have enough dollars or what?" "what was she thinking when she left me there on those steps, was she sad?" "why does this hurt my heart, I don't even know who she is? ....these are the things each of us must work through with our kids we love so much. The reality is that they each have "a story", but the details need to sometimes be told and retold and this is our job.
It's complex and complicated as Dan always says, but this is why we are the ones who are adopting, because we said "yes" and that simple answer will change your life.

Dan and I love our girls and find parenting them to be such a privilege. With the help of many great friends and our FF community we are excited to become experts about attachment and "all the issues" that come along with adoption. We hope you come out Friday night to learn more and share this adoption journey with all of us.

FYI - two new things coming this month....First Fridays Rescue Chef and Lifeline Teams.....all the details coming Friday night!

The last couple of weeks

2008-03-30T08:12:00.001-07:00

Our days have been full and life is good! We celebrated Easter with many school activities, MiMi's class did chapel Easter week, it was awesome! Grace came over from her school to support MiMi as she did her one line in the play.
Grace and I went to a dog show in south Atlanta, it was fun, what a variety of dogs. We waited to see the Shih Tzu's ....after a rain delay and many golden retrievers (38) they finally got to the ShihTzu's. They were great to watch, of course we think Mei Li could be a winner in the ring!

MiMi' says her line in the play!
Our class
The girls....

Hanging out waiting for the Shih Tzu's to show
We spent alot of time checking out the grooming tent!

Goldens had to be the favorite breed

The winner "Sam" on the left!

Guest Speaker on NBC Today show Friday morning

2008-03-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Wanted to let you know that Hal Runkel will be on the Today Show Friday morning and then he will be coming to our First Friday on Friday night. Hal is alot of fun and should be a great night to learn something "new" about parenting and how to accomplish this Scream Free!! Please invite anyone who may be interested, we have free child care and lots of space! Hope to see everyone tomorrow night!

Award-winning author and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Hal Runkel is quickly becoming America's greatest expert on human relationships. With an impressive academic and social science background, he has taken the most advanced approaches to relationship theory and, through thousands of hours of family therapy, organizational consulting, and professional coaching in churches, family businesses, and schools, has developed the revolutionary ScreamFree Living methodology.

Spring....right aroiund the corner!

2008-03-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

The lilies are here!
I LOVE to garden, so of course the first sign of spring gets us moving outside. Both of my girls are starting to get involved "in the garden" . We had to get out yesterday with the "hint" of spring bringing some of our perennials out of the ground!

Is that Hannah Montana? Oh no that's Grace!

MiMi looks so "babyish" ! Don't tell her I said that....

Sherrie Eldridge - Wakeup Call!!

2008-02-24T06:13:00.001-08:00

Great book, great speaker! I have had this book for several years and just never thought it meant much....boy was I wrong. I went to hear Sherrie Eldridge speak yesterday. She was adopted. She described the feeling of being adopted (even from an infant) the emotional vulnerabilities of being adopted, the fear and sometimes shame adoptees feel, the pressure to be perfect, so as not to disappoint anyone, the way adoptees process how they are "talked to", for example "Your birthmother loved you so much that she gave you to us", this translates in an adoptees mind, "love is what got rid of me". Another way to say the same thing would be "Your birth parents weren't able to parent ANY baby at that time." OR another big one is that "you are special"...translates into "It's not o.k. to be me. I have to try hard to do good so they well like me."
Those of you who know me well, know how much I have struggled with talking to MiMi about her birthparents. Yes, she knows she is adopted, we talk about the orphanage, the trip to China, all the details about China, etc...you get the picture, but only one time has she ever brought up was I born in your tummy or another mommy's tummy and this was out of the blue at the FOX theatre. I was caught off-guard but I handled it fine, told her she was born in another mommy's tummy. Nothing else said, just "oh o.k." I didn't realize how difficult it would be to look into her sweet face and tell her that she has two mommy's...well this has haunted me. But yesterday, I learned so much about why this should be the number one thing we communicate about...Oh dear... Why has this been so difficult ...well yesterday one thing that stood out was that most of the time an adopted child wouldn't want to hurt your feelings so she won't bring up anything about her "birthmom" because she doesn't want to hurt you. I realized that I was afraid she may get so confused and not know how to feel about "all of this" or us. China country details are safe, but mommy details are "big"! So anyway, with the help and prompting of some awesome girls yesterday, we sat down as a family last night and read a book together called Fingerprints Forever by Sherrie Eldridge. It was uneventful...no questions, nothing just "that was a good book, hey let's play checkers! But, the key thing was that it was a good start for Dan and I and I would highly recommend this book to everyone. Well, since yesterday, my fears have turned into a confidence, I feel empowered and so much more prepared to understand how MiMi feels. I just needed the right support and people to move forward with confidence. I am so excited to have turned this corner ! The girls I sat with yesterday said, it's hard to believe you are having so much trouble with this because of all the people and adoption stuff you do. True, but what I realized was that I needed to be the one sitting in the audience soaking in what someone else was sharing! It was awesome and of course I would highly recommend both of these books. I did ask Sherrie if she would like to come speak at our FF event and she had a big smile and said I would love to in early 2009, when I finish my next book! We can't wait to have her join us!

Daddy daughter dance and girls weekend!

2008-02-22T15:03:00.001-08:00

Our lives are full! We seem to go "all out" everyday, but it sure is nice to stop and breath...there isn't a better way to change things up than to go do kid stuff! I mean do what the kids want to do on their schedule, their plan. This is unusual in our house because I am the one always setting the "tone of the day", as the kids have pointed out to me. I love not being in charge for a few days and letting someone else make the decisions! Dan and I both love the stages and season both of our girls are in right now, lots of girl conversations, a ton of laughing, checking out the latest Hannah Montana "thing" or just dancing like really "cool girls"! We absolutely love seeing our girls loving the Lord and being "cool too"!! Parenting is tough, so many days you wonder if you are doing it right or not, but there is so much reward when you can sit back and witness the "effort" you put in to your kids. I told Dan recently that I wanted to quit my job...but shortly after that the kids started showing up as "well mannered with humble-hearts, with a passion to love Jesus and do the right thing"!! Confirmation is sometimes all we need!! Well, I didn't quit my job, and life goes on......

Some fun pictures from the past couple of weeks....

Daddy daughter dance - they look so good!

Daddy with his two girls, his favorite girl was taking the picture!

MiMi ready for a night out!

Grace and I spent a girls weekend in Chattanooga!

Tennessee Aquarium - who's that guy?

We love penguins!

A touch of spring!

I love this picture of these butterflies!

Grace and I loved the butterfly garden!

Mei Li came home (our Shih Tzu)

2008-02-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

We are so thrilled with our new "little one"! Her name is Mei Li, which means beautiful in Chinese and she is now about 2.5 lbs. We brought her home on Saturday and of course just love her! She is officially Grace's dog, a gift for her 7th birthday. MiMi is trying to get comfortable with the fact that this is Grace's dog...not sure if we did this one right, we may have been better saying this was our family dog, but MiMi has already started picking out the dog she wants when she's 7!
I grew up with so many pets, a horse, dogs, guinea pigs, lots of rabbits, snakes, frogs, turtles, I guess I just loved animals and knew when my girls were the right age the fun would begin again for me! We now have Lucy, Emily (hampsters), Gold charm (fish) and Luke (lab) and now Mei Li. I have really had to slow down my pace over the last few days, which has turned out to be a very welcome break. Mei Li and I are enjoying some organizing files and just playing...I know she can't wait for Grace and MiMi to get home they really know how to play!
Enjoy the picures!

Now why can't she sleep like this at night?

That is one happy dog!!

I could open a bath for Shih Tzu's! (I hope you get that Trish, if you're following our blog! )Ha

Sweet baby girl!

Thank You Michael and Kim Perry

2008-01-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

We were given this amazing gift from Michael and Kim Perry. Dan and I want to thank them for this priceless photo taken by Michael on their trip to China. This is a local school which shows these precious kids during class (notice the english alphabet on the blackboard)! We LOVE this gift and will cherish it forever! Thank you, thank you, thank you ...

Look for more of Michael's work in our Blessed Journey Mentoring Handbook ....it's coming along (life has a way of taking over and I barely squeek out enough time to reach my deadlines our writer has given me) luckily she is very patient with me!

Classmates in school in Nanjing, China

First Friday - January

2008-01-09T09:22:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful time last Friday night. Dan and I were so thrilled to host over 130 people! The night started for many with dinner at LaDolce Vita which is right around the corner from the church. Amy Christopher and Kim Perry are organizing this group so please contact them if you are interested in joining the group at 5:30 for dinner before FF. Amy is amychristopher@comcast.net , thanks for keeping this going!

We are so grateful to Rich, Denise, Marissa and Reese Hall for sharing their story with us. I know many families live by the National Geographic "China's Lost Girls" while they are waiting. This has been such an amazing work, something families can share with extended family and just to watch and try to put yourself in that place during the wait is so helpful to so many. Thanks Hall family you guys have been such a HUGE part of countless families journey's!

Some pictures to share with you!
Dinner with the group at LaVita Dolce!
Name tags anyone! We had over 20 new families!
Rich and Denise Hall
Denise Hall, as only Denise can tell the story!
The sweet Hall family!

We're getting a puppy!

2007-12-30T17:45:00.001-08:00

Our New Puppy - MeiLi

We are getting Grace a puppy for her 7th birthday. We have always had big dogs, labs, and haven't ever had just an indoor dog. We have all decided the Shih Tzu would be the one for us! We've already picked a name out for our new little girl, MeiLi, which means beautiful in Chinese.

This is MeiLi at 10 days old ....her mom is a champion (Tiki) and her daddy is also a champion (Proudy), he is from Thailand. Check out the website to see her parents www.rockingkshihtzu.com

We love her sweet face....she will be very spoiled! We need to wait until about the first week of February to bring her home.....

Happy New Year!

2007-12-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Dan and I are not superstitious but we don't like odd numbered years, don't know why, but they just don't "feel" right to us. So, we are now on the cusp of an even year all around! Dan just turned 50, I just turned 46 and we are coming into 2008! O.K. pretty lame, but we are weird that way.

We have had a memorable year in 2007. The best news of the year was getting our LID in August 07. We have continued to grow with our First Fridays family and and definitely look forward to where God takes our group this year! Grace and MiMi are doing great so far in school , we hope to continue on a good track through the end of the school year. Dan and I have taken over the Chinese School (this is our third year as a school) and have so much to look forward to this year as we change the "face" of the school starting in January. We hope to launch our new "website and name" early this year; we will post this info for you to check-out for your "little ones".

Our "family prayer" has surprisingly become our family mission, "God, please don't let us miss it". This sounds simple, but we live by this everyday and so far God keeps guiding and showing us where He wants to use us. We continue to have our family bible study every night and this has taken us down so many unexpected roads, especially the kids! If you want to find out what is going on with your kids ask them to share their prayer requests, it becomes very interesting.
We look forward to this next year with anticipation that God will have much in store for our family! Hope you all discover what is in store for you this year, sometimes all you have to do is ask and then be willing to say "yes"!

Christmas started early in NC!

2007-12-24T08:00:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!! We started early in Greensboro at Uncle David (Dan's brother) and Aunt Sally's. Dan's mom flew up from Marietta and all spent a few days together!

Cousin Charles and MiMi...boy did they have fun!

Hannah Montana was the big hit....thank you Uncle David!

Grace is so beautiful inside and out!

Everyone got their eyes checked (Uncle David and Aunt Sally are both optometrists)....even MiMi got new glasses! Thanks for a great present....Dan got new contacts, I got glasses, Grace got reading glasses for school....

Aunt Sally's famous chocolate cake!

Aunt Sally took such good care of all of us, we ate like kings, queens and princesses!

Mom and Aunt Sally

A rare picture of Dan and I together

We all enjoyed the live tree, what a beautiful Christmas together!

Fun Pictures!

2007-12-17T07:06:00.001-08:00

Fun stuff we've been doing!!

I love this picture of MiMi, what a blessing to pray as a class!!

Class Christmas party!

The bell choir!!
Grace thinks she makes a great Santa

MiMi just wants the presents!

Our Christmas dresses!

First Fridays - China Adoption Journey

2007-12-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

Our dear friend and sister Carole Ford led us in music and a wonderful prayer of "O Come All Ye Faithful" Thanks Carole for your heart and you always "show-up" as only you know how to do!!

Amy Eldridge shares stories with us about her heart for orphans and how these children have changed her life. She also shared with us the work Love Without Boundaries is doing all over China for God's children.

Susan and Amy

First Fridays princesses!!

We cannot thank Amy Eldridge enough for traveling all the way from Edmond, Oklahoma just to speak to our group last night! She is so passionate about the work that Love Without Boundaries is doing. Listening to her tell the stories about what the children, some of these will be "our children", go through daily is staggering. I don't want these kids to experience a night of cold or to be left in the orphanage all night until morning when the aunties return. More on that as God continues to work in our hearts......

As a group, First Fridays-China Adoption Journey has chosen to support the Heartbridge Unit Project, look on www.lovewithoutboundaries.com under special projects for all the details. This project is designed to support a crib on a monthly basis and that donation will cover everything needed for that crib for the month. In one month, several babies may be in that one crib as they are prepared for heart surgery. We asked the group from FF to support this wonderful project and wow! what a huge response! We are well on our way to sustaining support for "our crib" for the entire year this year, please check out more details on our website, including how to give, what the details of the project are and quarterly updates on which children have been in that crib and their progress! I am overwhelmed at the support!! Thank you to each family for making a difference for these orphans!

Each of you means so much to us, and we can't thank you enough for allowing us to continue to be part of your journey and for "stretching to grow" when many times it doesn't make any sense....I have read so many stories today from families who posted last night after FF and I continue to be confirmed month after month that adoption is a "Big Deal". God wants this to be a "Big Deal" because I believe in adoption this will be one of the few times you come the closest to seeing Christ's face right in front of you, as you get your child.

Be on the edge of your seat, get stirred-up in your heart, cry, go on a mission trip while you wait, but don't "wait around" for "that day". Remember the story Amy told about the little one with the freezing cold hands, no windows in the orphanage with winter on the way....these children need us to rub their little hands between ours today! It is time to get passionate about these precious orphans who need everyone of us make the time while we wait count! If you stand in the "unknown zone", which is a term I would use for having no idea what is coming for your family in adoption, take comfort in the truth that we don't need to know what is coming. God will handle "ALL" of that, but while you are "waiting" make everyday count! I remember when we were waiting for MiMi, I would get up everyday at 5:30AM and drive to the YMCA so that I could workout while my sweet "little girl" was eating her dinner in China...I was driven to be with her in spirit as she reached the end of her day! I would run on that treadmill and pray for her to end her day peacefully and ask God to confirm in her heart that she was one day closer to her family coming to get her. I knew she would be alright, God confirmed that in me every morning as we talked at the YMCA!

Please let us know if you need anything, if you are in the "unknown zone", and can't even express what you think....we get all of that, and just want each family to be so prepared when you finally receive that precious child. Use your time wisely, don't make "this wait"a burden, walk this journey free from the "unknown zone" and just let God takeover. We would love to hear from you on our website check out the Prayer Request page and contact us links!!

Faithfully waiting for Hope Chapman!!

Website is up and running and Thanksgiving pics

2007-12-03T04:24:00.000-08:00

The website is finally launched and we hope you like the images, etc...we will continually add to the information and lots of pictures. We appreciate Brad's work on the site, such a blessing to this ministry. Thank you Brad, you are so creative!! He will be working on the site all week, tweeking and editing but just wanted to get "her" up and running!! Our web address is
www.firstfridayschina.com

Thanksgiving in Ohio!

We had a great Thanksgiving trip to Ohio, lots of family and SNOW! It was like a blizzard on Thanksgiving day and on Friday...not much stuck to the ground but it sure was BEAUTIFUL! I need a dose of cold and snow at least once a year!

This is our favorite part about traveling,
the hotel luggage cart!

My dad and brother Tom (log cabin on 7 acres)
This is where the turkey will be cooked and I'm sure some
other "wild game"!

MiMi ate too much turkey!

Some of my family, so many big hunting stories,
how fun!!

Tom and Tara (it's still bow season) they wouldn't
let Dan and I come along, hmmmm

It was freezing Thanksgiving morning!

Life is good in Ohio, we even saw a few Amish buggies go by my mom and dad's house early in the morning, sure is refreshing to see how simple life can be!

First Friday Note - We are so excited to have Amy Eldridge travel all the way from Oklahoma to be with us this month, please come out to support her and be blessed by her stories as she shares what is going on with Love Without Boundaries!

Lost and Found!

2007-11-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

I needed to take a blogging break and thought I may be able to catch up a little tonight. We have been working so hard on First Friday stuff - website, announcement page (hope everyone is getting that), and our mentoring book (Blessed Journey). Everything is coming together and look so forward to being caught up.....soon!
I started posting on our blog several times but continue to get distracted with family stuff, so I've decided just to start from today as if I'm just beginning a blog....so, I hope to post more regularly....but really love to read everyone's blog's and keep up with such amazing families and their lives!
Our recent stuff:
We just came home from an awesome weekend in Nashville at the Shaohannah's Hope retreat! It was a "retreat" for us and enjoyed seeing many old friends we have made over the last three years and met so many new people this year. God showed up in such a big way, he repaired an old friendship, we were blessed by an awesome speaker (Tony Nolan) and heard the Children of the World Choir! We feel so priveledged to know the Chapman's (Steven and Mary Beth) and know God will continue to bless Shaohannah's Hope as they move forward in building an orphan care facility in Luoyang China. As Tony Nolan says "Go God"!
We are leaving for Ohio in the morning and will be home on Sunday....hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and finds much to be thankful for!!

First Fridays - China Adoption Journey

2007-10-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

Well, we have moved and this is our new location....North Metro Church! We had a great night and appreciate Jimmy Casto's music and Tony Nolan really blessed us with a great message! I know God has his "brush" ready to add a new face to the Chapman family canvas! Enjoy these pictures! When Angela gets home, I hope she will show me how to do these pictures in a slideshow !! :) Thank you Michael Christopher for these great pictures!

Welcome to First Fridays - China Adoption Journey

Angela, Laney, Catherine and Lennah (Tammy in background - will these thoughts come up on her devotion page?)

Laura, Kim and Michael (fund raising ideas?)

Michael and Sheridan

Lennah and Laney (new friends at FF)

Erik, Pete and Mark (what's your theory on "the wait"?)

Amy, Mark and Rebecca (could this be another red thread moment?)

Dick, Karen and Bruce (now they look happy!)

Pete and Julie (we're good at waiting!)

Jimmy Casto (he's never seen so many families with Chinese kids at one time! I think we hurt him bad! Sorry Jimmy!!)

Tony Nolan (you are awesome!)

Sheridan wants to say Hi!

Lily, Heather, Michelle and Liz

Our newest FF friends

Thank you everyone for coming! Our website is almost done.....we will send you updates on this and also look forward to the next months guest speaker, Craig Bowler! We have some special music guests to announce, working around tour schedules etc...but look forward to what God has in store for First Fridays as these musicians come by to share our journey with us!

Happy 5th Birthday MiMi!!

2007-09-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Reese!

The morning of my 5th b'day! My first party is at school.....

Mt. Paran school party!

My dad loves me BIG

Sisters forever! and Cool presents....

My second cake, first one was cookie cake at school

I am officially 5 years old!

A tea party ....

My friend Analiese, our birthdays are one day apart!

Ashley looks so tall! She's been 5 for awhile... My friend Abby, she is so beautiful in her pink dress

My sweet friend Shay Lu, I may be a little bigger than her!

That's it ...wonder what we will do next year?

Life is moving so fast lately that I've decided not to catch up on what I haven't posted and to just begin with "right now"! MiMi is now officially 5 and Dan is 50 and well, I'm just a few years younger than Dan.... ! haha My days are full and we have been so blessed with everything coming up with First Fridays and Blessed Journey Mentoring program ....stay tuned.

Buried!!

2007-09-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

We are still here , but just buried with the girls school, Chinese school, moving the Frist Friday next month and two full weeks of birthday's and anniversary celebrations! I will post pictures soon of Dan's 50th party, lots of fun! So many old friends we haven't seen in a very long time!

CHINA SAYS YES!

2007-08-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

We are Logged-in to China as of today which is MiMi's "Gotcha Day"! So now the clock begins to tick ........

MiMi - Gotcha Day and Beyond!

2007-08-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

Nanny at hotel on "Gotcha Day"

Our sweet one year old!

I love my life!

Flying my kite!

Cute!

Love the beach....

Looking forward to a First Friday!!

My last day of PreK 3!

Do you think Santa will bring me something wonderful!

I wish I had hours to put some pictures together, but...... well, tonight is MiMi's Gotch Day eve and we always feel this emotional ache as we celebrate her "gotcha day" and think of her birthmom and dad. To be honest we don't make a huge deal about "gotcha day", as her birthday is in a few weeks, but we have certainly had some great talks about this special day, she now has lots of questions and is beginning to ask and need much detail! So, this is good we love to see her begin unfolding these beginning days and months of her life. We want to say a BIG prayer for her birthparents, as this time of the year can be so difficult for them. We hope God will comfort them as only He can do as they wonder and possibly grieve over the loss of this precious angel. We love you all the way to the moon MiMi and are so proud of you. Happy "Gotcha Day"!!

2007-08-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

We made it to China! Well, our dossier made it and we hope to be "Logged In" very soon. Of course this is MiMi's "gotcha day" week, so that just makes it more exciting!

More soon, we hope ....Dan's quickly approaching the "50 mark", so we need China to move fast!!

First Day of School

2007-08-10T05:16:00.000-07:00

First day of school

Carpool - MiMi and Mrs Vinson (my teacher last year)

So far so good ....we had a great first day and Grace and MiMi both have terrific teachers, know lots of kids, so it's starting to feel like a family! Both of our girls go to Mt. Paran Christian school and we say a prayer every morning before we walk out the door and thank God for this spirit-filled place and the teachers who are so committed to walking with the Lord as they teach "our" children. Grace said wow 1st grade is alot of work, but continues to love bible study and sharing her love for the Lord with her classmates. She recites Isaiah 58:11 on a regular basis "The Lord will guide you always: He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." She has grown so much this past summer, both in size and maturity!

MiMi is in preK4 with a great teacher, MiMi says, "Mrs. Laton can really get things done"! MiMi's favorite thing continues to be crafts and painting or coloring. That girl could definitly head up the "cut and color" club. She knows many of the kids now and really knows her way around the school! Go MiMi!!

We had some tears (only me) on the first day of school. I really enjoy being with my girls, we talk and laugh, and just have such a good time. So now, when I pick them up from school we really have alot to talk about!!

On an adoption note, our dossier should be in China and we are waiting for our LID! The last two weeks we really pushed the paperwork, which I credit CCAI for doing an amazing job, as usual, to get the documents reviewed, translated and then out the door! These guys are good!!

So now we pray for Hope who is waiting, unknowingly, in China for us to come get her. We asked China for a 4 year old, which would make her about two years old right now! I wonder if she can feel our prayers for her? I wonder if they have ladybugs in China? Our prayer is that she be a little light for those who work around her and care for her, for her to touch any missionary teams who come through, and for her to help others to know Christ as she acts just a little different. We believe as we pray for her she can can also plant a seed in some of the lives she touches, we may never know, probably won't, but we do know God will use this little child to plant a seed in someone or many as she waits for us and we wait for her!

We've been on VACATION!

2007-07-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

Can we eat this?

Paintin' pottery

Surfing the waves was "the bomb"!

Why not sit on these buckets?

I'm a babe!!

I am so happy!

The" donut hole" near Seaside!

Beach house steps ....

In the past, we were big vacationers, but over the last two years, we have spent less and less time just relaxing. This past week was awesome for all of us and everyone got something out of the trip! Dan and I had great talks, read two books together, Rock Solid Marriage and Five Love Languages, two great books that were so insightful and helpful to continue our journey together and build strength in our marriage. Thank you Tammy N. for being such an amazing sister in Christ and introducing us to these two books, the timing was perfect!

Grace and Mimi each found their own" wow" moments on this trip... Grace continues to grow closer to Jesus as her heart is changing, we are beginning to see God show her himself and the cool part is that she knows it! MiMi is just too cute and as only MiMi can do so well, she discovers all the unique things we wouldn't ever see! The unusual crabs, the rainbow after the storm, the jellyfish that washed up on the beach, the biggest crab claw ever ....

On an adoption note .... we got our I-797 back just before we left and when we came home we had almost all the other documents back from "out there" in paperchase world, so now it's finish up the final few Consulate packs and then get everything to Jaime, hopefully before August 10th! This is our goal and our timeline is really getting close, but we feel confident everything should be to China before the end of August! yea!

School starts in a week and a half! We all feel ready, rested and excited to get the school year started! As MiMi says, let's get this party started!!

An awesome person!

2007-07-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

"Qi Pan" by Zhoa Kailin

Wanted to pass this info along and share this wonderful foundation with you if you haven't ever checked this out. The foundation www.lovewithoutboundaries.com is awesome and serves the children in China through volunteers. They asked this artist Zhoa Kailin if he would do a painting for LWB to use as a fundraiser and he agreed. He is from Bengbu, Anhui Province, China and returned to his home town to photograph children in this orphanage to choose one to depict the Chinese orphan. He hasn't ever painted an orphan before this work. The foundation LWB is selling this "giclee" the highest quality reproduction through their website, you can find it on the home page.
Ours is being shipped!

Home Sweet Home!

2007-07-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

"The Wait" perfected!!

Welcome home sign holders!

My Grandma!

Who are all these people daddy?

I love my mommy!!

The Daniel's family .... that sounds soo good!

Our sweet friends, who have become like family, are back from China! Dan and I are so thankful to have been part of this amazing journey and have learned so much from Jay and Angela during their long two year wait. We have been very fortunate over the past two years to experience true community with this awesome family; the good stuff, the unknown, desperate uncertain times, and then the ultimate seeing them receive a wonderful "gift" only God could give them! Wow....we are blessed, they are blessed and sweet Laney is blessed! It doesn't get much better than this......

Princess Camp

2007-07-01T05:02:00.001-07:00

Dancing to "celebrate" good times....!

Princess MiMi

The Princess Grace!

Dancing and dressing up to the Disney princess characters and songs for three hours a day for an entire week now that is right up the Chapman girls alley!

CAUTION! Name that snake!

2007-06-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

My favorite gardening pal Camille, she thinks the snake could be a copperhead! ooh!

Do you see the markings?

What kind of snake is this?

Well, I wasn't going to post this, but I couldn't resist...we had a HUGE snake come by for a visit a few weeks ago. I looked out the door to the porch under our screened porch and this 6ft. plus snake was heading for our table. It wrapped itself around the chairs and even tried to crawl up the umbrella pole. Then it headed for the house and started to climb up the brick, not kidding, up the brick on the side of our house. We were in a panic (Dan hates, hates, did I say hates snakes) I tried calling Animal Control, well they were absolutely no help, which wasn't a big surprise, so we did the next best thing called our brave neighbor, who has boys! Mark came over and he and I got the shovels ready (Dan and the girls were safely in the house looking from inside the glass door! HaHa) Mark took aim and chopped the snakes head off! Really gross, but we felt good about the fact that this HUGE snake wouldn't show-up again uninvited!

For what it's worth, I think it's a rat snake and just for the record, I am really not that afraid of snakes!!

2007-06-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

My mom started playing golf when she was 6 years old....mmm
wonder if I could become a professional?

Love the skirt!

It's all about the look, right?

Golf is in our blood, at least on mom's side of the family, wonder if it transfers if you're adopted? Well anyway, we are so excited to get these cool golf clubs, and mom is going to teach us. Our old clubs are up for grabs, they have a little snoopy on the head of the club!! If anyone wants a cute set of clubs, maybe let mom know on the next First Friday!

Chapman's Farm Market!!

2007-06-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

We're farmin'!

Our first tomato, as you can see Avery (friend)

is not a happy farmer, maybe cause she missed

the camping last night!

Look mom our first crop is in!!!

We have been patiently waiting for this first tomato, boy was it good! We named it Luke and Grace and MiMi cut it up to serve us all for dinner last night, along with Ziegler's BBQ!!

Isn't summer great!!

Our First Official Sleepover

2007-06-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

Pillow Fight

Isn't this a cool tent? Best part, no bugs!!

We had our first sleepover last night and what great memories! Grace E., Grace C. and MiMi. The sleepover sort of came by default:) lucky us. We were all thrilled to have Grace spend the day with us as the Evans family spent the afternoon at Scotish Rite with Annaleise during her 2nd cleft surgery. As the day unfolded the idea of the sleepover came up and then we all just kept coming up with more ideas for the night. The kids had flashlights, tons of pillows, lots of snacks, good movies and scary stories!

We hope the Evans family has a easy transition as Annaleise recovers. She will have about ten tough days and so many restrictions during this normally easy going time of the year. We hope you get well soon!

Thanks for sharing your sweet Grace with us, you're lucky we gave her back!!

Happy Father's Day Daddy

2007-06-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Daddy and his girls

Daddy....our hero! We love our Daddy so much and are so proud that he is our dad.

Every Saturday morning we go to the Waffle House at Brookstone, sit in a small booth and laugh when the waitress comes over to our table and calls Daddy darling, sweetpea or honey. She'll say "hey cutie pie, what will you have today" (to Dad, not us) we laugh and laugh. After our big waffle, egg, hashbrown, breakfast, we head to Home Depot to look around. We love Home Depot!

Our next adventure is Books a Million or Michael's, then to Steak and Shake for a milkshake before heading home. We all hangout together at home, play hide-n-seek, do puzzles, draw pictures, watch golf, make dinner and then mom comes home.

Daddy always gives mom every Saturday to do her own thing (she loves this time) but we love it too because it's our special day with dad.

To put it simply, we have an awesome dad and wish you a Happy Father's Day Daddy! We love you more than everything.....Love Grace, MiMi and Hope

The China Princess and Grace!

2007-06-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

What a foursome!

Our good friends, Dave and Tina Evans, came over tonight to talk about the upcoming Chinese School year and to share some time together. We got so much done and are well on our way to getting this fall semester off to an awesome start!

As of this spring the school is now owned by the Evans and us. We restructured the school this past May and now the four of us will share all the responsibilities of the school and the officer roles. The cool part is that we all really enjoy each other and have a common goal to bring Chinese culture to our children. Great fun!!

The kids had a great time together and love spending time just playing family, what could be better.

I will post the name of the Chinese School in a few weeks when our website is up and running. The fall semester is going to be really "new and fun" while the kids learn about their chinese culture and heritage! Stay tuned............................

My Family and Mom and Dad's 50th!

2007-06-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and MiMi

Mom and Dad

Big Hitter Grace

Nieces (Britt and Lo)

My Family

Huge surprise for my parents as we all came home for the first time in about 15 years! We got them so bad and had a blast sharing stories about growing up and working at the golf course (our family business for 40+ years). Ohio is awesome in May, lots of cool nights and clear blue skies.

My girls hit lots of balls on the range and all the adults, who aren't very competitive (ha), had scramble events everyday. The problem with growing up on a golf course is that it's always in your blood and seems to have trickled down into all the grandkids!!

Our Decision to Adopt Hope

2007-06-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Wow! Grace, Faith and now our sweet Hope!

Honestly, during this past year we were afraid to say "yes" to the sweet but gentle voice of Jesus as He tried to nudge us forward and begin this amazing adoption journey. We could think of so many reasons why this was not going to work in our plan, who would sleep where? could we send three kids to a private school? would three kids simply be overwhelming with everything we have going on??? The answers were confusing, nothing seemed clear and we couldn't define or justify why we would do this again....but we continued to pray for answers and some amazing truths began to be revealed.

The most revealing truth was the phrase "God's Perfect Plan"! These words just kept coming into my head and I kept thinking how or why would we change, add-to, or take away anything from these three words! The things we had on our radar were so insignificant. It's not our plan to begin with! The reality became more clear to us that our daughter Hope would be waiting in China for us as we struggled to design our own plan and would simply miss her as she would pay the price for our lack of faith. Big reality check!!

The thoughts then simply became why wouldn't we do this and we both received a tremendous peace about the whole thing and of course we said "yes". We are so excited to experience this journey with our friends and family and can't wait to watch "the plan" being revealed.

Our paperwork is well underway and we continue to get closer to our Log-In-Date, which by the way needs to be before September 7th when Dan turns 50. We hope everything will go smoothly, much easier the second time, but you never know with adoption!

Our girls are thrilled with the thought of having another sister and MiMi is especially jazzed because she will become a big sister! (or in her case the little big sister)

I am excited about starting this blog and thank you Angela D. for setting this up for me. She will eventually let me work up to the slideshow feature, but I must prove I'm capable at this level first! HaHa