I hope you will all take the time today to jump over to my friend Kathy's blog! She has some great auction items, and a fun raffle up to help her bring her newest daughter, Alivia, home from China!

Due to some unexpected circumstances they find themselves in need of additional funds for traveling to bring their precious daughter home! Their travel authorization is due any day!!!! I just might need that Nook for my upcoming trip!!

ALIVIA

Next I have also have posted an old friend over at Pearl River Outreach! Olivia, actually grew up in Hengshan with Sienna!!!! She was one of our Bamboo Babies up until one year ago. She was transferred to Changsha for physical therapy. Well now she is back, and we would love to watch out for her again! She needs 3 sponsors to make this happen!!!! You can email me at diana@pearlriveroutreach.org if you are interested in being her sponsor!

Olivia

Olivia is currently available for adoption. She is on the Holt individual list. You can contact them for information on her file! Her Chinese Name is Li Yan.

Lastly, Gabriella from our Pearl River Outreach Program in Zhanjiang, Guangdong is a new "Special Focus" child on the Shared List. She is available now for adoption. You can contact Stephanie at GWCA for more information. Gabriella's Chinese Name is Zhan Ming Gu! Please spread the word about her too!

Zhang Ming Gu

Wednesday night Jeff and I had one of those proud parent moments.... Sienna and Ruby participated in their first progressive gymnastics meet. This post is not meant to boast about our little girls. Yes, they did their best and had fun.. But, it was a lot more than that! It was about sisters cheering each other on, parents being surprised by results, and the reminder of how very far Sienna Grace has come physically in just one year!

You see, we have always known Ruby was born to be an athlete! She is a little muscle machine! We know she has the potential to do well in sports. Most likely it will be about her picking her favorite to excel in. She has improved a lot in gymnastics this year. I will admit she does have one rocking running cartwheel!! This was her first meet, and she did so well! She had fun, and she did her best. She also won the floor routine in her group, and placed 4th overall... Ruby was invited to join the "Tiny Team" this summer, where she will practice 3 hours a week. She is excited to learn more!

But, I will admit, the biggest surprise of the night, was her sister. When Sienna came home her spleen was so large, we couldn't even let her do summersaults on the bars. And, due to the size of her spleen, she struggled to run, and she walked with a slow gait. We even had her hips X-rayed because we thought she had dysplasia.. Well, she showed all of us last night... What we learned about Sienna Grace is she is a tough competitor. We've always known her to be strong and brave... We can now add to that list, "Gamer!" She put on her game face, did the best we have ever seen her do, she also placed 1st in her floor routine, and she placed 1st overall in in her team of 10!!! Her sweet coach, Connie, came over with tears in her eyes.. She was so proud of her!

It's been fun to watch Sienna blossom athletically lately. She just started swimming, and our little water bug loves it!!! Perhaps swim team is in her future!

It was a special night... We will never forget our first gymnastics meet!

Another blessing in the night... Daddy was there. He as able to leave New York early to meet us at the gym. I am so thankful. I never could have put into words what the night was like!