A beautiful mother's day........

Precious handmade gifts from the middles delivered to me in bed (with coffee!)

The most special card from beautiful Ainsley

Church

Brunch

An afternoon at the Arboretum with my family

Gorgeous weather with a Carolina blue sky

Maybe I took a short nap....

Dinner with my Mom & Dad

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing." ~Psalm 127:3

Thankful for my gifts!!

And, so thankful for Mr. Handsome...  He orchestrated this special day!!!!

Six amazing years ago at this time China time we had already spent an entire day with our new precious daughter, Ruby Mei.  I will never forget taking the elevator up to that crowded and hot room at the Civil Affairs Office in Nanchang..  So many expecting parents scanning the room to figure out which one of those precious children was the one God had chosen for them...  We did not see Meng Ru at first..  She was sitting on a bench with her orphanage escort that morning..  But, we should have seen her..   She was the only one in the group with two barrets in her hair..  

Let me back up..  When Jeff and I were dating we attended an Easter service at a local church.  That morning the woman who greeted us, and everyone else who walked in the door, with two words, "love love!"  We never forgot it..  For almost 14 years we have signed off that way to each other..  On phone calls, emails, texts, cards, in person..  "Love Love" is just our signature thing...  

So as we anxiously looked for Ruby, a sweet nanny got our attention and points to this little girl in a yellow sweatshirt, and purple pants..  But, it was the accessories that told the story..  In her hair, a sweet little message to her new parents as if to say..  "Just in case you were wondering, this is definitely the one I chose for you to love forever..."   Each barrett in her hair had one word on it, "love!"

Side by side...  "Love Love!" 

Two simple words, that remind us that God is involved in the details of our lives..  Sometimes behind the scenes..  And, sometimes in the hair of a tiny nine month old baby girl that you will travel 7000+ miles for.

We "LOVE LOVE" you Her Rubiness.  You are CHOSEN, SPECIAL, and BEAUTIFUL!!

Happy Six Years of Ruby Tuesdays!!!!!

It is an amazing gift to be your parents sweet Ruby!!  Today we give thanks for YOU and for the One who created you!!

"Love Love!"

The China Sea ~ Zhanjiang, Guangdong

I am happy to report that I have survived re-entry!  I arrived home safely Monday evening to my sweet family, flowers, and a welcome sign at the airport...  I came through the exact same doors I came through almost six years ago with Ruby Mei..  A lot has changed since that amazing journey..  God began a work in me back in 2005 when He called me to adopt..  Eight years later I continue to wonder what more I can do in caring about "the least of these."  I left China with my heart full and my heart broken.  I shared some tough things with my sweet friends..  It was a privlege to be with them..  We shed lots of happy tears and lots of sad tears together..  We traveled a lot of miles physically and emotionally on this trip. Leaving one child behind in a crib at an orphanage is not easy for anyone..Leaving 30 who need a Mama is incredibly difficult.  It changes you... I am so very thankful to be a part of Pearl River Outreach.  I truly believe we are making a difference in the lives of our babies and in the lives of those who love them.   Experiencing it first had was truly amazing...   We have a lot of work to do now..  We have taken on six new children..  I will spend the next week catching up on that..  I will be honest, we need sponsors..  More on that soon....

Thank you for following our journey, and for praying for us..  Mr. Handsome did an amazing job on the home front..  He had one very sick little girl that he nursed back to health..  With the help of Little Grandma no one skipped a beat here..  Again, I am thankful...

Tonight we celebrate Ainsley and her team's amazing season!!!!  We are hosting their end of the year celebration!  

Too late to post about our day, but I did want to share one special photo!  I waited

a long time to love on this precious child..  Gabriella blessed me by taking my hand and going for a little walk..  While I sang, "Jesus Loves Me" to her she grabbed my arm and motioned me to wrap it around her sweet little neck..  So, that is how we walked...  I will never forget this special time with this precious little girl!

(If you want to see photos of the children we have been loving on, please head over to the PRO Blog..  It's been amazing thus far!!)

I have been blessed to travel to China four times in my life.  The first three journey's were to bring my chosen daughters home to their forever's with our family.  This time, God has called me back to love on what some may consider, "The Least of These.."  It's hard to imagine anyone could ever think that about a precious orphan.  But the sad and heatbreaking reality is it is true..  Many of you know our story of how Pearl River became not just a non-profit organization, but a part of our family.  For that I am grateful....  At the time I didn't know the plans set before me...  I didn't know I would become a part of the PRO team in such a rewarding way!  I didn't know my daughter Sienna would be a Bamboo Baby.  I didn't know I would ask my amazing friend Jennifer to help me in a volunteer way, and that ask would lead to her daughter, and to a long distance friendship that blesses me every day.   I didn't know that one day another adoption Mom friend, sweet Paige,  would call me and ask me to sponsor a precious little girl named Lili...  That one call set in motion the adoption of a precious little girl that God placed on her heart long before Paige even knew it.  And, I certainly never expected God would orchestrate a trip for all three of us to travel to China with our U.S. based PRO team.  But, God knew...  We are two days into our trip and it's been special, hilarious, memorable, and very entertaining!  We have traveled together on buses, vans, trams, and even bicycles. We have clocked endless hours talking already..  So much the flight attendent yesterday smuggled us wine from first class so we could really enjoy our girl time!   The entire time we have been pinching ourselves that we are here together for such an awesome reason.  To love on "the least of these..."


Jennifer and Paige

We have had some blog worthy hilarious moments on this trip already..  At the top of my list should really be titled, "Blondes Really Do Have More Fun in China!."  You see my friend Jen, has this new sassy doo...  Her super model look stirred quite the paparazzi of commotion today.  One thing the Chinese love to do is stare at you if you are a foreigner.  Especially when you are a blonde.    I felt like a rock-star in 2007 when Ruby and I were in Wal*Mart.  We were surrounded by people taking our picture on their cell phones..  Ainsley and Jeff have had their share of photo shoots here too.  At home we would think this is strange.  At here it's just good material!   I knew today when we set out on our adventure that Jennifer would be sought after.. You don't see tall beautiful blondes here often!  Well, it started at the Tercotta Warrior Museum..  After the first few pictures of Jennifer, I started counting..  By the end of the day we were up to 10 red carpet requests.  The most hilarious was the random man that blantantly got her on video on the City Wall..  It became funnier each time. Especially when the peace sign was involved!!

 My beautiful pal... (On the inside and out!)

This is one of my favorite photos from the day...  The reason... It's the first real sign of Spring I have seen..  I left 12" of snow on Thursday morning....

We all appreciated our itinerary today..  Our amazing Guide, and Pearl River liasion, Julie planned a very special day.  She kept us so busy we forgot how tired our jet lagged bodies were!  Our first stop was the Teracotta Warrior Museum in Xi'an.  I am not quite sure how to describe how amazing this site is.  Can you imagine being an emporer and spending your entire life planning your after life?  For those of us who believe in God, it's almost impossible.  But, today we witnessed his vision, and it was incredible.  We even met the farmer who discovered the underground city!  Over 6000 warriors were found.  Many have been restored, while some are still buried and waiting to be excavated.  The attention to detail is beyond impressive!

Probably my favorite pictures to take in China are of life here...  Every corner is a story...  On our way to our van, I saw this man taking a break...  I pointed to my camera and he quietly nodded his head in approval...  I love his smile..  He looks like he does not have a care in the world!

I couldn't resist capturing this picture of this Grandma and her baby.  

This woman was just enjoying her break..  She too was happy to allow me to photograph her.

Julie made sure we had foods today that Xi'an is famous for..  We had our first "Chinese Hamburgers." I was not too sure about this menu choice, but I did enjoy it..  However, our dinner was award winning..  Xi'an is known for their dumplings..  Here dumplings are an art...  They are decorative and so delicious...  I don't know how many they brought out, but they were all photo worthy, and excellent!

The highlight of our day was our bike tour on the city wall..  Brick by brick this 7 miles of wall was built by hand.  The uneven bricks, and the sites of the city below were amazing..  This was my first time site seeing on a bike in China.  It was such a fun afternoon!

We ended our day in the city square by the Bell Tower..  As you can see it is gorgeous at night!
Tomorrow we leave for Changsha, and we really begin the journey God has placed us on..  I can't wait to see the faces of the sweet one's that we are here to love on...  The ones some call the "least of these" The ones that because of Pearl River Outreach do have the gift of hope and a future!  It's a privilege to be part of this.

More soon from Hunan!

The packing has begun!!!  Ten more days....

Read HERE about the sweetest of gifts I received yesterday...