3 Little Piggies and the Big Bad Wolf

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. They were so happy together. They had all built houses together all in a row. However, there was a big bad wolf who had it out for the three little pigs. He really wanted to eat them. He had already huffed and puffed and blown their houses down. So the wolf made his move and tried to eat the biggest pig. So they all began to run from the wolf. No fears, when the slowest little pig was caught, her piggy sisters came to the rescue! They all made it away by the hair on their chinny chin chin! We headed downtown for the big Halloween celebration. Hope figured out real quick that the people with buckets were giving out candy and she really enjoyed it. All the shop owners commented on their costumes and kept saying, "you win, you win" We didn't stick around for the costume contest, but the kids were thrilled that everyone loved their costumes.

Pumpkin Cleaning

Cleaning out the pumpkins is always fun around here. They love to collect every seed. Not only do they like eating them, but the three hamsters and the bunny love them too. So, as you can see, three out of four thought this was really cool. Hope was trying hard to figure out why everyone thought this was so much fun. She finally jumped in and picked all her seeds out too, but not without some comical faces. Carved pumpkin pictures will be coming soon.

A Dream Come True

For about two years now, Hunter has made all kinds of traps to catch his dream....A BIRD! I told him right before he left that he had been having good luck catching things during the ball games. He positioned his trap in what he thought was the perfect place and hoped for the best. I was surprised during halftime to find that he had gotten something. I couldn't believe it when I saw the bird. I called Paul's cell and asked to speak to Hunter and gave him the good news that he had caught something. I told him he had caught what he always wanted, and he yelled through the phone, "A BIRD, MOMMA DO I HAVE A BIRD?" With a quick confirmation from me, I could tell that he was about to spontaneously combust. I assured him I would leave it for him when he got back. Can you see the excitement behind those eyes?

Ball and Chain

Even though Hunter is all boy and dreamed of having a brother, he is quite happy with his new little sis. After I had been praying for Hope for awhile, I asked the kids to pray that a family would come forward to adopt Hope. After about a week, there prayers changed from asking the Lord to provide a family, to praying that WE were that family. Hunter came to me one afternoon in November and he said, "Mom, if we would just adopt Hope, I would be okay with never having a brother." You have to love the heart of this boy. He saw a little girl in need, and he was willing to give up his own dreams to make hers come true. I prayed while we were waiting that she would be willing to play with him, and that he wouldn't be left out just because he was the only boy.As you can see, she adores him. She sees him and yells "Hunter" with the cutest little accent. She then runs into his arms. She even loves him enough to be tied up to one of his contraptions. This gives a whole new meaning to ball and chain. As I said before, our prayers were answered. She is no longer afraid of the dogs. In fact, I think she is even starting to love them.

I Don't See It

I get so many comments from people that Hope really favors LeeLee. I don't think so. They are both uniquely beautiful, but they have no similarities except for the fact that they are both Chinese. Hope's eyes point up, LeeLee's eyes point down. LeeLee has the round face, and Hope's face is long and narrow. When Hope smiles, she shows all her gums, LeeLee doesn't show any. LeeLee has broader shoulders and is more compact. Hope is long and slender (not that LeeLee isn't thin too!) They are developing into not only sisters, but friends. It has been fun to watch LeeLee be so protective and helpful to Hope. I am convinced that God has his hand in every step of this. Even though LeeLee led the prayers for being able to bring Hope home, we didn't believe she would be willing to share her spotlight. She has graciously shared, and I am proud of the good work that God is doing in her life.

Simplistic Beauty

So, I get out the camera so that I can take pictures of Hope's legs. I have gotten lots of emails from friends and fellow potential adoptive parents asking about Hope's leg situation. I thought instead of just trying to answer all the emails that I could just post some pictures and explain here. But in typical Hope fashion she wanted to model first before I took pictures of just her legs. Honestly she takes my breath away! She has the most simplistic beauty, and the most radiant smile. So after a few "modeling shots" I was able to capture some leg shots. In the picture below you can see that the leg on the left (her right leg), is smaller than the leg on the right (her left leg). The bone on the leg on the left also bows out more, because the bone now has a curve in it to try and compensate for the difference in leg lengths. This all starts at the hip. Her knee cap on her right leg is below the one on her left leg. I included the picture below to show you what the difference in leg lengths are now. You can see that her right leg sticks out further than the left. It would stick out even further if the bone on the right leg was straight. We start physical therapy today, so we shall see what the recommendations are.

A Glimpse of Hope's Life

We are blessed to have been provided with pictures of Hope's life inside the orphanage. These pictures are priceless as they include her best friends. They are such a part of her life, and as long as she can still speak Chinese, we will allow her to call back and talk to them.

Our biggest prayer is that all of these kids would find there way into families of their own.

These are the precious younger children that Hope helped to care for. We sent money for them to buy her a cake to share with friends so they could all celebrate together before Hope left. When the staff threw her party they decided to gather together all the children who had families coming for them. Each of these precious children will soon have a family.

However, only one of these is getting the chance of a family. The other three will be left behind. As of now, no one is coming for them. No one is willing to call them their son. Because they are older and have special needs, they are left behind.

This picture breaks my heart because here are these precious children who all dream of a family looking at our photo album. Hope has the joy in this picture of knowing that she was chosen. She gets to see pictures of us, our home, her room, our vacations, and our pets. The other children get continue to dream of those things. Do you have room in your heart and your home for one of these precious children? If you feel God pulling at your heart, then please answer the call.