It's A Family Reunion

I can't wait until Elizabeth meets her family. Family is what life is all about. Yesterday was Father's Day and we all got together to celebrate dads. Here are some

pictures of the important dads in my family. From left to right: Picture 1- Grandma and Grandpa Hicks, Picture 2 - Phillip and Kathi (Elizabeth's soon-to-be parents), Picture 3 - Uncle Todd and Aunt Michelle, and Picture 4 - Great-Grandma and Grandpa

Morrison.

Purdue

I finally get to start my summer today!! I've been taking an Engineering class at Purdue all week. Thought I was in over my head but as it turns out, it was a lot of fun really. Did you know that engineering is involved in almost everything around us? If there is a problem that needs to be solved then call on an engineer to fix it! Purdue has a great program and really, really smart faculty that facilitated our every need. They welcomed all of us touchy, feely teachers and made us feel very welcome. So if any of you Purdue University Engineers from the INSPIRE program read this, you guys rock!! Nothing new on the adoption homefront. Just started reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Hoping to learn a lot about Chinese culture during the long, long wait that's ahead of my family.

Summer Vacation!!

Well, the school year is finally winding down. I will miss my students. But....I am soooo excited for vacation! We have absolutely NO plans which great! Nothing but swimming, camping, visiting family. Our yard sale is coming up with proceeds going towards our China adoption fund. Looking forward to it. I've had many friends contribute items towards our sale and for that I feel blessed. It's a great feeling to have true friends who just want to give to the cause. I did a small fundraiser at my school and raised several hundred dollars for my China fund. My goal is to have all five of us travel to China. Don't know if it will happen but it's a goal.
We're still getting our quilt squares from our China group and it's lots of fun! I'll try to post some pictures of them after I piece them all together. Of course, that won't be for a while. Life is good!

One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt

Yesterday referrals came to families with LID's through November 1, 2005. I'm hoping things speed up this coming year, but I am doubtful. I'm trying not to listen to too many adoption rumors out there because it can be a bit overwhelming. But....pictures of the new babies are JUST SOOOOO ADORABLE! That keeps me motivated. My DTC group is doing a 100 Good Wishes Quilt swap. It's a Chinese custom to send an expectant mother a quilt swatch with a wish for the child on it. I'm hoping to sew a small quilt for Elizabeth's bed with the fabric squares and add the wishes to her scrapbook. I hope I can get 100 wishes!! Family and friends if you are reading this and want to send a wish for Elizabeth, make the quilt square 8"x8" and then write a wish for her on a notecard with a little 1"x1" swatch of the same fabric attached to it. Here is a cool website in which you can see what one of the finished quilts look like. Of course mine won't be nearly this nice. http://www.originalquilts.com/100_good_wishes_quilts.htm Oh yes, also my secret buddy sent me the cutest little ladybug books for Elizabeth last month! Thank you so much!

They Say It's Your Birthday! We're Gonna Have A Good Time!

Today is my birthday! Woo Hoo! I had a perfect day. Flowers, strawberry ice cream cake, sushi, a new, pink ironman watch, and my awesome family showering me with love. I am so lucky to have them in my life!! God is so good to me. The postcard exchange is going well. I received some great postcards from other DTC families all over the United States and world. It's so much fun to read what they have to say. I will put these in Elizabeth's scrapbook eventually. She'll get a kick out of them. Well, I've been thinking of fundraiser ideas for our adoption. Here they are:
1. yard sale in May
2. cleaning services for a day - April
3. dance lessons - May (I used to teach at Arthur Murray's back in the day)
4. Homemade pies - October
5. 5k fun run - Little Jiaozi Run!
I don't know. Hopefully something will pan out.
We will begin our Secret Buddy Swap in April. We will be swapping with a secret someone until our referral. We're hoping to only have 15 swaps. I think this will make the time go quickly. There are so many great families involved in our lives right now. Have a great day!

Making Friends Along the Way

Our DTC (Dossier To China) group began a postcard swap recently. We will be exchanging postcards with other adopting parents of Chinese daughters and sons from all over the United States and Europe. The purpose of the exchange is to help us occupy our time until our referrals come. A referral is when our adoption agency sends us a picture and medical history of our little girl and we say "YES!" The other reason for the swap is to meet other adopting parents who might potentially be travelling with us. Should be exciting.