We have returned from our FABULOUS visit to The Big Apple! Thank you Elaine and Mario for being such wonderful Hosts! Matt and I were exhausted from all the site seeing in Manhattan. Here are a few pictures of our trip...

Day one: we spent the morning on The Circle Line Cruise- enjoying the 3 hour cruise around Manhattan. Most of the sites were with in the first hour and a half. Here is Lady Liberty, one of our favorites...

It was a bit windy and we both got a little sun! Here we are near the end of the cruise with the NW side of Manhattan behind us. Matt's Pink Floyd shirt appears to have come alive!!

The Lions outside of the NY Public Library.
The Lions were named by the Mayor:
Lion Fortitude & Matt Lion Patience & Julia

Finally, On our Third day we were on a subway headed toward SOHO and we were stoped by Jack Nicholson who welcomed us to New York and asked where we were visiting from! Okay, so we know this picture is not actually Jack in the flesh, but rather a poster outside of the movie rentals. But, we HAD to take a pic to remeber Jack and how nice he was to us!

We will post more pictures of our trip over the next few days. Hope y'all are all doing well! TTYS

Adoption Update:

"The current status for dossiers registered with the China Center of Adoption Affairs is detailed. This month, the CCAA completed the matching process for families with dossiers registered through January 12, 2006. It has been confirmed that the CCAA has completed the review of dossiers registered through January 31, 2007. We hope to receive our next batch of referrals in early June."

Reminder: our LID is September 18, 2006 and we are watching for the matching dates to get closer and closer to our LID- currently CCAA has completed LID through Jan 12, 06. And, we expect to hear the next matching batch in early June.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080505/hl_afp/chinahealthenterovirus_080505144747

Some very scary news... "BEIJING (AFP) - A deadly viral outbreak that preys on children has appeared in Olympic host city Beijing, and the number of infections in China has grown to more than 9,000, state media reported Monday."

ADOPTION UPDATE:

The stork has landed! Our agency received referrals for families whose dossiers were logged in on January 12, 2006. The CCAA has not released a cutoff date yet, but as soon as they do, I will let you know. Of the referrals, our agency received- they were all girls! The children ranged in age from 6 1/2 months to 36 months. The children in this referral group are from the following Provinces: Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Guangxi . Congratulations to these families!

Our LID is September 18, 2006. Atleast CCAA is finally in our year. Though it is taking them a very long time to make it through January we are excited they are progressing closer and closer to our LID. We estimate we may hear our referral Summer 09. Of course, we keep our fingers and toes crossed that it will happen sooner- anything is possible when God is in control! Please keep us and Baby Miller in your prayers! We thank each of you for following our journey!

Wow. We just got the news that Vietnam has stopped ALL US adoptions in response to a report the US government filed which alleged widespread baby-selling, corruption, and fraud in their adoption practices. We had, at one point, considered dropping China and switching to Vietnam. Thank God we stayed put. It's a long road to Beijing, but we will get there. Our hearts go out to those folks who are in the Vietnamese adoption process who must now be wondering, "now what?"

http://news.yahoo.com:80/s/ap/20080428/ap_on_re_as/vietnam_us_adoption

Nope, no new news... just pictures of every day life here at Casa de' Miller! ;)

Sierra fell asleep in Daddy's lap this afternoon
~ all her glory was showing~
Buddha Belly included!

Here is a picture that The Melting Pot staff took of us during Julia's Birthday Dinner. As usual, the food was DELICIOUS!

Adoption update:

This month The current status for dossiers registered with the China Center of Adoption Affairs - - CCAA has completed the matching process for families with dossiers registered through January 9, 2006. Also, it has been confirmed that the CCAA has completed the review of dossiers registered through December 31, 2006.

We've been FORKED!!
We woke up to 306 plastic forks in the front lawn! Our first inclination was we were vandalized by teenagers... Matt grudgingly went out side to begin the clean up...

..Quickly he came back in and said,"There's another element to this forking! Your "friends" left a sign for you"...

Thanks to Connie, Tracey, Crystal R., Amy & Crystal H. Julia was Birthday FORKED last night!!!

Girls, do you know what they say about payback??!
OH, IT'S ON!!!

Nothing new to share on the adoption. But, I would like to share a story that seems quite appropriate. I hope you will take the time to read a little story about an Ant and the Contact Lens: a true story

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens . "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry."
She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, "God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him....I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=4PcL6-mjRNk
Nacho wants one of these for Christmas this year~! Check it out!

I received this today from my Father-in-Law and thought I should share it. The message certainly gives us peace in our adoption journey.

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered,
"Oh, that's easy," "When I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

This is Matt. I came home from work today and had a large package waiting for me from Lucasfilm. They sent me a resin statue of Darth Maul, my favorite new character from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. I had mentioned in the interview that I loved the look and presence of Maul and they sent me this beautiful work of art in the pictures here. Very cool. This whole experience the last few weeks has been pretty amazing!

Referral Update:

We recently received news that CCAA (Chinese Center Adoption Affairs) referral cutoff date for this month is January 4, 2006. (Finally in OUR LID year!!)

of the referrals our agency received, they were all girls and one set of twins! The children ranged in age from 6 1/2 month to 8 1/2 months. Also, the children in this referral group are from the following Provinces: Jiangxi and Hunan. Congratulations to these families!

http://www.starwars.com/community/news/family/f20080303/index.html

The official fan site interview is up... check M out!

March First
============

march v. To proceed directly and purposefully. To progress steadily onward;
advance. To be arranged in an orderly fashion that suggests steady,
rhythmical progression.


Giving advice is easy. Giving really good advice is harder.
Providing an example is hardest but is usually the most effective way of
influencing both youth and adults. After all, adults are simply older
youths who were influenced by someone's example early in life.

Our walk or march through life is the greatest teacher that we will provide
for others. Even Paul in the Bible said, "Follow my example, as I follow
the example of Christ."
(1 Cor 11:1 NIV)

Today is the beginning of the month of March.

Perhaps today should also be the beginning of a new walk.
A walk of direction and purpose. A walk worthy to follow.

March first.

Then advise.

Check out Matt's profile on this blog regarding his book:

http://blogs.amctv.com/scifi-scanner/2008/02/jedimasterquizb.php

Matt has been in high demand recently for the fans of the movie series! He has been interviewed by several fan sites. Check back with us and we will link his interviews on our blog.

May The Force by we you!!

Set your TIVO...
TLC show - a must see

Connie recently watched this show on TLC and so I did a little digging to find out when it would be on again. Sounds like an interesting show about a family who "Brings home baby" from China. Set your TIVO!! :)

Feb 27, 10:00 am Eastern Time (check the time in your area), The Learning Channel (ch 183 on Dish Network)
(30 minutes)
Bringing Home Baby
Sara Comes Home
TV-G, CC
Pamela and Alan have waited a long time to become parents and finally get their wish when they adopt a toddler from China. Bringing home Sara is filled with much anticipation and excitement, but also has its challenges.

I hope you all get to watch it.

http://akapayton.blogspot.com/2008/02/in-search-of-rusty-miller.html

'Yall check out this link! Apparently I am married to a "Missing" man! :) Too cool!!!!

"M.I.A"

I just got the giggles because Matt is being "hunted"! There is another HUGE star wars fan at CDC who knows of his past with Star Wars and follows the message boards at starwars.com This person ran across a thread where people are searching for my husband... How KEWEL!!!

1. Homie Bear Says:I’ve often wondered what became of him, too. Also I wonder what became of my copy of Jedi Master’s Quizbook.
2. Somepetow Says:That would be interesting to find out what he’s doing now
3. Nate Says:…I think I have this book.
   
4. Pabawan Says:

   There’s a couple that stick out in my mind — one about Snaggletooth and one about the number of engines on the back of the blockade runner. Yes, I remember that from childhood because of the discussion it sparked.

5. Lee Thomas Says: I know where Rusty is; he is a co-worker. But I won’t give him up for anything less than a firkin of good juma. Or a wax job for my leeku.
6. Rusty Says:
   Lee let me know that I am being hunted. Hello!
7. Mark Says: Hooray! Rusty has been found! Good to see you here mate, that book is on many a fans bookshelf.Hey, once you’ve been interviewed by the official site, how do you fancy an interview with www.lightsabre.co.uk? Ahhh, how cool is this!

Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus

The GREATEST Show on earth!

http://www.ringling.com/

It has been YEARS since either of us went to the circus! We couldn't pass up the opportunity to feel like kids again ~ we suggest everyone give it a try as often as possible! :)

We made the trip down to Phillips Arena with our good friends Connie and Daniel (otherwise known as Figgy & D). Check out our group photo with the lion statue. The photographer said she has been able to get as many as 11 people in one photo! Matt and I got a kick out of straddling the lions back. Our seats during the show were pretty high up so most of our show pictures didn't turn out so well. The show was full of acrobatics, lion tamers, dog trainers, elephant maneuvering, horse demonstrations, etc... and of course CLOWNS a plenty! To our dismay cotton candy was $12! So, our only souvenir was our cute group photo.

After the circus we went to check out the CNN center. During our short jaunt Matt and I ran into our favorite CNN personalities. Matt was glowing as he stood next to Glenn Beck and...

...Julia couldn't keep herself from blowing kisses (and whispering sweet nothings) into Anderson Coopers ear. ;P

RUN THE REAGAN
Race Date: Saturday, February 16th
http://www.runthereagan.com/home.php

"Runners can choose between the half-marathon, 10k, 5k or 1-mile fun run. All of the races start at the corner of Ronald Reagan Parkway and Presidential Circle in Snellville, GA. "

Julia ran her first 1 mile fun run and Matt ran his first 10K!! Also, this was the first group event for "Team 3M". Who is "Team 3M", you ask?? Matt and I make up 2/3 of The Magnificent Miller Milers! Our other 1/3 is Matt's father Ed.

The race was run on the Ronald Reagan Parkway which connects Snellville to the Gwinnett Place Mall Area. The entire Parkway is 6.5 miles long- the 1/2 marathon runners ran from one end to the other and back.

Matt's portion of the course was at times rolling and a bit hilly. Matt paced himself for awhile by trying to stay ahead of two little older ladies. They played cat and mouse until Matt grew embarrassed and moved on.

Ed and Julia's course was relatively flat and Ed set a blistering pace with his long stride. Quite literally, Julia is nursing a blister on the back of her heel! Julia spoke to a pro runner after the race and received guidance on tying her shoe! Yes, everyone, there is a proper way to tie your shoe to avoid blisters! Who knew?! If you need directions, just let me know! :)

Having energy left Matt & Julia headed to the gym where Julia ran three more miles, Matt worked on strength training and Ed returned home to walk another mile and a half at his local community park with his beloved bitch- Border Collie Charlie. Also, Team 3M has plans to participate in the Memorial Day 5K and fun run in Dacula! Watch this space for announcements of appearances by Team 3M in a city near you... BE THERE! ;P

Team "3M"
The Magnificent Miller Milers

Before Race Picture of Matt and his father Ed.
Race numbers 1-500 ran the 1/2 Marathon
Race numbers 500-1300 ran the 10K
Race numbers above 1300 ran the 5K or 1 mile fun run

Before the race picture of the "milers" Julia and Ed.
2 hours to go before the fun run would start.

The 10K race has begun, "GO MATT, GO!!"
"I eat lightning and cr*p thunder"

Matt sees the finish line and pushes forward. Time: 1:05

Julia and Ed Walking towards the finish line, completing their first 1 mile fun run.
Time 15:10

Happy Valentine's Day!!

YEAR of the RAT

February 7th, 2008

Here's an article we ran across on Yahoo news... interesting...

"As the Year of the Pig ends tonight, followers of Chinese superstition will be scurrying to consult fortune-tellers, astrologers and feng shui geomancers to guide their year ahead.

Chinese fortunes are based on a belief that events are dictated by the different balances in the elements that make up the earth -- gold, wood, water, fire and earth.

...Lo added that the Chinese calendar follows a 60-year cycle, so 2008 will be similar historically to 1948, when Israel was established and the blockade of Berlin started, both events part of the build-up to long-standing conflict.

The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and associates each of the 12 years forming a partial cycle with an animal. Fortune-tellers base their predictions on the relationship between the zodiac animals and the characteristics of each.

The Rat is the first of the 12 animal signs, so marks new beginnings, which Lo said will be reflected in changes of leadership in the United States, Russia and Taiwan. The rodent is also seen as a "flower of romance" which means the year will stimulate romance, but also sex scandals.More worryingly, it provokes a clash between water and fire which could mean heavy flooding or a tsunami, Lo added.

"The most famous water disasters in history, such as the south Asian tsunami in 2004 and the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, both incidents happened on a date with prominent appearance of the Rat," Lo said.He also said that the previous Year of the Rat, 1996, witnessed more than 20 plane crashes including the Trans World Airlines Boeing aircraft which exploded over the Atlantic, killing 230 people.Lee Sing-tong, a third-generation feng shui master, said China may suffer a water shortage in the next 12 months. "

LOST
The Beginning of the end
Season Four Premiere, January 31st 8/7c on ABC
2 hour premiere event!! Here's some interesting theories that made us go Hmmm...

Another theory on the location of the Island:
Hurley said he saw Charlie materialize by the Ho-hos. Then when he and Jack were playing Horse Jack only made it to H-O before calling it quits. That's three hos. Who says "Ho ho ho?" That's right Santa Claus. Where does Santa live? The North Pole.

You think I'm wacked right?

Well I may not be. There are alot of people and several websites devoted to a hollow earth theory -- that an opening exists at the North Pole, leading into a "hollow earth" or perhaps another dimmension of earth that we are unaware of. What made me consider this is I remember reading that Hitler, being obsessed with the occult, sent an expidition to the North Pole to find the opening and/or the ancient civilization theorized to exist there.

Here's a snippet I found while dooing a Google search:

Quote:
• In 1939, the Americans and Germans were in a race to explore and claim lands in Antarctica. President Roosevelt sent Admiral Byrd to the frozen continent to thwart any German claims to Antarctic lands in the Western Hemisphere. Hollow Earthers have proclaimed that this was actually a secret mission to beat the Nazis in the exploration of "the land beyond the poles."
That actually says South Pole but accoprding to legend expeditions were sent to both.

What if Oceanic 815 accidentally found a portal into this lost island? What if portals exist all over the world which lead there? Think Bermuda or Devil's triangle.

What if the Lost island IS in a magnetic snowglobe at the north pole?

A few more clues that may back this idea is that Polar Bears were housed at the Hydra station once. Polar Bears are found at the North Pole while Penguins are found at the South Pole.

Also, there was the Swan hatch and the incident. Obviously an electromagnetic anamoly occurred. The North Pole is obviously a strong source for EM activity and it is even believed that the earth has shifted on it axis thus changing the polarity of the planet -- think Magnetic North vs True North.

Lastly, the had to travel to the island via submarine perhaps becasue the magnetic snowglobe/island/dimmension is surrounded by vast fields of ice.

Just riffing but I think the pieces are starting to fit.

More on this theory:
Are the writers that clever? If so, many props. Anyway, awesome idea. Another clue is the painting Hurley was working on was of an Inuit (or whatever) pulling a sled away from an igloo. One more is the fact that Penny had a research team working out of the Arctic. If your idea is correct, ten bucks says the "Freighter" is actually an icebreaker.....

Hurley is drawing a picture of an Eskimo by an igloo. Penny's team seems to be in the Arctic. The Swan password is the joke about what one snowman says to the other. There are many hints like that. You may well be onto something.

Snow Storm 08: find your lip balm!
Northerners, and Coloradans, don't you laugh! We got two whole inches of snow and a little sleet last night. No bread or milk left on any grocery shelf in our county, maybe even in the state ;P. It's beautiful and it will be gone by this afternoon. In our defense, there was sleet and some freezing rain mixed in so the roads were a little slick. We usually have horrible, damaging ice storms instead of snow so this was a treat for us!

It's cold this morning! We woke up to temperatures in the teens! Factor in the wind and temperatures are in the single digits (7 degrees)! I don't care if you are in CO, 7 degrees is freakin cold! LOL!! The air is DRY and we find ourselves searching for lotion and lip-balm! Just like the dry air zapped a lot of the moisture off the roads, it is doing the same to our skin.

A recap of Saturdays snow day: Snow started falling in our area at 10 A.M. And, it was coming down fast and furious~ we expected a real-live bona-fide snow day! We had high hopes of creating a snowman by end of the day. Those hopes were squashed around 2 P.M. the snow slowed down and did not pile up on the ground. Snow melted on anywhere without grass and the roads were wet!

The Chihuahuas did not enjoy the cold ground and would not venture out into the yard, staying close to the sides of the house to "do their business" as quick as possible. Last night as the frigid air came in, icy streets were a concern. But, this morning we wake up and the streets are dry, just like our skin! Imagine that!

Snow storm 08 was beautiful to watch, gave us hopes and made us giddy. We didn't take many photos... but, we hope you enjoy the ones we did take.

Staying warm as possible today~ check out the pic of the Chi's!

Hello all. We have snow falling here in Atlanta (pics and video to come). The mail just came and, surprise of surprises, we actually got our I-797 form back already. So, we are now good to go through July 2009, which, God willing and the creek don't rise, should get us to China and back. Next step is doing the pre-adoption education on the web that the Hague Convention has mandated. Onward and upward.

Inspired

I have a very good online friend who continuously inspires me through her creativity. (Shout out to the pink-butterfly) We have never met in person, but we communicate frequently through our love of scrap booking! We met online at my fave hangout spot (scrapbook.com). Reading her blog this evening I felt inspired - a little excerpt:

"i've seem to have picked my word for 2008........
BALANCE
vb. compute the balance , equalize , bring into harmony or proportion.
Balance is a key component to any with a family, job, friends, hobbies, lifestyle.....i always think about how i would love to have everything balanced out and fine tuned. especially when all 7 kiddos are hanging in tow at the grocery store or we have a 2 week break and lots of fun things planned. Or how i really love my clean house but am lacking in me time.....BALANCE. My one word for the year. I decided to finally get that art journal going....now i have something to kick it off!
Have you picked your one word for 2008?"
If you have a chance you should stop by and say "Hello" to Charygirl. She is one of the most creative (and friendly) Internet person I know!~ http://www.creativegirlz.blogspot.com/ and, tell her "MKJulia2000" sent you :)

Okay, so back to the word I will focus on through 2008: Patience.
Maybe it seems a little too obvious. BUT, possibly I just haven't learned the lesson yet. Really?! Yes, I'll be glad when our lesson in patience is over~ "To every thing,.. there is a season...and a time for every purpose under heaven." ~ Name THAT Tune! Anyone? Bueller?!

for all things have a time and a place! I truly believe this. So, Patience, Julia, Patience!

patience/n. 1. The capacity, habit, or fact of being patient, 2. solitaire
patient/ adj. 1. bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint 2. manifesting for bearance under provocation or strain. 3. not hasty or impetuous 4. steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity. 5. able or willing to bear.
patiently-adv.
Okay, already I know that patient as an adjective is where I should focus my efforts (#1 & #5the willing part gets me every time)!!

Ni Hao
"Hi"

Check this out! A new Children's Show will be premiering on Nick Jr. Thursday, February 7th, 11AM!

Ni Hao, Kai-lan is a play-along, think-along series that weaves together Chinese language and culture, preschool-relatable stories, and interactivity, with Kai-lan as your intimate friend and playmate!

What the Show's About
"Ni hao!" That means "hi" in Chinese--and that's how Kai-lan greets you every day! Kai-lan Chow is an exuberant Chinese-American preschooler, almost 6, who wants you to come play with her and her best friends.

Kai-lan's world is infused with Chinese culture and is brimming with magical sights and sounds, and everywhere you turn there's something amazing and beautiful to see. Along the way, she and her bilingual buddies speak in English and Chinese, but they always need kids' help to find creative solutions to the daily dilemmas that come their way!

Meet the Characters
Kai-lan Chow is a playful, adventurous preschooler with a big heart. She is almost 6, speaks both English and Mandarin Chinese, and is super excited to share her language, her culture, and her playtime--with her animal friends and children at home!

YeYe is Kai-lan's grandpa. He lovingly passes on his rich and colorful world full of Chinese customs and traditions to his granddaughter. YeYe provides Kai-lan with gentle guidance, leading her to find her own answers, at her own pace.

Tolee is a 5-year-old panda-loving koala who puts his friends first. He's the thinker of the group, and Kai-lan and her friends can always rely on him for good ideas and to think before he acts.

At 3-years-old, Hoho the monkey is the youngest of Kai-lan's friends. He's full of boundless energy, he's super good at jumping, and loves to DJ. Nothing makes Hoho happier than being the center of attention.

Rintoo is a rambunctious 5-year-old tiger who's best friends with Kai-lan. Rintoo has a thirst for adventure and thrills, but beneath the bravado he's a sweet and caring tiger who looks out for his friends.

Kai-Lan's Curriculum
Ni Hao, Kai-lan is the next generation of preschool television programming that introduces the psychology of biculturalism. If Dora and Diego popularized bilingualism, Kai-lan will weave together being bilingual and bicultural. Ni Hao, Kai-lan reinforces the idea that being bicultural and bilingual is being American.

The show will familiarize the viewing audience with elements of Chinese and Chinese American cultures to promote multicultural understanding in the next generation and goes beyond featuring "culture" as only ethnic food and festivals. Instead, it celebrates growing up in an intergenerational family, having friends from diverse backgrounds, and "habits of the heart" that are Chinese American. These values include:

Mind-body connection typically, television portrays excitement as the good emotion to feel. In many Chinese-American communities, the good thing to feel is often calmness and contentment. Feeling excited and feeling calm can both be happy feelings, but they differ in how aroused the body is.

Perspective-taking in many Chinese and other East Asian families, children are encouraged to take the perspective of others to maintain harmony in relationships with other people

Being a good member of the group Ni Hao, Kai-lan also emphasizes the Chinese and Chinese American value of being a good member of a group.

Social & Emotional Goals Highlight cause-and-effect thinking about social and emotional issues germane to preschoolers and to support preschooler's social and emotional development.

UPDATE ON REFERRAL TIMEFRAME

As you all know we are anxiously waiting to hear of our referral or information on time lines for receiving the referral. Some days we are more patient than others. The waiting time has been a major topic and issue, for waiting families and perspective families, surrounding this entire adoption program. Of course, rumors spread like wild fire! Theories and predictions spread quickly - even those that can not be validated or confirmed. Thus it is hard to truly know what our time frame will be. We cling to any news that comes in and wonder if it is truth or rumor.

No surprise to us, it has been recently confirmed that CCAA expects things to
"look up in 2009"! What that means for us- we do not know. We just wanted to share this itty-tiny little bit of information because it sounds as if the incoming dossiers each month has decreased dramatically (since around Spring 07) and that will definitely help decrease this long wait. When we will see the speed up us still unknown. This information does not change our expectations for our time frame however it does confirm it for us!!

For a Child to be considered eligible for adoption there is a lot of medical and paperwork from the orphanage on each referral that is necessary. As you can imagine, that is most likely a BIG undertaking for the orphanages. They continue to streamline the process to make it simpler for the orphanages. There are quite a few orphans waiting for families, but, a lot of them are not abandoned, they became orphans because their parents have died. Their government is looking into making those children available for international adoptions.

Also, we have recently learned that CCAA will be issuing travel approval in June 2008 (during the Olympics)! Which is exciting news for those families!! What an experience that will be for those families that travel during that time!

Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Happy New Year!

Chinese New Year formally commences at the beginning of Spring. Hence, it is known as the Spring Festival. It is a time to cast away the bad blood of the previous year and wish for good fortune in the coming year. Unlike the western calendar, the Chinese have their own lunar calendar which revolves around the moon.

The Chinese zodiac is too old to be traced. Fable has it that all the animals were asked to report to the emperor on Chinese New Year day. Only the first twelve to reach the palace were to be rewarded with a year named after them. Since then, each year has been represented by an animal with its own distinctive characteristic and fate. This year is the Year of the Rat, and it begins on Feb 7, 2008.

The Year of the Rat? What can we possibly have to look forward to in 2008? Nowadays rats are considered dirty, nasty animals; yet some before us saw abundance and hope in the rodents. What does the Rat symbolize, you ask?

▶ Diligence and fecundity: Rats have long whiskers and well-developed sensory organs. They adapt to a new environment and breed rapidly. Their ability to overcome difficulties and survive in any environment makes them a symbol of diligence, wealth and affluence.

▶ Foreboding dangers: According to the “Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms”, it did not snow in the fifth year of King Hyegong (A.D. 763) in Shilla, and just before that, the unusual migration of some 8,000 rats had been observed in Chiak Prefecture. This is an example of rats’ capability to anticipate dangers. Those before us predicted dangers or prepared for accidents by observing the migration of rats.

▶ Shrewd and clever: Rats are the first among 12 animals in the Zodiac. According to a fable, the king of Heaven wanted to give ranks to animals. The Lord decided to rank animals in the order of their arrival at the gates of Heaven on the first day of the year. Upon the delightful news, animals trained to get there faster than the others. Among them, the cow worked hardest to win the race. Watching other animals, the mouse realized that winning the race would be impossible for such a little animal like him, so he got on the back of the cow. On the day of the race, the diligent cow was first to reach the goal. However, on arrival, the mouse jumped off the back of the cow and entered the gates of Heaven before all others.

▶ Traditions: The 15th day of the first month of the Lunar calendar is the day of jwibulnori, a traditional folk game to kill the mice leaving their holes and exterminate insects that infest the dry paddy fields with fire. In old times, women chanted, “Burn out the mouth of rats” while parching beans, in the belief that they could eradicate rats that way. In the Chosun dynasty era, there were many paintings depicting the life of rats. In a work by the leading female artist Shin Saimdang, a rat nibbles at a watermelon in a field. Our ancestors clearly saw rats as common animals easily understood in everyday life.

Our Fingerprint Update is complete!

Thanks to the Holiday Season, the drive into Atlanta was not as bad as expected, the traffic on the roads was less than usual. AND the crowd at immigration was non-existent! We were in and out with in an hour!

Our next goal is to tackle the adoption training that the Hague Convention (for Intercountry Adoptions) requires. This training curriculum, provided mostly by an outside third party, provides families with the entire 10 hours of training. These courses are well known in the international adoption community. The Hague is very specific in the designation on what topics need to be covered and participated in by families and we have to document that all of the topics have been appropriately covered and are approved as Hague accredited training hours. Luckily we have a "jump" on this stage because we already have a few hours under our belt which were required from the first homestudy approval. From our experience the 10 hours really means 20 hours of reading, studying and discussing each topic. It really is pretty interesting to both of us and the topics certainly help our understanding.

Mom and her Chi's. The Children are getting exhausted from picture taking... "enough already, let's open presents!"

Matt and the kids posing for their Christmas Photo.
Nacho always has to be the center of attention!!

Sierra can hardly wait to open her gifts of Vitamin "B" (dog bacon) and noise maker toys!! "Let's open presents N.O.W.!!"

"We shouldn't have let Sierra eat the entire bag!!"
Check out her Buddha Belly!!

Christmas 2007 was full of surprises. We visited with friends and family, ate lots of food and relaxed our full bellies. The year 2007 has been good to us and we look forward to 2008!! Blessings to each of YOU!

One Step Closer...

Home study Update -check
Mail Update to immigration- check
Fingerprint update appointment- check
Immigration approval-
Matching Room-
Referral-

We received our appointment date for our fingerprinting update today! We are relieved to have received notice that our home study update package was received by immigration and our appointment date is set! January 2nd we will be fighting Atlanta traffic to make it to the immigration office. That will be an experience! Matt reminded me that it is the day after New Years and a lot of people will still be off for vacation. So, hopefully that will be the case and our morning drive will be easier than expected!

To be fingerprinted you have to be "invited" and show up with your appointment document. Also, to enter the building you MUST have proof of the government document in hand. And, you can only enter the building at the time listed on your document. The office is full of adoptive parents and potential foreign immigrants. I have to say that immigration has a well oiled system in place and it runs smoothly.

I have got to share this. We made a total elf of our Chihuahua's! Not sure how long this link will be active, but it is so cute we have to share it. Check it out by clicking the link below.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1221134750

This elfin' greeting brought to you by OfficeMax

Merry Christmas. Our tree is up. At night it appears to glow. People have asked us why we have a white tree and decorate it heavily in shades of blue, which are nontraditional Christmas colors. It all began with Matt putting a blue light in the window, which is a tradition among public safety personnel, paying tribute to fallen police officers, firefighters, paramedics, etc. during the holiday season. The tree is meant to reflect that, as well as to pay tribute to the state of Israel, since our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was a Jew and we wanted our tree to reflect the heritage of our beliefs.

Below, we would like to share some of our favorite ornaments. Enjoy!

This is another ornament Matt's parents gave us the year we were compiling our dossier. It is a tiger, which has dual significance. First it references the possibility of a male child. Second, traditionally a tiger is a good luck symbol for babies in China. The tiger is said to protect them from bad spirits and bring good luck. Also, babies are given tiger related gifts on their first birthday.

This Yuan Hong porcelain ornament was given to us by Matt's parents. The white wings accent this Chinese angel's traditional red outfit with tiny white rams on the jacket. She wears a plum blossom headband and holds an open fan. She was given to us the year we were assembling our dossier. We love her so much that we keep her out all year long.

This is one of the new Hallmark 2007 ornaments. This is one of our favorites. It is from the "Joy To The World" collection. The ornament shows cultural details, happy young faces, and homes decorated for the season. Ornaments that show how Christmas unites us around the world. We hung her prominently in the center of our tree to remind us of our hope for future Christmases with our child.

Feliz Navidad from our Chihuahua's
to You and Your Loved ones!!

We received notice that our Dossier is out of review!!! YEA!!! Here's the note from our agency:

"Hello September LID families,

I wanted to let you know that we received word from our Beijing office that the CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office before September 30, 2006. Yeah September 2006 is out of review!!!!!! Congratulations to all of you"

This month, the CCAA completed the matching process for families with dossiers registered through December 8, 2005. They experienced a 23 month referral wait. Using this as a guideline we should be expecting to hear our matching August 2008- Travel October/November 2008!!! OMG!!! Why all of a sudden does that seem JUST AROUND THE CORNER??