Devil Dawg - Halloween Costume 2008
Nacho seems to be enjoying himself and even appears to get into character...


Christmas 2007
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We have shared with our Friends and Family this ornament tradition we are starting for you. And, this is the VERY first ornament gift to you from Mommy’s Best Friend~ Connie. Just like everyone else, she can’t wait to meet you! Because she is so dear to us we want you to call her Auntie Connie. Auntie Connie has been Mommy’s confidant through the adoption process. And, she knows how important you are to us! She told me that when she saw this set she just HAD to get it for you. Thank you Auntie Connie! PS: We liked the ornament so much we bought one for our Christmas tree too!
Christmas 2007
“Great Getaways”
A little over a year has passed from our LID and we are still waiting on your referral from

Christmas 2006
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This year Daddy and I have been very busy preparing all the paperwork necessary to start our family with you! We decided in November 2005 that we would proceed with your adoption in Jan/Feb 06. In January we researched agencies and February we signed the application and began the arduous, yet exciting, adoption paper trail. We are so very excited to receive our “Log in date” (LID) from
The Number Eight & 8/8/08!!
I found this article on yahoo news and found it interesting. Then, read to the bottom to see our thoughts on this!! Exciting news!!
BEIJING (Reuters) - August 8 promises to be a lucky day for Liu Chuan who is getting married and has a ticket for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Liu and his bride will join thousands of Chinese couples queuing at the marriage registry on Friday, an auspicious day for weddings and births because of the number 8, which symbolizes wealth in Chinese.
August 8 is also China's big day, when the Olympic Games open in Beijing. Organizers added an extra eight for good measure by scheduling the opening ceremony for 8 p.m. "Chinese are partial to the number 8, and Friday is three 8s in a row - the eighth day of the eighth month, 2008. Also, we picked it because of the Olympics," said Liu, a Beijing resident. "I got a ticket for the opening ceremony that night, but it was only possible to get one, so I will go to the Bird's Nest (stadium) and my fiancee will watch it on TV at home."
So many couples are planning to tie the knot on August 8 that Beijing's marriage registries set up an online service for couples to file paperwork in advance and speed up the process. An estimated 9,000 couples in Beijing alone will get their marriage certificates that day.
"Whenever you get here, you will have to wait. The bureau opens at 8.30 in the morning and some people will come a lot earlier than that to get in line," said a staff member at the Tongzhou registry, on the outskirts of Beijing, which has booked 500 appointments for Friday.
But despite the flood of weddings, many banquet halls are facing a drought of bookings. Many Chinese get their certificate and hold their banquets on separate days, and August 8 is usually a popular day to hold banquets.
However, most couples will delay the banquet for another day to avoid being upstaged by the opening ceremony, which will feature thousands of performers and extravagant fireworks.
"We thought about holding the banquet that night, but we figured it was inconvenient," Liu said.
"Since it overlapped with the opening ceremony, most guests probably wouldn't have the time or the interest to come to our celebration."
Couples are also worried that transportation could be snarled up on Friday, when about 100 world leaders attend the opening ceremony, said manager Kang of Jinri Jiari Seafood City, where the banquet room is empty on Friday night but fully booked on Saturday and most weekends through October."
Okay, so back to our adoption, I can't help but think about this... we expect our referral possibly Late 2009- early 2010. So, with this insight on 8/8/8 is it possible... could we... hmm.... okay, I don't want to say the words because it seems so disrespectful. So, let me just put the pieces together for you and let you figure out what I'm thinking here...8/8/8 + 9 months = May 2009 + 10 month old (age we expect to receive) baby Emma= December 09-March 2010!! Oh my! Is it possible? Baby Emma is soon to have a beating heart?? WOW!

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!
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)
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."
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!!)
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.
Lee let me know that I am being hunted. Hello!