It has been a while. I've started dozens of posts in my head, but never made it to here.
Yes, we are still waiting.
But there has been a whole lot of living and refining taking place in the meantime.
Olivia started school. Hard to believe that she is in 1st grade! She is attending an incredible Christian school and is making friends (and so am I!). Each week she has scripture that she memorizes and she has been rocking her weekly spelling tests.
Infusions and doctors appointments continue - and once again, Olivia conquers them all like a champion!
Dance has started back up. It is so precious to see Olivia dancing with a group of other kiddos who began their lives in China. What a gift to have Central Ohio Families with Children of China in our lives!
We held a garage sale on a VERY cold and rainy weekend, but were blessed to raise over $1,000 towards Callie's adoption and have conversations with people from Russia, China, Mexico, Pakistan, Africa, and of course, USA. God is good and alive around the world.
A dream of mine was realized when I got to take Olivia (thanks to the kindness of friends of my parents giving us tickets) to her first Ohio State football game. I went to my first game with dad at this same age. She had a blast - which meant that we did, too.
Back in June, Olivia was selected by Nationwide Children's Hospital to be one of their Children's Champions for the Columbus Marathon on October 17. What a great opportunity for us to raise awareness (and a little bit of money) for OI and international adoption. The day started out really cold, but the sun came up and it was spectacular. We were so blessed to have friends, nurses, and doctors come out to join us in cheering on the runners along mile 6! And Olivia's precious ortho ran in her honor. (I haven't had the heart to tell her that he is leaving us...he and his wife are moving to the DR where they will be serving full time at a missions hospital there. We will miss him tremendously, but I can't fault him for his reason! The kiddos of DR have no idea what a gift they are getting! So many lives will be forever changed by his skill and heart!) There is no doubt that we have been surrounded with the most amazing people!
On the home front, we're painting, moving rooms, switching out clothes, and doing all the other things that go with daily life.
If you're reading this, you're somehow a part of our village. And for that we say, "THANK YOU!?" If you want to do a little bit more reading, you can check out an article I just wrote on this topic over at No Hands But Ours.
In the next few days we will get a better sense of when we will be traveling to China. This wait has been different that for Olivia. The last picture I received of Callie was in May. My last update having to do with details of her life was in March. Because of where Olivia was living, I received them almost daily. Please pray with us as we continue to prepare our hearts and lives to grow our family. And also for Callie who will have her life and everything she knows turned upside down.
If you're local, we would love to have you join us at 'Cakes for Callie - a pancake breakfast fundraiser. In addition to yummy food, we will be having a silent auction. Do you know a little girl who would like an American Girl doll for Christmas? We have one...
Stay tuned for another fun fundraiser coming quickly that will be great for gifts for the little girls in your lives...
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