Faith was the Acolyte at Church today, it was her first time and I was praying that she did not burn down the Church today, she did great. Hope will get to do it next week, and she is excited. The girls have really been enjoying Sunday school, and at children's time they run up to the front of the church, after children's time they leave and go to children's church, which is great for us because we get to listen to the sermons now. We all have really enjoyed our church and our Preacher is GREAT, I have learned so much from him. The girls are still so excited about going to school, they wake up and want to know if they are going to go see their friends today, I keep telling them just a few more days. I am so glad that they are excited about starting school, I was a little worried because they have been spending so much time with me at home.

School Orientation

The girls had school orientation yesterday, which was good because it kept my mind off of what the day was like four years ago. God did however turn this day around to a joyous day 2 years later, He works in mysterious ways. Well I had been telling the girls all day that we were going to go to their school and meet their teachers and meet some of the kids. When they woke up from their nap, Hope said "I'm ready to go see my friends" , I'm not sure what friends she thought she was going to go see. When we got there the teachers all had stickers for the kids to put on their name badge, and a way of getting them to communicate with the teacher. ( Which was a smart way of doing it). The teachers would ask which sticker they wanted, and of course Hope was the first to respond, then she proceeded to pick out which sticker Faith wanted. So the teacher picked up on this and said she would ask Faith first for awhile in class. They had them sitting next to each other in their class, and we discussed that this would be good for a little while, but to separate them later, so that Faith would be able to be her own self. Hope likes to be first at everything, and if she isn't then she gets upset, so we have been trying to teach her that she has to take turns and that its OK that Faith does things first. They got to play at the playground at school, which was good because the girls started interacting with the other kids, so many times they team up together. The girls really liked going to the school, and said they are ready to go back to see their friends. YEA!!!!

The school it doing a cheer clinic, and if you know me, of course I signed them up its from 3-5 on about 8 days and they will get to cheer at 1 Pep rally, and 2 half time shows. AND IT'S ONLY $ 85.00 EACH, the amount of checks I have been writing to this school, I'm surprised the bank hasn't called me to see if something is wrong. O well its for the girls, and almost anything goes, RIGHT DAD!!!!

August 28 ------

A post from Mimi -


How can one date hold the greatest sorrow and the greatest joy at the same time ----
-- four years ago today three beautiful children lost their lives when a drunk driver crashed into the vehicle they were riding in with their parents.


-- two years ago today two beautiful little twin girls from China were referred to their forever family.


It's a day of tears and smiles for me (and I'm sure for everyone who has lived this experience with us) but certainly one I just can't NOT recognize. It seems I'm destined to spend this date in New York as I find myself there today -- just as I was four years ago and just as I was two years ago ------ so here I am remembering those beautiful children (my grandchildren) and while I know they are in their forever home and smiling down on us today it is with tears in my eyes that I write this post today. They will never be forgotten and their memory brings us joy to have had them in our lives, brief though it was.



-- and I am also smiling through those tears remembering the call from Tara (the Mom) to tell me that they had gotten "the call" that there were two little twin girls waiting for us in China (my grandchildren)---



Give your children (and granchildren) a special hug today.

A day of remembering ----

The baby doll has a name " Baby Jake " and baby Jake wears headbands and goes to dance class. The girls love their cousin baby Jake, so now every baby we see ( Boy or Girl )is baby Jake, and now the doll. See video below.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Beach Vacation

cut short due to

Tropical storm Fay!

( But here are some pics that we got while we were there.)

Some pictures of the girls cousins Garrett & Colton

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's a Picnic

( in the toy closet?)

I found the girls in their toy closet playing picnic, I took a video and you can see it on the right toolbar under youtube

Our other blog

http://www.threeinnocentliveslost.blogspot.com/

(click on it on the side bar to the right)

100 Good Wishes Quilts

Here is a photo of Hope & Faith's 100 Good Wishes Quilts:

(Yes 2 Quilts)

Thank you to all who contributed! I know alot of time was spent doing this and keeping it a secret from me. These guilts will always be cherished. The girls have really enjoyed looking at all the different sguares telling us what each is. It means so much to us that our family and friends did this for us.

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

They turned out very beautiful!

PS MOM I Know you will want to add to this, but you have been so busy lately.

In some parts of Northern China, when a baby is born, family and friends of the child donate fabric scraps from old clothing to the child's mother. She then makes a quilt for the baby from the scraps. It is said that the luck, energy and good wishes of the people who wore these clothes surrounds the child when she is wrapped in the quilt. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. This is the tradition upon which the 100 Good Wishes Quilt is modeled

Pictures of some of the Cousins

you can click on the images

Ready For SchoolThe girls thought it was fun trying on their uniforms, and getting their picture taken, and yes the girls will be wearing the twin outfit, I will do this as long as they will let me. I know my time is limited on this, but as for now the girls will not let me dress them different, not even the hair bows now. They think they must look alike. I am not sure if they will be able to wear the big hair bows to school, but we sure are going to try.