Forever Young

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

New Post

I wrote a new blog post today, but it is in our temporary travel blog. Don't forget to check out Journey to Me and search for Journey to Karis Joy!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Travel Blog and Chicken Pox

We will not be able to access our blogs while we are in China because those web sites are blocked. So, we have set up a temporary blog to use while we travel at Journey to Me. You can click on that link, and then look for Journey to Karis Joy. We hope to update this site every day and fill you in on what we're doing in China!

In other news, we found out that Karis came down with chicken pox on March 17th. We received a couple of pictures of her and it looks like it's not a terrible case of them. But, chicken pox is not fun, and I wish I could help make her feel better! We also noticed it looks like they've cut her hair again! I can't wait to let her hair grow out and put it up in pig tails!
Here is our sick girl. :-(


Sunday, March 18, 2012

Travel Approval!

On Friday our adoption agency received our Travel Approval from China! This means that we have done everything we need to do, and they are ready for us to come and get our daughter!! We are so excited!! Our agency is working on making our appointment at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, and that will determine our exact travel dates. But, our agency is thinking we'll travel April 4-19. If those dates work out, we'll be leaving in about 2 1/2 weeks!!! We already have a suitcase in our bedroom which is almost filled up, and there are no clothes in it yet. We have a 4 page packing checklist that we got from our agency so we have been gathering and purchasing all those things. God is providing money for us, and it looks like we may not have to borrow any money to cover our expenses. He really does provide!! We are so blessed. God is so good!

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Our Adoption Supporters!!

I cannot adequately express the appreciation we feel for all the people who are supporting us throughout this adoption process! We are truly blessed with wonderful friends and family who are sharing their time, talents and money with us as we travel this path of adoption. I cannot wait for Karis to meet all the wonderful people who helped bring her home! James 1:27 tells us that we should help care for orphans and widows. I do not believe that everyone is called to adopt, but all Christians are called to care for orphans and widows. I believe that helping others who are called to adopt is definitely one way for Christians to help care for orphans. At times it is very hard for us to accept gifts from others who are supporting us. We know people who have great financial hardships who have given to us. Don't they need the money they are trying to give us? Aren't there people with much greater needs who could be blessed by this gift? But, I know that if God has prompted someone to support our adoption, I can not deny that person the ability to follow God and obey his leading in their lives as they seek to obey James 1:27. So, we humbly accept what others have done for us, and we stand in awe of how God continually provides for all of our needs.
Thank you is not enough, but we do say THANK YOU to all the people who have supported us. I am including a list of all the people who have helped us in many different ways throughout our adventure (in no particular order):

Carl & Sara Christensen

Ruth Ann Watson

Tom Taylor

Logan & Allison Preston

Richard & Linda Trotter

David & Jenn Murphy

Joe & Jen Roberson

Scott & Liz Lee

Darren & Tammy Brown

David & Bethany Guthrie

Shelly Embry

Roger & Merideth Van Fleet

Chuck & Betty Young

Sandy Hibbs

Joel & Rebecca Cummings

Tony & Kim Peters

Ed & Eva Brooks

Jason Wilson’s friend

Chris & Sonja Russell

Tim & Amy Elliott

Debbie Bennett

Steven Ballard

Anonymous

Keepers Club

Jason & Angela Wilson

Don & Sue Caldwell

Rodney & Kathy Bradford

Joe Max Williams

Caleb & Melissa Smith

Brandon Young

Bekah Young

Steve & Amber Lawrence

Dana Druin

Pat Lee

Josh & Beth Porch

Mark Gardner

Ann Hinson

Lori Recktenwald

Elaine Hart

Kimetha Autumn-Young

Donna Luther

Linda Kliethermes

Joan Dilger

Todd Wallace

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Snow Day!

Yesterday we awoke to a beautiful snowfall! We were so surprised to see 4 inches of snow! The kids ate breakfast as fast as they could to get out and play before the neighbors had to leave for school (they were on a 2 hour delay). Here they are enjoying the snow!





The kids always ask if we can make snow cream when it snows. But, the snow really needs to be deep enough to scoop us snow without getting dirt or grass in it, so we haven't had any this winter. I figured this would be our last opportunity to make snow cream until next winter, so I happily obliged! It was super yummy!



The aftermath (Mommy's laundry pile!)

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Update on Brandon!

About a week ago my 11 year old baby boy lost his very last baby tooth!

It seems like it wasn't too long ago that I posted that he lost his first tooth! You can check out that blog post by going here: http://heatherbyoung.blogspot.com/2005_11_01_archive.html
and then scrolling down to 11-22-05.
I think my baby boy has grown up! That was 6 1/2 years ago! Now he is no longer a little kid, but has become a young man. Our prayer for him is that he will love the Lord with all his heart and follow Him all the days of his life!

In other news, Brandon had his quarterly endocrinologist appointment this past week. He got a great report and his A1C was 6.8!! That is the lowest it has ever been! We had talked about switching him to a pump last year but realized that even with insurance, it would cost us significantly more than the shots he is doing. It just didn't make sense to spend the extra money for the pump right now as we are trying to save all we can for the adoption. And, since his A1C numbers have been so good, it's not a medical necessity for him at this point. We will probably talk about the pump again later as we have heard that it really helps regulate blood sugar numbers during those crazy teenage years! (Which will be here very, very soon!)