Chalottes Smile

While we may never have baby pictures of our little Charlotte, we are blessed to have a few of her today! And look at that smile!!!! Praising God for this sweet gift and for reminding us to Be Still

A CAKE FOR CHARLOTTE!

I've been anticipating an update on Charlotte for a few weeks now. We sent a cake to her for her birthday and in doing so, the guide who will take care of us while in China, receives photos of the "eating of the cake". This morning, we were blessed by new pictures! She is so precious!

Charlotte is from Guangdong province and the more common dialect within Guangdong orphanages is Cantonese. Her fluent, common language is Cantonese. So the little bit of studying struggling to learn a teensy bit of basic Mandarin, may still help me find the bathroom and order some water while in China... but it won't help me tell Charlotte we promise to love and care for her forever,  or... ask her if she needs to use the bathroom ;) . 

In a few weeks, we will head to California. Having Ivy on oxygen has certainly helped her to have less fatigue and more activity, but by 3:30 she just looks so tired and run down. We are hoping that the Heart Cath will either allow some intervention or give the information needed to make a plan for what will get her feeling great again.  She never ever complains about her health. She stands tall and proud to be the warrior she truly is! She never complains about all the meds she has to take or the blood draws or the appointments or the caths or the other surgeries. She just goes with the flow. She tells me it's her job to set an example for the baby warriors. And she's doing a darn good job, I'll say! She is the strongest girl! It's why she is here! God made her strong and He made her a fighter. You all know that already!
Last Friday Ivy represented Make a Wish on the News to promote the Arizona Concours De'lgance. She stole the show. Cutest thing ever... I've posted the clip below.
After the morning news, Make A Wish got a few calls from people saying they'd like to make a donation after seeing the little girl on the news that morning. All for wishes! I thought that was so awesome! 

JOHN 15:11

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

PROVERBS 31:26

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.    

HAVE A WONDERFULLY BLESSED WEEK!!

MARY

2016 in review... A year of blessings

Little Blessing! In February our daughter and son in love brought our first grand baby in to the world! 
Henry is now almost 11 months old

We love him so much!!

In March we spent Spring break at our time share on the beach. It was a week of R&R and a great healthy time for little Ivy too! We love it when we can have a vacation without emergencies!! Ivy's heart loves the beach! It does not like the mountains, we have learned that the hard way a few times too many!

Ivy has now been on Tyvaso, her inhaled medication for her pulmonary hypertension, for 2 years. Sadly, it has not made a difference and we are looking in to new intervention. She continues to tire with exercise as simple as walking from the car to the shopping cart. The good news, she is stable and there is still much hope that she will still one day have healthy lungs. Her heart continues to work hard. There is a possibility she will need a new mitral valve within the year. She presses on with the same constant joy and never complains, just like the little girl you all came to love.

In May were were able to pay a visit to Disneyland. The characters remain the girls favorite part about it! Ivy's medications make her dizzy enough. So she rides very few rides but loves the parade and the shows. Lexi loves everything!

Ivy Joy turned 6 years old on May 6th!

And our newest Addition, Molly the poodle, turned ONE!

Summer 2016 was full of swimming and playing! 

We traveled to Las Vegas for Nationals with Lexi's dance company. We enjoyed some cool shows like Blue Man Group and O. The girls thought is was fantastic. 

In August our daughters Rylee and Cassidy moved in to their own home. It has been so sweet watching them grow up and learn to make it on their own but also a big adjustment. Not seeing them every single day has been sad for all of us. The girls have now adjusted but mommy will never stop missing saying good night to those girls each night. (my kitchen stays clean so much longer now....) But is miss them!

October is Ivy's favorite month! I don't know why but this little girl loves Halloween! This year she wanted to be Shirley Temple. She looked amazing! Best Chinese Shirley Ive ever seen! ( Also the only one! ) She loves watching Shirley Temple videos on you tube kids. Lexi had a hard time deciding what to dress like. In the end she chose Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony. Baby Henry was a lion!

 

  

In December our 1st China baby turned 8 years old!! How can that be? 

And in December we were matched with our newest daughter Charlotte Hope Anjuan Sammons. She is 5 years old and is currently living in Guangdong China. We hope to travel to bring her home in March. 

            “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”  

Isaiah 6:8