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Free Treat!
Ya'll know my obsession with paper goods...Well, Shutterfly has a new greeting card brand where you can create and send  personalized greeting cards. It's called TREAT, and it's SO COOL!If you want to...
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Oklahoma's "Rocky" Mountains
Daniel had a full Saturday off last weekend.He had mentioned to Aubrey taking a little day trip to Wichita Mountains for some hiking.Well, from that moment on she asked nonstop if today was "the"...
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We Need a Valentine Miracle
You know how you all prayed, and we received our super important LOA after waiting only 52 days?Well, we need your prayers again.Big prayers.Have you ever heard of Chinese New Year?Um, it's sort of a...
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Turkey Day
We had a super laid back Thanksgiving this year.Daniel only had to work one of the four days.Too short to make the trek to Kentucky, so we contemplated maybe taking a trip to Dallas.Then we decided,...
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I don't know much, but...
I woke up Friday morning with four new pictures of our little Shisi in my inbox.As I gazed, examined, zoomed in, zoomed out, and just cried at the sight of her little round face -- I was bombarded with...
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Mental Fog
WARNING: This post will probably make no sense whatsoever.Conversation with the munchkin the other day:Aubrey: Mom, are we going to eat lunch today?Me: Well, of course, silly...what time is it?(Looking...
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A Peaceful, Thankful Heart
I knew Christmas was going to be hard.I knew once we finally arrived in Kentucky, unpacked our suitcases and car full of presents -- the emotions were sure to unload on my already heavy-laden...
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Christmas Vacation
We spent 10 glorious days in Kentucky over the Christmas holiday.We have not had that much family time in, well...I can't remember how long.I realized after getting back to Oklahoma, I didn't take my...
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Ready and Waiting...
This week has the potential to make or break our traveling to China before Chinese New Year.We're just waiting to hear that we have our Travel Approval.It's the final step before we book our flights...
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FAITH
Sweet Jesus, we are close.SO CLOSE.We just received a call from our agency that said our Travel Approval should come tonight. We will then request our consulate appointment and should hear back at some...
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Drama
I had a friend once tell me that if you just pretend like your life is a sitcom, it makes the crappy/hard times seem less horrible. Funny and entertaining even.I'm trying it.As a coping...
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T(otally) A(wesome)
We received our TA this evening!I cannot express how thankful I am -- to God and to all of you who prayed.THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!This is such a miracle.Here's a picture Aubrey drew this...
View ArticleLess than a Week!
It's official.We are going to China!In less than ONE week.That should scare me a little, right?I keep thinking the "panic" is sure to set in at any moment.Just last week I was freaking out about...
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Just In Case...
Just in case I run out of time to write a post all about my Aubrey before we fly to China...This picture sums her up wonderfully:Bursting with joy and excitement.Giddy with life.Belly full of frozen...
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We Made It!
After traveling over 24 hours, we are finally in Nanchang!We are tired.{Daniel resting before our flight from Shanghai to Nanchang}And we're ready to crash...By the way, look what was already waiting...
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Sights and Sounds
Today we met our guide, Helen, in the lobby of our hotel at 10 a.m. to walk around the area.With Chinese New Year getting closer, many people from all over the province come to the closest big city to...
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Gotcha Forever and Ever
Introducing our new, beautiful daughter: Mina Shisi Riherd. Today was our Gotcha Day--January 27th, 2013. Many tears were shed by all--happy and sad. Daniel, Mina and I are all very tired, and I will...
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Gotcha Day Details
The plan was to meet our guide in the lobby of our hotel at noon on Sunday where they would be bringing our sweet little one.I slept horribly that night and was up for good at 5 a.m.Our guide called...
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