My kids and the cute things they say

Tonight - the 4 playing with PlayDough

This morning on the way home from church - we saw a bad car accident on the opposite side of the Interstate 405. The car had flipped onto the drivers side - it has been raining for days here and it is like a lake on the roads.

The kids had noticed the car and as we passed. Kaitlyn asked if she could pray for the people in the car. WOW, now that is pretty exciting to see the depth of understanding our kids have in these areas. Reagan chirped in that he had wanted to pray and then Winston noted that he heard Jesus speaking to him in his ear to pray! we have not talked about this in that way so it makes you wonder what was going on in our car spiritually?

Our kids have a very keen understanding about God and prayer and it is so neat to see God working in their lives this way. Lavonne 11-22-09

*** URGENT *** Aging out child needs family ********

*** Tabitha ***

Ages out - February 29th, 2010

She needs a FAMILY - do you know them?

Per the China policy - once she turns 14 on Feb 29th she is unadoptable..... how sad!

Do you know someone who is already logged into China that could adopt her?

She just became an orphan this year after both her parents died.

Here is her story:

Since her parents both died and she had no relatives, nobody could raise her. So she was brought on March 5, 2009 to us by Donghu Street of Tiefeng District of Qiqiha’er City with approval from Civil Affairs Bureau.

The first period in Institute - When she was taken in, the doctor checked her. She was healthy and a little fat. No other abnormal findings. ** (So was probably an only child and loved)

Growth and development - When she was first here, she was not used to the change of the environment. She did not actively respond to questions, or initiated to communicate with people, because she was shy and scared. After a couple of days living with other orphans, her personalities came out. She was active and smiled a lot. She was clever when playing games with
other kids. She has good appetite and is picky at food. She is independent. Her growth
and development is on target. Her intellectual development is good.

link to her file is:

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/gO8IS-L_a6971QdQAD04X8i3Z1hmmceZjZxLKHBg9n_mb9xtTvAvIX8rG6lDuA5wTw_hFyGDZmwG6yod7Hjsq1gm5gXH5P5NFQ/Children%20waiting%20in%20CHINA/Shared%20List/Tabitha%20Referral

Please contact: Madison Adoption Associates

Sara = sara.maa@comcast.net or Diana = diana.maa@comcast.net

1009 Woodstream Drive Wilmington, DE 19810
Phone: (302) 475-8977 FAX (302) 529-1976

Scripture and my rock

Isaiah 41:13 (New International Version)
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

A couple of days ago i received this verse from a friend. She and i met regularly in 2006-7 and she was a great friend and this became our verse. She had emailed me about Taylor and how she was doing and reminded me of this verse (which at that point i was going through a lot of disappointment and strife in my life) and this verse was my solid reminder of who was there for me.

Over my lifetime i have had many ups and downs and valleys where i have had to totally lean on God for strength. This year defiantly has been one of those years and those around me - many whom i have never met God has used to remind me of my source of strength. It definitely is a year that God is using me to prepare me for the hill peak that soon will come..... i reclaim this verse again to remind me when those around me fail me greatly - my GOD is my STRENGTH and my salvation He will never leave me or forsake me... he is not evil, judging or controlling - He loves me as He created me and has great plans for my life. I am precious in His sight.

I am so thankful to be His child - to have this peace in my life when things are tough.

Some exciting news maybe around the corner - lift me in prayer. I got a great email on Thursday night and phone call Friday - God is working! Lavonne 11-21-09

A new little tid bit about our Kaitlyn's finding

Kaitlyn's finding location

Kaitlyn was found somewhere in Kunming between September and December, 2003

We were told she was left in a chicken market the day she was born with a diaper rash.

Well we know this could not have been true and usually they comment on the umbelico (sp?)cord still being attached like with Reagan at 3 days. Also newborns do not have diaper rashes :-)

So we often wondered about this. A month before traveling to get Kaitlyn in 2005 - i got 2 photo's of her at the orphanage which were taken by volunteers which i finally met this summer. They would be sent to a women in neg form in the US and she would develop and distribute as families announced their adoption.

We have these 2 precious photo's of her. When we met one of the volunteer/workers in 2005 he noted that the photo had 2 sets of dates - one was the month of the photo and the other was the receiving date at the orphanage. The one photo was January 04 and the other February 04. They both also had December 25, 2003. So we now know she was actually sent to the orphanage on Christmas day and the one photo was taken only 2-3 wks after she arrived.

We suspected on the 2nd day we got her that she was older - she seemed on target and mature for her age compared to others. We suspected her birthday was late August to early September - but it was listed as October 8th. It was no big deal really but just a nagging thing.

Well this summer we got more clarification when we went to the finding spot and saw her files.

In her files we found another date and staff were embarrassed that i picked up on it - but i noticed a date under her photo (at about 15m old in foster care) of August 31, 2003. Well this was before she was born??? So i inquired about the date and what it was - they responded immediately without checking that this was her birth date. But then they realized there were 2 dates in her files????

So we now think her birthday is about 6 wks earlier, she would just make it under the wire for a grade above and with her being at the top of the class - this all makes sense. But we will probably leave it all be for now.

We then went to her finding place which was no longer there - it was a chicken market (above photo) but when we arrived 4 years later it was now a high rise. We were grateful to our guide that when i showed her the photo she recognized a phone number of the vendor and called him and we learned a great deal about her finding since he was there. We learned a women had found her near a phone booth and had taken her home, but he husband said no since she already had 2 children and the next day put her back and called the police (this is were we believe the diaper rash happened) she was still in the same clothing.

I had my friend Lisa call the man again recently and she wrote me back yesterday of the newer info. We are hoping she can track down the women who has moved away to see if we can actually learn the real date and any other info about the clothes she was wearing... for some they would say what is the big deal, she is with you now, but for us (me being adopted) we understand all these little details make the story and brings more closure with the puzzle coming together.

Dear Lavonne,
I called the man yesterday. He told me that the woman who knew something about Kaitlyn had moved to Sichuan province and that they had no contact with each other. In fact, the woman just found Kaitlyn beside a telephone booth, and later she put her back to the place because she thought it was difficult for her to raise the child. The man also told me that they found nothing else except some money in her pocket. The money was less than 50yuan (about $8). That was all he told me. He could not tell me anything more. I'm sorry, Lavonne, that I was not able to help you. Do you have any other information?
Love,
Lisa

We feel Kaitlyn was loved and that maybe they discovered her heart condition and felt they could not help her and thus chose to give her up, or her mother got pregnant again. But she lived with her family for about 4m and they made sure she would be found and left her with money for milk - it makes you wonder what her mother feels each August as her birthday comes and goes. I know my birth mother got depressed and cried. When we went to the Minority Village this summer and learned that most likely Kaitlyn is of Miao Minority, we found a mock Miao Village and instead of a temple it was a Christian Church. That many Miao are Christians - and Kaitlyn and I have talked that if she never meets her mother her - there is a chance that she is a Christian and she will meet her in heaven. What a peaceful thought for my daughter who struggles with this whole thing.

Lavonne 11-19-09

So i won - it is official

Lily has done it! She won us (Asian Blessings)

The Office Depot small business contest. Here is our silly video.

In early July when i registered my small business (which still is not fully off the ground)

I saw this contest on the Office Depot site. I grabbed my camera and cat Lily (16+ lbs) and headed to our messy office to video tape this. I had not read the rules and just winged it. We had to say about what we were doing in the down economy to cut costs and include Office Depot. Which i had not - but the desk and supplies are from there :-)

Lily made her entrance and is now a star and we won $2000 of Office Depot supplies - i had to wait to make it official once we got the award that i did not make a mistake, but last wk i finally got the package and am thrilled i got impulsive and won!

Lavonne 11-18-09

2 weeks already!

The girls trying out their new Christmas dresses from Grandma R

Well it is hard to believe that yesterday was 2 wks already from when Taylor had her surgery.

She decided she was ready to go back to school - so she did. I was prepared to pick her up part-way through the day from being tired.... well NOT - she was having too much fun with her friends who kept telling her they were praying for her and giving her homemade gifts. Today she got another one - a rainbow colored on paper :-)

I am glad she is able to get back but advised the teachers to not allow her to play in the playground yet - give it a couple of wks. Then last night she had her first full bath with the aqua-guard on (a plastic bandage to cover her stitches so they would not get wet).

I was a bit relieved since i was going to have to lug her around with me to Reagan's speech in the morning and then right afterwards - taking Winston and Kaitlyn to their therapy. It was a long day and i did not get home until after 2 pm. I have so much to catch up on since the last 3 wks i really did not get a lot of stuff done. Next wk the kids are home 2 days, last wk they were home 1 day and the wk before. 4 days this month and then in Dec they are home a lot too.

My mom helped a lot with baking and stuff and some cleaning - but it only takes a few days to have the place looking dirty again. So trying hard to stay on-top of it all.

Thank you all for the many prayers, comments and overall friendship.... we all have appreciated it very much and are blessed that God honored your prayers and Taylor is doing great.

Lavonne 11-1-09

"Ask Me About Adoption" Adoption Sunday

Today our church celebrated Adoption Sunday (which was officially marked last Sunday)
I wore the above button and we had 4 different organizations attend the event.
(Bethany Christian, Olive Crest, WACAP and our own Adoption Support Group at Church)

I had been asked to speak this year at all 3 services so i shared a similar story that i wrote a year ago about adoption. The first service a girl named Ruth who is adopted from India sang - she is 11-12 and has a very angelic voice and sang an amazing song about adoption. I was suppose to be next after her. The song was so deep it just hit a nerve and i got emotional and as i started i was in tears and they had to bring me a tissue. But our pastor noted my emotion hit a cord with many. The next 2 services i kept my mind off the song and did well - and the last service the kids were out of Sunday School so they came up front when the pastor prayed for all who have been touched by adoption - it was a wonderful morning which i hope has touched many lives to consider adoption in one form of another - including just praying of helping a family financially.
(Below i have included my 3 min story)

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

November is Adoption Month which has many meanings to our family. Scott and I have had the experience of being adopted into God’s family and feeling His Grace in our lives. This is one of the most amazing experiences one can have in their life – to be a child of God and to know Him. I know I take this at times for granted and at this time of year when we celebrate Adoption, it is important to realize what a precious gift we have been given.

47 years ago in 1962, a teenage woman found herself pregnant and did not know what to do. She followed her boyfriend’s suggestion to drive to California to have the pregnancy terminated. Fortunately for this child it was at that time illegal to terminate a pregnancy at 4 months, so they drove back to Canada and she was sent away to have this child. In May of 1963 a little girl was born and was adopted by Christian parents and was given a life of hope and love. This little girl was me.

When at the age of 28 I learned about my birth parents attempt to have me aborted it hurt, yet deep inside I felt God’s GRACE. God had shown me that my life was precious and that He had Predestined me to be Adopted into His Family long before I was even born. There was a purpose for my life and it would unfold over the next 17 years.

Ten years ago, I married a wonderful man named Scott Dideon. We could not have a family of our own so we started the journey of adoption and after many roadblocks we were led in 2003 to adopt from China. God placed on our hearts the desire to get what they would call a “special needs” child and on February 4, 2004 we welcomed an 18 month old boy into our home named Reagan. With the one child policy in China, and the considered curse on the family in keeping a special needs child, our son would have also been aborted if his family would have had access.

We returned to China again in 2004 to get Kaitlyn, in 2007 to get Taylor and in 2008 on Father’s Day Scott was able to get our son Winston. All of our children would have been aborted if their families had the resources available to them.

Coming full circle – Grace has been a huge part of our family story. God had a plan long ago for me to be able to provide a home one day for my 4 children. God has great plans for each of their lives to be used as a vessel by Him.

For some of you today God maybe gently prompting you to considering this path of Adoption. Today there are many of us passionate about Adoption who are here wearing these buttons and would love to talk to you more about Adoption.

Lavonne 11-15-09