An Exhausting, But Profitable and Fun Weekend!

Friday began with decorating for our Ladies Bunko Night Out!! It was so much fun to be hanging out in the gym with my friends and seeing all their creativities come to life!! We then had an AWESOME night with such great ladies who came out to support our adoption! Thank you to all my friends who helped and thank you to all who came out for a great night!!! Here's some fun pictures of the evening:

 Here's my friends working hard setting everything up! Thank you to: Kari, Alicia, Rebecca, Renee, Malee, and Lynette who came to help set up!

Here's the Final Set-up... Looking forward to a great night!!!

A fun night with friends!

All the great Bunko gifts graciously donated by my Bunko group!! Thanks ladies!!

The BEAUTIFUL dessert table decorated by Renee and Malee!!

Fun "Take-Home" gifts...

And then...

We then decided to have a garage sale bright and early Saturday morning :-)... Although it was crazy, busy, hot, and "Phatty" (thanks to your donations of stuff), it was extremely profitable!!! It was a mind-boggling experience though to be talked down from $0.50 to $0.25 for items...even though we reminded them that 100% of the sales were going towards our adoption! I guess people just want a "steal" no matter what!! :-)

Tim also had the brilliant idea of setting up cones in front of our house so people could drive by and see what we had...It also cut down on the traffic in front of our house!!

And then there is Peyton...

This is Peyton :-)

Peyton decided to "Join the Journey" at the very beginning of our adoption process!! He is the son of one of my dear friends, Melissa. Ever since he found out we were adopting, he has always been thinking of fun, creative ways to "Join the Journey." He and his family have given of their time, talents, and treasures to help in great ways these past many months.

This past week Peyton turned "9!" On Saturday afternoon he had a pool party for his birthday! Many friends and family were invited for a great celebration. Something that Peyton's family has done for many years is to ask friends and family to give a donation to a particular cause (of the kids choosing) in leiu of birthday gifts! What a great way to think of others!! This year, Peyton was so excited to share with us that he chose " bringing Jeremy and Drew's baby sister home" to be what he wanted his birthday money to go towards!  

We had a great time at the party that afternoon, and we are so blessed by Peyton thinking of our baby girl!! Thank you Peyton for continuing to be on this great "journey" with us!! Jeremy and Drew's little sister will hear and know of this great story someday!!

And so...

An exhausting, but profitable weekend!!! We are so blessed by your continued prayers and support!! We love each and every one of you!!   

Girls Night Out...This Friday!!!!

Alright ladies!!! It's time to get ready for a fun night out!!! This Friday night (the 24th at 7:00) in the FBC gym, we will have a ton of fun hanging out and playing Bunko together... and let me tell you, the prizes are going to be amazing!!!

Invite as many friends as you know!!! We would love to fill the gym! Don't worry if you don't know how to play, we'll teach you!! :-)

We hope to see you there!!

Kid's Can Change the World!!!

From left to right... Talia, Katie, Abby, and Mia

It all began at the "Join the Journey" adoption night... I found Katie and Abby at a table writing down a bunch of notes. I asked what they were doing, and they shared that they were coming up with ways that they could "Join the Journey!" They were so excited to do whatever they could for the orphans!

Here is the fruit of their labors... They decided to have a garage sale and quickly set out to get items donated from friends and family! They even got a write up about them in the newspaper!! On Friday, they were busy pricing everything out, making posters, and just having fun! When I came by to bring by some "Join the Journey" bracelets, t-shirts, etc., they escorted me to "base camp,"  as they called it :-)!!

We arrived this morning at 7 AM to find an already busy and extremely well organized garage sale... there was even a map where you could find everything! The girls were eager to share with others that they were doing this garage sale to raise money for the families adopting from China!!!

As a result, the girls raised over $600 for the China families!!! Way to go girls! What a blessing you are to all of us! Thank you for serving in such an awesome way!!! You HAVE changed the world!!

July 4th at the Lake



The kids dressed up as "Juice it Up!" Smoothies





Here's the boys...Who could resist buying a smoothie from them?





Kevin Liu and Jeremy in front of our "Juice it Up!" Booth



The Eby's, Lui's, and us headed out to Lodi Lake for a fun day of selling smoothie's for our adoption! It was fun to be together as families serving for a great purpose!! We had a blast, and thanks to 100+ degrees that day, the smoothie's were a hit!! We completed our day with the beautiful fireworks over the lake!! What fun!