Fall in Tennessee...

In the pumpkin patch, Gracee claps to the live bluegrass music being played at the local farmers' market this weekend. Gracee was rather tenative about foraging around in the patch for a "pun-tin." The pumpkin patch was actually a garden--complete with flowers and vegetables--in which little pumpkins were placed and that was adjacent to the farmers' market. The family tries to visit the market every Saturday morning for farm-fresh produce and home-grown music. Led by her Mom and big brother Niles, Gracee 'discovered' her "pun-tin." Mom has suggested that later this fall Gracee's pumpkin will be cooked and made into a pie and bread. Gracee wasn't so sure about that. After locating her pumpkin, Gracee took a few moments to enjoy the zinnas in the garden.

No New News?

After our big announcement that we were in the process of adopting again from China, you may wonder why you've heard no new news. The reason is that we in a holding pattern, waiting for the Memphis office of the Citizenship and Immigration Service to release our I-171H. That is a form that is necessary for the paperwork that will be sent to China. Every other piece of paper is in hand and ready to be sent to Washington, D.C., to be authenticated for transmittal to Beijing. The first step in securing that piece of paper from CIS is fingerprinting of every person over 18-years-old in the household. We completed that step on July 6. It typically takes 3-5 weeks for the I-171H to be received. We have sent the same piece of paperwork the Memphis office requested on three different occasions. While we know this is all in God's hand, we appreciate your prayers for this piece of paper to soon be in our hands. Thank you for praying for us in this journey of love--we have many prayer needs, not the least of which is the matter of the expenses for this Big Adventure II. We trust God! We only have to consider the wonder of Gracee and all our children to be reminded of His love for us.