New Pictures of Toby...hooray!

Looking Good!



All Boy...looks like he likes to climb!



Look at that smile!

Isn't He just Precious?!

A blessing for sure... A couple of weeks ago, we made a trip to see some friends. I wrote about the Both Hands project in a previous post. God had a blessing in store for us that weekend. We met another family, whose daughter is from the same SWI that our baby boy is in. They were able to ask and receive a few photos for us. We are forever grateful! Look at how much our baby has grown! Be Still My Heart!!!!

A New Fundraiser

Update: Wild Olive Tees has added 7 additional tees to their adoption fundraiser line. They are AWESOME! Now, which ones to choose??  
We have been blessed by the ladies at Wild Olive Tees by being chosen to be one of their fundraising families. We are SUPER EXCITED to start this fundraising endeavor! The tees are the greatest! I personally own two, and I have to tell you...they are my favorite tees. They are super soft, wear well, don't fade and look beautiful! The Ladies at Wild Olive Tees are the greatest, and they have an amazing heart for orphans worldwide.
For our fundraiser there are four different styles available, and they are gorgeous!
Check Out the Link Below or Click on the button at the right of our blog.

http://store.wildolivetees.com/adoption-fundraiser-tees-c6.aspx

If we sell 50 or more shirts, we will receive $10 per shirt toward our adoption expenses. Won't you please consider ordering one or two...or more?!
Please include our Family Code: SMITH0422 both in the coupon field and in the comment section. This code must be used for us to get credit for the sale.
(Please Note that the code isn't for discount purposes)

It's a Beautiful Thing (pt2)...

...God's Love through friends, both old and new! I cannot describe in words the AMAZING journey God placed us on when he called our hearts to adoption and caring for the Orphan. We were (and are) continually blessed by meeting and sharing this journey with other families. This weekend's project was made even more special by sharing and spending time in community with very special friends. One family we have known for awhile now,one family we knew through a phone conversation and their blog, and one family we were blessed to meet for the first time.What a GLORIOUS weekend!
P.S. We were missing Nolan this weekend. He had looked forward to helping and spending time with friends, but he had baseball practice and a mandatory meeting for his Honduras mission trip this summer. He was well taken care of, but we sure missed him!

It's a Beautiful Thing...

God's Love that is, and we got to witness it in action! Last weekend, we had the privelege of participating in a "love" project. You see we have these amazing friends, whom have heard God's call to adopt over and over again. They are being His hands and feet, caring for the orphan, giving children a mommy and a daddy. This Love Project brought together God's call ..."[27] Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after* orphans and widows* in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.* James 1:27. In short, this project helped a widow with repairs on her home while allowing this family to earn funds for their adoption.
It was a Beautiful Thing! We saw a church come together to help...not only were there physical workers, but there were many people behind the scene: babysitters, food servers, food preparers, and people in prayer for everyone involved. The hardwork alongside many of God's faithful filled our hearts with joy. Wow! God's glory shining through!
If you are interested in reading about this family and there story, check out there blog: http://k6comehome.blogspot.com/
You can also take a look at the fundraiser they are hosting now (they are very close to travel and will be bringing home two beautiful little girls soon!).

Prayer!

My Handsome Hubby hard at work

A beautiful helper

The Yard Cleanup Crew

                                        

The Siding Crew

Garrett was a part of the Yard Crew...Hard Work!



Lots of yard work

These guys helped a little here and there, but they had more fun playing together

Mia (and Levi) spent most of the day with the babysitters. She was "worn out" from playing with the babies

A portion of the paint crew... my job when I wasn't taking pictures

Happy Birthday G-Baby!!

...he will be mad at that... but, He will be forever my G-Baby! Today our second son turns twelve. I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around how fast time goes by. In my mind I picture him as the teeny-tiny baby placed in my arms in the NICU. He was born almost 8 wks early... beautiful,perfectly formed... just tiny. I was unable to hold him at first because of the "tramatic" delivery (a shock to my body and his). So, I first got a good look at him the next morning... still unable to hold him. He made rapid progress... holding him for the first time at about 5 days and coming home after 10 days in the NICU. He has been a fighter ever since! He has an innate sense of fairness and justice, and he will fight until his last breath for the right thing, for the underdog, and for the underpriveleged. He still amazes me with his tender heart! He will give anything he has if there is a person in need, and I do mean anything...his shirt, his shoes, his last dime. I remember one day that he gave his allowance up so that the kids in our neighborhood could have ice cream from the ice cream truck. Garrett is such an amazing helper! He is always willing to pitch in and help when he sees a need. He will work hard with little or no complaining, and he is even more willing if there are people near as he is working. One warning though...He LOVES TO TALK!!(He talks a lot and talks rather rapidly) ... He wants to be a Chef... I think he may be a lawyer; although, he is becoming a terrific cook. He has always loved helping me in the kitchen and that is in part how the G-baby nickname stuck. He loves watching a food show on TV. He especially liked a certain famous chef ... one day in our kitchen, helping mom with dinner (he is about 3 yrs at the time), He was stirring some veggies and lifted his spoon and exclaimed... "We Will Be Right Back on G-Baby Live, BAM!  He still has plenty of time to choose a carrer...so who knows.  I do know that he is a child of God, that he loves Jesus with all his heart and that he will serve his Saviour to the best of his ability.
Happy Birthday My Precious Boy! Happy Birthday Garrett!

Happy 5th Mia Day !

5 years ago today a precious, very scared little girl was placed in my arms(still can not wrap my mind around the fact that it has been 5 years). It is a day that I will never be able to describe, and one that I will never be able to forget. God blessed our family with a little girl. Her Chinese name is Le le and it means joy, happiness. We can never argue that the name fit her, and it is definitely proof that God knows us all by name! She is abounding in JOY!!!
She bounced into our room this morning (unfortunately it was after daddy had left for work) and she announces, "momma, I am so HAPPY! It is my Gotcha Day!" She gives me a huge hug and says "I am so glad that I got you mommy!"... Oh baby girl I am so happy I got you!... She follows that with "I want to write a letter to God. God, Thank You for my family. Thank You for my baby brudder! Thank You for China!...and I want to go to the mountains!" ... Baby Girl, I think he heard your prayer...You are the answer to our prayers. You are a precious gift from God! Thank You Jesus for this precious child that brings such Joy to our home and family!
Happy Gotcha Day Qing Cheng Le! Our Mia!

Would You please...?

Hi All,
     Brad posted on Friday about our raffle fundraiser. Even if you aren't interested personally, would you please consider linking your blog to that post and spreading the word?! We are praying for a successful fundraising event, and we would greatly appreciate you guys sharing the info. about the raffle with your friends.
On a Side Note: The Garage Sale Fundraiser at our church was an amazing event. I have been praying for several years now that our church would take an interest in Orphan and Adoption Ministries. Our church has an amazing outreach for missions around the world, but it has taken a little time for them to see that Missions and Orphan/Adoption Ministries go hand in hand. God seems to be using this adoption  of our sweet Toby to open hearts and minds (Praises to our King...Thank You Jesus!!). We are overwhelmed by the love and support shown by our church family! We had people volunteering to price items, make signs and advertise, to set up, running our concession stand, making facebook postings, and the donations...WOW! My fervent prayer was that God would help us to net at least $1500 ...well, GUESS WHAT?... YEP! $1550 .... Our God is AMAZING!
Please don't forget to help us spread the word...
Many Thanks!
Kim, Brad and the fam.

Want an XBOX 360 KINECT???

Here it is, folks!  We are raffling a brand new XBOX 360 KINECT 250GB Bundle!

Proceeds will go toward our adoption of Toby, a 23 month old boy from Jiangsu, China.  One ticket equals one entry in the raffle.  Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20.  The drawing will be held May 3, 2011.  You can purchase tickets in two ways:

• If you're a local friend, find us around town or at home.
• Via Snail Mail:  Leave a comment on this post with your contact information.  (Comments are moderated, so your info won't be published.)  We'll contact you with our mailing address.

There's more!!!  You can get a FREE entry in the XBOX raffle by helping us spread the word!  Here's how it works:

• Become a Chili Fan by following this blog.
• Post a link to this post (not to the blog, but to this specific post) on your own blog or web site.
• Leave us a comment telling us you've done the above.