January 14th,2008

Hello again, Today is our son Andy's 20th birthday. He was the baby of the family until we got our precious daughter Samantha about a month ago. Church went great on Sunday. Samantha did not cry at all. We stayed with her of course. It is actually quite fun with children's activities etc.. But she just had to see that for herself. We are finding out how smart our daughter is. We taught her a new game yesterday and she picked up on it so fast and there were quite a few rules. She still has not completely accepted me (anita) but daily we are making more and more progress. Sometimes she accepts a hug from me and sometimes she doesn't. I tried to play a game where each person had to give me a hug for a piece of chocolate. She was not going to be tricked into that. I hugged her anyway and she got a talking to from daddy because she was rude to mommy. Samantha's behavior has drastically improved. We just had to be consistent with the time outs when she misbehaved. Every child will test. I guess she was testing us. She has been sweet and cooperative most of this last week. We still have moments. But don't we all. She is talking alot in English. We go again to the attatchment specialist tonight. We love you all. Thank you for all of your prayers. love in Christ, Anita

Hello friends and family, I have not taken any new pictures. I will do that soon, I promise. My new daughter really keeps me hopping. She is eating great !! She has put on 5 lbs since she arrived in America. She's hungry all the time. She is responding to me better and better everyday. She is going to sleep by herself already (and wants to) but comes in our room some time in the night, I think that is great progress!! She loves the dog so much she does not want to do anything without him. For the most part he likes that but every now and then I get a look from him that is saying "rescue me!"

Off the subject of Samantha for a moment. Our oldest son Ben, 22, just got a promotion at work and will be running an Auto Bell store in Greensboro, NC. We are so proud of you Ben!! Way to go. Thank you God!! He has been holding out for this opportunity after graduating from ASU with a Business management degree last May.

Our 21 year old daughter Rachael has made the Deans List again at Appalachain State University. We are so proud of you also Rachael. Way to go!! Rachael works about 30 hours a week at 2 different jobs and carries a full load of classes. Her major requires alot of work outside of class, and she has a boyfriend . I don't know how you do it Rachael!! You are an amazing young lady!!

Andy is here at home going to Mitchell Communty College and working at Auto Bell also. He has been so wonderfull and supportive throughout our adoption. Thanks , Andrew, for the extra hugs when I am having a rough day. Andrew and his girlfriend Brittany volunteered to give us an evening out last week and they watched Samantha and Andy even payed for our dinner. And she was sleeping soundly when we arrived home. What awesome babysitters!! Wow, my kids are taking care of me now!! How awesome is that!!

I have had my ups and downs these last two weeks, but God reminded me this morning of the big picture. Here is our verse for Samantha "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future . Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you you will seek me and find me when you search for me with your whole heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 This verse actually is for all of us. What an awesome God He is!! God, thank you for the opportunity to raise this precious child. Give us your wisdom and strength!! God Bless You all, Anita

January 9th, 2008

Hello everyone, I know you all want to see pictures. I will try to post some tomorrow. Things are going good. Samantha asked me to read to her today. She has not been cooperative about me reading books to her. So, that is progress. She let's me hug her and does not push me away now. But does not really hug me back. The little stinker will write I love Ben, I love Daddy, I love Rachael. I love Andy, she even writes I love Jake (the dog). Then she shows it to me. I just pretend that I don't notice that my name is not included. And compliment her on her handwriting. I still hug her and tell her that I love her. She has asked me to sit by her a couple of times. She waits for me when we are walking and her and Jake get too far ahead. She eats constently, she has gained 4 lbs, since she arrived in the US on the 23rd of December. She likes spagetti, hamburgers, toasted cheese sandwiches. Tonight we had chicken breast, creasant rolls and green beans. She ate a whole chicken breast, some green beans and 1 and 1/2 creasent rolls. Since she is still underweight for her height I am glad that she is eating so good and putting on weight. Tonight we got the silly string out and sprayed daddy with it. At first she was not to sure if this was really fun but she got into it after a few minutes. Of course then we had to do some major vaccuuming, but we had fun. Please continue to pray that we will be able to get through the wall that she has put up, especially concerning me. Also pray that we will have wisdom concerning her schooling. When to start her and where etc. Thank you all so much. Your friend, Anita

Sunday, January 6th

Hello Friends and Family,
Well, in a few day's it will be a whole month since we met our new daughter. As with any child we are getting to know her better each day. She is learning about boundaries. Like what is ok and not ok in this world of living in a family with a mommy and a daddy in America. Of course she thinks that she would be happier if she was in charge all of the time. But reality is that children feel much safer if they know the adults are in charge and in control of things, and when they know the rules and the rules don't change. Samantha is really testing us. But she is a fast learner and with alot of patience day by day we are letting her see that we are consistent and she is learning acceptable behavior. My attatchment specialist reminded me about how important is to teach children respect and kindness. Samantha is a great kid with alot of potential. This early difficult time is so worth it. We are so thankful to God for this opportunity to parent her. I am sure the rewards will be ours. Meaning that the privilege of parenting a child has such awesome rewards. I know with our 3 adult children, now 22, 21 and 20. It is so awesome to see these loving, caring, resposible adults. The thing that really get's to me is when they reach out to me when I have a need, like I need a hug or a word of encouragement or when I see them reach out to others. What an awesome God we have that allows us to have families it also helps us see how much He cares for us. God Bless You all, Love, Anita

Samantha on her first bike ride. She was crying because she figured out Rachael was leaving , but when I pulled the camera she stopped immediately and posed. Her grandpa below is a favorite. She is still getting used to mommy. Please pray for me and her. It is hard for me to be trying so hard and keep being rejected by her. Pray for wisdom for Jay and I. Pray that she will bond with me. I know this is normal. She is testing me to see if I really love her. If she pushes hard enough will I leave? Of course I won't but she needs to believe that. God Bless You All, Anita

January 2nd

Hello everyone, we have been back home for a week and a 1/2. Today it will be just Samantha and I . Daddy is back to work. I am looking forward to it. I am not sure that she is. I hope that we will do some bonding today. She seems hesitant but she is back to sleep on the recliner so maybe she will be in a better mood when she wakes up. She is talking more now and we get full sentences in English, when she is having a temper tantrum. She started another one early this morning when she realized daddy was gone and I told her if she was going to cry we had to go in the bedroom because people were still sleeping. She turned it off like a faucet and shook her head. I am starting to think the temper tantrums are shows that she puts on and if there is no benefit to her she turns it off pretty fast. Yesterday all of the kids were home briefly. Our close friends had an engagement party that we all went too. There were quite a house full and I thought Samantha did quite well. She sat on Rachael's lap mostly and ate potatoe chips and ham. It is cold here today so I think we will stay home. God Bless you all, Anita

I have a sister and she is so grand. She plays with me all day and we like the same things, drawing and making neclaces and so much more.

This is me right before the last leg of our very long flight home. I have been a real trooper, but this adoption thing is more than I bargained for.