Min Min has HER Family !!!!

Exactly one year ago when we adopted Teresa we met her best friend, Min Min in The China Care Home . Now Min Min has HER very own family too !!!

She will be home in a few more days .
Last year Min was so excited for Teresa when she heard she would have three brothers . She kept holding her fingers up counting 3 and laughing . Now she will have 4 brothers of her own . We are so happy for this wonderful family and for Min Min .

Saying good bye last year was so sad because Min kept asking us to take her home too. She watched expressionless as we waved good bye . Now she will never be alone again.

Please keep her family in your prayers , Min has a complex heart condition also .

When I told Teresa Min Min was coming home to her own family she was so happy !

"Really ? Really ? She has a family like me?"
" I so happy for Min Min "
" Now she never be sad again "

The Gift You Are

A friend sent me an email the other day that made me stop and think . I am very grateful to Holly for sending this to me because it made me realize what I was doing . I was wrong. I was becoming very angry with God for letting Teresa suffer and not healing her. When life is wonderful and you have health , wealth and happiness , it is very easy to have faith . When you are surrounded with suffering and hard times your faith is really tested and it easy to question God , Why ?...

Here is a bit of what Holly sent me .

Elisabeth Elliott, Her husband and four other missionaries were massacred back in the fifties. Here is something she wrote about the death of those five men.


"There is always the urge to oversimplify, to weigh in at once with interpretations that cannot possibly cover all the data or stand up to close inspection. We know, for example, that time again in the history of the Christian church, the blood of martyrs has been its seed. So we are tempted to assume a simple equation here. Five men died. This will mean x-number of Waorani Christians.

Perhaps so. Perhaps not. Cause and effect are in God's hands. Is it not the part of faith simply to let them rest there? God is God. I dethrone Him in my heart if I demand that He act in ways that satisfy my idea of justice. It is the same spirit that taunted, "If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the Cross." There is unbelief, there is rebellion, in the attitude that says, "God has no right to do this to five men unless..."
...
I believe with all my heart that God's story has a happy ending....but not yet, not necessarily yet. It takes faith to hold on to that in the face of the great burden of experience, which seems to prove otherwise. What God means by happiness and goodness is a far higher thing than we can conceive.

I was dethroning God by not fully accepting His will for Teresa's life. He has given us a tremendous gift in her . When you live with someone who is dieing you are forced to look at life differently . Things that used to be important simply aren't any more. Everything has meaning. I know Gods story has a happy ending for Teresa but that probably will not be here on earth , it will be in Heaven.

One Year Anniversary

Last week we celebrated Teresa's one year Anniversary !!!!!
Oh what a year it has been . We have experienced wonderful highs, days filled with hope, laughter and sweet hugs and kisses , to extreme lows, days where all hope felt lost .
In one year Teresa's personality has blossomed. She has a sparkling personality with so much energy and love for life. She is the funniest little "Princess" , always playing pretend with Gemma. ( the two of them are inseparable. Each night as they say good night to each other you would think they were leaving each other forever . Hugs ,kisses , " I love you , no I love you more...").

When someone asks her if those are her sisters, she puts her hand on her hip and says "Oh , that is my family " She loves her family ! We are so blessed with her.

Her health ... she continues to hold on .Thank you to everyone for continuing to pray ! We definitely can feel the prayers . Teresa continues to amaze me how she misses all the viruses that come her way . Lucy has had quite a few and Teresa managed to stay virus free ! Definitely a miracle . Teresa is scheduled to return to CHOP in September for another heart cath.. We are praying for a miracle . We are really starting to notice the look of despair on the Doctors faces as we return each visit. The look of hope or optimism is slipping away .

Watching life through Teresa's eyes for the past year has been a gift that at times was very difficult to understand. I still struggle with why... but I pray GOD will open our eyes to the meaning of it all and bless us with Teresa for many more years.

Fishing Fun

Gemma LOVED the worms !















Fishing fun!!!

Lucy caught a FISH!!!
She was a little unsure of it at first ...and then VERY proud !!!
"It was GINORMOUS"

Teresa caught a fish too!
"It was this big "

Happy 4th. of July

Our community celebrates the 4th. of July in a very big way . The fun starts in the morning with games for the kids followed by an amazing parade and then fireworks in the evening. It has been like this for as long as I can remember. Only recently ( within the last few years) things started to change ... People started lining their chairs along the parade route a few days before . Now it is 2 weeks before the 4th. . They want to be guaranteed their prime viewing location for the parade. You would think they were giving away free stuff... well there is the coveted candy that is thrown from the floats. To our community the parade is a cherished tradition passed down from generation to generation . We wouldn't miss it . We love Catonsville !!!!

The girls wanted to do something to give back to Give Kids the World Village so they came up with the idea to sale cold drinks from their wagon during the parade and give all of the donations to the Village. We mailed the donation today to the Village, although it was small it was filled with a lot of love !

Thank You "Give Kids The World "

Thank you doesn't come close to how grateful we are to this amazing foundation . Henri Landwirth founded GKTW to fulfill children's wishes. His life story is truly inspirational.
For one week all of Teresa's wishes came true. She enjoyed every minute of it ! I was afraid the heat and excitement would be too overwhelming for her but she felt great. The Florida weather was very hot but a cool breeze always came along at the right time to cool her off.
We met some incredible volunteers at The Village. They came from all over the country to volunteer and help fulfill children's dreams.
Webster defines the word Miracle as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.
The volunteers at The Village are miracle makers. For one week we did not worry about anything . We made so many happy memories with all of our children and our very close friends .
The Disney Princesses were amazing. Belle, Aurora and Snow White were so touched by Teresa's story . Belle was very emotional and Snow White had a tear in her eye. They made Teresa feel so special .

" A Moment in Time"
He touches a child's hand
Her flesh warm as summer sand.
A smile brushes across her lips,
He traces it with his fingertips.
innocence, afflicted without reason:
Death, stealing life in spring season.

Words fail him, they cannot explain
Any reason to justify a child's pain.
She smiles again , does not complain,
Her mother, nearby, nearly insane
From searching for the smallest grain
Of hope amidst such a fruitless plain.

Her child's body has turned against her,
Like cruel winter wind against the shore.
Her spirit learning from her body's pain,
Such a price for knowledge gained!
Tears whisper across sallow cheeks,
Her life measured in days, perhaps weeks.

He has brought them here, a last request,
To provide a memory of the thing loved best-
Mickey Mouse in his Magic Kingdom
Free from disease, worry or harm.
Disney's magic wraps sickness in its arms,
And, for a child's moment, works its charm.

By Henri Landwirth

Princess Wishes

Today for Teresa's "wish", we went to the Studios to meet the cast of Beauty and The Beast. Teresa was mesmerized by the show . Afterwards we went back stage and met the cast . Teresa and Belle talked about being a princess, make up, jewelry, wishes , dreams and of course wearing oxygen . I know the characters play a certain part and are scripted on how to talk to the children and how to interact with them but this princess really went above and beyond any of our expectations to accommodate Teresa. She made this dream of Teresa's so special . You could tell she really was touched by her .
This evening we went to GKTW for a Christmas dinner. Every Thursday is Christmas. We had dinner with Mrs. Claus. Afterwards we met Santa and all of the girls received Christmas gifts. There was Cookie decorating, caroling, snow , horse rides, stories, and more gifts... To say GKTW is an amazing place is an understatement. They truly make everyone feel so special .

Princess Day

Today we went to the Magic Kingdom for Teresa's Princess meet and greet. She made it from 9am to 9 pm and enjoyed every minute of the day . I wasn't quite sure how she was going to do with all of the excitement and heat but she did fantastic! She truly enjoyed every thing . Watching the excitement on her face was priceless. She told the princesses all about her Aurora doll wearing her oxygen and how she wears oxygen too . Princess Aurora spent a lot of time talking with her about how SHE needs oxygen also. Teresa just smiled ear to ear. (she even asked to wear her oxygen when she felt like she needed it. A first ). Aurora gave her a kiss on the cheek and then transferred it to paper and autographed it for her.
We spent most of the day at MK and then went over to Epcot to watch The Summer concert series. This week it is a tribute to The Bee Gees . The girls LOVED it (me too!) . They were singing and dancing to all of the songs. ( Gemma was so funny she was doing ballet steps).

Today we all had on our matching adopt t- shirts. Alex thought we looked like a reality T.V. show on TLC. We had so many people (35) stop and ask us about international adoption . I was so surprised by the number of people that want to adopt but don't know where to begin. I gave them the information on our adoption agencies that we have used and hopefully they will follow through and there will be 35 less orphans soon.

We are all having such a fantastic time watching Teresa experience her wish of being a princess. She is so happy , I don't think she knows quite what it all is about. She is taking it all in .
Tomorrow we will head over to Hollywood studios and meet the cast of Beauty and the Beast.