Jadyn is in her Mommy and Daddy's and Big Brother Kyle's Arms!!!!

Here she is with her Mommy!!!!!! I have known Vicki all of my life and this smile is all too familiar , it is the smile when she is her happiest!!! It makes my heart smile so so big!!!! This picture has been a long long time coming...... Thank you God for this blessing! We already know what an incredible Big Brother Kyle is, but this little sister has no idea what she is in store for!!!!! You can tell how much he loves her!

First Family picture we get to see!! We only need Daddy and Grandma!!

Beautiful Beautiful Jadyn Nicole, oh how we love you!!!!!

I am hoping in the coming days I will have some more pictures, but they are experiencing a little bit of trouble with the computer and such , but I will keep all of you posted!!! Love and Blessings!

They are in Beijing!!!!

Hi everyone!! This is Vicki's friend Kristy, (Franceskas Mommy) . I wanted all of you to know that they are in Beijing finally after traveling for 24 hours!! (Thank you God for watching over all of them including Mrs. Palmer, Vick's Mom) They are experiencing some jet lag but are really looking forward to some sightseeing . A couple of their stops are the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.

I will keep all of you posted , and my calculations tell me that they are probably less than 24 hours away from finally having Jadyn Nicole in their arms!!!! I can't wait!!! Have a great weekend !!

Itinerary is set!!

9/15 - Arrive in Beijing
9/16 - Sightseeing - Summer Palace and Heaven Temple
9/17 - Sightseeing - Great Wall, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square
9/18 - Flight to Nanchang - GOTCHA DAY!!!
9/19 - Civil Affairs office
9/20 - Passport paperwork schedule
9/21 - 9/22 - Sightseeing
9/23 - Pick up Passports and fly to Guangzhou
9/24 - Visa Photos and Medical Examination
9/25 - Guangzhou Zoo
9/26 - 9/27 - Sightseeing
9/28 - American Consulate and Family Ceremony
9/29 - Train to HongKong
9/30 - HOME!!!!

Appointments are confirmed...YAY!

This has been an amazing week. We received a call today letting us know we will be traveling in two weeks. I am so excited. We have a list of things to do that is about five pages long. It's going to be a busy weekend trying to get everything in order for the trip and celebrating KJ's birthday.

I can't believe my baby is going to be a teenager. It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital. KJ is the best son a mother could ever dream of. He is outgoing, fun loving, kind, thoughtful, polite, generous and handsome. He is an amazing big brother and I am so proud of him!!! God has blessed us with three amazing children and we are forever thankful!!

Soon we will be bringing our baby girl home and she will be sharing her life with two amazing big brothers.

We love you angel baby!!

We received our Travel Approval!!!

WOOOOHOOO!! We received our TA today and hope to be on our way in the next three weeks. This is a great day and I'm doing the happy dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Shower Fun!!!

Today one of my friends hosted a baby shower for Ms. Jadyn Nicole and we had an amazing time. Thank you Christie!! You are one of a kind and we love you so much. Christie has the biggest heart in the world and is an extremely talented lady. She not only pulled this shower together in less than two weeks. She also made sure it was an event we would always treasure!

Our girl is going to be looking good!! These are some cute shoes Julie gave Jadyn and I can't wait to slide her little toes into them!

Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts and thank you for going through this journey with me.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Visa Applications

Today I mailed off the Visa applications for Kent and I. Now we wait. I hope we'll have them back within the next week or so. I feel like we are in a hurry up and wait mode. On another note...we still haven't heard anything regarding our travel approval. It's only been two weeks, but it sure feels like alot longer. Actually, the last two weeks seem longer than the last five years!! This is really the hardest part. :(

Updated Pictures!!!!

Here is our little lady today............ I can't believe how much she's changed. We believe the referral pictures were taken at four months and the pictures we received yesterday are seven months. Our baby girl is sitting up on her own and is recognizing her name. She is currently in a foster home, which we are so happy about. We've also been informed that she has been with her foster family the entire time. We are still waiting on our travel approval, which we hope to have within the next two weeks. These weeks are just dragging!!!!

Can you say come on September!

Care Package is on it's way....

The care package is on it's way. We've reached out to Anne with "Red Thread China" to send Jadyn Nicole her care package and it's going out today. I hope Ms. Jadyn will enjoy the new cloths, blanket and toys. I wish we could deliver it ourselves! I'm so ready to have her in my arms. Anne is going to try to get some updated pictures and we're looking forward to seeing how much she's changed.

Maps of China

Our little peanut is in Jiangxi province. We've learned that this is a very beautiful area. The province is surrounded on three sides by mountains and hills, with hilly lands occupying its central part and vast plain lying on the northern part. The five rivers - Ganjiang River, Xinjiang River, Pojiang River, Xiushui River and Fuhe River all drain into the Poyang Lake the largest freshwater lake in China.

We are all looking forward to seeing this beautiful land, but most of all we are ready to be with Ms. Jadyn Nicole.

Our documents were sent to China today. Now we wait for the CCAA to approve our travel, which will take up to three weeks. In the meantime, we are finishing up Jadyn's room, working on our visa's, purchasing gifts for the orphanage and putting together Jadyn's care package.

Please keep our baby girl in your prayers! We are ready to have her HOME!

Fortune Cookies

I've been holding onto two of these fortunes for the last 6 months and the other day KJ came home with the third one. I thought it was ironic. We ARE...making our dreams a reality and our baby girl will be home soon!!!

Updates on Ms. Jadyn Nicole

Yesterday was an amazing day. I didn't realize I would have so many ups and downs, but I did. One minute I was on cloud nine and the next I was filled with so much anxiety. I couldn't wait to see what was in the infamous Fed/Ex packet, but at the same time I was afraid of what I would find out. What else would I learn about our beautiful little one. I sat in the front room of our house all morning so that I wouldn't miss the driver and he finally showed up around 1:00 p.m. We all greeted him at the door. He must of thought we were all loony toons, but after 5 years in waiting we didn't care....just give us our packet!! We received her photo's, medical records and a small piece of her life. Once we had everything we needed we met with our doctor and then went out to dinner.

Our Jadyn Nicole was born on Jan. 16, 2011. We don't know how much she weighed at birth, but at 4 months she was 12 lbs. She is healthy and oh so beautiful! Her Chinese name is Fu Ya Hui. Fu stands for Fuzhou City, Ya means beautiful girl and Hui means clever. The records say she is quiet, shy and that she giggles. She loves to eat and she is a good sleeper! She is going to fit in our lives perfectly!! EAT, SLEEP and LAUGHTER!!! That's how we do it. LOL

I don't know if I will ever understand how someone could abandon a child. This part of our journey, Jadyn's journey just breaks my heart. She was only a day old when she was found, so tiny and oh so fragile. I know I will never know who, why, how or any of the answers I would like to have, I just believe that GOD has brought us together and she was meant to be in our family! We are her FOREVER FAMILY and we will ALWAYS be there for our girl. She is blessed with two amazing brothers and parents who have wanted her for over 5 years.

We find out in a month when we will be scheduled to travel and let me tell you we will be shouting it from the rooftops. Between now and then we'll be getting her room ready, buying her more cloths and starring at her photos! We are madly in love with her already and we're ready to bring her home. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WELL WISHES!!! Please keep our little Jadyn Nicole in your prayers.

Referral Day - 7.27.11

GOD is so good!!! We've received our referral and she was so worth the wait.

We would like to introduce our "Jadyn Nicole". She is absolutely adorable. We will be receiving more information tomorrow. For now we know she is 6 months old and her Chinese name is Ya Hui Fu. She is our little baby doll!!

Jadyn Nicole

Somewhere out there
Beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me
And loving me tonight

Somewhere out there
Someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another
In that big somewhere out there

And even though I know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star
And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky!

Somewhere out there
If love can see us through
Then we'll be together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams
Come true!!!

Still Waiting..............

As you all know we have been waiting for Jadyn Nicole for 5 1/2 years and I truly believe she will be coming home soon. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about her! We are hoping by the end of this year we will be traveling to China to pick up our baby girl. She has two amazing brothers to grow up with and an amazing family who can't wait to wrap their arms around her. The closer we get to our travel date the harder it seems to be. We are ready to have our entire family together. Please keep her in your prayers!! It just kills me that I can't be there to comfort her at this young age!!!

Introducing Aaron Christopher - Born 11/10/10

2010 was an amazing year for our family!!! We have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy and couldn't be any happier. As we continue to wait for our Jadyn Nicole to come home God had blessed us with this wonderful gift. We hope that we will be receiving our referral in 2011, but as we have learned throughout this journey...it will happen in God's time, so we will count our blessing and continue to wait. We hope everyone has had a great year and we wish you all an amazing 2011!!! Happy New Year.

Love to all.

5 Month - Half way there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miracles and magic
and dreams come true!!
We cannot describe our joy.
With radiant smiles and sparkling hearts
we will be welcoming our little boy in November.

13 weeks and counting...

Kent and I have some WONDERFUL NEWS!!!

After four long years in the adoption process we decided to try to have another baby and I would like to announce that we have a little one on the way. Yes, another little Smith. We've been waiting a long time to hear the pitter patter of little feet in our home and we have been blessed to have this dream come true. We are still moving forward with the adoption, but just decided to take our life off HOLD and add another little family member now....so that means three...yes, three beautiful kids to share our lives with. We are due November 15th and based on the referral process our little one will be a year or so when we receive our referral.

Call us CRAZY!

Here's to a WONDERFUL 2010!!!

This year is going to be a WONDERFUL year and we're looking forward to seeing what GOD has in store for us. HE has blessed us in so many ways and our son is definitely on the top of that list. As you all know life flies by so fast and I don't want to wake up one day and realize that I've missed out on something special. At this time of my life I've decided to stop blogging and spend more time with the boys and our extended family.

I've also decided to focus more time on my hobbies, my faith and fitness. I've set some goals for myself and will tell you all about them once they've been achieved. One of my favorite sources of inspiration,the self-made billionaire Art Williams says: "Do it, then talk" and that's my plan.

We will continue to travel down the long road of adoption. July 2010 will be four years of waiting and unless GOD has another plan we will continue down this journey. Please keep us in your prayers.

I hope all of your hopes and dreams come true in 2010!

God bless each and everyone of you!!

V

Merry Christmas...

This year we were blessed was a beautiful white Christmas. After taking a quick peak outside my boys opened their gifts from Santa and then we enjoyed Kent's mom and step-dad, Emma and Roy's company. My father-in-law, Roy was diagnosed with Colon Cancer about a month ago and we have come to realize how precious life REALLY is. Cancer has been way to familiar in my family. My Dad was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer this year as well. I pray daily that God watches over both of these very amazing men. Roy starts chemo in January and my Dad starts radiation. Please keep them both in your prayers.

Christmas was special for everyone and I am so thankful for the wonderful people God has placed in my life. I hope you and your family had a Very Merry Christmas too! Below are a few pictures I wanted to share: Our Izzy Baby...

Kyle and Kent early Christmas morning. Kyle got up around 6:30 a.m. He was so excited to find a mini-motorcycle under the tree. OHHHH BOY! Kyle took control of the video camera for a while as you can see.

Me and my boys.

Kyle and Poppa Roy. I love this picture of them. These are the moments I wish I could hold on to forever.

Emma, Kent's mom and Poppa Roy....two very special people in our lives. Pop was so tired when I snapped this picture of them.

The day after Christmas we were off to Stephenville to visit Kent's Dad, step-mom, little sister and brother and nieces.

Kasia baby! She was visited by the tooth-fairy and Santa all in the same night. Kent and his little sis...Taylor. She is so BEAUTIFUL. Kyle and Poppa David.
Kasia, Mema, Karington and Taylor.

Mema and Karington snuggled up by the Christmas tree. Again more precious moments.

Love to all,

Christmas Journey

Kent, Kyle and I have enjoyed participating in the Christmas Journey at our Church for the last several years and this year we were blessed to participate again. We were asked to help out in the resurrection performance, which was so much fun. Last year Kyle and I performed in the miracle scene as Kent acted out his part as a disciple at the last supper.

This amazing journey begins at the gates as the Roman soldiers greet everyone as they drive through over 13 amazing scenes. Over 9000 people observed the Angel who spoke to Mary, Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem, they stood in the field with the shepherds, observed the star with the magi, looked into the stable with Joseph and Mary after the birth of our SAVIOR, observe Satan's temptation on Jesus in the desert, watch Jesus' miracles, listen to the shouts at Jesus' trial, stood at the foot of the cross, looked into the tomb and celebrated HIS resurrection!!!!!!!! HE IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!!

Thanksgiving 2009