The Wish Girl!

I've always wondered how to make curls with a flat iron. I finally asked a friend, who demonstrated on her hair, and I just had to come home and try it on Graci. Isn't she lovely?

Her face when we told her...

We got a very exciting phone call this morning from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Our Graci Kate is going to be granted a wish!! We are beyond grateful and so very excited!!! She is more than deserving, and it has been so much fun to watch her giddiness all night!! Graci will be going to the Wish Room in SLC, where they will play the "wishing game" with her to try and find out what she would most love. Jer and I get to help narrow her wishes to her top three, and then they will choose which wish to grant. It is all so magical!!!

So we were trying to explain this all to Graci, and asked her what she would like the most-- just to get her thinking. Her first answer was "poofy dresses." (: We told her she could think even bigger than that!! It was so cute to hear the things that would make her happy. At one point I asked, "If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?" Her answer-- "Jesus." (:

After talking about Disneyworld, Chinese lessons, all the Thai food she could eat, and seeing Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) she finally said, "I've narrowed it down to two: a Disney cruise or a Webkinz!" For those of you that don't know, a Webkinz is a little stuffed animal. We got a good laugh out of that.

I am so beyond grateful to the wonderful people at Make-a-Wish and to all those who have donated to their cause. Watching her lit up like the sun all night has been so good for us!!! We are so excited to see what her dreams bring her and to watch one of her wished granted!!!

Thank-you, Make-a-Wish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lucky Lincoln

Taylor has to do a book report every month for school. The teacher chooses the genre and format of the report. This month, it was a biography/puppet show. They were supposed to make a puppet of the person they read about and have the puppet tell ten facts about himself in front of the class. Taylor read a really amazing book about Abraham Lincoln. He LOVED it!! The night before the report was due (this is the usual trend) he and I started to work on the puppet of Lincoln. I pulled out my big craft box and was rummaging through it collecting googly eyes and black felt. After staring at me for awhile, Taylor said, "I think I should just glue a penny to a stick!" I started to laugh and he got the giggles, and we decided it would be perfect! I mean, the whole point is to read the book, not spend hours and hours creating a puppet!

Well, he came home yesterday and said, "Mom, my puppet was a huge hit! Except, I don't think Mrs. Andersen saw the humor in it. She just said, 'Um, it's kind of small...'"



What do you think?? I say points for wit and creativity and extra points for making his mom's life a little easier! (:

For Your Amusement...

I'm not about to post a picture of myself without make-up, so you'll just have to imagine the rest...

Advice to Readers

When you leave your house to pick your child up from kindergarten, you might want to think twice about the whole “I’m just staying in the van… nobody will see me” mentality. That way, you may avoid pairing your dirty grubbies and fuzzy green frog socks with a pair of black Sunday shoes (hey, they were the nearest thing to the door). It may just so happen that your husband has switched you vehicles so he can get some tires changed. And it may just so happen that your husband likes to see how long his vehicle can go on an empty tank of gas. And so, when you get half-way to the school, you may just find yourself stranded on the side of the road in said grubbies and Sunday shoes, without make-up, coat, or phone. And you may feel very silly walking down the side of the road in said attire while car after car passes you by. And when you finally flag a handsome policeman down and ask to borrow his phone, your face just may be bright red as you call and ask your neighbor to please come and rescue you.

And while I’m giving free advice, you may just want to know that it is semi-important to turn your crock pot off before going to bed. That way, you won’t wake up in the morning to a strange, strong, burning smell that has permeated the whole house. And the spatula you happened to leave in the crock pot won’t look like this:


Happy Monday!

Graci's Website

A few of you have asked what happened to Graci's website. It is now viewable again, either by the link below our family pictures to the left, or by going to www.mychinajourney2.com/goingbackforgraci.com

As I was looking through her site this morning, I re-read a post I wrote 2 1/2 years ago, just before our trip to go get her. I'm going to paste it here:

Dear Graci:

Hello. You're 12,000 miles away, probably can't read English, and who knows if you have access to the internet. But hopefully someday you'll be able to read this. Hopefully someday you'll want to read this. It's crazy. I've never met you in person, and yet I feel like I've already bonded to you. You are my daughter, and I am your father. I hope you have been able to feel this to some extent as well. I love you Graci. I miss you. I am SO excited to hold you in my arms and tell you that. I will say it in English and Chinese. I am trying to learn Chinese, Graci. I'm sure you'll be disappointed in my miniscule little abilities, but I have tried. I'll keep working on it until I meet you and long, long after. I hope I can help you just a little bit to stay fluent in Chinese throughout your life.

Graci, I had an interesting conversation on Friday with two of the doctors that I call on. We were taking about going to get you and the challenges you have in store for you with your heart condition. Their comments had to do with the very large amount of money our insurance company will be paying to help extend and improve the quality of your life. They questioned whether it would be better to spend so much money on one child to vastly improve her life, or to spread the money out over several thousand children and help improve each of their lives a little bit. What a question. Truly, there is much good that can be done for the many. And ultimately, everyone must come to their own decision on such questions. Let me tell you why it is right for us to devote many resources to the one, to YOU.

First, and most important, Graci, you are a child of God. He knows you. He loves you. He wants you to become part of our family. He has prepared us for you, and you for us. I know this because He has told me. Not in words, but through the spirit. I have looked into your eyes countless times in the photographs we have of you, and you are ours. This is the right thing for you and for us. So Graci, regardless of whatever logical processes and comparisons of costs and benefits of different options that can be made, this is the right decision. God has said so.

Secondly, Graci, and I believe this is something my physician friends did not take into account, is the incredible impact one human being can have. Surely it is a great thing to build an orphanage in a poverty-stricken area. Surely it is a great thing to feed many children, to give them clothing and shelter and medicine. I have some good friends in Tennessee who have spent a tremendous amount of their time and money doing just that, and I can't tell you how much I admire them for it. But it is no less important to take one child and give her all the love a family can give. It is no less important to take one child, and give her access to the best medical care in the world, so her life can be preserved for more years than would otherwise be possible. For while taking care of the many will bring joy, happiness, and love to the many, so taking care of the one, especially when that one is YOU, will also bring joy, happiness, and love to the many. For Graci, you have a special something within you. You are going to touch the lives of many in ways that nobody else could. There is no doubt you will bless Jeremy, Christianne, Taylor, Parker, Jessica and Elizabeth. But Graci, I know that your sweet spirit will be the means of blessing countless lives in countless ways in the future.

Already, before you are even here, I can't tell you how many people have been touched in their hearts when they hear your sweet story. People have stopped to think about things a little bit differently. People want to know what happens to you and how your life will unfold. And so, Graci, you will have the opportunity not only to bless the lives of your new immediate family, but also the lives of countless hundreds, even thousands around the United States and beyond.

Graci, I love you. I have waited my whole life to meet you. Ten years ago, I had no idea I would have two daughters from China. But then, I didn't know I would have my precious princess Jessica, nor my two amazing sons, who will soon become your two best friends.

Thank you for waiting for us. Thank you for being who you are. I will see you in about 11 days!

Love,

Dad