Today is my 27th wedding anniversary, and I can't help but compare it to when my parents celebrated their 25th. (Only because they didn't have a big celebration for their 27th.) I was their youngest child and I was already an adult - 20 years old. They didn't have anyone living at home with them anymore. I remember going out with extended family to a restaurant as they opened up gifts that were made of silver.

I, on the other hand, have two who are grown and gone, but still have an 18 year old, 14 year old, two 11 year... more

Just had to share our extended family's joy with all of you that our new niece, Makenna, is home! She arrived with her parents late Wednesday night a bit tired and jetlagged but every bit as beautiful as you saw in her previous pictures.

As we were anxiously waiting, a woman who had been on the same flight and saw her brothers holding a "Welcome Home Makenna! We love you!" sign, walked past and said, "I already saw... more

I know it isn't just hormones...these pictures made me cry this morning when I pulled them up on my email. I wrote a post here about Makenna, my new niece who will be coming home from China next week with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

I just got pictures this morning from my brother-in-law and I think she is the most beautiful baby in the whole world! She is doing very well and even gave her new mom kisses! I can hardly wait... more

Meet the newest member of our extended family. No, she's not our daughter, although we'd take her in a heartbeat! She's our little flower blossom niece and she will be arriving home with her parents--Jeff's brother and his wife-- from the Hunan Province in the middle of March. Her Chinese name does indeed mean Blossom, but she will be known here in the States as Makenna.

My brother-in-law... more

My daughter Alyssa's birthday was last Tuesday but we celebrated it tonight since she chose to hang out with her youth group at church on Tuesday. We've clearly reached the age where peers come before family celebrations! As I look back on her 14 seemingly short years, I am reminded of when she was born.

I had placenta previa and intermittent bleeding with my pregnancy so my doctor put me on modified bed rest for the last three months. You may ask "how do you modify bed rest? Turn the bed upside down?... more

Jeff admitted to falling ill for a short time to the "reluctant husband" syndrome due to his lack of sign language proficiency, but he soon warmed up to the idea, and we brought home Benjamin a year later. Ben was four at adoption, and is now 10 years old.

We always felt that when we adopted a second time, that we would go back to China so Benjamin could have a sibling who shared his history and culture. Every time we tried to apply through different agencies, however, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. China just didn’t “feel right.” Although I was sad and couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong, we continued to pray about the direction our lives needed to go, and... more

Ni hao! My name is Heidi, and I am currently in Guangzhou, China, with my husband and four of our children as we prepare to meet our newest son and sibling in less than two days. I am thrilled to share our latest adoption journey with you, as well as other thoughts and ideas related to adopting a sibling from the parent’s point of view.

Believe it or not, my husband Jeff and I discussed adoption before we ever even married. That might sound like putting the cart before the horse, but I told him that I had always felt that I would adopt some of my children and I needed to know if he was OK with that. Thankfully he was not only “OK” with the idea, but also felt that adoption was a... more