We Had Our Own Plan...

To celebrate our “Bao Xinu” Auction, I will be sharing a part or our journey to our precious children each day.  Please pray for us and share our auction with your friends and family as we trust the LORD for the funds that we need.


Where it all began...I looked at a list of children who had been a part of ASIA’s 2nd Hope Journey.  I don’t know why I looked.  Steve and I were planning on using our dossier from Keshawn’s adoption to go back to Ethiopia again to adopt another waiting baby.  We had not even considered any part of Asia for the last few years because we knew that we did not meet the requirements.  I like to advocate for children when possible, so I was thinking that I would blog about the children at ASIA’s Hope Journey II.  
Oh my, and then I saw...

this little face.

I fell in love, but I knew that China just wasn’t an option for us.  We had looked into the waiting program less than 24 months ago and were told it just was not possible for us.  So why, oh why, did I let myself linger on this little face.  For three days I would look at the blog about this little man and for three days I would “down size” the blog post about him...you know the button...not the “x” that closes a page, but the “-“ that puts it down at the bottom of your computer.  I didn’t tell Steve that I was falling in love.  Goodness, how would I explain that...
“Honey, I have fallen in love with a little boy in China from a special needs list.  He is six...I know - older than we have ever considered.  His informations says his special needs is “developmentally delay".  No, I’m not exactly sure what that looks like.  And, yes, I know, we don’t meet SEVERAL of the requirements for China.  Yes, I should not have looked, but I did.”
Well, on the 4th day, I pretty much said those words to Steve.  And, my blessed husband said, “It doesn’t hurt to ask”.  I love that man!!!
Come to find out, we were able to request a waiver to adopt Asher, and very quickly we found out that we had received pre-approval.  
But it was just getting interesting...
Tune in tomorrow for more of our journey,
and again share our “major-cool” frame auction to help us raise the money to bring home our “bao xinu” (precious children).
Thank you all so much!!!

“Bao Xinu” Auction

It’s Time!!!

Introducing our 1st on-line auction...

“Bao Xinu” Auction (Precious Children),

to help bring home...

our precious Asher and Noelani.

To celebrate this journey, each day I will share a part of the road that brought us to these darlings.  It was quite a surprise!

On to the auction!!

Jace and Karlie (my son and future daughter (in-law) have made this crazy cool frame to donate for this action.

Here is Jace’s description of it.

"Wooden picture frame and wire center grid. Original is 24x20 inches, but can be made to any size, larger or smaller. One vertical wire, 3 horizontal wires used to clip onto, can be customized for more or fewer wires, or the frame could be turned to hang horizontal. Perfect for hanging photos, recipes, notes, letters or anything on. Includes 12 wooden clothes pins stained to match, frame and clothes pins can be stained lighter or darker as requested. “

TO BID:

There are two ways to bid:

-bid on the left side ChipIn!

-or email me with your bid at shassoldt@msn.com

HOW LONG:

We will announce the winner next Sunday night, March, 6th, 2011.

I want to thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement as we are bringing home these two precious children.  We feel so blessed by the LORD to be invited on this adventure to them and grateful to share it with you.  

One more request - PLEASE share this auction with EVERYONE!

Thank you!!

I love ya’ll. 

What I Am Praying For And Working On!

"A gentle and quiet spirit is not only imperishable; it is precious in the sight of God. It's also one of the hardest qualities to cultivate. Far from a sign of weakness, a gentle and quiet spirit is the sign of a woman who is strong in faith, mind and character." --Anna Sofia & Elizabeth Botkin

Voices In Our Heads?

I hear voices in my head.  Do you?  Good voices and bad voices.
“I am a blessed and happy woman.”
or
‘“I’m not good enough.”
There are also voices I hear on the outside.  Precious loved ones who say;
“I am so proud of the woman that you have become.”
or
“I am so glad that you’re my mommy.”
Words.
Jesus dealt with them also.
I was read in Matthew 16: 21-23 where Jesus is preparing the disciples for the journey to Jerusalem.  He is preparing them for His death and resurrection.  Peter takes him aside and offers words to Jesus that might look like words of encouragement, support or love.  Peter doesn’t want to see Jesus hurt and rejects the destination that Jesus is preparing them all for.  
I was thinking that as I journey “to Jerusalem”, or God and His will for my life, I will hear words, like Jesus did, that would try to hinder me from my destination.  
There might be words that try to hold me back; words of fear, words that offer a false sense of safety, even loving or comforting words could become a blockade.
How do you know which words to listen to?
Jesus shows us in the words that He spoke in Matthew 16:23 “Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me.  For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Are the words that I hear words that will help me set my mind on the things of God?
Or on the things of man?
We must pray and ask the LORD to help us know.  Am I thinking from a fear based, self-centered position, or a faith based, God-centered position?
Let us encourage each other on our walk to “our Jerusalem” with words that are faith-filled, God-centered words that bring glory and honor to Him and His will in each of our lives. 
Shine!!! for Him.

Loves,
Shonni

Wordless Fun

The Pretty, The Ugly, and The Thankful

 Here are two more pretty dresses for my girls.  I was asked which patterns I have used.  They are patterns from Olabelhe.  I have used this one and this one.  I love the Olabelhe patterns!

 I think the girls like them also.  I look for sales on fabric from Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops and Fabric.com.  There are also other pretty patterns at Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops.

And here is the ugly.  One of my darlings (guess who) broke this window.  We have tape on it for now till we can replace it.

And the thankful;

a sweet friend offered to buy this book for me, so now I feel much better!!!

Capturing The Days

 I went to his bedroom and saw that he had made his bed and placed his special stuffed animals comfortably on his blanket.

I wanted to capture this boy hood moment because on that day, my little Landon was one year closer to manhood.   One more birthday was bringing him closer to leaving his childhood behind.  

I don’t want to forget when he carefully placed his special toys on his bed, and met this birthday; he one when he turned 10.

Someone else had a birthday also.  Yes, my little Keshawn is now two.

I survived the sorting of the clothes.  I always feel ten pounds lighter when I do a job like that!!!
We finished up the painting and I love the new clean feel of it all.
Jace and Karlie and donating something really special to help us raise funds for the adoptions.  I wanted to  do an auction on it.  Do any of you have suggestions how to do that?  I have never done an auction fundraiser.
Time to get back to schooling!!

Out Of Necessity ...

I will be buried in eleven children’s clothes today.  From all closets and drawers, I must sort our what fits and what doesn’t, what is ruined in some way and must go away, and what is good and should be kept in the basement for another child to grow into.  Then there are the socks...
if you don’t hear from me in a few days, please send help, BIG help!!!
Before I go,
look at these cute pictures that Kalyn took of Joeliana and Aiden yesterday.

Farewell!

What A Beautiful Mess!

 I don’t always feel that I have time to make sugar cookies because of the mess.

 But I decided that I would this morning while the children where making crafts.

 As I was putting the first cookies in the oven, one of my little darlin’s looked at me and said,

“I’m so glad that you are my mommy.  You are so kind."

 A few minutes later two little darlin’s gave me hugs and as I tried to hug them back without getting flour in their hair one of them said,

“I love you so much.  You are so beautiful."

 The other quickly chimed in with,

“You’re the most beautiful-est."

 

 One of my more quiet darlin’s said

“Thanks mom”, as he was carefully icing his heart cookie. 

 That’s a lot of love.

And completely worth the time and the mess.

Are We Passionate?

"If you will not suffer and sacrifice for something,

you are not passionate about it."

-Floyd McClung

This Little Darlin’ NEEDS A Mommy And Daddy - NOW!!

Here is what Marci at ASIA wrote about Milly,

Meet Milly. CCAA has asked us to advocate for her because she will turn 14 in the fall and no longer be eligible for adoption. Milly is healthy and sweet. The Director of her orphanage regards her as his own always asks how she is doing and teaches her things. Milly is a very polite and honest young lady. When she found 50 Yuan on the ground, she immediately gave it to her teacher to try to find the person who lost it. Her teacher was so impressed that she continued to praise and encourage Milly. Milly struggles a little academically but has remained at grade level with a little extra help and encouragement. She likes studying English more than Chinese and Math. She reports that she does want to be adopted and have a family of her own. Milly needs a family to come forward for her right away! Please contact me if you would be interested in Milly. If you are already in process for another child, it may be possible to adopt Milly as well: marcisk@asiadopt.org





Let’s get the word out for this little darling, before it is to late.  Let’s fight for her so that she will not become an “if only” child;
if only she had a family!!
“Father God, we pray for this chid of Yours, and ask that you would bring her family to her before it is to late.  We pray for Your will to be done and thank you that You have called us to help work in Your field of the fatherless."

Thankful Thursday-One Thing Led To Another

Here are some pictures from our minor home remodeling project.

You can see in the above picture that our refrigerator was basically a little island in the middle of three rooms.  The door on the left leads to what I call my “quiet room” (there are major rules for this room!!!).  The room on the right is our dining room and then of course, the kitchen.  It has always been so hard to get to the refrigerator with it facing the cabinet the way it does.  So daddy suggested that we wall up the door and get some more room.

 Above, daddy is walling up one side and below is a picture of the other side all sheet rocked and ready for texture.

 Mom and I couldn’t do anything to help the guys, so we spent time learning how to smock on my sewing machine.  In the back ground, my niece, Hannah, who came over for the day, is preparing the wall for texture.

 This picture is just because my dad is so darn cute with his grandchildren!!!

 All is coming together nicely.  And one thing led to another; we needed to paint the new wall, so I decided we would just paint the whole kitchen since it needed it!!!  Now mom and I got busy!!

 Above...almost done, just needing some second coats of paint.   See the little angel on the tray?  I tried to wash the dirt off of her, and all her “hair” came off.  Well, I guess all construction must have a few casualties.  

This picture is just for your viewing pleasure.  You may be saying to yourself “What in the world is going on here?”  Well, I’ll tell you...I put the second coat on to quickly, then tried to pull the tape off, and the paint just came off like a latex glove.  Lesson learned...painting on tea stained walls is tricky, and be patient!!!!!!

 I am so thankful that my parent came down to help us with this project.  It is so much easier to do a job when people you love are helping you (besides that, they are both so smart with construction and decorating).  And I am thankful to have this pretty new paint in my kitchen!  It was looking dingy, and paint is such an inexpensive way to change the look of a room.

 And what about “that” wall? 

 Well, here is a picture I took right this minute with my computer.  You can see that I still have a little work to do.  So to finish up this post.  I am thankful also for good work to do here in my home!