A NEW PICTURE OF ABBIE AND HER FRIENDS!!

This is sooooo wonderful! Our cyber-friend Bonnie, who is picking up her beautiful daughter Hua(in blue and yellow), sent us this picture of Abbie (who is on the left sporting a lovely drool bib and red pantsuit, complete with padded jacket.) It is so cute to see Abbie playing piano with her little friends!! :) She looks happy and healthy! Can't wait to give Abbie her first Oreo cookie!

Hope you had a Great Memorial Day Weekend!

Hi Everyone:

Last week we had a nice visit from our friend Anne and three of her beautiful daughters. Thanks for visiting with us girls!! The weekend was busy with bike rides, a four hour trip to IKEA (again), Swedish meatballs, and hours of building little girl beds. Dan accidentally bonked me on the head with a crib railing and I have a good sized goose egg on the back of my noggin. Ouch, but I'll survive! We also learned that our adoption friend's little boy does not have cancer. Wonderful news and a true testament to the power of prayer.

Hope you had a nice holiday weekend and hopefully, sometime this month, we will receive Abbie's LOA!

Have a great week! Tracie

Prayers are Needed

Hello Everyone:

A dear person, and the precious angel who helped us find our Abbie, needs our prayers. She just learned that her beautiful son Ammon (also from China) was diagnosed with a brain mass. At this time, they know he will need surgery, but they do not know if the mass is benign or cancerous. Please pray for this wonderful family and that Ammon will be healed and healthy. This woman does so much for others - I know God will not give her more than she can handle.

With love and prayers, Tracie

Love Without Boundaries

Hi Everyone:

I would be totally remiss if I did not mention the 4th annual art auction for Love Without Boundaries (a non-profit organization dedicated to China's beautiful children) has started and is going until May 24th! This is a huge fundraiser for LWB! You can access the art auction link by going to www.lovewithoutboundaries.com.

The reason why this is so important to us and I am mentioning it, is because Abbie is/was an LWB child. Her lip was repaired due to the generosity and love of a sponsor who donated money for her surgery, as well as the medical team who performed the surgical procedure. Also, Abbie is currently enrolled in an LWB sponsored preschool at her orphanage! Without LWB, we never would never have seen a picture and have fallen in love with our Abbie. We are forever indebted for LWB's kindness and amazing work in China. Check out the art auction and bid on some great items! Hope you win! :)

Tracie

IKEA

IKEA was FABULOUS!!!! We now have three adorable toddler beds, bedding, rugs, an art easel and some fun accessories. Gracie, Lucy and Abbie are all set! Now, we just need Abbie! For those of you who have never been to an IKEA store, you are missing out on something great...and most importantly, CHEAP!! :) The toddler beds were only $29.00 each!

Tracie

It's Friday!!

Hi Friends and Family!

Normally, I am happy when Friday rolls around, but this was the craziest day at work - EVER! Then, when we got home, Dan and I took the girls on a bike trailer ride (our almost daily activity), to continue our training for a 150 mile ride for MS on June 23/24. What started out as a nice, warm ride, quickly turned into a tornado like wind storm, complete with rain and SCREAMING toddlers! But, the terrible ride wouldn't have been complete without a stop at McDonald's first for Happy Meals and really obnoxious "Shrek 3" baby doll toys that talk. You guessed it...the girls made their dolls talk for eleven miles before mommy completely lost her marbles! Ha ha!

I am looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow, the girls will go to their fifth Chinese School class. We found a great school that meets every Saturday from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM and takes children as young as 2 1/2! Gracie and Lucy are in class together and I am learning a lot by sitting in. Lucy is quickly channeling her internal Mandarin from the first year of her life! Her accents and tones are perfect! Class is so much fun and they learn through playing, singing, dressing up and other methods perfect for younger children. On occasion, I have even "caught" the girls singing a song about two tigers in Mandarin!

After Mandarin class, we will go to the new IKEA store for a special day sale for the builder's families. My mission is to purchase three toddler beds and a dresser for Abbie. It still freaks me out when I think we will soon be the parents of five! :) Wow!

Then, that evening, we have the Okland Construction Family Picnic at Boondocks, an amusement park near our house. Should be fun!

On Sunday, our little Gracie turns four years old! It seems like just yesterday that I was two weeks overdue with the little pumpkin and gearing up to be induced. Even though she is four, she still loves to be wrapped in a hooded towel and pretend she is my "little baby." I love that! Where does time go??

Have a wonderful weekend everyone...and be safe! We love you all!

Tracie

Syd and Sam!

Hi Everyone:

Today is day 20 since we were logged into China's database. Time is going by quickly! I love these pictures of Samantha and Sydnie in the bath tub and Samantha with the purple flower. Beautiful girls. Thank you Lisa! Love you!

Tracie

Hot Air Balloonist Tracie

Hi Everyone!

Always the wild and crazy Tracie, my latest adventure was hot air ballooning! Here are a couple of pictures from my work outing yesterday. I was lucky to be able to take an untethered ride over the Heber Valley of Utah. It was so warm and serene (even at 6:00 AM!) I also learned how to "milk" the 300lb+ balloon without falling into the bag (too many times!) Ha ha! Enjoy!

Tracie

It's Monday.

Sigh. It's Monday and a beautiful sunny Utah day. Unfortunately, it was raining all weekend so we did not get to go outside for a ride. Bummer! I pretty much just lumped on the sofa, so did the kids. Not much going on around here...just waiting around for Abbie's LOA!

Have a great week! Tracie

The Eagle has Landed!

Hi Everyone:

After a very busy, fun filled week of learning and networking (and eating), I am finally back home to my family. I have to tell you, I feel like I just traveled to China and back. The time difference has wiped me out and I feel like I have been schlepping luggage for days! We started our day off with a Philadelphia sites scavenger hunt. In 45 minutes I saw the Betsy Ross House, Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin's Gravesite, the US Mint, the Constitution Center an interpretive visitor center and other important sites. But, I can't actually say I saw them because we were walking too fast to try to win the hunt! So much for taking in the historical flavor of Philly! At least I can say I saw the Liberty Bell, even if it was for only five seconds before we sprinted off to the next site on our walking map. Ha ha! My only regret is that I didn't have time to be able to see Lisa. Someday, I will just have to plan a trip especially to Jersey!

Feels good to be home with everyone and the kiddie hugs felt even better!

Tracie

Winding Down the Week!

Hi Everyone:

It has been a very wild and crazy week full of meetings, events and lots of food! Last night all 600 global HR professionals at Marriott, danced the night away at a black tie gala awards ceremony in our honor. This morning we had a surprise visit and "coffee talk" with Mr. Marriott himself! What a wonderful honor. Tonight a smaller group of us (about 50+ people) took trolleys to a local restaurant in South Philly, where the waiters and waitresses entertained us with opera music! What wonderful voices they had and we ate delicious Italian food! Tomorrow, we start the day with a 7:30 AM walking tour of Philly, breakfast, a short meeting, then I'm on a flight home. I won't get in until 8:15 PM, but it will sure feel good to sleep in my own home and give my family a big hug and a kiss for always putting up with Mom's business travel! On a fun note, we learned that our 2008 Global Human Resources Conference will be in April, in Cancun!! Arriba!! Time to order passports for the whole family - where going to Mexico!

Home soon! Tracie

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did I say WOW yet????

Oh my gosh, I need to get Abbie's bedroom ready and buy some clothes!!

"Just received this email I know this will just make you shriek with delight but we have your LID and it is 4/24/07. Pretty darn fabulous, isn't it?! We are truly grateful to the CCAA for getting these logged in so quickly. YAHOO!! Now it will be about 8 weeks for your SC to arrive and travel 3 weeks after that if everything stays the same processing time as we are currently seeing."

Uh, did I say WOW yet??????!!!!!!!!

Over the moon Tracie!

Greetings from the Cheese Steak Capitol of the U.S.!

Hi Everyone:

After a full day of FREEZING in meetings rooms, then a four hour nap due to exhaustion, I am off to a better start today! Three cups of caffeinated tea to keep me awake and a nice warm meeting room, has me feeling much perkier! I have not had the chance to see any of Philly, but they did serve us cheese steak sandwiches for lunch today (which was actually only 10:30 AM my time.) A little early for cheese steak! My stomach still thinks it's waffle time! Ha ha! Tonight we have a big black tie awards dinner. Should be a fun evening! On Friday morning, we will do a walking tour of Philly, then a brief meeting. Only two more days and I will be back home with my hubby and kiddies where I belong. I miss you guys!

Love Tracie (Mom) XOXOXOXO