Most of you have seen this - But I needed a pick me up right now before I get ready to strangle my SW so I thought I would share it again. A friend of mine from our big April Pandas group did this. Our Abigail is featured under Jiang Xi province. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljJmrCbEIsk

I am so excited we will be hosting Flat Stanley. A friend from another group was looking for host families and we were chosen. For those of you who do not know about Flat Stanley this book will help. Basically it's about a boy who get squished flat and travels all over He can slide under doors and fit any where. His travels take him all over the world. We have plans on taking him to Notre Dame,the college football hall of fame and the Studebaker Museum. Depending on when he arrives, he may go to China or an Indianapolis Colts game. Here is the link to follow his journey past our little corner of the world. http://www.lsflatstanleyadventures.blogspot.com/

Still nothing from our SW - GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

This is our first piece of fabric for our 100 good wishes quilt. It's from one of the girls in our local play group. She had never heard of the quilt so that made it even better to spread the knowledge and info. I do hope she does one for her daughter and the daughter she will be DTC for in Aug.

Mermaids

Genevieve and Abigail having fun in the pool. Genvieve is becoming quite the fish. Or as she would rather be called, the Mermaid. Because mermaids can swin fast to get away from sharks. I do hope she does not become obsessed with that thought. I can only handle one meramid in my life and her friend Sarah is that. Abigail still palys it safe, no daredevil stuff for her.

out of the mouths of 4 yr olds - & My SW

Grrrrrrrrrrrr still no Homestudy. My SW is working another job, planning her wedding, and has a daughter who is an adult but still attached to mom's apron and 5 dogs who are more trouble than 2 4 yr olds and she is always sick. Wow I feel better now that I vented that. But I still don't have my HS. On another note - Genevieve and her friend are getting their bathing suits on so we can go swimming. I am helping Abigail and her friends sister get theirs on. The conversation between 2 four yr old girls can be absolutely hysterical. And by the way rational in their mind. G - Why is your bathing suit bigger that mine? (G wears a 2T and O wears a 4t) O - because my bumps are going to be bigger G - well my mommy has big bumps O - Mine doesn't G - If I get a big bating suit can I have big bumps? O - No , you have to have a big butt too. G - My mommy has a big butt O - So does mine G - Come on lets go swim O - OK Sorry O's mommy, had to share this. It was too funny not to.

links and Inks

OK I am having trouble getting it to post to the right, so here is the link: http://www.magazinefundraising.com/store/Index.aspx Also Empty Ink cartridges can be mailed to us to help out. Send them to Julia Trawick PO Box 2862 - South Bend, IN 46680

I Just signed up for the magazine fundraiser at the urging of a friend. wow that was easier than i thought. I have posted the link to the right. But I sent out 92 e-mails with the link as well. Julia

Huge Thanks

I can't thank my friends who are cross posting on their blogsite the links and our story to help bring her home. This can only increase the number of people who see the journey and pray with us. Julia

Abigail's Quilt

What a beautiful project this was. Some of you may recognize your fabric

100 good wishes quilt

I guess I need to start her 100 good wishes quilt. I need squares fast. I would like them to 8 X 8 so as to make hers a little bigger than a baby blanket. I almost forgot about this. It is so important for her to have as many good wishes wrapped around her as possible. The girls quilts are beautiful and I love to look over the wishes and remember the wonderful friends and family who have contributed. If you are unaware of what I'm talking about, it is a Chinese Custom to make a quilt for the new arrival of fabric pieces with wishes granted upon them. What I need is an 8 X 8 piece of fabric and then an index size card with a wish written out on it. It can be as decorative or as simple as you choose. Also attach a small piece of the fabric to the card. The pieces are then sewn into a quilt for the child. The goal is to get 100 quilt pieces. An example of a wish. I send out pieces of fabric with the wizard of oz on it and my wish card reads "May you never have to look any further than your own back yard for happiness" If you would like to send in a square please mail them to: Julia Trawick PO Box 2862 South Bend, IN 46680

INS and home study

My SW did not have our HS done so now I am calling her daily to get it so i can get it in the mail by Mon. Say a prayer she hustles over the weekend

Great Website to help bring Jie Jie Home

I love my friends and family - Here is the latest offering to help bring Jie Jie home. This little girls is so loved. My friend Rachel Stahley and fellow adoptive mom is also a Mary Kay Consultant. She has offered to do a fundraiser for me. If you go to her Mary Kay website, any Mary Kay that you order she will donate her profit to our upcoming adoption of Jie Jie. During the checkout process make sure you make a note that it is for Julia's adoption fund so she knows to give me the credit. She will be keeping this offer open until we go to China so make sure you buy often. www.marykay.com/rstahley

This past week

I am so sorry not many posts this week. We had friends/family in from North Carolina. It was Geneveieve's orphanage sister from YiYang SWI, Hunan. The girls love seeing each other every time the get together. It's nice to take a break from the every day hub of life so I only did the bare minimum to get by for the adoption fo our new JieJie (big sister). I am really hoping she likes the name Madeline beacause it sure is the eay I'm leaning right now. It will be different next time we're all together and there's five in the shot.

Here are a few shots of this week and the girls all together.

Moving Right Along

I I still havent heard from my SW. I have the pile ready to go out to Chicago. I sure hope she gets it done in time. So in the down time I figured out how to upload pics and thought I would share a few of my favorites from the girls last photo shoot.

Julia

My SW now has eveything to get my HS done. She said i should have it by Thursday. I am driving into Chicago with friends so we can drop it off to get the fingoerprint appt. I have a great suck up letter typed out to go with it so with any kind of luck and the grace of God I should have a 171 by the middle of July at the latest. Then I just have to pull the $$$$$$$ together to send in with the dossier to be DTC. I am waiting on our BC still, but that's minor. I have our ones dated from 2004 to send along to BCIS for fingerprints. I am so blessed to have the friends I have. They have all just pulled together and brainstormed their hearts out to helps us figure this out. One friend is hosting yard sale, another is donating her profits for a spell, another is saving cans and yet another is hosting pre-teen shower. Others are just jumping in as well with emotional support and lending a hand when needed. Like a friend in Indy who has offered to walk my papers through the state dept down there. The price of gas for a 3 hour haul makes this a real blessing. I am so anxious for the day when I can help the next family bring their child home to their forever family. Julia

Today Our son was Married

OK in the Trawick Household it's never dull. Today our Keith got married to a beautiful young lady. He just told us last week they were doing it. She is just a gem. The things they have gone through with his Ex would make a normal person run and hide. That's why they kept it quiet and simple. I am going to try and post pics now, Julia

todays progress

Today we went to the police station and got our local check, welfare dept and turned in our paper for the CPS check. Their computers were down so I have to go back and get it. Filled out the paper for the state check online. We also dropped off our old HS with corrections to our SW's house so HOPEFULLY we can get that done. I am believeing more and more with each passing day this can happen. We are very blessed that everyone is jumping in to help us bring this little girl home to her forever family. I can't wait to tell her how much she is loved, not only by us but an entire community. Cyber and local. Julia

This is a wonderful lady from our Tuesday Playgroup. I am so blessed that everyone is wanting to bring our daughter home I want to help Julia bring her baby-teen home and I know many of you want tohelp also. The challenge is to raise the funds and finish the paperworkbefore this precious girl turns 14.So.here's the deal. Starting TODAY through the END of JUNE, all commissionsfrom every sale on my close<https://mbaldwin.myctmh.com/WebSites/Templates/MyCTMH/Template1.aspx?PageID=63732> To My Heart website will go toward bringing this girl home to her family.Pass this on to your friends and family and let's make a difference in thislittle one's life!Close To My Heart provide supplies and instruction in the art ofscrapbooking and stamping. Create beautiful scrapbook pages, cards, andcraft projects with our exclusive line of top-quality papers, inks, stamps,and accessories. Be sure to check out our amazing acrylic stamps.thequality is unbeatable not to mention the many benefits of convenientstorage, see-through placement and the ability to create your own stamps bycombining several smaller AcrylixR onto one larger block! Melissa

Here we Grow Again

OK never say never. The time has come for me to announce our newest addition. She is 13 and about to age out in China. This was not planned it kinda fell in our laps. Do we know how to pay for it, No. Can it be done, I don't know. Are we going to do everything we can to bring her home, YES. I can only post a little info for now. this is because of CCAA regs and we are still waiting to be DTC as we scramble and paperchase all over again. It is imperative that we are DTC by Aug. She has to be out of China by Dec 31st when she ages out. I can not post pics yet as soon as I can I will because she is BEAUTIFUL. She was abandoned at age 8 with pneumonia. She spent 6m in the hospital. She is from JiangSu Province, Nanjing SWI. She has requested to have a forever family. That's Us. I will travel alone again this time due to financial reasons. This will be my 3rd trip to China in Dec. 03, 05, and now 07. Pray for us - I have some wonderful friends at our playgroup who is helping us fund raise and pull it together. God is Good. Julia