Strawberry Fest Parade and a 16 Month LID Anniversary

What better way to celebrate 16 months of our wait for Malia being behind us than marching in a parade! We joined His Heart Our Hands to represent its ministry in the Strawberry Fest parade. There were five adoptive families, including ours, that walked and passed out candy and flyers about the His Heart Our Hands ministry. And, of course, I wore my "Expecting from China" shirt!

This picture was taken by Rick's mom, who was watching us from the crowd. I was about to take a picture of her and the rest of the family when she ran out, took my camera, and took a picture of us. What a hoot! While marching, we also made plans for dinner with them after the parade. We ended up at Pizza Hut!

Here's three families who have a special bond through the miracle of adoption. We're on the left. Brad, Carmen, Braylen and Alea (an adoptive family) are in the middle and Brian, Tonya and Isaac (a China waiting family just like us) are on the right. These are some very special people we have been blessed to meet through this whole experience. We so look forward to hanging out with you all and our beautiful girls (and boys) in the years ahead!

Here's Tonya, Isaac and Spencer blowing up balloons for our wagon.

And here's the beautiful Braylen helping them out.

And here's Rick with the adorable Alea from Taiwan. Isn't she beautiful, too? These precious girls continue to give us hope, and remind us of the miracle that awaits us at the end of the beginning of our journey.

Our three families will also be manning a booth at the 4-H Fair coming up in a couple weeks to publicize the His Heart Our Hands Orphan and Adoption Care Ministry. We pray that this ministry will bless many children and families through assisting in the miracle of adoption. Please let us know if you would like to contribute financially to the grant!