WERE ARE IN AWWWW ONCE AGAIN....

We got ANOTHER surprise today!!! MORE new pictures of Meilynn!! We requested photos with her friends so we could have one framed for her to have once she is home & once again the orphanage came through & sent us 5 new pic's!!! They have even requested that we send photos of her new family to start preparing her for her upcoming adoption!!! WOW, we are so amazed & feel so blessed that she is so loved. Our agency said they are really impressed with the orphanage because they have never had an orphanage request pictures or express wanting to prepare her for her new family! Is it me or is she just so stickin adorable & looks so sweet!!!



Anyone that is wondering Meilynn is the little one wearing the stripped dress.
WHAT A WAY TO START OFF THE WEEKEND!!!!!

We are off for another CRAZY weekend but it will be so much FUN spending it with my family. My niece is finally marrying her "Prince Charming" after 6 years of dating & it is an all weekend event. So I will make sure to post pictures after the weekend!!! Thank goodness are life keeps us VERY busy because it is helping the wait go by fast but of course to a waiting mom it is not going as fast as I want it to go!!!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Weekend!

RANDOM POST, WEEKEND RECAP & OUR EVERYDAY LIFE...

I have decided that I am going to have more structure & more of a routine in our lives since school has started that one of my goals is to keep up with the blog!!! I am hoping to eventually have our family blog made into a scrapbook for the kids someday!! Life can be so busy & we can forget what we may of done last week so this way I will always have our memories that we cherish with our kids. Plus I am wanting to keep everyone updated on our timeline for travel & any adoption updates but unfortunately no news to post so far this week!!! Still waiting for our government to give their approval once again, more paperwork & this time there has been so much more & it is actually our government NOT China!!! Imagine that!!! Anyway still praying & crossing every finger & every toe that we will receive our Travel Approval in Oct. & can travel early Nov but you never know with China you just go whenever they give you permission! One thing I have learned with the process of adoption is alot of "PATIENCE" & everything is out of our hands & we are on God's time not our time!!! And for all those people that say "OH ADOPTION IS EASIER THAN PREGNANCY".....WHATEVER!!!!

So on to our busy lives that is helping the time go faster to bring our daughter home!! Dalen has started football again & had his first real game this past Sat. He is playing on the 5th & 6th grade red OV team & they won!!! They were so excited because Dalen was a little scared going into this game because we were playing Bloomington & they have some really big boys on their team. On the way to the game I was trying to give him the pep talk & reminded him of his favorite movie "Facing the Giants", you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it & then I told him to pray HARD before going out on the field!!! Funny thing is mom is giving him the pep talk & I was the one praying in the stands that none of those really BIG boys would hurt my son!!! SO let FOOTBALL season began & keep praying none of the boys will be rushed to the ER!!! I forgot my camera so I added a photo of him with his buddies from last year! He has the same number, same color, same coaches & a lot of the same boys on his team!!! GO OV RED!!!


Ok, then after the game my husband & I had "DATE NIGHT"!!! I know how exciting!!! We never get much time just him & I. I have such an amazing, hard working, soooo understanding, loving & I think VERY handsome husband & I feel like we get lost into our everyday life that we don't have much time for just him & I to be together. And once we get home from China there will not be much time for "DATE NIGHT's" so right now we are trying to do as much together & fun family nights before our family goes through maybe one of the hardest transitions of our lives!!! SO, onto the night!! We actually met some of his customers for dinner & then we went & stayed at the "Canterbury Hotel" downtown Indy!!! Got up Sunday morning & went out for breakfast!!! We LOVE our kids don't get me wrong but how often do you have a nice quiet dinner & breakfast without kids wanting something or complaining about not eating at McDonalds!!! Then it was back to REALITY but so nice why it lasted!!!


OK, Monday again now the CRAZY schedules start!! Annalei has been taking gymnastics for a couple of years but for anyone that knows our daughter she has not been the most "Independent Girl" of the bunch!!! Mommy has actually had to coach at the gym just for her to stay in her class, we saw so much potential in her but her fears have gotten the best of her. BUT with a lot of patience & encouragement she has started facing her fears & has been going into her own class for the past 3 months and really has started trusting the other coaches!!! YEAH, & now she has been moved up to "BLAST OFF", which is a Pre-Team, who would of ever thought!!! I am still a little hesitant when it comes to meets if she will even go out there in front of all those people but we will face that when the time comes!!! Hopefully her little outgoing friend Lucy will help her!!! Tonight will be her first time in this class so we shall see how it goes!!!



So, now with school, pre-school, homework, football, gymnastics & trying to wait patiently to travel to China & preparing to bring our daughter home, I feel like all the other crazy families in the world that I NEVER understood how they juggle every day life without loosing their minds!!! I am learning it can be done & we always get through each day!!!! Hoping Meilynn adapts to a CRAZY family!!!













I am leaving you with a really cool Steven Curtis Chapman song!!! He really has the LOVE for all the orphans around the world & he keeps trying to help each one find their "Forever Family"!!! You will need to go down & turn off the music that is playing on the blog.

CHECK IT OUT.....

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! WE GOT NEW PICTURES & UPDATES & SHE ANSWERED OUR QUESTIONS WE ASKED HER!!!!! YEAH!!!!
Ok, let's back up... After we received our LOA our agency said that they were going to request an update on her & mentioned if we want to ask her any questions we can send them & hope the orphanage will ask her. WELL, I sent our questions to them last Wed. right before we flew out to Maryland to visit one of the families we traveled with to China the first time for a nice relaxing get away. But that is whole other post with pictures for another day!!! So, I sent them & then they had to send them to China to be translated & then send them off to the orphanage. WELL after laying by the pool on Friday I come in & check my phone & there it is an email from our agency that said "Meilynn Update"!!! I was so excited & screaming & then tears just started to flow. This is just another reassurance from the man above that things are going to be OK & she seems to fit perfectly into our family!!!

It does make it harder to sit here & try to wait patiently the next 2 months before we travel. There are so many things going through my head I have to stop myself from being so selfish & stop & think about her & what is REALLY going through her little mind. We are about to take her from everything she has always known & she has already been moved back to the orphanage after living with the same foster family for 3 or 4 years & a place she may have loved & become so attached to & now another move & another care taker all because of us. I know everyone is thinking but why wouldn't she want to come here & live a better life???? She knows no different & material things mean nothing to her, hopefully clean clothes on her back & a warm bed will warm her heart & then she might not think we are that bad of people!!! We will have HUGE adjustments but I know it will be worth it for her in the end!!!

Here are the new pic's & the answered questions!!! AND yes, to everyone that has asked or are wondering, we are going to let her hair grow!!!







3.The Dow family is adopting Long Fu Mei, DOB 7/25/2001, Welfare Institute of Xinluo District of Longyan City in Fujian Province. Can we ask the following?
a. What is her current height, weight & foot size?
Height: 49.25 inches
Weight: 59.4 pounds
Head circumference: 20.49 inches
Chest circumference: 22.46 inches
Foot length: 7.09 inches
b. Has she been living with the same foster family since leaving the orphanage?
Yes. Now she is living in the orphanage.
c. Does she have any foster brothers or sister & what age?
She has a foster sister, 4 years old.
d. Does she speak Mandarin or Cantonese?
Mandarin
e. Can she speak any English?
No, she can’t.
f. Is she still attending school if so what grade is she in?
In Grade Two.
g. Will she be happy to have an English name?
She will be very happy to have an English name.
h. What is her favorite food?
Shrimp, MCD hamburger
i. What is her favorite color?
Pink
j. What is her favorite toy?
Controller airplane, bike
k. Does she like to play with dolls?
Yes.
l. What things upset her & make her sad?
She is afraid of alone in the night.
m. What things make her happy?
Swimming and play games with others.
n. Is she scared of anything?
Snake
o. Does she prefer to wear pants or dresses?
Dresses
p. Does she like animals?
She loves rabbit.
q. What is her daily schedule?
7:00 get up; 7:30 breakfast; 12:00 lunch; 17:00 supper; 19:00 bath; 21:30 go to bed
r. Who are her best friends & are they being adopted to?
Long Fu Dong and Long Fu Jun are her best friends. They want to have family and be adopted too.
s. What is 1 question she would like to ask us?
How many people in the family? Are there any small animals there?
t. Does she know she is being adopted by a foreign family?
Yes.
u. Does she want to be adopted?
Very happy.

Tears are still flowing just by hearing she knows she is being adopted & she is very happy!!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!

INTRODUCING......

Our Precious daughter "Meilynn Emery Dow"!!!!

It all began back in January when we saw her precious face & after months of paperwork & patiently waiting, China has now given us permission for "Long Fu Mei" to become a "Dow"!!! We got the call last Wednesday Aug. 11th & received our Letter of Acceptance on Friday Aug. 13th. We feel so blessed that God chose her as our daughter & we look so forward to see what plan he has in store for her new life here in America!

We did send her a birthday cake & a stuffed panda bear for her 9th birthday on July 25th but we had to send it anonymously since we had not yet received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance. With much surprise WE received a HUGE gift the orphanage director sent us 6 new pictures of her celebrating her Birthday!!! As you can see she looks a little confused & not real sure what is going on. Who knows if she has ever had a birthday party or even celebrated birthdays before this one. Soon enough she will be celebrating many new first here with her "Forever Family"!!!

Now we try to sit patiently waiting for our Travel Approval which should come in a couple months!! Hopefully will be traveling by the first of November but still a chance the end of October (crossing fingers & praying hard that will be God's will)!!! We will keep everyone updated & we also will be posting while we are in China (website address coming soon)!!

SO sit back, relax & watch as you see our amazing journey unfold!!

Gao Shao Reunion Part II

I have finally finished the slide show & it was so hard not to fight back the tears. We had such a wonderful time & no words can express the time spent together & watching these precious girls play together. Your heart takes over while watching them & you have got to wonder what their little lives would of been like if God had not touched each family through the journey of adoption.

Let me rewind & explain why it ended up in Indiana instead of Michigan. OK, 2 years ago Chad & I said we would plan the next reunion & we had all thought we would skip every other year since every one's schedules are so busy!! We had plenty of time to search for enough rooms in Michigan & we found the perfect spot in Saugatuck. Close to the beach, big pool, quaint little shops, food was planned & payment was made!!! We were all suppose to arrive on July 8 & leaving on July 11! WELL we got a call on June 28th from the resort stating that the resort has gone under & they are trying to find a place big enough to place 20 of us. I started to PANIC & decided not to contact the other families until we found somewhere for them to lay their heads at night. WELL that was not working out as easy as I hoped. I called Deb in a complete PANIC & she was on the search with me. Nothing was working out so as of Wed. night June 30th getting ready to head out to see "Eclipse" we decided to host the reunion here at our house, YIKES I went into complete craziness & my mind was rushing (honestly cannot tell you much about the movie except how GOOD Jacob looked)!!! We had a week to get our place looking like a resort & planning some FUN activities here for the kids. LOTS of friends & family pulled together & worked A LOT of long hours to get projects done, make the place look nice, helped make food & find space for everyone to lay their head after a long day!!! Thanks so much to all of you, can not thank you enough!!! SO, everyone arrived on Thursday July 8th & once you see the slide show you will be able to tell that this is what God had planned all along!!! All my anxiety & fears went out the door & it looks like we may have started a tradition with families hosting at their house or close by!!!

We made SOOOO many memories & my dear friend Kindra took some pictures of the girls in matching dresses that Carla so graciously bought for the girls . My sister brought the horses for the kids to ride & when you have always been raised around horses you take it for granted that they are such a novelty to others that aren't as fortunate to be around them or ride them. All the girls said that was their favorite thing all weekend was to ride the horses. We had spa day with manicures & pedicures, Thanks Nancy & Khrista! My other sister made beautiful beach towels with the kids name on it & then the little girls had "Gao Shao Sister" 2010 on them (which no one got a picture of that so if someone can take a pic & send it to me. I would appreciate it)! We had lots of FUN ranger rides in the woods & we ate a TON of fattening food!!!

OK, now I hope you enjoy the pictures of our special weekend. Such memories we all made & looking forward to next year in Maryland @ "The Malamis's" Thanks Carla & Dan can't wait!

You may want to push the arrow to make the slide show go faster if not you may be sitting at your computer all day because there are so many pictures! ENJOY!

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GAO SHAO REUNION 2010!!!!

WOW, what an amazing, memorable & emotional weekend!!! It just gets better each time!!! This is only going to be part 1 of the post but I could not wait to post pictures of these precious angels for the other families that unfortunately could not make the trip. So stay tuned for MANY more adorable pictures to come. We had a major, stressful last minute change of plans for our reunion but the Lord had a different plan & it could not of turned out any better!!! Whole story later when I am not so exhausted, so enough of me rambling here are a few pic's of our FABULOUS weekend !!!

5th BIRTHDAY & DTC!!!!!

My baby turned 5 this past weekend & it doesn't seem possible! I feel like it was just yesterday we returned home with this precious 9 month old, where did the past 4 years go? She really has come so far & really we have noticed the most in the past 4 months. Something just clicked over night & WOW "Ms. Independent" came out of her shell!!! We are so proud of her!!! She may be a little to sassy for her pants sometimes but I see her enjoying life & not as fearful. I can't tell you how much a mother enjoys seeing her daughter just loving life to the fullest!!! Can't wait to see what God has planned for this precious one!!!


Here are a few pictures from the past weekend celebrating her birthday. Her "Princess" birthday is this weekend with her friends but I wanted to still make her day special. We went swimming ate ice cream cake & then we went to see the movie "Karate Kid" & went out to eat @ the Chinese restaurant!! Big weekend for the Birthday girl!!!

Stay tuned for the NO BOY "Princess Birthday" this Sat.!!!





Then after such a FUN weekend we got the email that we were DTC as of Monday June 14th, YEAH!!!! Ok, now to explain what that means. We have been working for almost 4months gathering A LOT of paperwork, working with a social worker for our homestudy, Dr. appointments, fingerprints from the FBI & many documents that China recommends we have to be eligible to bring home another daughter. Well it is all complete & it is called a "Dossier" or as we say a VERY important 10 page document that is priceless!!! Without that precious document nothing can get started with the process in China, so as of Monday June 14th that Dossier headed to China(DTC)!!!! One step closer to bringing her home!!! Now we wait for China to match her to our family, please keep praying that will happen FAST!!! The normal time is at least 2 months, sooner would be GREAT but let's hope no longer!!!

MEXICAN NIGHT!!!

It is funny once you adopt or others found out that you are adopting you add a whole another world of friends & what a blessing they are!!! They are one's that understand all the paperwork, the adoption lingo, the stress, the important mail, the stress, the important phone calls that you are on pins & needles waiting for, the USCIS, the stress, the sleepless nights, the packing, the money situation, the travel & did I mention the STRESS!!!!!

Well we have met a group of families that live about 30 min. from us that all get together on Friday nights & go to a Mexican restaurant (I know you all are all thinking why not Chinese) but anyway here are some pic's of our last time we all met!!! I can't thank these families enough for helping us through this adoption, they have been so helpful & an answered prayer from up above!

3 of the families are getting ready to travel back SOON!!!! Can't wait to have more blessings sitting at the tables with all the kids!

4 YEARS AGO!!!!

March 19, 2006 this precious angel was placed in my arms & it will be a day that is never forgotten!!!

4 years later I still hold on to each precious day that I can hold her tight!!!!

What a difference 4 years has been since she arrived home. She really is starting to blossom & coming out of her shell. It has taken awhile but we have finally made some progress this past year!!! We had a wonderful celebration of a day that is so emotional & meaning full & we look forward to many more!!! She kept saying "This is MY special day"!!! Also this week on March 14th Annalei got her wish that she has asked so many times before!!! She is finally getting a sister from China!!!! We have been Pre-Approved by China to move forward to adopt her older sister, Long Fu Mei!!! We can not post any pictures yet but she is so precious & we can not wait to add her to the "Dow" family!!! She has NO idea what her new world will be like but we look forward to seeing what God has planned for her life as a Dow!!!

OUR LITTLE CELEBRITY!!!!

My niece is a photographer for Picture People & we were at the studio playing around taking pictures for Annalei's birthday invite for last year. It is so nice to have a photographer in the family!!! Anyway back to the story, Amy (my niece) wanted to try a silhouette with the umbrella & it turned out beautifully. Well then one day she was looking through a magazine at the studio & low & behold check out who make the magazine!!!!!

YEP, we have a celebrity on our hands, please NO autographs she is to young!!! My niece got a lot of calls from the big dogs of the studio about this photo & she was nominated for top photographer of the year, YEAH Amy!!!! Here was the original she took!!!!
Anyway I do hope the year is going well for everyone!!! We are very tired of winter & I am soooo ready for spring. The winter is always nice to stay home & relax because Dalen does not play basketball so we have a break before baseball starts.

We are planning our Gao Shao reunion that we are having in Michigan, can't wait to see all the girls again & visit with the families!!! The girls will all be 5, can't believe it, where has the past 4 years went!!!

Also, stay tuned our family has exciting news & we are going on an amazing adventure this year & a wonderful journey to tell all!!!

COLTS MANIA!!!!

We did it again & we are ready to celebrate another Superbowl WIN!!! As you can see our little Colts Fan is ready & looking adorable in her BLUE & WHITE!!!

We are looking forward to a good game & I understand it is the Saints first time to make it to the Superbowl but sorry we want our second win!!!!

GO COLTS!!!!!

Playoff begins tonight for the COLTS!!!! Can they do it again!!!! We are ready for the game & food is prepared stay tuned for pictures & hoping for a BIG celebration on Feb. 7th!!!

RECAP of our CRAZY LIFE in 2009!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

WOW, I am so far behind!!! I had so much to post back in 2009 that obviously I was to busy to do it. So here you go!!! I have put together a slide show starting back last Feb. & ending with New Years of this year. Trust me I hope you have plenty of time because it is LONG, I advice you to push the forward button because it will go a lot faster. We did have an eventful year & I would not change it for anything!!! Each day I feel so blessed to have so many memories with my family!!

Looking forward to seeing what 2010 will bring for us all!!!

THE FIRST TIME I EVER SAW YOUR FACE!!!!

Was today 4 years ago!!!! A day that I will never forget & I had prayed for 13 long months from the time we signed our first document. We kept wondering what God had in store for our family & what our daughter would look like. We left this whole process in Gods hands because who would of ever dreamed we would have taken this journey all the way across the world for someone to tell us that is where our daughter is from. I will never underestimate what the BIG GUY up stairs has planned. I am sure glad we didn't fight him on this one because she has fit in perfectly to our family.

Here she was at 6 months old & our first picture of her!

Here she is now 4 years later!!!

SOMEONE MUST HAVE BEEN GOOD THIS YEAR!!!

The only thing Annalei asked for this year from Santa was a "Pinkalicious Car"!!! I wasn't sure if Santa had any clue what that was but he must have figured it out & thought she was pretty good this year. Check her out in her new ride!!!! Bubby has even enjoyed it except he says she is a pretty scary driver!!!

HALLOWEEN 2009!!!

We had a wonderful time this year for Halloween. The kids were so sweet this year they decided to wear their same costumes as last year since we missed "Trick or Treating" last year due to our flight being delayed coming home from Hawaii. As mommy was crying the whole way home because she missed her little girl being a "Princess" for the first time.

We started out the evening at our little towns Halloween Costume Contest. Dalen won in his age group & Annalei won the overall Prettiest. See it was worth wearing them again!!!! Then off filling up their trick or treat bags with tons of sugar that we have been eating all week. Yes, mommy to & she has not been on the tread mill once. Guess I know what I am doing next week!!! Then our dear friends had their annual Costume Party & Haunted Trail Ride. Long night but tons of FUN!!!

I actually got Daddy to dress up this year & he was the most handsome "ZORRO"!!! Antonio you have been replaced!!!!