SEPTEMBER 2002 NEWSLETTER

Caring for and serving families in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,

Florida,Texas, and Louisiana

Those Great Big Beautiful Boys

Every year, we have many more families who want to adopt girls than boys! It is a well-known adoption statistic that more families want to adopt girls. As the mother of three boys, I can tell you I would not trade a one of them...they are all wonderful in His sight! This month we want to feature some of those “great big beautiful boys!”

From Dale and Durene Lambert, Murfreesboro, Tennessee:

Well, we've been home with Michael for just over a month now and he is doing GREAT! He is quite attached to the both of us and is turning into a typical toddler. He loves to play and laugh. He babbles all the time and says "uh uh" while shaking his head 'no' to undesirable foods and naptimes. He is crazy about chicken nuggets & yogurt, all other foods are hit and miss, mostly miss! He goes down easy at night and sleeps about 10 hrs straight. (YEAH!!) He started walking after being home about two weeks and is getting quite good at it and he's gotten a few more teeth. While he is not crazy about the creatures, he is tolerating them much better. He actually pets the dog and cats sometimes. Poor Maggie, our golden retriever, just follows him around waiting for the day he will realize how great she is. He has met quite a few family members and friends and can be a little shy at first, but warms up after a while. We took him to the doctor and he checks out great! He brings us more joy than we ever could of imagined!

Christian Andreas Brenner from Columbia, Tennessee

The Brenners are traveling this month to Russia for their second trip to adopt their son.

Gary and Pam McGuire from Memphis, Tennessee

Gary and Pam McGuire just adopted this “cutie”, as she states, from Russia in August!

From Jim and Deanna Jolley from Shelbyville, Tennessee

Here are some pictures we had taken this past weekend of Noah, adopted from Vietnam. He is 7 months old in these pictures and just precious. Hope you all enjoy.

Many Wonderful Children Still Wait For Families

Please know that there are many older and medical needs waiting children in all of the countries we work in, including sibling groups. If you are interested in our Wonderful Waiting Children, please email brenda@childrenshopeint.org . I would love to answer any of your questions.

Walk for Hope & Fall Family Picnic

CHI FOUNDATION

2002 WALK FOR HOPE

Saturday, September 14, 2002

10:00 a.m. River Park Pavilion*, Brentwood, Tennessee

9:00 Check-In

10:00 Walk – The walk begins at the shelter near the trailhead and continues through River Park to Crockett Park. We encourage you to bring strollers, joggers, bikes and wagons for the children.

11:00-2:00 Family Social and Children’s Party – Plan to stick around after the Walk for more fun with Children’s Hope Families and Friends.

The registration deadline for our 2002 Walk for Hope is quickly approaching. However, we will be taking late registration, and you can register at the Walk, if you like! (We cannot guarantee you a t-shirt, although we have ordered extras, our deadline for ordering has past!) We hope you are planning to walk with us this year. If you can’t walk, we hope that you will consider making a donation to the Foundation! And perhaps gathering donations from others for this worthy cause!

Sponsorships are valuable for our efforts this year to build the new Medical Vision Clinic in India. This will be a free clinic at which those who cannot otherwise afford medical care can receive appropriate diagnosis, treatment and medication. It will fill a void that currently exists in the area by providing reasonable and adequate medical and ophthalmologic care to the homeless, the widowed and the orphaned. It is through this Clinic that we will continue to fulfill our mission of… Homes. Health. Hope. For Children. Our group can do so much for so many … thanks for being a part and helping!

Please send as many sponsorships as you have when you send your Walk registration and fees. Additional sponsorships can be submitted after the registration deadline and as late as the day of the Walk. The total received prior to the Walk will be announced on the day of the event and those families or individuals raising $100 or more will be recognized as our “Gold Star Walkers.”

Fun activities are planned as part of our event. Stay around after the Walk for a “Show and Tell” from the Police Department, face painting, cotton candy, lunch and giveaways from local and national sponsors. We are working on additional events and activities and will keep you posted on new developments. Call or email ondrea@childrenshopeint.org if you have any questions! We look forward to seeing you and all of your wonderful children on September 14!

*(Intersection of Concord Road and Knox Valley Drive, bordering the YMCA Soccer Fields and across the street from the Library)

Vietnamese & Russian Receptions

Thanks to all who joined us for the receptions for our Vietnamese Staff and for our Russian Staff! We had a great time as you can see by the pictures on our web site at childrenshope.com

Waiting Parents Meeting

On September 27 at 6:30 PM, we will resume our Waiting Parents Meetings for the Fall. We will be discussing concerns with waiting and how to cope with the time! Please bring a finger food to share, and enjoy the opportunity to be with other waiting parent! For more information, please contact Melissa@childrenshopeint.org.

**Fundraising: One of our families sent this email: “My husband and I came across this site while searching for creative ways to fund our adoption and were able to raise close to $10,000 for our adoption: Anna Bears Adoption Fundraising. We pre-sold bears through family, friends, our local Chamber of Commerce and our Church. Hope this helps!”