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May 2008
Letters
from families...
Huerta Family,
KY , (Colombia)
It’s only been 14 months (adopted February
2007), but we already can’t believe how fast
they grow up! Luis, Ana Maria, and Jeison are
soon to be 5, 7, and 9. The first year has been
adventurous! They have learned
so much,
truly amazes us!
CHI staff, Thank you for your work and your part
in God matching us with these three precious
blessings
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Armstrong Family, TN (Ethiopia)
A handsome young man comes home to
Nashville, and his mom says she cannot even remember life
without her sweet new son!
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Haynes
Family, TN (China)
April 2,
2007 is the day we officially adopted June Charlotte Jin
Fu Wang Haynes. She is a wonderful, beautiful girl - inside and
out - and we are thankful to be her parents.
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Nunnelley Family, AL (Russia)
I
could not
resist the photo sharing op. …
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Bowen
Family, TN (China)
We're doing great. Kate is growing like a weed.
She's happy and speaking a lot more. She loves to
sing and is nonstop.
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Slaubaugh Family, VA,
(Vietnam)
We're doing super! Unbelievable that Ben has been here a
year, yet it's unbelievable that we were ever without him
too! He's really so wonderful!!
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Bass
Family, TN (Russia)
Alek, is playing
baseball for the first time and doing well. Both boys
brought home all A's on their report cards. They were so
proud of themselves (we were proud also). They are our
little "men".
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Richardson Family, AR, (China)
This is
little Anna Li (4 years old) now. She is so sweet and fun
and smart - I treasure every moment with her.
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Whalen Family, TN
(Guatemala)
All is well in our world. Eva turned 5 and we
celebrated our 4th anniversaries of becoming
a family and returning home all within the last few
weeks. She greets every day with great energy,
enthusiasm and curiosity; that’s largely channeled into
gymnastics, dance and a lot of time outdoors. She’s
quite a good traveler, and we don’t let much moss grow,
going to visit family and friends around the country.
We also went on a Disney cruise last fall. Life just really
couldn’t be better.
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Cribb
Family, NC
(Vietnam and China)
Here is a recent picture I took of our daughters Erika (VN)
and Sarah (China). Erika is 6 and Sarah will be 5
this month. We adopted Erika at 4 months old
and Sarah at 2 years old.
Erika is in kindergarten and has excellent
grades and loves to draw. Sarah is in preK
and is a silly little thing, very happy,
and loves to "play cook" and take care of
her baby doll.
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Hornsby Family, TN (China)
I was thinking the other day that I knew that this
experience would be a powerful one and that I would
feel blessed having this little girl in MY life.
The thing that I didn't realize at first was how
very enriching and powerful this would be to our
FAMILY. It often makes me tear up when I see Brad
and Jack teaching something to Anna Li, taking her
out to swing, giving up a treat to her, begging me
to wait until they give her a good night kiss before
I put her to bed, asking me what she did at
playschool, telling me to run get the camera because
she is doing something funny. I would be bawling
right now if I told you about David's relationship
with her - an unbelievable "Daddy's little girl"
experience.
Anna Li is going to be a handful - she is
very strong willed even at this young age.
She is almost too smart (mimicking everything
that she sees going on in the household -
which means that we have to keep an extra
eye on her, because she has nooo fear - for
instance, I caught her with her Daddy's
razor one morning, which she got by CLIMBING
up on our vanity and opening the TOP drawer
- she also tried to flush her favorite "B"
down the toilet one morning and insists on
dressing herself quite often, down to
choosing her own accessories). It is safe
to say that she often wears me out (in a
good way) and makes her Daddy say "I don't
remember the boys doing this" over and over.
Anna Li is doing just great - she is just a
character. David and I are so amazed by her
every day.
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McCullough Family, MN formerly TN (Russia)
Ian begins
kindergarten this Fall and the girls will turn 4 in
October. The kids are wonderful. Arina and Paulina are a
mix of sugar and spice - that I love. Ian is very bright
and has an introspective side. In one week (last week) he
asked me how babies get out of a mommy's belly, how God
brings people back to life - like Jesus, and that since God
made the stars, planets, sun and moon, he must wear a
spacesuit. He makes my heart glad.
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Walker
Family, FL (Vietnam)
Sidra has
adjusted far beyond our expectations! It is amazing day by
day to see her rapid progress in her English! She is such a
lovable, sweet little angel with a dynamic personality and a
sense of humor!! In some ways it is still amazing to
believe we finally have her then again it seems like she has
always been with us and cannot imagine a day without
her!!!!!!!
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Kallas
Family, TN (Russia)
Alex at the zoo last week when I went with his class.
He is getting so big!!!
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Marin
Family, GA (Colombia)
 We
are doing great. He has adjusted really well.
We will soon
be celebrating one year!
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Parker
Family, AL (China)
She is growing like crazy
and loving dance.
We're taking Chinese classes. The teacher is having
them learn to read bo-po-mo-fo symbols, and that
blending is helping her learn to blend english
letters and sounds for reading. She
turns 5 in late July.
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Shell
Family, TN (Russia)
Madeline - hard to believe she is 6! She IS happy,
healthy & SMART!
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Fischer Family, China formerly TX (China)
Anna was adopted 12/97 from Kunming. We have lived
in China 8 years now and we call it home. The
girls’ Chinese is very good.
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Powers
Family, TN (Colombia)
Olga starts
middle school next year and Ian starts high school (eeks!).
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Brown
Family, TN (China)
We are doing great. We can hardly believe that it has been a
year since we brought Allie home. She is doing so well and
growing up so fast. She has the cutest personality and
basically keeps us laughing all the time. I love her so
much that I literally look at her and cry.
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Royar
Family, TX (Russia)
Mahrk, Alexei and Tim are proudly wearing "wing son" shirts
for their pilot dad.
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Wainscott Family, FL (Russia)
Zoe, who's
now 5. She's either a princess, cheerleader, or a
kitten or puppy :)
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Dudley
Family, GA (China)
We had a
reunion last weekend in Atlanta for the 11 families that
traveled in November 2005 to Hubei, 9 of the families made
it.
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Children's
Hope News...
Children’s Hope International:
ZOO DAY!
Summer 2008
Hey families!
It’s time for our annual trip to the Nashville Zoo.
Mark your calendars for Tuesday, June
17, 2008—we will gather at the gate at
10:00am. Pack a picnic lunch, and prepare for a fun
outing with your CHI staff, adoptive families, and
prospective adoptive parents. Please RSVP or
inquire with questions to
Ellie.Lancaster@ChildrensHope.net.
Hope to see you there!
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Come and
join the celebration
2008 Children’s Hope
National Reunion Picnic
Saturday
July 12, 10:30am-2:30pm
St. Louis, MO
To register
today
click here
Children's Hope Reunion
Picnic- July 12, 2008
314-890-0086
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Run for
Homes, Health and Hope
Run for
Children's Hope
Our CHI Run for Hope team is training hard for the
2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Our team will
join 45,000 runners from all over the globe as they
complete the 26 mile course through the streets of
Chicago. Our goal is to raise awareness of the
plight of orphans around the world as we raise
$10,000 for CHI's Greatest Need Fund via runner
sponsors. Runners registered to date are:
Ryan Beadle (OH) Christine Law (TX) Pam Perrotta
(NY) Joe Raschke (IL)
Jerry Brougher
(WI) Matt McIntee (IL) John Peterson (IL) Steve
Zabawsky (IL)
Shelly Courington (TN) Stacy Miller
(MN) Stacy Peterson (IL)
Some of our runners are adoptive parents. Some are
extended family members who have been touched by
adoption. All are
Partners in Hope,
committed to doing the very best they can to help
the forgotten children of the world.
Folks
whose legs just haven't got 26 miles in them can be a
marathon partner. Pick out a runner you like and click
on the picture to sponsor your CHI team member. Be sure
to put you runner's name and "marathon" in the
additional information box!
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YOU KNOW YOU'RE
AN ADOPTIVE PARENT IF ...
1. The fact that there are 143 million
children without a parent to kiss them
goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with
love & family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC
without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians
adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in
the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about
families who've experienced the blessing of
adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you
about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive
child longer than it takes an elephant to
give birth.(2 years!)
8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt,
but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing
He'd provide. (& He does!)
9. You've taken an airplane half-way around
the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into
your heart & family is one of the most
important legacies you could ever leave on
this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means &
you can actually pronounce it correctly!
13. You've welcomed a social worker into the
most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child's
so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full
well you're the blessed one to have him or
her in your life.
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Development
Aid Happenings...
May is
Honoring Mothers Month
You are invited to join
Children's Hope International for this year's "Make
Believe" Mother's Day Tea Party. Invite your friends
and family to join us. To honor mothers around the
world, consider making a donation to the Children's Hope
International Foundation to give hope to orphans around
the world.
Your Mother's day gift
ensures that even more children will have the happiness
they deserve and a brighter future.
You can click on the
picture above to find out information about sponsoring a
child or making a donation in honor of a special mother
in your life.
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Upcoming
Info Meetings...
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Join our
"Online" Adoption Information Meeting
From
the comfort of your home computer, you can participate in a
Children's Hope live "Online" adoption information meeting.
This is an interactive discussion, so we will answer your
questions as we walk you through the process of adopting
internationally.
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Time:
8
PM
Eastern, 7 PM Central, 6 PM Mountain, 5 PM Pacific
Click
here for more details.
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We might also
be having a meeting in your state!
Click on the map to
find out the details.
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May
Adoption Education...
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May 10, 2008 ~
Dossier Class ~ 8:30 AM ~ Children's Hope
Travel Class ~ 10:00 AM ~ Children's Hope |
A
Message from Brenda Barker...
HAPPY
MOTHER'S DAY!! There is no greater joy than having
the opportunity to be a parent! I know many of you
are longing for that day, and this Mother's Day, please
know that we hold you in our hearts.... For those
of you ready to start your adoption journey, please know
that we would love nothing more than for you to find the
joy that I have found as a mom to 9!! (Pictured
below are our newest daughters from Ethiopia.)
Please
let me know how we can help you on your journey!
Brenda
Southeastern U.S.
Brenda Barker,
Director
229 Ward Circle, Suite C-22
Brentwood, TN 37027
615-309-8109 Fax: 615-309-8483
Brenda.Barker@ChildrensHope.net
Also serving the following
states:
TN, KY, AL, AR, MS, GA, VA, TX, NC, FL,
LA & SC
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