This is a song on "Third Day"'s new Christmas CD! It will make you cry!

Merry Christmas

by Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn

Crying for mama's arms

At an orphanage just outside a little China town

Where the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire

And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone

So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms

And tell you from my heart

I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights

I'm warmed by the fire's glow

Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white

And make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears

And hope that Heaven's Angels come to carry you here

Christmas is the time we celebrate the Holy Child

And we celebrate His perfect gift of love

He came to Earth to give His life and prepare a place for us

So we could have a home with Him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home

Your family is here so you will never be alone

So tonight before you go to sleep

I'll hold you in my arms

And tell you from my heart

I wish you Merry Christmas

I know that most likely Gracie is not even born yet, but the thought of her being alone just breaks my heart. I pray that God will bring her home soon, with his help maybe she can be home for Christmas next year.

On the picture above, do you notice how many stockings are hanging?

Update . . . .

I have really fallen behind on Gracie's site. I've had some kind of bug now for 3 weeks. Paul Ray was thrilled when I lost my voice over the weekend.

We are in the process of WAITING. Right now we are waiting on our I171H form!


The Sunday before Thanksgiving each year, Hospice has a Memorial Candlelight service at Colonial Lake. Donna gets a candle for Devan and Josh each year, so this is how we bring our Christmas Season in each year. Merry Christmas Devan, you know we love you and miss you!

The day after Thanksgiving, Bonny and I go shopping (long standing tradition). This year was a special treat as we took her daughter Ashlee with us. We went to Myrtle Beach. What a day it was! It got started with Bonny getting stuck in the mud coming to my house! An hour later we got her out and were on our way!

This first picture is something that Bonny bought for Gracie. She is so cute. Ashlee Gail named her "Sophie Gail". So here is Gracie's first real doll baby that she can actually play with. It was in a really neat Doll Store, that we will be going back for a doll that was out of stock (this one she wont be able to play with). Thank you So Much Bonny, I love you! Gracie will have so much fun with her Sophie Gail.

This next picture is Gracie's ornaments so far.

Now those who know me, know I love frogs (not the live kind), check out this outfit!!!! I cant wait to put it on her.

Well the only other new thing in our lives is my dear husband has left me for 2.5 weeks. He's in Trinidad opening a new Captain D's. I miss him already!!!!!!

Now I need to update her quilt section and we'll be good! I promise to do a better job at keeping up with her site!!!!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! Please keep Gracie in your prayers.

We have such great friends!

Our friends Ralph and Trina Wilson gave us this book today, 11/06/06. Trina bought this from her church (Seacoast) and it is actually signed by the ladies who did the book. I continue to believe that God has special plans for our baby girl!

In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you, Lord, alone made me dwell in safety and confidant trust. Psalm 4:8

When Love Takes You In

by Steven Curtis Chapman

I know you’ve heard the stories

But they all sound too good to be true

You’ve heard about a place called home

But there doesn’t seem to be one for you

So one more night you cry yourself to sleep

And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in And somewhere while you’re sleeping

Someone else is dreaming too Counting down the days until

They hold you close and say I love you

And like the rain that falls into the sea

In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go

There is nothing that could evercause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in it takes you in for good

When love takes you in

Gracie,

We cant wait to bring you home!

More Goodies How cute is this PINK ladybug. Then she's got more books and a CD of Chinese lullabies.

I'm having a parent moment!

My DS (PaulPaul) has found new freedom since doing so well in school this year. Tonight he went off with some friends to the Cypress Gardens Haunted ?House I guess you would call it. As always one of my first questions is what time will you be home. To which he replies oh, early, he left at 6:15 (and did I say he goes through as much gas as I do driving to Mt Pleasant Every Day) anyway, we let him go. Well I 9, I sat down to rest a minute and fell asleep. He calls at 10:05 to inform his parents (he's trying to be a good kid and keep us informed) that he is in line to get on the boat? In a dead sleep, I'm thinking boat, what!!!!! Back to sleep I go, I woke up 30 minutes ago and my baby is not home. Thank God for cell phones or I would have been out of the door. He answered, now on the boat! I can hear he is having a good time. Explain to him its time to come home and tomorrow will explain what a curfew is!!!!

Did I say how handsome this child is!
And he knows how to get his way.

Here he is at Brandon's birthday awaiting the cutting of the cookie cake.

What a day!

We did our last SW visit and guess what, she emailed us a rough copy already!!!!!


I did get to meet Louise (the other lady from Moncks Corner who is adopting from China), she bought me the dvd, National Geographic China's Lost Girls. How sweet was that. Everyone should see this dvd. Thanks Louise.

WHEW!!!!! The homestudy visits are done! One more thing done. The great news is our SW has already starting writing the report and should have it to the agency we used by Monday. Awesome, if it is ok to her, then she will email us a copy after our approval, they will forward to DSS!!!!! We're coming Gracie.

We're still waiting on my doctor, we both have to go in again and give more blood, my DH is not happy. We are also waiting on the employment letter for Paul Ray, the first got lost in the mail.

Cross your fingers and say a prayer, we could be DTC by the end of the year. What an awesome Christmas gift that would be!

God has put another family near us. Hopefully we'll get to meet today. We met online and she also lives in Moncks Corner. Her dossier has been logged in since Jan 06!

Our other church family adopting from China was DTC 10/20/06!!!! I'm still trying to meet her. She is a busy woman and our church is HUGE!

Gracie will have lots of little girlfriends to play with.

A Great Big Thank You and a Hug!!!!!!

Lynn it was so sweet of you to send me these along with your quilt pieces and wishes which I love!!!!!

I cant wait to start putting her book together with all her wishes.

Thanks, you are a great friend. Love ya!

Gracie's Quilt

Make sure you keep checking out the Quilt posting from Sept, I keep updating it!!! I received pieces from 4 people yesterday, but there is one I wanted to share with you here. There is a story to tell with it.


My SNL Donna came in with her hands full. She bought me one of Devan's doll to put on my bookshelves. I love it!!!! It will always be treasured.

She also had a very nice looking baby gift bag with her. Check out the contents!!!!

The one on the left (black with pink flowers) is from Devan's dress that she wore in Mine and Paul's Wedding. This in itself is a treasure. She was the most beautiful flower girl you have ever seen.

The one on the right and bottom are from her quilt that Granny Winge did for her out of Devan's dresses. To know Devan was to Love Devan, she was Brandon's mother hen from day one. So Gracie will always have that love in her quilt. Thank you Donna

For this last piece:

Talk about Amazing, for her to do this, words cant describe how I felt. How lucky I consider myself.

If you read my very first post you know that Donna and I went on a Ladies Retreat in March. It was there there I knew this adoption would happen. The presence of God that day was truly something. It was on this trip that God let me know it was OK to love this child. She would come home. One of the our small groups at church is the "20 Something". They put signs on everyones door one night. Donna took what was on that sign and had this made for me. A reminder of that special time will forever be with us. I know Gracie will love her Aunt Donna as much as I do.

Donna, thank you so much, as you know, it means so much that you did this for us. We love you.
PS / don't worry, we will teach her the word "NO"! :)

We celebrated Brandon's 21st Birthday yesterday, he turns 21 on the 24th. He has grown into such a sweet handsome (I think so) young man. We had a houseful which is always nice. Afterwards he and his friends went on a hayride.

Happy Birthday Brandon! I love you

When I read this, it stirred so many emotions, and its just so true. It will now be my mission to go out and find this song: Words/Music by Three Four One

Someone is Waiting For You

Somewhere, someone is waiting

Though I can't see your face I know your heart

'Cause God has knit us together

Even though we're far apart

And until you can be here safe in my arms, I will trust

That somewhere, someone is holding you close

And keeping you warm.

My thoughts, my prayers are for you

Father, love her, protect her....I know you do

And until that perfect timing

When our hearts and eyes will meet

I will rest knowing that You are there, I will trust

That somewhere, someone is holding you close

And keeping you warm.

If time could stand still, Our love would bridge the ocean

But know that until then, that even an ocean,

can't keep me from you

Hold on, little one, hold on....

And until you can be here safe in my arms I will trust

That somewhere, someone is holding you close

And keeping you warm.

The wait is not easy, but I know that in the end it will be worth it. You already have my heart, baby girl.

I'm going to be an Auntie again!!!!!!! YEAH!!!! Next to being a mom, I love being an Aunt. My SNL Donna and her husband Matt are going to add to their family. One more thing to thank God for. They are such great parents, they are also Gracie's guardians should anything happen to us.

(Thought I would reword it, Donna is not pregnant, her and Matt are adopting a little girl from Russia. Gracie will have someone to play with! - Payton)

I'm off to to take Paul Ray to the airport, he leaves today for 4 days in Trinidad! He has such a bad life. He goes back for 3 weeks in November. I'll miss him. That's OK, because Gracie and I will get to go down with him once a year, so I guess it's a fair deal. Anyway, I still hate it when he's gone.

Another Awesome God Moment . . . I got a phone call from a very nice lady tonight. You wont believe this, Not only is she a member of Cathedral, and adopting from China, She lives in Moncks Corner!!!!!

God puts us right where we belong and when we are suppose to be there! I cant wait to get to know her, there is also another couple in the adoption process from Cathedral.

Time for bed, our next visit with our SW is early in the morning!!!!

Fingerprints . . . .

We are scheduled to get these done on 10/20/06.

Another step closer babygirl!!!!!

October 6

15 Years Ago Today . . . I was lucky enough to marry the man of my dreams.

1 Year Ago . . . . I gave my life to Christ and it just keeps getting better. God does make such a difference. What a wonderful way to live your life.

Donna, thank you for the most wonderful gift. It wouldn't have happened without you.

Our first homestudy visit went ok, our next one is this coming Saturday. 10/07/2006, one day after our 15th wedding anniversary, can you believe its been that long. She comes to our house on the 21st. Guess we'll be doing some serious cleaning on the 20th.

Our biggest issues seems to be getting everything we need from our doctor!!!! I came home from work sick today and laid down only to dream that our doctor quit . I'm hoping it was the fever!!! Because it was not a good dream.

I'm gonna try and post some of Gracies things here. We finally found the software for the camera.

This first pic is of SOME of the beanies that Granny Winge has given us over the years. I knew we were keeping them for a reason.





This is her PJ's. That seems to be what I buy PJ's and onies, since we don't know her size!!!! Which is a good thing for my husband's wallet. If all you NON pink people will notice, she has a set of yellow ones.


This one has some of the goodies she got from the mountains. Her mam-mam (my mom) bought her most of this and some clothes. I love her big pink teddy. The foot says "God Loves Me"







HER FIRST BARBIE! Now I ask, it was on the clearance rack, how was I suppose to leave it there!!!








Some more books!

"A Quilt of Wishes" was written by a lady who adopted from China. It is a great book. The little panda you see above the book is her very first Christmas Ornament! Its a little panda wrapped in a quilt that has little ladybugs on it.

Does everyone know that we have Less than 80 days before Christmas!!!! We all know how much I love Christmas. Maybe that is why her daddy gave her Noelle for her middle name. Only 2 more to go until we have a little one in the house again, not that we dont enjoy Paul & Brandon, its just not the same as when they are little.

This is my all time favorite! This is the first thing that her Daddy said I could buy!!!! Yes I did ask, (we were still making 2 house payments at that time). I hope that Gracie loves it as much as I do. It even has her name on it.

Paul Ray wont admit it now, but she is going to be such a daddys girl!!! You just wait and see!

He is such a sweet man, its just taken its time to shine through!!! I wouldnt trade him for all the money in the world.

Homestudy Update:

Everyone say a little prayer, our first appointment with our Social Worker is after church next Saturday. 7:00 pm.

Gracie, we are another step closer to you baby girl, I love you more each day!!!!!


A Great Big Thank You;

I wanted to say thanks to Bonny, Nicole and Liz for writing such wonderful reference letters for us.

They really mean alot to us.

We love you.

To the Mountains We Go!

This past weekend my mother and I made a trip to the mountains of NC and TN. It was a nice trip. We went to the Biltmore, rode the Smokey Mountain Railroad Train out of Bryson NC and then on to Cherokee and then Pigeon Forge, (where they had the biggest car show I have ever seen- If I had only known we would have skipped that part), but all in all it was a nice get away. Needless to say, Gracie got lots of goodies. She got a pair of moccasins from Cherokee, a big cuddly PINK teddy bear, some books off her wish list (my favorite is Gigi, Gods Little Princess) another Christmas ornament, more PJ's (and hey one of them was yellow /for all you people who think she will be sick of pink) a very soft pink blanket with a matching stuff lamb and some more socks. I'll post some pics of some of her things just as soon as I get my camera software reloaded (which I have to find first)

Homestudy
just an update, Paul Ray has finished his autobiography, so we should be able to get our first appt soon.

Our Gracie Helps Build a Church in China!!!!

Just how Awesome is this. Our friends (and builder) Trina & Ralph Wilson are members of a small group at Seacoast Church that partnered with International Cooperating Ministries to build a church in China. The group had just about raised all the funds when Trina & Ralph donated the remaining money in honor of our Gracie. How wonderful that she will always have this connection to her birth place. I am just so honored that they did this. I know God has big plans for our very special baby girl. The church should be finished in early 2008, so I am hoping to be able to visit it while we are in China.

Thank you again guys for doing this. Love ya

Our Social Worker called last night!!!!!! I thought we should all do a happy dance, but my DH and son thought I was crazy!!!!! Anyway, she is sending me everything I need to get started there.

On a serious note, she asked me about being a transracial family????? My thought on this, "I never really considered us that way" Um, maybe because I have that Phillipeana blood in me, I dont know. I just think of her as my daughter.