Snow Day!

The long awaited snow day of 2013 finally arrived! 

Sadly, Sarah Mei and AnnaGrace were with Phil in Hardeeville, but Isabelle and Lily Rose enjoyed every minute of it!

They made snow angels...

and tried sledding. 

And when the sleds did not go fast enough, Torie obliged and hooked up our 30 year old Paint mare to the sled and coaxed the horse to be the engine.  The little girls REALLY loved that!

(Just a footnote...don't EVER ride a horse without a helmet.  In the excitement of the snow, we all forgot.)



While the girls, the horses and the dog played in the snow, our cats stayed dry on the front porch.

This was Lily Rose's first snowfall since joining our family.  Her eyes absolutely sparkled when she saw the flakes.  The wonder of it all!

Seeing "first's" through my girls' eyes is always a little bittersweet.  It  makes me heartsick for the 540,000 waiting orphans in China. 


A fellow "heart mom" just told me about Lainey with Holt.  She is a single ventricle "heart" baby like our girls.  You can read more about her at this link http://www.holtinternational.org/cgi/photolisting/display12.cgi?ID=Lainey&Index_re=0 . 

Here's an updated photo of her:

 

 

She needs a chance at life, at having a mom and dad to tuck her into bed at night, and a chance to see her first snow.  E-mail me (elainechorton@yahoo.com) if you want more information on little Lainey or call Holt International directly.

 

 

 

Only 12 days until we board the plane to meet Savannah Faith.  Here's the latest picture we received of her.  She's standing up on her own now!  She looks quite proud of herself.

 

 

 

 



To Ask or Not to Ask....

That is always one of the hardest questions for us when adopting another child.  Do we let me people know that we need help financially to bring home our daughter, or do we just wait on the Lord in Hudson Taylor fashion, make our requests known only to Him and see how He provides.

We have done it both ways.  Sometimes asking for help: Sometimes staying silent.  Last time we were blessed to be awarded a matching grant which gave us a great platform to petition our friends for assistance.  We were blessed with over $16,000 with gifts.  That went a long way to bringing home Lily Rose.

This adoption we chose not "to ask."  But I confess that we're just two short weeks away from traveling, and we are still $10,000 short of our adoption funds.  Don't get me wrong.  We are not panicking.  We know the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills and $10,000 is nothing to Him.  But we have decided to place the need out there in case someone wants to help us.  What a blessing that would be!

I must stop here and say three families stepped forward earlier in this adoption process, and without knowing we were in need donated a total of $7,000 towards our adoption.  I can not tell you what an encouragement and blessing that was to us.  After selling scrap gold, selling household goods on
E-Bay and Craigslist, selling a vehicle, and refinancing our home we had nothing left to liquidate.  Their gifts allowed us to keep moving forward for Savannah Faith when we were not sure what was going to happen next.

And with this sweet facing waiting on us...

 

 

we wanted to keep moving forward!

Now, next week CWTS (China Women Travel Service) needs their money wired to them to book our travel in-country and we need the money to carry with us to pay for Savannah Faith's visa fees, passport fees, and other in-country fees by March 1st - our departure date.

So here I am, "asking".  If you have ever considered supporting adoption but were not sure how to go about doing it, this is your chance.  You can make tax-deductible donations to our adoption fund by writing a check to SouthLake Church and mailing it to 13820 Hagers Ferry Rd, Huntersville, NC 28078.  Just put "Horton Adoption" in the memo line.

If you would like to give a gift instead, to benefit our adoption, you can purchase coffee at this link https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/hortonadoption/ and $5.00 a bag will go towards our adoption. 

Or take a look at the necklaces below.  E-mail me to purchase your favorite one for $24.00.  We will receive $12.00 a necklace to benefit our adoption.  (If you live locally in the Charlotte area I'll deliver it to you.  If you live out of the area, I will mail it for an extra $5.00 postage added.)

 

 

 

 

Asking for help is always uncomfortable.  I like helping others SO much better than I like asking for help.  But here it is.  Our plea for our daughter.  She needs to come home.  To have open-heart surgery.  To find love and hope.  We would love to have you be a part of "Team Savannah".

 

 

Counting Down to "One More"

I'm back from the moon (read Michaela's previous post if you don't understand this) and preparing to fly to China on March 1st!

We took a step of faith and purchased plane tickets several weeks ago anticipating our TA (Travel Approval).  Yes, I've been a bit anxious watching our paperwork progress since that time.

By purchasing our tickets early, we saved a considerable amount of money.  The risk: we might have to reschedule them, if we have a slowdown in our paper process, and lose a lot of money.  So far, so good.  Please pray with us that the Chinese New Year will not slow things down too much!

Our pre-Article 5 was issued today (hoping for the actual Article 5 by Friday) then our paperwork will make its way back to the CCCWA to await our approval for travel (TA) and then we will be assigned a Consulate Appointment at which time we can "book our flights."  Oops, I already did that:)

While waiting we sent a photo album and an outfit to Savannah Faith and a bag of candy for the ayis (nannies).  It was such fun to get updated photos of her this week when she received the package.

 

In this one she is either kissing or trying to eat the photo album we sent her.  Her picture is on the cover of the album.  She was probably excited to see that!

 

Here I think she's trying to decide if the bag of candy is for her?  That would be a "negative" Savannah Faith but nice try:)

Look at those girl's cheeks!  She is going to fit into this family nicely!

 

 

Michaela, AnnaGrace and I will be heading out on this trip to China while Phil and Torie corral the three little girls at home.  This will be AnnaGrace's first trip back to China since being adopted in 2001. 

 

We are planning 6 days of travel before we pick up Savannah Faith, so AnnaGrace can visit the province where she was born and her orphanage.  I expect it to be an emotional and life-changing experience!

 

So much to catch-up on the blog...but here is one of my favorite photos from the holidays.

 

 

 



This is a "pile of our girls" and our good friend, Brenda Scott, at Christmas time.  Brenda was the first person, besides immediate family, that AnnaGrace allowed to hold her when she first came home from China.  Brenda has been on this crazy ride with our family ever since!

Hi, this is Michaela:

So for all of you wondering...no, my mom did not decide to travel to the moon. So since she has not posted in a long time, I thought I would.

A few days ago mom and I left the two little girls with Torie, and  ran some errands. When we got home mom noticed some hair on the floor and proceeded to ask Isabelle a few questions...

Mom: Where did the hair come from?
Izzy: Starts sobbing.
Mom: Did you cut your hair?
Izzy: Yes.
Mom: Where is the rest?
Izzy: I threw it in the trash can.
Mom: Why did you cut your hair?
Izzy: I was curious to see if scissors would cut hair...

To give her credit at least they look like bangs...

P.S. Mom, you need to come up with a better password.

Daughters on Three Continents

It occurred to me the other day that we have daughters on three continents.  For parents who are self-confessed control freaks, we are a bit out of our comfort zone.  And yet, that is exactly where the Lord wants us to be.

Savannah Faith waits for us in China.  As usual the most frustrating part about adoption is the fact that we have absolutely NO control over the time frame.  Our part of the paperwork is finished and ready to be put in the mail.  We're just waiting, waiting, waiting on the government - this time the U.S. government - to complete their next step, so we can mail our dossier to China.

Adoption paperwork is a bit like watching an orchestrated dance. First  paperwork waltz's across the ocean to China where you wait on PA (tentative approval to adopt your child) and then back to the US for I-800A (tentative approval to allow the child to immigrant).  The waltz continues with the dossier going to China for LOA (definite approval to adopt your child) and then back to the US for I-800 (final approval to allow the child to immigrant).  Then the dance continues as the paperwork makes the trek to China one more time for TA (approval to travel to China) and then back to the States for the US Embassy's approval for an Embassy date.  And finally the dance winds down as plane tickets are obtained.

Now think about your most recent DMV visit.  Do you remember the bureaucratic speed (ahem) and clarity that awaited you upon your arrival? (Do you notice the sarcasm in my voice?  There is a reason we call my most dreaded experiences "DMV moments" in our house.)  Now imagine DMV speed and multiple it times the six trips across the ocean our adoption paperwork must make to the various government offices, both in the States and in China, before we can finally get approval to travel.

Now you understand the glazed stare that meets your eyes when you innocently ask us, "When is Savannah coming home?"  Sigh....

That brings me back to my original blog paragraph, we are completely out of control, and that is exactly where the Lord wants us.

While we wait and wait to hear paperwork updates on Savannah, Michaela is busy at work in Swaziland, Africa.  It's a bit surreal making weekly calls, via Skype, to a continent half way around the world, to our seventeen year old daughter and realizing that we have absolutely no ability to go to her if anything is wrong.

However, I can honestly say, we have a complete peace!  It can only be the Lord.

It's thrilling to hear the joy in her voice as she tells of sharing Christ's love with the children at the carepoints.  The fact that she is in her element is indisputable.

Even her training on our farm has even come in handy.  Two days a week she harvests fresh vegetables.  After spending all morning in the fields, the team takes veggies to the carepoints where they are distributed to the children.  The vitamins and nutrition from these are invaluable for the children whose primary diet consists of one meal a day of corn and beans! 

And while two of our girls are out of our reach but safely in the Lord's hands, I'm reminded that our four daughters who are right under our roof are not really safe because of "us."  They, too, are safe because of His good pleasure and His protective care.

One of my favorite verses has long been,

"If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

 

even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast."  Ps. 139:9,10

 



It has extra special meaning to me now as I wait for two daughters to come home from "the far side of the sea."

Myrtle Beach and Moon Cakes

While Torie and my mom hold down the fort at home, the little girls, Phil and I are enjoying a few days in Myrtle Beach.

It is Isabelle and Lily Rose's first trip to the beach. 

First time dipping their toes in the surf.

First time tugging wagons through the sand.

I love seeing it all for the first time, again, through their eyes!

Good friends, Dean & Brenda Scott, joined us.  They brought bubbles to the beach.  Lily Rose was determined to catch one of them.

She wasn't successful, but she gave it a valiant effort!

While the little girls tried their firsts, AnnaGrace and Sarah Mei worked on sand castles, sand castles and sand castles...and even managed some time in the ocean.

This evening we celebrated a bit of Chinese tradition by eating Moon Cakes that we purchased at the Asian Market.  September 30th is the Autumn Moon Festival celebrated in China. 

We all agreed the Moon Cakes looked prettier than they tasted, but it was still a fun evening.

 

 

 

We sure miss Torie & Michaela, but we're looking forward to a few more days in the sand and the surf....

 

 

"Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for....

and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1   and that is where it all begins. 

In July, Phil and I were blessed to get away for 4 days to Rivera Maya, Mexico. (It was tough, but someone had to do it.)

It was the first time we we went away for more than an overnight since Sarah Mei came home 5 years ago.  The time to decompress, reconnect, relax, and rejuvenate was priceless!

While sitting on the beaches we began discussing our plans for the future.  What we wanted to do with the next 25 years of our married life.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, our plans kept turning back to beginning an adoption ministry, volunteering with Love Without Boundaries (which thankfully I've been able to do), and even possibly adopting again. 

Not wanting to do just a "good" thing, but wanting to make sure it was a "God" thing, we committed to asking the Lord for the "impress of His signet ring."  After reading Elisabeth's Elliott's biography on Amy Carmichael, a few years ago, we've employed the method of praying for 3 specific signs to ensure that the Lord wants us to move ahead. 

After searching Scripture, seeking Godly-counsel, and having 3 very specific, humanly impossible prayers answered, we're excited to announce....we are going to be parents again to Savannah Faith Yuandian Horton. 

She is two years old and needs life-saving heart surgery.  We can't wait to have her join our family and pray we'll travel to pick her up sometime next spring or summer.

Here's our sweet Savannah with her nanny in China.

We KNOW humanly it doesn't make sense...we KNOW it isn't logical...we KNOW we are too old, too overworked, have TOO many children, fill in the blank...but we also KNOW that the Lord has called us to "walk by faith."  And we are doing just that...are excited to do it.  And that is where Savannah gets her middle name "Faith".

"Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1