Last day of "Everyday in May"

Well today is the last "Everyday in May" post!! I can't believe how fast a month has gone by!! I really can't believe how fast the school year has gone!!! We go Monday for a full day and then on Tuesday-Thursday we go until 11:45 and then we are out for Summer!!!!!! I can't wait!!! This summer is our first full summer with Princess and I can't wait! We took Princess to the pool and she loved it!!!!!!!!!!! She was outside for an hour or so and was sooooooooooooo tan it was not even funny- We put SPF 50 on her to!! She is going to be really tan when we go to the beach this summer!!

We got to the lake on Friday at about 6:30 and a few moments later Nana and Papa showed up with their boat for us to ride- They left and came back on Saturday at about 3 to spend the night with us- Quick question: Do you think we stayed in a camper or a tent??? This is a fairly simple question if you know our family personally- Just tell me when you leave a comment- I am going to try and upload a video of Princess laughing she has the funniest laugh- I will try to post it later but for right now here are some pix of Princess at the Lake! Hope you all enjoy the pix!!!!!!!!
Our lil Gangsta!! lol

Where has time gone???????

WOW I can not believe that we have had Princess for almost 1 year!! Where has the time gone? This time last year we were going CRAZY packing getting ready to go get our girl! Isn it amazing? We have been soo blessed through this adoption! We have met some GREAT people and have met life-long friends along the way! We were blessed to have had such an amazing travel group and LID group and DTC group!! Life has definitely changed for the better since Princess came into our lives! Here is Princess' B-day invitation and some pix of the past 10 months!! ONLY 1 MORE DAY OF EVERY DAY IN MAY!!!! :o) Look at how much i have changed!!!

ALSO WELCOME TO THE BLOGGER WORLD DEB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYBODY GO CHECK OUT DEB'S BLOG!!!!!!! SHE IS KARA'S MOM!!! WE WENT TO CHINA WITH THEM THEY HAVE A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL MEIGHAN FU!! I added a pix o Meighan and Princess! Aren't they precious??!?!?!!?
Deb's blog is http://journeywithmeighanfu.blogspot.com/

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going camping so i might have to update the last day of "Everyday in May" on June 1st!! SORRY!


Love,
Ashton and Princess

Hayne's Graduation!

friend as Here are the pix of Hayne's Graduation today at his school!! He graduated from 4K! The little boy in the pix beside Hayne on the top row in the collage is John Henry! He is Hayne's bestestHayne says!!! They are soo cute together! They have SOOOO much in common for 1 they LOVE Spider-Man, Power Rangers, and Narnia!! The other pix are of flowers in our back yard- The pix were taken by yours truly!! So Here are the pix- I diakid add a pix of my toes- I don't wear khakis usually but I have a chorus concert tonight! Wish me Luck- ONLY 5 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!

Pix of Lillie's Birthday Party

The pix are at Lillie's birthday party- Lillie is a doll- She melted my heart and i am hoping she can do some work on my parents!!!!!!!!! and they might feel called to go back to China :) The pix in the middle is my Mom's favorite!!!! We took her fav pix at Lillie's Party last weekend!! I do like it somewhat- (I'm not to fond of how i look but other than that factor I love it) So here are those pix-

I will post pix that Kara and I took when she was here (we were goofing around) tomorrow!!!! We miss you guy and can't wait for the beach!!!!!!!

Recital and My Beautiful Baby Girl

Here are some pix from our dance recital from this past Friday night! We [in my opinion] did great and I was very glad I remembered the clogging steps I kept saying it through my head "Double step double hop touch double step double hop touch- kick down hop double back hop double hop double toe up run run run run hop scuff up hop scuff up" lol that is only a little bit of it- Jodi, Craig, Cole, Max , and Kamden were there too! Cole and Adam are in the same class and did great! (V-factory is a group of singer/dancers one of the dancers took at the dance place we take at!!)


Here are some pix that my Mom took of Princess this afternoon- I was coming in from school and saw her outside with her camera taking all kinds of pix- I love them and think they turned out beautifully!! Isn't she breath taking?? I think she is gorgeous [just like every child] But i she not photogenic? I mean it is just natural for her to just smile and do all of those poses- (she rolled over on her belly and was looking at a frog statue type thing in some of those pix! Hope you all had a great memorial day weekend!! Here is also an updated pix of Hayne taken today- His scar is now showing more than ever and he doesn't like it- (he doesn't like to talk about the incident) Please pray his scar will not be noticeable (I know this is a very weird thing but it is important to him) So here are the pix!!!

2 year's Ago-

2 years ago was a memorial day our family will never forget- This is how my Mom wrote it on what happened on that day..........................
"Monday, May 29th is a day I am sure noone in our family will ever forget. Hal and I took the kids by my mom's house on our way home from our camping trip. The plans were to unload the camper and meet back at Nana's house for dinner. She always cooks us dinner when we get home from a vacation. Hal and I were 10 minutes from her house when we received a call from my sister in law that Hayne had been attacked by a dog. She was screaming and could not give us details. All logic flew out the window. Hal drove his truck(camper and all) through someone's front yard because he could not get it turned around. I could not remember anyone's phone number. All I could think to do was to get him on every prayer list possible. We arrived at my mom's house and EMS was already there. When we got in the ambulance, we were in shock. No words can describe the horror of seeing your child's face ripped apart by an animal. Hayne was crying and my dad was holding him. Once Hal and I were reminded by my dad that we had to be calm for him, everything settled down. I held him on the way to the hospital and carried him into the ER. Our dear friend, John, called in a plastic surgeon for us and we will forever be grateful. The ER staff would not touch Hayne. His top lip was ripped apart with pieces missing, he had cuts beside his eye and beneath it, 2 rips in his head. The surgeon stated that 20% of his lip was gone. After 2 hours of waiting, they started stitching him. He was put to sleep and the process took about 2 hours. Hal and I stayed with him. I can honestly say that God gave me such peace. I kept remembering the scripture "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" I kept thanking God that my son was alive. We were in the valley but tomorrow we would be on the mountain top shouting God's glory in protecting our child. Details of the accident came later. My other 2 children witnessed the entire thing. My mom had taken the kids to see new puppies next door at my brother's house. The mom dog got scared and turned on Hayne. Thank God that my mother knew what to do. How do you thank the person who saved your child's life. With no regard for her own safety, she threw herself on top of Hayne to stop the dog. My brother heard the screaming and rushed from the house. He was able to get Hayne from under my mom and take him into the house. My mom and kids were never attacked by the dog. My mom and brother have taken this so hard. I wish that they knew how grateful Hal and I are for their fast thinking and response. I know that my mom would have given her own life to protect Hayne. She loves my kids as much as we do and would do anything for them. I can never express to her and my brother how much I love them and appreciate what they did for Hayne. He is alive and well because of them. He ended up with 80 stitches in his lip, under his eye, beside his eye and in his head. One week later, the surgeon was in shock. He could not believe how good he looked. He kept telling us that there was no explanation for his recovery. He felt we would need multiple corrective surgeries but there will be none. Hayne's injuries completely closed up and except for some scaring, he is as good as new. Although our doctor has no explanation for his recovery, I know the reason. It is the mercy and grace of our Lord. It is the prayers of churches all over this country within an hour of the accident. It was the desperate plea for help from a grandmother and uncle as Hayne was attacked. It was the angels surrounding my son and protecting his eyes and throat during the attack. It was a hospital full of church staff, deacons and friends gathered to pray while we were treated in the ER. Hayne is a miracle and a testimony to the faithfulness of our God. We will forever be grateful!"
The pix below are of the day after he got attacked and months later and our mos recent photo- He is our Miracle and only by God's amazing Love and Grace is he here today- Hayne was 3 and now is 5- His scar is now showing more than it used to but it will get worse and worse and then not be as noticeable hopefully- He is very self-conscious about it- Please pray he doesn't have a huge scar during the rest of his life- If it was not for my Nana's bravery he would not be here today---- I was there for the entire thing and it is something i will never forget- Here are the pix they are a little weird but it shows you how great God is-

Still Handsome in our eyes

Side view- Uncle Johnny got me a Blue power ranger costume-
Up close

Looking better couple of days later-

Going to get my stitches out- YAY they didn't come open-- It took 5 people plus the head nurse to hold me down!!

2 months later

Excuse the dirty face! He is looking great-

How great is our God!

Sleepy Sunday! and Orphanage photo

I think these pix explain themselves

Saturday Fun!!!

Today we went to see Narnia Prince Caspian!! Hayne thought it was "AWESOME" as he put it!! lol He wore his Peter Suit and has a Prince Caspian suit to- (It has a sword and everything) After we went to Narnia we flew into the mall to get the boys' something to wear for the wedding we were going to this afternoon- The wedding was for my cousin Kasey- It was beautiful- The colors for her wedding were brown, orange, and a little bit of cream! The colors were SO pretty together- I am terribly sorry but i don't have any pix of the wedding. :( We have been SO crazy lately! Only 8 more days of school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dance Recital!

Tonight we had a dance recital!! It went great!! I take clogging and Adam takes hip-hop! We both did great!! I am still unsure if this was my last year of dance or not........ (if i am on the volleyball team i will be crazy with dance and volleyball so i have to choose) I will post pix soon-- Princess LOVED the dances at the show! She was standing in my Mom's lap dancing and bouncing and clapping!! It was SOO cute!

Prayers for the Chapman Family

Maria is in Steven Curtis Chapman's arms

MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME YESTERDAY 5/21/08.

This death has not only affected this amazing family who has done soo much for the orphans in China, but the entire adoption community- It has had such an affect on so many people. I can not even imagine the pain this family is dealing with right now-- The song Cinderella as most of you know was written for sweet Maria. I have the song playing on my blog so turn the volume up to hear it. Make sure to pause the music to watch the video at the bottom-

"At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was killed last night by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the Chapman family’s Williamson County home in Tennessee.
Maria, Chapman, youngest of six children, was playing in the driveway when she was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser. Several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident.

More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife, MaryBeth, founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world.

The Chapman family is so grateful for the incredible outpouring of love and support at this difficult time."

WORDS & VIDEO FROM SPECIAL BLOG SET UP FOR MARIA.

Maria Sue Chapman (2003-2008)

Maria Sue Chapman, adopted and youngest daughter to Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed Wednesday night in a tragic accident in the family driveway on Wednesday evening. She was LifeFlighted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital but for only reasons God can explain she went home to Him... not to Franklin as we all so desperately wanted.

Your prayers are needed for all in the Chapman family. This is a family who has so generously loved and given to so many. Just hours before this close knit family was celebrating the engagement of the oldest daughter Emily Chapman, and were just hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb Chapman's completion of high school. Now, they are preparing to bury a child who blew out 5 candles on a birthday cake less than 10 days ago. These words are unthinkable to type. - Jim Houser (Manager)

(Please remember to turn off background music to watch video.)


In lieu of flowers, the Chapmans request any gifts be directed to Shaohannah’s Hope.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS FAMILY!!!! THROUGH THIS VERRRY HARD TIME--

Psalm 68:5-6 tells us that as the Father to the fatherless, God delights in setting the lonely in families. It has been our experience that the scriptural mandate of caring for orphans, such as the one found in James 1:27, is really a wonderful invitation to experience God in a profound way by being a part of His sovereign plan for His precious children.

Happy Birthday Kamden

Today is Kamden's 4th birthday. We went to Chuck E Cheese with her family to celebrate. It was alot of fun and Kamden was so excited. We then had to go to Furman for our dress rehearsal. We didn't get home until 10 so sorry for the short post. I will update more soon!

Princess in training

Anna Grace loves ALL things Princess. She looks so sweet in her "no white" outfit. Look at this precious smile!

Happy Birthday Lillie

We spent the weekend celebrating Lillie's 3rd Birthday. It was so much fun to see both of the girls. Lillie is so sweet and I am keeping my finger's crossed that she will inspire my parents to start their paperwork again. A girl can dream!

Guess where we are?

Narnia Prince Caspian

Well my 5 year old little brother Hayne is in LOVE with Narnia- I had to do this post for him b/c he is standing over me going "Hey Hey are you gonna blog about Prince Caspian??? You should he is AWESOME!!!" hahaha He was SOOOOOO excited when he heard they were making a new one!! Today it came out- We are going to Bobbi and Jake's tomorrow!!! and on our way there we are going to stop at an outlet to buy him a PRINCE CASPIAN COSTUME!!!! Hayne is going to type what he thinks about the new movie (He is 5 and typing this so at the end i will type correctly what he wrote) : im sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo xcitd thet the NEEEW Prince Caspian movi has come out! (I am SOOO excited that the new Prince Caspian movie has come out!) He was like "I am typing on the internet?" I was like "Yes Buddy you are typing on the internet" He summed it up with 1 word "COOOOL" hahaha I will post pix of him in his new costume soon but for now here is a pix of him in his Peter suit- He thinks he is SO cool!!!! I put Narnia Prince Caspian, but this is from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe!!!!! haha oh well

Thankful Thursday

Princess laughing as Meighan tickled her

This week I am thankful for:

• My AMAZING Family
• That my Uncle Johnny is home from Afghanistan
  
• That we get to go to Bobbi and Jake's house this weekend
  
• That PACT is almost over (We have 3 more days next week)
  
• My friends
• We have almost had Princess for 1 year
• EVERYTHING!!

Tomorrow my Mom is meeting Joyce and Sarah (They went to China with us Sarah is 2) Princess and Sarah LOVE to play together!! I will post pix soon-- Oh and about the pix of Princess getting dedicated I still have not gotten the pix but as soon as i do i will post them!!! I am doing good with "Everyday in May" so far!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Princess gets Dedication

On Sunday Princess was dedicated! Lots of people came to see her. My uncle Johnny got to be there and my mom was really happy. Deb, Kara & Meighan went with us. Joyce(Sarah's mom) from our travel group made Princess a handkerchief with her name, chinese name (Xiu Fu Lai) and birthday on one side and a really pretty cross on the other. During the entire time we were standing up at the front she was hitting my Mom with it (Well waving it in the air and hitting her face)!!! She kept yelling Hey Johnny, Hey Papa. Then we we go to sit down she goes "Hew ew go Mommy" (Here you go Mommy) All of the pictures are on my Nana's camera so i will post soon!!!

This is my favorite Mother's Day pix of Meighan and Princess's hands!
Meighan and Kara and Deb are on the way home we just dropped them off at the airport :o(
:o( :o( :o( We wanna go cry!! We miss you guys already!!!


**UPDATE**
Please be praying for China as they were harmed horribly by the earthquakes!!! They have found 9,000 bodies almost please pray for their protection and that Chongqing (where Princess is from) will be ok and not affected by the Earthquakes!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

To all the Mother's I hope you had a blessed day with your children and loved ones!! I will update about fun with the Xiushan Sisters later but for now here is a pix from yesterday of the girls on the white couch- Aren't they cute??? They have changed so much!!!!!

Check out Kara's blog about Meighan she has updated too!!! They leave tomorrow at 4:40 :o(
We are SO sad

HE IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Weekend fun with Spicy Girls'

Last night Johnny surprised us at 6:00 and told us he was 3 hours from home!!! We were so excited-- Our Nana lives right next to him and their is a brick wall that separates their house and my Uncle's when they pulled up my Nana scaled the wall and went through the bushes and shrubs to be the first one to see him.......... She hugged him and said "you're home" and he said "i know mama i made it i made it home" it was so sweet my Mom started crying and he said "What is wrong with you people you can hug me too." We are having a coming home party tonight!!! We are all thrilled he is home. Here are some pix................................... The last pix is of the certificate we got of one of the American Flag's flew during his time over they flew the flag's everywhere. He gave one to us, he gave one to his son, kept one, and gave the most important one to His Mama and Daddy. It was great!!!




Before we went to see my Uncle we were at Build-A-Bear Workshop and made the new Panda that came out yesterday!!! We made each of the girls' a Panda and dressed it!!! They turned out precious!!! Also here are some pix of our fun weekend with the Spicy Girls'







and i just had to post this pix of my Uncle Johnny when he was little................................ He thought he looked SOO cool in this Halloween Costume!!!

New blog design!!

I hope you like it!!! Tell me what you think!!

2 words

THEY ARE HERE!!!!!!!

We have had SOO much fun so far!!! Yesterday we went to the Mall and got Kara a Vera Bradley bag!!! (Those are really popular down here) We got her a Vera Bag in the Raspberry Fizz--
She is was SOO excited to get a Vera Bradley (I am no longer able to buy anymore b/c i have too much hahaha you can never have too much) :) Ella and Nikki will be here this afternoon and are spending 1 night with us!!!! Princess and Meighan are having such a good time!!!! They love to play with each other it is SOO cute!! :o)


**Tomorrow Johnny comes Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he will arrive from 5-7pm!! We are SOO excited!**

Thankful Thursday

WOW! is the week really that close to being the weekend? I am so amazed how fast time flies by!!!!!! I love this pix of Princess it was from the day we got her!! It is amazing how much Princess has changed in 10 months!!!!! I can't believe we have had her for 10 months!!!! It is amazing- I can't imagine my life without her!!! It is amazing from my Mom's website we have gotten more "Is that the baby you guys were going to get?" comments and they mostly come from complete strangers! This week I am thankful for......................................

• Deb, Kara, and Meighan are here!!!!
• Johnny is coming home Saturday from 5-7 (most likely 7)
• That God kept Johnny safe during his 18 month serve!!
• My Princess who is still amazing me daily
• My entire family
• The time I get to spend with Kara this weekend!!
  
• My parents decided to adopt a Princess last year that we have almost held in our arms for 1 year!!
• Our new church family that we LOVE
• Making All A's this year (stupid but I am glad i did)
• Our travel group is coming to our house Saturday!!!! (and Johnny is coming home the same day)

I hope you all are having a great rest of the week and weekend!!!!

Favorite Foto

This is 1 of my favorite pix of Princess!! She is just precious in my opinion!! It iris just too cute to see her look like her Princessy self in the pix!!! I don't know why it is my favorite b/c we have beautiful pix of Princess I just Love this one!!! Hope you all have had a great week so far!!! :o)

Chip or is it Dale?????

These are some pix of Princess I took yesterday!! This is not the best collage i have made i just sorta threw it together b/c Princess is in my lap!! (and excuse any spelling errors she keeps hitting the keys) I think she looks so cute! If anyone knows which chipmunk it is I would love to know!! (I know weird huh) Princess is begging me to go wing (swing) She has my cellphone and is looking at the main screen (It has a pix of her on it) saying "Hey Pwincess and Hey Anna!" lol She is SOO cute!!! She took a pix of herself just now and it turned out pretty cute!!! Maybe she'll be a photographer???!?!?!!? lol Sorry this post is SOO short!!

******UPDATE****** My Uncle has a really bad sines infection! PLEASE PRAY HE IS ABLE TO GET WELL SOON!!! Also that he is able to be home by Wednesday!!!! Thank you for all your prayers such forth-

**!!!HAPPY MONDAY!!!**

Every Day in May

I am going to be updating everyday featured by Dumplings, Three!! Wish me luck and check back since I will be updating 'Every Day In May'


Here are the pix in 1 of my favorite outfits Princess has worn!! She was not wanting pictures taken last night so all I got were a few snapshots!

****UPDATE****

My Uncle Johnny is in Fort Bragg!! We are SOO excited and blessed! PLEASE PRAY for his safety as he and BJ are on their way home!!! (BJ went to Fort Bragg to get Johnny on Friday) He will be coming home sometime this week!!! PLEASE Pray he is home by Wednesday!!!!

This is what happens..............................

When you aren't paying enough attention to Princess..................


Yea she enjoys throwing Goldfish Crackers and Cheerios all over the floor!!! haha She is becoming a handful and making sure everyone around her knows that she is in charge!! She looked adorable today in a Gymboree outfit my Mom bought like a year ago while we were still waiting!! She always looks adorable but today I just loved the outfit!! It is SO much fun being able to take pix of her and just play around- In these photos she decided she didn't like the bow and took better yet YANKED it out of her hair and threw it on the ground!!! She now is getting around to knowing everyone thinks she is cute so she is like "I am cute and I know it" haha- Hope you have a great weekend!! We have 4 more days before Deb, Kara, Meighan, Nikki, Ella, Lana, and Tammy come down!!!! YAY How are we going to get the house clean???????? We got some work to do!! I will share the pix of the cute outfit tomorrow!!

1 Year Ago Today................................

We saw this face and our lives were forever changed......................


I still can not believe we saw her sweet face 1 year ago today................... We were all thrilled we thought she was gorgeous (which she was and still is) We all stayed out of school and waited anxiously to see her!!! I think we freaked the U.P.S. Man out!!! My Mom was like "You have our baby in that package" lol and was like "Can we have a picture?? We have been waiting 2 1/2 years for this". Still when he delivers packages to my Dad's work he is like "How is that baby doing?" haha go here for more referral pix!!

1 Year Ago Today............................

1 Year ago today we got "The Call" about our precious little girl!! We were all SO excited and couldn't believe after 2 1/2 years of waiting the moment finally came. We didn't get a pix of her until tomorrow but we were sooo thrilled to know we had a baby girl in China waiting for us! My Parents got "The Call" at 10:30ish on Thursday May 1st!!!!! We were floating on cloud 9!! Go here to see my Mom's post about that day............. What an amazing day this was our family............. About a week before we received the call I drew a ladybug with 7 spots on it that said "7 spots so you are 7 months old at time of referral." (does that give you a hint of how old she was when we got our referral???) YEP 7 months old!!! I couldn't believe my wish had come true.................. Since the day we started the adoption process i had prayed that we would get a young little girl... My dream came true!!!
Here is the info we received when we got the amazing life changing CALL!!!

Name: Xiu Fu Lai
DOB: September 11, 2006 (Here adoption date was 7/4 she is My All-American Girl!!)
Resenting: Xiushan Social Welfare Institute in Chongqing
Extra Info: She has a head full of hair that is sticking up all over!!! She weighed 13.2lbs on Feb 1st of 2007!!!

We think she weighed about that on the day we got her!!! She is such a miracle and a blessing and i can't imagine life without My Princess
**The pix are of my Mom and Dad and Grandmas and Hayne while they were hearing about our Spicy Girl!!!**