Cabled!

We recieved our NVC letter letter in the mail today. It's kind of like getting a little Christmas present from US immigration. We faxed it to MAA and it will be cabled to Guangzhou on December 30. They only intake these letters on Mondays and Thursdays and we had already missed the deadline for submitting it on Monday.

Our Article 5 will be ready to picked up and carried to the CCAA on January 13, 2011.

In the mean time, we have plenty of other things to do. Get Jon Paul's room ready. Put the finishing touches on paperwork that we need to take with us. Continue to fundraise. We'll need to stock up on "toddler things". We have no sippy cups, diapers, etc, but I guess that's small stuff to worry about right now.

And so this is Christmas

Celebrating far...

And near... Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dance

Camille was selected to model for a dance costume company's catalog again this year. This was her 3rd year selected. The company took one of the photos she did last year and put it on a big promotional poster.

It was a fun day. Our "girly-girl" loves to dress up (she's always thrilled to get hair and makeup done!) and she had a great time with the other little girls who were there too. Can't wait to see the catalog when it comes out in August!

Jon Paul's Party

Jon Paul's package arrived just in time for his third Birthday. I'd say he loved the truck the most!

A Birthday Party for our sweet boy!

Jon Paul with his new clothes... you're going to look so handsome!

Happy Birthday Jon Paul

My dream, my wish and my goal was to be with you today. Either in China or here, at home, to celebrate your 3rd Birthday with you. But it seems God had other plans and we cannot be together. Perhaps He wanted to give Mike and Deena one more birthday, one more Christmas, with you. We know that you are celebrating and, with heavy hearts because we miss you so much, we are celebrating too. We hope you received the very special gift we sent to you for your birthday. Happy 3rd Birthday, son... we love you.

A letter to the Seeing Eye

Hi Teresa,

Thank you for your wonderful email. The comment on Facebook was genuine. We hear a lot about how Seeing Eye Dogs change the lives of blind people (and they do... no doubt, we know plenty of grads!) But they also change the lives of the spouses and children of those blind people... and it really is a beautiful thing! I love my husband. I love him dearly... but the independence and confidence your "Otis" has given him? Well, it's second to none! He has a sense of confidence I've never seen before! He "offers" to go to the grocery store! Thanks to TSE's superior breeding, Otis is the nicest dog we've ever had. His intergration to our family has been so easy and he is such a good boy! So you see, yes, Otis has given Mike new independence... But Otis has affected ALL of our lives... He makes the play park accessable to my husband and our 6-year-old daughter... he gives Mike confidence and Otis welcomes me home from work (with that big, wet tongue) everyday... we all love him more than we anticipated...

Thank you, Theresa... to you, the breeders, the puppy raisers, the trainers... everyone who puts their hearts and souls into guide dogs. It's a sacrafice. There is not a guide dog user out there who doesn't realize that. Unless you live this life, it's difficult to appreciate the impact. Please know it's been a life-changing experience, not just for your graduate and his dog, but for his whole family. We are grateful.