Our little gymnast!

Claire had her first fun meet this weekend.  It was basically a time to show off what she has been learning in gymnastics.  She has been doing gymnastics for about a year and she absolutely loves it!  She is always ready to go to the gym!  I want to share some cute pictures of our girl and hopefully I can get some video to load too!

Claire and her instructor, Lindsay!

Ready for the bars!  Check out the muscles in her shoulders!

On the balance beam!

Claire is wild about gymnastics!

Medal time!

She is so excited about her t-shirt and medal!

This is Claire marching in with her level....this is so typical Claire...she doesn't walk anywhere!  So full of spunk!

This is Claire on the tumble track...doing a back handspring!

Claire on the floor!

So proud of our gymnastics loving girl!

(Sorry if videos don't show up not sure what is wrong; trying to fix it)

Thankful Thursday

I have been in a blogging funk lately. Just haven't felt like blogging but today I am feeling the motivation so I guess it is time to blog. PLUS, it is Thursday so I am going to do a Thankful Thursday post! :)

This Thursday I am thankful for:

~Medical technology! As I sit here typing, my brother-in-law, Dale is in surgery receiving a kidney transplant. Amazing to my little brain that this type of surgery can be done!  Thankful to the donor that is giving up one of their kidneys for Dale!

This was taken at a luncheon recognizing local firefighters and paramedics!

~Email!  So thankful for the email updates we receive on Caelyn!  So hard knowing your daughter is half way around the world but the updates help us feel connected to her.  Even more thankful when a picture is attached!                                

Shhh...don't tell but I can't resist not sharing the photo!

~Extended family!  We had some fun pictures taken over Thanksgiving and I don't think I ever shared some.  We love our Georgia family and love spending time with them.  Wish it could happen more often.

This is all of the "big" cousins and Gary and his brother Wayne.  Love it!

 Claire and Caleb wanted in on the jumping!

 All the cousins!

 Our gang and the Georgia gang!

~Birthdays!  Yesterday, we celebrated Nicholas' 15th birthday!  Just does not seem possible that he is that old already.  He is SOOOO ready to be driving.  Me, not so much ;)  This year, Gary and I took Nicholas out to eat at the restaurant of his choosing.  It was so nice to have just that time with Nicholas by himself!  We came home and had cake and presents with the family.

At Bandanas...his favorite!

 With the cake!

 He blew them all out with one breath!

 Displaying his new Eagles jersey!

This isn't from yesterday, but I just love this picture.  It shows how tall Nicholas is getting.  He was 5'11" last time he was measured!  Wow!



What are you thankful for?

Puzzle update!

A few months ago, I shared that we are adopting again.  I also shared with you about the puzzle fundraiser we are doing.  We ran into problems getting the puzzle we had originally ordered so we went to a puzzle warehouse near us and picked a new, beautiful 1000 piece puzzle.  This is the one we decided would look great in Caelyn's new room.  Isn't it pretty?

I am thrilled to report that 226 pieces have already been sponsored!  That leaves 774 more pieces that are just waiting for your name!  We are going to glue the puzzle together and then frame it so both sides can be seen.  It will be a forever reminder to Caelyn of those who helped bring her home.  You can use the chipin button on the side of my blog or the one posted below.  If you wish to contribute another way please send me an email. Most people have chosen to contribute $5 per piece but any amount would be great. Please make sure you tell me what name or names you want to be written on your piece/pieces!



Our home study should be finished this month and then things should really pick up speed as we get our dossier done and off to China. We are really hoping to travel by this summer. Be on the look out for another post about our other fundraisers. Check out the sidebar for opportunities to purchase coffee or amazing t-shirts!

Two letter Thursday!

Woohoo!!!  We are coming Caelyn!  Now to finish our dossier!!

The Story of Christmas

This a powerful video about how Christmas is the beginning but not the end of the story.

Here at Blessed Beyond Belief I am thankful....

This Thanksgiving I am going to share the top 11 (for 2011) things I am thankful for:

11. My family even though the milit*ry keeps us away from them most of the time I treasure the time we do have together!
10. My honey...God has blessed me with 20 years married to my best friend!

09. My kids...certainly been blessed more than I deserve!

08. Brianna...trying to treasure each moment knowing that all too soon she will be off to college. 

07. Nicholas...cannot believe how he has become a young man and is so tall.



06. Hunter...my miracle boy who continues to amaze the doctors and is my comic relief.

05. Claire...my super smart sign language speaking girl and most certainly momma's girl.

04. Caleb...my little snuggle bug.

03. Caelyn...our newest treasure waiting for a family in China.  Soon baby girl soon.

02. My great country that I was blessed to be born in.  Thankful for those in the milit*ry that fight to keep us free.
01. My Lord and Savior who has blessed me with these...

Happy Thanksgiving!  What are you thankful for?

Adoption update

Some of you may be wondering where we are in our adoption process.  Let me try to fill you in.  Last week, we submitted our LOI to China!  In the adoption world, that means we have submitted a letter of intent to adopt a particular child.  Now we are working on getting our home study completed and on getting all the items needed for our dossier.  While we work on this, we are waiting to recieve our PA which is a pre approval from China saying we can go forward in our pursuit of this child.  This is so exciting and I am thrilled to say that God has provided all the money we have needed so far!  God has brought us buyers for the things we have been selling and He has nudged people to support our puzzle fundraiser.  The puzzle fundraiser is still going on so if you want to sponsor some pieces you can use the ChipIn button on the blog sidebar.  However, we know that more funds will be needed.  We still have China program fees coming up among other fees.  So with that in mind, we have been selected to partner with 2 businesses that will walk alongside us and help us raise the funds that will be needed.

The first one is Ground to Cup Coffee.  This is how Ground to Cup Coffee explains who they are from their website.  "At Ground to Cup Coffee we are centered on creating an environment where each of us grasp the reality that coffee is so much more than just a cup of coffee. We are passionate about empowering those causes that have a direct impact in our community and across the globe such as the construction of youth camps, adoption and orphan care, cancer research, shelters supporting the homeless and the hungry and helping sustain the coffee farmers themselves. So, join us in making a difference by drinking a freshly roasted cup of coffee while “Bringing a Hope and a Future” one great cup at a time."  We are so excited to be working with them to raise funds for our adoption!  We have an online store and receive 40% of all sales in our store!  If you love coffee or would love to give the gift of coffee this Christmas would you consider checking out our store.  You can check it out by clicking the link below or by using the link on the side of our blog.
Click here to visit Ground to Cup Coffee.

The second one is Wild Olive tees.  So, if coffee isn't your thing maybe an awesome t-shirt would be!  Here is what Wild Olive tees has to say about their mission from their website "Wild Olive adoption tees have been created as a means to help families fundraise for their impending adoption. Our goal is to partner with adoptive families to help them gain support from friends and family to offset the cost of their adoption, and in turn, help bring children home to their forever families!"  Again, we are so excited to be partnering with them! Their shirts are so beautiful and each one has a verse on it.  Each time you wear the shirt you are proclaiming God's Word to the world.  You can check out the t-shirts by clicking on the link below or on the side of the blog.  If you purchase a shirt make sure you use our family code of HAINES1120.  Put this code in the coupon code section and the comments section of your order.  By doing this, you assure that our family gets credit for your purchase!
Click here to visit Wild Olive tees.

So, maybe this Christmas you will consider doing some of your shopping for gifts from Ground to Cup Coffee or Wild Olive tees.  What an awesome way to get some great gifts and help bring our daughter home at the same time!  Would you please share our blog with your friends and family and help us get the word out about our fundraisers?  We are blessed by each one of you and we are forever grateful for those of you who support our fundraising efforts.  To us you are Jesus with skin on and we thank you.