CallaAnne Day~

How has it been a year already since they placed Calla in our arms?
Here a few of the highlights of our trip to get her~

 Landed in Nanning with new friends {Catherine & Blake} with one day to spare~

 CallaAnne Day was so wonderful. She came right to us and never cried~

 We took her back to the hotel and let her begin getting to know us~

 Day 2 was all about signing For Real papers~

 Just look at our precious baby~

 We loved our days in Nanning even though the heat was crushing.
It was very hard to leave Calla's home behind but it was time to get to Guangzhou~

 The best part of Guangzhou was Elvin, our guide!!!
Calla was very sick all week with a mystery fever and he was wonderful to help us~

 As the week wore on, she became sicker and sicker~

We were SO proud of Evie and Holly on the trip. They were definitely BIG sisters!!!

To celebrate we let Calla choose something special and she wanted to watch Trolls~

 Mill came over for a little while and she helped me get a cute pic of the baby~

R E D E E M E D~
.
I am redeemed, You set me free 
So I'll shake off these heavy chains 
And wipe away every stain now I'm not who I used to be 
I am redeemed…
{Big Daddy Weave}
.
When I remember the little girl we swooped into our arms a year ago and watch her videos, I can see glimpses of who she is now. Love covers a multitude of pain in the cocoon of family.

*Once so sick with infection, now she is well~ {many specialists and appts}.
*Once so sad from abandonment, now she is secure~ {picked up every single time she melted into a tantrum}.
*Once so scared from trauma and unable to fall asleep, now she sleeps in her bed with sisters close by~ {many hours being held, sleeping with us, or sitting by her bed until sleep won}.
.
She's come so far and yet so far to go. In my experience until our sweet ones have been HOME longer than not, they may question if this love is forever.
.
It's forever little Calla baby~ we adore and love you always. Even on our worst day together, you are worth it and redemption looks beautiful on you!!!

CallaAnne Day~

Today was a long day waiting for our baby love. We woke up super early because of jetlag and went down for our daily breakfast feast. 

Toast and coffee was about all I could handle but it was SO good! 

We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in the room. The girls played with all their toys and when everything was extinguished, I made a play bath complete with color tabs, water bottles, and stacking cups. 

We snacked through lunch and let the girls nap before we left for CallaAnne. 

Our guide picked us up about 2:20 and we left for civil affairs building. She was already there playing in the playroom and we could here her laughing. 

We sat down for paperwork~

And not long after she came walking out with three orphanage staff following telling her mama and baba. She walked right up to Scott, held out her arms, and allowed LOVE to take her in~

Then she came to me and one part of my heart mended right on the spot. The one had been gathered into her forever~

The orphanage said the foster family had talked about us and shown Calla our photo over and over so she knew us when she saw us. That is God!!!

We had to step into an office to promise to love and cherish her always and was reunited once again in the presence of the official~

She came right to me and it was so sweet~

We scooped her up for some photos~

And with the sweet orphanage staff who clearly adored her~

Then headed back to hotel to spend the afternoon getting to know each other. 

Things we know so far:

~She loves baths!

~She's funny and likes If I Was a Bumblebee game and her baba!

~ She loves being held!

~She loves her sippy cup and still take a bottle at night (I LOVE that!)!

~She is an awesome sleeper as long as she's right in the middle of us~

And where else would we want her to be!!! 

Happy CallaAnne Day love!

We are your forever and God has blessed us BIG!

Eccl 3:11 He makes Everything Beautoful in Hos time! 

Amen and amen!!!!!

Video Revealed on Will Perry's Forever Day~ {National Adoption Month & Orphan Sunday Nov 8}

This day four years ago we pulled our son Will Perry into our arms forever

and he has been one of the greatest gifts in our family.

LOOK at the difference LOVE makes in a chosen child~

As God called us to adopt CallaAnne in the last months, He also pressed on Scott's heart we should have a film made sharing God's adoption story through our family.

Nicole Cole of 314 Productions graciously spent the day with us and captured the story.

Please watch, share, pray, and consider what God is calling your family to concerning the 100 million orphans in the world today.

James 1:27 says, "Take care of the orphans and widows in their affliction." 

We would ask you what that looks like for your family because it is not IF you have been called... you HAVE been called to Take Care.

Will you adopt?

Will you foster?

Will you pray for the waiting children or unadoptable ones?

Will sponsor a child?

Will you support a family on the journey to another child?

SO many ways God allows to fulfill the calling He places on us in this scripture. What will you do?

If you feel led to support our family in adopting CallaAnne, you can go to Project Love One HERE and click on the dropdown menu to choose Ankerich Family. You can give in $20 increments and every donation goes straight to our adoption agency for fees due. Your donation is also tax deductible as well. 

We also have a tshirt fundraiser coming and they will be sold from this website as well. Design is in the final edits. SO excited!!! It will so awesome to see shirts everywhere representing LOVE Makes a Family: Psalms 68:6~ "He sets the lonely in families."

People sometimes say, "You can't save them all. And that's right but we can save this one." And for that one it is a life of Forever magnitude.

Scott and I often say This is NOT our story, it is God's story being written through our family and WHAT if we had missed it just because we couldn't SEE the path.

What if we had missed the Joy of a quiver full? (Psalm 127: 3-5)

What if we had missed the Blessing of love? (Matt 19:14)

What if we had missed the Gifts of adoption? (James 1:17)

What if we had missed the Promise of family? (Psalm 68:6)

What if we had missed the Life of Eternity proportions? (John 17:16)

SO thankful we said YES to a little girl in Chongqing, China on January 27, 2006 which led us to a life immeasurably more than we could have ever imagined!!!

Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Santa Visit~

One of our family Christmas traditions is a day @ Lenox so today was the day
and WHO should we see on the interstate but Santa himself in red sports car~

 We met Josh, Savannah, and Ben Curtis there for our Santa visit.
The littles were pretty shy to talk to Santa and Ben Curtis was so brave to sit with him too~

 We rode the Macy's Pink Pig~

 And had a delicious lunch at Maggiano's~

 It was the best day hanging out together making Christmas memories~

I will cherish this photo forever and look forward to sweet CallaAnne being in it next year~

SO thankful for days like today!!!

Mother's Day Weekend~

We were super thrilled to have BC for the weekend so Savannah and Josh
could get away for their fifth anniversary!
We also loved celebrating Holly and Payne's birthday~

 Along with Mother's Day for my mom~

It was wonderful to be together!

Sunday ALL my children were home.
Scott grilled, we took photos, and hung out around the pool~

I am a VERY blessed mama/Shayshay and SO thankful the little space between me and SJ
will soon be filled by a precious little baby named CallaAnne!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading my blog.

Story of her Name~ {CallaAnne}

The day we got a confirming yes we had the file,

and yes her heart had a great repair,

and yes we truly knew she was our daughter,

we sent Letter of Intent (LOI) to China.

That same evening we had Scott's sister over for dinner.

I felt James 1:27 so clearly depicted in our family

with one less orphan and a widow at our table.

I thought it would be a sweet thing to name our baby after her Aunt Susan.

Because you know her name was my next dilemma...

we couldn't keep calling her 'that little girl'. 

We extinquished every single name list online that week

and on Saturday Scott said he kept thinking of a song with beautiful in the title.

I did a Itunes search and came up with Charlie Hall's

On the Road to Beautiful~

We just sat listening and worshiping.

At the end of the song I thought we should find a name that meant Beautiful

and the first list I pulled up gave us the name Calla.

We paired it with Anne (after her aunt) and means He Favors You.

CallaAnne~ Beautiful and Favored.

Chosen and Loved already!!!

Coming home to her forever sometime in 2016!

Chinese New Year~ {How We Celebrate}

Monday was Chinese New Year and we were excited to celebrate! There were celebrations in our area over the weekend, but we have found enjoying this holiday at home is right for us. After all, that's what their Chinese families are doing in China!

It just made sense to incorporate this special day into our school routine.

I pulled out all the things we have collected from our many trips to China. First thing was for everyone to choose a Chinese silk for photos~

The kids are always so kind and willing to let me get portraits of them in their silks (don't know how much longer it will last~

One of my favorite photo sessions of the year~

It was really fun to pull out each special item, remember who it was chosen for, and discuss its Chinese heritage~

Everyone had a turn playing the Chinese horn and playing paddle ball~

Probably the most interesting item was the abacus so we watched a video to show us how it works. We also studied the intricate silk stitches on our tapestries~

There were fan dances and puppet shows~

Lantern making, mandarin character writing, and decorating~

The day ended with Chinese take out and sweet friends waiting to travel to Korea for their little boy~

My Thoughts on Chinese New Year~

When EK was younger, we took her to everything we could Chinese related to be with other children adopted from China. It was considered good practice to immerse our adopted children in their Chinese culture and heritage. She didn't really get that much out of it... maybe over stimulation, but it was good for Scott and I to be other families like us. We LOVE all our fellow adoptive family friends!!! Plus living out in the country makes for a very long drive to most events.

When SJ came home, we continued to attend a few outside celebrations but with each passing year and new children home, it was just too much. Too many to cocoon from strangers, manage feeding them, and visit with all the families (which is what we wanted to do). It became very evident our celebrations needed to be near or at home.

SO over the last few years, we have either gone out or ordered Chinese take out with family/friends. It's fun to focus on our own children and where they lived in China. Reading lifebooks and watching their videos is fun for them too.

Making this holiday personal has been such a blessing. Yesterday as we discussed 'their' China, they were SO proud of their heritage and culture. The number one reason in celebrating Chinese New Year is building self worth through knowledge of their culture. Being proud to be Chinese will go far in life when they are adults.

In my heart as a mom, it allows me another opportunity to show respect and love toward the family and country that gave our children life. We also spend time praying for China, their seven birth families, and all the children still there waiting for their forever family.

And lastly, it gave us a way to celebrate sweet CallaAnne who is enjoying this great celebration with a precious foster family.

Our prayer for all that is Chinese~

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."'    ~ Numbers 6:24-26

Updated Photo of CallaAnne~

My birthday is next week and more than anything I just wanted a new photo of CallaAnne!
I contacted Ladybugs 'n' Love about sending a care package to our baby.
They needed to see if CA's orphanage accepted packages and were told she had already received one.
Angela was so kind to say there was no need to send another package...
she would just ask the orphanage for updated photos.
Honestly I had forgotten about until this morning when I opened my email to see~

Our angel baby... just look at that precious face!

I can tell you I could barely function the rest of the day!
I am more excited than ever to take this sweet one in my arms!!!
I also want to say I LOVE Kelly and Angela with Ladybugs 'n' Love!