Land Of Oz...visit with the Quigleys

Land Of Oz

Halle-Grace & Mickey

Jason's description of yesterday's fun festivities is right on target....ENJOY!

What an absolute wonderful day yesterday was-despite the fact that Shannon and I both forgot how COLD the top of the mountain could be...

We took HalleGrace and Hannah to ‘The Land of Oz,’ in Banner Elk. Each year, for only one weekend, The Land of Oz is open to the public. The Land of Oz is complete with characters, memorabilia, a museum and stage performances…and, at least on the day we went, overcast misty skies, blustery winds and freezing temperatures. That being said, it would have taken a true Kansas tornado included to dampen HG’s and Hannah’s enthusiasm while we were there. We took the open-aired hayride to the top of Banner Elk yesterday and even though temps were barely in the 40s, I could feel Halle Grace shivering, neither she, nor Hannah ever complained. And once in the theme park you would have thought it was 75 degrees and sunny.

HG and Hannah both enjoyed meeting and having their pictures taken with the characters. HG even enjoyed having one taken with the wicked witch of the west, even though she cautiously kept her eyes on her the whole time…trust but verify...And if that wasn’t enough excitement for the day we met the Quigleys in Boone for ice cream afterwards. The Quigleys by the way are another family that adopted from Vietnam. Mickey, sister Maggie and mom Mary met us for a quick reunion before we came home. The kids surely hit it off, sharing smiles, hugs, kisses, and even rolling around on the floor together (usually something we would not allow in a public setting...but as cold as it was, NO one else was eating ice cream and they were having quite the reunion. haha)

 Mickey and Halle Grace exchanged so much affection with each other that I might be inclined to predict a future for the two, but poor Mickey, he has plenty of other would-be-suitors to contend with for Little Miss Magic has em already lined up. As I have said before, her nickname is ever-so-fitting for, no matter where we go, she seems to cast her magical spell on everyone. I mean, if the kid can get the Wicked Witch of the West to smile like a Wal Mart greeter then should we really expect less anywhere else!?!

If my meager attempt to describe the fun HG had falls short just keep this in mind. As we left Boone yesterday afternoon HG feel asleep in the car at 4:00 PM. As of this morning as I sit typing this at 6:20 A.M. Halle Grace is STILL asleep!!! She has yet to wake up from her weekend adventure! What a great weekend. But don’t take my word for it. Just take a look at these wonderful pictures Shannon took of the trip. As always, Shannon does a fantastic job of documenting the life and times of Miss Magic. Enjoy!!!CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE... http://s628.photobucket.com/albums/uu8/hallegrace/Land%20Of%20Oz/

AND, here is the smiling witch?!

Two years ago today, I came through immigration holding my tiny miracle! Thank God for the miracle of Adoption!

Halle-Grace two years ago on the LONG flight home to meet her family!

Change the world for a child

I recently had someone ask me a few questions about adoption and helping children in need.

"What do you feel are the top 5 things to consider/know when adopting?"

Speaking from experience...
1) The world of adoption changes frequently, it's critical to remain up-to-date on recent developments
2) Adoption is a Journey, not a process. Every adoption is different...if you are adopting from the same country as someone else, or adopting domestically in the same state, EVERY adoption is different.
3) It's a MUST that you work with an accredited agency! Prospective Adoptive Parents should be educated on the steps of adoption so they are not over-whelmed! What is a homestudy and how long are they valid? How long are fingerprints valid? What is a Dossier and how do you begin compiling one?
4) Find a mentor, a support group! You cannot walk this journey alone! It is not always an easy road, however, the JOY is worth every mile! I couldn't have made it without the HOT HENS!
5) What are my options (foster to adopt, domestic, private, open, closed, international) What are the pros and cons?
6) Costs? How will I fund an adoption? There are many resources and grants available to prospective adoptive parents AND the tax credit the federal government allows per adoption is over $13,000.
7)How do I educate my family/extended family (my article in Best Ever You Magazine is a great example if you haven't read it just yet)

All of the above can seem overwhelming, that's why I believe NCFA is a powerful organization. You can be confidenet the  the agencies under their umbrella are legit and they work with the entire picture of adoption....the children, the birth parents, the adoptive parents and pregnant women who realize that adoption is the best gift they can give to their unborn child. They also work hand in hand with legislation.  http://www.adoptioncouncil.org/

What else do you do to help children in need?

I am a Court Appointed Special Advocate (Guardian Ad Litem/Child's Advocate in Court) with CASA. This allows me to be a voice in court for abused/neglected children in the foster care system. CASA is a National Organization http://www.casaforchildren.org/

GET INVOLVED, Change the world for a child!

Happy Family Day Lulu Belle.

Here's my post 2 years ago when Lulu Belle was united with her forever family!
http://ourdevinemiracle.blogspot.com/2008/09/lulu-is-here.html

Lulu & Halle-Grace 2 years ago in Hanoi, Vietnam

Miss Magic's Bling

Guess who has BIG GIRL earrings? Halle-Grace had her ears pierced!
She LOVES them and makes me promise not to take them out...ever! We had them pierced while we were in California. She says she is now a REAL princess with diamond "sparkles".

DISNEYLAND, CA...the happiest place on earth

 They say that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. They say it is a magical fantastical place where dreams come to life. They say it is a place where you can experience the most wondrous events and build memories that will last a lifetime. Well, I have to say, there is truth in that advertising!

We took Miss Magic to Disneyland and Oh what an experience it was. She was the embodiment of non-stop exhilaration from the moment we first entered and saw Goopy right up until she started to fall asleep on Jason’s shoulders on the way out of the park. Halle Grace was as excited as a thousand children on Christmas Eve and as animated as Mickey himself in his most magnificent cartoons. For Halle Grace, Disneyland was one thrilling moment after another. In fact it seemed that with each character we saw; Goopy, Mickey House, Minnie, Cinawella (these are not typos but rather her actual pronouncements of their names) the enchantment only intensified. Her smile was from ear to ear and her unbridled excitement was so electrifying that you couldn’t help but become energized by it.

I honestly believe that if she even TRIED to squeeze one more ounce of fun out of Disneyland the authorities would have stopped her, telling her to save some magical fun for other children. It was simply amazing and I was emotional at times watching her experience the TRUE magic of Disney.

Halle-Grace has a funny story about Belle that we will never forget!

It also was just as amazing to see her timing be so impeccable. She obviously wanted to see Mickey House and Minnie while we were there as well as some of the princesses. She told anyone that would listen to her in the days prior, that she was going to see all of these characters. My hope was that she would in fact get to see at least a couple of those she mentioned by name. My only hesitation was that on any given day some of the characters might be in one place when you are in another, or they might not even make an appearance that day. So my fingers were crossed that she would at least see one princess and either Mickey or Minnie.
Such pessimistic thoughts... For as soon as we walked in we spotted Pluto...

Almost immediately thereafter we came across not one, not two, not three...but many princesses all together.

 According to Halle Grace they were all Cinawella…even the ones with dark hair. It was then that Halle-Grace’s true level of excitement was evident. When we approached Cinderella and put her down, she almost bowled Cinderella over as she ran up to, and almost over, her.

Cinderella had to catch herself with her hand or risk being toppled over by a bundle of pure joy and energy!!!

With Princess Aurora....then Miss Magic surprises Ariel with a Big Princess Hug

This is PRICELESS!

After leaving these princesses we simply “stumbled” upon Mickey House leaving only Minnie still to be seen.

By this time Mom and Dad needed a break and some lunch so we told HG we would try and find Minnie after we grabbed a quick bite. We grabbed something quick and began our search for Minnie all too aware that our time to return was soon approaching. However, we must have forgotten that our daughter’s nickname is “Miss Magic” for no sooner than we had walked back into Toonland we saw Minnie walking straight for us. We walked right up and got a couple of pics of them together and headed for the souvenir shop then to our ride.

While in the shop Halle-Grace said she had wanted to tell Minnie bye. We tried to console her and told her Minnie had to rest and visit with all of the children who were there to meet her and that she did get to have her picture taken with her. Glancing at our watches we realized we were already five minutes late for our ride. We finished in the shop and headed out when who did we see standing right in front of the shop….Minnie Mouse! Halle-Grace got to tell her bye after all. Jason scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders and headed for the gate. We didn’t even make it out of the park before she was fast asleep. She only woke up momentarily to flirt with Hunter Brunett (Dedria’s little brother) in the car before finally crashing for the evening. She was so exhausted she slept clear through pageant finals until the next morning not even waking while we removed her clothes and placed her pjs on her. What a MAGICAL day!

Obviously we had a blast and we would be completely remiss if we did not thank specifically Eddie for being such a wonderful host and coordinating our visit and for the Brunett family for graciously chauffeuring us to and from Disneyland. We are incredibly grateful to you all. Thank you very much for allowing us to spend a magical day with our daughter

Family Day...just a sneak peek

Our Devine Miracle...Little Miss Magic

Happy Family Day!

Today marks our 2nd Annual Family Day! Two years ago, God made our family complete with the blessing of Halle-Grace! Family Day is the most cherished day we share as a Forever Family!
Thank you Lord for our most precious blessing!!!

On Adoption Day, Sept. 1, 2008 we had three different blog entries on adoption day...enjoy reading http://ourdevinemiracle.blogspot.com/2008/09/adoption-day.html
http://ourdevinemiracle.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-adoption-day-picsthen-its-bedtime.html
http://ourdevinemiracle.blogspot.com/2008/09/she-is-perfect.html

Hours Away (Post from Jason on August 31, 2008)

Aug 31, 2008     Hours Away...

Wow, what a night...Who would have thought Shannon would have slept so well and I was the one up all night. So many things even within the wee hours of the morning have transpired. We even just got off the phone with Michelle Bond from State Department who wished us well and congratulated us on our tiny miracle.She said she feels we have done everything we could have done to answer the RFEs. I took from that it is simply now a matter of time to get our approvals.
There are so many things I want to say that I will keep this brief and add when we return this evening. Currently I am afraid of shorting out the computer as I type a few words and then dry my eyes, type a few words and wipe my nose. We are going to get our daughter...even now, saying and typing the words seems surreal. It has been way too long in coming. But nothing worth having comes easy, and nothing in this world is worth more than "our tiny miracle." I pray I will bless her in her life half as much as she has already blessed me...and I have yet to hear her for the first time say, "I love you daddy!" Wow, talk about melting a heart. It is already a molten pile of goo...More to come later today. For now, thanks for the emails, thoughts and prayers. God bless you all. We love you!

Jason
Posted by Jason 8/31/2008

11 comments: made on 8/31/2008

So excited for you!!!!!
Dave & Teresa

Jason you will be a wonderful, loving father. I am so bless to have you and Mike as the best fathers in the world for my grandchildren. God is with you and Shannon and Halle-Grace today and everyday from now on. This is the day we have all been waiting for. God Bless you.
Nanny

This is the day that the Lord has made, and we are rejoicing with you. I told you and Shannon a long time ago, that God has special plans for you, and I still truly believe that to this day. I thank Him for His undying love for each of you, and just know that you all are going to be a great family. May God continue to Bless and Sustain you.
I love you all very much
Mom(Granny)

Gabby is fine!!!

To Halle-Grace
I love you little one and I can't wait to see you and to hold you. You are sooo blessed to have a Christian Mom and Dad who love their God, and they will teach you all about Him, so you will learn to love Him too.
Oh, and by the way practice these words ........GOOOOOOO DUKE!
Love,
Granny

I’m checking the blog hourly, we are sooo thrilled for you. Looking forward to meeting you Halle-Grace! :-) As always you are in our prayers.
We love you,
Jan, Shawn, Owen, and Gabriel
We are sooo excited for you! Halle-Grace is one lucky little girl to have such wonderful parents. We can't wait for pictures. Hunter says Nooooo Duke - Go Tarheels is what she needs to learn!:) We Love you and will continue to pray for you. Pastor Dale had me stand up in church today and give an update. God has answered our prayers!! You are getting your precious daughter.
Suzanne

Jason, both you and Shannon are an inspiration. You are going to be the most incredible parents, as a matter of fact you already are - You never gave up the fight for your baby girl. God Bless your family. much love from Doug and I.
Jenn Stehlar

Jason & Shannon: I have been anxious all day thinking of you and your journey to Halle-Grace. Know that we have prayed for all 3 of you and the other 40+ families so much these last few weeks! As I type I hope you are arriving at the orphanage for your ceremony to bring your beautiful daughter home! God has so richly blessed you and all of us through your journey! Love to all of you!
The Crow family

It is 12:30 am back in NC, and I just got woke up by the most beautiful sound, my cell phone saying, you got mail. I read it to find out .... I am a new Granny. Me and Gabby are so excited, our(her) tail is just a waggin. My heart is just a jumpin...
Can not wait to see you all.
God Bless.
Mom
God bless, Shannon & Jason!! Go get Halle-Grace!!
Kris Ann
Much love from the hens! :)

Shannon and Jason,
I work with Suzanne and she has kept us up to date on the progress of Halle-Grace's adoption. Hannah is in my class and has told the whole class how excited she is about her new cousin. She can't wait for you to bring Halle-Grace home! She is already loved by so many. My family and church are praying for you all. I know this beautiful little girl will bless both of you in more ways than you can imagine. Congratulations!
Emily

A look back...2 years ago, Jason & I were preparing to meet our daughter!

This week we are celebrating FAMILY DAY! We adopted our sweet angel 2 years ago this Wed. Sept. 1st/ This week, I want to re-post my blog entries with comments and remember as we celebrate....

HELLO HANOI (posted on August 30, 2008)
We made it! We made the first BOO BOO! DO NOT RIDE IN A TAXI that is not listed as one!!! LOL. We have NO idea who brought us across town last night! We are safe but and are laughing about it now. It is pouring rain, we are hungry...going to eat breakfast...going apartment hunting (they may be closed until Wed.) so Halle-Grace will maybe get to help us pick out a place. Will type more as soon I can. HUNGRY! Upset that ASU did not win:( Happy to be in Halle-Grace's birth country and a day closer to seeing/holding/loving her for the rest of our lives!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO

Love you all
Posted by Shannon Devine, "Miss Magic's Mama" at 8/30/2008

3 comments:
Mer (Lulu's Mommy) said...
OMGosh SHANNON
8/30/2008
Thank God you are safe. So does that mean that I should stay at the airport until daytime or is my wonderful son-in-law going to get me. I am counting the hours that you call or e-mail that she is in your arms. God Bless you, Jason and Halle-Grace. I love you all.
Moma
8/30/2008
halle-grace is pretty. I bet ya'll are happy that you hav her now.
By Lizzy love you

AND...the 2nd entry 2 years ago on this day
 http://ourdevinemiracle.blogspot.com/2008/08/photos-of-day-1-hanoi.html

Simply Adorable

Just wanted to share her adorableness....have a blessed day!

Wizard of Oz & Monsters, Inc. Top 2 fav movies of Miss Magic

She still loves the Wizard of Oz...and Monsters, Inc. (haha)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAY KAY!!! We love you!!!!!!!!

Same Event Different Perspectives

This evening we took a trip to the toy aisle so Halle-Grace could pick out her very own “grocery store” set. This set includes a grocery cart full of food, the coolest cash register and twin baby girls that she has named Jessie & Ruby. After being home for a couple of hours…HG just now came up for air from her shopping spree. She has been everything from stocker to shopper to cashier. I think she has the most fun as a combination shopper/cashier…oh the discounts you get when you shop that way! Jason finds it funny that the same event is seen very differently from each of our perspectives. Same register, same activity, just a little different interpretation depending on whose eyes are viewing it.

Halle-Grace's view: Wow, this is AWESOME! I am having a blast. Not exactly sure what this loud beeping sound means when I press this little wand and hold it down but I really like it. Not only is it fun for me but both Mom and Dad enjoy it as well as they both put their hands over their ears when I hold it down non-stop for several minutes at a time. I think that must cause this high pitch beeeeeeeeeeeeeep to echo in their ears. They really seem to like it. They also love picking up all of these tiny items and they’re so nice to put them back into my shopping cart over & over again…

Jason's view: I know this is a game for her but it is really helpful as she is already learning proper manners while she plays. When she is the cashier she is asking her customer how she is, and saying thank you while checking her out. I am sure this is developing her imagination skills and creating neurons in her brain as we speak. She is even counting out the dollars correctly thereby reinforcing her counting skills. When she is the stocker she is reinforcing good work ethic and pride in task. I can see how much passion she has in placing the items in just the right spot on the shelves. Good choice for a toy/game.

Shannon's view: I wonder how long before she can actually do our shopping at Wal-Mart for real?? Anyone who knows me well, knows I do not enjoy trips to Wal-Mart...but how cool, Miss Magic LOVES to shop and she obviously prefers a credit card over cash!!! Her daddy loves her so much, how will he ever be able to tell us NO when it comes to future shopping sprees!!! Go HALLE-GRACE!!! I love this game/toy as well. GREAT choice!

Saddle Ridge Ranch/Fashionista

I cannot believe how much Miss Magic is growing. It seems like just yesterday that we were in Vietnam with 6-9 month clothes (mostly 9 month) when our tiny miracle needed 3-6 month clothing! Now, she is talking in complete sentences and knows exactly what she wants in her everyday life! I think she's going to be a plastic surgeon because she loves to put bandaids all over her arms and legs (even though there are no boo boos in sight) and she LOVES makeup, painting nails/toes, and tells me she looks gorgeous! She also knows and expresses which shoes, clothes and bows are pretty and so on...she is a Fashionista at 2 1/2!!!

Purple is her favorite color!

She LOVES her Ruby Red Slippers

This week she attended Bible School. The theme was "Saddle Ridge Ranch" and she loved every minute of it. She was so excited to attend each night. Friday night all of the children put on their cowboy boots and hats and put on a show for their parents/grandparents.

More photos coming soon...

*We are busy planning our 2nd Annual Family Day Celebration and Lulu is coming!!! We are so excited we can hardly stand it!