Luci is Home!

Shane and Abigail sharing a rare quiet moment together

How cute is she?????


Daddy stealing a kiss from his baby girl!

"Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous: and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness".

Praise the Lord! Luci is doing well and is home with mom and dad. Melissa's mother, grandmother & aunt are in town visiting. I am envious but thrilled that Melissa and John have family with them to share in their joy. We are rejoicing with them from a far and counting down the time that we will hear the news that they will be coming home. LOTS of family members are eagerly waiting to meet little Luci. She will be spoiled rotten by the time they leave!

We are headed off on a day trip to Cass, WVA tomorrow to take a train ride with John's parents and Sharon's family. Next week will be busy with Lorene and Abigail having surgery on Tuesday.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Update on Luci and More Pictures

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Luci's white blood cell count is high so they have taken her to the NICU and are giving her oral antibiotics. It is REALLY HARD to know this and to be so far away from our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. We are trusting in the Lord that all will be well but it is still difficult not to be with them right now. John and Melissa seem to be taking the separation well. I know how hard it must be not have her in the room with them at all times.

All prayers for our precious grandchild are greatly appreciated.

Introducing Luci Anneliese Shifflett!!!!

"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Luke 18:16

Our precious granddaughter made her grand entrance at 7:36 p.m. Mountain Time at the St. Lukes Regional Medical Center in Boise Idaho on Monday, July 27, 2009 . She weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces, and is 19.5 inches long. I must admit the day was long for me and I am sure longer for John and Melissa. Melissa and John arrived at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. I fought off calling them until around 1:00 p.m. (11:00 a.m. their time)Virginia time. Things were moving slow and she had dilated around 2 cms. I asked Jeremy to text message them on the way home from work around 5:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. their time). She was at 3 cms. I had been praying through out the day as I have delivered two babies and I know that while it is the most wonderful experience to bring a baby into the world, it is also a painful experience. I so longed to be with my son and daughter-in-law.

I prepared myself for a long sleepless night and was sitting in the recliner when the phone rang around 10:15 p.m. John was in the computer room and his reach was quicker than mine by a few seconds. We both answered it on the first ring. It was John Anthony (I try to refer to him as "John" but always called him "John Anthony" as he was growing up) and I could feel his excitement. The baby was born! What a joy and a relief! Now the wait for pictures....... Melissa had a friend at the hospital that was uploading pictures to Facebook but we were not able to see them on our end. John had e-mailed several to Jeremy on his cell-phone but Jeremy was out playing basketball. After around 45 LONG minutes, Jeremy came home and we saw her for the first time! Mandy, Sharon, Kelsey and Nicholas were also hanging onto the laptop hoping for pictures of Luci so Jeremy walked over to show them his pictures on the cell-phone. I called Susie and Lorene with the exciting news. I think she is beautiful and I can't wait to hold her. While I rejoice that I have a granddaughter, I am also sad that I can't be with her right away. I have to pray for God's patience and guidance in this matter.

What a wonderful gift that God has blessed my son and daughter-in-law with and I can't wait to share more and more pictures with you all!!!!

No Grandbaby Yet......

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts......." James 5:8

For all of you that are wondering our little precious granddaughter has not arrived just yet.......The doctors will be inducing labor tomorrow, Monday, July 27th at 7:00 a.m. -Idaho time. My next post will be to introduce the newest member of our family so keep an eye out!!!

In the meanwhile, you will have to settle for pictures of my children and nieces and nephews for now! Happy Monday to all.......did I mention that my first child who is the father of my first grandchild was born on a Monday.......you know what they say, "Monday's child is fair of face.......".

Lost Pictures of China.......

While going through the many many pictures on my computer, I happened across a folder entitled "Mandy". I figured I would take a peek to see what pictures my niece had loaded on my computer and to my surprise!!!!.......I found pictures from our China trip in March that I had never seen. Mandy brought along her camera and took pictures........so today's treat is some pictures of the Great Wall and other places that were not "featured" during my blog posts while in China.

For those of you that are wondering, no grand baby yet. The official due day is tomorrow, July 19th so it should be any day now!

Summer Fun

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need". Hebrews 4:16

As people that know me well will attest, I am not a big fan of summer. I don't like heat and humidity. God has blessed us this year with rain and cooler temperatures so I am enjoying summer more than usual. Shane is REALLY enjoying summer. Right after VBS, our church had a picnic at a local park and he had a great time. Abigail enjoys herself but she doesn't show her enthusiasm the way that Shane does. I think he is starting to think that summer is just one fun event after the other and that is the way children should think! Childhood should be a series of fun memories. We attended the 4th of July parade and Susie's children participated in the parade so I am including a picture of them. The Madison County Fair is this week and John is planning on taking the kids so the fun continues...........

My next post should have a picture of our new granddaughter. How exciting! She has not arrived yet but is due on July 19th so the time is near. I am including one last picture of our lovely daughter-in-law while she is still pregnant. She has been blessed with a comfortable and healthy pregnancy. She and John are celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Wouldn't a baby girl be a great anniversary gift!

Been Home Three Months Today

"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1

Who is that little chubby girl???????? That little chubby girl is Abigail. The picture was taken in April 2007 and she was known as "Stacey". We began sponsoring "Stacey" in April 2007 through the New Day Foster Home. It is also the month that I "officially" began searching for her file. It is now two years and and three months later and Abigail has been home with us for 3 months!

What an amazing two years it has been . There have been a lot of emotions, tears, and joy over the past two years. I am still in awe that God worked it out for us to find her file and to bring her home with us after all this time. I know that He can do ANYTHING but that he worked this miracle out for our family still takes my breathe away.

I am not sure there are words to adequately describe Abigail. She is smart, she is moody, she can be lovable but also stand-offish, she likes people but will withdraw one minute from them and will run and kiss them the next minute. Some of the funny things that she does is if she says something and I laugh at it, she will say "Abigail funny, mama?". She had a small pillow that she brought with her from New Day. She slept with it every night and carried it around most days. It was lost at Virginia Beach when we went there in May. Kelsey gave her one of her "hand-held" pillows but one day she misplaced it also. I sat down, and with Abigail watching me, I hand-sewed her a pillow using an old, but colorful sheet. I stuffed it with parts of another pillow. I didn't tell Abigail but I actually made her two pillows so we would have a "spare" for when she lost the first one - and it was bound to happen. It touches me that she prefers the pillow that I made her over the one that Kelsey gave her. She tells people, "mama made Abigail's pillow" and she uses the hand motions to show them how I sewed the pillow. When she sees my nightgown hanging on the bathroom door, she says, "mama wear that and rock Abigail". She puts her hands to her chest and does the rocking motion. I love to watch her and Shane interact with their father. John is a great father and they both adore him. The only Chinese word that she still uses is "baba" which is "dad" in Chinese.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!