Happy 2nd Birthday Anna!

This morning, after a blissful 9 hour slumber I grabbed my phone beside the bed and opened my e-mail folder.  The first thing I saw was my sweet little girl with her birthday crown and cake. It was definitely one of those happy/sad moments.  So happy to see her getting spoiled on her birthday, but sad that we aren't able to celebrate with her this year.  She is starting to look so much older now than the first photos we saw of her when she was one year old.  It's going to be quite an adjustment around here with a two year old again, but we are sure getting excited about it.  So glad to be on the final stretch of our adoption journey and ready to start decorating her room and filling it with cute little shoes and dresses and toys.  It won't be long now and we will be able to celebrate every day with our little sweetheart and give her lots of love and hugs and kisses.  This picture of her and her cake cracks me up because she looks a bit skeptical of it. I love it that the nannies made sure she was wearing the little outfits we sent her a few months ago.  18-24 months seems to be just the right size for now. She's a little one.

We sent her this little Asian baby doll for her birthday.  Her expression seems to say, "Look what I got! It's mine and don't even think about me sharing it with you!"  She's pretty good at these smug little expressions.  We may be in for some trouble :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Yin Yin!  We love you and miss you and can't wait to meet you in a couple of months.  We hope you had a wonderful day of celebrating.  We're celebrating you today and eagerly waiting for the day we get to call you ours.

Our Both Hands Project Video- Help us bring Anna home

Our Both Hands Project on July 14th was a huge success!  30 volunteers transformed Pat's house and property.  This video is a little glimpse of the great day we had using one hand to bless a widow and the other to bless an orphan. 

There's still plenty of time for you to help us bring our daughter Anna home from China by making a tax-deductible donation to our adoption fund at www.bothhands.org/kyle-and-michelle-allen just click "Donate"

Or make a check out to Lifesong for Orphans and in the memo line write Preference Allen 2793.

 Mail to:

Lifesong for Orphans

PO Box 40/ 202 N Ford St.

Gridley, IL  61744

Thank you so much to all of you who have volunteered your time and donated money to help us bring Anna home!  You are such a blessing to us.

-K.C. and Michelle

Li Na

A few weeks ago I e-mailed the director of Anna's foster home to find out which of the nannies still needed sponsors because we would like to support them.    As I looked on the website to find them I saw this picture of one of the nannies, Li Na, holding my little girl.  It is such a beautiful picture I will probably frame it and put it in Anna's room as a reminder of the wonderful women who cared for her until we were able to bring her home.  The website told me this about Li Na-
Li Na has worked for us over 2 years. She works part time at the New baby house. She works mornings but is always willing to stay all day if needed. She usually works together with our au pairs. This is at times difficult because you must be a nannie, teacher, and co-worker all at the same time. Li Na works well with others and teachers more by example. This is one reason why we have such great au pairs. Li Na is also very faithful.

We will always be indebted to Li Na and the other nannies who have been so faithful to care for "the least of these."  I think sometimes people look down on the Chinese people when I talk to them about our adoption and that Anna was abandoned because of being a girl with special needs.  I want people to know that Chinese people are just like us in the U.S.  There are people who are selfish and hard hearted in both countries.  There are also people like Li Na who day after day care for the cast off and unwanted. Day after day in both countries our God seeks out those people. Because He is "a father to the fatherless...and sets the lonely in families..." (Psalm 68:5-6)  God has used Li Na to be a family to Anna until we are able to be her family.  He has used Swallow's Nest Foster Home to provide for all of her needs just as He promises us He will do.  Thank you today God for your faithfulness to all of your children, no matter what country they were born in.

Hooray! We got our LOA!

Today is a super exciting day in our house.  We received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China.  This signals the beginning of the end.  Now we can send in the paperwork required by the US to make Anna an official US citizen and wait for the Travel Approval from China to go get our sweet little girl and bring her home.  It's still another 3 months till that happens but at least we are in the final stretch and have a better idea of when we will be travelling.  It looks like it will definitely be October, which is what we had planned on and hoped for.  So, we've got three months to finish remodeling the boys room and get Anna's room girlified.  Hoping to have the first part of that done by the beginning of August.  Can't wait to have a toddler around here again!