Saturday, October 29, 2016

Well, hello there!   I am not sure anyone stills visits this blog, as it's been three years since my last update, and I think everyone is on some form of social media...Facebook, etc.    So, this is just a little update, and maybe some of you are still checking, or new ones of you are!
                                              




A lot of things have changed and a lot have remained the same in the Ramsell household in three years!   Delaney is now 11 years old and in 6th grade!   Where we live, 6th grade is still elementary school, which I am glad about.   Delaney is an above straight A student!   She has been on the honor roll since receiving letter grades in 4th grade.   She works very hard, and much of it is fueled by her competitive nature!


                                                    




Speaking of being competitive, my little athlete has made tremendous strides in sports!  She has been playing comp soccer for three years now and this year, switched to an elite club.  It was hard decision for her, but she's happy on the new team and her development as a player has grown leaps and bounds!   She has also been ranked as USTA tennis player!  She's 156, but she's ranked!  This summer, she either won or placed second in every tournament she was in, even winning a tournament on my birthday "for me"!!
                              


Little Missy is now a Cadette Girl Scout and last year earned her Bronze Award as a Junior.   It is the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn.  She and her troop members worked all year building a bench in honor of Shae, their former girl scout sister.  Shae was also Delaney's best friend since kindy.  In second grade, Shae was disgnosed with brain cancer.  Our sweet Warrior Angel fought a tremendous fight for over two years, but God called her home last summer.  The girls wanted to remember her by building a purple bench to put in the school hallway outside the cafeteria.  Purple was Shae's favorite color.   I am always so proud to walk by the bench at school, and we always smile and laugh thinking of our sweet Shae Shae.
                          
                                                   


We have BIG BIG news!!   Last winter, in Feb/March, we hosted a 12 year old boy from an orphanage in China.   Yiyuan is an awesome kid, and we all fell in love...so we decided to make him part of our family!    I have been doing the paperwork chase that's needed for another international adoption all year, and am just about ready to send my dossier to China!   Fundraising has also taken up a lot time!   As many know, international adoptions cost over $30,000, so I have been busy piecing together the funds to cover all the fees involved!  Used shoe drive, home and online parties, t-shirt sales, online auction, applying for grants...whew!  Tired thinking about it all!   But we are so excited get Yiyuan home to us, his forever family and give him a chance in life.  He has the sweetest heart, loves Justin Beiber, basketball, pizza and hamburger and fries.  His favorite colors are orange and lime green!   And, he loves his Mei Mei...little sister in Chinese.    My dad is so excited, and he kept asking, "We're keeping him, right?"   My mom is happy to have another grandchild!   It was tough to say goodbye for awhile!  Currently, I will be setting up a new fundraiser, that I will post here in a few days, where you can purchase some great holiday gifts!!


If you'd like to donate to our adoption fund, you can via our GoFundMe page:
https://www.gofundme.com/letsgethimhome   or contact me for other ways of helping!
Tax deductible donations can be made to our agency, Across The World Adoptions, through PayPal in my name at  adopt@atwakids.org.