With Sissy at OBU Homecoming
At MiMi and Papaw's lakehouse
My first and hopefully
only black eye Go Razorbacks! With Rita
and Kathrine in Fayetteville

Abby

Playing at a picnic
I love going to church
Happy Halloween
Flying Ladybug
I love my daddy

Growing by the day

Our little Princess at bathtime
Her best buddy...and to think she used to not go to him....HA!

The Schaefer family...our first all together family photo! (minus Fancy and Zoe)

She loves Mickey Mouse.

A future EEE like her sister!

A few photos of China

Mother & Daughter together at last
Our little Princess

Leaving the airport to go home Picture Perfect
Movie Star Playing at Kaden's House
Tummy is Full
American Citizen

Hanging out with Mommy

Pretty Princess got her toe nails painted for the first time today!

We sat in our high chair for the first time today without throwing a fit!

Yummy breakfast! She's such a good eater!

Abby is continuing to make great progress every day! We have been requested by many to continue to put up new pictures so here you go! If you notice in the pictures, we have a nasty bump on our head we got the other night while being too silly. She also had many firsts today too. She ate breakfast in her highchair without throwing a fit and she got her toenails painted. She really thought they were pretty. She also went to the mall for the first timed today with Mom and Sissy. Dad better watch out because she seemed to enjoy shopping just as much as his other girls!

A day of many firsts!

Modeling her new swimsuit!

Unsure at times, but for the most part LOVED it!

Fun times with Mom and Dad

Our cute little fish!

Our pretty princess!

She loves playtime with Sissy! Before our first day at church!

We cannot begin to tell you how much progress she makes everyday! Saturday afternoon, she let her Daddy throw her up in the air and play with her for awhile. Yesterday was her first church experience. While Mom thought she would have to stay in the nursery the whole time, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Abby went right in and began to play. She sat in the nursery during Sunday School and Worship without any problems. We also went swimming for the first time which had to be one of her new absolute favorite things. She took like a fish to water immediately. The funniest moment of the day was when she decided to give her cousin Kaden a spontaneous bear hug and ended up knocking him backwards out of the kiddie pool and landing on top of him. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry in pitty! She also let Mom get a break by sleeping with her sissy last night for the first time so Mom could get a good night sleep. As you can see, every day brings amazing new steps in her progress. Most of all, every day brings our family more happiness that God has given us such a blessing and that she is home with us for good.

Bath time is a favorite now.
Just home for a couple of hours and found her baby doll.

Big sis helping her learn the ropes.


She likes to share toys, but not mom.

Her first birthday cake.

Abby's birthday crown!

We LOVE you Abby!!

The gang all came to welcome them home.

From Sissy....

Things around the Schaefer household are quite different. Sleep is unheard of, the house is turned upside down, cheerios cover the floor, and we love every second of it...well most every second of it! Most all the family met Wednesday night to have dinner, celebrate Pappaw's birthday, and anticipate the arrival of a little girl we had all been waiting on and praying for the past 2 and a half years. I could not stand the anticipation as I waited in the airport and watched for her flight to come in. Then, after what seemed for FOREVER, I caught glimpse of Mom and Dad holding the most beautiful little thing I had ever seen! My eyes filled with tears as I saw the most precious little thing ever. I was so overcome with emotions...I had never had a sister before and instead of 9 months like most, I had waited and prayed for this one for almost 3 years. She won my heart the instant I saw her. She was a little timid at first because if you know our crew, we are a lot to handle! After being greeted by the entire family, we headed to take Abby home for good! The family had planned a surprised brithday party when we got home since we had missed her first. Mom was amazed at how well she did with eating, opening presents and playing with her family. She really likes other kids so she especially took to her cousin Kaden. We were also scared how she would take to our dog, Fancy but I must say she loves her- and Fancy really loves her because she likes to feed her! She is slowly making small strides of progress. She has taken pretty well to me (not to brag or anything... -smile-). I even got up the first morning at 5:20 when I heard noises down stairs. I'm really enjoying the sister role so of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity for playtime! Mom is still shocked at the occasions where she will play alone with me or let me bathe her while Mom gets off to get a shower or do housework. She especially loves for me to hide while she runs after me to find me. If you know my mom, it has been really fun to see our house not be in perfect order. There are bottles on the countertops, fingerprints on the glass, and even toys all over the living room floor. The sleeping schedules are off for Mom, Dad, and Abby too around here so Mom has had to do playtime in the middle of the night and some long naps in the middle of the day.

Still pray for her to take to Dad more. He hasn't been able to play with her much because he has really been under the weather. I know one day soon she will see what a very lucky girl she is to have a Daddy like him...I know I see that more and more every day. I can't begin to express how much it has meant to me to see all the comments on here, have people ask about her, and hear how much she is being prayed for. She has undergone more change the past few days, I can't even imagine! I still find myself amazed that she is actually here! Everytime she smiles, my heart melts and I thank the Lord for such a blessing. I've learned through this all that God's timing is perfect and so is His plan. He knew what little girl needed to become apart of our family. I can't wait to continue to watch her adjust and grow up in our family. I love you Abby!

Missed their flight!

Well after getting stuck in customs, they
missed their flight.They will now be
flying in on North West Airlines #nw631,
out of memphis. It is estimated to arrive
at about 8:00 tonight.

From China to Arkansas

Though the journey is coming to an end,

the adventure is just beginning!

Mark, Laura, & Abby are on their way home.

They will be arriving tomorrow evening

(August 1st) at about 4:30p.m..

What a birthday present for her Papaw.

Please continue to pray for their safe travel.

*They will update the website later.

Sunday, July 29

Abby slept all night and has had a bottle this morning and back to sleep again. I actually got to fix my hair today and put on some makeup. I figure why bother in this heat, as soon as we walk outside it just melts away.

Today is a free day and Abby and I have colds from going in the air conditioning and back in the heat all day. I'm going to look for medicine for me today before this sore throat gets to bad. We have medicine for Abby. Depending on how she feels, I would love to take her to the pool to play.

We are really enjoying Gaungzhou. It is more quaint and clean. We have enjoyed visiting with the shop owners and bartering. Mark does all my negotiating he is good and firm and will walk away if they don't meet his price. We bought new DVD releases for $1.23! Some of them aren't out yet in the U.S.. We also bought Abby some traditional outfits for now and later.

We ate at Lucy's, a western food restaurant. I had a geat burger and fries and Mark had the grilled chicken and said it was also great. Looks like we will be going back there again.

When we got back to our room last night we had a Barbie that is from The White Swan Hotel and Mattel. It is an American mom with a Chinese baby. They also have a play area sponsered by Mattel in the hotel for babies we will be checking out today.

Speaking of the play area, we actually checked it out before we posted today's blog. What a great area for parents and kids to play. It gives them a big carpeted area to get out of the confines of their rooms and mingle with other kids. We were really surprised at how far Abby would roam away from us without looking over her shoulder. Their was one little boy that she walked completely across the room to go interact with for about 10 minutes and never once looked Laura's direction. Other kids really bring her out of her shell. She is just enchanted with them. Kaden may be the only family member she takes to when we get home.

We also made small progress on the dad front today. Although it wasn't her choice she was passed over to dad as we ventured out shopping just to save Laura's back. There was some crying and whimpering but no flailing and kicking. She probably gave Laura a good thirty minute break before she finally wore us down.

Another lunch at Lucy's and a little more shopping and dad is wondering if I will have enough money to get is back home. I need to bring some of these Chinese women home to sell packaging products and we may could retire at an early age. They do not take no very well and will pull you off the streets into their stores.

Laura and Abby continue to fight colds so are major prayer need is for good health for the trip home. Abby continues to blossom but a 25 hour day of travel can be tough on anyone especially a 15 month old heading to her third new place within a week and a half.

I hope you are enjoying the updates and the pictures as we continue to love having you as part of our journey. We especially appreciate the words of encouragement that have been sent to us via the blog site. You are all extra special to us!

The Latest From Abby