Christmas for Hope!

A piece of my heart is in China this Christmas.  The only things that are keeping my heart full are knowing that Carl and I will have a blast with the boys this year and that God has Hope wrapped in his loving arms so tight that I can feel them from all the way around the world.  I've had the house decorated for Christmas for a *few* weeks now (gasp, I know...it was just after Halloween).

The thing is....we're 7000 miles away from Hope and I didn't want any problems with the mail getting hung up through customs and not make it to her in time for Christmas AND I just couldn't send off her gifts and the gifts for her foster home brothers and sisters and ayis (nanny's) without having a picture of them under our tree.  There.  That's my wonderful excuse reason for decorating early.  She's worth it.  Sooo worth it!!

One full box was stuffed full of clothes and toys for the foster home that we used a vacuum sealed bag to maximize space in the flat rate shipping box, two were filled with gifts for Hope and one was filled with gifts for her caregivers.  I hope that our gifts will be a blessing to all the children and the loving people caring for Hope while she waits for us.  We found out this week that they've already safely made their way to China so Hope's Christmas is all ready for her.  I can't wait to see if the foster home will have pictures of all the kids opening their gifts on their blog.  We'll just have to wait and see!

We had such a wonderful time shopping for Hope.  Oh, it was so fun to hit the "pink" aisles :)

We carefully wrapped Hope's special gifts and got her a special "H" stocking to match the "C", "B", "L" and "S" hanging in our living room.  But the most important gift I bought was this...

Hope's very first baby doll!

I looked high and low to find Hope her very first baby doll which wouldn't have been so tricky if I hadn't been adamant that it couldn't be just any old ordinary baby doll, it HAD to be an Asian beauty just like our girl.  When I found this FAO Schwartz doll, the only Asian doll in our Toys R Us, it brought me to tears.  Its perfect!

Lincoln thought it was pretty cool, too.  He's sure she'll love it and I am too.

My mom couldn't resist shopping for Hope and added a few special things.  Sandals, new socks, a cute little outfit and a special book "It's Time to Sleep, My Love" by Nancy Tillman with the coordinating panda bear.

And then are the gifts from mom, dad and the boys.  New clothes, books, a puzzle,her baby doll and new jammies...

and a completely impractical, but absolutely stunning Christmas dress.  This is actually the dress that I would love to have her wear when we go for our consulate appointment that makes our adoption of her official in China, if it still fits by then.

I also have an extra special idea for this dress....

Do you want in on a little secret?

Of course, you do.

This dress might just end up being what my little princess wears when we take photos for HER fundraiser cookbook :)  That's right!  We're toying around with doing a cookbook fundraiser for Hope as well.  If I can pull it off, it'll be a collection of holiday recipes and traditions (all holidays, not just Christmas) from all of YOU. I'm thinking a great title would be "Hope for the Holidays."  What do ya think?

Hope is going to need even more surgeries than Sully has and our out of pocket expenses per year have now more than doubled.  I know God will make a way, but we'd be foolish not to start thinking now about how we're going to take care of her medical expenses and the cost of travel involved.  Hope's first surgery is scheduled for August 2nd, 2012 if she's home by then and I pray she is!

So this is where YOU come in :)

If you would like to share a recipe or a holiday tradition that your family has (even just a few sentences or an idea of what your family does to celebrate any particular holiday), I would LOVE it if you would send them my way!  I'll be collecting recipes and traditions for a while, but what better time to send them my way now when you already have them out to make all your favorite holiday recipes :)

The funds we've raised with Sully's cookbook over the last 2 years have been an absolute blessing beyond words.  God has provided in miraculous ways and we have no reason to doubt that he'll take care of Hope, too.  God is so good!! And something tells me.."Hope for the Holidays," Hope's medical fundraiser cookbook will be pretty good, too :)

You can send your recipes and traditions to:  

bethnagel@ymail.com

Beth Nagel

413 W 8th St

Dell Rapids, SD  57022