Attention Please...

I just wanted to take a second to bring some international news to everyone's attention. China is experiencing the worst winter weather they've had in decades. In many place people are stranded and unable to journey home for new year celebrations (most important national holiday) this weekend. Remember hearing us talk about how tropical it was in southern China when we were there? That is the weather they are used to. NOT SNOW. Many places are totally unable to deal with winter. The situation is very bleak for many orphanages as they try their hardest to keep the children warm, fed, dry, and healthy. We are always thinking of the children in China still waiting for "forever families." Now they need our help...AND...there is something we can do about it.

First of all, the Chinese people need our prayers. Please pray for the health and safety of the children and workers in the orphanages in particular. Also, if you are able, please consider offering financial support. Half the Sky is now allowing funds to be directed to specific SWI's (Social Welfare Institutes). If you're interested, Hope is from Yulin SWI in Guangxi province. Her orphanage isn't listed as one of the specific needs at the moment but others in her province are. Please take a look at the needs listed. You won't believe it. From what I've read and seen on various sites and web groups, the response so far has been wonderful and the people in China are very very grateful. However, in some cases, the situation is very serious and they continue to need our help as more winter weather is headed their way this week.

Here is the info I received in one of my email messages today.

"To contribute to Half the Sky's Little Mouse Emergency Fund to meet these emergency needs and others, click here." (Look for the link in the left hand column for the "Little Mouse Emergency Fund."

Half the Sky is a wonderful organization and they are working very very hard in China right now to make sure that the children are all safe. We can make a difference here.

Thank you.

NPR report
One of many CNN reports
Another

local adoptive family experiences frightening situation

All together..."AAAWWWWW"

We could use some prayers for healing along with some plain ol' sympathy. Hope is sick, sick, sick. She started coughing on Saturday, has had a fever (never over 102.1, but still warm and fluctuating), etc, and everything else to go with it. Anyway, at the Dr. this afternoon we found out that it all boils down to an ear infection and a bad, bad cold. The coughing is the worst! It is so scary when she gets going and can't catch her breath. She gets scared too and starts to cry, which creates more "gunk" and perpetuates the whole cycle. The Dr. said she may possibly have strep since her throat is so red, but he said the antibiotic for the ear would take that out too if it is more than just a sore throat. We've had a rough couple of days without a lot of good sleep, so if you could take a moment to send a couple prayers and good wishes our way we'd really appreciate it.

Thanks everyone.

Beth

Super Bowl Commercial

Check this one out...pre-game. I LOVE that the Deaf community and culture will be a part of this huge venue.

P.S. GO GIANTS! (I just want them to make it a good game.)
~~~~~~~~~~
From the newsroom of the Associated Press, Thursday, January 24, 2008 .....

Only deaf people will get this Super Bowl ad.
PepsiCo's 60 seconds of utter silence will stump the hearing-abled.

The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Amid the wall-to-wall sound during next Sunday's Super Bowl, one commercial from PepsiCo could send some viewers grabbing for their remotes to check whether they'd accidentally hit the mute button.

The pre-game advertisement features a joke that originates from the deaf community and will play out on screen over 60 seconds of total silence, a veritable eternity when it comes to the noisiness of Super Bowl ads.

"It's a popular story and we just turned it into an advertisement," said Clay Broussard, a supply and logistics manager at PepsiCo who proposed the idea for the ad. "This is the PepsiCo flavor of that joke."

The joke goes like this: Two guys are driving to their friend Bob's house to watch the Super Bowl. Once they get to Bob's street, neither knows which house is his. They sit in the car, arguing, until one of them has an idea. He starts laying on the horn, and one by one, the houses light up and dogs start barking.

One house stays dark and quiet: It's Bob's. Deaf people will be falling out of their chairs in disbelief, National Association of the Deaf president Bobbie Beth Scoggins wrote in an e-mail response to questions. Hearing people, Scoggins wrote, will stop what they're doing to see why there are no sounds. She believes it's an historic first for an ad featuring American Sign Language to get such prominent play.

"I was glad to see this part of deaf culture awareness shared in a most clever way," Scoggins, who is deaf, wrote by e-mail as she was traveling.

Broussard, who plays Bob in the commercial, has worked for PepsiCo in Dallas for 27 years. He got involved in the deaf community through a church he and his wife attended, where the services were conducted entirely in sign language. Broussard is not deaf.

The two actors who play Bob's friends - Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault - are also PepsiCo employees, and are deaf. Dowling works for Frito-Lay in Arizona, and Therriault works for PepsiCo in Chicago.

Broussard worked on the ad concept on his own time. He said, "This was all extra credit." It was 18 months before he showed it to senior managers, who decided they wanted it for the Super Bowl. The ad was directed by Baker Smith, with creative help from BBDO-NY. A PepsiCo spokeswoman declined to say how much the ad cost.©

2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~
Check out the ad here: Bob's House

Marka? "HI!"

This is a sweet video of Hope on the phone with Grandpa Mark (otherwise affectionately known as Marka). She loves talking on the phone and she loves her Marka so this makes for a perfect combination.

P.S. - Can you just imagine what the conversation sounds like on the other end? :)

Nakuh?

I thought people might like to see this video from a couple weeks ago. Hope is very meticulous at meal times and likes to make sure everyone has what they need...including her. She's so smart. :)

Now, the kicker is that because she likes to have her nakuh, we are often washing legs or having to change clothes after meals because she's often reaching under her butt for her nakuh and we have syrup or katchup all over by the time she's finds it. :)

Have a great afternoon all...CHEER LOUD FOR THE PACK TONIGHT!

SNOW!

We've had such a strange winter so far with snow. We missed out on playing in some of the first fluffy snow with some of Grandpa's services and Christmas celebrations but it was wonderful to have an actual "white" Christmas. It was so pretty. Then...of course, we had a period of warmer temperatures and most of the snow melted! Don't ask Ron about his snow fort. It was pretty devastating. Well, it was snowing this morning again. I'm not sure that we'll see much accumulation, but I thought I'd post some photos and video to share Hope's first experiences with the white stuff.

Hope's first snow (I'm pretty sure) was back in mid November. We had a dusting and took Hope out to the back yard for a few photos. They were posted here in a special note to Grandma and Grandpa since they were out of town. She wasn't too sure what to think. Her expressions are pretty cute.

These new pictures and video were taken just after Christmas on Dec. 28th. We had some beautiful snow and Hope LOVED it!








SQUEALS OF JOY!

Ayla

Good evening everyone. I read a post on one of my Yahoo groups this afternoon from Tonya at The Bramblett Bunch. Please go to her site and read about their sweet little daughter Ayla. Ayla is from Guangxi province, as is Hope, so I feel a bit of a special connection here. But, that aside, she is just one darling little girl who is being confronted with a very tough challenge. She was diagnosed this week with retinoblastoma, cancer behind her eye. Ayla has a long road ahead and needs our prayers.

Thanks - Beth