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days left until Christmas! Can't believe January of 2005 is over. I feel as I get older, my days just slip away from me. There is nothing I can do about it but let it happen. That is life!
The weather has been wonderful, in the 70s. But he past couple of days it rained. It is suppose to rain through the weekend. It is currently 55 degrees so we can't complain. I just hope we have good weather for the retreat next weekend. It is mostly going to be indoors but it would be nice to be able to walk around outside and enjoy the outdoors. There are 29 signed up for the retreat. I am so excited for it and am excited for Donna to come from AL to lead it.
No bites on our home. A lot of people have taken the flyer out by the for sale sign. We are still planning to move in April. We still do not have orders in our hands yet.
No new adoption news but will let you know if something happens.
Well nothing exciting to report about but my husband likes to read my blog :) and so I thought I would write, even if it is nothing.
I did speak at my church last Sunday for the Stewardship banquet. I gave my stewardship testimony. I was nervous but I got through it. Many have been very encouraging to me about it and I love my Skyline family! They are great!
Take care & hope 2005 is bringing you many blessings.

House for sale

Our home is officially on the market http://www.evasells.com/115624.htm
It is very depressing to be selling a home I love. But God has other plans for us.
We are still planning on being at Fort Campbell, KY on May 1. We will probably move in April, no sooner. So if you are looking to moving to Central Texas, give us a call. Pres. Bush has a ranch at Crawford just 30 miles from here.
No exciting plans for the weekend here. Lance has an upper resp. infection so he has been under the weather since Tues. YUCK for the both of us! I try and baby him but it is so hard. I don't have much simpathy for him. I know I should but when he keeps me awake with his coughing and coughing and stuffed up head, it is so difficult. Then I have to pick up after him because he isn't feeling well enough to help around the house. But then he is well enough to do laundry??? I just don't know about him.
Hope you have a great weekend and I'll keep you posted on our exciting lives.

Moving sooner than later

With help from Lance, here is a Fadeley update!
We found out yesterday that Lance's report date to the 5th special forces group is May 1st. Again 5th group is at Fort Campbell, Kentucky which is about 1 hour northwest of Nashville. He will attend airborne school prior to leaving. This is a three week school at Fort Benning, Georgia. 5th group will deploy on July 1st of this year for 7 months. The bad news is that Lance is going to deploy, the good news is that it will not be a year long tour. He anticipates many "short" deployments like this during his tenure with 5th group. He is not sure if he will going to Iraq or Afghanistan yet as both countries are in 5th groups area of operation. While we knew this was coming it will still be a difficult time for us as Shawna will probably have to fly to China for the adoption without me, unless the Army will send him to China from where he is. And even though this will be the second time around for Lance deploying it will still difficult to say goodbye and be separated for 7 months. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
(Lance) Aside from my faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, i am drawing an incredile amount of strength from that fact that i will deploy as a husband and return as a husband and a father! God truly is good!!
(Shawna) I am excited about moving but nervous about moving so soon. It will be very hard to say goodbye to our friends and Skyline family here but God has bigger plans than our own. We have friends around Fort Campbell and they have already said they would take care of me. What a joy and comfort that brings me. Simba (our dog) and I will survive again a few months while Lance is away doing God's work.
Please also pray for a women's retreat we are planning here Feb. 4 & 5. It will be held at www.peaceablekingdomretreat.org. Our friend, Donna Allen from AL is coming to lead it. Donna is such a blessing to us and I just pray those will come that need some nourishment from God. Check out her web site www.foreverfamilyministries.com
Thank you for your prayers and friendship. They mean the world to us.

Silent Ranks

Silent Ranks - author unknown

I wear no uniforms, no blues or army greens.
But I am in the military in the ranks rarely seen.
I have no rank upon my shoulders, salutes I do not give.
But the military world is the place where I live.
I'm not in the chain of command, orders I do not get.
But my husband is the one who does, this I cannot forget.
I'm not the one who fires the weapon, who puts my life on the line.
But my job is just as tough.
I'm the one that's left behind.
My husband is a patriot, a brave and prideful man.
And the call to serve his country, not all can understand.
Behind the lines I see the things needed to keep this country free.
My husband makes the sacrifice, but so do our kids and me.
I love the man I married.
Soldiering is his life.
But I stand among the silent ranks known as the military wife

Hello 2005

Happy New Year! Hope 2005 will be good to you. Lance and I are happy & healthy so we are starting the new year off right. We are hoping to add a little one to our family this year. Now it sounds like we may travel to China in October to get her. So we are excited but wishing it was sooner. We will probably be moving to Fort Campbell, KY this summer so we will go to China after we are settled into our home there. All of this is in God's time and He knows what is best for us. Lance and I celebrated 10 years together this year. Wow! What a milestone! Hope this year brings you much happiness.

Last one of 2004

Happy New Year!
Well almost anyhow. Can't believe 2004 is almost gone. It has been a good year. So many things to be thankful for. One is my husband was home for Christmas. What a blessing to wake up and to say "Merry Christmas" to him! It was just us for Christmas this year. I cooked turkey, stuffing, and a bunch of other things that we just couldn't finish eating left overs for days. Poor Lance! He can only handle turkey for so many days. He would eat green bean casserole if I made it everyday though.
For New Year's Eve, we are planning on going to a Watch Night at our church. We will have a chili/soup supper and then play games, watch a movie and then there will a service at midnight that includes the Lord's supper. We are looking forward to that. We are hoping we can stay up until midnight. We are usually in bed by 10pm. We strive for 9:30pm and a lot of times succeed!
We hope you and yours has a safe celebration and hope to see you in 2005.
OH YES and an adoption update. INS called to say we needed to submit one more form and that should be in this week. So hopefully soon because the next step will be sending our paperwork to the Chinese Couselate in New York and then it is off to China!

Sunshine

The weather is beautiful here. This weekend Lance played football with a neighbor and I sat outside to watch. It felt like Spring! Where is winter? I believe it is on its way. It is "suppose" to be chilly for Christmas, around 40 degrees. We will see! We had a pretty quiet weekend. Lance still has the funeral phone so we just stuck around the house. I went to the Cantata at our church last night. It was great! I have to work every day this week but Tuesday. So I will try and get groceries bought Tuesday and work on my salads and such for Christmas dinner in the evenings. I am going to try and make homemade stuffing, like my Mom makes. I watched her do it Thanksgiving so I hope it tastes decent. We may have some soldiers come for dinner but no other plans.
Well that is all here. Sorry no real exciting news. No adoption changes. Keep checking back!

Is Christmas over?

Our tree seems to think so. She is on her last leg! It is very dry and I scared to turn the lights on. So we will probably be taking her down soon. Lance said he would even buy me another tree because he is sick of picking up needles and seeing them just fall off the tree.
We made it through another fun week. I worked 3 days and got all my Christmas shopping done and mailed off as well as the rest of the cards I needed to finish. I also just finished a batch of Rosette's. They smell yummy. Lance says they smell like funnel cakes and I guess they are like them. I belive that is the last of the goodies I'll be making. I am still undecided whether I'll make pecan & pumpkin pies for dinner. Lance has the funeral phone this week so he has to go to College Station Tues. & Weds. to do a funeral. It is about 2 hours from here so he'll spend the night. So hopefully he won't have "duty" on Christmas Day. If there is a family in this area that wants a military funeral, Lance will have to do it. He also had to notify families about deaths and there have been quite a few of those in Iraq lately.
Well I am pretty tired. We'll go to bed after the Montana Grizzlies game. It is the I-AA Division championship. They are playing James Madison in Chattanooga, TN. There are a lot of fans there. We are watching the game on ESPN2. Go Griz!! Well I hope this blog finds you healthy and ready for our Savior's birth! May you not get caught up in the hustle of the season but really remember those in need this year. There are so many who aren't loved and need a helping hand. Remember what Jesus did for you. Can you spare a little bit of time to show someone that people do care about them?

It's all about Him!

We had a wonderful weekend. Lance decided to go hunting this weekend up by Meridian, TX. There is a group of friends that have a ministry called Hunters of Men that take soldiers that were in Operation Iraqi Freedom hunting on a huge ranch. They are fed and are able to hunt for free. They can hunt deer or wild boar. Lance was able to get a doe yesterday and he said another guy got a huge boar. He said he had a great time. I stayed busy baking, shopping, went to The Polar Express and to a the Killeen Christmas parade. I went to Chapel and also to Skyline. Then Sunday night the children had their Christmas program at Skyline. What a blessing to see them singing about Jesus. They did such a great job. So I had an eventful weekend. We have a couple of parties to attend to this week so it will be a busy one. Please keep a couple of friends in your prayers, Yong & Cyndi. Youg has a brain tumor and Cyndi was bit by a pit bull that came through her dog door into her home.
Also let us remember the real reason for this Christmas season. It's all about Him!

WHAT A RELIEF

I just went to the post office to mail off all packages but one. I am still shopping for one gift that needs to be mailed. So if you are reading this and think I may have your name for the Secret Santa exchange, send me suggestions :) I may not buy you one of your suggestions but you can still send them to me! I also sent off my final Christmas cards. Yes, if I left you off my list and you send me a card, I will still send those out but I am just "saying" that the bulk of my cards are sent!!!! This really excites me. I sent out about 200. My list grows each year. I guess this is a good thing because we meet more and more people as we move around. Some people drop off my list because we lose touch. Lance is hunting this weekend for deer. Hope he gets one. He really misses it when he doesn't get to go. So I will be baking cookies and going to a movie and to a Christmas parade with a friend. Hope you have a great weekend!

MOVING....AGAIN?

Yes we will be moving again but not until summer 2005. We found out we will be moving to Fort Campbell, KY. We were stationed there Aug. 1995-Dec. 1997. We really enjoyed it there and look forward to having 4 seasons again! We aren't looking forward to leaving our home but that is the Army for you! We are undecided as to rent or sell our home. We are talking about buying a home in Clarksville, TN (which is the big town by Fort Campbell) so we will probably sell our home here. Any takers? We are hoping to go to China to get our daughter before we move but with God's timing, anything is possible. So we will have to be open to moving before we get her. Lance also has to go to the 3 week jump school before he goes to Fort Campbell. I'll keep you posted but only if you keep checking back here ;>]

December is here!

It is finally chilly enough to wear a coat. Okay, maybe just to work but at least we will get some use out of our coats this year! We have had heavy frosts the past 2 days. It almost looks like snow! Mom, Dad & Aunt Jean made it back to MT and WA. Boy, did we do and see a lot. What fun times we shared. We really appreciated them coming for Thanksgiving. Hope you will consider to come & see what the hype about TX is all about. Well I am trying to get my Christmas cards done in time. I have almost all my shopping done and need to start wrapping and shipping. We don't have plans for Christmas. We will probably just stick around the house and I will probably cook and have some friends over. Lance is still on 4 hour recall. We need to discuss a back up plan if he ends up leaving. I refuse to be alone for Christmas. No new news on the adoption. Seems so far away yet next year we will probably have her! So exciting! We are looking for furniture. Lance thinks she will just be able to sleep in the spare bed we have. He doesn't understand that a 6 month to a year old needs a crib. He will learn fast about all this baby stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was nice having family & friends here. We had a wonderful day. My parents and aunt are still here and we have been on the go everyday. Shopping & sightseeing! So much to do and see in Texas. Yestereday was a highlight though. We drove to Crawford (where the President has his ranch) and they had the street blocked just as you come into town. So we parked on the side of the rode and walked into town. About 15 minutes later, President Bush, Laura and her Mother came and we were able to see them all. What a delight! He waved at all of us standing about 75 feet from him. There were secret service everywhere. We were going for a Bush burger at the Coffee Stop restaurant but he got to eat there instead. What a treat! Today we are off to Fredricksburg to see the Nimitz Museum & also the Pacific Fleet Museum. That should be neat. This town has a lot of German shops and restaurants. So that will be a fun filled day.
Take care and sorry it has been awhile since I have blogged. I will try and update more often.

ALMOST 2 WEEKS

...since my last blog. So sorry. I haven't intentionally been neglecting the blog just busy. We went to Dallas Fri. & Sat. for an adoption seminar. They told us a lot of information about travel, post-adoption, families currently with adoptees who spoke and just basic other useful information about the adoption. There were about 10 other couples there which was nice. We also had a potluck with families who have adopted and were able to meet them and their children. What a blessing to see how God brought them together. We are currently waiting for our fingerprinting to come back and then we can send everything off to the state to be certified and then to Washington DC to be certified and then to the Chinese Consolate. We are hoping to have this done by Nov/Dec.
Please keep my family in your prayers. My 2nd cousin who lived in CA was killed in a head-on collision on Friday. Shawn was 20 years old. Wish I lived closer to be there for the funeral and for the familly. Such a difficult time but God will heal.
Mom, Dad & Aunt Jean will be arriving in Austin this Sat. about 6:30pm. They will be here through the 30th. Looking so forward to having them here. I love Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for.

From President George W. Bush

We had a long night -- and we had a great night. The voters turned out in record numbers and delivered an historic victory. I want to thank our supporters across this country. At every stop I asked you to make the calls, put up the signs, talk to your neighbors, and get out the vote. And because you did your part, we are celebrating today. Thanks to you, we received more votes than any presidential ticket in history. America has spoken. And I am humbled by the trust and confidence of my fellow citizens. With that trust comes a duty: I will serve all Americans, so help me God. I am proud to lead such an amazing country -- and I am proud to lead it forward. Reaching our goals will require the broad support of Americans. A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation. We have one country, one Constitution, and one future that binds us all. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America.
A campaign has ended, and our cause is renewed. The United States of America goes forward with confidence and faith. I can see a new day coming, and I am eager for the work ahead. God bless you all, and God bless America.

(I received this as an email from GW from being on the Presidential Prayer Team)

Thank you

We have a duty to our country to participate in the political process. See, if you believe in freedom, you have a duty to exercise your right to vote to begin with. I'm [here] to encourage people to do their duty, to go to the polls. I want all people, no matter what their political party is or whether they even like a political party, to exercise their obligation to vote.
--George W. Bush

Thank you to the millions of Americans who voted. Your voice was heard. How proud I am to be a part of such a great country. May God bless America and I pray America will bless God!

www.presidentialprayerteam.com

Blessings,

Shawna

November Blessings

Sunday I received what looks to be my last sunburn of the year. Lance, Simba & I went for a walk and it was so hot and I didn't wear sunscreen, which I know I should have done.
Today it is 52 degrees & rainy. Most have jackets on, which very few Texans have jackets. Guess when we don't see the sun we assume it is cold. And it is.
Check out the article I spoke of earlier on Buckner's web site:
www.buckner.org
It is about the adoption. Hope you enjoy!
Judgement House is all over and we are gearing up for a Marriage Conference Lance is doing at our church this weekend. Then the following weekend we have an adoption seminar in Dallas.
Hope you get out to vote today. Every vote does count and it does matter if you vote or not. Please be in prayer for our leaders.

Bye Bye October

Well tomorrow is the last day of Oct. Novemeber here we come!
I can't believe how time is just flying by. Guess that is how it is when you are busy.
Lance is still on 4 hour recall (DRB). Still no word on him leaving anytime.
We are in the midst of Judgement House at our church. Lance and I are having a great time being actors in the walk through drama. We will run it tonight & tomorrow. We have had about 300 people go through so far. So that is awesome!
We are gearing up for my parents and my aunt from Seattle to come for Thanksgiving. We can't wait! I have made reservations for us to stay one night on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, one of my favorite places!
No new news on the adoption. We are waiting for results from our fingerprinting and then we will send off paperwork to the State of TX and then send it all off to the Chinese Consolate.
Hope you are enjoying the fall weather. It hasn't hit Texas yet so we are patiently waiting for the weather to cool and the leaves to start changing. WAIT!!!! Texas doesn't have trees. So I guess you can let me know when fall hits.

Another week gone

Can't believe it is Friday! Where are the weeks & months going? I really need to start smelling the roses! I have been working a lot since I have to start making up some time I will be off. In Nov. Lance is doing a marriage conference on Friday Nov. 5th & Sat. Nov. 6th. I'll take that Friday off. We have to go to Dallas the next week Nov. 12 & 13 for an adoption seminary. Then my parents and Aunt Jean are coming for Thanksgiving so I won't work at all when they are here. I'll take 4 days off then.
We are preparing for Judgement House at church. It is a walk through drama. Lance is playing Jesus and I am playing a principal of the school. It should be fun. It is running 7-10pm Oct. 27-31.
No new news on the adoption stuff. We are just playing the waiting game to get all of our paperwork certified and then we send it all off to the Chinese Consolate. I'll keep you posted.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend and check back again soon for another blog.

Fingerprinting......done!!

YEAHOO! We are so excited. We left about 6:40am this morning in route to San Antonio to be fingerprinted. Going to the INS office on Saturday. We were planning on spending a few hours waiting in line. I brought adoption books to read. We get to the office at about 8:50am. Drove right up to the office because of the navigators awesome job :) (Yes that was me since Lance was driving). ANYHOW>>> we go inside and fill out our forms, which took about 2 minutes. We got our numbers, 12 & 13. They were on number 10. As soon as we sat down, Lance's number was called. Then a couple minutes later, mine was called. We were both fingerprinted and out of there by 9:15am. We were thrilled! They didn't fingerprint us using the dredded black ink. They did it all digitally. We put our prints on just a piece of glass and it was automatically converted onto the computer screen. The prints are sent directly to the FBI so hopefully we will get the results soon. We are hoping the rest of the adoption goes as smoothly as did the fingerprinting. I also called a friend's friend who adopted a girl last year from China. I talked to her for about 1 hour. She shared some great information about traveling and what and what not to take and what to expect when we get to China. It has made me more excited than ever to get our daughter! What an experience we are in for. We are just praying Lance will be here to go with me. The Army said they would work with us but we will just have to wait and see. Well I need to get dinner started and sausage balls made for tomorrow. I am taking a snack for after chapel fellowship. Take care & keep coming to read the blog!