November Update

Well, November had lots of fun moments. There will be pics posted soon--gotta get Geoff to upload some ;-). First of all, Anna Grace auditioned for a performing group called Sprouts. . . . and (drum rolllllllllll . . .), she found out she made it!!! Let me tell you, that was one excited little girl when she got the email. She had a hard time going to bed after that! It was a "big girl" audition too. No parents allowed. She was dropped off with her head shot, her music and her information sheet. Two hours later, she called us to tell us to come get her. Geoff and I were so proud of her that she was so brave!!! She was asked to sing 16 bars of a song and performed it with an accompanist. She had to learn a dance combination. And, she had to introduce herself using a type of character voice. She was asked to use an "abnoxious cheerleader" voice! Haha!!

Then, the very evening of her audition, we held her 7th birthday party. It was great! We did a "Campfire Sing-a-long" with Daddy on guitar, hot dogs and s'mores and had a flashlight treasure hunt in the back yard with all kinds of goodies from Dollar Tree tucked in nooks and crannies around the yard. Some of the goodies even glowed in the dark! It was a HIT with the little ones! The campfire part turned out well, but I have a few additional gray hairs as a result. For future campfires, here are some tips: 1. have "all" young-uns go potty immediately "before" departing for the campfire. 2. Marshmallows come to the kiddies---not the other way around. Policy around campfire is to stay seated ;-) 3. If one serves hot chocolate out of crock pot, have an ice bucket to add an ice cube to each cup of steaming cocoa so no little hands or lips get roasted. 4. Haven't figured out the alternative to the wire coat hangers for s'mores--but would love to find one! All in all, the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!!! It was memorable and fun---but mommy was VERY tired at the end of the night!!! All eye balls, lips, noses, fingers and toesies were intact at night's end!!!

I began rehearsals for SCROOGE the musical in early November, and we opened today. It has been great fun and awesome people in the cast. I've also continued to record and work on my album. It is coming along really well! So excited about the tracks that have been layed so far!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent the afternoon at my brother's home with family! It was a house full. The food was sinful and the company was great :-) We are truly blessed with our families, and that we could all be together. . . at least mostly. We did miss seeing Geoff's family this Thanksgiving. But, Yaya will be here for Christmas!

We enter December and the Christmas season with much to be grateful for. Still no referral news. The last Journeys referral that we are aware of was in October. We are still #6 on the list--to our knowledge. Sure would be a Christmas miracle to see our sweet girl's face for the first time. Not counting on it. . . but, just in case Santa's reading ;-)

There will be more posts to come! Thanks for reading.

Here are some of AG's latest costume fashions! ;-)

AG sporting her "Queen of Hearts" (who's all about LOVE--who's turned over a new leaf) for Hero Day at school. Just when I thought I was done. . . Anna Grace informs me, it is missing a detail. Gotta add some ballet slippers on there too to capture a hobby of AG's. This "hero" is supposed to capture a postive character trait and something "uniquely" Anna Grace. So, love and ballet it is!! "Dancin' Queen of Hearts".
Now, Anna Grace decided she wanted to be Mary Poppins for Halloween this year. I love me some Mary Poppins, however, the costumes online were $150!!!! SOOOO, I did a little thrift store shopping, used some dye, elbow grease and hot glue and put together my own Mary Poppins outfit. I think it turned out pretty well for hand-made.

Anna Grace had 50's day and here's the little getup we put together! Fun, fun!!!!

We've had big fun at the White House putting together some fun costumes for different occasions in the past two weeks. I guess all that theatre time and seeing the magic made in costume shops has helped me a lot! Haha!!!

Fall Happenings

This fall is turning out to be such a learning season for us at the White House :-). Geoff and I have both diligently been working on the Experiencing God Bible Study through our church since August, and boy have we learned much. I'm thankful it came along exactly at the time it did. It has helped us to get many things into perspective.

Our adoption is still "wait, wait, wait". We began our paperwork chase in October 2007, went on the waitlist for our baby girl in September 2008 and we are approximately number 6 on the waiting list in October 2009. Referrals have slowed dramatically over the past year, so once upon a time #6 on the waitlist was an exciting place to be--knowing the call could come any moment. Under the current wait times, however, it could be another 6 months or longer. But, surprisingly, we are at peace and know that the Lord has our daughter specially chosen for our family. When the time is right, she will be placed in our arms.

In the meantime, Anna Grace is doing great in school. She is growing and maturing every day. She is taking ballet, jazz and tap and her teacher bragged to me about how well she is doing in ballet! I'm so proud of my girl! I'm just enjoying my moments with her. She has decided to be Mary Poppins for Halloween this year, and we went from thrift store to thrift store finding all the pieces for the costume. A little dye, elbow grease and creativity can do amazing things!!! And at a fraction of the cost of buying offline! During the same weekend, we had to create a Queen of Hearts costume for school AND a 50's costume for 50's Day! I think I need to start a costume business after all the costuming work I've done over the past 2 weeks! ;-)

So, we are enjoying our time together as a family, praying for and eagerly awaiting the day we see our daughter's face for the first time, and growing in our walk with the Lord. I continue to work on my album, and use this time of waiting... to grow.

I will do better about keeping the blog updated. I've been a bit slack about it over the past months. Hopefully, there will be more exciting news to post soon!

Have a wonderful weekend! And, thanks for reading .

School Days!!!

Anna Grace and her Ya Ya at "Shindig on the Green"-enjoying a sno-cone!

Mama and her little princess :-)

Boy, it's hard to believe Anna Grace will be starting 1st grade on Wednesday! It seems like just yesterday I was changing her diapers and pushing her in her stroller. She has grown into such a beautiful, smart and most importantly, sweet young lady! I'm very proud of her. We get to meet her teacher tomorrow, and AG is thrilled.

We had a great weekend in Asheville, NC. We hit a couple of the festivals---Sourwood Festival in Black Mountain and "Shindig on the Green" in Asheville. We heard some fun mountain music, saw some beautiful arts and crafts and even found a lady working an art/craft booth who is from Taiwan!!! She was selling beautiful jewelry and scrolls with personalized messages on them. I bought several goodies from her. How neat to meet her! We even went to a baseball game to see the Asheville Tourists play! Hope you enjoy the pics of some of our fun memories :)



Last week held an exciting ray of light for JOH families. There was finally a girl referral on Thursday for Program 3!!!!! It has been such a drought for so many, many months. It was certainly time for some good news. We should be #7 on the JOH waitlist (as per the Yahoo site's recording)---of course, we know that is not 100% certain since there could be folks on the list who are not listed through the Yahoo site---but hopefully, it's close to correct!! Yea!! Bring on the referrals and more good news for our families and children who are waiting!!!



Have a wonderful week, everyone---and thank you so much for reading!

10 Months on the Wait list and Counting

Well, it's about time for my monthly update. :-) Honestly, the Whites have been busier working this summer than ever. Between teaching theatre workshops, assitant directing the children's chorus in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and helping Geoff and Anna Grace as they have been preparing to open Beauty and the Beast, there has been little time for anything other than running from one theatre to the next! For that I am thankful. It is something we all enjoy as a family. And, how very cool for Anna Grace to have the opportunity to do a show with her daddy! Bless him, he's juggled the intense rehearsal schedule with his equally busy full-time job. But, he's loved every minute!!

Theatre has been a blessing to us. We've made some beautiful friends, we love the creative release, and it has kept us too busy to wallow in frustration over the stalling of the adoption process. We have now been on the wait list officially 10 months. By the first of October, we will have been on our adoption journey for 2 years. I realize that many countries have much longer waits, but when we decided on Taiwan and this particular program, one of the biggest "positives" was the short wait-time. We knew going in that adoption was a roller coaster, constantly changing. But, we can't deny that we have grown frustrated over the past months as referrals have slowed down to an unintelligible drip with no real explanation. The lack of explanation is what is most concerning. Last fall, we were expecting to wait no more than 8-9 months for our referral. As of November, the referrals were pouring in so fast that it looked as if we might see our baby girl's face by March or April 2009. Now, it looks as if it could be December at the earliest and that is a "best case scenerio". Of course, once we receive our referral, the court process will take another 6 months or so. We have become very aware that all of this is completely out of our hands. So, we are very thankful to have "sweet distractions" to keep our minds on things we do have control over.

On another note. . . I am excited to announce that I will be recording a jazz album. Music is my love. This is something I've dreamed about for a long time. I will create a website and will market it online through CD Baby and Itunes. I'm eager to begin this recording project and see where it leads. I will keep you posted as it progesses!

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to wait to meet our daughter. Anna Grace is being incredibly patient, but is ever so eager to become a big sister. And, in the meantime, we are embracing life, pursuing our dreams and making each day count.

Through this adoption journey, one thing has become ever so clear. . . that there are so many uncertainties in this life. We truly do not know what tomorrow will bring. But, I believe every day is a gift. And, our gifts, talents and passions are treasures planted within us for us to use for the good. I don't see this "life's uncertainties" revelation as a negative. I see it as a great way to approach life. . . with enthusiasm and urgency. The only guarantee we have is: "if you do nothing, nothing will come from it".

So with that said, the Whites will continue to embrace each day, squeeze every ounce of joy and opportunity from it--not wasting one second of the days we are given, continue to grow ourselves and use our gifts--and wait patiently (as much as possible) on the Lord's timing to bring our daughter home to us.

Thank you for following and sharing in our journey.

Birthdays and Summer Fun

My sweet mama at my surprise party!

Anna Grace, Ramsey and Bryant

Bryant and Me Birthday '09





Anna Grace, Leah and Me


Tam and me :D


Tawny, Taylor and me (Sophisticated Ladies!)

Haley and Anna Grace

Kim and Me at the surprise party!

I have been lax about posting over the past month, so it is time to say "hello" and update on what's been going on with the Whites. We have been very busy since Easter. It seems theatre has been the focal point of the White family life over the past months. It truly has been fun. I finished my run with Sweeney Todd in May, and almost immediately, Geoff and Anna Grace began rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast which will open in July. And, currently I'm teaching theatre workshops to children all summer long with two different theatre companies. I finished my first full workshop week this past week-----whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can tell you I haven't exerted that much energy for that length of time in a LONG time! And, I sit here this weekend with laryngitis, body aches and a sore throat. I think it is a combination of pure exhaustion and maybe a cold on top of it! Haha!!! I'm recovering. . . . QUICKLY. . . because I get to do it all over again Monday morning! :-) I LOVE it!!!!

A few shots of me in Sweeney Todd as Lucy, the Beggar Woman

And, I have to include something extra special about my sweet husband in this post. I believe I have the most thoughtful husband ever!!! My birthday (we won't say which one!!! ;D), was June 3rd. Geoff planned a surprise party at one of our new favorite restaurants in town. Anna Grace helped him and even kept it a secret!!!! I can't believe my little girl (who never keeps a secret! ;-) was such a big girl in helping to host my surprise birthday party! I am lucky, indeed, to have such special people as Geoff and Anna Grace in my life! It was the best birthday I can remember! I was amazed at the wonderful friends who showed up and took time to come out and honor my day. It felt great!

Now, about our adoption process. . . There were a couple of referrals about a month ago with Journeys, but nothing since. The wait times have increased dramatically over the past 6 months. Families are now waiting over a year from waitlist to referral. Only 6 months ago, people were waiting 7-8 months. It is anticipated that wait times could go to 18 months. So, we are hanging in there with the wait, preparing to update our homestudy and FBI check in the next couple of months (as they will expire before our process is completed), and we are choosing to live, fully, every day and not dwell on the things we can't control. I'm enjoying working with the theatre. . . performing on stage, writing, and teaching. Geoff is pursuing his photography. Anna Grace is enjoying participating in theatre, and will begin piano this summer. And, I am beginning the process of recording an album---a dream I've had for a long time. We are making the most of every day, and when the time is right the phone will ring and we will see our daughter's face.

In the meantime, I'm sharing a few pics from my surprise birthday, put together by my wonderful husband and sweet daughter! Enjoy!!

Special Easter Memories

Our Alabama family--Easter 2009

Our little Easter chicks. . .

Geoff and Me (making hamburger patties for the cookout!)

Sassy girls! (notice Anna Grace's doll :-)

My two special girls!

It has taken me a few days to get around to posting our Easter weekend photos. It was a wonderful time with family. We spent Saturday at Scott and Emmalie's doing an Easter egg hunt and cookout. Lots of friends and family were there. Big fun!!! And, Anna Grace was asked to spend the night with her cousin Ramsey after the Easter party--so she actually awoke on Easter morning at Ramsey's house and the Easter bunney had visited her there! It was a magical time for them to spend together! Geoff and I came in and we all went to church and mom made the most delectable roast for lunch---slow roasted all night on a low temp. It literally melted in your mouth--no need to even chew. It was heaven!! Hope you enjoy some pics from our beautiful Easter weekend.

No adoption news.

But, I'm in full swing rehearsals for Sweeney Todd and they are going very well. I'm thankful to be able to do what I love to do!