Can you believe it's SEPTEMBER 1st!!?

Hello family and friends,
So can you all believe it's September 1st already??? I'm not sure we've had enough summer up here, yet! For some reason this summer has seemed rather short and I could stand about 12 more months of it...Anyone else??? ;-) For our family and friends who do not live in the Midwest and live SOUTH of us...You will be seeing LOTS & LOTS of us in the coming months (hehe :) I hope you all have had a WONDERFUL Labor Day weekend! It's really been a nice long weekend that has flown by fast! :) Brandon, Peyton and I went to IL to visit Brandon's family. Being human, I was a little nervous about this trip because 2 of our friends and Brandon's twin sister all had babies within the last month. Though we are SOOOO, VERY excited for everyone, I was worried I might get a little weepy or somewhat emotional seeing all these new lil ones with the long wait for ours. IRONICALLY (haha- I don't believe in "irony" by the way)...I was truly beaming with joy to meet these brand new little angels!!! God is so good and He filled both of our hearts with happiness and joy and allowed Brandon and I to put the focus where it needed to be. Our new little nephew is gorgeous as is our (2 1/2 yr old) niece, who is GROWING and is fearless as you'll see in the video I'm including....What a little fish she is! :) Our dear friends Dole and Justin had an absolutely BEAUTIFUL new baby girl, named Savannah May Beasley!!! I told them she was going to have to go to University of Georgia OR AUBURN (of course the better option ;-) with a name like that!! :) What a little angelic, princess she is!! It was such nice weekend, visiting with family and friends!! We're home now and I'm going to spend the rest of my day getting ready for work tomorrow and riding Boomer, while B cuts the grass :)

The source of our hope: PROVERBS 3:3-8
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.


VIETNAM:
This will (likely) be my last post on Vietnam for a while. Vietnam's official shutdown was this past Friday and we do not know when it will reopen. There is hope for Vietnam to open for Fall or prior to year end but the last time something of this nature happened; Vietnam was shutdown for almost 3 years. So, my last post is asking you all to PLEASE continue to pray for the children of Vietnam who SO desperately need our prayers and of course, the decision makers and the affected families! When you think of them, please pray :) This really is nothing less than a tragedy for these children.

RUSSIA:
Many of you have asked me about the Russia/Georgia conflict and if it might affect our adoption...To be honest, we have no idea if and how it will affect us. We are very aware that it could have a negative impact on adoptions but we CLING to our faith and remain hopeful until we hear news that would indicate a change. We CERTAINLY have our days when it is MUCH tougher than others but I can just feel the prayers and our faith remains strong. On a VERY exciting note...There were 2 referrals made this week to families in the Russia program!!! One of those families submitted their dossier on June 19th, four days before we submitted ours! It's very exciting for those families and also for us because it's great to see things moving again!!! Russian adoptions operate a little differently than most other countries. In most countries if you are #10 on the list, then once number 9 receives the referral of their child, you are next in line. That's not the case in Russia. The Russian MOE (Ministry of Education) hands out referrals as they deem appropriate. SO, though we are getting VERY close in line, we can't let that get us too terribly excited...But it does give us hope!!! :)

Last, I have attached two "you tube" videos about a little girl named Sofia that was adopted from Haiti by an Indiana couple (in the far right column). I have been reading alot about Haiti in the last few weeks and these people have TRULY moved me!!! The little girl in this video defied ALL ODDS (50% of Haitian children will die before age 5) and her story WILL WARM YOUR HEART!!! I hope you all will take a look. It's broken down into two segments and I've attached both for you to see the entire story.

Everyone have a WONDERFUL week!!!!

Sending love and hugs your way...
Robin & Brandon
xoxoxoxoxoxo

Brandon, Angelina and Brandi