Does cuteness REALLY, REALLY count?

Here is the wonderful family that committed to a full 14 days of watching Andrew and Dillon! They had a wonderful and exciting time... Dillon rode horeses and was very skilled at doing so, Andrew on the other hand rode but would rather do other sports! I have heard so many fun and exciting things that they did, anyone for hockey... the boys played a lot of hockey and they did a lot of their school. Thank You Manias family for being so generous and opening both your hearts and home while were in China bringing home our china doll, Lily Mae. May God Bless you and your family abundantly!!! P.S Denise when will we start with... I get them on the weekends and you get them through the week for schooling them... Its still on isn't it?

This is Bradley my oldest brother, he is in Bagdad right now, protecting our freedom... could you please pray for his safe return!! I will get to see him in Febuary! and I can not wait I have heard a lot of good things about him!! I heard he loves the mommadonna & they always have so much fun together, He really takes care of the momma!!

Boy he knows how to play dress up and to be a GI Joe guy!

But then again mommadonna (Bradley always calls mommy this name) said he always has been able to play with the whole military stuff since he was about 8 years old!!!

Thanks brother Brad for serving I am so proup of you and I am only 13 months old!!

I Can not believe how fun it is to have my own toys and play with my brothers!!

Boy this picture is worth $$$$ actually priceless, I want to thank Pam Speck, her sister Karen, Amy shepherd, Angela Zimmerman, Dalaine Thomas & Debbie Yeager, these fine women saved me from being in the DOG HOUSE at almost 22 years of marriage... Jeff and the boys were not going to be satisfied with PBJ"s for Thanksgiving meal they keep asking what are we going to do on Thanksgiving for "The Meal" I said I can not worry about that right now (remember we got home the night before Thanksgiving) and I was not in any shape to go shopping for the food then cook it, I said the Lord will work it out, remember HE cares about the small stuff, even mash potatoes, and pies. Sure enough while we were in China I received an email from Pam Speck asking if she could prepare a meal for us, What a blessings, GIRLS thank you from the bottom of my heart, the food was such a wonderful blessings... NOW we are aware of WHY Pam Speck cooked... She wanted to she Lily Mae ASAP!! That's ok we appreciate her honesty ahhahahaha

I GET BROTHERS TOO!!!

Boy this sure is icing on the cake!!! Look how sweet they are to me, but they both arguing BUT ONLY about who is going to hold me or put me in my carseat, I can handle that... It actually prepares me for when all the boys will argue over me when I am older, nothing wrong with early training ahahhhahahhahh.

OK THIS IS TOO MUCH!!! YOU MEAN THIS IS MY OWN CRIB?

(this takes my breathe away)

I wont have to share it with anyone else, WOW did you see the sheets how stroft they are, this whole American thing has turned out to be really nice... between Big brothers, stroft sheets and my own bed I know I am going to like it here in America... Thanks ebrebody ahahhahha

MY NEW PAPAW!

Now this is my papaw he is helping me walk, (I first saw him at the airport, he came to welcome me home!! ) AFTER he helped me walk he got on the floor and played with me and my new toys. He owns his own jewelry store, but claims I am the RAREST GEM he has every seen, and that I am a precious jewel, now how sweet is that!!

We have to say that we REALLY miss our friends! Here we are at the Great Wall of China, I did some serious walking up the Great Wall, more exercise than I have done in a long time!

Here is Jim Davis with their precious cargo, below is a lovely picture of his wife and their daughter, Kristen, that girl can sing, she sung some american songs for us during traffic hour in our tour bus, she brought tears to my eyes... it was the sweetest moment! :)

This is Gerald and Michelle with their precious cargo as well! They are new parents after 14 years of marrige, it was a joy to see them as NEW parents!

Here is Sondra Davis and their daughter the famous vocalist from Ohio, you will read about her singing someday! And she was a wonderful big sister on the trip!!

Here we are on picture day at the White Swan Hotel Lily Mae is looking at the huge waterfall that the hotel had in the lobby!

To view all the photos on this blog click the below link...
http://lilymaedangler.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_lilymaedangler_archive.html

Ok!! I must admit one of the things I enjoyed the most was getting up and having a nice breakfeast with coffee, the food was excellent and I miss getting up and having a full layout of breakfeast food, being able to choose whatever I want and someone to wait on me, I mean NOT that our home does'nt run in this fashion, ahahhaahahah I wish, I truely enjoyed that part of the journey!!!

Do you ever go somewhere and get home and wish you would have bought that something you were debating over... well here it is I wish now I would have just gotten her this little coat for the Holidays, it was too cute on her, and yes I could kick myself for not getting it, especially because it was only like $6.00 US dollars!

We really enjoyed Guanzho, the parks were incredible, I wish they would serve the wonderful buffet style breakfeasts' in the park that would be a great concept, in that case I would have to move to this area if they pulle that stunt!!

Another fine picture of breakfeast feast!!!

We sat here on this corner the last day of our trip, that was a great time!!

These little girls were so cute they were at the temple and Jeff saw them he said they were just talking away, the one on the left looks so serious... too precious, everything about there culture was so intreging... I actually miss being there, after recovering from the long jet lag!!

These are moments that I will cherish a lifetime, Lily Mae actually had to learn to grip my thumb, in the beginning she would just have her hand wide open not knowing to grip around my thumb, this was a great achievement for us!!! and what a welcomed moment!!!

WHAT A SWEET LITTLE PRINCESS! WE ARE SO TRUELY BLESSED!! When we first got into our car at the airport Andrew or Dillon not sure which one said "now this is just what our family needed!" What a sweet comment! God has truely blessed us with such wonderful children!!

When I tell you that EVERYTHING in China is done in such professionalism I really mean it! We were very impressed with how everyone took their jobs (even the people who cleaned up the streets) so professional, the chinese really work hard and give their jobs 110 %!

Bless her heart sometimes she gets so sweety just beads of sweet lay on her face, we try to tell her "Babe, don't sweat the small stuff"

Here is the famous "red couch" photo after I loaded the photo I realized Lily Mae was looking down, but not crying thats a good thing!

We made it HOME... Nearly 20 hours of flying.

Lily, a new US citizen, is asleep in her crib

(crib was made in China...)

She did great at the airport -- lots of smiles & hugs!

For those that came to the airport -- We really appreciate

your heartfelt welcoming!

Wow what an adventure!
We are signing off here in China...

I want to thank the folks that took their time following our blog and sharing in our great experience of getting Lily... a dream that took almost two years to come true!

This Thanksgiving holiday will take on a new meaning for our family... we are very thankful & blessed to have Lily -- a true Thanksgiving!

Remember... last week she was an abandoned baby living in an orphanage... this week she's Lily Mae Dangler -- a beautiful baby that's loved & blessed beyond belief.

A week can make a difference!

Jeff D.

For those interested to coming to the airport...
We arrive in Louisville on United Airlines
Flight -- 5860
Time -- 5:55 pm

Here is Little Miss Lily Mae, I love these hats...
but she obviously hated them!













Hey heres LOOKIN at yaw




















The Culture here is so interesting I loved walking up and down the streets there is so much to see and so many different things, truly amazing and intriguing!!! On top of adopting such a treasure we were blessed to have had a trip as well, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Chinese Culture, icing on the cake, chocolate that is...hahahah

Aunt Sandy!!! I LOVE my bunny mom ties it to my stroller so I will not loose it, this was the first toy she gave me and I have loved it ever since, it is a little dirty just cause I play with it ALL the time, I love YOU and AMERICA

I am so amazed at all the varities of art this culture holds,
very talented and unusual art, love their talents!!

Brad's blog in Iraq...
http://www.newsaboutme-brad.blogspot.com/

The Group.
This is the group we traveld with since Nov 8th...
we're all coming home with new baby girls!

"Hello Brad... Thank you!" (Lily siad this)

Lily Mae's Big Brother, Bradley sent it from Kuwait!

There's no place like Home and a Homecoming!

It's Tuesday morning and we leave for home in less than 24 hours.

We are excited, tired, and worn-out.

For those interested to coming to the airport...

here's our return flight info:

United Airlines

Flight: 5860

Date: Wednesday NOV 22nd

Leg: Chicago/Louisville

Depart Chicago 3:35 pm

Arrive in Louisville 5:55 pm

H

The best things in life come in threes...
Kate, Emma and Lily all out shopping!














...all from Hunan

I Love my bows, brush & MY daddy!!!
but sometimes I just have to take out my bows, then I look right at my momma and she says boo which means NO in chinese then I just laugh or smile really cute like I dont understand her, it works for a little while till she thinks I have forgotten then she tries to put is back in thats when the fun for me begins, she says boo! boo! and I just giggle and turn to my dad and when he says BOO! I let her put it in my hair!!

Hey EVERYONE!! thanks for my wardrobe, I must say I look pretty cute,!!






Life is just smooth sailing, thanks Aunt Faith and Kelly for the adorable outfit I love to wear it!

sometimes the bows just wear me out!!!

Life is Grand... She loves her daddy through and through, and I am so happy for that a lot of times the girls will not have anything to do with the men, b/c they have never seen men. Yesterday was a very difficult day we had to travel by bus and plane from Changsha to Guangzhou, with a horrible cold. Sorry we were slow on the blogs but we have not stopped. Today was medical exsame and she passed with flying colors.


FROM A MOTHER HEART... MINE
I can not tell you in words how much the whole experience has changed our lives, no amount of money or possessions could ever give such joy and completeness!!! Lily Mae Dangler has never had a home, a bed of her own, clothing not even a momma or a dadda to care for her. And icing on the cake is brothers that will love her to pieces. I don't know how to explain how I feel but when Lily looks me in the eyes I JUST MELT!! As I picked her up today (when she woke up) she just laid her head on my shoulders as she wrapped her little arms around my neck and I walked her over to the window and tears just STREAMED down my face, looking out at all the people and knowing that unless we had adopted her she would not have even been acknowledged by her culture, and when she would have left the orphange she would of had NO ONE, no family mother, or father, brother or sister, not relatives, no one to trace a connection to., where would she have gone she probally would have ended up in a sweat shop (most orphanes do) it absolutely crushed my heart and I looked to the heavens and gave praises to God our Father for allowing us the privledge and honor to have such a treasure. I have prayed over and over (especaially when flying over her province) that her biological mother would have peace the day we recieved Lily and that she would know, thru Gods blessings that she is cared for and loved, and that she would come to know Jesus just as her daughter will. I have to stop now the tears are pouring out again, I just can not tell you all how grateful I am (and Jeff) GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!! p.s. For those of you who have wondered... I LOVE HER AS MUCH AS IF SHE WAS OURS BIOLOGICALLY, there is NO difference at all. God Bless all of you, we are going out to shop and eat I LOVE ALL

Saturday 2:20 pm...
We & baby are doing fine... just tired...
We'll add some new pics and content here soon.

If you want to see Lily's room here's the blog we were having trouble accessing in China...
http://lilymaeusa.blogspot.com/

We're beyond tired...
Donna has a monster cold...
I'm holding in there Ok -- just tak'n care of my new little princess...
We travel in approx fives hours...
Lots of prayer please...!

Everywhere we go... Young & Old
walking on the street or the hotel lobby
people want to stop and look at Lily…
They comment on her big beautiful eyes…
Moreover, we also get a lot of thumbs up and people saying "...she’s
so lucky to go to America…"

Young...

and Old.

We leave for Guangzhou tomorrow...
Changsha, Hunan was nice... big city... lots of Chairman Mao...

http://www.white-swan-hotel.com/eng/Public/index.asp -- Hotel
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/59287.html -- Weather
http://china.scmp.com/map/ -- Map

China pics...
Take out

Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics National Stadium

http://en.beijing2008.com/62/74/article211987462.shtml

Today we do hats!

Mom & Lily tak'n a nap

Lily & mom naping & dreaming.Y