Goal + 6

Remember that Red Thread Swap we were doing? This is the last entry in that category and it is a winner! This is from a great lady who currently is residing in Australia! And she was so fortunate and was able to go and pick up her daughter during the swap! It was quite exciting and is certainly well worth waiting for! And did you notice how creatively the fabric was bounded? I loved the Chinese coin and looped through the green ribbon!

Rebel wrote: (yes - she does have one cool name!)

My Dear Child

You are the poem I dreamed of writing
The masterpiece I longed to paint.
You are the shining star I reached for
In my ever hopeful quest for life fulfilled...
You are my child.
Now with all things
I am blessed.

May you always know ho much you are loved.

From the Judge Family ~Canberra, Australia

These are beautiful words and when I read them to myself, my heart spoke them out loud. Thanks Rebel and congratulations on your adoption and your beautiful girl!

Goal + 5

This is another cute squish I received from a member of the OHGWQ group! Of COURSE the O'Rourke's would send this cheerful shamrock print! Kelly wrote:

Irish Blessing

May you live a long life
Full of gladness and health,
With a pocket full of gold
As the least of your wealth.
May the dreams you hold dearest,
Be those which come true,
The kindness you spread,
Keep returning to you.

Wishing you a long, happy & healthy life.
Sincerely,
Kelly & Tim O'Rourke
Federal Way, WA

Goal + 4

This OHGWQG swap arrived with an adorable Christmas card! I LOVE the black and white photo of the Seip family and then their Santa hats being red! Just adorable - you all may get a similar card next year :)

Kerry sent the sweetest moon and stars fabric twinkling on a light blue sky. And she wrote:

"I see the moon and the moon sees me...Over the mountains, over the sea,
I have a love who is waiting for me.
Please let the light that shines on me, Shine on the one I love."
~We See The Moon by Carrie A. Kitze - Kai Lin's Favorite Book

In China, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, families look to the
moon to connect them to loved ones who can't be together.

Your hourney has brought you home,
To a place you never would have imagined,
Filled with warmth and love.
Todd, Kerry and Kai Lin Seip
And now...Li Hong - Fujian Province
Forever a Family November 2007
Pueblo, Colorado

I think this is just the sweetest wish - of course, I'm a sucker for children's books! I don't think we have this book - and I'm leaving the house right now!

Goal + 3

This lovely soft floral print arrived from Denmark! I did an individual quilt swap with Linda and I know she is in the process of adopting - but I'm not sure where she is on the timeline. The One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt Group on yahoo has been such a blessing in helping with Ty's collection. There are so many creative folks out there and it is exciting to see what they are all doing! Linda wrote:

Dear little one,

Enjoy when you can and
endure when you must.
~Goethe

Our best wishes for you and your family.

Bjarne Bertelsen and
Linda O. Henriksen
Fruevaenget 4
7900 Nykobing M.
Denmark

I can only imagine what Ty has endured so far and I hope and pray that there have been many, many moments of joy. I feel that all these children have such stories - especially the older children. It will be such a privilege to have Ty share these things with us - because I know that on the day that he begins to tell his story - it means he loves and trusts us....and we will be his family.

Goal +2 and a Few!

Can't you tell from the picture that this was a fun squish to receive! It was like a Squish Shower! The Walpert family is another military family here in the area that are in the adoption process. Marisa and I signed up for the same swap (on the Chinese provinces...you'll see that later) and when she saw my name and address she sent a boyishly perfect assortment of prints for Ty's quilt. There are jungle animals, a cowboy print, a green farm print and of course....a fantastic military aircraft print! You are so generous and thoughtful!

The Walperts wrote:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but
by the moments that take our breath away.
~Anonymous

May your life be full of breath-taking moments.

Bill and Marisa Walpert
Montgomery, Alabama
LID 4-11-07

Check your mail soon Marisa - I'll return the good wishes!

Goal + 1

I was so pleasantly surprised to receive this squsih in the mail for Ty! Dr. Dick Oosta actually delivered my brother MANY years ago on the fourth of July (1970)! He and his wife Margaret were good friends of my Grandparents and my parents. And their son Jack accompanied me down the aisle....when I was a flower girl and he was the ring bearer for a wedding! We were pretty cute and charming if I do say so myself!

We have always stayed in touch with them at Christmas and I was very touched when I saw the lovely gold-tone printed fabric and this accompanying note:

Dear Ty,

We are so happy you have come to America. Our wish
for you is for a healthy and happy life with
your wonderful family.

Blessings,
The Oosta Family

And the Oostas wrote the Chinese characters and pinyin for "Welcome" down the side of the card.

Their characters are beautiful and I know they will mean so much to Ty. The literal translation, character by character, is "pleased to welcome your bright arrival." Isn't that beautiful?? This is truly the ultimate welcome in the Chinese tradition!

Thank you so much Oostas! It will be an honor to include you in Ty's quilt.

Wish #100

The Centennial Wishes! I can't believe we've made it to One Hundred Wishes for our precious Ty. I look at all of these fabrics and am so excited to get started and see this gift of love come to life!

These wishes arrived via mail from our good friends the Ogdens. We met the Ogdens in California when we were all stationed at Travis AFB. They were our backyard neighbors. We both lived on the corners of two different blocks and shared a back fence - but to get to each others' front door - we had to walk all the way around to the other street or block. But not for long....within a few weeks...we returned home to find a lovely gate installed in our back yard so that we could just pop in anytime! It was so fun and led to many antics.

I know that there is a mysterious $5.00 bill floating around somewhere between us - and I don't even remember how it got started...but one day I found it stapled to the brand new gate! It has been wrapped around a computer headset, hidden under an ice bucket - and who knows what/where else. I'm not even sure whose home it is hidden in anymore!

We had so many laughs - I'm not sure you can say enough good things about someone who will come and clean up your cat's vomit for you. (I have a phobia - and Tony was deployed and this was EVERYWHERE!) This is just the tip of the iceberg folks - so many more laughs, fun, tears - just amazing friends!

Now Sid is deployed for a year - and I'm not there to help Mary and the kids clean up their "cat puke" or whatever they need. Fortunately - they live near family now is sunny Florida - hmmmmmmm.....Florida.....maybe they DO need help :)

Liz (John and Mary's daughter and sister to Chris "One Dot" Ogden) selected a fun fabric! It is black and filled with bright, neon-colored circles that are interlocking. When I think of Liz - I definitely think of bright colors....it is perfect! She wrote:

May your troubles be less,
your blessings be more
And nothing but happiness
come through your door....

Liz Ogden

Mary selected a simple and beautiful print of muted gold background with tonal vines winding across it. I love the softness of the print and the traveling vines. Mary wrote:

Our Wish for Ty

I wish you not a path devoid of clouds, nor a life on a bed of roses.
Not that you might never need regret, nor that you should never feel pain.
No, that is not my wish for you.

My wish for you is:
That you might be brave in times of trial,
when others lay crosses upon your shoulders.
When mountains must be climbed
and chasms are to be crossed;
when hope can scarce shine through.
That every gift God gave you might grow along with you,
and let you give the gift of joy to all who care for you.
That you may always have a friend who is worth that name;
whom you can trust, and who helps you in times of sadness,
who will defy the storms of daily life at your side.

One more wish I have for you:
that in every hour of joy and pain you may feel God close to you.
This is my wish for you and for all who care for you.

This is my hope for you, now and forever.

Ogden Jrs.
Travis AFB, CA

Beautifully shared my friends! Miss you all.....

Wish #99

Ok - I'm just letting you all know right this moment - that Ty's quilt will be WAY more than 100 wishes! And if anyone wants to be included - I will not leave you out. The more the merrier, bigger is better, can't have too much love! With that out of the way - I want to tell you about this next wish -

Joe and Debbie Wotton are just fantastic people. Tony was so fortunate to meet and work for Joe when we were stationed at Hanscomb AFB - right outside of Boston. Tony absolutely loved this assignment - with much of that credit going to Joe Wotton. He was always so postivie, upbeat and honest....and Tony respects him immensely. We were so over the moon when I received an email from Debbie after Christmas indicating that Ty's story had touched their hearts and they wanted to be part of welcoming him home!

Joe and Debbie sent two squares for Ty's quilt - because they couldn't decide :) One square is very patriotic. It is red, white and blue with gold stars and yellow ribbons, red stripes and hearts. The best part is that each emblem has inspiring words across it - words like success, support, love, protect, loyalty, bravery, courage, strength and home. These are wonderful words for Ty to learn and take to heart!

The other fabric is an aqua blue fabric swimming with a rainbow of fish! Joe and Debbie wrote:

Dear Ty,

We chose two swatches of fabric because we couldn't make a decision. We love the red, white and blue fabric because it reminds us of the privilege and honor it was for Joe to serve in the United States Air Force with your father, which is how we got to know your wonderful parents. The fish fabric is included because we are "water people" who enjoy simming and scuba diving in the ocean. Perhaps because you have crossed over huge oceans while traveling to your new home, you may have a fascination for the sea.

What a blessing you are to your family!

We hope to meet you one day.

Joe and Debbie Wotton

WE hope to meet Ty one day soon, too!!!!! Thanks so much Wottons - for all that you have meant to us in the past - and for being a part of our son's future!

Wish #98

When I was going through my Christmas cards from this last holiday season - I realized that my friend from Travis AFB, Juanita, had slid a lovely piece of teal fabric into her card and I didn't take it out and put it in our "quilt" pile!

Juanita is a really special lady. I met Juanita when I got involved in the Officers' Spouses' Club (OSC). We served on the board of this organization together and Juanita was the representative for the Retired Officers' Spouses. This was a very active group - and many things in the OSC just wouldn't have happened without their assistance and involvement. Juanita was also one of the absolute luckiest people I've ever met. She won prizes at all of our Bingo functions and even door prizes! And I mean - she won the GOOD prizes! We all teased her a lot about this and it was well known (and envied!) The club was auctioning off a TV at one event and they actually auctioned off 5 remote controls and then called all of those folks up - and they took turns seeing which remote worked and that is who won the TV. Well this great gal Becky had won one of the remotes and had Juanita just rub it for good luck - and you know.....Becky won the TV! I'm thinking we should have knicknamed Juanita the Lucky Buddha or something.

She and her late husband Steve were world travelers - and were always going somewhere exciting and often exotic. He accompanied her to so many events - and we all loved him too. He passed away suddenly last year and this was Juanita's first holiday season without her husband. I can't imagine how hard that must be - but her Christmas card was kind and full of Juanita's spirit. She mentioned that she had recently joined the Society of Military Widows and had also completed a computer class!

Juanita's wish for us was:

Best wishes for a healthy, happy New Year. How wonderful to hear about the new addition to your family!

Juanita - thank you for your thoughtfulness! I miss you and will always be grateful for your contribution to Ty's welcome home quilt!