Thanks Fredrickson SP!

We received your package awhile ago but between my dental problems and time flying we've not had a chance to post; sorry about that. We absolutely love all the cute outfits you gave us and the soft fuzzy blankie. The picture frame with the pink ladybug was adorable and will fit PERFECTLY in the nursery. We look forward to more goodies. For now, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

-Alan & Jodi Fredrickson

Sweet Dreams Thank You!!

Dear SP --

I apologize for the delay in posting - life's been pretty crazy for us lately. Thankfully things have started to slow down and we have a lull before the holidays hit :-).

I wanted to send you a super HUGE thank you for the wonderful bedtime gifts. Your package was perfect and once again you've gone well beyond what we ever expected. The cute jammies are to die for! The onesie and music player are perfect. My personal favorites are the hair pretties (still obsessed with those) and the handmade taggie blanket. It is sooooo soft and silky. Thank you so much for taking the time to make it for us. One day (hopefully in the not too distant future) our little girl will be truly blessed with all of your wonderful gifts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

-- The Lienke Family :-)

Way Behind...

I feel like I am always way behind these days! I have gotten a gift that I have not thanked anyone for. We love the little stuffed animal mascot from the Beijing Games. Al placed it in Conner's room and luckily Conner hasn't wanted to play with it yet. I think that we will have difficulty explaining to him someday that these things that arrive in the mail aren't for him. :)
Wendy

Wondering...

Haven't heard from my Secret Pal whether she liked her gift...and alas, haven't gotten a Secret Pal gift for June or August. I am one of the people who is leaving the Secret Pal exchange at this juncture (we're home with Maggie and trying to get her adjusted), but really enjoyed the gifts we received from other March 2007-ers and seeing the creativity in others' gifts.

I'll be following along to hopefully see you all come home with your sons and daughters soon.

Gold Medal Thank You from the Lienke Family :-)

Dear SP --

I would just like to thank you so very much for the wonderful "Olympic" themed gifts. One is better than the next, and the little note you created that explained each gift was WONDERFUL!! I've posted a more in depth thank you on our blog Wonton Wishes & Fortune Cookie Dreams if you'd like to check it out. Thank you again, the box of presents made my day, and was a welcome surprise to come home to :-) !!!

The Lienke Family

LID 3/21/07

Summer fun

Thank you SP for all the beautiful things you send us. Just to let you know that I received your box since July. Thank you again.

Marie-France & Francis
Québec

Baby Lem SP

Thank you so much to our secret pal for the wonderful gifts... Jing Jing is my favorite mascot of the games...

We have been watching Olympic coverage over the last two week and will be very sorry to see the games end. I have loved watching the Today Show for the past two weeks seeing the sights.... Can't wait to get there to see it all.

Don't the Retailers know the Beijing Olympics are on??

You couldn't imagine how many stores and outlets had zero 2008 Beijing Olympic products here in my metropolitan area. Amazing. Had to get pretty creative. Anyone else have problems finding stuff?
All the managers that I spoke to said that the goodies will come in 2 wks after the Olympics are over! I guess they're waiting to see who gets what medals but I think they could have been selling a bunch of stuff with the just the logo on it. Coke was the only thing I found w/the emblem/logo.
Still had a lot of fun putting together my sporty little gift for my Secret Pal though!

Lienke Family Thank You!

Hi SP --

We would just like to thank you very much for the wonderful gift of books that arrived this weekend. No worries on the gift arriving late - we know how busy life is, especially during the summer. The book selection was wonderful, and we didn't have any of the titles you sent our way. They will be put away for safe keeping, and we can't wait to share them with our daughter.

Thank you again -- The Lienke Family :-)

Our Gift is Missing Too.

Hello Secret Pal,

Just thought I'd post in case you sent it, that we never received our secret pal's gift. I like to know if my secret pal received theirs or if they did not so I thought you may want to know too. If your gift was sent to us, it has not arrived so far just in case you want to track it.

Thanks!!

Brenda Wilcox
Waiting for TA for Mae Li!!

Missing Gift—New Milbrand-Dabaie secret pal

I'm not sure if you've heard from Amy yet, but we never received the first Secret Pal gift from our new pal. Hope it didn't get lost in the mail! We're looking forward to getting to know you.

Lisa, Mike, Katie & Maggie (almost ready to come home!)

Day 12 in the wait for LOA

Today the rest of Levi's furniture came in. I was very excited because they said it wouldn't be here until Friday. We decided to stop at a couple of antique shops before picking it up to try to find more John Deere stuff for Levi's room. We did find a couple more signs to put on the walls. His room is coming together nicely. I have to say that so far I love the crib, but the dresser I am not so fond of. We are trying to keep busy in hopes that the wait for LOA will go by faster. Keep your fingers crossed everyone.

I think I have everything together to send in our packet for USCIS tomorrow. I have to make a couple copies and then it's in the mail. Lets hope that our I171H comes back quickly. Our original doesn't expire until September 6th so we have time, I just don't want to get our Ta and have to wait for travel because our paperwork expired and we haven't gotten the renewal back yet.

We still have much to do before we travel but our hearts are ready to go bring our boy home. I have a couple of pictures of daddy putting the crib together that I will post hopefully tomorrow. I have been sick the last couple of days and it is finally catching up with me. Summer colds are the worst!!!

Thank you to the Heinle Family SP!

We love the books that you sent to us! We did not have either of them! I had wanted to get Ruby's Wish for quite some time, but I didn't! I had read a Mother for Koko in my classroom and the kids loved it there, so I am sure that Conner and his little sister will love it as well!
Wendy

Thank You to Payne Secret Pal

Sorry this is late in posting but we did receive our wonderful gift from our Secret Pal. I know the Dora book will be a hit, it is safely tucked away for DD#2. Sophie, however immediately saw the Cookbook & Bake set and has claimed it has her own. She LOVES to bake and has been busy reading the recipes! Thanks so much - ~ileana

Story Time

Thank you SP for the great books and the wonderful poem. We have already read the ladybug book to Maddie and she loved it. We have added all the books to Baby "K's" small library hoping soon we will get to read them to her. The "Little Friends" was put aside to take to China with us that is perfect for my first book.

Thank you
The McNally's

Baby Lem SP

Thank you so much Baby Lem SP for the great reading books... They have been added to the library and we can't wait to have someone to snuggle with and read to!!! :)

Once Upon a Time...

...the FREDRICKSONS received some wonderful storybooks from their Secret Pal! The first from the package was a smaller book titled My First Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. Next came some board books both big and small, one about travel and one about shapes. These were some fun baby einstein treats! There was a fun peek-a-boo book with a ladybug and then we did some county with Pooh and his friends. Our favourite of the bunch was a book about a fuzzy pink and brown cow titled, I udderly love you! And that, my Secret Pal, we certainly do! Thanks for making our day bright and for all the fun stories to share with our daughter! -Alan & Jodi

It's Story Time...

We just want to thank our secret pal for the wonderful books and good wishes. We can't wait to read them to our little girl. Hope all is well with everyone.
Steve & Darcy

Happy Mother's Day, Everyone!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy mother's day!

Lisa

A Big Thank You!

We were so excited to receive a big box of surprises from our Secret Pal this month. Part of the box was Lady Bug Dishes for our little girl that we are waiting to bring home from China. The other part of the box was a "Welcome Home" Gift for our son Conner, who was placed in our arms forever on 4/3/08 in Guatemala City, Guatemala! This was so wonderful to have Conner's homecoming celebrated with us as well!
Wendy

Thanks for the wonderful Plageman-Davis family surprise!

Thank you so much SP, for the cutest outfit and PJ set for our future DD. It was so nice to receive this - especially with so much going on, and the wait blues setting in full force! It brought tears to my eyes to picture a beautiful little baby girl in these lucky ladybug clothes.

You made my day.

Many thanks,
Jenifer Plageman-Davis (and Kevin)

A Lienke Family Ladybug Thank You!

Dear Secret Pal --

Thank you so very much for the wonderful gifts. The little toys, socks, and book were great. However, as usual, you wow'ed me with your talents and the hand-made "hair pretties" and ladybug romper are AWESOME!!! You are so very talented - words cannot express how delighted I was to receive the wonderful romper set. I cannot wait until the time comes when our little girl can wear this beautiful outfit. It is just too precious. I wish I had a tenth of your creativity and talent. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Todd & Kelly Lienke

LID 3/21/07

Ladybugs, Ladybugs, and more Ladybugs

WoW, everything is so cute! I absolutely love the ladybug books and bobbles. We can't wait to put pictures of our precious baby(ies) into and on the frames. Too cute!

I can't thank you enough for all of the wonderful gifts you have given. We will treasure them throughout the years. The SP exchange has been such a great experience, but unfortunately, we are not going to participate anymore. I am finding it more and more difficult to get out and shop (or even shop online). I never realized how little I shop until now! I look forward to following the SP exchange every month on this blog. This has truly been a wonderful experience and I am POSITIVE that our Secret Pal's new Pal will be thrilled with the gifts and goodies that we have been so fortunate to receive.

Thank you a Zillion times.

Sincerely,

The Higdons

Ladybug Love!

Thanks Payne family secret pal for the wonderful ladybug treats. I didn't get a picture because I had to wisk most of it away before Sophie claimed it all as her own. We have read the book a few times and it has been a treat!
Thanks again!
ileana, chris, sophie, & #2 yet to be named

Yummy Yummy Ladybugs !!!

Thank you so much SP for the Ladybug Chocolates, what a great surprise and delicious too. I can not think of anything better then Chocolate to help with the wait (not weight). The company sent a great catalog with the chocolates and now we also have a great place to buy some unique gifts too.
Thanks so much,
Steve & Darcy

Ladybugs De-LIGHT!

Thank you, Secret Pal, for the great ladybug nightlight and book. We love to read and our collection of story books is always growing. The Groucy Ladybug will make a nice addition and we look forward to reading it to our daughter soon. The ladybug night light will be perfect for those scary nights and midnight diaper changes. We are as lucky as a ladybug to have you as our secret pal.

-The Fredricksons
Alan, Jodi, and, some day soon, Sara

Soooooo cute!!!!

Thank you so much, Secret Pal, for the adorable frame and hair clips! We'll be putting our first family photo in the frame in Maggie's room once she comes home, and despite Katie's protests, we're saving the ladybug clips for Maggie. Though judging from the photos we have of her, she doesn't have a whole lot of hair to clip yet! ;-)

What a nice thing to get in the mail on my birthday!

Love, Lisa, Mike, Katie (and Maggie!)

Thank you for all the Lady Bugs!!!!!

I love this theme ladybugs. Thank you SP for all the goodies. The book tags are so neat I have never seen these before. I have the littlest lady bug at the bottom of my monitor so hoping it will bring some good luck on those referrals. Maddie took claim to watch over the stuffed lady bug till her little sister gets here, it is in a small basket next to her bed. Cute mug! Thanks so much for everything.

Steve and Sheri McNally

Thank you late from the Howe's

I am sending a belated but very grateful thank you to our SP for the beautiful silk blanket.
I may not always post but I wanted to say how beautiful it was. My daughter MeiLyn said she was going to hold it tight and protect is for her sissy till she comes homes. :)

Thank you from the Brentnall Family

We received our package. Thank you for all the lovely things. I will post a picture this weekend.
Thank you,
Bonnie

Our March Secret Pals are the Best!! (from the Mallette Family)

Wow, what can we say, this is long overdue but we did thank our Wonderful Secret Pals via email !!(we asked them to make up a "fake email" so that their identity is still secret and they did!! THanks so much for the fantastic Chinese New Year gifts!! We got a wine bottle cover that looks like a traditional dress from China, a gorgeous jewelry box that two of our teen girls are arguing over who gets to use it!! Lovely earrings, a jade good luck pendant that is in our kitchen window, a great book on the Chinese New Year that the big sisters can't wait to read to the little sister and a DVD of "Ratatouille" which has already been watched so many times!! Thanks again, you are the Most Wonderfullest, Thoughfullest Secret Pals ever!!!

Nancy and Andre xo

Thank you from the Maxwell's

Thank you so much for the wonderful gift you sent it was wonderful. I just bought a new camera and have not figured out how to work it yet, so I can't post pictures yet. I also want to wish you a Happy Easter. You are the greatest!!!!

Baby Lem SP

Thank you so much for the wonderful gifts. You are such a great secret pal...

You were so thoughtful with the Tigger comb/brush set, spoon/fork and rattle. The ladybug onezies are just too cute and plush stuffed rat (for the year of the rat) and pink blanket are so soft I can't wait until our little one can snuggle with them.

Thanks again for everything!

Worth the Wait

Dear Secret Pal,

Thank you so much for looking into the package...our crack Post Office allegedly tried to deliver this twice and left notices, but since I work from home and I never saw them try to deliver it, and never saw a notice, I don't believe them.

The doll is so beautiful....my other daughter is already trying to figure out a way to negotiate her way into playing with it. ;-)

Hope you're surviving the wait well...and thank you again!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Dear Secret Pal,

Thank you so much for our Chinese New Year package. You have really out done yourself. We are going to frame some of these items for the nursery. Words cannot express how special this gift is to us.

Sincerely,

The Higdons

Thank you secret buddy!!

Want to send a big thanks to our secret pal who always sends the cutest things.

I love the valentine outfit. I had to have the bear hold the cherry blossom night light because it wouldn't stand up for the picture. The picture isn't the greatest I couldn't get a good angle, but the card you made was so cute, its always nice to get a personal note, the sippy cup, and baby bottle is cute also. The windchimes will have to wait for winter to get over with to be hung up, gotta have nice sunny weather for something cute like that.

Thanks again!

Jennifer and Al

Missing gift?

Not sure if Amy was able to pass the message on, but the Milbrand-Dabaie family is still missing its February gift. (Since I know you ordered it a few weeks ago now, I'm guessing it might have gotten lost in transit.) Looking forward to seeing what you picked out, and hope the wait is going well for you!

Thanks so much SP-The Heinles in Ohio!

We love the two new bibs that you sent! Our little one is definately going to be right in style, because her Dad is definately cool and her Mom thinks she rocks! (Only in their own mind!)
The Chinese New Year book was an awesome one! We are adding it to the collection that we are building!
Wendy

Thank You SP- The McNally's

Thank you for the the ornament and magnet. The little rat is so cute Maddie thinks it is a hamster. We love the cards you send they are so creative, we are saving every one for Kinsey's memory book. Hope you and your family had a great New Year!

Sheri

Thank you so much!

Dear Secret Pal -

We've had the package for awhile now but just haven't had a chance to post; sorry. These were some great gifts and we look forward to sharing them with our daughter some day.

We hope to have a Chinese New Year party some day so I'm sure these will be very useful in planning it.

I love the paper doll book. I had some when I was a little girl and always enjoyed them.

We hope that you and your family continue to endure this long wait and are enjoying the gifts from your secret pal as well. We can hardly wait to see what comes in April for the Ladybug fest!

Lee family thank-you!

Dear Secret Pal:

Thanks so much for the gifts! I can't wait to get our girl and wrap her up in the pink fuzzy blanket....and I know she'll love the rabbit rattle.

I know she'll look so cute in the sparly hat & gloves....can't wait for her to see her first snow (and snowball fight, thanks to your nifty gift). I think that thing might work in the pool, too!

Getting these gifts was a happy reminder that someday, someday we'll be through with this wait!

Jennifer Lee

Thank you from the Plageman-Davis's

Thanks once again to our wonderful Secret Pal. Received the package today and the goodies inside are awesome! I especially loved the children's chopsticks - way cool. The cute little socks really make me long for our little girl, as does the book to read to her before she goes to sleep at night. I will keep the "adult" ornamental chopsticks for myself - I must admit I eat a lot of steamed shrimp as well as sushi!

Thanks again for your thoughtfulness. Happy New Year!

Love,
Jenifer (and Kevin) Plageman-Davis

Sweet Treats :-)

Secret Pal --

Thank you so very much for the wonderful "sweet treats". The bibs will definitely come in handy one day, and believe me I can't wait for that day to arrive. The yummy candies didn't stand a chance in our house - mmmmm mmmmm :-). The cute outfit was just the sweetest, and of course I LOVED the hair pretties. I have to ask - do you make them yourself? I just love hair pretties and hopefully our daughter will one day as well.

Thank you again for the wonderful goodies!

-- The Lienke's :-)

Thank you Trogdon Family SP

Thank you so much to the Trogdon Family SP. We loved all the Chinese New Year related gifts. Kailey was so excited to receive a little something special just for her. She ran around the house playing all day with her Chinese New Year lantern. We also didn't have that Chinese New Year book and will enjoy reading it for many years! We also loved the little New Year "Rat" ornament. This is so much fun! Thank You!

Xie Xie from the Payne Family!

Ileana, Chris & Sophie want to give a big Thank You for our wonderful Valentines/CNY gift from our Secret Pal. Sophie was so excited to receive her gift, it was so sweet to send her something special (although she does feel it is ALL for her :) I don't have a pic of her with her gift because she was dancing around the house in excitement, so I waited until she went to bed to gather everything up for a photo. We didn't have either of those books, so that was great. We read both before bedtime last night! It was a lovely surprise to come home to last night. Thanks so much!!!

Thank You Secret Pal !!

We received our New Year's Gift on 2/15 - it's great. We love the Red Squeaky Shoes (can't wait for Addisyn to wear them) and the Noise Maker and Zodiac Mobile - they are so unique. Thank you so much !!!

A Very Valentines-y Secret Pal!

Thank you Secret Pal! You timed it just right for me to receive on Valentines Day! I got all kinds of clever goodies including the cutest little panda finger puppets, a picture frame with hearts, sugary fixings for cookies and cupcakes (hubbie will love the sweets I make with them!), a heart-shaped cookie cutter, an "i woof you!" dish towel to use in my new kitchen and for my dog, a rawhide bone! We enjoy it all and appreciate the thought you put into the gifts! This sure is fun!!! :)

Missy's SUPER Secret Pal!!!

I am so lucky! Here is one of the two handmade items my amazing secret pal sent.. it took a few days for Chloe to stand still long enough for me to snap the pic... but she LOVES this hat!! It is the only Hat she has been willing to keep on her head for any length of time - and she actually has slept in it! Our package had two hats in it and Miss Chloe can't resist so she opened both and decided yellow is her favorite color - she alternates between the Pink & Yellow (her hat) and the Blue & Yellow (Chance's hat). Here she is modeling her own beautifully made hat!

Pictures of the gifts from our Secret Pal

Again, I want to say thank you to our Secret Pal. Here are some photos of the gifts. Don't you just love the presentation?

Sincerely,

The Higdons

Thank you secret buddy!!

I had to renew my invitation to the blog, so sorry this is late!

I wanted to thank our secret pal for the great package. I LOVE the porcelain tea set! You don't see the lip gloss because its currently in my pruse, Burts Bees brand is one of my favorites. Lip balm is used a LOT here in Michigan.

Kaylie gets so excited to see whats in the packages, and always has to "help" take everything out.

Thanks again!

Jennifer and Al

Hoping...

We are hoping that our gift arrived and that you liked it. Also, hoping that you had a very happy holiday.

Steve & Darcy

Thank You Secret Pal!

This is posted by Amy for Nancy and Andre who are out of town and don't have access to the blog:

To Our Wonderful March Secret Pals:

We can't post to the blog right now as we are out of town looking after Andre's brother. We hope you both had a great holiday and we wanted to thank you so very much for all of the Snowman fun gifts!! The kids loved the snowman making kit and they plan to use it the next time we have a good sticky snowfall!! They were very excited to see it and thought it was super, even our nearly 17 year-old, Sarah! Also, the beautiful snowman blankie for our baby to love and play with (the ribbons are great, how to keep a little one busy!!), and the lovely books too!! It is just great to share this journey with you guys and you are very thoughtful, special people....We were asking Amy to ask you if you could make up a "fake" email on hotmail.com so that we wouldnt know who you are, but we could email back and forth to get to know each other even better...Anyways, see if you have time for that or if it is even feasible...

Thanks so very much again, you made our Christmas very special....!!

Best Wishes,
Nancy and Andre

Thank you from the Brentnall family

Secret Pal,

Thank you so much for all the great stuff. Our little son Jack was so excited. He opened all the packages and distributed all the candy canes to his brothers. We will have lots of fun with the cookie cutters, the books are beautiful, the bibs, the picture frame and little santa purse are so sweet. Have a great new year.

The Brentnall's

Xie xie ni Secret Pal!

The Sealy family have received their gifts and we want to say a big thank you! Adorable winter dress with matching tights, fuzzy hat and gloves as well as a "Santa Loves Me" bib!! What an adorable wintertime outfit for a special girl! Now if we could just get our little girl so she can wear all these goodies...! Thank you very much Secret Pal!!!

Thank You Trogdon Family SP

First, let me start by apologizing that it took me so long to post a thank you. I have been extremely busy with work and then the Holidays and before I knew it, time had slipped away from me.

Thank you so much for all the fun "winter fun" things. We loved everything. The hat and gloves will surely keep our little china bug warm during those cold winter days. I can't wait to put her first picture playing in the snow in the beautiful winter theme picture frame. We absolutely LOVED the book you sent and by "we" I mean our little 4yr. old Kailey. We have read it to her many times! Thank you for the Christmas card...it meant so much to us that you included Mylee in your Holiday wishes.

Hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Year! Thank you, for all the wonderful gifts Mylee will surely treasure them.