Kids lasted maybe 15 minutes out there. Had to include the picture of poor Mark. We have a new snowblower in the garage…it won’t start….still. This is the second snowstorm of the season that he’s had to shovel all the time knowing that there is a very expensive snowblower in the garage just sitting there. And, guess what? More snow is forecasted for Tuesday. Nice. Well, at least we know that Lydia is warm. High of 55 degrees in her hometown today!

We’ve been matched folks! Now, I really have to kick it into gear with Lydia’s 100 wishes quilt. We are a little over half way there with the number of wishes we’ve received. Please consider being a part of this for her.

To welcome new life, a tradition exists in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei (100 good wishes quilt). Family and friends are invited to contribute a square of cloth along with a good wish for the baby. The squares of cloth are all sewn together into a quilt, and the good wishes are put into a scrapbook for the child. The quilt symbolizes wrapping the child in the good wishes of family and friends.

We are making our own version of this quilt by making a yo-yo blanket for her and a yo-yo doll for her big sister Ashlyn.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Choose a 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can come from a quilting or fabric store, fabric you already have, or something that is special to you like an old piece of significant clothing, etc. Mark contributed one of his favorite old t-shirts. Drew contributed one of his “na-na”s (blankies).
2. Wash the material if it is new to let it shrink before it is cut.
3. Cut a square measuring about 12″ by 12″ (I will be cutting it into 4 6×6 squares)
4. Write your wish for Lydia. The wish can be your own words or thoughts, a favorite poem or quote, a blessing, a prayer, or a favorite scripture—whatever keepsake words you would like Lydia to have from you. You can e-mail a message to me (mkraudy@verizon.net) or send a hard copy. If you are sending a hard copy, please do not make these larger than letter sized. From these, I will compile a scrapbook for her. Please also include a picture of you or your family—you can e-mail a digital picture to me or send me a hard copy. We would love for you to write a few words separately for Ashlyn as well so that she can have a scrapbook that goes along with her yo-yo doll. So, if you could do something similar for Ash, that would be great.

Thanks for contributing to these keepsakes for both of our daughters. I’m excited about putting it all together and telling Lydia all about each one of you and how we all anticipated her arrival into our family as well as encouraging Ashlyn in her role as big sister.