thank you so much to wohlford's secret pal!

Thank you so much once again! My husband told me when the box came last Friday. Unfortunately we were on our way out of town, so I had to wait until Sunday to open it. That was probably good timing, however, because we were helping with a baby dedication at church and were a little sad about our own baby not being there. But the gift cheered us up!

You are such a great pal! It was so thoughtful of you to remember the frogs. The one you gave us is especially soft and cuddly. The light switch plate goes perfectly in our play room. I can't wait to get finished painting it so we can put it up. I'm going to take some of the ladybug paperclips to school to brighten my days there. (Which I need!) The squishy blocks will be great for the baby! And books are my weekness. They were perfect. Soft books are especially hard to find. I hope you have a great month!

We are blessed by our Secret Pal!

I was so EXCITED today, after a really busy day at work (9 babies to
deliver in 8 hours) to receive 2 boxes. I got the most adorable lavender dress, matching
coat, hat and diaper cover-it will be perfect for her to go to church.
I love purple and it is really pretty. Also, a whole set of colorful
mealtime accessories, a leap frog educational fridge farm (with a
purple cow), a boo-boo puppy to soothe the ouches of the world and an
animal puzzle. I LOVE everything! THANK YOU and I feel blessed to be a
part of such a wonderful group! Thank you all (but expecially my great
secret pal!) Jan Mc

The Wall Family

My name is Sheryl and my Husband is Brian. We are in the process of adopting our first child. We have three dogs, Natisa, Cosette, and Shane and one cat, Yoshi.

Blog: http://thewalls.atspace.com/ This is our website, just go to the adoption link to see our blog.

Girl or Boy requested: Girl

Age Requested: As young as possible, our agency said she could be anywhere from 6 to 15 months old.

Baby's Name: Kiana Elizabeth Wall

Nursery: The main color is pastel pink, the complimenting colors are all pastels: Purple, blue, and green. The walls are yellow and the trim and ceiling are pink. The theme is Classic Pooh and Beatrix Potter. There are also pastel daisys and Butterflies in the baby bedding. So far we have a crib, dresser, shelf, and toybox.

Likes/Dislikes: I like animals, especially dogs. My favorite breed is Westies. I compete in Agility with my dogs and do therapy volunteer work with my dog, Natisa. I like to travel and see new places, I like the beach, Pizza, and Chocolate. I love going to musicals and plays. My favorite color is Purple. My favorite flowers are carnations, pansys and Roses. I like to shop especially for my pets and my baby girl. I dislike for the most part the color orange. I also don't like math and McDonalds.

Hobbies or Collectables: I collect glass cat and dog figurines, fairie tots, and Italian Charms.I like to read, write, photography, go on walks, biking, raquetball, croqueting, and music. I play trumpet.

Favorite Fragrance or scent: Plumeria and vanilla

Favorite Author or Genre of Books: I like to read dog and cat books and magazines, Christian Living, books about adoption, and fantasy. I love collecting books for our daugther, I love books about adoption and my favorite children's authors are Eric Carle, Jane Yolen, A.A. Milne, Rosemary Wells, and Beatrix Potter.

Favorite Movies: I love the Disney Movies, Anne of Green Gables, Annie, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Princess Bride, The Dreamer, Superman Returns, Batman Begins, plus many more. For our daughter I would love to own the Einstien movies, more of the Disney movies, and Dora the Explorer.

Favorite Type of Music: Christian Contemporary, Jazz, and Big Band. I like singers like Steven Curtis Chapman, John Pizzarelli, Katherine McPhee, and Taylor Hicks.

Registered at what Stores: None yet.

Anything Else that would be useful for your secret pal to get to know you: I have an A.S. Degree in Child Development and love to work with Children. I work part time right now but hope to be a stay at home mom once Kiana is home with us.

Thank You Clark Family Secret Pal!

I received my August gift from my super amazing Secret Pal!

Our postal service damaged the envelope right on the address so it was slightly delayed.

But I received it in relatively one piece and I LOVE everything! The dog theme is very appropriate and I am in love with the dachshund needlepoint you made. You are so original! Thanks for also thinking of Miss Daisy! And you are right that Daphne will have to learn that there are other animals other then dogs!!!

I have been really good at not trying to figure out who they are. But they are sneaky! The shipping locations keep changing! Literally it is from all over the US and even from Europe!

I love it! I am a huge fan of surprises so that is why I love this swap.

Thanks again for the lovely presents. They are wonderful. As are you!

A Little About Us!

Name: Kylie & Don - we live just outside of Washington, D.C. in Northern Virginia. I am originally from Portland, Oregon, and Don is originally from Houston, TX. We are here courtesy of the US Navy - Don is a naval officer. Prior to this duty station we were in Hawaii for 3 years - it was awesome, so we pretty much LOVE the tropics, the beach and anything having to do with the ocean! I am a dentist by training, but am currently not practicing - I have a small woodcrafts business (www.motherbswoodcrafts.com) which I love! We have a wonderful Golden Retriever who is our 4-legged furbaby!

Girl or Boy: Girl

Age: AYAP

Nursery: Pottery Barn Kids Chloe pattern - it's discontinued but I found everything on Ebay. :-) Colors are mainly bright pinks, greens and turquoise blues.

Name: Waiting for referral to see what her Chinese name is.

Likes: LOVE Diet Coke, M & M's, good restaurants (seafood, Mexican, sushi, Italian and a good steak!), traveling, dogs, (especially Golden Retrievers and Newfoundlands) animals, chocolate, roller coasters, SHOPPING (Ralph Lauren, Nordstom, T.J. Maxx, Old Navy, Target). I love classic little girl clothes, sort of girly stuff (but not super dooper frilly/ruffly). Favorite colors are purple, pink, turquoise. Favorite flowers - gardenias, sunflowers, stargazer lilies, daffodils, tulips, tuberose, delphinium, and of course, roses are awesome! There really aren't that many things I dislike - although I am not really into Disney characters, Precious Moments, and cartoony stuff. I like unusual stuff - sort of eclectic and funky (that's kind of my decorating style, too). And I enjoy trying new things.

Hobbies/Collectibles: Traveling, hanging out with my awesome husband, snow skiing, walking our dog, photography, gardening, movies, home decorating, doing projects around the house, birdwatching, flowers, shopping, music (I sing in the worship choir at our church), woodcrafts. Don loves anything having to do with the water/ocean/boating, and also loves working with computers (Macs), paintball, and playing Halo. Don graduated from the Naval Academy, so we love the Army/Navy football rivalry! We have both recently gotten our Ham radio licenses. We belong to an awesome church - we are very active in our church and work with our youth group (jr high through high school). I don't really collect anything, although I do love plates/dishes (Deruta, Spode, Quimper Faience) and probably already have too many!


Favorite fragrance/scent: I love Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena and lavender scents. I'm not really into candles. Favorite perfumes: Burberry Brit, Lauren, Prescriptives Calyx, and Philosophy Amazing Grace.


Favorite Music: Christian Rock(Switchfoot, Kutless, Delirious, Third Day, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, Chris Tomlin, Kim Hill, Steven Curtis Chapman, Jennifer Knapp, Casting Crowns), 80's & 90's pop & rock. Not really into rap, but like pretty much everything else.

Favorite Author/Genre: A couple of my favorite books: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Anything Considered by Peter Mayle. Authors I enjoy: Peter Mayle, Joel Rosenberg, Jan Karon, Max Lucado, Ken Gire, John Grisham, and of course, J.K. Rowling! :-)

Movies: LOVE movies!! My favorites are a fairly eclectic group - here they are: You've Got Mail, French Kiss, Sleepless in Seattle, (big Meg Ryan fan!) Just Like Heaven, Doris Day movies (Pillow Talk, etc.), Cary Grant movies (Bringing Up Baby, Father Goose, Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, etc.), Gaslight, Rear Window, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Escape, Stalig 17, Patton, The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, The Patriot, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Harry Potter, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, So I Married an Axe Murderer, Napoleon Dynamite, Chronicles of Narnia. So, as you can see we love movies, and we have a pretty broad range of types that we like.

TV: The Amazing Race - LOVE IT!!! 24 - LOVE IT!!! Also enjoy Project Runway, NCIS, The 4400, Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, new Battlestar Galactica and (I'm a little embarrassed to admit this...)Dog the Bounty Hunter!


Registered at what store(s): Not registered yet.

Anything else that would be useful for your Secret Pal to get to know you: This will be our first child and we are so incredibly excited! :-) We were DTC 2/09/06 and have a LID of 3/6/06. I am really looking forward to the gift exchange and getting to know y'all better! This is a great way to pass the time while we are waiting for our precious children! :-)

Estok's Secret Pal

As you can see, this month's gift caught Logan's interest. I think it could be the adorable music it plays, but yes - that's his snout in the picture.

My Secret Pal sent us a Fisher-Price nursery rhymes CD player. It's super cute! It teaches the names of 5 animals plus plays 5 nursery rhymes. I absolutely love it - and an extra "gold star" for coordinating the adorable zebra-striped card. How did you know I love animal print?

Thanks again, Secret Pal!

Greetings!

Hi all!

I was told to tell a bit about myself so here goes! My name is Dawn Shelton and I live in Minneapolis with my husband Lee and some garanimals (dogs, cats, fish, birds). I work for Entertainment (the big coupon books) and am also a singer (www.dawnshelton.com) as is my husband (www.gnunion.com). We are decorating our nursery with Looney Tunes, primarily Bugs Bunny, my childhood hero.


We have been married for 15 years this Christmas and Olivia will be our first child. We are so excited!


Girl or Boy requested: A Girl, age 6-14 months.

Likes: I love animals; spending time with my husband, friends and family; playing games; watching movies; traveling and doing creative projects. My favorite thing about Minnesota summers is canoeing and swimming in the lakes and my favorite thing about Minnesota winters is doing any of these other indoor activities by the fireplace sipping hot cocoa. I like my job, and feel blessed to say so. I also adore children. It's about time I have one of my own! We are active in our church and the Lydia Fund (lydiafund.org).

Dislikes: Anything too "cutesy" or frilly. Road construction. Spiders. Beans. People who can't see the possibilities. Health problems!

Hobbies/Collections: I like to scrapbook, knit, sew (I am not that good - I am learning how to make handbags right now). I am not big on collections at all unless we are talking about Bugs Bunny again.

Favorite fragrance or scent: I only use the little sprays from Bath & Body Works. I like light scents, nothing to perfumey. I love the True Blue Spa line at B & B Works. I like scented candles, but more in the cinnamon/vanilla/Christmassy scents.

Favorite books: Fried Green Tomatoes, The Waiting Child and any autobiography or biography.

Favorite movies: Ok here's where you see that I am 36 going on 16 - Napoleon Dynamite (my absolute favorite!!), Joe vs. the Volcano, While You Were Sleeping.

Favorite music: I can appreciate almost any genre (sans rap!) But my favorite is the magical music of Gershwin. I have requested Michael McDonald's greatest hits for Christmas, which shows that I have a wide range of musical interests!

Registered at what store(s): I am not registered yet.

Thanks! I am excited to join you!

Kramer's special gift

I am so sorry that I am late posting this but time got away from me. I came home from a busy day to a box from my secret pal. Inside was the cutest card personalized just for Emma and her very first pony. I loved the horse and had fun playing with it. I know Emma will love it as long as we can keep it away from Jack. Thank you so much secret pal. You sure do spoil Emma!