OPERATION: LOVE 2012 LOGO!

I know your FAVOURITE part of our projects is seeing the picture that is to be the logo for the project, right? (...RIGHT?!) I thought so. Well, this year is our FIRST YEAR to be including KINGS CHILDREN'S HOME in BELIZE in OPERATION: LOVE!!!!! How exciting is that?! They are an AMAZING home and they take in orphans AS WELL AS ANYONE who is in need. Talk about ultimate service!!!!!! We are SO EXCITED to be able to support their home in this way, and to send lots of love to the darling kids who are staying at the home! Since starting work with a new home is a HUGE deal, we decided to use a picture from King's Children's Home as our logo for this year's OPERATION: LOVE! Bryttan Everett (took pity on us all and) made the logo this year (and you can tell she is MUCH more artistic than I am! Remember the sad logo for OPERATION: LOVE 2010? Sad, sad day.). So, without further ado, here is the official unveiling of the logo for OPERATION: LOVE 2012! THANK YOU, BRYTTAN and King's Children's Home!

OPERATION: LOVE

HAPPY FEBRUARY! Love is in the air, isn't it?! Here at Sixteen Small Stones we are feeling lots of love from all of our wonderful friends and supporters, and are sendinging our love right back to you. Thank you for all of your support! We are also feeling the love for some special little kids around the world! As you all know, this month is our annual OPERATION: LOVE project (I can hear the cyber-crowd go wild!)! This year, we have even more kids than ever in our OPERATION: LOVE program, and we are excited to be able to reach out and touch so many little lives. Will you join us? OPERATION: LOVE is when we collect "Valentines" (any note of love, really) and send them to the kids in our OPERATION: LOVE program. Anyone and everyone can participate! People who are interested can buy Valentines OR homemake Valentines! You can donate one Valentine or one hundred! It is totally up to you! If you are not really the Valentining sort, but want to be involved, you can donate money to put toward the cost of sending the Valentines!! YOU WANT TO MAKE VALENTINES? Sure! The kids LOVE the homemade quality of Valentines made by YOU (and/or your kids!). Remember some of the kids are little, so make sure there is nothing they could choke on (bells that can pull off, etc.). Some of the children have visual impairments, so adding embelishments like soft feathers or fuzzy stickers are a wonderful way to help them enjoy their Valentines! YOU WANT TO BUY VALENTINES? Great! The kids LOVE the cute, cartoon-ey pictures found on store-bought Valentines! Many come with candies or stickers, and that is great! The kids love any little extra "treat"! WHAT DO I DO NEXT? The premise of OPERATION: LOVE is to send love to kids who otherwise not feel there is anyone who really cares about them. Recieving a special "Valentine" is a physical reminder that they are important and valuable and loveable. It is something they can carry with them and keep forever. Although the cute pictures are fun, the real meaningful part of the Valentine comes in the message printed on it. Writing words of love and encouragement on your Valentine tells the children they are LOVED! Keep in mind that the children do not celebrate Valentine's Day in their country, so wishing them a, "Happy Valentines Day" will not hold the same meaning to them as it would to children in America. It is important to tell them in other ways that they are loved and you are wishing them happiness. **NOTE: Signing your name (or having your child sign his name) makes the Valentine very personal and give them children the feeling that someone specific cares about them.** Here are some examples of what you might write on your Valentine: Hello! You are such a wonderful person and I love you! You are special! I love you! I am sending lots of love and good wishes your way! I LOVE YOU! Hello! My name is _________ and I love you! I hope you have a good day! Never forget how special and important you are! I LOVE YOU! WHO WILL RECEIVE MY VALENTINES? You can specify if you want your Valentines to go to a specific country, but it is best if you send them and Sixteen Small Stones can make sure enough go to each home. Your Valentines will be sent to: Racham Ministries--Uganda, Africa. Serving His Children--Uganda, Africa--A home that takes in severely malnourished children and rehabilitates them. The Kings Children's Home--Belmopan, Belize--A home that takes in needy children, adults and orphans. We are contacting some homes in China and India to see if they are wanting to be involved in OPERATION: LOVE this year! We will let you know what they say! :) We hope they will want to be involved!!!!!!! I HAVE MY VALENTINES READY! WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM? You can either mail them to Sixteen Small Stones, or drop them off in person. The address to mail them or deliver them is the same! Sixteen Small Stones C/O Breclyn S. Everett 445 East Center Shelley, Idaho 83274 U.S.A NOT DONE YET!!!!!! PLEASE leave us a comment and let us know if you are wanting to send Valentines! We are excited to hear who is involved! Also, you can take pictures of you making/buying/writing your Valentines and send them to us! We will post them in our later post about OPERATION: LOVE! :) THANK YOU to EVERYONE! Let us know if you have any questions!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! This is a FANTASTIC new year, and here is why. I called Katie to wish her a happy Chinese New Year. I have never the entire time I have known her heard her voice so happy, so full of hope. Of course, she will always have to "work" like everyone, but she is no longer a prisoner. She has her life back. She has her daughter back. She and her family had gone out to eat for the holiday, and were outside walking around town. It was snowing and they were feeling the excitement and and magic that comes when a small child sees the first snowfall of the year. I admit, I don't like it when it snows. It is cold, and slushy and I hate it. I don't want to take Taiger outside to play in the snow. My feet get cold and wet, and my hands get cold. I am willing to miss those moments in a magical snowfall because I am a mother who has had the luxury of being with my child every second of his life. I have seen his eyes light up with magic. I have held him in my arms and absorbed his joy and excitement. I have laughed with him over the simple things in life. And now Katie gets to experience that with her daughter, for the first time in her daughter's life. This New Year is wonderful for Katie and her family because of the hope you have all given her. Through your support, your love, your prayers. The warm clothes sent for YueYue made it possible for her to stand out in the snow with her parents, surrounded by their love and their presence, and watch as the icy glitter drifted down. Thank you all for giving this family hope, joy and, most importantly, each other.

Update about Katie

Okay, so I got off the phone with Katie a while ago and I wanted to let you all know what is going on. Katie quit! She quit her "job". At first I was upset!! Not AT her, but just about the situation. Then, I felt proud of her. Proud that she did what was right for her and her family. So, she is moving to live with her husband's family and her little girl. Her husband has to stay in southern China to continue working at the factory. :( That is sad. But at least she will be with YueYue again, and she won't have to work anymore. She won't be living on the street, as I had feared. She will be at her in-law's home. They are poor farmers, so I know it won't be the "lap of luxury", but that is fine. I am just so thankful she will be with her little girl and in a home. :) Katie is worried about how they will make it financially. She doesn't know if they will have enough money. She doesn't know what will happen in the future. If you could continue to pray for her, it would be really appreciated. I don't know what the coming weeks and months will look like for her. Also, if anyone wants a good place to donate a little money, sending ANY to Katie would go a LONG way. Thank you all for everything! Have a fantastic day!

Merry Christmas to All!

Hello Friends and Followers! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!! I had some friends who did AMAZING service over the holiday...from serving the homeless, to going to Africa, to moving in with family to help with a sick loved one, to buying a special gift for a friend. What did YOU do this season to look outside yourself? Did you bring a dessert to a church Christmas party? Did you give a special gift to someone you love? Did you do a service project for someone in need? Post a comment here and let us know. We LOOOVE to hear what everyone is doing to serve others! Me? I loved on my little boy and gave him a happy Christmas. :) I am so excited about everything happening with Sixteen Small Stones! For right now, I am calling out for PRAYERS and/or POSITIVE THOUGHTS! The first thing is for something AMAZING. It is something that would help NOT ONLY SIXTEEN SMALL STONES, but would help HUNDREDS of organizations that help people! Could you imagine?! An amazing way for ONE person to touch THOUSANDS (not exaggerating here) of lives. (Doesn't it give you a "warm fuzzy" inside?! It does me!) So, please, please, PLEASE pray and/or send up positive thoughts that this will all work out. I know you all want to know WHAT it is, but I can't tell you right now :(. But not to worry! It isn't some big SECRET...just something private that you will get to hear about soon enough. :) Okay, the next thing...remember Katie? And her sweet husband and daughter? I received an email from her today, and she sounded pretty upset. It was a really short email so there wasn't much info, but from what I gather, Katie has lost her job at the factory. Now, even though she only made pennies a day, it was at least keeping her from having to live on the street. Now I don't know what will happen. In China, you can't just go in to some place and apply for a job. Even in the wonderful country of America it is hard to find work. In China? Almost impossible. (Which is why she was working in a "sweat shop" in the first place.) Anyway, Katie asked in her email that I call her tomorrow, so I will do that and update you all. In the meantime, prayers and positive thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you all for following Sixteen Small Stones! We hope you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! And have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D :D

National Adoption Month...YIPPEE!!!!

OH MY GOODNESS! I almost forgot!! November is NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH! I LOOOOVE IT! Has your life been touched by adoption? Tell me your story! I LOOOOVE adoption stories! :)

Thankful!

So, I have seen people on facebook doing a fun thing for November: Telling one thing a day for which they are thankful! I think it is a great idea. I like hearing what others are thankful for because it reminds me to be thankful for it, too. I want to participate, so that I can pay attention each day to something for which I am thankful. SO...I am starting four days late, so I will tell four things today for which I am thankful. 1. Taiger 2. My sewing machine 3. My family 4. My bed What are you thankful for today?