Willow Family Adventures

Will's Adoption Video (really it's more of a slideshow)

2012-01-30T18:50:00.000-06:00

I worked on Will's adoption video this week. I used Window Live Movie Maker and nearly went insane trying to get everything where I wanted it. I see a couple things I would like to change - but no way am I messing with it again (at least not for a year or so). I really like making these slide shows of the kids adoption stories. I am terrible at making photo albums. By terrible I mean that I don't have any photo albums of the kids. All my pictures are on the computers and I haven't even printed any of them. I figure why waste the paper. Anyway, I just needed to admit that I am a bad mother and none of my kids will ever have a baby/memory book. I guess I will look on the bright side and figure that in the next couple years the kids can just go on the computer, go through all million of their photos and make their own.

Will's adoption has been so smooth thus far. I hope that our story is encouraging to others who consider adoption. My husband and I had just enough courage to start the process. I guess that is all that we needed and then God took over and made everything fall into place. If you are thinking of adopting my advice is to stop being scared and take that first step.

I found this quote from C.S. Lewis (Into the Wardrobe) - I really like it:

" To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way."

So enough discussion, here is the video:

Orphan Sunday

2012-01-19T18:53:00.001-06:00

I know the dates are wrong on my banner, but Orphan Sunday is coming late to our church this year. We had to put it off a couple months since we were in China adding Will to his forever family. We are now having our event on February 19. I am so excited. We are going to have information on adoption (international and domestic), foster care, and child sponsorship. My goal for the event is to spur families to consider adoption and for others in the church for whom this isn’t an option to realize that they can care for the orphan in a different way. We are hoping to grow our ministry in a way in which we can meet needs of foster children/parent’s in our own community, provide financial/emotional/educational support for adoptive families, and to encourage child sponsorship or volunteerism. If you could please start praying for our church as they receive this message for open hearts and minds from the congregation I would really appreciate it!

Here is a great video from the Christian Alliance for Orphans about the need – click on Orphan Sunday below for the link:

Orphan Sunday 2011 from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Will!

2012-01-12T21:26:00.001-06:00

This week was Will’s first birthday. Well, actually he turned 5, but I am pretty sure it is the first time he actually celebrated a birthday. He was so happy. He has very quickly learned how to sing Happy Birthday and enjoyed the fun immensely. It’s funny the night I took this photo was actually the day before his birthday. We had to try and fit cake in between tumbling, basketball, and boy scouts this week. He had cake on this particular day, but I didn’t give him his gifts until the next day. He didn’t care, he was just thrilled with his homemade strawberry cake, decorated by his sister. He was so excited to take cupcakes to his preschool class to celebrate and some fruit snacks to daycare. He just soaked it all up and it was so nice to see. I love this time with him where everything is new and he has such joy even though it wasn’t fancy and the celebration was squeezed into a few minutes between other activities. He talked a lot about the day although I have no idea what he said, between the language barrier and the speech issues related to his cleft palate – it didn’t really matter – I know what he meant. These are the things that make me such an advocate of older child adoption. My son is truly happy for his Happy Birthday.

A Word To My Church and Community

2011-11-27T16:01:00.001-06:00

We have been home a little over a week with Will. He is doing so well and I always hope that our families adoptions will show what a joy growing your family in this way can be. I want to talk a little about positive adoption language (AKA - what you should say and what you shouldn't!). I am saying this because before I adopted I never thought about it. Why should I care? Well, if you interact with my family or any other family in the world who has adopted it is important that you pay attention. I would compare this lesson to an etiquette lesson (AKA - how not to hurt my or my children's feelings, or otherwise cause permanent damage to a child's delicate self-image). Now keep in mind, I don't get my feelings hurt easily and no one who has said anything to me in the past has nhurt my feelings, so don't feel bad if you have ever said something to me which may be somewhat inappropriate. So, what do I mean: Example #1: How many kids do you have of your own? I have 5 kids. I may respond with this or I may say I have 2 biological and 3 adopted children. These children are all very much my own and not someone else's. So, never ask a adoptive parent how many kids they have of their own - because all of their children are very real and very much a member of the family, no matter how they arrived. Example #2: Do you know their real parents? Well, sure - I am their real parent. All of my adopted children also have very real birth parents, and no, I don't know who they are. It is illegal to give your child up for adoption in China, so no Chinese child will have known birth parents. If the child is adopted from another country the parents may know who their bio parents are, but it really isn't any of your business unless the adoptive parent chooses to share that information with you. Example #3: How expensive was your kid or I heard that adopting from there was REALLY expensive? Don't ask me how much it cost to adopt unless you have a legitimate interest in that information. In this case I will be happy to talk your ear off about every single detail of my adoption process including the cost. If you are asking because you can't believe I would pay that much to adopt, then you shouldn't really ask me the question. After all, I didn't ask you why you just bought a new car which cost more than my adoption while I am still driving a 10 year old minivan and loving on my newest most wonderful gift from God. I am sure your new car is just as snugly in the morning and blesses you each day also, OK - so I will digress. Example #4: Why not adopt a child from the US? Because my child was in China. Have you met them, they are obviously mine. I don't care where you adopt from, where you sponsor a child from, whatever, just do something!!! Stop asking me silly questions, start doing what Jesus did and Go ye therefore into all nations - Wherever you need to go - just do SOMETHING (because right now doing nothing is what most Christians are doing and to tell you the truth it reflects poorly upon us!) OK, so I could give you some more reasons about why China, but I won't! Example #5: You all are really good people for adopting. (OK, so this isn't a question, but a statement I have heard no less than 100 times in anticipation of our most recent adoption since apparently normal people might adopt once or twice, but if you adopt 3 times you must be a saint) We are not saints, we love our kids and have chosen to grow our family through adoption (If I was pregnant for the 5th time you would ask me why I don't use more birth control - but adopting was obviously not an accident). God very clearly tells us to care for the old and the young in the Bible: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 -- Our family could choose to follow this by sponsoring more children, supporting an orphanage, continuing to work on medical missions trips. I hope we do all these things. I can't ignore the fact that God has given us the resources and the desire to add another child to this family. If God has given these things to you, how can you say no? I thank God every day for not letting fear take over and stop our family from very clearly following his plan for our family. We are not special, but our kids sure are! As I hope the number of adopted children in our community and congregation grow - please take a minute to make sure that you are making an effort to welcome these very wanted children with all the respect that they deserve. Here is a link to a website with positive adoption language in case my long-winded discussion hasn't bored you to death yet: http://www.holtinternational.org/adoption/language.shtml

We're Home

2011-11-25T10:16:00.001-06:00

We have been home since last Friday night (or early Saturday morning depending on how you look at it). We are back to work and being on call. The kids have started back at school (nice to start back on a 2 day school week). Will is jumping right in to our normal family activities. I went to preschool with him on Monday and then on Tuesday I took him and dropped him off. He did great and just followed along with the rest of the class. Preschool only last about 2 1/2 hours so it isn't to much stress on him. We are going to have Thanksgiving today with family (we can never do holidays on the actual day!) I plan to keep updating the blog - although less frequently since we will be going through some upcoming surgeries with Will. His first appointment at the cleft clinic is in about 3 weeks.

Orphan No More

2011-11-15T06:35:00.001-06:00

My child is an orphan no more. We had another free day today in Guangzhou. Tomorrow morning we go to the US Consulate where we have the oath taking ceremony for Will’s US citizenship. He will receive his visa the next day and at his port of entry into the US (Chicago for us) automatically becomes a US citizen as soon as we pass through immigration. We spent this morning at the park and this afternoon we went to a Buddhist Temple. Although we are very anxious to return home, I am thankful for this time of bonding that we have with Will and the other kids. As soon as we return home we will have the normal daily distractions and will miss the time we had here.

The Finding Place

2011-11-14T06:20:00.001-06:00

On Thursday we went to Will’s finding place. We also saw the finding places of the other 3 children in our group. We were able to find the exact place he was found. The neighborhood looked very poor. I guess I won’t tell you the exact place he was found. If he would like to share that when he gets older he will let you know. I took a lot of photos of the finding place, since development in the area will probably mean that fairly soon this entire neighborhood will be demolished to make way for more high-rises. When we were returning to our bus the driver found some locals who had heard about the baby who was found here. We felt very lucky to get so much information on the place of Will’s finding. At another child’s finding place we met the people who actually found the baby and reported it to the police. You almost feel as if you could spend more time there you could get even more of your child’s story. A part of your child’s life that they will otherwise never know. I have to say that this day was the most amazing I have experienced with all three adoptions. Actually seeing where my child spent time and the exact place they were found was invaluable to preserving their history.

Yuntai Park

2011-11-14T06:18:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we went to a park called Yuntai Park. The weather here is beautiful and the park was a nice reprieve from the huge crowds of people that are everywhere (the park was crowded by US standards, but not by China ones). The kids had fun and Claire was able to part ways with some of her walnut money and buy a bubble blower. This made Claire very happy. The theme of the park right now (apparently it changes) was underwater. I really like the photo where Wesley is dressed just like the giant octopus. You know the octopus that ate Tokyo (just like Wesley has eaten his way through China). Ironic, I know.

Changchun Orphanage Visit

2011-11-12T06:57:00.001-06:00

We had a great day on Thursday. We were able to visit the orphanage where our group’s children spent some of their time. Will was in foster care and went to preschool in a program provided by Half the Sky. The orphanage is also a Half the Sky facility which provides care to many severely disabled children. They receive physical therapy, education, and from what I could see, very loving care while they are there. Some of the children have only minor special needs and will soon be adopted by families.

My child is lucky. Born by a twist of fate (or by God’s grace) in an area with such a wonderful place to be cared for until he could join his forever family. I have now adopted a child from an orphanage where my child was fed and changed but received no attention whatsoever to encourage appropriate physical develop. I have a child from an orphanage where my child was fed and given attention, but the effects of long term institutionalization were very evident in their ability to bond and have close relationships (we have obviously worked through this!). I now also have a child that was nurtured in the way a child should be and the difference is amazing. Over the past few weeks I have heard from so many people that what our family is doing is so nice. We aren’t any more special (or nicer) than anyone else. I have had thoughts that this was a mistake, more than we could handle, was messing up our normal routing, and I have been scared, but then I saw his face and he stopped crying and he gave me a hug and told me he loved me – where we are is no mistake! We just love our kids and knew we could love more. We were open to this gift that God had in store for us. Thanks to God for leaving our hearts open so we didn’t miss this! If you want to do something nice for a child or orphan (and you should be doing this on a regular basis), sponsor a child through World Vision, give a generous donation to an organization like Half the Sky or Love Without Boundaries that is changing the world for orphans, send a shoebox gift through Samaritan's Purse, donate food/clothing/toys to your local food pantry this holiday to help a local child in need. If you have the space in your home, the ability to love a child in your heart, and a knowledge that God won’t give you anything you can’t handle, consider adoption. It has changed my life and it has changed the life of my entire family and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!

Matthew 25:40

Oh, the excitement of a large city in China

2011-11-09T06:29:00.001-06:00

Travel Tip: When planning extended trip to China do not plan to spend more than a day in Changchun. Yesterday I went to the concierge at our hotel to ask what we could do. You know tourist type of stuff. He seemed a bit taken aback. As if no tourist has ever actually come to this city. I think he was right. He looked at my kids (Claire and Will, ages 6 &4) were with me and said it was to cold to go to any of the many nice parks that are very green in the summer. We could go visit the Puppet Palace (but we were going to do that the next day) or he suggested a nice mall that was a little ways away. I can think of nothing more painful than to take 5 children to the mall. So, in the end we didn’t do anything in the afternoon. The kids swam in the pool and I went with our Holt guide to double check our adoption paperwork. We went to Wal-Mart, because somehow spending time here is much more comforting in a foreign country than at home (do people really drink black fungus juice and eat prawn candy?). In the evening we went with another family to a nearby restaurant for a real local (northern China) type of meal. We had a great time and for 275 Yuan (about $45) had a fantastic meal with more than we could ever eat for our group of 13 people. Now that’s what I call living! (I actually don’t have any great pictures of doing paperwork and I forgot to take my camera to supper, so just a couple of new pictures of Will)

Will Joins The Family

2011-11-07T02:18:00.001-06:00

Today Will became part of our family. He is hanging out in the hotel room now, just like he has always been here. We left first thing this morning for the Civil Affairs Office.

We were about 10 minutes late since our guide had to pick up the orphanage donation at the bank. The children were all there waiting for us. There were 4 families adopting today. All the children were less than thrilled with their new situation. Will gave us some snacks when we came in and then went back to stand with his nanny.

He did not want to come and be with us and kept moving as far away as possible. When his nanny left the room he cried and cried.

He walked around the room to go and sit by the orphanage official (and as far away from us as possible). Benjamin showed him the Nintendo and they instantly had a technology bond. All the kids played Nintendo together until we finished all the adoptions about an hour later.

We then went to have our adoption photo taken and documents notarized elsewhere.

By the time we returned to the hotel he was doing really well. He has now gone out for noodles with us and is having lots of fun playing with his toys. So far, so good. What a blessed family we are!

First Day in Changchun

2011-11-06T13:45:00.001-06:00

We arrived in Changchun, the city where Will lives, yesterday afternoon. We didn’t get to the hotel until after dark (it is dark before 5 pm here) so as usual, everyone except me went to be way to early. We woke up this morning and had a most amazing breakfast at the hotel. It is a huge buffet with every Chinese and Western dish you can imagine. So at least for now our 5 star hotel was worth the price (sort of). We then did all our laundry in the sink and bathtub – that was really fun. I think their may be something oxymoronic about having wet laundry hanging all over a $200+ a night hotel room (we didn’t choose the hotel and would normally never spend that much – but this is the hotel our agency chooses – I am assuming it is one of probably only 2 in this city that speaks enough English for families to feel comfortable). We wandered around the nearby streets of this small city in northern China with only 7 million other people. Kendell played ping pong with a Chinese man who didn’t speak English for awhile. I thought the guy was pretty good, but Kendell was pretty sure he could beat him. The kids went swimming in the pool and had a great time. I had apparently eaten too much Thai food the day prior and sat out the swimming extravaganza. We had missed a call from another family while we were out and we went to their room to meet them and their 3 daughters (ages 7 and 9). We were talking for awhile and I just knew that their 9 year old daughter was familiar. We found out that in 2005 we had travelled with them to China when we adopted Claire (and they got their 7 year old). We had gone out to dinner with them back then – kind of ironic meeting them again here. We then went out to Pizza Hut with their family and then once again back to the hotel to go to bed just after 7 pm. The jet lag is just wiping the kids out. I, however, am up blogging at 2 am since I can’t sleep and Wesley won’t let me turn on a light. We meet will in about 7 hours – I am excited and nervous.

Hangzhou, China

2011-11-04T06:55:00.000-05:00

We have been incredibly lucky to spend the last 2 days in Hangzhou with Lynn’s parents. They have been so nice and generous. We are staying at the Overseas Chinese Hotel. I am having a lot of trouble with my internet here so I haven’t been able to keep in touch. We have also been very busy. We took a boat ride on West Lake this morning and then went to an area called Old Town for shopping/people watching.

This is a shopping area where they sell typical Chinese crafts. The kids had a great time watching the artisans there working on their crafts.

We also got to taste some really great candy fruity like snacks (I know that doesn’t explain it well – but I have no idea what they were.)

We walked through a food market there where they sold chicken that had been covered in mud and then buried and cooked underground. Sadly enough I didn’t try it. Also didn’t eat the duck or rabbit heads that looked yummy or the tofu that smelled like rotten badness.

We did however eat Thai at a nearby restaurant that was fantastic. Last night we went to a performance called Impression West Lake. It was great. I can’t describe it – but I am sure you can Google it if you like. It was produced by the man who did the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. Well that is my update for now. Hopefully I will have better internet access tomorrow and can give so more interesting details. Right now I am tired and have 4 sleeping kids in my room, which makes it very hard to stay awake. I will work on getting some photos to upload tomorrow when I am at the airport, hopefully.

Ready To Go!

2011-10-30T21:30:00.001-05:00

I have spent all day finishing up the packing and cleaning the house and doing a whole bunch of laundry so I don’t have to come back to dirty clothes at the house. (I am pretty sure that was a really long run on sentence.) I have kept my mind occupied this weekend by working, it has worked well and between that and things at home, I haven’t worried much at all. We have packed sort of light. All the kids have a carry on and a backpack, Kendell and I have a backpack each and one carry on and one larger bag. I had to pack a bunch of presents for our trip and I also have all of Will’s things and backpack in my bag. I think we have done fairly well. I have packed 4 outfits for each person, one pair of shorts that can double as PJ’s, actual PJ’s, a swimsuit, winter clothes, hat/gloves. The kids all have to take their homework, books to read, numerous electronics, and candy. You know, just the important things. I am so excited to be able to share this trip with our whole family. One week from today at exactly this time we will be meeting Will (if you consider we will be on Chinese time). What a lucky mom I am!

Thoughts Of China

2011-10-28T22:01:00.001-05:00

Today I was talking with someone about how much things were going to change for our family soon. I don’t really think things will be much different. Most people probably think we have too many kids already (by most people I am generally referring to our family). I can’t see that going from 4 to 5 kids will be that big of a deal. I am nervous about starting with another preschooler after having all the kids in all day school for the last couple of years and I am nervous about having a child who will need surgery. Other than that we will just keep being a family – going to work and church, bedtime stories, eating together, playing Uno, playing with the puppy, watching I Carly – you know, the usual. In 10 days, Will is going to lose everything he has ever known. This never really hit me that hard with Claire and Benjamin. I realized they had big changes, but leaving an orphanage seemed like a good deal, at least to me. Into a family, with a mom and dad, your own room (sort of), love, hugs, and all the food you could ever want. Will is different. He has been in a foster family. I don’t know for sure, but I think he has been in the same family for a long time, he probably has been loved, well fed, held, hugged, and talked to. He will be leaving a relatively good situation to come into our family. I can’t imagine how scary this is going to be for him. I pray that they have read our letters to him and showed him our pictures and prepared him for this big move. In a couple weeks he will lose everything he knows – his language, his family, his food, his home, his school. There is no future for him in China – his special need will make him undesirable, he will never go to a good school, he would have little hope for a permanent family. He is only 4 though and my daily prayers this week are that God will make this transition as easy as possible for him.

The One Week Countdown

2011-10-23T22:22:00.001-05:00

One week until we leave for China. I have been listening to way to much Dave Ramsey lately as I have been getting the house picked up, bags packed, and paperwork organized for our trip. He had a show a few days ago where he had a discussion Occupy Wal* Street supporters. I basically took from that show that this movement has little organization and is unclear on what their purpose is. They also offer few thoughts on how to fix the problems they see in America. I agree that there are problems with America, but every day I thank God that I was blessed to be born in the US. Having travelled to Africa, Dominican Republic, and China, I learned that we have so many advantages. We have clean running water, free education, and poverty here is so different than it is in other countries. Any child, boy or girl, has an opportunity to be whatever they want, regardless of their race, socioeconomic status, where they live, or who their parents are. We are free to worship God without fear. We are free to vote for our government and if we don’t like what they are doing we are free to speak out against them. If our children don’t have food to eat we have programs to feed them and hospitals to treat their illnesses. I know things here aren’t perfect, but we should be so thankful for everything we do have. Thank God for our democracy! (This is not meant to be a political statement as I would like to avoid that sort of discussion, just my thoughts on this as I get closer to meeting my son who was born in a country where children are discarded for having a minor birth defect – whether that is because his birth parents couldn’t afford to fix it or because they didn’t want him because of it I will never know.)

We Are Going To China!

2011-10-15T09:49:00.003-05:00

We received our Travel Approval on October 3^rd,but because of holidays in China had to wait over a week for our consulateappointment date. This is the date Will receiveshis visa so he can travel to the US on a Chinese passport. Once he arrives in the US he becomes a UScitizen and can no longer use his Chinese passport. Here is our itinerary as it stands now:

Nov. 1 - Leave for China, Fly from hone to Chicago, connectto Shanghai on Korean Air flight #5893

Nov. 2 - Arrive in Shanghai at 7:30 pm, stay one night atthe New Harbor Service Apartments

Nov. 3 – Tour Shanghai in the am, take the high speed trainfrom Shanghai to Hangzhou in the afternoon, meet Lynn’s family

Nov. 4 – Tour Hangzhou with Lynn’s family (they don’t speakEnglish and we don’t speak Mandarin – we are excited!)

Nov. 5 – Fly from Hangzhou to Changchun in the afternoon,stay the at Shangri-La Hotel

Nov. 7 – Adoption Day! Child Handoff at 9 a.m. at the Civil Affairs office – It appears wecomplete the adoption that morning

Nov. 11 – Receive Will’s Chinese passport and fly toGuangzhou at 5 pm

Nov. 12 – Will’s medical exam, TB test, and visa paperwork

Nov. 14 – TB test read

Nov. 16 – Visa Appointment/Oath Taking Ceremony at the USConsulate

Nov. 17 – Receive Will’s visa, take train to Hong Kong at6:15 pm, stay overnight at the Regal Airport Hotel

Nov. 18 – Fly Home via Korean Air, Arrive home at 10:10 pmthe same day (thank you International Date Line!)

Introducing Will

2011-10-05T13:35:00.000-05:00

This is Will. He lives in Changchun, Jilin, China. He apparently knows how to drive a motorcycle at the age of 4 and a 1/2. He is joining our family in November and we are so excited about his arrival.

I Can't Wait To See This

2011-09-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

I am very excited to see the movie "Courageous". This movie by the makers of "Fireproof" should be fantastic. Here is the trailer:

Colorado Vacation Fun 2011

2011-09-03T22:07:00.002-05:00

We spent the first week of August in Estes Park, Colorado. We stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies. We have been here several times and every year we can't wait to go back. It was over 100 degrees in Missouri the week we were gone. The temps in Estes Park reached highs in the 80's. The weather was perfect. Why do we love it?
* Absolutely amazing day camp programs that the kids LOVE!

* Hiking daily in Rocky Mountain National Park

* Enjoying the peace and quiet away from TV, phones, internet

* Spending time with family

* The craft center at the YMCA (Oh, how I love thee)

* Having a great meal in Estes Park (try the Dunraven and Poppy's)
* A great price (other than the cabin - we don't spend a lot on this trip)
I must admit, I am already looking forward to our next trip. I think the kids are too.

A Week in Review

2011-05-29T21:54:00.002-05:00

We just returned from a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Triumph. The most triumphant thing about it was that we missed a week of truly terrible weather at home. We had a great time. The kids had fun also. Wesley was seen with an ice cream in his hand for almost 5 days straight. Jessie enjoyed being a small adult by ordering of the adult menu in the dining room (tried to do this after we came home - had to explain that this was only allowed on the cruise since it was all expenses paid already!). Benjamin loved video game time at Camp Carnival and was alway eager to go. Claire has developed an unhealthy obsession with Fun Ship Freddie. We had 2 cabins - which was great - they were adjoining and the kids were in one room and we occasionally had the other room to ourselves. Everyone liked watching movies up on the deck at night and they had a great selection of fairly new movies. We worked on manners a lot before the trip and surpringly I got the first compliment on how well behaved my kids were ever! I don't expect that to happen again - so if you see us - don't expect to much. I have learned that the way to avoid weight gain on a cruise is to have a cabin on deck 1 and then take the stairs 90% of the time - We spent plenty of time relaxing and reading. We especially liked the port days. In Progesso, Mexico we took a tour of Chichen Itza. This was recently voted one of the new wonders of the world and is truly an amazingly well preserved Mayan ruin. The only problems was the constant barrage of locals trying to sell trinkets for $1.00. I have reached the point in life in which I no longer require trinkets - so that I could have done without. The second port day was at Cozumel - we went to a day resort called Paradise Beach. It was very nice and reasonably priced. They had all sorts of inflatable play equipment in the ocean and a great pool - we also ate and drank the soda (with ice). The beach wasn't clear and had quite a bit of seaweed - I don't know if that is normal - but otherwise was really pretty. We also spent 2 nights in Gulg Shores, AL. We stayed at a Best Western on the beach - It was a perfect location (and for the price it better be). The room was nothing special and the smell took a little while to get used to. I am not complaining though - we had a lot of fun there!

PCC Orphan Sunday Video

2010-11-07T18:45:00.000-06:00

Remember the orphans. Pomona Christian Church's Orphan Care ministry purpose is to help unite children with welcoming families, to encourage families to consider foster care, to assist area foster and adoptive families with any needs they might have, to provide information on child sponsorship, and to pray for families and children in need. We hope to awaken the church to the biblical call for Christians to care for the orphan.

Colorado 2010 - Kansas Is So Fun

2010-06-19T22:01:00.004-05:00

We left at 8:30 this morning and enjoyed a bit of a gale between Abilene and Russell. Luckily spending 20 minutes putting all of our luggage in the back of the truck in garbage bags warded off any rain for the day. We stopped at a rest area for lunch and couldn't put anything down on the table - or it would blow away. Guess we won't be moving to western Kansas anytime soon. I like rest areas. Any place I can stop and use a bathroom - that is usually clean - and avoid the large displays of candy goodness that make the kids cry and whine get a gold star. Kansas rest areas only get 3/5 stars. (Not enough toilet paper, to much wind, need more trees) We stopped at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hayes, KS. This stop was well worth the $36 for our family of six to get in. The dinosaur exhibits were life size and lifelike, Claire was really, really nervous about them. She kept asking me if they were real. They had a super croc exhibit - Kendell decided to get a super croc and put it in our bedroom. Then he is going to sleep inside of it so the kids can't find him. Anyway, I can't imagine what the kids would say if they saw this croc - It was huge - walking out of the swamp to come eat them. We leave in the morning from Goodland, KS. Hopefully we will be in Estes Park a little after noon.

A Brief Review of My Dominican Trip!

2010-04-09T21:47:00.002-05:00

I put a slideshow together to present at my parent's church. The members there graciously contributed cash which paid for all the medications I purchased for patients on this mission trip. They would otherwise not have been able to afford their medicines. The diseases we treated are very similar to anything we would see in the US. We saw a lot of high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes, constipation, worms, skin infections, and arthritis. The people were very grateful for whatever we can give them. The other part of our group helped dig the foundation trenches for the parsonage that is yet to be built and also worked on painting and fixing ceilings at the church. We hope that our mission there is to not only provide some much needed medicine and exams for people and some hard physical labor, but also to encourage the locals to attend the church which helps us throughout our stay. Thereby learning about Jesus (and we all know why that is important for eternity). The church has true devotion to God, an unbelievable dependence upon prayer for their needs, and very active church members whom we are growing to know and love. We hope that we can continue bonds with this congregation for a very long time.

Sunday in the Dominican

2010-02-28T12:43:00.002-06:00

We are resting after church - The service here last 2 hours - which is surprisingly OK. Tonight we go to a church plant in the Haitian community were we had a clinic on Friday. We have seen about 60 patient's so far. Many have diabetes and hypertension, and many just want a pill of any type. We have seen a few people who are very obviously ill and need labs and further evaluation at a hospital - which they won't be able to afford to get. The people here are so friendly and nice and we remember many of them from last year.
The bright spot on the trip so far would have to be the beginning of the first flight. When the pilot announces, we are having a little engine trouble and we are going to have to pull back to the gate and try a manual start - nothing inspires confidence in a plane like knowing that there is engine trouble. Nevertheless, we arrived at our destination alive. I will post photos when we are home - I can't download from here.

Troublemakers

2010-02-12T20:41:00.002-06:00

The plan was to go and see "The Lightening Thief". However - my little angels did not do as they were told. The new rule is I will give you one warning and then privileges are lost. Unfortunately for me - that means I don't get to go either - I was not happy. So the naughty ones and I stayed home and played Go Fish, Pictureka, and Connect Four. They had to go to bed at 8:00 while their brother and sister went to the movies and had popcorn, candy, and soda. Poor babies, I hope they have learned their lesson - I want to go somewhere next time! (P.S. Thank you to Kevin Leman and Have a New Kid By Friday)

Happy 8th Birthday Jessie

2010-01-16T20:41:00.003-06:00

A full day of fun and frivolity - A trip to the skating rink followed by a viewing of The Spy Ne*t Door. I do have to mention that it almost cost the same to rent the entire skating rink for 2 hours as it did to take just our 4 kids to the movie. That is disturbing!

Oops* I Did It Again!!! (AKA the scissor meister)

2009-12-21T20:40:00.006-06:00

She did it again (No, I do not listen to Brittany!) Claire has now given herself 3 haircuts. All 3 have been severely bad (Is that an adjective?). She now has a boy cut and has been identified as a boy twice and as Benjamin once since last week. She was initially very embarassed about her cut - but I am not sure that it will stop her from doing it again. Prior to the haircut she had lost her scissor privileges for cutting up something else. I asked her why she cut it. She replied "because Jessie left scissors in my room." Interesting. I have noticed a direct correlation between her haircuts and her professional haircuts. I had just gotten her haircut 4 days before "the incident" where it was finally evened out from her last cut (in March) into a cute bob - oh well - maybe she will look like a girl by next summer. PS: I have gotten several comments on how cute her new cut is - please do not tell her that - I don't want to encourage her!

Festive Fall Photos - Enjoy the Silence

2009-10-28T19:04:00.002-05:00

First Day of School

2009-08-26T13:36:00.004-05:00

First Day of Preschool!! (Ready at 8 am for school at 12 pm!)

First Day of Allergy Season generally coincides with the first day of school for Wesley - He is so lucky!

Wesley, Jessie, Benjamin, and Lynn - ready for the bus.

Powell Gardens flower photo - you knew you were going to get at least one - I have a lot more if you are missing them!

Apple to climb in the orchard area at Powell Gardens.

Someone could have mentioned the fountain when I packed for the day - I almost sent them in naked - but I assume this is a no no in the big city - so we just took some shoes and shirts off - and then tried to line dry the rest on their bodies.

Benjamin and I at Worlds of Fun (a self portrait) on a ride that spins and make you nauseated. How fun!

These are my extremely smily kids - who said when we got out of the car "Oh no, we have to go look at flowers!" - I think they were actually having a good time (except Jessie-she didn't want to stand in the photo).

The first day of school has come and gone. The first day of school has been the only day since school started in which all of the children got themselves out of bed without assistance. Claire has had 2 days of preschool and was very excited to be in charge of snack for today. Right before school started we took a little mini vacation to Kansas City. We went to Powell Gardens and World's of Fun. The kids had a good time and Kendell and I are paying the price for our respite from work by taking call every other weekend - Oh it is good to be home. We have big plans for the upcoming weekend - I am on call and going to finish up nursing home rounds, then I may deal with my green swimming pool (I have decided that there are not enough chemicals in the world to make my pool clear again - so I am pulling the plug!), and we will find somewhere to put the dumptruck load of mulch that was delivered today while I was gone - Our life is so exciting - Of note - the teenager in our first day of school photo is Lynn - she is our foreign exchange student from Hangzhou, China - she is here until next June. We like her a lot and the kids absolutely LOVE her - Sorry Lynn - you will have no peace and quiet while you are at our house!

Summer Update

2009-07-25T10:51:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we hiked a trail around Noblett Lake. I didn't realize just how far 6 miles was when you are hiking with 4 kids through the Ozarks. It is actually quite far. The hike took about 5 hours (I had planned for 2 hours). Claire was able to comfortably take her afternoon nap during the hike - while we carried her up the cliffs and through the streams. Everyone did well (AKA - no one was eaten by a bear, went into renal failure from dehydration since I didn't pack enough water, or started bleeding profusely - since I didn't bring any first aid supplies).

Jessie has lost both of her front teeth in the last 2 weeks - and Claire has learned to ride her bike without training wheels in the last 2 days.

I love the front porch on our house. We have been eating out there fairly frequently. We have not had any bug problems (weird!). If we could keep the rogue kittens off of the table things would be perfect.

The kittens have nearly been loved to death this summer.

In honor of mixing things up a bit I will include a bug photo (rather than my normal flower photo!)

Wesley - Super fisherkid

We have fished at out lake - It isn't really fun to fish there unless you are a child since they catch a fish every 30 seconds or so - so Kendell and I spend the entire time running around freeing fish and installing worms - you are jealous aren't you!

Women of Faith

2009-07-09T23:01:00.003-05:00

I attended the Women of Faith conference in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago - It was a phenomenal event - I was so happy I could attend. The last one I was at was 7 years ago. This year I was so excited because the music at the event was Mandisa and Stephen Curtis Chapman, the newest speakers for the year were Lisa Welchel (yes, I am a child of the 80's and wanted to live with the Facts of Life girls!) and the CEO of World Vision (I have a soft spot for orphans - If you couldn't tell). I had such a good time - even though I was forced to stay up well past my normal bedtime by my rowdy roomates - I would encourage all women to go if they have the opportunity - you will not regret it - and I guarantee you will learn something and be very entertained (except by the last speaker - where I fell asleep - because of the aforementioned rowdy roomates keeping me up past my bedtime!). I have included a little video clip for your viewing pleasure - sorry but I am not all that great with the camera - and I only had a 512 mb card and could not record the whole song!!!

"Don't Play With the Ketchup!"

2009-06-24T08:22:00.002-05:00

On the way home from vacation we had lunch at a Chili's. Wesley immediately found the squeezy bottle of ketchup and started playing with it. I took it away from him - set it on the table and went back to my conversation. A couple minutes later I hear Wesley say "I shouldn't play with the ketchup." Then - Squirt - And as you can see, he managed to make a mess - even though he thought the lid was shut. A little comic relief is always welcome when you are driving home for 16 hours. We couldn't stop laughing - Thanks, Wesley for making a long day a little more fun!

Dollar Days

2009-06-09T20:30:00.005-05:00

We are enjoying a week in Hilton Head, South Carolina. We are riding bikes everywhere and enjoying visiting with the alligators and other assorted wildlife. The kids love the ocean and Jessie is great at the boogey board (?sp). Today we took a boat to Daufuskie Island - we saw lots of Dolphins - and the kids found several sand dollars and a starfish on the beach. We are planning on going to Savannah and having more ocean time this week. We are also having a daily nap and getting some important novel reading done. As you can tell our vacations are full of excitement!!! The pictures today are in black and white - I don't know why - I am sure Claire has managed to adjust my camera settings.

MIA

2009-06-02T21:04:00.003-05:00

Sorry - I have been MIA - Moving in has taken awhile and when I am home - I am just busy - with trying to put things away inside and work on the landscape and garden outside - I just don't sit down at home - Blogging requires some degree of sitting. I am now successfully sitting - although I should be working on the laundry. The photos of the week are from our churches Family Decathalon - We got 3rd place - (OK, so that means we tied with 2 other teams for last - but at least we placed, and Benjamin was thrilled with the little trophy). I think we most enjoyed the tug of war (We won - but I am sure it is not because we had more people in our family than anyone else) and taping Jessie to the wall - There is just something satisfying about taping your child with duck tape. I never realized how mush fun one could have with tape!

Moving In

2009-04-22T21:23:00.002-05:00

The last few times I moved it was basically a one day thing. You load up all your stuff, completely clear out the house, and later that night you are sleeping in your new home surrounded by boxes. Since we now are the proud owners of 2 homes, we were in no rush to get everything moved. Because of the fact that we don't have any drawers or shelves in the new house, I can't put anything away anyway. So I fill up my van once or twice a day with stuff from the old house and move it to the new house. It is all very depressing! I think the one day moves are easier, since there is no left behind baggage. Anyway - tomorrow we are getting a load of sod. After this is down we will finish seeding the rest of the yard - It is very brown around here currently. Today I planted some more onions (I know it is late) and garlic (Does garlic grow here?). Yesterday I hosed out the festering, disgusting chicken/duck pen - Who would have thought those little babies could make such a horrible (I am not exaggerating) stinking mess - But I am sure it will be worth it so I can save a few buck on eggs (which if you figure in the price for feed, the price of the chicks, and the price of replacing them when they eventually start laying and then get eaten by a raccoon - doesn't really save you anything). Yet again, I digress - I will glad to be done moving - I will officially be done after I have a garage sale next week (feel free to come and buy a bunch of old junk!).

Happy Adoption Day (and Claire the stylist)

2009-03-25T16:14:00.003-05:00

One year ago today (I think, but I am not big on celebrations) we adopted Benjamin. I attempted to take a Happy Adoption Day photo - but I could not get him away from his new Wii Lego Star Wars game - He still had time on his 45 minute daily allotment and could not be disturbed. He obviously looks like a typical American kid now - which is exactly what he is! Jessie and Claire went outside to cut some flowers this afternoon - unfortunately Claire thought she was supposed to cut her hair also - I thought that was her 3 year old phase - but apparently it continues for another year. I wouldn't care if she cut her own hair if she was actually good at it (everyone knows I like to save a buck when I can) but as you can see from the photo she better keep saving for college as I don't think she will pass beauty school. This is her most devastating hair cut as of date (I think it is hair cut number 3 or 4, but I am starting to lose count.). The house update as of now is - no we have not moved in - our very nice cabinet man is also very slow - I am sure that the cabinets will be awesome if they are ever finished. Today Claire and I mulched some of the fruit trees we have planted and after supper I am going to put some wildflower seed on the side of our driveway hill.

Another House Update

2009-03-07T07:45:00.003-06:00

You know if my house was finished - I wouldn't have to give you house updates - I could give you landscaping updates - which is what really gets me excited. The house was supposed to be done on March first. As you can tell from the photos it is not. The good news is that someday the house will be done - I am just not sure when. The cabinet man was there yesterday and said that they had templated the kitchen counters. That is great - except that then he mentioned that it takes about 2 weeks to get the counters back. That is a long time - especially since gardening season is upon us - I am ready to get started with my yearly hole digging, vegetable planting and then killing ritual! Oh well!

Happy Birthday Wesley

2009-02-23T20:35:00.005-06:00

Today my big boy turns 9

He was born 8 weeks early weighing a whopping 4 pounds 9 ounces and 17 inches long He is now one of the tallest boys in the 3rd grade (He only drinks milk, he doesn't like soda!)

When he was born Kendell wanted them to take him to the NICU immediately - he was worried about a lack of oxygen to his brain cells. He spent a week on a ventilator, a month in the NICU, and 5 weeks on oxygen and an apnea monitor. This little boy who had to work to hard to breathe and move oxygen to those brain cells is now one very smart little boy!

When Wesley was a few months old we took him to Washington DC - Thereby starting his love affair with history and geography. He is a walking, talking globe and I am confident he knows more history than I do.

He just finished reading all 7 Harry Potter books over the last couple of weeks and has now started on the Series of Unfortunate Events books. He likes to play basketball - but his love for reading affects his athletic prowess - but I anticipate that will improve with time.

This weekend for his birthday we traveled to the City Museum in St. Louis. This is the world's most cool children's museum. If you have not taken your kids there - you must. It is so much fun. We stayed for about 6 hours and didn't even have to stop to feed the kids! I am excited to take the kids back in the summer so they can try out MonstroCity - It is outdoors and was closed since the temperature was only in the 30's. The kids had such a good time - Happy Happy Birthday Wesley!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chinese New Year (a little late)

2009-02-17T20:53:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago we had our annual Chinese New Year get together with the 2 other families in town with Chinese daughters. We ate at a Chinese restaurant (midwest style of course - there's nothing like fried chicken and rice!) Anyway, I digress - The kids had a great time - Claire and one of the other girls are finally getting old enough to really have fun together - The other girl will be old enough next year to join in. Benjamin and the older kids had fun also - and they especially like the New Year's gifts that they recieved - I don't think Benjamin had ever celebrated Chinese New Year before - but it is hard to tell - he doesn't really know - If he had it would have been the only holiday he had ever experienced prior to coming home to the US. So it is about 3 weeks late - but - Happy Chinese New Year.

Dominican Mission Trip

2009-02-03T21:49:00.002-06:00

Typical home - note there are bars on every window of every home - we did however feel very safe everywhere we were.

Gorgeous beaches (I wish we had more beach time - but I guess that wasn't the point of the trip)

Pathways between the homes were very narrow - very densely populated area

Our group - everyone got along great!

Bridge where the river meets the ocean - the cruise ships dock on the other side of the bridge I was standing on - It is odd to see such opulence next to such poverty - This view was really beautiful!

Our church just returned from a mission trip to La Romana, Dominican Republic. We were gone for a week. While we were gone we missed a large ice storm which in our town involved at least 8 inches of sleet - Unfortunately, the day the storm hit - was our day off and we were at the beach - It was beautiful. On the days we actually had to work we visited homes of people who wanted or needed to see a doctor - I tried to set them up with some of their medicines if they couldn't afford them, we gave the children we saw vitamins, and we treated some minor infections. We also saw several patients who had conditions which required specialty care - which we were unable to provide. The opportunity we had was amazing - we went to so many homes during our stay in the country and got a feel for how the people really lived and the problems they struggled with on a daily basis. The most important problems are the lack of clean water (it is availible if you can afford to buy it), the lack of good quality education for the children, and the lack of public services (there is trash and stray dogs everywhere, the roads are terrible, the electricity is unreliable, the government is corrupt and lack motivation to fix the previously listed problems.) It is so nice to visit another country and see how life really is - not just how nice the resorts are - I also picked up several new words in Spanish. I think I have already forgotten them. The church our group worked with was wonderful - their love for Christ was evident and we felt completely at home while we were there. The rest of the group did some painting and a lot of hard labor cleaning up the back of the church lot, and some electrical work. They looked tired and hot at the end of the day. My friend and I enjoyed the white collar missions (doctor/nurse) work - although I think we worked pretty hard also - we didn't get quite as dirty! I can't wait for my next opportunity to serve others. I told my husband that he needed to go on the next mission trip and I would stay home with the kids (I think it will be good for him!). The Dominican people welcomed us with open arms and we have now seen that our "family" is global.

Hola from the Domincan Republic

2009-01-25T14:28:00.003-06:00

I am suffering here in the DR. The temperature is a sweltering 80 degrees during the day and 69 at night - poor me! I hope everyone at home is not to cool! We are having a good trip. Our group of 11 from the church is in La Romana assisting a church with cleanup of their facilities - which means most of the group is chopping down weeds with a machete and deconstructing and rebuilding a concrete block wall, and painting, Jim is fixing the electrical stuff along with his apprentice Bub and his assistant/gopher Deanna. Rhonda and I are visiting many homes and trying to help people obtain their medications for a month or two - We are seeing many people with unbelieveably high blood pressure and blood sugar - who can't afford their meds. It is a little disconcerting to treat someone - who will be unable to afford their meds in a month. We attended a great worship service today - Marcus spoke and told the same jokes he tells at home - I don't think they were as funny this time - but the other worshippers appreciated them. Tonight we are going to a service in a poor Haitian community. Some of the people we meet speak English, most Spanish, some Creole, and rarely French. Tomorrow we have a big list of patients to visit and on Tuesday we get a break for a beach day. We are having a great time and are learning a lot. We leave for home on Thursday afternoon and should arrive early Friday morning - I will miss the weather here immensely! I have also missed 2 of my kids having the stomach flu since I left - so I think God must be blessing me for doing a mission trip!!! I would post photos of my trip - but I am not smart enough to know how to do that with someone elses laptop and my SD card!

I Have a Dream!

2009-01-19T16:15:00.003-06:00

Happy Martin Luther King Day - I have now officially bugged my children until they understand what this day is about and why it is important to remember Martin Luther King. We live in a small and not very racially diverse community - but do have a racially diverse family. I want my children to understand that God created all men (and women) equally - we do not discriminate based on color, wealth, religious preference, or for any other reason - I know that they may hear things at school from other kids which we don't agree with and I want them to understand why this is wrong. Discrimination is not allowed at our home. Thanks to Martin Luther King for his part in changing our future. If you haven't perused it lately I would encourage you to read the I Have a Dream speech - It is amazing!!!! (I love a good speech!)

Jessie is 7

2009-01-16T21:19:00.002-06:00

Today is Jessie's birthday - We currently have 3 extra little girls here for a slumber party - I think things are going well - only one girl has cried and no one has suffered a laceration or fracture - so a successful party so far! It is 10 degrees right now - I wish my kids had spring or summer birthdays - but I guess they had other plans. I am on call this weekend - so I am thinking fun and frivolity at the nursing home and hospital - what more could I ask for!

Happy Birthday Claire

2009-01-04T21:11:00.003-06:00

I have taken a little blogging break to relax. I don't know if I relaxed - but I think everyone had a good Christmas. Last week for the new year we celebrated Claire's 4th birthday. She was so excited about her presents - she loved her Dora Bandaids and her new tape (she is easy to please). She also likes her new bike. She told me she doesn't need a sippy cup since she is a big girl now. She does however believe that thumbsucking is not age-dependent - and she will continue to do that regardless of age and tooth damage! For the new year I have resolved that I am OK with the fact that I didn't send out Christmas cards (sorry) and have made no further resolutions as I don't want to disappoint myself. I am so excited to get the kids back to school tomorrow - but I am not excited about my first full week of work in a couple of weeks.

Jinger Bell, Jinger Bell

2008-12-08T19:47:00.006-06:00

I just had to take a video of Benjamin singing jingle bells (or jinger bells). Everyone should consider older child adoption - it is so entertaining! We have had big week with the annual Christmas parade. Claire helped me make a pumpkin roll and then she proceeded to make one of the largest messes I have ever seen with a lot of flour. I wasn't very happy - but I did have to take a picture of it.

Christmas Shopping

2008-12-02T19:48:00.003-06:00

I like Christmastime. I mean what could be better than celebrating Jesus' birthday. The only problem is all the strings that are attached - such as buying presents! I like to put up the tree, make Christmas candy, get the kids a few gifts - that is fun. I do not like the rest of the shopping - Kendell and I don't get each other much - usually he will get some gloves or something for me that the kids can give me and I will get him some new paperbacks from Walmart. The kids are easy - They want anything - they are just happy to get a present/toy they don't have to buy for themselves (they have been a victim of Dave Ramsey). I just hate having to buy for 20 other people (we have a lot of neices and nephews!)- I admit - because I don't like shopping most of them will get a gift card or cash. I really wish my husband's family would give up their love of exchanging gifts! I am pretty sure that Jesus didn't have to buy gifts for everybody! For your viewing pleasure I added a couple of house photos and a Thanksgiving photo of all the kids nicely doing a craft with clay - Don't worry the situation eventually deteriorated and there was some crying, lots of water and paint, gnashing of teeth, and a giganto mess - I love the holidays!!

Interesting Story

2008-11-23T15:47:00.002-06:00

I found a link to this video on another site - It is a little long - but if you have the time it is an amazing story about an amerasian child in Korea.

Here is info about the man telling the story:

Rick Smolan is the co-founder of the America 24/7 and Day in the Life photography series -- and a natural storyteller in many media. His latest books are America at Home and Blue Planet Run.

Click HERE for the video. (It is about 25 minutes long)

Playing School

2008-11-18T20:45:00.004-06:00

There was no school here on Monday - when I got home from work the kids were in my bedroom playing school - Jessie had put Claire down for her kindergarten nap. Claire was actually laying there. The other kids were in my bathroom doing their "homework". I don't know why they were in the bathroom - I think they are just weird.
The other pictures are of the new house - I included a picture of the spray foam insulation in the garage - This along with the ICF walls in the rest of the house should make the house very efficient (or at least it better!!). The landscapers started on the retaining walls in the back of the house. This week the drywall is finished in the garage and is going up in the rest of the house.

House Update #103

2008-11-08T18:20:00.009-06:00

Here is another house update - They have started installed the cement siding and PVC trim. The rock is going up around the porch. They put the gas fireplace in this week and are starting to sheetrock. Next week the spray in foam insulation is going into the garage, the rooms that need soundproofing and in the 2 exterior walls of the house which are not concrete. It is really starting to look like it may eventually be done. I love the red siding - As long as it doesn't look like a barn when it is done I will be very happy. Don't be frightened by the children in costumes - they will only hurt you a little if you don't give them candy. Since Halloween they have eaten about 6 pounds of candy and I am fairly sure that they have 12 pounds left. They have been trick or treating amongst themselves almost daily since last week - who says Halloween can't last all year.

Language Barriers

2008-11-02T18:50:00.004-06:00

I love listening to Benjamin learn English - actually I love to hear him for a while and then some peace and quiet would be good. His favorite thing to talk about right now are "Superzeroes" and "Ninja Turters" - Every time he says it I say "You like superheroes and Ninja Turtles". He just continues to say it the same way - It is so fun! I would like to mention - that I am sure that when I try to speak Chinese - It is laughable also!

Kendell and I saw Fireproof today - It was excellent - I would highly reccomend it - It is a great movie for couples to see together - I give it 2 thumbs up and 4 stars - If you haven't seen it yet - you need to go!!!

Reflections from Karate

2008-10-31T07:38:00.002-05:00

Last night at karate - Jessie was trying to do her forms. She didn't know the whole form. The teacher asked if she was practicing. Jessie told her "I don't have time." The teacher said, "You are six years old how could you be to busy." Jessie said, "I have to play." If only my life were as busy as Jessie's!!

A Visit to the Keeter Center

2008-10-22T17:07:00.003-05:00

We spent the weekend in Branson at a meeting. The kids stayed at the hotel with a friend while we sat in the conference. After the meeting we went to a pumpkin patch. The kids had a great time running around the top of the hay maze. (Sorry, I don't know why the photo uploaded sideways) I am fairly sure they were not using the maze in the spirit in which it was made - but since no one was watching - whatever! I have added an updated house photo - They are building the front porch this week. I love my porch!
Today I am going to make a to do list for the week:
1: Wait for the repairman to come and fix my brand new Kenmore frontloading HE washing machine. I can't believe it lasted almost a month! Well worth the $1500 I paid for it (or not!). Keep in mind this was an emergency purchase after my previous frontloader broke after one year of use - I am sensing a trend and I am not happy. A mom with 4 kids should never be without a washing machine!
2: I am going to start saving money so I can pay 50% of my income in taxes - Who cares about giving to charity and supporting my own community - I trust that the federal government will do a better job spreading the wealth (or not!) than I would if they let me keep my money I earned for working hard.
3: I finished my master gardener class this week - I am going to spray dangerous chemicals on part of my field so I can try an create a wildflower prairie - seems wrong that I have to use chemical for this - whatever - by the way I can't use my master gardener certification to improve my business - So I can't advertise Laurie, MD, master gardener - I am sure my patients would be super impressed by this - They could come in for their sore throats and ask for advice on their leaky tree.

Cub Scout Fishing

2008-10-11T13:41:00.003-05:00

We had 42 cub scouts at our pond today, in addition to many leaders, parents, and grandparents. The kids had a great time. They caught lots of fish - and no fish were severely injured in the process! I thought about what a great program the scouts are - This morning I probably would have been doing laundry or cleaning the house (or blogging) - Instead an event like this makes you spend time with the kids - when you can think of a million other things that you could do. Thanks to everyone who came and helped and brought kids, and thanks to the Dept. of Conservation for the service they provide - It was a huge success! I also included some house update photos - The electric, plumbing, heating/cooling - geothermal - are going in this week.

Fireproof

2008-10-03T17:23:00.002-05:00

This is my plug for the new movie "Fireproof". This movie was made by Sherwood Baptist Church. They are the makers of "Facing the Giants" - which if you have not seen, you should. They have an amazing movie ministry. I listened to an interview on Focus on the Family the other night with Kirk Cameron (who stars in the movies - if you grew up in the 80's - he was so cool! - Now an outspoken Christian who uses his acting talents to make great movies.) I am sure this movie will not win an Oscar - but will have a longlasting impact on many lives. God is really working through this church to make a difference in the world.

Check out the movie trailer at http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/
Check out the focus on the family broadcast about the movie here (It is a 2 part series):
http://listen.family.org/daily/A000001512.cfm

The House and a First Birthday

2008-09-23T21:49:00.003-05:00

The house is looking good - the windows and doors are going in. The roof is going on. I had a great video of Benjamin's early birthday with part of the family. I have never seen such happiness on a child's face. I had a great little video of it - I am pretty sure Claire then managed to erase it from the camera - so much for Benjamin's first birthday video. This was the first time he has ever had a birthday party or a birthday present. Can you imagine having 5 birthdays that no one ever mentions - Hopefully he will feel really special this year!

Autumn Moon Festival

2008-09-14T13:31:00.002-05:00

Friday night we had our annual Northern ____ County Autumn Moon Festival Extravaganza for Families with Kids from Asia and Elsewhere - I think the name of the event is kind of catchy! We had some chinese food and the kids chased each other for about 3 hours straight and everyone had a good time. Our house is making progress the roof trusses are up and the roof should go on in the next week or so. We also made a family trip to Mammoth Springs last week. We toured the little train museum and ate at the Riverview Restaurant - outside on the deck with the bee and flies - The kids had fun and we were all worn out when we got home! Last night Hurricaine Ike hit here - we were out of power for a few hours - I had to go to church without blow-drying my hair! Can you imagine the horror!!! Numerous trees were uprooted - but we were a little to north to have to worry about the tidal surge.

A Farm Visit

2008-09-05T20:41:00.002-05:00

We went to Kansas City a few weeks ago to visit. We went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park. The kids had so much fun. There is no admission fee and the kids had a great time - We were there for about 2-3 hours and there was no whining - Can you imagine? (I know I can't!) The link to the website for information is http://www.opkansas.org/_Vis/Farmstead/index.cfm The kids especially liked petting the goats and bunnies. They also liked panning for pretty rocks and checking out the Indian tepees. Now that I have 4 kids - all of whom are generally old enough to pay admission on I really appreciate a donation only kind of trip. So - for a small optional donation we had a morning of fun - I doubt we would have had such a good time anywhere else!

I have included a few photos of all the fun things we saw. I tried to take photos of our new house today - but I forgot the camera battery and I was to lazy to walk back up there after we went home.

House Update

2008-08-25T14:18:00.002-05:00

The house continues to get taller - I think that is a good sign. The main floor ICF walls have been poured. They are framing all the walls on the main level this week and putting the second floor - floor trusses up this week - They may pour the second floor ICF walls on Friday. I - who does not love to shop - (and Kendell) have to pick out all the plumbing fixtures, tubs, and lighting in the next week or two - so that should be painful. I would say things are going well since Kendell and I have not been fighting about anything yet (not like when we put in the laminate floor in the house - it is best just not to talk to each other for a couple of days when you are doing a project like that!). I also included a photo of my mother-in-laws zinna's - they are beautiful and full of butterflies - you realize I just can't resist a good flower picture.

First Day of School

2008-08-17T21:53:00.003-05:00

Everyone started school this week. Wesley is in 3rd grade, Jessie is in 1st grade, and Benjamin is in Kindergarten. They were all very excited to start, except Benjamin. He said, "I don't like school." So I said, "Yes you do - school is fun!." After brainwashing him with this the entire weekend, he now says "Yes" when I ask him if he likes school. I think my brainwashing program is going very well - wouldn't you agree - It goes something like this, "Benjamin, school is fun, you like school, you are going to have lots of friends at school, you will get to color at school, you will stay in school for the next 17 years, you like school." I guess you get the picture. Living in a small town where the rate of college attendance is less than impressive I feel the need to encourage from the start! By the way - He really does like school - he just likes to say he doesn't!

Real Brothers

2008-08-12T20:19:00.002-05:00

I just thought I would post a little spontaneous moment the kids had the other day. We had just finished feeding the ducks and Wesley and Benjamin were walking home, they had been catching butterflies - they were having a conversation about something, holding hands - I thought it was sweet. I am sure it won't last for long as they both get older and learn to fight more - but for now they get along really well. It is so fun to see the kids learning to like each other! Now if only I could convince Benjamin and Claire that they are friends (and not archenemies) things would be perfect.

New Walls

2008-08-06T21:20:00.002-05:00

Just a little house update tonight. We have some basement walls - The radiant heat was put done prior to pouring the cement. Today the floor joists for the main floor were put into place. We spent 2 hours meeting with the cabinet guy - I hate decorating decisions - It is just not my thing - so this was painful - I don't have much to say right now - since I have a huge load of dishes to get loaded and a bunch of clothes to fold - Sounds fun!

He Asked for Milk!!!!!

2008-08-03T18:47:00.002-05:00

Benjamin was eating lunch today and he asked for milk - It is amazing. I have been trying to force him to like milk for 3 months now and he finally asked for it. A normal beverage conversation would be - Benjamin, Do you want some milk? He says, No, water or kurlur (Coke in Chinese). Then I give him milk anyway - which we make him drink before he is allowed to leave the table. Today he actually wanted milk and drank it without being threatened with the loss of something fun. I am a big proponent of milk as a good source of calcium and protein for my kids - and Benjamin really needs to grow - If he going to be really short when he grows up it will not be my fault for not feeding him properly - then I can just blame it on genetics and be content. I think we are really making some progress around here!

It Was Nearly a Clean Sweep

2008-07-31T20:16:00.002-05:00

My kids had Vacation Bible School last week. The theme was "Power" - (i.e. Jesus has Power). Each day they came they got to enter their name in a drawing for a prize. At the end of VBS they have a program where they sing the songs they learned, eat cookies, and draw for the prizes. In the preschool group - they drew the name and Claire won - a new tricycle. In the kindergarten group - they drew the name and Benjamin won - a new scooter. In the 1-2 grade group they drew the name and Emily won (Jessie's friend who came with her twice during then week). Since Emily was not there - they drew another name and Jessie won - a new MP3 player. I am sad to say that Wesley - shockingly - didn't win the 3-4 grade prize - I don't know what happened there. Anyhoo - I wanted to crawl under the pew - I don't know how they all won - But they got really good prizes - they were overjoyed and I felt like a cheater - there were between 60 - 75 kids at VBS the previous 4 nights - I don't know how it worked out that way - I thought about going and playing the lottery - but I figured I better not press my luck! Next year though - were going for the clean sweep.

What's Missing?

2008-07-22T22:58:00.002-05:00

Jessie lost her first tooth this week. She lost it with a little gentle persuasion from a friend. She then proudly brought it home wrapped in toilet paper. She showed it to her grandma, who was visiting. She then lost it, again. Thus the picture - One is a picture of depressed Jessie - who can't find her tooth and the second is of happy Jessie whose daddy found her tooth on the carpet under her bed. See if you can guess which is which. She was very excited about the tooth fairy - however, as often happens in our home - morning came - but the tooth fairy did not (bad tooth fairy!). I told Jessie that sometimes the tooth fairy comes when she is in the shower - she quickly got in the shower and what do you know - the tooth fairly brought $3.00 while she was gone. Things like that happen at our house - I don't like to get to worked up over special events, birthdays, or holidays - unfortunately that means sometimes I forget. Oops!

Is the Bumblebee Still There?

2008-07-13T15:18:00.005-05:00

Jessie and Claire are preparing a picnic on the driveway -
Claire comes inside. Jessie is in the kitchen making popcorn and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Apparently a bee had been visiting there picnic.
Jessie "Is the bumblebee still there?"
Claire "Yes"
Jessie "Just go back outside and make funny faces at it."
Claire "OK"

Claire then went back outside to guard the beachtowel that their picnic was on. Why won't she do things that I ask her so easily?

Minor Progress

2008-07-13T14:50:00.004-05:00

We are now a couple months into our home building adventure and I must say it is much cheaper than I expected - perhaps that is because nothing has happened. I have purchased several thousand dollars worth of styrofoam. I would suggest styrofoam manufacturing to anyone looking for a good business - That stuff is expensive! These are the structure for the insulated concrete form foundation/home. When finished this house should be very cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It should also be fairly tornado proof. The rainy season here has lasted much longer than anticipated so they have not been able to pour any concrete - as far as I am concerned this is only delaying my ability to dig holes and plant stuff (I don't like decorating - just landscaping) - that is what I am really waiting for - Today I have also added a couple of Silver Dollar City photos - the kids had a great time there - Benjamin loved his first roller coaster ride. Unfortunately he couldn't ride several things because he is so short - so he has come home and been drinking more milk in an attempt to grow. I think it is working! He is an inch taller than when we measured him in May - so he grew and inch in the first 8 weeks in the US - yeah for protein!!

Garden Friends

2008-06-25T21:16:00.004-05:00

There is nothing better than to have friends helping around the garden. Today I found many, many friends in my garden. To be precise, about 4 million - squash bugs - feasting on my zucchini and yellow squash. I haven't even had any vegetables yet and they have attacked. Well I treated my new friends to a small dose of their favorite insecticide - I hoped they liked it!!!!! By the way - I would like to mention that I hate using chemicals in my garden - I don't use much - I am fairly sure that we will now develop some horrible invasive cancer because of the spray - but at least we will have some squash (maybe!) If anyone has suggestions for getting rid of these little pests without insecticide I would love to know. I wasn't kidding about the cancer - I am pretty sure those things are horrible for our health - I am also pretty sure that whatever I buy at the store will have been treated with a lot more than I am using! I plan to investigate a more natural treatment for these creatures - but I lack the time - since I had to type this blog post instead. Also as any good gardener knows - when you go to the garden and find a horrible infestation you get really panicky and race for whatever you can find to fend off the attack before they have ravaged everything! I hope I won the battle - because I am sure there is no hope for the war! At least my flowers look good. I promise to lay off the flower pictures soon - I just love flowers!

My New Hole

2008-06-20T22:08:00.003-05:00

We have a hole - We are hoping that the hole will become a house - but for now it is just a really big hole - I don't know what to do with this kind of hole - I was thinking of putting some concrete in and making a really cool pool or a big duck pond. We could use it to play racquetball in - but I don't know how well the ball will bounce in there. Since I am really bad at golf - I could use it as a golf hole and then I might make a hole in one. I guess I will just wait for the builder to fill the hole - I will try to keep everyone updated on the progress - The hole was dug 2 weeks ago - so the progress we have made since then is - well there hasn't been any - but I have saved money - since no work is being done! Have a great weekend.

Estes Park - Family Fun

2008-06-03T21:16:00.002-05:00

All is well here in the Rockies. We survived the 14 hour car ride with a minimum of threatening and yelling. The kids have gone cold turkey on their TV and movie watching since we arrived and they are still OK (shocking, I know). We started our trip by driving across Kansas - This was made slightly more entertaining than watching paint dry - by the recent introduction of a wind farm - that was totally cool to see in the middle of nowhere (I apoligize to any Kansan's for the above comments - Your state is very nice, but really, really wide!). We also stopped for a little visit at the Eisenhower Presential Library and Museum. The kids enjoyed this for the most part (ie - Benjamin liked the guns, Wesley liked the guns, Jessie liked the dresses, and Claire liked me to hold her while she whined a lot). We stopped overnight in the booming metropolis of Limon, Colorado - before heading to the Colorado Museum of Science and Nature - where Benjamin could not wait to see the dinosaurs and Wesley was enthralled by the Gold exhibit. We then arrived at the YMCA of the Rockies where we are staying in a fabulous cabin - The kids have been going to Day Camp each morning and Grandma, Kendell, and I have been taking a little hike. The first morning we hiked to Moraine Park and this morning we took a little 4 mile stroll around Lake Estes (I think that's its name). This afternoon we all went on an 11 mile downhill ride - that was really fun (after Wesley and Jessie got the hang of their hand brakes and Benjamin stopped pouting about having to ride in the trailer). It was a fun family activity run by Colorado Bicycling Adventures - our guides were very patient with our nervous children. Tomorrow the kids go swimming with day camp and in the afternoon we plan to ride up Trail Ridge Road - by car, not by bike. The award for trooper of the day goes to my mom - who went on our little bike ride after not riding for a really long time! Good night!

Summer Vacation and Bonding

2008-05-29T21:45:00.002-05:00

The kids have finished school and once again we have come upon the time of year in which I really wish I had become a teacher - Oh well - I am definitely not going back to school - so I guess I will stick with my current job. We leave for Estes Park, Colorado tomorrow - I anticipate that 14 hours in the car with my kids will be much better than 14 hous in an airplane with them!! I am hoping to keep up with the blog a little better since I won't be at work - we will see how that works out! I am obviously blogging right now - since otherwise I would have to be packing - I believe I just need the proper motivation to keep this up to date - Benjamin is doing well - We were singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" on the trampoline tonight. This seems to be a good activity for teaching the body parts - He was trying to tell me their names in Mandarin and I can't remember anything he told me - I don't think I have a gift for languages. He now says "I love you" and will give us a goodnight kiss without being prompted - It is exciting to see him become a part of the family - It is hard to explain how your feelings change for a child over a period of time - Most of the time with bio kids (although not always) - Once they are born you have an instant bond with them. Claire was 8 months old when we got her - we loved her from the moment we saw her - but she had not been held much and didn't expect much from us for the first few weeks - she finally figured out that we would be there when she needed us and started to interact, reach for us, and become interested in her surroundings (although I must say that a hypotonic, detached child - makes for an easy plane ride) She has changed one million percent - as anyone can see - Benjamin came to us very interested in everything - we have worked to make him a little more dependent on us for things than he was used to. He now holds our hands like he means it - he has stopped trying to run off all the time - He shows affection (he likes to come and get in our bed in the morning). If you have adopted you will hear that in the first few weeks it can feel like babysitting - It is nice to be moving out of the babysitting stage and into the being a real family stage. I think things are really progressing well.

Finally Spring!

2008-05-18T22:27:00.003-05:00

It was finally sunny and warm and not raining - I love spring - and I LOVE my flowers - So I was very happy to see flowers in my yard when I returned home today from a weekend out of town. I am not sure anyone else cares about my flower photos - but since I love them - Here they are --- The picture of Benjamin is his post haircut photo - He is now without his little friend on the back of his head - and he didn't seem to care that it was gone - I also have a photo of a sad Jessie - we are having a well put in where we are building a new house and Kendell said "Do not get in the mud - It is still really wet and it is very deep" So what do you know - Jessie races off to check out the well and comes back a few minutes later with mud covered pants and with no shoes. She said "Wesley told me that it wasn't wet!" Obviously Wesley is not the expert and I did note that he had not a speck of mud on him. I thought it was rather hilarious - Kendell did not since he had to get a shovel and dig Jessie's shoes out of a foot of thick, sticky mud.

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T16:24:00.002-05:00

I thought I would share a couple of photos for mother's day. I have included a couple of pictures of Mom - prior to my brother and I's arrival - You will note that raising us has slightly caused her hair color to change a bit - I am sure that won't happen to me! My mom just traveled with us to China and lived to tell about it. However, she may never want to travel with us again. We could not have gotten home with four kids without her - we might have come back with a couple - but never all four. She lives a few hours away - but the kids still love to see "City Grandma". I also incuded a photo of my grandma - The picture is from my college graduation and I think that was only 2 or 3 years ago - Ok - maybe it was 11 years ago - but I don't look any older and neither does grandma! I hope everyone has a great mother's day! I know I have enjoyed spending most of my day at the hospital on call!

Cultural Identity - Tough Decisions

2008-04-27T14:45:00.002-05:00

We are not really rat tail people - we were a little surprised with Benjamin's rat tail (Is there a better name for it? modified mullet?). I have had visions of snipping it off. I think when it is time for a haircut we will have to tell it goodbye. This is where the question of culture comes in. In Guangzhou our guide was surprised that he came from an orphanage with this haircut - because this is special in China - it is considered a really cute haircut for little boys (also many will have shaved heads or sort of a mohawk). I feel bad cutting this off, it seems to be the one part of his culture he still has. We are taking away his language (this is very sad), his food, almost everything he has ever known. We will try to keep him in touch with his culture - but we have to face the fact - that we live in a very non-diverse area in the middle of the country. We will do everything we have to help him hold on to his culture - It still makes me sad - So, alas, we will eventually clip the hair - We will continue to celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival and Chinese New Year, and I will attempt to make asian recipes I find online, we try to speak a little (very little) Chinese. In a few months we will try to find someone to speak with him in Mandarin and we will continue to celebrate that we are a multi-racial family and that 2 of our kids are chinese-american. We are always open to suggestions about how to integrate Asian influence into our lives (no - I am not going to become Buddhist). I love that our family gets to enjoy multiple cultures - that is so much fun - I have learned so much about my children's homeland! Back to the rat tail - If Benjamin wants to keep it - I would let him - but I still hope he doesn't mind parting with it.

Benjamin's Adoption Video

2008-04-23T17:23:00.003-05:00

I had to do a presentation about out trip to China last night - so I had to finish Benjamin's Adoption video. I have tried to trim it down - but those kids are just so darn cute! I might be a little biased - but I have seen a lot of kids! I hope you enjoy - Sorry if it seems redundant after reading the rest of the blog. I always enjoy photos set to music (kind of like one of those old tear-jerker Kodak commercials - I loved those!). Have a great day - I need to go bond and attach!

Our Own

2008-04-22T17:58:00.002-05:00

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own.
--- Rita Laws, PhD

This is how the conversation usually goes: (between me and anonymous)
Anon: "So you are back from China."
Me: "Yes - we had a great trip"
Anon: "How is the new baby, It's a girl?"
Me: "No, We have a new big boy, he is 5."
Anon: "So you have 4 kids now - and 2 of them are your own, right?"
Me: "No, I have 4 children of my own."
Anon: looking puzzled "but, you have 2 of your own"
Me: "We adopted Benjamin - Now we have 4 children of our own"
Anon: "You know what I mean"
Me: "Not really!"

Prior to adopting Benjamin we had to read lots of books about the implications of adopting an older child. One of the book I read was called "Our Own". For some reason when we came home with Claire this conversation didn't occur so much. I have been asked multiple times since we have been home (for 12 days now) how many children I have that are my own - They are all my own (or our own). They are all loved and they are our children no matter how they joined our family. The conversation above was with one particularly dense person this weekend - who kept asking the same question - even as I explained it to her. Oh well - I will just continue with education on proper adoption terminology (How would you feel if you were adopted and someone asked your mom how many kids of her own she had - I would think that would make you feel badly). Benjamin is doing great. He is going to Preschool each afternoon and is doing very well.

How Do I Wake Them Up?

2008-04-14T17:52:00.002-05:00

I am writing this at 6 pm on Monday evening - Wesley is sitting here with me eating the lasagna I made for dinner. The other 3 kids are asleep. I can't figure out how to wake them up. If I do - they are so cranky - but I can't stand many more of these 4 am mornings. My only hope is that the weather is really nice tomorrow and I can make them all play outside tomorrow. I think they would have a hard time sleeping on the swingset or on their bikes. The bad weather these last few days has led to a lot of movie watching (AKA sleeping on a couch with a movie playing). Benjamin is doing well at home. He went to preschool today. I think he liked it. He was definitely not interested in staying there without Kendell or I though. I have added some pictures from the end of our trip. We went to a Safari Park in Guangzhou and the kids got to pet a real live baby bear, baby monkey, baby white tiger, and a baby wallaby. It was really fun. I also included one photo of us in Hong Kong - It was very foggy that morning so we couldn't really get any good pictures. The other photo is of the kids at the White Swan. They have decided after 3 weeks of photos that there is no need to stand still for a picture anymore.

ET Go Home

2008-04-10T23:11:00.002-05:00

We caught a bike home today - or maybe a plane. We are safe and sound after 25 hours on the go. I am headed to bed now. I need to post on the last couple days tomorrow - If I can wake up. Thanks for all the comments, they were very fun to read - I couldn't comment back in China - They block most access to Blogger (except to post - I could only read the comments because I had them emailed to me) - I will have to discuss the censorship there in the future. Good night and thanks for the prayers and good wishes they worked - Now if I can convince the boys it is bedtime and not the middle of the day I will be good.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Bear

2008-04-08T06:30:00.002-05:00

We went to school today. We visited a 4th grade English class. Kendell worked on teaching them Fuzzy Wuzzy - The students showed us their zoo - They have an ostrich, peacock, monkey, goat, pigeons, other assorted birds, fruit trees and other assorted garden items. All of these are on the roof of the school - so as you can see Chinese schools are just like ours. The school was so loud I don't know how anyone learned anything - It reminded me of recess all day long. The kids were very nice and we had a great visit. We went to the park and shopping (of course). We went out for Thai one last time this evening - We are now packed and ready to go - Tomorrow we go to the Safari Park - then have the oath taking at the American consulate (that is what we have been here in Guangzhou waiting for). We then take a train to Hong Kong - which is a 2 hour train ride - We stay at a hotel and take a 12:45 pm flight home on Thursday to Chicago and then home - We arrive at our home airport at 8 pm on Thursday night. That is all for now.

Say Ahhhh!

2008-04-07T08:44:00.002-05:00

Benjamin passed his medical exam today - not a shock, but certainly a relief. We had a good time at the doctor - can you imagine - it was a doctor's office with no waiting - we saw 3 doctors in less than 30 minutes. We stopped by the park on the way back to the hotel today - there were lots of schoolkids out - they were on rollerblades, scooters, and skateboards. Can you imagine the liability issues? No helmets anywhere to be seen and the kids were having a great time. We had our red couch photo where all the new kids have their picture taken together - The babies in the group were not interested and Benjamin looked like he couldn't believe he had to sit by those kids - We got some funny photos though. We went on a Pearl River cruise tonight - It was really nice - it was a dragonboat and the view from the boat was great. Benjamin is doing well - What we have learned on this trip so far is:
1: Benjamin still is really worried we aren't taking him home.
2: He does not want to share a room with Wesley - he wants to sleep in our room.
3: Claire is 3 years old - It is hard to be 3 - the whole world is against you - just ask her.
4: We drank no Coke today, things were better this way!
5: When the shops around here aren't busy you can get some great deals. Not many families left here - since the trade fair is next week and people were ready to bargain.
6: Benjamin + Chinese Power Rangers video = Power Ranger Benjamin (maybe not such a good idea!)
7: I can't think of #7 - It is getting late.
Hope you enjoy the random pictures for the day.

Coke - The Resident Evil

2008-04-06T07:53:00.002-05:00

Benjamin really likes Coke - like to much - We have let the kids drink Coke on this trip even though they normally don't get it - but it is hard to get just water or milk with a meal - today Benjamin got a Coke with his lunch - We were letting him drink it out of his glass - he wanted it out of the can - He pouted through the whole meal and wouldn't eat or drink anything - tough for him - more for us. I have decided that Coke is evil and has led to many "issues". Don't let Coke know I said that! Nothing exciting today again - We went to the jade and pearl market and didn't get much - it was hot and we were unmotivated - We did go to the DVD store and stock up - 10 DVD's for $20. We got Enchanted, National Treasure-Book of Secrets, Alvin and the chipmunks, 3 Barbie movies (guess who picked those out!), a chinese power rangers, and some others - That felt good - saving 90% on a purchase. Mom and I went to church this morning it was the English service - but was mostly in Mandarin - We ducked out after about 45 minutes - They had some good music and the place was packed. The kids spent the evening watching their new movies and eating Papa John's pizza. Only 2 full days left here in Guangzhou - Benjamin's medical exam is tomorrow - We are also going to try and go on a River Cruise tomorrow night - I am not sure if that is a great idea - as I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't lose somebody overboard. The hotel is fabulous - the service is great - They make up the bed in the morning and they come back at night and give you fresh towels and take your trash and leave chocolate - and turn down the bed so you don't strain yourself going to sleep. We finally have a travel group which is very exciting - it is fun to finally have other families to talk to. The photos today are of the church we went to and of my kids - in a state of extreme happiness from having new movies. It is funny, as I read through these posts as I write them they are becoming more of a list of things we did for the day and less interesting or informative information. That must be what happens on day #17 of a really long trip with all the kids. Frightening!

No Shopping For Benjamin (Gei wa)

2008-04-05T06:52:00.003-05:00

Benjamin loves to shop - or really he just loves to get stuff. He does not like to hear the word "No". If he hears this very bad word - he must be disgruntled for quite a while and you might as well just take him back to the room - because he will no longer be holding your hand or walking with you. So I think that this may save us some money on the trip as we will only be shopping in shifts. I might explain that the island we are staying on is full of shops with all sort of very cheap Chinese souveneirs (if you get a present from us - which is highly unlikely since we are so cheap - it will likely be from here and will have been cheap!). Today we went and got Benjamin's visa photo taken - The boy is very photogenic! We had a very exciting paperwork meeting - I was very glad to get rid of some paperwork. Mom and I had a massage for 90 minutes for the price of 68 yuan ($10) - Now that is my kind of deal - Kendell got to watch the kids while we were gone - Isn't he lucky to have all that bonding time alone! I have included some pictures of our trip to the park this morning and of the view from our room on the 26th floor of the Pearl River - Sadly it looks the best when it is dark. The island we are staying on is absolutely beautiful and the weather is great. We are so sorry to have missed all the flooding at home - we are hoping our house is still there and that our ducks haven't floated away.

Jessie - A Star Is Born

2008-04-04T06:38:00.004-05:00

I can't tell you how may pictures Jessie had to take with rural Chinese tourists in Beijing - I am pretty sure it was over 20 - when we visited the Summer Palace she was practically mobbed by a tour group - I was surprised - but thought that once we got to Guangzhou her status as a rock star would fade. Tonight at dinner - as I was thinking how nice it would be not to have to stop and have Jessie's photo taken all the time - Some students stopped her to have their picture taken with her - What's the deal - She is awfully cute - There are so many American tourists/families here that I am hoping that is the last picture (Jessie loves it though!). Anyhoo - I think Benjamin liked the plane ride - the trip was about 3 hours - We don't have any plans this week yet - except paperwork stuff. Benjamin asked our guide before we left if we were going to take him with us - She reassured him he was staying with us. So I think he was feeling better. We really like our new room - We even have a little living room and a huge bathroom - Look - I have finished another post without any sarcasm or wit (sorry).

Packing Up the Wagons

2008-04-03T04:11:00.003-05:00

We just finished packing for our trip to Guangzhou. Our agency rep should be here soon to drop of Benjamin's passport - We are ready to go - We have had a lot of togetherness here - Our room at the White Swan is supposed to be a 2 bedroom suite. I was feeling adventurous this morning and we rented a driver/minibus and went to the Botanical Gardens (those who know me - know I just can't pass up a good garden!). Apparently every school in Beijing was going to the garden - I am not exagerating if I say that there were probably 1000 or more kids there - I have never seen a Botanical garden that was wall to wall people (or tree to tree). We had a good time and the conservatory had the most beautiful collection of orchids I have ever seen. I have included a few photos - that only I may appreciate - We are now back at the hotel and everyone is fighting over the Nintendo again (if we had 4 of them - I bet no one would want to play with it!). Benjamin knows several words now - like, for example McDonald's, Kentucky (Fried Chicken), and pizza. He loves Spiderman and will sometimes not leave the room without his spiderman pajamas. He ordered a Coke at the chinese restaurant today at lunch (we thought that might be what he was saying) - the waitress brought it and we had them take it back - only water at this meal - He was not very happy with this - so he didn't eat much. He says they used to give him soda, juice, and sugar water to drink in the evening and by the looks of his teeth - I believe it. Not much else to add today. I am also including a photo for my medically inclined friends - We passed by the Hospital of the Femoral Head and the Andrology Hospital today. When we went to the Children's Hospital and they had a stomatology department - very interesting.

Keep Off The Grass

2008-04-02T06:07:00.003-05:00

I don't think people in Beijing have ever walked on grass - I'm serious. We went to a park today - Something like the Earth Park - and there were a million signs warning you to keep off the grass. I don't think that children here EVER play on grass - Isn't that weird? The park was very nice and in the center had a large temple like place which was originally built over 600 years ago - The kids had a great time running around the large open area (not grassy). We then found the play area. I think that China is more adult centered than child centered - The playground had almost all exercise equipment for adults and a couple of things for kids to climb on (over concrete, of course). I have yet to see a swing or a slide in all the parks we have been in (this has the kids quite preclempt). Claire had to use to squatty potty at the park - and all we managed to do was have her pee on both of her ankles (it was pretty bad). We had dim sum (I think) at a nearby restaurant which was really good and then came back to the hotel for my (I mean Claire's) afternoon nap. The kids had great fun with paper airplanes and then we went for dinner at Outback Steakhouse - It was OK - but was the most expensive meal we have had yet. We are now relaxing at the room - We get Benjamin's passport tomorrow - Yeah! Benjamin does really well with us in the room. When we are out with the guide he tends to prefer walking with them and talking to them the whole time - He does not like to do what we say when we are out - but he does listen well in the room. He likes to play Uno and we are definitetly going to have to put up the Nintendo when we get home. The sign photo today (look at #9) warns parkgoers to avoid superstitious activity in the park). Good Night from Beijing.

Would You Drink the Water?

2008-04-01T06:54:00.002-05:00

This will probably be my most uninteresting post of the whole trip - or at least I hope so. This morning we went and saw Benjamin's finding spot - This may important for him to be able to see when he gets older. Then we layed around the hotel room - We went out for lunch and came back to the room. I didn't drink the water, but still seem to have obtained some sort of stomach issue. I have learned today that Pepto Bismol can be taken every 30 minutes - I am still waiting for it to work. No pictures today since the only photos I have are of Benjamin's finding spot and I currently lack motivation to take candid, fun kid pictures here in the room. We are going to a museum tomorrow - At least I will be if I am feeling better.

Dinner Anyone?

2008-03-31T05:14:00.008-05:00

We had our last tour in Beijing today - We went to the Lama temple - A Buddhist temple which has the largest Buddha in the world - over 26 meters high - built out of a single piece of sandalwood. It is in the guinness book of world records and it is huge. A good time was had by all - Benjamin kneeled to pretend he was praying to Buddha - so I think he has seen this sort of thing before. We then went to Silk Street - a large market where they sell knock-off everything - I mean everything - It is a nice place to visit if you like to be accosted by people trying to sell you things - It was fun - We bought Benjamin a T shirt and shorts - and bargained the price down by 2/3 - I think we did OK. Then we quickly left. We went to Dairy Queen for ice cream - which was great and then to the night market where they sell all sort of yummy foods on sticks - like eels, centipedes, scorpions, squid, snake, silkworms, etc. You get the idea - the kids loved it - just as I suspected. We had to stop Wesley from making vomitting noises - we discussed later about trying to be culturally sensitive - I don't know if it helped. We are now off to McDonald's - we are still trying to do one Chinese and one some other type of meal a day - See ya!

Beijing - The Marathon Continues

2008-03-30T06:32:00.003-05:00

We are now on day 59 (Ok - well maybe day #8) in Beijing. Most adoption trips to China last about 10-14 days. Ours is going to be 21 days long. Benjamin is in Beijing - so everything is done by the book - for example - 2 years ago we met Claire and adopted her 5 minutes later. This trip we met Benjamin and were required to do 2 days of bonding before we could adopt him - The passport last trip was done in 5 days. This time they will not rush the passport and so it takes 7 days. All the extra days lead to a very long trip - we are still finding things to do - but it would be easier to make dinner than to drag all 4 kids to a restaurant 3 times a day. Today we went to visit our adoption agencies office in Beijing (Holt Internatioal). They are the best agency in the whole world (that might be a personal opinion). We then went to a Chinese Christian Church in Haiden - which had an English language service. It is pretty cool to see christianity alive and well in this country which has been without religion for so long - The pastor said they had 60 baptisms last Sunday. He spoke of having catechism (?spelling) class prior to being baptized - so they are a little different than the christian church at home - The music was great and was exactly what you would hear in a contemporary service at home. We then went to the bookstore - We got 6 books for 34 yuan (our first good deal here - less than $5). We had Pizza Hut carry out for supper (they don't deliver). I can't think of one more interesting thing to say - Have a nice Sunday. An explanation of the photos - The bird's nest olympic stadium, the Holt office - Benjamin in the Holt office, the Chinese church, and Claire's pants after a day in Beijing (do not bring light colored pants when you visit here - you will never be able to wear them again).

A Near Death Experience

2008-03-29T06:44:00.002-05:00

It is so relaxing traveling with the whole family! After getting out of the van today, Benjamin was apparently bored with waiting 5 seconds for us to get out so he decided to dart into the street - That was exciting! Anyhoo - everyone is fine - we went to the Summer Palace - former home of one of China's not-so-nice empresses. It was very cold - but, beautiful with lots of magnolia trees blooming. We also went to the panda zoo and were pleasently surprised to see a vigorous panda chasing some birds (last time we came they just slept). Benjamin was very upset we would not buy him a stuffed panda and pouted for quite a while - at least until we had a snack. We also took a rickshaw ride through the hutong and visited with a local man - on the way out of the hutong we looked at a porcelain exhibit - can you guess why (with 4 kids) we didn't but anything? We also went to the acrobat show tonight - Kendell, Mom, and I fell asleep for a little while and the kids really liked it. Benjamin still prefers Kendell and will give him a hug and kiss now - He is not speaking much to us in English - but it using a lot of sign language now - he has finally figured out that we are dumb and don't speak Mandarin - he really likes talking to our driver about cartoons and other things he likes. You will notice in the photos that Benjamin is not much taller than Claire who is 2 1/2 years younger than he is. I also put in a picture of our favorite sign at the panda zoo - I would hate to see the awful results of panda suddeness. Good Night.

It Never Rains In Beijing

2008-03-28T05:48:00.002-05:00

"It never rains in Beijing" - That is what our agency representative said to us as we rode from the plane to our hotel when we arrived. In a freakish turn of events today, however, it rained all day, except of course at the top of the wall - where it was snowing. We had a good time anyhow - and everyone apppreciated the impressive structure - except Claire who had to go to the bathroom (luckily we had a handy-dandy pull up in the bag for just such an emergency - I don't think the guards at the wall had to use a toilet - they were probably all boys!, by the way - anyone who thinks their 3 year old won't have a better time staying at home with someone while you are in China - you are wrong - although our 6 and 8 year old seem to be having a good time - and Claire has a good time occasionally - especially when I carry her everywhere!). So I digress, back to the point of the story. We also visited the jade and cloissone (?spelling) factories today. We supported the local economy at these establishments. We were stuck in traffic trying to get back to the hotel for about 2 hours - that was fun - all in all we had a very good day! I had to add the photo from the cable car we rode up to the great wall in - I am not sure what they mean by "No Smoking or Scratching in the Compartment". It is late now and I must go to sleep - It is nearly 7:15 pm!

Now We Know They Call It The Forbidden City

2008-03-27T07:04:00.005-05:00

We had a very full day - After a delcious breakfast at the hotel (yes, it is really that good) we went to the Forbidden City - Home of all the emporers of China from the time it was built in the 1400's until the last emperor in 1925 (remember that movie?) It is an amazing structure which has remained largely intact until today when my kids came to visit. Our guide complimented us on how fast Claire could run away from us in an attempt to escape. Wesley then proceeded to start pulling up the cobblestones which were loose from the courtyard in the city. And to think that courtyard has been there for 600 years, largely intact, until Wesley came. I am so proud of my little archealogist - if only China was as proud. We left there and went to Jianshen Park - This is the wrong spelling - but I am to tired to find the right one. And really, how many of you will know the difference anyway! The kids had a great time running up about 4000 stairs to the top - which had a spectacular view of the Forbiddden City and Beijing. The rest of us did not die or have any sort of stroke during the hike - so that was good - In my opinion this is really a not to be missed park - The views were well worth the hike. We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant which didn't even give us chopsticks - It was good - but a little weird! We then went to Behai park - also very beautiful with step and a good view and a cool Tibetan buddhist temple at the top. All the trees are blooming here and everything is just starting to turn green - so it was very pretty! We also visited a pearl market on the way home and the kids bought some trinkets - silly me - they were spending their own money that they got doing chores - I didn't think and didn't get Benjamin anything - He was busy entertaining the staff and didn't act like he wanted anything - He started crying in the van when he didn't get anything. Luckily our guide pulled out a bracelet he happened to have and that made Benjamin very happy. I will try to remember to buy something for everyone next time - even if they don't look like they want anything! Mom and I went to Walmart after we got back to the hotel - We took a taxi all by ourselves - so brave of us! Dinner later was hot pot - which was fun - The kids were then immediately ready for bed and so am I after I get this written. About Benjamin - he seems to like/bond with Kendell more than me so far (Claire is glad about that and would not have it any other way) He is a show off and likes to talk a lot to everyone where we go - We are a little worried about what he is saying! He will stay with us and hold hands. He will usually not answer us when we try to say something to him in Chinese (probably our problem, not his) He understands some things already like - go brush your teeth, go to the bathroom/bed. I don't feel he is attached much yet - but does tell people we are his mama and baba and gets along great with his ge ge, jie jie, and mei mei - as he calls them. They are already starting to fight about toys! Enough for now - I must go to sleep before we scale the Great Wall in 40 degree rain tomorrow (jealous, aren't you?). Good night from Beijing.

Does the Tooth Fairy visit China?

2008-03-26T03:25:00.002-05:00

I would like to congratulate Wesley on finally losing his other top front tooth today - After messing with it for weeks, I can happily say farewell to the tooth. On to bigger and better things now. Today we toured the Temple of Heaven - I am a little sketchy on the details but it is very impressive and was built in the 1400'a. We saw lots of older people exercising in the park - It makes me laugh thinking of my dad dancing in the park for exercise. We then went to Tianneman Square - the kids were not terribly impressed by the large piece of concrete with a statue in the middle - but then again it is hard to recognize the historical significance of such a place when you are 3 years old. The last time we came to China we didn't bring Wesley and Jessie (a wise decision at the time). This time we have the kids and we had to get our picture taken with several Chinese tourists because of them. I think they really just wanted their pictures with Jessie. Our guide told us they like caucasian children because they look like little dolls (sounds vaguely familiar doesn't it). We went to lunch at Pizza Hut - I think we are trying to have one Chinese and one non-Chinese meal a day - This seems to keep the urchins happy. We are now back at the hotel room - As I suspected the purchase of a Nintendo DS lite was a bad idea - Benjamin, Jessie, and Wesley spend way to much time on it. Benjamin's first word because of this was "my turn". Kendell is torturing Wesley by making him do his journal - This involves a lot of yelling and some crying! Apparently doing just a few minutes of schoolwork a day while in China is a big burden on children - who would have thought it! Jessie really likes Benjamin - she thinks he is a toy and keeps patting his back and pinching his cheeks - It is pretty funny.

Adoption Day (AKA: A post in honor of neverending jet lag)

2008-03-25T08:06:00.003-05:00

We officially adopted Benjamin today. We spent all day doing paperwork - I didn't get any photos of the adoption - I was wrestling with Claire during that part - We got back to the hotel and took naps - The kids naps have now lasted about 6 hours - I am a little worried about them sleeping tonight - We finally do some fun stuff tomorrow - We are going to the Temple of Heaven and Tiannemen Square. Benjamin is doin remarkably well - since we got him he has been smiling and laughing a lot - we have not seen any crying and he has had good behavior - If this lasts until we get home we will be grateful! The photos today are in honor of jet-lag - I don't remember it being so bad on our last trip here. The photos were taken at about 5 pm. It is now 9:30 pm and Claire and Jessie are still sleeping - Kendell and Wesley got up an hour ago. I also added a photo of the first meeting with Benjamin - since it was before he started crying.

Day 2 in China

2008-03-24T06:09:00.002-05:00

Tired, tired, tired - If we would stop waking up at 3 am we wouldn't be so tired. We had a free day today - we went to Walmart and got some things we needed and some toys that we didn't. We ate lunch at McDonald's (shocking I know - it was my pennance for not getting Jessie a toy at Walmart). We found a really big toystore with a cool indoor playground - we will try out later this week. We laid around the hotel all afternoon and then went to dinner at a nearby restaurant - 2/4 kids fell asleep at dinner - at around 6 pm - The third was so grouchy she wouldn't sit in her own seat or eat anything - because I had to wake her up from what she thought was nightime to go and eat. I know that the excitement of the day is overwhelming everyone - and I know that China sounds so exciting as we have seen it. We have lots of tours planned - they don't start until Wednesday - Tomorrow we go to officially register our adoption - we leave at 7:30 am and our guide said to plan to be back around 2:30 pm. Another exciting day! Benjamin is doing great - he has learned - Hi, Mama, Baba, OK, my turn, and Grandma - He can count to four in English - he talks a lot now and I can understand about 2% or less. He hasn't stopped smiling since he got to the hotel room yesterday. He told our guide he was so happy because he has a family. I think things are going really well so far - I realize we haven't hit any of the hard stuff yet - but he is a lot of fun and laughs a lot - If the rest of us could get over the jet lag - we would be a lot more fun!

All About Benjamin

2008-03-23T03:52:00.002-05:00

Benjamin is very cute - We are told that he is very smart and that he is very talkative and outgoing with people he knows (that would not be us - we haven't heard him say more than a couple of words). He was very nervous when he was brought to meet us and began crying when the orphanage director came in - He wouldn't look at us while we were there although he did let us hold him. He likes Jessie's leapster a lot and his Samurai sticker book - He likes granola bars and he is wearing enough clothing for a snowstorm and it is about 65 degrees today. We recieved Benjamin at the orphanage at about 1;00 pm - We were only able to see the recieving room and the garden/play area - a little eerie - it was very pretty - we didn't see any other kids there - and 400 children live there. We don't know much else about him yet - but I am sure as he gets comfortable with us we will learn very quickly. I am still really tired - Kendell, Claire, and I were up at 2:30 am and couldn't get back to sleep - I can't wait to get to bed tonight and feel better tomorrow.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!! - Arrived in Beijing

2008-03-22T09:11:00.003-05:00

We finally made it to Beijing! We had a 5 hour layover Chicago - which was more like 6 because of a delayed flight prior to ours. We boarded our plane - got de-iced, sat around for awhile - pilot couldn't see the runway - because of white-out conditions. Went back to the gate - sat on the plane - ate lunch on the plane - got de-iced again. Finally over 4 hours after boarding the plane - we took off - We are in Beijing - It is bedtime - We found out that we are actually getting Benjamin tomorrow. I need to go and sleep - We have now traveled for about 28 hours and I am tired - More exciting news tomorrow - and I promise there will be less weather news!

Travel Itinerary

2008-03-19T15:27:00.004-05:00

Here is the plan for our trip - We are leaving to stay in a hotel near the airport after work tomorrow. I am nearly done packing - As you can see I have managed to fit everything into the bags and they aren't even overweight! We did OK - we have one big suitcase and 2 carryon size for a family of 6 - Everyone gets a backpack - We will see if we can get the kids to carry theirs. Our plane leaves home at 6 am on Friday and leaves Chicago to Beijing at around 12:00pm. We arrive in Beijing at 3 pm (China time) - after about 14 hours on the plane. My only packing issues is 3 years old and at her grandma's house right now - she has managed to eat all the plane snacks I put in her backpack and littered the toys she was taking around the house - I guess they better offer good snacks on the plane!
Travel Itinerary:
Mar/22 Saturday
You will arrive in Beijing at 3:05pm by UA851.
Please meet our English-speaking tour guide and driver at airport exit for transfer to
Hotel after going through immigration and customs. Novotel Peace Hotel

Mar/23 Sunday Novotel Peace Hotel (B/L)
9:00am orientation in Hotel Meeting room
Half day tour of Tiananmen Square and Temple of Heaven after group lunch.

Mar/24 Monday Novotel Peace Hotel (B)
Child handoff in morning at Beijing orphanage

Mar/25 Tuesday Novotel Peace Hotel (B)
Morning: Adoption registration and notarization, child passport
application

Mar/26 Wednesday Novotel Peace Hotel (B)
Shopping for children supplies in the morning;
Optional activity in the afternoon

Mar/27 Thursday Novotel Peace Hotel (B/L)
Tour to Forbidden City, JingShan Park and BeiHai.

Mar/28 Friday Novotel Peace Hotel (B/L)
Tour to Mutianqu Great Wall, (including cable car) and Hutong Lane;

Mar/29 Saturday Novotel Peace Hotel (B/L)
Tour to Summer Palace,
Panda Zoo and Acrobatics Show at night

Mar/30 Sunday Novotel Peace Hotel (B)
Optional (church service)

Mar/31 Monday Novotel Peace Hotel (B/L)
Tour to Lama Temple and
Xiu Shui Silk Market

Apr/1 Tuesday Novotel Peace Hotel (B)
Pick child’s passport in the afternoon

Apr/2 Wednesday Novotel Peace Hotel (B)
Optional activities arranged by Holt. Schedule to be announced by your Holt
escort.

Apr/3 Thursday Novotel Peace Hotel (B)
Receives Child passport

Apr/4 Friday (B)
Airport transfer
Beijing/Guangzhou CA1315(11:15am/2:15pm) White Swan Hotel

Apr/5 Saturday White Swan Hotel (B)
9:30am-10:30am paper work-checking in Hotel Meeting Room

Apr/6 Sunday White Swan Hotel (B)
Optional activities arranged by Holt. Schedule to be announced by your Holt
escort.

Apr/7 Monday White Swan Hotel (B)
Medical check

Apr/8 Tuesday White Swan Hotel (B)
Visa appointment

Apr/9 Wednesday (B)
Oath-taking ceremony
Your guide will take you to the train station.
Guangzhou/Hongkong T825 (8:13pm – 10:02 pm) Harbour Plaza Metropolis

Apr/10 Thursday: Leave Hong Kong at around 12:00 pm - arrive at home at 8 pm - same day.

Are We Ready Yet?

2008-03-15T13:32:00.002-05:00

NO!
We have made Easter eggs though! We made some eggs, we broke some eggs, and we hunted some eggs - Easter Egg hunt done - Check, Packing done - No. OK - so I have to get back to my packing - but here are a of photos of the chaos - The eggs were neat - my suitcases are not! Wish me luck - with getting that stuff to fit in those bags!

Snow and Travel Dates

2008-03-04T20:27:00.002-06:00

Msybe it will be warmer in Beijing. I don't think we have had snow or ice in at least 3 years here. This year the kids have missed almost 2 weeks of school for snow days. Today the snow was nice and I think the kids enjoyed coming to the office with us so they could collect hundreds of stickers and lots of candy. If your child is coming to our office for shots in the near future - sorry for the lack of stickers to cheer them up! On a more interesting note we got our travel dates today - We leave for Beijing on March 21 and return to the US on April 10. It is going to be a very long trip with our kids in a very small hotel room or two. I would like to apologize ahead of time to the people on our plane and to the people in every restaurant in China - and to the people who will be cleaning our hotel room - My kids can't help it - they are just energetic!!!!!!!
By the way - In the midst of the snow and ice Wesley had his 8th birthday.

Travel Approval

2008-02-28T21:12:00.002-06:00

We got our travel approval today - Hopefully we will have travel dates tomorrow. More info to come soon.