Day In The Life

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A day in the life of our family.

Field Day with our home school friends.
The kids had all kinds of fun with races, tug-o-war,
and capture the flag with parents.

Afternoon naps followed.

When we (I) awoke, we headed over to the pool
for the final swim lesson.
Jerrod is taking the picture and
Bob came from work to watch.

As promised, on the last day of swimming
we went out for ice cream.
We take up the whole eating area. Isn't that a riot?

Strawberry cone.

Vanilla cone. Lick, Micah, lick.

Cake Batter. Uck!

No way, Mom. Cake batter too.

Coffee with chocolate sprinkles.

Copycat. Coffee with choco sprinkles.

Lemon chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles.

Lemon chocolate chip with chocolate sprinkles.

"Cora, why do you have two ice cream cones?", I asked.
I thought someone had given her their cone to eat.
"Oh yeah, you are holding mine while I take pictures."

This man would NEVER pass up an ice cream cone.
Flavor: Reece's Pieces.

I think these two look a lot alike.

A work of art. The cone.

After we came home, Erika came running in and said she had made some art in the driveway with a water bottle that I HAD to go see. I am glad I did.

What made this day most special is that we were all together for the first time in quite a while. Lindsey returned from Ireland and Jerrod was around, those big kids have busy lives.

We had fun.

Together.

We Have An Announcement

Erik has babies!
Nature is an amazing thing.
A little how do you do and 30 days later...
you get small, hairless, pink and black, squirmy things.

Proud first time Mama!
She is doing a good job so far.
She has pulled out her hair and covered them.
We were relieved that she had them in the nest box.

Six newborns that we can see.

More mouths to feed...

Current Rabbit Count = 11

Back To The Land

Back to the land we go.

Decades ago we had a mini-farm with a large garden and lots of critters.
I fell in love all over again with my city boy husband who worked the land for me.

Somewhere along the line we decided to put our efforts into growing children.

Lots of them.
As summer dawns, the land is calling again.

There are no babies to tend.

The smell of the soft sweet earth beckons the pioneer woman within.

I must heed the call.

Our token garden in the land of pine trees, ants, and sandy soil.
Two towns over and a few miles as the crow flies is a farm with room to share.
I fear my eyes are bigger than my stomach.
The landowner happily tilling up more soil for the 4 families participating in our community garden.
We women were on our hands and knees.
She showed us how to make the perfect moat around each plant.
Taking a break from hoeing hills; close to 50. He willingly breaks out in blisters for me.

Where are all the children you say?
All 15 of them? No kidding.
We decided they were on weed duty for ever after.
Or they don't eat.
Period.

Every planting needs a celebratory cookout.

I have about 100 black fly bites but...

I'm happy to have dirt under my fingernails again.

For The Homesick Gal

She texted me today from her IPOD.

We chatted.

Normal, except that SHE is in Ireland.

And I am not.

SHE said she misses her family.

SHE has been checking the blog for news.

So this is for HER, our firstborn.

Playing with the new webcam.

Trey is first!
Took three tries to get him to look up.
Micah is next.
Smile, Kloey!
Don't be afraid.
Get ready.
Cheesy girl.
Look what happened while you were gone...his choice.
Mom, I want to make a silly face.
Look what else happened just today.
She wiggled that thing until it was oughta there.
He most definitely misses you.
Here is word from your brother.

Those LID eyes

Today we got news of our LID - Logged in Date.

The CCCWA logged our dossier into their system on May 26, 2011.

The very same day this picture was taken.

The SAME DAY that he was given a hug and told his family loved him.

13 days after DTC - Dossier to China.

I run the numbers in my mind constantly.

Like a calculator.

If this step completes on such and such day, we can go in September.

If this step completes later, we go in October.

Repeat.

Often.

Bargain.

Pray.

Plead.

Haven't cried yet.

But the eyes...

What do these eyes say to you?

Come and get me.

I want a family.

I need a mommy and a daddy
to love me and take care of me.

My heart hurts.

I am alone.

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

The Name Game - Part 2

Five times we have had the privilege of naming a child.

Naming a seven year old is a daunting challenge.

We have had his picture on the refrigerator since January.

Many a mealtime, we pondered what his English name could/should be.

Nothing seemed quite right.

Peter won't do.

It isn't Jonathan.

Seth didn't happen.

Luke could've worked.

Bob asked God to give us a name.

Something strong and biblical.

INTRODUCING:

JOSHUA FANKANG PETERSON
Joshua means "God Rescues"
God has had an indisputable hand
in bringing Joshua to be part of our family.

Praying to be united in September 2011
or sooner!

Abundantly Blessed By Lindsey B.

I have met some amazing people on the road to China.

Lindsey Brockway is one of them.

She and her husband met their daughter Malia this week and have been sharing the trip details HERE.

They are in Hangzhou and offered to take pictures of anyone who had a child at the orphanage.

LOOK WHO THEY FOUND TODAY!!!!!

Lindsey said she gave him a hug for me and told him that I loved him very much. She also confirmed that his little heart was beating fast and he does have trouble catching his breath.
Thank you, Lindsey, from the bottom of my heart. To know that TODAY he is okay is a gift beyond imagination. While we greatly appreciate the updates from the agencies/orphanages, realtime pictures and personal observations are simply priceless.

We are coming son.

Children's Museum

Monday, April 25, 2011

We headed downtown to the Children's Museum.

The little boys were NOT impressed with the life size dinosaur.

But they found plenty of other fun.
Shopping.
Dress-up.
The vet's office always gets a lot of playtime.
Dr. Trey.
Erik's tower got much higher before it tumbled.
Somebody knows what makes little boys happy.
The drums got a good beating.
Isn't Grandpa cute?

Put the pedal to the metal, Micah!
Even big boys still like to play.
After our playtime, the girls headed off to the tea house
and the boys went out for fried chicken.

Vacation was wonderful!

Adoption Hiccup

I am still swimming in paperwork.

The bright side is that it gives me something to do while waiting.

I800, D230, 864W, Affadavits, Agreements, Referral paperwork...

HICCUP.

Our home study agency will not be able to do any of our post placement visits or reports because they are losing their accreditation that would enable them to do these for China over the next 5 years. Sad because the social worker we worked with won't ever meet our boy.

AARGH.

Back to the drawing board to find another agency who is appropriately accredited with China and our placing agency. I think I found one.

BOTTOM LINE:

More money. Lots more money. Up front.

Fortunately God continues to provide in every way.

We are grateful that our hiccup will not affect our timeline.

Dossier went to China on 5/13 so we are at Day 10.