Update...

Keshawn has broken his arm and will have surgery first thing tomorrow morning.

LOTS OF PRAYER...

Dad is on his way to the ER with Keshawn. Don't know if his wrist is broken or dislocated. Pleases be praying especially with Kalyn and Mom gone.
Caresse

Blog Mess, Thanksgiving and CHINA!!!!!

Hi every one.  Poor Alexis is working hard to fix my blog, as well as several others.  I pray that it is fixed soon!!!!
We had a wonderful weekend with Steve’s family from Denver.  And then Jace and Karlie were able to come for the 1st time since their wedding.  It was so fun ... we didn’t tell the children that Jace and Karlie were coming for the week.  So on Wednesday, I was “looking” for them.  They wanted to sneak up from the back.  All of a sudden one of the children yells, “Hey, there is some one on our land!”  

They were so surprised and lots of happy noise filled the house!


In other news, 
WE ARE LEAVING FOR CHINA IN TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  AHHHHHH.
I must seriously start packing today and make sure that we have everything that we need.  After that I might run around the house screaming like a mad woman.....SO EXCITED.

I Almost Lost It...

My mind, that is.  I woke up this morning and my mind began to think.  It probably shouldn’t have done that, and I tried to distract it, but IT insisted on going down a bad road.  It began to think about some pain of some loved ones, and how hard it is being to find food that fits Landon’s newly discovered and severe food allergies; it wondered around the up coming China trip and packing for it; it teased with the idea of not doing school today (it is our last day till after Christmas); it stressed over the meals for next week, including Thanksgiving here at our house; it dwelt on the MANY things that need to be done before I leave and stressed over finances.  
I quickly felt that I was about to loose it.  
So I took control of it and told it to shush, sit down follow the schedule for the day.  FIRST - have Bible with the children.  “It” consented reluctantly.  Still fighting my silent battle with my mind after Bible I told it to play some school games with the children.  It didn’t want to...”To bad” I told it.  So I began a school game with one of the children, and it slowly started to relax and enjoy itself a little.  Before long, it came around to “my” way of thinking and we played a spelling game with the older ones.  It even offered some helpful suggestions for the little ones to play.  

And before we knew it, we, my mind and I, felt that we just might make it through this busy time. I just hope it continues to stay focused on the most important things...GOD and loving my family!!

The LORD Reminded Me...

 “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good."

 I often think when I am reading the Bible, how I can apply it to being a mother, or other areas of my days.  When I read the above verse this morning I thought how many times my eyes see the “evil” or the bad that the children do, but I needed to be reminded to see the “good” more often.  

It is so easy for me to unintentionally just “notice” the bad and sinful behaviors.  I stop noticing the good that they do, and showing them my appreciation for it.  A good reminder today to intentionally be sure that “my eyes” are also seeing the good.
We are praying for an appointment today...Steve and I are driving to Denver to have an “intake” appointment with an Occupational Therapist for Aiden.  Praying for the LORD’s direction and wisdom!!!!  Goodness, do I need some here.

I Probably Shouldn’t Have Said THAT....

And it is obvious that their shock went on....

...and on, and....

...and, well, I bet you get the picture.
What did I dare say to cause such distress and dismay?


Out of pure frustration, with a TAD of tiredness, and in the midst of complete pandaemonium, I yelled down the hall to no one in particular;
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE SINNING IN THIS HOUSE TONIGHT.”
And I am going to be the first to set a good example for this declaration....I am going to bed right this second!!

Yep....

I’m grateful!  Grateful for the many prayers for our adoption journey; grateful for the donations to help bring our children home; grateful that my husband follow’s Jesus’ example when He says in John “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.”; grateful that my children embrace more siblings with excitement; grateful for my parents and family who share theirs lives and love with us; grateful to you for sharing our journey of love.  THANK YOU!


We have had a few questions asked....
-Sadly, we moved on to plan B...Steve will be staying home with our family and now Kalyn will be going with me.  I really did not want to go alone this time.  I have done that several times, and it is just so very hard.
-We still need several thousand dollars to help pay for the travel expenses.  Thank you all for your donations, and please pray for the rest to come in - SOON.
-We will be staying in Guangzhou City.  Our children are at the Social Welfare Center of Bao’an district, Shenzhen City.  We will meet them December the 5th.


I end this post the way I began it...GRATEFUL!  The LORD is near, we are not alone.  Praise the LORD.

Happy Awesome Good Wonderful News

We have our consulate appointment December 13th.  So we will be leaving the 1st week of December!
I am BEGGING you other adoptive parents who have traveled to China to share advice, tips and good places to visit with me!!!
YEA!!!!!!!!!!
Praise the LORD!!!!!!!!

We Do Have A Choice

"Abraham's life was a life a faith, and the life of faith is a life of testing. At every juncture we are tested. Passing each test requires stubborn optimism, resolute confidence in God and steadfast obedience. Life's problems are opportunities to prove our faith and to improve our faithfulness. We fail life's tests when we give in to despair, lose confidence in God or turn away from obedience. Every difficulty and trial is a test of faith. Will we assess the problem through the eyes of faith or not? Will we respond in faith or faithlessness?”  (First Fruits of Zion)
This above quote was very encouraging to me as I continue to walk through our days.  What an awesome and sometimes scary adventure we can choice to walk with the LORD.  But, oh, how I want to choose faithfulness each day.  We do have a choice, don’t we.  I encourage us to remember to look at our days through eyes of faith.

We have been at the dr.’s again with Landon’s tummy problems.  We now know that he has severe allergies to wheat, peanuts and soy.  Tonight, Steve and I are becoming food detectives as we begin to remove everything that is causing him to be sick.  And so far, IT’S A LOT!  


We are still waiting to see if we can travel to China in early December.  Goodness, you would think as many times as I have been through this “wait” I would be better at it.  But I find myself completely distracted, waiting, hopeful, ready ... like a woman who’s time is near and all her thoughts are on the upcoming “birth”.  
How are ya’ll doing?  Can you believe that Thanksgiving is in just a few weeks?  We usually have Thanksgiving at our brother-in-laws house...however, we are glad to have it here this year, as their house is still being rebuilt after the lightening fire.  I am trying to come out of my “when are we going to China” fog long enough to find some fun and nice things to do with the children and to fix for our visiting family.  
Have you found anything fun to do with your children for this special time of the year?

You Called Me

In the middle of the night, I hear a little voice wake me up, “Mommy, I had a bad dream.  Can I sleep with you, Please.”  "Of course you can."  I scoot over to make room for your little body to snuggle.

Trying desperately to finish  a project, I am interrupted yet again, “Mommy, will you come see the marble maze that I just made.”  Yes, I will come.  I set aside the project with a sigh,  reminding myself that the little voice that called me is more precious than any project.

As I sit at the end of a long day, a small body squishes between my husband and I with his pooh bear, blanket and bottle and asks me to hold him and feed him.  Grateful that my husband values my role as a nurturer, we make room for him and I answer his call. 

Down the hall I hear my little man calling “Momma, kiss me good night.”  I feel slightely guiltly that I was rushing to get in my bed, but I turn around, remembering what a joy it is to have so many children who lay in my home waiting for their bed time loves.

My pretty daughter is growing into womanhood.  She needs me to listen to her and empathize with the many emotions that come with growing up.  I remind myself to stop and look and listen and love. 

Sitting to eat my meal finally, after serving 8 plates of food, one child remembers that he needs something.  I get up to meet the request.
Each day, I hear the little voices calling - a hurt ouchie to fix, sad tears, hurt feelings, creations to see, books to read, teeth to pull out, little bodies to bathe, sickness to soothe, artwork to admire, hungry tummies, things to teach, games to play, “I love you Mommy” hugs around my neck.  I answer each call sometimes with patience, and sadly sometimes with irritation.  I let my selfishness and my own desires dull my ears to the little one’s calls.

Half way around the world, a little girl sleeps tonight.  She has known hunger, pain, and fear.  Her world is one of loneliness, sadness, uncertainty, and struggles.  There is none to hear her voice when she has a bad dream, draws a pretty picture, cries in pain, is hungry, sad or afraid. 

In a far away and foreign country, a little boy plays alone.  He goes through his days. He dresses himself and feeds him self.  Does any one wipe his tears, or cheer his accomplishments?

I read the information about these orphaned children.  I look at their precious faces.  I think, can we pay for one more adoption?  Can I mother one more child?  I have feelings that conflict for just a moment… fear, uncertainty…

Then, I hear You call me yet again.  You replace my fear with faith, my uncertainty with excitement.  And I know: You have called me to mother another child.  I joyfully answer “Yes LORD. Let’s Go!"

Our First Introduction...

...to Noelani and Clive was very special.  Before, I go further though, I really need to state that skyping with your children is NOT normal and is usually not possible.  I would hate for other adoptive families to hope that they can skype with their future children when really, it is normally just not possible.  And to ask puts a huge pressure on the precious agencies and orphanages who serve us families.  This was a very special and unusual opportunity, and one that we all pursued for the sake of Noelani. 
Having said that now, the connection was very slow and unclear, so we were not able to see the children very well.  Communication was also hard.  They had an interpreter and the children would look to him/her to try to understand a few things that we were saying.  One sweet moment was when I said “we love you” to them, and Noelani looked to the interpreter to find out what I said, and then she repeated it back slowly in English.  Bless her sweet heart!  I cannot even imagine the fear that she must have...but I’m trying too.  We tried to show them a few things in the house, but I’m not sure how much they were able to see.  Noelani did a little dance for us - so stinkin’ precious and Clive was interested in just looking at the computer and trying to figure it out.  

When we had to say goodbye, all I could think was how much I love them and want to hold them in my arms.  We do think that the adjustments could be very hard for our daughter, and we are trying to prepare for that.  I must admit, I’m a little scared also.  But seeing them just made me love them more.  
We have a new prayer request...my sister in law, Karla, was going to come stay with the children to help Kalyn, but she is feeling very sick and may not be able to come.  We are praying for the LORD’s direction and leading in this.  We feel that Kalyn needs someone to stay with her...and if push comes to shove, Steve may have to say home and me go alone...not our plan A. 
Thank you all for your prayers and sweet encouragement for us.  We still do not have our TA, but are praying for it in the next few days. 

I’m Trying To Not Freak Out...

No, we don’t have our TA yet, which is driving me a little crazy, since we thought we would be on an airplane this month flying to our children in China.
However, the AWESOME thing that is happening today is that we are skyping with our children at 7:00 tonight, which is 9:00 a.m Wednesday for them.  

In just a few hours we will be “meeting” our children, sort of, face to face.  This is pretty unusual in adoptions I hear.  Our agency felt that it might be helpful for Noelani because of what has happened in the past.  I am really nervous, excited, scared, thrilled...
and wondering.
How will it go meeting them like this?  What will we say? Will they like us?  What will it be like trying to skype with the language differences?  I know that they will be nervous and shy...how do I help them (and me)?
We bought them an outfit and a gift each to show to them tonight.  We plan to walk them through the house and show them their bedrooms.  Or course, we will introduce them to their siblings.  We were advised to try to learn a few Chinese phrases to say to them; to show them that we are trying.  But every time I try to remember what I was trying to learn, I forget it.  Do we try to teach them a song?  How?  Thoughts swirl through my head...I can hardly think straight.  
Oh, Please Pray for us...we are about to meet our children!!!!!!!!!
And please share ANY advise that you might have!  
I’ll let you know how things go!