Adoption Picnic

Every year for the past few years, we go to the annual Adoption Assistance picnic.  They are the agency that helped us with both adoptions, and we love to go there and talk to the friends we have made at the agency and among the adoptive families.  Julie and her staff are more like family at this point.

The children had great fun as usual, riding the ponies, bouncing in the inflatable and getting their faces painted.  Can’t wait till next year!

Weekend In The Yard

Millions of people were without electricity in the wake of Hurricane Ike and the storms that it spawned – and we were part of that. We count our blessings that we only lost power and had no real damage. Of course being without power for almost 5 days was a challenge and nobody is rushing back to cool-water baths anytime soon, but it was also fun too. The children were out of school and got a chance to enjoy the end of summer weather.

We spent most of the weekend in the yard, cleaning up our yard and then helping our neighbors. Parts of several trees came down and there were a number of broken limbs lying around as well. Of course as we cut and raked and piled the logs in the fire pit, the kids took some time out to play and Jordan got out his go-kart. Joshua wanted a “car” too so he got to drive the lawn mower around in 1st gear.

Daddy took Sarah for a few laps on the go-kart and pushed her on the swing. She was not happy that she was too small to drive, but it seemed that some play time with Daddy was a fair substitute.

As I write, the “burn pile” (as they say here) is still smoldering, and we’re finally sitting back to enjoy the evening. The lights and computers are on and there is fresh food and hot water – and the family is all relatively happy and healthy. We’re truly blessed.

Day 1,2,3 Then… A New Boy In The Family

After a bit of negotiation, Joshua is finally with us!

On the way to the orphanage we had difficulty finding it (it’s in the middle of the city) and were told that our appointment was on Sunday, not Saturday.  We went anyway, of course.  When we got to the orphanage we were again told that our appointment was Sunday – but this time we had someone to talk to face to face and told them that we were supposed to pick him up on Saturday.  A few phone calls later, we were allowed to meet with Joshua but we could not take him with us.  A few more phone calls and we were permitted to take him out shopping with us but we HAD TO have him back for a party they had planned.  By the time we got back from shopping we were told that there were even more phone calls and that we were allowed to take him home with us.  It was a good thing that we just kept on going whether than listening to the first “no”.

The orphanage staff threw a “going away” party and gave Joshua gifts and sang him some songs.  Then they asked us to stand up and tell all the children a little bit about Joshua’s new home.  Once we were done, his favorite teacher packed his suitcase and we drove across the city.  We’re staying with our friend Kristin who is a missionary here until we head back to Taipei for a few days of completing paperwork.

God really blessed us with a beautiful boy – a great addition to a weird and wonderful family.  He also blessed us by putting the right people in the right places from the orphanage workers to the adoption folks to our new friends in Taiwan.  It’s been a real joy so far.

The plan for Sunday – a visit to the local science center and then a long drive back to Taipei.

And They’re At It Again

Well, we have decided to adopt again. Several months ago, we began a search for a child (or maybe 2) who fell between Jordan and Sarah, and we just fell in love with a little boy in Taiwan. Today, we got word that we have been approved by the orphanage, and we are wonderfully excited at this blessing!

We can’t wait to bring Joshua home – hopefully it will only be 3 or 4 months as the case progresses through the courts. More news to follow as we have it.

Getting Back To Normal

This week found the whole family settling back in to a normal routine. Karate and Cub Scouts, a regular nap time, bath time and bed time … ahhhh.

Jordan is quite the proud big brother, but he seems to be happy to have other people to play with beside just his little sister. He enjoyed being back in school, playing with friends and getting back to his normal activities this week.

Meanwhile, Sarah is really growing and learning. She’s learning to feed herself (and her dolls) and is heading full speed into being little miss independent most of the time. She is a joy and a challenge – sometimes both at the same time. She’s even beginning to enjoy meeting new people and is not so scared of going to unfamiliar places. On top of that, she likes to pet the animals (although she’s still not so happy when they run over to her). What a change in 4 weeks!

Just like her big brother, there are plenty of times that she wants to cuddle and hug mommy and daddy. In fact, to Jordan’s surprise, sometimes she wants to cuddle and hug him, and while he sometimes makes a sour face, most times he is quite happy to hug, play with and carry his little sister around.

I’m sure there will be plenty of fights in the future, but for this week, it is mostly peaceful in our house. I know – a dull blog with no drama – but sometimes that’s really quite a blessing. Peace.