It's A Wonderful Life

We have some great family and friends! Mom and Dad have only been gone for a couple of days and we have had a lot of help and kind words and deeds from various people. This Easter I (Tyler) asked all of the kids if they would prefer to baskets now or wait for Mom and Dad to get back. The vote was overwhelmingly toward not waiting. So that night at about midnight Will, his girlfiriend Alina, Jessica, and I went to work putting the baskets together (Creed and Pierce may have been a part of it as well). When we were done wit the hiding I realized that we were missing chocolate bunnies! I think this may be the first year we have not had some kind of bunny in our baskets. In the morning all the kids went through the normal routine of trying to find their baskets. Of course many of them looked almost right at the basket but didn't look hard enough to find it. It was rather funny. The kids didn't seem to mind or remember their were no chocolate bunnies though, maybe I am th...

After going to bed we realized that there were a few things we wanted to say but were so tired that we forgot. Sorry the last post rambled. I just couldn't think straight. :) We decided this morning that flying at night was better for the time change so hopefully the same applies on the way back and we do better than the last trip. We missed Easter here in China. We even forgot that it was Easter until we walked into the lobby of the hotel in Beijing. This is what we saw.   The eggs on the tree were hand painted. They looked a little like what we would attempt at home if we hand painted our eggs.   The bunnies were so cute. I just wanted to pick one up and cuddle with it. It's tempting to get a bunny but the problem is they grow up. I was instructed to prepare 6-8 gifts, at least that's what I was thinking. Our guide instructed us to have 4 ready. One for the orphanage director another for the person who brings Gideon and two for officials that d...

I learned something very valuable over the last couple of days. Take a direct flight into Guangzhou!  It may cost more but that layover in Japan then again in Beijing was NO FUN!! We got to the Narita airport and could find no information about where to go. The Delta people need to overhaul things in Japan. We questioned where we were supposed to be almost the whole time of our layover. We then had to wait an extra hour and twenty minutes for our flight which put us in Beijing past midnight. I really hope that doesn't happen on the way home. After staying in Beijing for the rest of the short night we flew into Hefei. We met up with our guide and took care of some paperwork and went to the bank. Once in our hotel room we prepared the money for fees and put together the gifts for the officials in preparation to meet Gideon in the morning. We will meet the guide at 9:00 am and go the Civil Affairs Office to pick up our son at 10:00. I have been so nervous about this part. W...

It is now 12:00 am and I am still up. I swore I wouldn't do this but here I am. I thought I would let you know that we leave at 6:00 am for the airport. We are so excited to be getting Gideon!!! It has seemed unreal today that we were leaving to go to China. Everyone seemed happy but at moments a little melancholy. Once the children went to bed it was my turn to fight the sadness of leaving the kids. I know all will be well but I will really miss them. Leaving my children for so long causes me to recognize how much I love them and the relationship we share. They are my best friends. All of them from the 4 year old to the 25 year old and all in between. Preston and Sereen were over today helping me to get ready and as they left little Preston waved goodbye. I realized that I would be half way around the world and I thought to myself "don't die while I'm gone, I'll really miss you." Ok, I better stop now. I am already starting to tear up and I'm not even ...

“A century ago [in 1809] men were following with bated breath the march of Napoleon & waiting with feverish impatience for news of the wars. And all the while in their homes babies were being born. But who could think about babies? Everybody was thinking about battles. In one year between Trafalgar and Waterloo there stole into the world a host of heroes: Gladstone was born in Liverpool; Tennyson at the Somersby Rectory; and Oliver Wendell Holmes in Massachusetts. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, and music was enriched by the advent of Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg. But nobody thought of babies, everybody was thinking of battles. Yet which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809? We fancy God can manage His world only with great battalions, when all the time he is doing it with beautiful babies. When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants discovering, God sends a baby into the world to do it.” {F.M. Bareham as quot...

After a lot of time on the Internet and the phone, including at 1:00am, we have purchased our international tickets to China! We leave on Friday the 29th at 8:25am. We are going the roundabout way with a layover in Portland, Japan and Beijing. We will reach the province of  Anhui Sunday the 31st. It is so good to have that portion of the preparations over with. We did the booking on our own to save some money. We talked with a travel agent and what she quoted was quite a bit higher than what we were able to get on our own. In the end we booked with Delta and paid $1,250 round trip to Beijing. That was a great price! Our agency will book the in country flights for us. We expect that will add about $1,000 more to the travel costs but in the end we will pay the same for all travel as we would with just the international portion through the travel agent. We had to wade through some not very friendly customer service agents and price changes in the middle of booking flights before...

We had a consulate appointment set for the 9th but that was not going to be enough time to get all the paperwork from the province. Myriam is having to reschedule and this is getting just a little complicated. We are waiting on a confirmation for the 11th of April because the 10th was full. Once we have the confirmation we can pay for plane tickets. We will now be getting back home on Saturday the 13th with our precious son.

WE GOT TA!!! Our TA came in today so now we can start making some solid travel planes. We most likely will travel on the 29th of March and come back somewhere between April 9-12. This is so exciting! I will post more of our travel plans when we firm things up.

A couple of months ago I had this conversation with Hyrum. I wrote it down so that I didn't forget. I was drinking some water as Hyrum stared at me. I thought I should ask him if he had gotten much water in the orphanage because he is always drinking. Mom, "Did you get water in China?" Hyrum, "Little, I crying, bad guy get me." Mom, "Where was I?" Hyrum, "At home, 4 times I crying  say mama come get me." Mom, "Are you better now?" Hyrum nods his head and says, "I home"

     Being a member of a large family I have been asked many times “what it is like to have such a large family.” Another common question is “how do your parents have enough time for each of you?” Or “do you or any of your siblings feel neglected by your parents?”   I have really been considering these question for a while now. There is no hidden message or hint to anyone in this post. These are just my thoughts as I have pondered what it means to be a part of our family.  I love my family and  wouldn't  trade it for the world. There is not a single one of my siblings that I could dream of wishing were a part of a different family or more horrifically have no family at all. Yes, I have had moments where I wonder what my life would be like if I came from a more averaged sized family. I certainly  wouldn't  have as easy of a conversation starter. Maybe it is true that Mom and Dad  aren't  able to give us the same o...

We got a partial update on Gideon. Things are looking up. He is only on oxygen in the mornings. As the day warms up he doesn't need the extra help. The thinking is that he will not need any supplemental oxygen in the next few weeks. This is very good. No oxygen will simplify travel quite a bit and bring costs down. We have come to a point that the money is not there for a converter. We are grateful that we don't have that worry now. We have prayed and fasted much for our son hoping for a miracle. We can now see that the miracle has been in the works. Our faith and all of those that pray with us have made a difference. Thank You for your needed support and prayers. Prayer does work!

Spring is coming! I got out of the car from taking the kids to school and I saw weeds. Yeahhhh!!  I got excited, knelt down and began to pull them. Another thing I love. In the summer I stop to pull weeds most every time I get out of the car. It drives Doug crazy!!! He always tells me to quit and pulls me up. He thinks I can't stop working. What he can't seem to understand is that I get a sense of accomplishment out of it and I love the dirt. I really do love getting down in the dirt. It refreshes me and helps fill my soul. The kids weren't too excited about the weeds but I am. New life. Soon these lilies will be 3-4 feet high with beautiful orange flowers. Signs of the old and the new. All things regenerate. Spring always comes and  the sun comes out. Saturday was a very dark winter day in my soul. Sunday was a day of obedience. Monday the sun came out in my soul and on the earth. I have enjoyed the beauty ever since. I love the Lord and am grateful for th...

Today I got a phone call from Myriam with our agency. She wanted to call and explain why there was a delay in our paperwork. Well, when we were sent our LSC from China there is a choice of boxes that need to be signed. Do we accept the adoption or decline. We apparently forgot to check the box. When our agency rep got to the Consulate they couldn't accept the paperwork because the box was not signed. This was completely my fault. I overlooked it and caused a day delay. The document was fixed and Richard in China took it back in this morning. We expected and hoped that the Article 5, which is the last approval we need from the US, would come next week at the latest. I got a call at 7:00pm from Myriam. She had to call because she had just been notified that our Article 5 was already approved and done!!  It took them less than 2 hours to approve and process. I was speechless. We now will submit for our Travel Approval tomorrow and possibly get it by the end of next week. This could...

In just over 24 hours the National Visa Center had our paperwork done ! I am amazed. Here is a small portion of what we received and was passed on to the Consulate in Guangzhou. This is so awesome. Dear Petitioner: The State Department's National Visa Center has recently received your approval Form I-800, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative. This letter is to inform you that your petition has been forwarded to the appropriate visa-issuing post where the adoption interview will take place. The agency representative will now deliver our copy of this document to the Consulate. When they approve everything they will issue what is called the Article 5. That document is then delivered to the CCCWA or the adoption arm of the Chinese government. When the CCCWA had the Article 5 they can issue our travel approval. At that point we can go to China. The butterflies are showing up here and there and little bits of fear try to creep in. It is getting to close and ther...

Get Your Mind Out Of The Gutter. Innocent little me had no idea what Doug thought when he saw this title. I'm talking about a real home with 12 children and 2 adults and the never ending pile of clothes. You are never caught up on anything because by the time you do everything needs redoing. I was so tempted to straighten things up for the picture but I resisted. I straightened this morning in preparation to be in there for quite some time but kids happened. My inspiration for this post was walking in and seeing how bad things had gotten and thinking "What would people think of this?".  Now the world knows I'm not perfect. Wow, this is really embarrassing.  What you see here is real life at my house. I figured I would let you in on my little, OK, very large secret. If the laundry isn't in the dirty bins then they are pilled in the baskets on the floor, usually there is only 1-3 loads to fold at a time. Every once in a while I...

"Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of Heaven." I have the pleasure of sitting like our Savior, as depicted in this picture, every Sunday.  I teach the 4 year olds at church. Between my class and the other class that used to be mine as well, we have 10  4 year old children. When I walk into the primary room I get so excited to see my kids. I greet them with smiles and hugs. I love these children! Today was not unusual. I had one child on my lap, two sitting next to me holding on to my arm, and my hand in the hand of another child. Often a child sitting in the row behind me would give me a hug from behind or play with my hair. Bria is in the other class so she sits behind me. I looked back and noticed that she had her lips pursed and didn't look too happy. I tried to get her to look at me or sing and she would do neither. I had her come stand by me and asked what was wrong. She wouldn't tell me so ...

We finally got it!!!! The email came minutes after I contacted our agency to see if they would be OK with me contacting them again. It's here. My spirits have lifted and now I may get something done. Hopefully I won't have much time to get the house organized. I need to just plan on travel before the trade fair which would mean no later than the 29th of March. If we don't travel at that point then at least things will be done. Our next step should only be a couple of days then on to the Consulate in China. 3 steps left. I can do this!!