Where does the time go?

Wow!  I can't believe we just celebrated Catherine's Fourth gotcha' day  on June 2nd, and that Lucy is coming up on one whole year of being home with us!!!  Her very FIRST gotcha' day is August 5th!  I really don't know where or how to begin this post so much time has elapsed and so much has happened.  But as with all of our lives, it all begins and ends with God's grace...His pure grace, and for this I am exceedingly grateful.

Starting with the newest member of our family, Lucy is now doing beautifully!  After about three months of very painful rejection, she has embraced me as her new Mommy and truly loves me.  It still brings tears to my eyes when she expresses that love in words or deeds as it was a hard fought battle to get here!  often now she will actually ask for me, throwing her little arms around my neck and giving real hugs!  She has brought me flowers (once insisting Stan take her to the store to buy Mommy purple flowers, my favorite color!), drawn me countless pictures, and made me many creations out of boxes, paper, and tape!  Does this child LOVE tape :)  Of course she still is Daddy's girl (Catherine too!), and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Although if I am brutally honest, in my own selfish desire to be loved, I still can have a twinge of jealousy when he is chosen over me.  But I am so, so grateful for the amazing, wonderful Dad he is to all five of our children...Next year we are  looking forward to LOTS more Mommy/Lucy time with all the others back in school for the first time after seven years of home schooling.  We have her signed up for gymnastics and are already plotting and planning trips to the mall, the park, and lots of fun time with friends :)

Next is Catherine, who just celebrated her fourth Gotcha' Day!  She is becoming a beautiful young girl, and continues to have the most bubbly, happy personality (except of course when she's unhappy and turns into whiny girl :)  Seriously, she is so joyful and so much in love with her entire family, it is a picture of God's  love for all of us.  Not a day passes when she doesn't tell us how much she loves us and is so happy we adopted her!  She is dancing in her first ballet/tap recital this week end and will be part of a drama camp this summer putting on the show "Annie."  I think we may have a true "Drama Queen" on our hands!  She is so looking forward to starting school in the fall, and I know will bless her class immeasurably.  I'm not sure how I'm going to survive without her at home...

The boys are all growing like weeds, and I can't believe I am actually the mama of three such handsome young men.   Peter is 16, Patrick is getting ready to turn 13, and Christopher is 10.  Peter has been at Chapelgate Christian Academy this year and done very well despite some adjustment pains.  He is composing some pretty amazing electronic music, and I think has found the passion he wants to pursue in life...just hoping he can find a way to afford it :)  Patrick continues to be the swimmer in the group...never wanting to miss a practice despite how rigorous it is.  To the watching world it seems as if he is the quiet one, but we at home all know differently!!!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for him next year!  He is especially looking forward to helping out with the younger kids at school which is really his gift; he helps  and plays with his younger siblings constantly, and I am so thankful for this.  Finally, our gregarious Christopher is still the history/geography/trivia buff as well as reader extraordinaire!  I have to admit that of all the kiddos, he and I tend to struggle...it's that controlling, strong-willed personality thing...but God is growing both of us.

As a family, we  are looking forward to hosting two orphan boys from China the month of July.   I will post more soon on that, but please pray for us during this busy time and also contact us if you have ANY interest or know of anyone who may, in adopting internationally.  These kids all need forever families to just love on them and fulfill their extraordinary potential!

God has been so faithful to our family over this past year in all the trials and joys!  To Him be all the glory forever and ever...

Home Sweet Home!

We are HOME and so, so happy to be here!  After about 30 hours of straight travel, we made it back to Dulles and finally good ol' 7989 Old Montgomery Rd. around 10 pm Wednesday night.  I think we all finally went to sleep around 3 am!  Sleeping in my own bed never felt so good!!!  And the other thing that amazed me at first was how vivid all the colors seemed.  China is so gray that even when the sun was shining there was a gray haze all around us, and the interior of the hotels was very gray or beige, so my green countertops, yellow kitchen, and the beautiful bright blue sunny skies with fluffy white clouds took on a new brilliance for me.  What a wonder is God's creation!  I am so thankful for the colors that surround me on a daily basis that I have so taken for granted!

Lucy Rui Yuan is doing great overall although life at home has not been easy these first few days.  She very much enjoyed meeting our puppy Pretzel and is very taken with her, playing with her endlessly but needing lots of watching as she can get kind of rough (Lucy, not the puppy!) and can only take so much puppy licking and jumping before needing a break.  She also loves all her "ge ges" (brothers) and most of the time her "jie jie" (sister) and most especially her "ba ba" (daddy).  However her "ma ma" she is not so happy with upon being at home.  She has seemed almost angry with me, often pushing me away and shaking her little hand at me to back off if I come too close.  Although not unexpected as we had heard that children from foster care can have issues like this at first, it has been painful for me.  While we were in China, she was stuck with me and had no choice but to allow me to help her and comfort her.  With Daddy at hand here at home, she wants him and only him for the most part, especially if she is upset or needing comfort.  The Mommy in me so longs to do that for her, and it is so difficult to be rejected in this way.  I am having to really rely on God and His timing, giving her the space and time she needs to adjust to this new, foreign Mama that doesn't speak her language or quite understand her needs like her China Mama.  And God is so faithful to give me glimpses of hope just when I feel at my lowest...yesterday she reached out to give me a little kiss and today in church when I got up to take Christopher his name tag she wanted to go with me rather than stay in church with Stan.  And I am so grateful that she is bonding so well to her daddy; that is a joy to behold! 

Last night we celebrated Patrick's birthday which we missed doing as a family because of the China trip, and the cake was a big hit.  Most fun was smearing icing on everyone's  face as that is done in China to the birthday child for good luck.  Lucy took great delight in showing us all exactly how this is done :)

I just want to thank everyone so much for all the prayers and love and support you have shown to our family over these  past couple of weeks!  Knowing that so many were (and are) praying for us has buoyed our spirits and helped us persevere when the going seemed really tough!  We are so thankful to all of you, and first and foremost, to our great God who holds each one of us in the palm of His hand!

Praise the Lord! They Made It To Beijing

It sounds like quite the experience but they made it to Beijing.  At one point they thought that they were going to have to split up on 2 different flights (Christina and Lucy on one and Peter and Catherine on another). However, after a run to catch a flight, they all flew together and made it to Beijing in time to catch their flight home as planned. 

Now I can sleep,
Stan

Meanwhile Back at Home...

It was with much thought and prayer and hand wringing and anguish and more prayer that we decided that Christina, Peter and Catherine should go on to China to bring Lucy Rui Yuan home.  We at home would certainly miss having the China experience and being there for the grand event.  It was just too darn expensive for us all to go on such short notice.  I was determined that being at home with Patrick and Christopher would be filled with our own adventures.  It would be a time to do some things that we don’t usually do.  A time to stretch out a bit.  I had music going all day when we were at home, even broke out my turntable to spin a few LP's.  We went mini-golfing (goofing), hiking / swimming at Patapsco, did a lot of grilling (experimenting with grilling vegies) and found some dragon fruit, went fishing with Pop-pop and had a blast, and had a little birthday celebration for Patrick (to be continued when mommy and the gang get back).
 


Air and Space Museum



Mini-Golf

Meeting Their New Little Sister Over Skype

Swimming at Patapsco State Park

Good Eats!

Boating / Fishing With Pop-pop

Patrick Catches One

The Guys w/ Pop-pop

Happy Birthday Patrick

Turntables, Once So Common, Now Spark Much Curiosity

Please Pray For Flight Home

While I was Skyping with Christina in China, she got a call from her guide.  The flight from Guangzhou to Beijing was CANCELED.  Now instead of getting to the airport by 6:00am, they are going to get there at 5:00am to try to get on some flight to Beijing.

Please pray that God would provide them passage to Beijing and bring them safely home on-time.

Thank you, Stan

A Good Day :)

Lucy (Ruiyuan) kissed her mommy for the first time.  She is also hugging mommy more lately.

Final Day in China!!!

 

We are almost there!  Today is our final day in China, and we are so excited to be going home soon!  After a leisurely breakfast (my last for awhile with someone bringing me my coffee:), we wandered out in the gardens to enjoy our last steamy morning in Guangzhou.  I made my reluctant photographer take a few pictures in the hotel gardens; I only wish he would have let me take some pictures of him.  Peter, like all of us, is feeling very done with this trip; but it is my prayer that we can enjoy these last moments together making memories and finish strong!  Our plan today is just to hang out at the beautiful pool and go to bed early as we have to be up for an extremely early morning checkout time of 5:45 am.  Today we all slept in until almost 8, so I fear we will have a rough time getting up.  We have MANY hours ahead of us of idle flying and waiting, so I am hoping at least the girls may sleep through a lot of the trip home.  We have an eight hour layover in Beijing before boarding our 14 hour flight home to Dulles; but the good news is it is a direct flight and when we step off the plane in Dulles we are HOME and Lucy Rui Yuan is an American citizen!  Please continue to pray for my health, safe travels, and smooth transitions throughout our travels (from airplanes to customs and immigration).  Again, I can't tell you how blessed I feel by all your prayers and thoughts!  Knowing people are thinking about and praying for us has truly kept me going these last few days especially.  Can't wait to post again from Ellicott City!!!