Monday, August 31, 2009

Bittersweet reunion...

I have been following this amazing story on the web these past few days. Julia used to work for our adoption agency back when we adopted Kaia, and has two adoptive children. Watch this video for her son's story, and check out the blog she is keeping while in China. Oh yeah, have a kleenex box nearby.

Embedded video from CNN Video

Saturday, August 29, 2009

18 already???

What 18 year old wouldn't want to be surrounded by 11 girls on his birthday?! What a way to celebrate, topped off by a Power Ranger cake and Rock Band for the wii. Doesn't get much better than this:)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Testosterone Time...

Mike and Josh made it home safe and sound today from a week spent in Oregon hiking in the Strawberry Mountains. They had a great testosterone-filled time with Mike's brother and son, where they could male bond all week without any women telling them to take a shower and quit flexing their muscles! Seriously, they had a great time and saw some beautiful scenery. We are happy to have them back home though:)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Oops, she did it again....

Last night as I was sitting next to Kaia eating dinner I was suddenly struck with deja vu as I realized she had done it not once, not a second time, but given herself a haircut for the third time! Come on folks, this is really getting old, and it's definitely not "cute" anymore! And you're not going to believe what she did it with this time.....she got her hands on Josh's pocket knife and cut her hair with the teeny-tiny scissors. Thankfully it's not the job she did last time, but it was enough for me to notice (and for her to get in trouble). Now let's hope this is the absolutely last time I post about Kaia's haircutting days for a long, long time!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Priceless!

I have now moved up to the Best Mom in the World status in the eyes of my girls! Yesterday I took them to the Island County Fair where they could get their fill of animals, their latest obsession (Jaelyn tells me she is going to be a veterinarian). According to them, their favorites were the pigs, dogs and the cats. However, their absolutely most favorite thing was riding the ponies! Jaelyn had her beautiful smile glued on her face! The $5 I spent on each of them was the best money spent in a long time...absolutely priceless!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Yeah Baby....

I think this was a quote I heard sometime in the wee hours this morning, after Mike reeled in a 30 pound King salmon! Our good friend Brian took us out on his boat today, and I love the exuberance these two boys show in this video, that I just had to share. We headed out at 5 am this morning, and Mike brought in the first only fish this morning around 6. The girls had a blast "fishing" and a good time was had by all. Dinner tonight was delicious, and we still have five freezer bags full for later:)


Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Special Visit...

Yesterday we had the opportunity to spend some time with friends we made while adopting Jaelyn. Conner is from the same orphanage as Jaelyn, and we had the pleasure of welcoming our children into our families on the same day. We had not seen them since May 2006, so it was wonderful to see them again and see how much Conner had grown. We think he looks very much the same as he did then, only bigger, and is still a very sweet boy. We also got to meet his sister Lauren, whom he is very close to. Like our girls, they are only a few months apart in age. What a good looking group of kids:) Thanks to our friends for looking us up while they were on the West Coast!

2006 (look how young Josh looks too!):



2009:

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Heng Feng Video....

Tomorrow we get to share about our China Mission Trip with our church, so in the tradition of last years trip, we have again created a video (well mostly Mike, but I helped some), that I am sharing with my blogger friends first:) The song is set to The Motions by Matthew West. The lyrics say a lot of how we feel, that if we all stepped out of our comfort zone and gave our everything, think of what Christ could accomplish through us! Check out the words:

This might hurt
It’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care
If I break
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just ok
Is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions

No regrets
Not this time
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love
Make me whole
I think I’m finally feeling something

Thanks for the many of you that were praying over our time there, and please continue to pray for the children still in orphanages, the nannies who tend to them, and the people of China.