tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2719743515242289062024-03-12T23:07:02.685-05:00Lovin' The Plan..."For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord...Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.comBlogger208125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-79579901650903809282014-07-30T07:40:00.000-05:002014-07-30T07:40:29.346-05:00So I've been throwing around the idea of blogging again. So much has changed in our family since I was posting here. And I miss having this running documentary of our lives while our children are living here at home with us. I love looking back at our journey to sweet Sydney and beautiful Abbey. I read it and see things that I've forgotten about. I need this reminder of all God has done for me.<br />
<br />
But there's also a downside to blogging. Your life and your children's lives become an open target for judgement. Four years ago I was hurt by what people said and assumed about us. But with age comes more wisdom and confidence. I know that most people criticize to make themselves feel better. I know my journey and my walk with God. I don't need to justify everything to others. I know what he did for us. I know that we were faithful to him. And we are good.<br />
<br />
Just thought I'd share where my head and heart is..........Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-75892214801804526732010-12-13T05:30:00.001-06:002010-12-13T05:30:00.268-06:00Catching up with Ashlyn<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Ashlyn is a Senior.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVtfNglcOI/AAAAAAAACFk/4VKRyFSySB8/s1600/055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVtfNglcOI/AAAAAAAACFk/4VKRyFSySB8/s320/055.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Let that sit a minute.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">She is a Senior in High School.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVpduIfyqI/AAAAAAAACFE/cAB46LBkNCI/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVpduIfyqI/AAAAAAAACFE/cAB46LBkNCI/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+065.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">She is looking at colleges.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Colleges are looking at her.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I am looking at locks and chains for her bedroom door.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just kidding.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVv04VCgwI/AAAAAAAACGE/LZ2oaVxwp2g/s1600/388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVv04VCgwI/AAAAAAAACGE/LZ2oaVxwp2g/s320/388.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kind of.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVuvN3UEWI/AAAAAAAACF4/6k5fXTDu6DY/s1600/199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVuvN3UEWI/AAAAAAAACF4/6k5fXTDu6DY/s320/199.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I am in utter disbelief that this child of mine that I've begged to stay little forever is very much indeed growing up. But I am in awe of how she has grown in the last 6 months. She is growing into a beautiful young woman. She is a compassionate, kind and crazy person who can speak her mind against you and still have you liking her. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVvWF9H4vI/AAAAAAAACF8/Uxid4Ws30Mc/s1600/289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVvWF9H4vI/AAAAAAAACF8/Uxid4Ws30Mc/s320/289.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQV_MAk1T_I/AAAAAAAACGI/KaaA-dc7wMY/s1600/Sarah%2527s+Camera+135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQV_MAk1T_I/AAAAAAAACGI/KaaA-dc7wMY/s320/Sarah%2527s+Camera+135.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">She is completing her final year of high school and finishing up her high school athletic career. She is considering trying to play volleyball for colleges, contemplating trying out for a few. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVt7yjptfI/AAAAAAAACFo/1KfPUwj66fc/s1600/084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVt7yjptfI/AAAAAAAACFo/1KfPUwj66fc/s320/084.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVuDneGOTI/AAAAAAAACFs/OWQCO3QhAFs/s1600/088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVuDneGOTI/AAAAAAAACFs/OWQCO3QhAFs/s320/088.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVuK0rVYGI/AAAAAAAACFw/7R9avY52AgY/s1600/093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVuK0rVYGI/AAAAAAAACFw/7R9avY52AgY/s320/093.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">She is thoroughly loving her final year in school with her friends. They are such a fun bunch of kids and I have loved watching them grow up together. They have won our local Fall Festival every year except one. They are so goofy and funny and able to laugh at themselves. I cannot imagine them not being together. This year Ashlyn was retiring queen and she got to crown one of her best friends, RayVen, as the new queen. Trivial in the grand scheme of things? Yes. But I still got a little misty....</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVq0zqhsYI/AAAAAAAACFI/TJqxHrgMx_8/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVq0zqhsYI/AAAAAAAACFI/TJqxHrgMx_8/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+294.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVq7y1Qf1I/AAAAAAAACFM/6s8PVlLRMW8/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVq7y1Qf1I/AAAAAAAACFM/6s8PVlLRMW8/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+297.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVrPiHpnaI/AAAAAAAACFQ/uuJT6vhqJPM/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVrPiHpnaI/AAAAAAAACFQ/uuJT6vhqJPM/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+359.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVrXxK_R5I/AAAAAAAACFU/6v0oGz6W1YU/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVrXxK_R5I/AAAAAAAACFU/6v0oGz6W1YU/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+363.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVr84qX5zI/AAAAAAAACFY/pur4aq8Skw8/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVr84qX5zI/AAAAAAAACFY/pur4aq8Skw8/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+464.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">I am so proud of the example Ashlyn is setting for her little sisters. And she has made it pretty easy on her parents too. So far. </div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVsMdz887I/AAAAAAAACFc/IBNdydRwaBI/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVsMdz887I/AAAAAAAACFc/IBNdydRwaBI/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+485.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVvqcCE-1I/AAAAAAAACGA/4QwP0EPSsmQ/s1600/374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVvqcCE-1I/AAAAAAAACGA/4QwP0EPSsmQ/s320/374.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVse1jNP5I/AAAAAAAACFg/fYuqbF78jes/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQVse1jNP5I/AAAAAAAACFg/fYuqbF78jes/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+502.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">She has such a sweet faith in Jesus. She just knows that He loves her and has a plan for her. I am sure she will have a lot of struggles and challenges as she embarks on this next season of life and tries to find her place in this big crazy world.</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">But I've got to tell you..... </div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">I just cannot wait to watch.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-76762927171541659002010-12-11T09:03:00.000-06:002010-12-11T09:03:15.885-06:00So.......what's new?<div align="center"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQOSKlI1I9I/AAAAAAAACE4/9UA5cVigxt0/s1600/blogs+for+a+cause.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQOSKlI1I9I/AAAAAAAACE4/9UA5cVigxt0/s1600/blogs+for+a+cause.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So, as you can see, I've been working on a new blog design with <a href="http://madebynikki.blogspot.com/">Nikki at Blogs for a Cause.</a> </div></div><div align="center"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div></div><div align="center">She is seriously talented and a joy to work with. If you need a little spruce-up (and who doesn't from time to time) head on over to her site and see all her gorgeous designs. If she can clean up the mess that I made of my own blog than she can do just about anything. </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">And she's running a special right now on a Christmas look and a another design to be applied after the holidays for one low price. </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">I'm tellin' ya, she knows her stuff. And such a huge heart for God and the orphan!<br />
<br />
Now I just need to clean up my side-bars......</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">************************************************<br />
<em>I want to give an update on each of the girls, as much for my documentation as well as for you. I'll begin with Abbey since she has changed the most.</em></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">So the Woods family has settled in nicely to life with another teenager in the house. Abbey has meshed into our lives and hearts so perfectly that you know only our gracious Father could have written this story. Not that it has always been easy, but we have always known that she was born to be our daughter. </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="center">Abbey spent her summer adjusting and learning all about her new home. The transition went much smoother that we anticipated. We prepared for the worst, and hoped for the best and I think we got through the first few months pretty easily. There was the unavoidable awkwardness and hesitation. But playing together helped. We rode four-wheelers, went to ball games, and went swimming in the pool. Basically we just took it easy and melted into a family.</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKHdekfX1I/AAAAAAAACD8/PhAjGxfAk6w/s1600/sarah+camera+075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKHdekfX1I/AAAAAAAACD8/PhAjGxfAk6w/s320/sarah+camera+075.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKH_c0Yw3I/AAAAAAAACEI/3kBpRNaj8L4/s1600/sarah+camera+112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKH_c0Yw3I/AAAAAAAACEI/3kBpRNaj8L4/s320/sarah+camera+112.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">(playing ninja)</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKH3Rt8beI/AAAAAAAACEE/-ePwsdkqvyY/s1600/sarah+camera+111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKH3Rt8beI/AAAAAAAACEE/-ePwsdkqvyY/s320/sarah+camera+111.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Abbey is now in the 8th grade at school. She is attending regular classes with the other 8th graders except for last hour, when she meets for one-on-one tutoring to make sure she is doing well and getting all her assignments. She is graded in the ESOL program, which means that she is not responsible for getting everything perfectly correct. But she is responsible to participate and cooperate and learn the English that is associated with each subject. As she is tested, we moniter her progress and as long as she is progressing steadily, we will keep her in this program until she tests at a proficient level. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQONUou4QCI/AAAAAAAACEs/wCsyVZXULAE/s1600/sarah-leahs+carera+165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQONUou4QCI/AAAAAAAACEs/wCsyVZXULAE/s320/sarah-leahs+carera+165.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><em>(First day of school)</em> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div align="center"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It is unreal how much she has grown in the last 6 months. She talks all the time now and we can understand her almost always. She has such a good time at school and school activities. She has such a nice humor about herself, which helps when we can just laugh at what we are trying to figure out. She has friends here and still has her friends from China. She loves talking to them on the phone and it has been such a blessing to watch her freinds follow her into America. These Luoyang kids are amazing!</div></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div align="center"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Abbey still misses China from time to time. I think that is normal and healthy for her to be able to express, but it is still hard to hear. I think I just want her to love it here so much that it is hard to think about her wishing for there. She was talking about something in China the other day and said, "I want to go there!" I was really in a sad mood that day anyway, so I asked her if she really wanted to go there. She replied an excited, "yes!". I said, "Do you want to go there to stay or visit?" She told me, "No no no! My home is here! I just want to see it then come back here." <em>Oh my heart</em>! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKKVecM3wI/AAAAAAAACEQ/YLv8-GQW1bE/s1600/sarah+camera+287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQKKVecM3wI/AAAAAAAACEQ/YLv8-GQW1bE/s320/sarah+camera+287.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQOM2uM58wI/AAAAAAAACEk/JCV7MCd4J-8/s1600/image%255B1%255D+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQOM2uM58wI/AAAAAAAACEk/JCV7MCd4J-8/s320/image%255B1%255D+%25282%2529.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQOM7owVpPI/AAAAAAAACEo/QM5a292Bjtk/s1600/image%255B1%255D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQOM7owVpPI/AAAAAAAACEo/QM5a292Bjtk/s320/image%255B1%255D.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div align="center">She celebrated her 14th birthday on Sept 4th. This was a day that was to be a celebration of her being with her forever family and not losing her hope of a famiy's love. However, Wayne's dad died unexpectedly at 12:04am on that day and so her birthday celebration had to be postponed for awhile. We were not even able to do gifts on that day. We did run to a store and grab a quick cake to give her that evening at Wayne's parent's house, but it was just a sad day. Abbey was her usual sweet compliant self, but I know that it must have bothered her. She had only met her grandfather about 4 times so she wasn't close to him. It was really difficult.</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">We did celebrate at a later date: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQONconPe4I/AAAAAAAACEw/3HI9cA0xkZQ/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQONconPe4I/AAAAAAAACEw/3HI9cA0xkZQ/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+082.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQONkjhu6RI/AAAAAAAACE0/M2TwypQ1Vqg/s1600/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TQONkjhu6RI/AAAAAAAACE0/M2TwypQ1Vqg/s320/VBall+and+Fall+Fest+087.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div><div align="center">Abbey is a beautiful girl on the inside and out. I am sure that we still have a long way to go in our journey of getting to know her. But I also know that it is a journey that God called us to take. I hurt to think of some of the things that she has endured in her life and I am not sure I can handle hearing about it from her. But I will, when she's ready. God will show us what she needs and we will faithfully be that for her. </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">And to answer the question: Yes.</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">Even knowing how hard it's been and knowing that more hardships are to come.....</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">I would adopt Abbey again in a heartbeat.</div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-72112868862135626422010-11-11T13:59:00.000-06:002010-11-11T13:59:55.616-06:00Help Please<div style="text-align: center;">Hey everyone! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Life is finally slowing down a wee bit and I am really missing blogging! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I would really like to get a blog makeover done. I have piddled around with it a bit, as I am sure you can tell. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So who did y'all get to tweek up your pages? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Hmmmmmmmmmmm?</div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-71275634640282864992010-06-11T10:53:00.000-05:002010-06-11T10:53:52.147-05:00<div style="text-align: center;">Thank you all for your emails of concern and I am sorry if we worried anyone. We really are doing just fine. But we are super busy until the end of this month with sports camps and youth camps so my blogging will be sporadic at best. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">*********************************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Abbey is doing super. It really is much easier than I expected. That's not to say that there are no challenges, because there are, they are just very managable. For example, I feel like I must watch her as closely as a little one because she is just so curious about things. You just never know when she is gonna stick her hand down the garbage disposal to try to figure it out. Things like that. But she is very content and happy. She just has this look of joy on her face most of the time. Language is still an issue, as expected. But she does well using her translator or my jibbigo app on my iphone. Her eating is getting better. She is very willing to try anything, but she just doesn't really like a big variety of foods. She loves potatos (and potato chips) and strawberry anything. She really liked the spaghetti I made the other night. We are working on her starting to just get up and get her something if she is hungry, instead of waiting until one of us eat. I have watched her just wait for one of us to go to the kitchen and fix a snack and then realize that she was hungry. I want her to feel free to fix her own snack at any time. But we will get there eventually.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">She had the oppurtunity to watch Ashlyn and Sarah play volleyball Monday night. She was pretty impressed but said that she was not gonna get out there and play. We shall see.....</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">**************************************************</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">My sweet Ashlyn had a birthday on the 3rd. I can't believe that she is 17! It seems like yesterday that she was a baby in my arms and now she is a young woman. One word to describe Ash is EASY. She has been the easiest of all my kids. She just goes with the flow and doesn't let things get to her. She is a smart girl with a good head on her shoulders. She loves God and wants to obey him and gets irritated when people don't take his word seriously. She is hilarious and makes everything fun. We absolutely love this girl to peices! I do not even want to think about her going off to college. But as all the college brocheres in my mailbox say, that time is approaching. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I am not much on big organized parties, but I love impromptu get togethers. We just called up a few friends that were not busy and threw some steaks and hotdogs on the grill and celebrated Ashlyn's day. Sydney picked out a cake for her, which her and Lauren (my brother's daughter) then smeared in each other's faces.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Abbey has told us that she wants to learn to play the guitar, so our friend Greg gave her a little impromptu lesson. He said she had a real good grasp on music and would have the guitar down in no time. (There's no pics of Sarah because she was sweet enough to take these pics for me!)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJYu1uGIPI/AAAAAAAACDI/cC7ynpb_OTc/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJYu1uGIPI/AAAAAAAACDI/cC7ynpb_OTc/s320/011.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJZL5BiHXI/AAAAAAAACDQ/B1bXeDnUy1k/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJZL5BiHXI/AAAAAAAACDQ/B1bXeDnUy1k/s320/015.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJZh7376OI/AAAAAAAACDY/-pG6n7f7G-E/s1600/060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJZh7376OI/AAAAAAAACDY/-pG6n7f7G-E/s320/060.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJZ0q0oNtI/AAAAAAAACDg/p_t8ogpAmM0/s1600/063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TBJZ0q0oNtI/AAAAAAAACDg/p_t8ogpAmM0/s320/063.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">OK that's all I have time for now. I have to drive my two college age youth helpers to a training at Jeff City so they can work as small group leaders at our upcoming Super Summer camp! Driving 5 hours round trip today and tomorrow. ~sigh~</div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-87872774867983155822010-06-01T21:14:00.000-05:002010-06-01T21:14:38.958-05:00Crazy Big Family<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Yep that's what Abbey is calling us. I think she has figured out that life will not be boring in our house. Our family laughs a lot and at times is just plain nuts. But we are not boring. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Abbey is settling in well and I think is doing great. She still has some moments that I think she may be sad or feel left out of the fast moving conversation, but they are not very often. She has contacted several friends back in Luoyang using QQ. She has also contacted several Luoyang friends who are already here in the States. Tonight during our grandson's t-ball game we were able to call Macy from the KC area. She has been home since August-ish. Her mom, <a href="http://joyunspeakableandfullofglory.blogspot.com/">Lori</a>, and I have formed a friendship through our adoptions and she is a sweet freind to me. We called her during the game and Abbey and Macy were able to talk for a good long time. It was also hilarious for us to watch people walk by and hear Abbey speaking Chinese. They would whip their heads around with this crazy look on their faces. HeeHee. Here are a few pics I managed to take before Abbey turned around to face the other way. Typical teenager.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW623-oE5I/AAAAAAAACCo/9e1gNoO41DU/s1600/141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW623-oE5I/AAAAAAAACCo/9e1gNoO41DU/s320/141.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW68_y37GI/AAAAAAAACCw/LgFMbsF9zYI/s1600/142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW68_y37GI/AAAAAAAACCw/LgFMbsF9zYI/s320/142.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">And here are a few more pics I took tonight. I looked at my camera and I had not taken one pic since returning from China. Shame on me!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW7sN2zvpI/AAAAAAAACC4/Nbw211uoQuo/s1600/131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW7sN2zvpI/AAAAAAAACC4/Nbw211uoQuo/s320/131.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW7xnvdr2I/AAAAAAAACDA/BDQWBebO78U/s1600/133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/TAW7xnvdr2I/AAAAAAAACDA/BDQWBebO78U/s320/133.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">These are only of Bryce because Jayden would not get his picture taken. I"ll have to get him next time. But look how tough Bryce looks without his front tooth! Grrrrrrrr!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Ashlyn and Sarah are in volleyball camp this week, it is pretty quiet around here during the day. But tomorrow Abbey, Sydney, and I will go to town. Abbey's glasses are ready and we will get to pick them up. And yes I will get pictures for y'all.</div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-61507282849710734622010-05-27T04:31:00.000-05:002010-05-27T04:31:59.653-05:00Home<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Yes we are home. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I know that I kind of dropped off there. But we are having a terrible time with jet lag. Terrible. I do not remember it ever being this bad. However we never made that trip both ways with a 3 year old. She is just not adjusting. Right now it is 3am and she is up and ready for the day. The only progress we have made in her adjustment is moving her up to getting up at 3 instead of 1am. And those of you with bigger families know that the rest of the kids still need you, even though another child is draining you. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So here Sydney and I sat.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Ashlyn is doing great. I think she was back on MO time by Monday! Freaky child.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Sarah is having a bit more trouble. She cannot hardly stay awake all day still, which is Sydney's problem too. We have tried everything to get Syd awake during the day, but about 2-3pm she just crashes. We have tried everyting from taking a ride on the four wheeler to chasing butterflies to get her to stay awake. But she just drifts in and out of sleep for about 6 hours during the day. Grrrrrr.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_44zTpfJ0I/AAAAAAAACCI/wxjq4uXQ1Rk/s1600/272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_44zTpfJ0I/AAAAAAAACCI/wxjq4uXQ1Rk/s320/272.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_45EOOL6nI/AAAAAAAACCQ/GdewI1iDqts/s1600/273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_45EOOL6nI/AAAAAAAACCQ/GdewI1iDqts/s320/273.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_45Ua6d0aI/AAAAAAAACCY/OYCOwQvKh5k/s1600/276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_45Ua6d0aI/AAAAAAAACCY/OYCOwQvKh5k/s320/276.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Abbey is doing wonderful. She is such a sweet girl with such a positive spirit. She is not timid about joining in on what we are doing but is not overbearing either. She does very well speaking to all the new people she meets. I think this is her best area of English, just casual conversational polite phrases. She is adjusting well to the time change also. We took her shopping Tuesday to get her some shorts and I told her how many pair we were gonna buy her when we first got there. She looked and looked with her brow deeply furrowed. It was kind of sad because I know that she was thinking that none of this looks like what she is used to. But she did come out with 5 pair to try on and we bought her two of them. She is a size 1! Little bitty thing! But I was happy that she could fit in to the juniors sizes. I was afraid she would have to go to the little girls section and not be able to find anything old enough for her. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We have had several visitors, but nothing overwhelming. We have two boys that are friends of the girls stop by and they chatted with Abbey alot. She did very well with them. They used the translator to communicate what they could not. Ashlyn noticed that Abbey would put what she wanted to say into the translator and then let it translate it into English, then read it and say it herself. I thought that was a very good thing. She is a very smart girl. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">She gets up every morning and makes her bed, which I love teasing my other two teenagers about. She helps with dishes when we all do them and yesterday just went in and started washing them on her own. Nice. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Today we have eye exams for Abbey and Sarah. I don't remember if I mentioned it on here that we discovered in China that Abbey usually wears glasses but she left them at the orphanage for the other kids to use. She has also complained of a headache several times, so we think that may be related. Please pray for us at her exam at 1:00. Sarah is due too, so we figured that if Sarah went first and Abbey watched that maybe it would help her understand what is going on. Hopefully we can communicate well enough to get a good diagnosis on her eyes. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Overall, it could not be going better. I prepared for the worst, and it is not anything like that. I know we are still in the early stages of this, but I am so relieved that she is doing so well. God is so good to us. There is no doubt that she was created to be here as my daughter. Oh what wonderful plans he has for us.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Trust Him, friends. He knows what He is doing.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_47yDQ2ezI/AAAAAAAACCg/ZD4gXiT8BOg/s1600/339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_47yDQ2ezI/AAAAAAAACCg/ZD4gXiT8BOg/s320/339.JPG" /></a></div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-77278117813985809152010-05-20T21:29:00.001-05:002010-05-20T21:29:29.232-05:00More hotel pics<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XwCRLUIWI/AAAAAAAACBw/lJoo4t0qB-o/s1600/063-769232.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XwCRLUIWI/AAAAAAAACBw/lJoo4t0qB-o/s320/063-769232.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544843899969890" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XwCifevlI/AAAAAAAACB4/H6tkzH8JYTg/s1600/069-770513.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XwCifevlI/AAAAAAAACB4/H6tkzH8JYTg/s320/069-770513.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544848547954258" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XwDJIUUZI/AAAAAAAACCA/HJJtBCmGo0s/s1600/072-771698.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XwDJIUUZI/AAAAAAAACCA/HJJtBCmGo0s/s320/072-771698.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544858919784850" /></a></p> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-83758681886011876052010-05-20T21:27:00.001-05:002010-05-20T21:27:51.624-05:00Pictures around our hotel<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvqATkJGI/AAAAAAAACBQ/SnKoIJDl2nU/s1600/029-771625.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvqATkJGI/AAAAAAAACBQ/SnKoIJDl2nU/s320/029-771625.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544427054310498" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvqR6y9fI/AAAAAAAACBY/A5_Uzx9u0_E/s1600/033-773278.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvqR6y9fI/AAAAAAAACBY/A5_Uzx9u0_E/s320/033-773278.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544431782262258" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_Xvq0Q_pFI/AAAAAAAACBg/-rb0MNB9GRI/s1600/040-774771.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_Xvq0Q_pFI/AAAAAAAACBg/-rb0MNB9GRI/s320/040-774771.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544441002173522" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvrGysSRI/AAAAAAAACBo/Q5x5NND93H8/s1600/041-775910.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvrGysSRI/AAAAAAAACBo/Q5x5NND93H8/s320/041-775910.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544445975349522" /></a></p> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-78096223899447830722010-05-20T21:25:00.001-05:002010-05-20T21:25:41.735-05:00Last day in Guangzhou<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvJmL_IoI/AAAAAAAACA4/STVifjbvD-c/s1600/006-741736.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvJmL_IoI/AAAAAAAACA4/STVifjbvD-c/s320/006-741736.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473543870287389314" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvKP8ovCI/AAAAAAAACBA/_4N86TqWIWs/s1600/014-744285.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvKP8ovCI/AAAAAAAACBA/_4N86TqWIWs/s320/014-744285.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473543881497295906" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvK1sekqI/AAAAAAAACBI/JuLDP-OTew4/s1600/023-747161.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_XvK1sekqI/AAAAAAAACBI/JuLDP-OTew4/s320/023-747161.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473543891630068386" /></a></p><div>Today is the last day here in Guangzhou!! Can you hear the joyous laughter radiating from us!! We have loved our time here but are soooooooo ready to head home. We will spend today packing (it will take a while, trust me) and gathering last minute items. Our guide will bring us Abbey's passport and immigration papers at 4:00 this evening and then we are done! We leave the hotel at 5:30am Saturday morning (4:30pm Friday in MO) and we will land in St. Louis at 7:45pm Saturday night, which will put us arriving at our home about midnight Saturday. It will be a 31 hour trip toal. ~sigh~ </div> <div> </div> <div>I asked Abbey if she is ready to go home and she said yes. I am not sure that she understands just how long it will take us to get there and all the switching and waiting involved. I plan on getting the translator out this afternoon and trying to get her up to speed on the plan. Her cold had gotten quite a bit better but then we started running low on meds and started giving her 1/2 doses to get her through. Now she is starting to get the cough back again. I guess we will be heading to WalMart on the way home. ~heehee~</div> <div> </div> <div>I don't think I mentioned that we met another familly here. We shared a guide with them while here in GZ. They were a good Christian family that we really enjoyed spending time with. They left on Wednesday and we have missed them ever since. I will post a pic of Preston and Stephanie and sweet Miranda today.</div> <div> </div> <div>Posting pics has proven to be somewhat difficult so I plan on trying to post several bunches of them throughout the day today.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-42898081225035821132010-05-19T21:18:00.001-05:002010-05-19T21:18:09.199-05:00Long Days<div>Ashlyn is awesome!!!!!!</div> <div> </div> <div>As we are waiting for final paperwork to process, we are utterly bored. Yesterday it rained all day long, which put us hanging out in the room for much of the day. We were able to rent a dvd player from the front desk which helped to pass the time. But since Abbey cannot understand the English movies and we cannot understand the Chinese, it kind of made it difficult. She spent alot of the day on QQ chatting with her friends. That's ok though, because I believe that is good for her. We want her to know that her past is welcome in our family. She will not be expected to leave it all behind, instead we want to blend it into our life.</div> <div> </div> <div>Today we go to the American Consulate for an oath swearing ceremony then they give us her immigration papers. This is the sacred brown envelope that cannot be damaged or tampered with in any way. We will guard it with our lives! These papers allow her to become a US citizen when she physically enters America. It will be a joyful time, but also a little sad to think that she will no longer be a Chinese citizen. </div> <div> </div> <div>Tomorrow we get her final required item, her Visa. It should be issued at 4:00 then we are free to leave! We will leave the hotel 5:30am Saturday morning to catch a 7:30 flight to Shainghai (sp?). It is only a 2 hours flight and then our flight to Chicago doesn't leave until 4pm. It will be a long day in the airport with Sydney and then a long 13 hour flight to Chicago. Hopefully she will sleep through at least some of it. </div> <div> </div> <div>I will try to post pics later today. We are headed out to meet our guide soon. </div> <div> </div> <div>We are almost outta here! </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-8592371707695405532010-05-18T05:31:00.001-05:002010-05-18T05:31:36.019-05:00More Swim Pics<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JsiDSDIFI/AAAAAAAACAo/3KXhrV7F62s/s1600/053-796020.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JsiDSDIFI/AAAAAAAACAo/3KXhrV7F62s/s320/053-796020.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472555829460934738" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JsicdqDBI/AAAAAAAACAw/k1vLTtU0ErU/s1600/051-797421.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JsicdqDBI/AAAAAAAACAw/k1vLTtU0ErU/s320/051-797421.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472555836220509202" /></a></p> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-90190681176626869792010-05-18T05:27:00.001-05:002010-05-18T05:27:31.268-05:00Abbey's First Swim<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JrkwrFAQI/AAAAAAAACAY/J6_S5P-Bi6g/s1600/014-751269.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JrkwrFAQI/AAAAAAAACAY/J6_S5P-Bi6g/s320/014-751269.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472554776493621506" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JrlR72OOI/AAAAAAAACAg/XmIPH0N8MZ8/s1600/050-753109.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_JrlR72OOI/AAAAAAAACAg/XmIPH0N8MZ8/s320/050-753109.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472554785422325986" /></a></p><div>As we wait on the endless paperwork to be completed here in Guangzhou, we are learning all kinds of new things about our newest daughter. For example, we have learned that Abbey has never gone swimming. And since this hotel has an awesome pool, we just had to rectify this. But first, we had to convince her to get into a swimsuit. This was no easy feat. Finally we convinced her that she really could come out of the bathroom like this. And with swimsuit, t-shirt, and shorts firmly in place, we headed to the pool. We walked out onto the pool deck with her grinning and squeeking. Not sure if she was delighted or terrified or a combination of both. We spent about 30 minutes there before we managed to get our sweet girl into the water. She really did like it, although she didn't let go of the edge for a second. We are pretty sure that she concluded that her new family was nuts when Wayne, Ashlyn, and Sarah began dunking each other. </div> <div> </div> <div>When we asked today if she would like to go swimming again, we received a definate nooooooooo. </div> <div> </div> <div>HeeHee.</div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-2124103782900339012010-05-17T06:42:00.001-05:002010-05-17T06:42:22.241-05:00Park Pics<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_Ernpoi_TI/AAAAAAAACAI/ef0lpRi9_gc/s1600/801-742242.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_Ernpoi_TI/AAAAAAAACAI/ef0lpRi9_gc/s320/801-742242.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472202982422674738" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_EroBCjuOI/AAAAAAAACAQ/n_24-VfhQaI/s1600/812-744163.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_EroBCjuOI/AAAAAAAACAQ/n_24-VfhQaI/s320/812-744163.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472202988705790178" /></a></p> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-9789260691879426962010-05-17T06:27:00.001-05:002010-05-17T06:27:33.347-05:00Boat Ride<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_EoJaPWXNI/AAAAAAAAB_4/Gc87dPxGTW4/s1600/830-753348.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_EoJaPWXNI/AAAAAAAAB_4/Gc87dPxGTW4/s320/830-753348.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472199164359498962" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_EoJ--dCWI/AAAAAAAACAA/gKDOJ-XmlOU/s1600/827-755047.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S_EoJ--dCWI/AAAAAAAACAA/gKDOJ-XmlOU/s320/827-755047.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472199174220745058" /></a></p> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-46203989369598104472010-05-17T03:16:00.001-05:002010-05-17T03:16:53.310-05:00Medical exam<div>When God promised us he would not leave us. He meant it. </div> <div> </div> <div>We had Abbey's medical exam today. She had to have her tb test read. If it was determined positive, then we would have to have a chest xray which would not only be more money, but it would be questionable because of her cold/deep cough. In the US the two xrays could be easily distinquished, but we are definately not in the US. If the xray is not clear than we would have to change our departure date and we could be here for a while longer while we straighten it out. We looked at it yesterday and even took pictures of it and sent it to other adoptive parents to get some comparisons. It pretty much was red swollen and very sore. She didn;t even want us to touch it. We all just knew that it was positive. I was not a bit worried about her actually having tb. Anyone who has been vaccinated for it or been exposed to it will test positive for the rest of their life. We rallied some prayer warriors from around the US and some more here in China and went to bed thinking about her red swollen arm. </div> <div> </div> <div>And guess what.</div> <div> </div> <div>We got up this morning and her arm is fine. Just a little bit pink and not hardly sore at all. Oh yeah, negative tb test! WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO! And we had the sweetest female doctor in the world doing Abbey's exam! </div> <div> </div> <div>How great is our God! </div> <div> </div> <div>I shouldn't have even been surprised. Look at all he has done for this sweet girl so far.......</div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-56956301382009154642010-05-17T03:00:00.001-05:002010-05-17T03:00:09.213-05:00Another day closer to home....<div>It's is early Monday morning here in GZ as Sydney decided to get up at 4:45am. Her poor little time clock will never be the same again. But we are up and watching Garfield and drawing ladybugs. Mommy may have to join her for her nap this afternoon though. </div> <div> </div> <div>Yesterday we kind took it easy in the morning. We ate breakfast here at the hotel. They have a huge breakfast buffet and the best coffee! Abbey giggled when I got excited over the coffee. And on my 5th cup, she was helping me pour in my creamer. She might as well get used to me needing my coffee. It is the best part of waking up, after all. </div> <div> </div> <div>After breakfast we headed back up to the room for awhile. We actually have several English channels here which is helping. Our guide in ZZ said that after the Olympics came to China that alot of western culture stayed with them. I can tell a huge difference in the hair styles and clothing in just the last two years since we were here. When we returned to the room after breakfast, the result show of American Idol was on! We were so excited! We had looked up online who went home this week, but now we definately won't this week. We got to see it about 12 hours after you all do, so don't tell us! Funny thing, there were several of the jokes, one in particular made by Ellen after Mike and Casey sang, that the Chinese government edited out. We only knew about it because one of Ashlyn's friend told her. But when we watched it here, they skipped over it. </div> <div> </div> <div>After American Idol, we headed to the Starbucks right acrossed the street. Can you see a pattern. We bought coffees and sweets. Abbey tried her first caramel latte. She did not like it at all but it was worth the money just to see the face she made. So cute. Sarah was able to get her hazelnut vanilla frappe, so she was a happy, happy girl. Ash had what she labeled "the best bluebarry muffin in the world" and I loved a hazelnut latte! Yum!</div> <div> </div> <div>Next we met our guide for some sightseeing. We all loaded on a bus (full size this time, thank goodness) and headed off to a local park. And wouldn't you know t, just when I started to relax a little bit about the crazy driving, we were in a little accident, A taxi cab cut us off and we bumped him. It wasn't tramatic or anything, but it was still funny. I knew it had to happen eventually! The girls all jumped up and grabbed their cameras! Too funny.</div> <div> </div> <div>We eventually made it to the park and walked around a lake in the massively humid GZ heat. We had only went about 1/4 of the way around it and we were drenched in sweat. The temperature is only in the mid 80's but the heat index is 105-110. HOT!! But it was worth every drop of sweat just to see some grass and trees. It felt a little more like home to just be surrounded with some nature! When we got to the end of the lake, they had paddle boats for rent! Well you know we just had to! Abbey was not gonna get in. No way, no how! Wayne finally convinced her and she loved it. We raced each other around the lake. Ashlyn and I won, (hey I paddled a little) and then we headed back. </div> <div> </div> <div>We finished up some adoption paperwork and then went to dinner at a Thai restaurant. It was one of the better meals we have had here. Wayne's stomach has settled down, and he is feeling better. Not 100% yet, but much better. Then we had our guide take us to a grocery store for some food for our room. We've pretty much depleted all that I brought. The grocery store was on the fourth floor of a shopping mall. So we walk past the Chanel. Tommy, and Levi department, then go get our food, and walk back out through the mall. Odd.</div> <div> </div> <div>That about wraps up our day. Today is the medical exam and tb test results. We need prayer for this as it has been quite tramatic for some of the kids in the past. I am pretty sure we will need to get an xray for Abbey's tb test, just like Sydney. So please pray us through.</div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-36688070585062708682010-05-15T07:15:00.001-05:002010-05-15T07:15:39.279-05:00Finally in Guangzhou<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6Qa28yJ6I/AAAAAAAAB_Q/Cd1436Y2Slc/s1600/061-739280.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6Qa28yJ6I/AAAAAAAAB_Q/Cd1436Y2Slc/s320/061-739280.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471469388403189666" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6QbW_-sjI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/MRwF1C3qfwo/s1600/078-740947.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6QbW_-sjI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/MRwF1C3qfwo/s320/078-740947.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471469397006529074" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6QblBVkPI/AAAAAAAAB_g/KQWQ2RngbNE/s1600/094-742343.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6QblBVkPI/AAAAAAAAB_g/KQWQ2RngbNE/s320/094-742343.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471469400770318578" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6Qbw_Js8I/AAAAAAAAB_o/v7dAa-vDFUs/s1600/105-743607.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6Qbw_Js8I/AAAAAAAAB_o/v7dAa-vDFUs/s320/105-743607.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471469403982377922" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6Qciq_yiI/AAAAAAAAB_w/fVmDpN31vIM/s1600/126-746680.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-6Qciq_yiI/AAAAAAAAB_w/fVmDpN31vIM/s320/126-746680.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471469417319615010" /></a></p><div>What a roller coaster! We left Zhengzhou at 7:00 yesterday morning to tour Luoyang. Louyang is where Abbey has been living before becoming a Woods. We made the 3 hour drive in a teenie tiny van. Sydney looked at it and said, "No big momma van". We dodged bikes, scooters, construction, goats and cattle on the way, but we made it safely.</div> <div> </div> <div>First we went to Maria's Big House of Hope. We were so excited to tour this facility. This healing home was built by Steven Curtis Chapman's adoption advocating agency, Shoahannah's Hope. It is a home for orphan's who need medical attention for a variety of issues and are unable to receive help here in China. The Chinese medical system is very behind the US's and is still filled with teas and herbs and that type of thing. So this home brings skilled surgeons to treat children with cleft palate and other conditions. We got to tour all the floors except the operating floor. We got to hold the sweet little cleft babies. I wanted to put a few in my bag and bring them home with me so badly!!!! There were twin girls there, both cleft babies. They were so precious! I seriously would have brought them home with us if they would have let me. I'm just sayin'!! Our guide had never toured this place before and she said she was so impressed by the love and care given to the children there. She even talked to them and asked if she could come and volunteer there because she could tell that it was a place that the children were truly loved!</div> <div> </div> <div>One of the best parts about touring Maria's was that Abbey got to see an old friend. Michael Melsi met us there. Michael is a sweet sweet guy with a heart for orphans. He spent several years living with and teaching English to the kids of Luoyang. He also has witnessed to them while living in the Louyang SWI. He sent us many pictures of our Abbey and we will be forever grateful to him for that. I was so tickled to meet him! It was so precious to see her run to him and give him a big old hug! </div> <div> </div> <div>We then left and went to Abbey's orphanage. ~sigh~ You need to understand that there is a dignity that I want to preserve for my new daughter. For that reson I will not publicly post alot of what we saw there. But I do want to tell the other waiting Luoyang parents that we saw many of your sweet children and I will be emailing you pictures and stories in the next few days as time allows. It was so sweet to meet Abbey's friends and to give them gifts and Starbursts. </div> <div> </div> <div>We then headed to Abbey's favorite restaurant, KFC, where she ordered for us and showed us where the sinks were to wash up. It was pretty cool to let her show us around. I know that she is gonna be the one to be in an odd place in a few days, so this was a nice chance to let her be the one at ease. </div> <div> </div> <div>We then drove another 3 hours to Zhengzhou airport for a quick 2 hour flight to Guangzhou. Or so we thought. We had decided earlier in the day to go ahead and just check everything instead of carrying on a few things. We knew that it was gonna be such a long emotional day and we wanted to have a simple flight and get to Guangzhou and relax. It was also Abbey's first flight ever and we want to keep it simple in that sense too. Also flying on a Chinese airline is a litte difficult because the anouncements are in Chinese and then very broken and heavily accented English. So we taxied out to the runway.......and sat for 2 hours. There was bad weather in Guangzhou and so our take off was delayed. Finally we took off and headed south.......only to be told that we could not land due to weather. We circled for a long time then we headed somewhere else. We had no idea where we were headed and could not get anyone to communicate with. Abbey was trying but she really didn't understand what was going on either. I finally got it communicated to her that this was not a normal flight and things were not happening like they normally would. She was so relieved at that because she was not so much enjoying all the drama and turbulence. We landed 6 hours after take-off, but we had no idea where we were. We quickly called our guide and made a stewardess come and talk to our guide and tell her where we were. Our guide said that we just needed to go with the airline to wherever they were taking us and try to get some rest. Uh, ok. So we were herded onto a bus and took off into the night......and rode for 45 minutes before finally stopping at a hotel. By the time we got into our rooms, it was 2:30 in the morning. We were supposed to fly out of Zhengzhou at 6:30 and arrive in Guangzhou at 8:30. We finally figured out that we were in Guilin in the Guangxi province. We were told to be at breakfast at 7am and they would try to figure everything else out by then. But this was Saturday morning and we were supposed to be starting Abbey's medical appointments. If we couldn't make it for them then we would be looking at rescheduling flights for all 6 of us and maybe having to stay here longer. Can you hear the tears starting to fall? </div> <div> </div> <div>We arrived the next morning to breakfast and were told to get on the bus at 10 to head back to the airport. We ended us flying out at 11:30 and landing in Guangzhou at 12:30. Our guide met us and took us straight to the medical office for Abbey's TB test. We got it today and we will do her other medical exams on Monday when they read it. This way we will not lose any time and will not have to change any of our dates. Prayer request #1: Abbey must test negative for TB. If her test is positive then we will have to get a chest xray to prove that her lungs are clear before we can bring her home. The problem is that she has a cold with a pretty bad cough. I think her chest is conjested and it makes me a bit nervous. She got her test today and it is a bit red right now. We don't have to get it read until Monday, so please pray with us about it. </div> <div> </div> <div>We are so exhausted. We had just almost gotten over the jet lag from the trip over and now it feels like we are starting all over. We are all ready for bed and it is only 7:45 (which will also explain the typos and spelling errors) When we finally got to our hotel our guide offered to just bring us pizza in the room. It was from pizza hut and tasted like heaven. We all ate until we were stuffed, except Wayne. Prayer request #2: Wayne has a tendency to eat anything. However that is not so good when you are in China. Hence, he has spent a good part of the last 18 hours becoming friendly with Chinese toilets. He is feeling better but is still a bit queasy. He had the worst color today, he was totally yellow. I seriously could have panicked over it. Please pray that he is better by morning and that he will no longer eat things he cannot identify! </div> <div> </div> <div>I will soon post some of the things that Abbey is enjoying and discovering, but for now I am spent. I will attach pics to follow.</div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-9398787662221515392010-05-13T08:11:00.001-05:002010-05-13T08:11:23.023-05:00<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6e8VCyrI/AAAAAAAAB-o/uUF7Ag57Hi0/s1600/009-783024.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6e8VCyrI/AAAAAAAAB-o/uUF7Ag57Hi0/s320/009-783024.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470741581869009586" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6fa01hJI/AAAAAAAAB-w/GFj2PZPFsvM/s1600/002-785180.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6fa01hJI/AAAAAAAAB-w/GFj2PZPFsvM/s320/002-785180.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470741590055421074" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6fwkT-YI/AAAAAAAAB-4/CGfb8H7fshk/s1600/018-786714.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6fwkT-YI/AAAAAAAAB-4/CGfb8H7fshk/s320/018-786714.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470741595891693954" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6gg-1VRI/AAAAAAAAB_A/ROf547Pwlt8/s1600/028-789511.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6gg-1VRI/AAAAAAAAB_A/ROf547Pwlt8/s320/028-789511.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470741608887833874" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6gz11VfI/AAAAAAAAB_I/wb0JIP7DFqU/s1600/026-791274.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-v6gz11VfI/AAAAAAAAB_I/wb0JIP7DFqU/s320/026-791274.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470741613950359026" /></a></p><div>Today was another busy day of dodging scooters and bicycles. Abbey just giggles when I get all panicky in the middle of the road. But it is seriously like a human form of frogger!</div> <div> </div> <div>We finished up Abbey's adoption on the Chinese side. She is no longer a citizen of China and is our daughter in the eyes of the Chinese government. We were presented our certificate of adoption by the Civil Affairs office. It is pretty cool to see Abbey and Sydney's certificate side by side. God is so good to us. Far, far more so than we deserve. </div> <div> </div> <div>After the official business was over, we went shopping for a few things that Abbey needed. We were with our guide this time, so things were alot easier. But at times I would turn around and there would be about 20 Chinese people standing behind us and staring at us. It is a bit unnerving, especially for Sarah who really wants to tell them to go away. Ashlyn pretty much just blows them off, but Sarah keeps saying, "What are they looking at? Seriously, we are buying books! Big flippin' deal!" Of course when she is acting like an elephant in front of the statue, it doesn't help.</div> <div> </div> <div>We finished today off with a traditional Chinese dinner where Wayne and Abbey had a eating competition with chopsticks. Guess who won? She giggled at Wayne a lot today. He is pretty cute! :P</div> <div> </div> <div>Sydney is starting to adjust to the time difference finally. She went down last night at 6 and slept until 4 this morning. But tonight she made it all the way until 8! </div> <div> </div> <div>We have to have our bags packed and be ready to leave at 7:15 in the morning so I had better get going. We love you all and miss you very much!</div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-8759435228380913012010-05-12T03:25:00.000-05:002010-05-12T03:26:03.786-05:00More pics<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmHKlibKI/AAAAAAAAB-A/uguWXr75Qtk/s1600/abbey+family+day+024-763787.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmHKlibKI/AAAAAAAAB-A/uguWXr75Qtk/s320/abbey+family+day+024-763787.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470296970681805986" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmHWUHXaI/AAAAAAAAB-I/U_oUWJrFrg4/s1600/abbey+family+day+055-765256.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmHWUHXaI/AAAAAAAAB-I/U_oUWJrFrg4/s320/abbey+family+day+055-765256.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470296973829954978" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmH-YeSII/AAAAAAAAB-Q/mq77TLjOxqg/s1600/abbey+family+day+059-767016.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmH-YeSII/AAAAAAAAB-Q/mq77TLjOxqg/s320/abbey+family+day+059-767016.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470296984585652354" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmIXV6GdI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/Epef341pTA8/s1600/abbey+family+day+077-768934.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmIXV6GdI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/Epef341pTA8/s320/abbey+family+day+077-768934.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470296991285778898" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmIwrTxFI/AAAAAAAAB-g/cIfF5L33-2I/s1600/abbey+family+day+087-770671.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pmIwrTxFI/AAAAAAAAB-g/cIfF5L33-2I/s320/abbey+family+day+087-770671.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470296998086427730" /></a></p> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-64242398420284277642010-05-12T03:20:00.001-05:002010-05-12T03:20:33.496-05:00We have her!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk0QzSyeI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/qzdweiEmSk4/s1600/abbey+family+day+003-733497.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk0QzSyeI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/qzdweiEmSk4/s320/abbey+family+day+003-733497.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470295546420972002" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk00Lu7NI/AAAAAAAAB9g/x9iEgJhFLZA/s1600/abbey+family+day+005-735533.JPG"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk00Lu7NI/AAAAAAAAB9g/x9iEgJhFLZA/s320/abbey+family+day+005-735533.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470295555918720210" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk1bQvykI/AAAAAAAAB9o/jZpnsimOPTw/s1600/abbey+family+day+007-736959.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk1bQvykI/AAAAAAAAB9o/jZpnsimOPTw/s320/abbey+family+day+007-736959.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470295566408731202" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk1_QROqI/AAAAAAAAB9w/DQoM4msehkM/s1600/abbey+family+day+010-738716.JPG"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk1_QROqI/AAAAAAAAB9w/DQoM4msehkM/s320/abbey+family+day+010-738716.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470295576070404770" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk2LnOtvI/AAAAAAAAB94/KlgTkV30gKc/s1600/abbey+family+day+027-740398.JPG"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-pk2LnOtvI/AAAAAAAAB94/KlgTkV30gKc/s320/abbey+family+day+027-740398.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470295579387934450" /></a></p><div>Let me introduce you to the bravest person I have ever met, our new daughter! I do not know if I could ever do what she has done. Or do it with as much grace, dignity or excitement that she has. </div> <div> </div> <div>We met our guide this morning at 10:10 and headed to the civil affairs office. When we pulled in we parked beside a van and all of a sudden there she was! She hopped out and came to me with her arms opened for a hug. I said "Hi! How are you?" and she answered "I am OK thank you" in very good English. I turned towards Wayne and said "This is...." and I wasn't sure how to finish. But she jumped right in and said "Dad" and hugged his neck too. Then we introduced the girls and she hugged both big girls and was not shy at all. She helped Sydney out of the van and up the stairs. It was really cute. </div> <div> </div> <div>We went in to the civil affairs office and proceeded to do all the necessary paperwork. She just seemed so happy and excited. She behaved like she has been looking forward to this day forever. There was joy all over her. I was surprised and I guess I just didn't expect that. But I should have, after all that God has done for us this far! Oh me of little faith. And yes, I know that this is purely a honeymoon phase, and we will face more emotions in the next few days, but I am really enjoying this right now.</div> <div> </div> <div>After the adoption business, we went for lunch. Our guide told us that she loved KFC which we already knew, so we headed there. The girls were soooooo ready for some American food. And what do you know, but Abbey will fit right in with our family when it comes to eating fried chicken! During dinner, our guide told us that she had some business to take care of and pointed out the way to WalMart and then back to the hotel. And off she went. Now I do have to confess that I was a bit surprised and alot nervous that we may never see our hotel again. But with the help of Abbey and our iphone translator app, we made it to WalMart. (I know, I know, even in China my family heads to WalMart!) We were able to get a few items of clothing there and some other things for Abbey. She was able to tell us whether she liked certain clothes or not. We even had a good laugh over the clothes that Wayne picked out! He's so cute!</div> <div> </div> <div>We then proceeded to head back towards the hotel. This included crossing the street about 5 times. Praise the Lord that the Chinese have finally started some kind of pedestrian crosswalk system. Although the bikes and scooters are right in the middle of the pedestrians, which translates to us being honked at by about 25 bikes or scooters at each crossing. I need to get me one of those obnoxious bullhorns and when someone honks at me, I can just let loose with a big AHOOOOOOOGA! :P I think I shall invent an app for that. Needless to say we did make it back to our blessed hotel.</div> <div> </div> <div>Abbey has spent the last 30 minutes drawing pictures for Sydney and is now painting Sydney's nails. She is so stinkin' cute! </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-16534213655950344992010-05-11T04:39:00.001-05:002010-05-11T04:39:39.576-05:00<div>We are now in Zhengzhou and settled somewhat into the Holiday Inn here. We are utterly exhausted. Jet lag hit us all abour 3:30. Ashlyn and Sarah are sound asleep. Wayne is drifting in and out. I just woke up from an hour nap. Sydney fell asleep right before take off at 1:00 and slept through the entire flight and the ride to the hotel. We have tried everything to get her up to no avail. She is sound asleep! And she has been for 4 hours! We really need sleep tonight and not another 3:00am wake up, but it's not looking so good. </div> <div> </div> <div>We were met be our guide Sarah at the airport and she is a really nice girl! Very helpful and can speak English very clearlly. She brought us to the hotel and they had our two rooms on two separate floors! They said if we wanted that we could have two rooms close together but they would be smoking rooms. Our Sarah has asthma and so that was unacceptable. Our guide handled it well and got us two rooms side by side that are non-smoking, well at least as non-smoking as there is in China. It seems as if the scent of cigaretttes is everywhere, although I'm sure that's just us because we are never around it. We are supposed to meet our guide in the lobby in 25 minutes to go eat dinner. She is taking us to a noodle place. Hmmmmm. That is if I can wake anyone up.</div> <div> </div> <div>We are to meet Abbey at 10:30 in the morning. That will be 9:30pm Tuesday night at home. I have so much to gather and do before morning but my mind is just so stinkin' fuzzy! Wayne is supposed to be trying to wake up the girls and I see he is back asleep, so I had better go see what I can rouse........... </div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-5393847514926196962010-05-10T19:37:00.001-05:002010-05-10T19:37:53.154-05:00<div>We made it to Beijing safe and sound. We are tired but releived to to off the long flight. Sydney did wonderful on all the flights. She wasn't a bit afraid of take off or landing. She just loved it. We are doing well. Even though Sydney had been up since 3am.</div> <div> </div> <div>We are leaving now to head to Zhengzhou. I will try to update from there tonight. </div> <div> </div> <div>We get Abbey tomorrow. </div> <div> </div> <div>Prayers please.</div> Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-18803180802777888712010-05-09T05:00:00.001-05:002010-05-09T05:00:04.552-05:00Happy Mother's Day<div align="center"><em><span style="font-size: x-large;">Do not be afraid, for I am with you; </span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size: x-large;">I will bring your children from the east </span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size: x-large;">and gather you from the west.</span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size: x-large;">Isaiah 43:5</span></em></div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271974351524228906.post-11531937321962071652010-05-07T14:19:00.000-05:002010-05-07T14:19:52.638-05:00<div align="center"><em>Give and it will be given to you. </em></div><div align="center"><em>A good measure, pressed down, </em></div><div align="center"><em>shaken together and running over, </em></div><div align="center"><em>will be pured into your lap.</em></div><div align="center"><em>Luke 6:38a</em> </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-RlGMlNiEI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/4OgD7m384Ic/s1600/gift+of+adoption+logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oEKTcxHoGHM/S-RlGMlNiEI/AAAAAAAAB9Q/4OgD7m384Ic/s320/gift+of+adoption+logo.gif" tt="true" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">Thank you Gift of Adoption Fund for awarding us a $3500 grant!!!</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center"><em>The Lord will guide you always; </em></div><div align="center"><em>he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land </em></div><div align="center"><em>and will strengthen your frame. </em></div><div align="center"><em>You will be like a well watered garden, </em></div><div align="center"><em>like a spring whose waters never fail.</em></div><div align="center"><em>Isaiah 58:11</em></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">His love never ceases to amaze me. Every little thing is just falling into place. We feel like we are just along for the ride, not at all driving or leading. It is very humbling and invigorating at the same time. </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">We will leave home tomorrow evening and stay in St. Louis. We have to be at the airport at 5:30am Sunday morning to check in for our flights. We will fly out of Lambert at 8:00am Sunday and land in Beijing at 9:40pm on Monday China time (which is 8:30am Monday morning in Missouri). </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">Just 42 hours left..........</div><div align="center"><br />
</div>Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469157591343636963noreply@blogger.com8