China Reunion!

They loved getting their faces painted!

Here are our two butterflies!

I know I don't need to explain this work of art but just in case you were wondering- that is a butterfly kite! Yes, Anna wrote her own name on her nametag!

This is Molly and she was one of our China guides for both Anna and Sarah! We met her in Guangzhou! Anna chose not to be in the picture.

Every summer our agency has a China Reunion. This is our 3rd year attending! Our very first year Anna had been home less than a week and we went there to show her off- isn't that what new parents do? This was Sarah's first year! We all had a wonderful time! It is so nice to see all the people that we have worked with throughout our adoptions.

When I was in China this last time I put out an e-mail and a JTM post asking for some help and guidance. Among many that answered was a family from our agency that lived in rural MN. The were around our age and had many children and had been through many adoptions- including an older child adoption like ours! Since then we have kept in contact e-mailing back and forth and even some phone calls! We were able to finally meet at the China Reunion! It was so good to meet them and their wonderful children! I can't believe I didn't get a picture- I wish I would have! They have Sadie who is 14 yrs. (China) she has been home for 2 years and they have Jay 11 yrs. (Korea) and Ryan 11 yrs. (China). Plus a bunch of older kids! We clicked right away with them- again I can't believe I didn't get a pic...

Our girls love anything to do with China! It is a natural attraction for them. We are debating on having Sarah go to Chinese dance and language lessons but their parents (us) are not so sure of the commitment- most of the day every Saturday - September through May. That means we would have to drive a half hour each way (4x) every Saturday, ugh! I love the idea of keeping them connected to their culture BUT I do not like the huge Saturday commitment. Right now I just like being a family and homeschooling. Any thoughts, anyone?

Missing my boy!

I was sitting in the car while Anna took a catnap and watching Johnny's team play soccer. Hubby went out to the sidelines to watch the game. Within one minute he called and said don't bother waking up Anna we are leaving soon. Why?? The game just got started? Look behind you!

Wow! Okay, I guess we won't be staying long! The game was soon called because of lightening. Everyone ran for cover! We saw quite the lightening show from our car! Our son Mark drove my suburban to the game with the players that live near us (he is so helpful- oh yeah, he's working for me this summer!) That cute 19 yr old employee of mine had half the team in the car watching a movie (waiting or the storm to blow over)... he forgot to start the car, so yes- you guessed it, the battery died! Thank goodness we have AAA! They came and got it going in no time. Don't you think it would have been hot and stuffy and smelly in there 7 stinky boys inside and without air circulating through the car? I was wondering why are their windows fogging up? And of course Mark was writing "I love Sarah", "I love Anna" on the foggy windows! Well - he learned something new!

This sweet boy is now at soccer camp (out of state). He has never gone away to camp- he was very nervous! He has gone to Washington DC with school and to friend's cabins but never has he been gone for a whole week. He has called every night to update us on how it is going. He seems to be doing okay. Me, on the other hand... I miss him terribly. I want him back home asap! I can hardly stand having him gone...

His sisters were all over him that last night saying goodbye! The all adore each other- which I love!!

Thank you Jesus!

She's Back!! For a moment that is!

Guess who drove this monster home?

Little Katie drove this beast of a truck home from Iowa City today! IT WAS NOT FILLED!! Praise the Lord! It was the only truck she could get for the weekend and they didn't charge her extra. It is a 26 footer- OH MY! I am just thankful she got home okay in that thing!

Our little girl (and her best friend that followed her home) dropped off her stuff, returned the truck to the nearest U-Haul place, ate dinner and left in seconds flat- back to Iowa! Do ya think maybe she's having a hard time parting with her college town? Ya, me too! Well now we have her stuff and her dog, Penny - she will return in 2 weeks, kinda, maybe for good? We will see?

Thankful Thursday- July 23th, 2009!

Today we ran into the family (at a soccer tournament) that got us going on the adoption trail! Their older children are the same age as our older children and they went to the same high school together. I remember when they brought home their first daughter- I was amazed at the thought of adopting and loved the idea of continuing to parent a younger child! They had 1 bio daughter and 5 bio sons. They adopted a second little girl about 1-2 yrs later. Their daughters are now 10 and 11 - they are from the Ukraine and Columbia! I had Sarah with me so I was so happy to introduce her to this mom! I let her know that she planted the seed and that we were in the process for # 3 and #4 from China. She said that is how it happened for them too- another family planted the seed and it caught on! Thank you Jesus!! I can only hope that it will catch on to more families!

Today in the mail I received developed pics of Emma and Ellie! (I had them developed) I am so excited to have them! Thank you Jesus!

The rough draft of our Homestudy is ready. We will review it this weekend and then send it back on Monday! Soon we will get going on our CIS stuff! Yippee Jesus!

This is a biggy- Anna has now gone potty on the big girl potty over the last 3 days- only about 5 times but this means we are on our way! Yippee Jesus!! It is interesting that she does not want to go on the little potty chair- only the big girl potty with an adjustable seat will do for this princess!!

I am really thankful for how well Sarah s doing with school! We had a rough period there for a short while but she is back at it and really progressing! It's slow but it continues to go in the right direction!

I am so very thankful for our church! It is so enjoyable to go and get refueled for the week with God's word!

I am thankful for this summer and how well it has gone! Things just seem to fall into place- we have done a bit of re-evaluating and readjusting of the schedule but it is working. Everyone seems to have a pretty good balance, we are accomplishing some things we needed to get done.

I am thankful for relatively free weekends! We always have something going on but it is not like earlier years where we where constantly going in different directions. It really has been wonderful!

When we have all our girls home I told hubby maybe we can put them all on the same soccer team!! They are kind of close in age!! He looked at me with a little smirk- "Honey, that would be a really bad team ;-)" Oh well- but wouldn't they all be so cute out there!!

HEY YOU!

Hey... You... Can you help me? I've been sitting in this dryer for 5 days now... could you please fold me?

Yes, it is a busy summer!! Yes, my laundry often sits in the dryer... and even the washer longer than it should. It seems that everyone wants a piece of me! 

I am homeschooling Sarah about 4 days a week. We had a bit of a lull but she is once again taking off in Math and Reading!! It is a slow but steady process! 

The Big Kids are coming and going! I feel very blessed but busy! Our darling daughter Kate will be moving home soon. She is trying to act excited but truthfully this is a very hard time for her. She has loved college and has done very well. She is a hard worker BUT she knows how to enjoy herself! Now she will be back home and preparing herself for the "kind of" real world. She has already said that she will be finding her own place asap- I'm okay with that! I mean we will really miss her and Penny in the house BUT we understand.

I bought my sweet husband a tomato plant. He was so excited about it, he loves tomatoes! I used to water the outside plants but I told him that they like to be watered in the morning ( he is a morning person- I am not). The dear man took over watering his beloved tomato plant ... and... the other 12 flower pots in the morning before work. They all love him dearly but my sweet guy didn't seem to notice that all the wonderful little green tomatoes have... disappeared?? What a bummer- okay I did find 3 little ones BUT what about the other 8 that have vanished- any clues? I don't think it was our dogs, they would have wrestled it to the ground and had a good ole time. I am wondering about deer? raccoons? the bunnies would have really had to reach? Any thoughts on who the culprit may have been? We are thinking we may have to hit the farmers market in August! 

Happy Birthday to our Girls!!

Our daughters in China have each had a birthday this week. It is interesting because my heart has been heavy knowing it is their birthdays and we have not been able to celebrate it with them or even send them a cake. Because we are so early in the process we cannot risk it, it is much more important that we have many birthdays together in the future!

I thought that this time(our third adoption) I would feel peaceful, knowing we have a ways to go with Sarah but instead I an eager to bring our daughters home. I want them to know who their parents are, their family and their home. I am eager to get the process moving... faster... it feels so very slow.

If you get a chance please pray for our darling daughters in China and that the adoption process begins to move along.

Gods Blessings to you!

I have lots of pics and will post them as soon as I can! They are precious sisters!

Fretting, The British Open, Bike Rides and Dates!

Here they are relaxing together enjoying the golf tournament!

Come on TW!! We are cheering for you!

It's getting tense, they are all sitting forward. As you can see Anna is really into this!

The head hanging. It's not looking good for our guy.

Ever have a time when everything is driving you crazy! Well- that's me and it's happening now! Questions, questions, questions- I won't say who from but you probably could take a wild guess and I bet you'd be right!! She is currently standing an inch way from me, well no she is actually on top of me giving me a play by play on my typing. And asking for something- can I have a snack, can I go outside, can I, can I, can I!!!

Lately I've been doing some fretting- yes, fretting- 3 cankers sores worth of fretting! You see, because I am not a HS pro I committed the very common HS beginners error of purchasing too much stuff an now I can't decide what to use? The other issue is I am just not so sure where we fall in the math category. We still have some language barriers - so explaining things can be challenging. My darling has her good days and not so good days with math- I am wondering if the not so good days are more stubbornness than lack of skill?? So of course I ordered a whole new math program thinking we are going to redo 1st grade math and just get the basics down... the next thing you know she is doing pretty darn good in math (unless of course it's a Monday because Mondays aren't her best day!) So now I am thoroughly confused... do I just continue on with the same program maybe slowing down a bit or do I start the whole new program redoing 1st grade??? argh

Then I start thinking about our other daughters in China and gee I wish they were home right now because then we'd all be at the same place and just learning together BUT that is not the case and I need to forge ahead now and just plan to do it all over again in one year from now with them!

This morning (went to Saturday evening church) we had the crew sitting around the TV watching the British Open Golf Tournament. We were really pulling for Tom Watson- but it didn't quite work out for Tommy. The whole mood changed- it was like watching a bad Vikings Game. Being a little more mature myself I just thought it would be so cool if he won!

On a good note- Hubby and I got new bikes this weekend and went biking with the kids! It was so much fun!! Johnny's friend rode my old bike and as he was going down the street the frame bent- it was a very old bike- the poor dear could not be fixed. When hubby saw my bike he just had to get her brother!! Now we are all decked out with helmets and really to ride!! Head over to The Princess Diaries for bike riding photos!

Let's briefly discuss the weather- this is the weirdest summer for us! Today was great 76 and sunny but the last 3 days I think have been record lows! This is supposed to be the warmest week of the summer and it was a cloudy 62 degrees with a wind!

Last but not least Hubby and I went out for a date on Friday night. No, I didn't take any fun pics like Lori did- we don't have a cool Jeep- that we can take the top off, like Lori BUT we did have fun!! Our date started at 6:00 and since we don't usually leave the kids for long we anticipated being home at 8:00 BUT we were really having fun so we decided to extend our date a bit. We texted the Babysitter- to fill him in. Hey, no big deal just one more hour... we got called 11 times that night... If I hadn't given birth to the babysitter and if I had other options, this boy would have been fired! He did apologize and some of those calls may have been from a little 9 yr old girl that loves to call people on the phone when she really doesn't have much to say- I mean to tell me something very important. So payback was a second date for the two of us the following night!! That works for me!! (Again we were home to put the kids to bed)...

Which leads me to another topic. Our social schedule doesn't seem to fit with any one else's! Most of our friends don't want to come home at 8:00- 9:00 and they don't quite get why we need too. We really like to put the kids to bed and not stay out too late- so we don;t get too tired. Ya, ya, that does sound old of us but hey it works! I wish some of you other adoptive families lived near us so we could go out to dinner now and then... and be home by 8-9! 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!!

You are going to what? Why?

That is the question my hubby got when he met for a business meeting with 2 friends. He was very surprised at their response. We know we are traveling the road less traveled and that in many ways we are so different from other families but it was still so surprising to hear our friends say this. About a month earlier we got the same reaction and found ourselves stumbling over our words trying to explain "why". After that "not so good" interaction we decided we were no longer going to feel like we have to have an excuse for wanting to adopt again. We would share our good news with who ever we decided to and we would make it very clear that we are excited for our new children to join our family- end of story.

If there is someone that is truly interested in adoption- that's a different situation. I would love to sit down with a cup of coffee and share our story and encourage another family to adopt!

The same business men said " Wow, Jean must have a lot of energy",  "My wife could never do that" and they went on and on. Now if you know my hubby, you know that this guy is a hands on Daddy. He comes home from a full day of work or traveling from another city and he immediately helps with the kids, dinner, picking up the house, having conversations with everyone. He does not sit down and watch TV or retreat to a room by himself- he is in the thick of things right away. In fact he often just takes over and gives me a little break. BTW- that's how I'm able to write this post!

So as these men were talking he was getting so frustrated. At first agreeing about the nice things they were saying about me but when they didn't believe that he also pitched in to make things work - he was so surprised. He thought- What do they do when they get home? and if they do nothing no wonder their dear wife couldn't handle it. BUT, if they helped out, YES she probably could do it and would love it!! There are so many women that want to adopt but their hubby's just are not on board. 

My dear hubby listened to them go on and on and then he came home and vented to his wife- he's not the type that usually needs to vent but this time he did!

Here's to you sweetie- thank you for all you do- you do so much! I love you!

SOOOO, to tie in with the Thankful Thursday theme- I am oh so thankful to be married to the most wonderful guy in the world for 27.5 years and hopefully another 27.5 yrs!

I am also thankful that he has a heart for adoption!

I am thankful for how our Lord orchestrates our lives- thank you Jesus!

An international spy vs the real thing?

Just in case you've ever wondered if an international spy has moved in and stole my identity- here is how you would be able to tell-

1. Are there typos?? If so ;-) it's me!!

Yes I type with 2 fingers from each hand- every movement is incorrect- it is pure luck that even some words are typed correctly. If you were to watch me it would be a painful experience for you! Maybe someday I will learn to type correctly but then again maybe not!

2. Are there misspelled words? If so... in every post? then it is me! My dear friend Lori has ever so gently encouraged me to awwww maybe use firefox because it is so helpful with misspelling- which I probably just misspelled ;-)

3. Is it a profound intellectual post- sorry, it is the international spy- I am not capable of profound or anything intellectual! Well, on second thought, I guess it could be my hubby- he is more of the intellectual type than little old me!

4. Does it mention that I love to cook and am a good cook- definitely an impostor. So sorry- wish it was me!

5. IF it has anything about loving our Lord, loving children and being passionate about adoption- it's me!!

Well that's all for now- I am going to bed! However I do wake up at 3:00-3:30 EVERY night- arghhhh and generally am up for 1-2 hours after that. So if you want to chat at that time just let me know!! Know doubt I will wake up and wonder why did I even post this post! So if it magically disappears- you'll know why! 3:30 a.m. delete!

Have a good night sleep! Bless you!

Thank you!!

Recently I have been the lucky/ blessed recipient of two wonderful gifts! 

Hezra sent me an awesome poppy red dish clothe. Because it was so pretty I had a hard time using it BUT yesterday I decided I needed to stop saving it! That pretty dish cloth was used to wipe down the kitchen counters 3 times today and believe me it was a tough job... each time! It looked as great after the dirty work as it did before! The great thing is it dry fast, too, and is ready t go again! 

I also received a wonderful bar of soap made from goats milk and a book mark from my BFF (Bloggy Friend Forever) Sally. The soap smells delicious! I could take a bite out of it (milk and honey) BUT don't worry, I won't! 

Thank you Ladies for your kindness! These thoughtful gifts were such a day maker. Before that I was feeling especially blah. I decided I needed to pray my way through the day. I must say that, this wonderful God of ours is incredible. He allowed me to see through my blahness and feel his joy in our wonderful children! Prayer helped me to see more clearly all that I am so thankful for- God is so good! 

Later in the day I visited a few blogs- it is so nice to be able to catch up with bloggy friends! One blog in particular stands out- if you haven't visited this blog please do! Patricia is an incredible writer, composer and photographer! Her music is so beautiful and relaxing! All her posts are wonderful but do check out this post My Utmost for His Highest- June 17

She took quotes from Oswald Chamber- I actually jotted them down and talked about them with hubby in the evening.

She also said in her blog- which I thought was so elegantly put - "I often by choice find myself a bystander... observing and relishing in my children."

Hello to- those that can't read my blog!

Anyone out there with a MAC that can see my blog? I am thinking about changing the back ground- do you think that will help? Hmmm. I use Safari as my web browser but I am thinking about changing over to Firefox. Firefox works when I want to visit Lea's blog!

The funniest comment was left bu Tonggu Momma with my last post "Blog Problems" ! My hubby was LOL!! 

Dragon Boat Festival

Hubby and I took the girls to the dragon boat festival today. It was a beautiful day- 78 and sunny! We went last year with Anna but of course she didn't understand what was going on. This year it was completely different with Sarah and Anna. They truly enjoyed it! Sarah grabbed every brochure she could get her hands on! Then exclaimed "Wow, we got some good stuff!" At one point I was concerned she was buying us a new insurance policy! 

We had them write all of the girls english names in the Chinese characters! Sarah, Emma, Ellie and Anna! Just think, next year they will all be here at the dragon boat festival! Yippee Jesus!

We watched the dragon boats practice, tomorrow is the dragon boat race! We visited all the booths (got a little info on Chinese camp for when the girls are older). Ate chinese food and watched the Chinese dancers.

It was so enjoyable!! Sometimes I just can't believe these precious girls are our daughters! Thank you Jesus!

Thankful Thursday- July 9th

This is a picture of random people in China! (wink)

I know I'm a bit late for thankful thursday but I'm thinking it's okay. It's summer and the days seem to be blurring together a bit.

I'm sorry that for some by blog is unreadable- it's kind of ironic because those that I'm apologizing too can't read the apology! I am intending to have our oldest son help me out and get this fixed. The to do list is a little long right now so I'm not sure when we will get to it??

Yesterday in the mail I received a wonderful gift! The family that was their when our two daughters from China where getting their pictures taken sent us a DVD with 10 pics and a video! I have not been able to open the video but again plan to ask my techy boys to help me out. The pictures are so wonderful. I just can't believe we have these!

I am so very thankful for our kids that can help us with our technical difficulties!! I am not sure what we would do without their help!!

I am so thankful for pictures that arrived this week of our darling daughters in China!

I am thankful that Dw and Linn are home with their family!

I am thankful for LOA's that have arrived for Lori and Linn (and family)!

We had our homestudy visit with our social worker this week! I am so thankful that the process is getting going!! She said we would have a rough draft of our homestudy next week! Thank you Jesus!!

I am so thankful for having met 4 special bloggy friends! They are incredible people and I am thankful to have them in my life- even though we have distance between us- they and you are such a support! I look forward to meeting more!!

I am thankful for the blogs that I read that encourage me spiritually - if they encourage me I can only assume they are encouraging so many others!!

Thank you Jesus for this semi crazy, but fun, and encouraging bloggy world!!

Blog problems?

Something funky is happening with some of the blogs?? I don't really get it but when I hop on over to my bloggy friend Lea's blog- I cannot read it? It is an all red  patterned background with grey writing. She recently had a blog make over and everyone commented on how nice it was but I couldn't figure out why she made it so difficult to read?? 

So I asked my other blogger friend Lori to check it out and tell me what she saw. Well Lori thought I was nuts- in fact I think she spent the day wondering if we were using a few illegal substances. Her responses started with hahahahahah! I asked my semi techy son Mark about it- he didn't have a clue but then we opened up Lea's blog through firefox (instead of safari) and it was perfect! NO more all red, it was easy to read and yes Lea- your blog looks great!

The other day Sarah and David left a comment that said she could not read my blog? I'm not sure what she is seeing but she can't read the words- only the pictures show up. Does anyone have any answers? Is there anyone else out there that is having this kind of difficulty? 

Let me know if you have had this problem with other blogs?

Let me know if you can't read my blog?

And if you can- let me know what you did to solve it!

We have a TRIFECTA! Meeting bloggy friends! Part 3

Here they are!! Sally and Bryson!

We did lots of coloring, munching on food and chatting! Hubby came with me- he did a good job with the photography!

Bloggy Friends Forever!!

BFF

The happy children!! They had a great time together!!

Wow!! Three bloggy friends in one weekend (Thursday- Sunday)!! 

My third bloogy friend is Sally!! Sally is from the Sacramento area and was in town for a layover. We met at the airport and had lunch together!! She is wonderful and such a joy to be with! We chatted for two hours until is was time to prepare for their next flight. Check out her BLOG ! They could use some prayers- they are trying to decide if their son should have surgery or not? They have gotten conflicting advice from 3 doctors. It is a 

Sally and I had met before on the Great Wall- yes, you heard me right! THE GREAT WALL in China!! It was pretty cool. I was huffing and puffing my way up the stairs. My nose was practically dragging on the stone stairs when I heard someone say "Jean?" I was shocked to her my name in a voice other than my daughter Katie's. I looked up and could see the outline of a woman- she had a halo of sunshine around her head. Low and behold, it was Sally!! We had been in contact before traveling to China- thinking that we may travel around the same time. Both of us went sight seeing in Beijing and then onto our separate Provinces. It was just by chance we ran into each other in the Great Wall! We met up again in Guangzhou with our new children in toe!

We have continued to keep in contact thru e-mails, blogs and yahoo groups! Even a few telephone calls! My hubby really enjoyed the visit, too. We are hoping for a repeat that will include Sally's hubby, Robert!

Thank you Jesus for such wonderful bloggy friends! 

Meeting our bloggy friends! Part 2

Oh boy, this is fun- what an incredible weekend!!

So here we are with a pre-planned trip to Iowa City and then I hear that one of my christian mentors and adoption loving bloggy friend is also in Iowa City... of all places to be- sweet Linny herself was there!! As it was originally planned we would have just missed each other- bummer, I contemplated going earlier but logistically is just wasn't going to work out. Lots of moving parts with this family and we just could not get the new plan to fit (hubby had to work, we needed a doggy sitter, etc). 

Their son Isaiah had his surgery - it went well PTL! They were set to go home at noon- we would be arriving at 4:00. Our daughter Katie went over to meet them and wish Isaiah well. It was a fun meeting for her- she wasn't quite sure of what she was doing- after all she was sent to meet a bloggy friend that even I (her mom) had never met. She was a bit skeptical but the minute they saw each other they recognized each other from the blogs- instant friendship! Dw and Linn were so, so friendly- Katie was comfortable right away. She called me right after the meeting and said "Mom, they are so, so nice! " Dw was warm, funny and friendly! Linn was warm, chatty and fun to talk too. When she realized that this was the family that she almost went with on the mission trip,  she wishes now she would have gone!

When Wednesday morning arrived things had changed for our friends in Iowa City- Dw was feeling quite ill and was getting dehydrated. The rest of the story is their story so hop on over to their BLOG !  

Our family arrived in late Thursday afternoon. I had been in touch with Linn so it looked like we were going to meet. It certainly was not the best time for her - with Isaiah just 36 hours post op and Dw not feeling well and in the hospital. We stopped by where they were staying- I recognized her right away- this blog thing is wonderful! She looks just like her pictures!! She is adorable, warm, kind, chatty, genuine, I could go on and on!! Of course I was ready to hug those sweet kids of hers but they didn't really know who I was so I had to hold back.

Liberty and Sarah connected right away. I could tell Isaiah liked Sarah but he was a still bit uncomfortable with just having surgery, so he was a little shy.

We visited Dw- oh my- he was wonderful and here he is in the hospital and uncomfortable. He gave us the best 5-10 minutes he could muster up!! Way to go buddy and thank you!! He is as cool in person as he is on the blog!!

Those of us who weren't in the hospital had dinner together and visited. It was enjoyable to get to know this sweet, kind lady!

While we were there they got a diagnosis and it was truly a "thank you Jesus" diagnosis! Let me rephrase that- he will feel rotten for a long time but it is better than the alternative- Thank you Jesus, again! Driving down we really didn't know what was happening- I wanted to come and make it all better- maybe sport a pair of wings or a cape! But, that is not reality and I had nothing that I could personally do to make this wonderful guy miraculously better (except prayer, of course!). The good news is - God does!! It was pretty cool cause I think a ton of people were praying and little by little the possible diagnosis were getting better and better!

I was able to see Linn again the next day. It was wonderful- we had a great conversation and prayed together! God is so kind- it meant so much to just pray together!

My hubby is amazed at the people I have met through the blogs. He said "Now I know what you are doing when you are on the computer talking to bloggy friends- your just talking to nice people!" He is totally impressed with you all!!

There is a part 3 to this series so stay tuned!!

Mayday, Mayday!

We interrupt our bloggy friend series for a special announcement!

Here is a little glimpse of our 4th of July! It started out wonderful! We picnicked in the boat!

Auntie Barbie came with us! She was sitting at the bow of the boat. Daddy Jim said "Brace yourselves, we are going to hit some waves!" It seemed to happen in slow motion- kind of a going, going gone type of thing! I wish I would have got it on video! Barbie ended up on the floor of the boat! We all had a good chuckle! She is a good sport and was laughing with us!

We stopped the boat so we could all eat lunch! It is so much fun having lunch on the boat! After about 20 minutes we decided to get going again... wrong... the boat wouldn't start... bummer!

As we were sitting there trying to get the boat started and trying to figure out what we should do we notice bad weather heading our way! We ended up calling the marina and asking for help!

Here comes our rescuer! Praise the Lord! He was a handsome young man! So fitting!!

The children hid in the bathroom area to stay out of the rain!

We heard lots of thunder. It was a bit scary but the kids stayed safe and dry in there!

Auntie Barbie can't swim so we decided to put a life jacket on her... it didn't quite fit... sorry Barbie!

Superman left after getting our boat started! We were sorry to see him go! Did I tell you he was very handsome! Thank you superman!

Now here is the real hero that drove us safely home through the wind and rain!

He was amazed at what I would do for a journalistic photo opt!

Does anyone else want to join us next year for the 4th of July? We are thinking Auntie Barbie may opt out! ;-)

Notice the rain on the glasses! I tried to stay dry- it didn't work!

Hubby says "If we didn't have bad luck we'd have no luck at all!"

I think he is so funny!

It's not looking good. Kids are still tucked away in the little potty area.

They met us at the dock and helped us in the slip! They know we are just plain old bad at parking this thing!

We arrived safe and sound, adult wet, kids dry- ready to call it a day and then we see blue sky... I give up!

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July! We are home barbecuing steaks!! Yippee!

Please see my previous post- it is part of a series!! Bless you!

Meeting our bloggy friends! Part 1

Gracie, Selah, Anna and Sarah!

The Moms!

Sarah was very impressed at how good Selah was on the monkey bars! Sarah can now do 3 at a time!!

When Selah came home she did not have upper body strength either. She has developed it since she has been home!

The first family we met were the Opp Family! I met Gayle through our "Journey to Me" journals. She is an awesome Jesus loving, adoption loving mom!! Her hubby Curtis was there too- he is wonderful and our hubbies enjoyed chatting! They have 3 bio kids and have adopted 2 daughters from China. Gracie was first- she is now 2 years old and she is adorable! Gracie has already had a few serious heart surgeries so keep her in you prayers- there will be more surgeries in her future. Their second adoption was Selah- she came home at 7 yrs old about 5 months before our Sarah. They have a beautiful family so please check out their BLOG ! Gayle is a beautiful writer!!

We met at a park- and they are the nicest people! It is so great to connect especially when we have so much in common! The older child adoption issue is an instant bond!! Their 10 yr old daughter Brueklyn was there too, but now I realize I didn't get her in any of my pics- bummer. Their boys had made other plans and couldn't make it.

Happy 4th of July !!