Little Red Riding Hood comes to life...

Well all I can say is God was really watching over James the other day. James was out in the front yard with the girls and was looking at the dog next door (who incidently looks kinda like a wolf). James said to the dog "My what big eyes you have" and the wolf attacked. Well thankfully the owner was out and she got him right away. But James had teeth marks all over his arm and a hole in his shirt where the paw must have got him. We were so shook up and all I could keep thinking was what could have happened if the owner was not there. I can't believe the dog did it, and we have never experienced it with any of our kids, you just never know with dogs. Claire thought maybe the dog thought James was making fun of him...I told Claire dogs don't really understand english or fairy tales! I held James for a long time and he just shook, I guess the girls dreams of getting a dog just came to a halt. Maybe we'll get a fish instead.

James has finally gotten to meet his grandparents from Arizona. He just loves his grandma and grandpa. They stayed with us so he had a lot of quality time, taking walks and playing. Their visit was cut short though with some hard news from Arizona. Mike's sister Donna who has been sick for a while was diagnosed with a rare cancer the other day. We have been praying for answers, but this was such a shock and hard answer. Mike's parents flew out to Arizona right away and Mike is now driving their car out to AZ and going to see Donna. Ali is going with her dad, she suggested it and both Mike and I thought it would be good for him to have someone with him for the long trip. Please pray for Donna that the treatment the doctors go with would be successful and she would be healed. I am on this journey already-believing God that all things are possible and God is in control and is working good. Thanks for praying.

Six Months Ago

James six months ago right after we met him in the orphanage
James fishing for the first time so proud of his catch!

Are you kidding me can it really be only six month ago that we were united with this sweet little boy? Our lives and the life of our little boy we met on the other side of the world were changed forever on that day. As Mike said the other day it seems like James has always been with us. That really is how God works and I have heard it so many times before. When we filled out the paper work for our request to adopt a child I wanted God to be completely in control of this in all ways. We chose boy or girl and prayed over what special needs we thought we could handle. We checked off quite a few special needs and I felt in my heart it would be a boy and he would have a heart defect. I love how God prepares you in these ways! Well we absolutely fell in love and even as we tried to decipher the medical report with pages of cardiac things we didn't quite understand, we walked in faith. I remember Mike saying that "complex cardiopathy" was a scary term and fully agreeing with him. I remember the day when we were confirming we would accept this boy that there were questions about insurance covering these special needs. What a scary day it was with the thought of not being able to adopt him and we only knew him for 48 hours- but wow had God molded our hearts to him. God specifically used that to confirm this was our boy. In a way the fear was a place I just couldn't go, even though it always has been kind of a part of who I am. God helped me to walk in faith about his medical needs because we firmly believed this was our boy! I remember the one doctor saying "we really won't know until we get him here, isn't that what faith is about..." how did this doctor at our practice who I really didn't even know say that (I mean that was directly from God)!

When I look back at some of these pictures and videos of when we first met him it makes me sad to think of how scared he actually must have been. I mean he didn't know us at all! We have missed the first three years of his life, but we have our boy now. I look at the way he has just thrived and bloomed and it brings us all such joy. We are overflowing with love for him and he has accepted our love and freely gives love back. I cannot believe how much we have been blessed by God in all of this. The opportunity to parent this beautiful boy is a privilege. We are so thankful for the joy and laughter he has brought into our home. Every financial need was met in ways we were blown away by. We kept our eyes off the cost of this and on God that had guided us to this journey. We wavered on taking the kids to China because of the huge expense, but we are incredibly thankful we did and the debt is gone. Only our God could provide Mike with a bonus in this economy! We will be forever thanking God for the gift of James He has given our family!

Celebrating Ali!

This month our oldest daughter Ali turned sixteen. I can hardly believe that I have a sixteen year old...(and a three year old!) We are so proud of our Ali and I wanted to take time to brag on her and celebrate her this month. Ali is actually in New York right now with the high school economics team competing in Euro Challenge after they won last month when they competed in Chicago.

I remember the day Ali was born like it was yesterday. Ali tried to arrive early like all my kids, and thankfully just missed April fools day, actually she has a great sense of humor so it wouldn't have surprised me! I went into preterm labor which they stopped and we proceeded to go on bed rest for at least a few months. I had an unusual situation and ended up going into labor about five weeks early. Ali was ready though and did great. As a young child she loved to read and draw, and later developed a love for writing. She is a wonderful writer and I know God will continue to use that gift in her life. I have so enjoyed her writing and she has such a way with words it really amazes me.

Ali has done more and gone more places in her sixteen years of life than many people! I love her selfless heart in wanting to serve God and be like Jesus. She has a heart for the needy and her life has truly been changed on her mission trips to Mexico and Trinidad, and her recent trip with us to China. She had some wonderful opportunities with some people who live with very little. She also had the chance to see that many of these people were actually quite happy living with less. She witnessed some real poverty and worked in some of the poorest areas in Mexico. I think her favorite time was visiting the special needs orphanage in Trinidad. I think she has learned a lot of life lessons on these trips, certainly a new dependence on God. I know she will never forget these trips and is so fortunate to have had these opportunities.

Ali has a sweet and quiet spirit and she is a thinker. She has a peace and gentleness about her that is an example to the louder people in our house(probably all of us)! She also serves as a small group leader with me at church and the girls really love her. She seeks God in every decision and knows He has the perfect plan for her life. She is striving to live authentically like Christ, which certainly isn't always easy in this world. Wow how I wish when I was sixteen I had known the things she knows. She is an encourager and has been a great encourager to her mom in countless ways! I will never forget a particularly hard time in China when I was crying and Ali opening her bible and praying with me. I love looking back and seeing how Ali's faith has grown. She truly has made it her own and I love the evidence of this in her life.

Ali brings a joy to our house that I am so blessed by. We laugh a lot and laugh until we cry about many things. I love just sitting and talking to her. We share a love for iceeey cream and hand banging on the table laughs! She has a very special relationship with her brother which involves a lot of walks. James loves to walk and I love the way she pours into his little life with their walks! When he sees her, James will usually say to Ali "Ali take a walk" She gets her "aotoman shoes" (roller blades) on and off they go, and weather is not a factor! I am so thankful for my sweet Ali or as James would say Alullee!

Easter

Easter dressing like dad!
The Chocolate and candy has gotten to him!
I love this can we have baskets everyday?

Oh I can't just sit here and finish this basket of candy?

Easter was fun with all the cousins. We did not see much of James which is very unusual. He is starting to enjoy his extended family more and feel very safe to branch out. He especially had fun with his two older boy cousins Johnny and Joey. He loves getting rough with them and this is sure all new for me (boy stuff!) I am just waiting to end up in ER with the way he flies around.

The girls were insistant on James getting dressed up for Easter. When we got him in China they said he likes "comfortable clothes" and since he's been here I really haven't been able to get him in much more than sweats. Well the girls did it by telling James he could be like Baba. So they showed him the matching khaki pants and the button down shirt and that did the trick.

I don't think he was in it too long, but it is a start!

Easter Egg Hunt

James with his basket at the egg hunt
James in the red we gave him instructions to to do whatever he had to do to get the most eggs (kidding?)
James and Ali


James went to a few egg hunts and loved it. I am looking forward to when he can fully understand the true meaning of Good Friday and Easter. But I don't think he is ready yet given a recent exchange with Ali. Ali: James what did you learn at church today? James: We learned about the lions. Ali: What about the lions? James: The lions ate baby Jesus....
We are so thankful James has transitioned into going to his church class by himself. He has a lot of wonderful things to learn about the God and Savior who loves him very much!
He told me recently he loves library class and church class!

Spring Break and the Zoo

James just loved the zoo
His favorite was the gorilla!

James and the gorilla close up he was amazed!

We did not let the weather stop our spring break fun on our trips to Independence Grove!

We had a great time on James first trip to the zoo. I knew it would be pretty exciting for him because he has really loved the animals in the books we have been reading. When we explained the zoo to him he got these big eyes and could hardly wait for the day to arrive. We went to Lincoln Park Zoo and due to the colder weather, we had the place to ourselves. James had some great up close and personal interaction with the gorillas and even got to see a monkey try to come after Claire when she sneezed by the glass-that was scary!

Mommy and Bobby!

James enjoying his chinese food

James is really good with the chopsticks

We got chinese the other night and you would have thought James had not been fed for a while. He was so happy to see the food! I think either we'll have to order out more or I'll have to learn to cook better chinese food!

When James first met us we were Mama and Baba (Mandarin for mom and dad) Well just recently he started calling me mommy. It sure is the cutest thing hearing his sweet little voice saying it! Occasionally he would call me mother which I have to say sounds pretty funny coming from him. Well we all got a real kick out of it when he decided since he was calling me mommy he would change Baba appropriately to Bobby! Wow have we all had some good laughs hearing him calling for Bobby. We are just loving it, not sure if dad loves it as much but we are laughing. James and Baba are getting to be real buddies especially at the dinner table when all of us girls are laughing about something and the two boys don't think it is such a hoot!