laughter really is the best medicine

 

This has got to be one of the easiest going kids I've ever seen. You want a smile, you got it.

maybe he's just taking it easy on an old man but (so far ) this has been way easier than I ever could have hoped.

Or maybe it's just all you guys praying for us. (KEEP IT UP!!)

Either way, some of you asked if we had seen a smile yet. Well here you go.

 

 

 

I mentioned how some of the kids were struggling and to some degree they still are but I am happy to report that you can see them making leaps and bounds with their new families. I am amazed at the patience I see in some of these parents.

I  believe God puts the right families together. You can say it is random if you choose. We all get choices in what we believe.

But, I  believe He has a plan for each of us

and it is good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVCrRpuTkKM

sorry, I've been using the wrong camera for video and will try to improve the quality in the future but this one should still make you smile

It was the best of times, It was the worst of times

It was a great day for us. Luke acts (at least for now) like a perfect angel. I can't find a single complaint with him.
He eats, sleeps and just hangs out and enjoys the view.
At least until the lights go out. :)
Last night when the lights went out, for the first time he cried and cried. I told Andrew if he kept it up I would have to spank him. Andrew believed me and begged me not to. :)
While we laid there waiting for him to calm down I realized Andrew was crying. It really bothered him that we wouldn't pick him up.
I can't tell you guys how attached he is to Luke already.
As far as crying in the dark. I don't think it's the dark he doesn't like. I think he is afraid he will wake up tomorrow
and everything will be back as it was. No brother, No sisters, and worst of all that beautiful lady that he has already become so
attached to won't be there any more. His eyes follow her around the room and when we get in his face to play he is always looking through us
and around us to find her. I actually don't say any of that lightly, He really acts like he wants to be with us. but Mom most of all.

That being said, you will hear kids in the background crying and it actually tunes up after we stop filming.
Even though it was a great day for us, you have to understand it was a hard day for a lot of the kids.Especially the older ones.
   We met a great couple from Lexington Here to adopt a 6 year old boy. They were so excited to meet him and so was his new 15 year old sister.
But he was scared and cried and cried. Wouldn't you be? all the world he had ever known was changing.
Then there was a 3 year old, Completely blind. can you imagine the fear there?
Fear of the unknown. We all have it, But rarely have to face it.
The closest thing I can think of to compare it to is death.
I bet God laughs at how we fear it and strive against it.
Knowing the whole time the place we are going is so much better if we are prepared. But we hang on literally for dear life.
 
  Anyway, not meaning to get preachy. It just gives me such a different perspective than I am used to.
   Bottom line, He may not understand that he is stuck with us yet but we are glad he is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMw7mG7zNvA


still bad internet...I'll post what I can

A picture is worth a thousand words

 

Oh my goodness there is so much to say but my access is so limited. I have been trying for hours to post with no luck.
I seem to have a small window so instead of explaining a lot I am trying to give you a few shots from the day. I know you
would rather see them than read my rambling anyway.
I will try to fill you in as I can but I will tell you that Elizabeth is enjoying it but seems more in shock ,
 Hannah is jealous of/for her daddy, no doubt. Pray for her but we are all great!!
and lastly, Andrew is the proudest big brother I have ever seen....I am not sure he isn't enjoying this day more than any of us. And that is saying a lot!

 

 

I feel like Chicken tonight :)

Hey guys, we are having major fits with internet here which is bad because we are a little over 12 hours from getting Luke and all this other stuff has just been practice and filler. We

 know you are just tuning in waiting for the main show.

 

 

 

 

 

We Arrived safely again and are settling into our new quarters for the next week.

We made a run to the local Walmart and so I thought you might like to see a few of the differences in here and there.

You probably saw the fish in the first Photo, that I get but these big frogs, what do you do with them?

 

 

This is apparently the next stop for any fish that die in the aquariums.

Put it on Ice and still call it fresh

 

There's a KFC down the street but who needs it when you have the local foul available.

The ramp takes you off the street and up to the Walmart.

Checking out. We waited in line forever and then found out we didn't have the bananas weighed up before coming up front so I said skip them. Holly insisted she wasn't leaving without bananas. Any guesses as to what we did next?  

 Exactly   :)

 

 

We are Meeting a lot of nice people that are here for the same purpose as us. Its pretty cool the connections you make and we still keep in touch with some of the couples we journeyed with back in 2011.

We even met 2 other couples from Ky.

Also, have met a few people that are adopting older kids. One 6 and the other 9. I can't wait to watch those kids with their new families. Super cool stuff since they are old enough to understand what is going on.

 

Anyway, Be patient with us. hope to get all the bugs worked out here in the next day or so.

We are excited but tired.

Remember if it's 12 there it's 12 here just the opposite side of the clock.

Or maybe it's 13 hours difference, either way we are trying to adjust.

we are all still waking around 4 and then having trouble getting through the day.

 

Well, enough practice for tonight. Tomorrow we try the real thing.

Love yall and thanks for keeping us in your prayers

   

The Great Wall,,,,,been there done that, got a t-shirt

Today was our day to visit the great wall.

It was overcast which kept it cooler for us but this was a different section of the wall than we did in 2011.

Much much steeper.

                                                               Actually the picture above is of the other side,,

not as steep and the side we should have taken this time :)

                  There were parts I was even afraid for the kids to be on but we all made it safe. After the wall we went to the Jade factory had a nice lunch and went to an acrobat show but we were talking to a few of the other couples that are also adopting and we all agreed, "lets get this moving and go see our kids" After all that is the reason we are here. The wait has been long enough.
  But we will have Luke the rest of our lives and I suppose there is a good chance this is the last time we will see the great wall in person. So we try to keep our mind in the present and enjoy the wonders of this incredible country...

I wish I could have gotten a few pictures of the wonderful Chinese people that came up to Hannah. Amazingly enough they love it when they see kids that they know were adopted. They couldn't speak English but it was sweet to see them hug her and tell her how special she was in their reassuring voices. I couldn't understand their language but you pick up on a lot when you watch them point at you and smile then roughly say "where mommy."

 

 Anyway, this is our last night in Beijing. Up early and catch a plane to get Luke......
                                 That's what we've all been waiting for ,,,Right???

                                      The journey is almost over,,,2 days and counting :)

Snack street

I took a quick walk down "snack street" (while I waited on a pizza from Pizza hut :)to give you guys a little look at the culture. But I still say without the smells it means nothing 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaeyE1FR2dM

                                              Got a few shots at Tienamen Square

The entrance to the Forbidden City

                                                            The Forbidden City

Rickshaw ride with my girls :)

                 Some of the yummy (stinky) food we saw on the street of downtown Beijing

                                               Mcdonalds, but not exactly a golden arch

Rip van winkle

We meant to post more but when we got in from the forbidden city we all promptly fell asleep and took a 3 hour nap... We may regret that later.
We took a short rickshaw ride. Enjoy that while we eat supper then I will try to update some more..

https://youtu.be/bG4Jye9Cgqw

trouble in Paradise

Well, we made it safe so there is no real trouble, but we are really struggling to communicate right now. Not even sure you guys will see this.
We have all had a good nights rest (relatively speaking) and are getting ready for whatever adventures this day brings.
Hotel is nice but for a family of 5 soon to be 6 its kind of small. The beds are twin beds so Hollys suggestion of getting 2 rooms would probably have been smart but we are gonna give it a try and see if we can make it.
Hopefully tonight we can start trying to post some pictures.....Not trying to hard right now because again I don't even know if this is gonna work...
Love u guys

Back in time

I talked to a friend today and our conversation took me back.
Back to before we took our first step on our first journey.
Back to when Holly and I first started talking adoption. Back when it was a casual conversation that we might do "someday".

And then she showed me the picture. The sweetest little girl and for the first time I said "that's my daughter".
I remember it so clearly, I even said it out loud. I could finally see myself as a dad. Now, how do we get her? We hit the phones hard, and what there was of  dial up internet.
A man named mose----sent us her video and I was in love.
It's a God thing, it has to be. When/how can I get her? That's consumed all my mind and all my time.

But after much investigation we found out it was a scam.
 I was crushed.
 It was the first time We would cry during the adoption process.

 Now, looking back I can see "the hand that guided us" on our journey. But in that moment I was done, done with the whole mess. I thought it was "A  God thing" and instead it broke my heart.
Of course those of you that know us and have followed as we built our family know it wasn't the end of our journey but instead the beginning.

But even now on the eve of our Journey to get Luke. I think of that little girl. I wonder where she is, is she happy? Is she healthy? Is she loved?
Sometimes in those few quite moments in my life I pray for her. Trusting my Father, (the giver of all good things) and knowing she is/was carefully placed in his plan.

In the end, it was a "God thing" for if our hearts had never been broken there never would have been an opening For Andrew , Elizabeth, Hannah, or even our newest, Luke.
God just needed to see we were willing, He already had my kids picked out. I just didn't know It yet.


   

The cattle on 1000 hills

Dear Luke,
Sorry we missed your first birthday this week. It was kind of tough but we know we get to see you soon so we try to stay positive and focus on that.
While u wait for us, let me tell u a little about the family that you are becoming part of and also let me tell you a story about yourself.
First, your big brother Andrew.
His name means strong and let me tell u he is. But he's a pretty loving guy too. Loves to kiss on his sister and try to steal hugs from her. He's the guy you will look up to and the guy to teach you stuff like basketball since your dad is going to be a little too old for stuff like that.
Then there's Elizabeth, probably the most talented in our family. She loves to sew and play music. She's smart as a whip and pretty as they come. She pretends she doesn't like hugs and stuff like that. I'm counting on you to break her from that.
Last of your siblings is Hannah, we call her Hannah ru but her name is actually Hannah joy and that pretty much describes her to me. She's always happy and she always makes me happy. She says she's the "big sister " now and she plans to take good care of you.
You really are lucking out with your mom. I have a pretty good birds eye view of the family and I can tell you she is the center of  the wheel.
Everything turns around her and without her nothing gets done.
She loves you with her whole heart already and I have no doubt you will love her and for good reason.
Now , about your dad.
I could probably tell you about him best by telling a story about you.
Let me start the day we first found out u were ours.
You were 14 months old and the news they gave us on your health wasn't good to say the least. On top of your cleft lip and palate u couldn't walk. As a matter of fact you couldn't even set up by yourself. The videos we saw of you made you look weak and grumpy but of course you aren't with us yet so you have a right to be grumpy I guess .
You needed surgery right away and they were telling us it would be at least 6 months before we could go and get you.
For one of the first times in his life, your dad freaked out.
He had a son 10,000 miles away that needed him and there was nothing he could do.
God had always supplied the money for the process of getting you. He owns the cattle on 1000 hills after all.

But money wasn't going to fix this problem. I reached out to all the prayer warriors that I knew to ask for help I had never done that before in my life.
I wasn't even sure what to ask people to pray for . I just knew we needed help. I couldn't find peace and I couldn't help you from here.
But my God heard and answered in an unusual way.
We got a call from ccai ( the agency that helped us adopt u) with an apology. Apparently they had been given the wrong date for your birthday . You weren't born January 7 as we had been told . June 10 was more like the right day. That made you 9 months old not 14. A miracle no doubt . They told us that never happened before and they couldn't figure out what had happened.
On top of that we could expect to travel in a month or 2 to get you. Another miracle!
I can't say you are healed yet, but your dad's faith is. He is weak and worrisome but through you his faith has grown.
You remember those cattle on 1000 hills I told u my God owns?
I forgot to mention he owns the hills too.