A Miracle for Mei Mei

If anyone still checks in with this blog, please look at my friend Jan's blog, http://www.lillymakesfive.blogspot.com/. Jan brought home their daughter, Leiney Grace, three months ago. And while Leiney Grace is thriving and loving her new family, she did leave behind a special little friend who she calls Mei Mei (little sister in Chinese). Mei Mei doesn't have the best looking medical file. She has spina bifida. Her feet are also deformed. She has never had surgery to correct them, so she has carries her weight on these poor little feet. They are sad to look at. But one thing you can't miss about Mei Mei is her beautiful smile. When it was time for Leiney Grace to leave the orphanage to meet her family, Mei Mei held back her tears and told Leiney Grace "Go with your Mama and Baba".  I think it's time for Mei Mei to meet her Mama and Baba too. Jan and her friend Jennifer have decided to begin fundraising for Mei Mei. They don't know who her family will be, but their goal is to raise the funds for Mei Mei's adoption. Please check out "Moms on a Mission". Every little life is equally important. It's very easy to forget they exist while we hurry through our busy days. While everyone doesn't feel the call to adopt, everyone can help in some way to give a child a family.
Proverbs11:25  A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Luke 6:38   Give, and it will be given to you...

Last Call For Luke

This may be long. I have been thinking about what to say on this blog since it be will used one more time! Not that it ever gets read! My words are never as eloquent as I would like for them to be or express how my heart really feels. And I have sooo much that I would like to say about how I feel and how we feel and why in the world we are doing this again??!!?? Being placed in the "crazy" category was never really a life goal of mine but neither was having seven children. But things change. And lives..and hearts..and even goals. And I am so happy that they do. See, when we started Cate's adoption, it was pretty much still about us. Cate was a cute little girl with a very manageable special need. But our family began to change a little. We began to have this overwhelming feeling that we should be doing more. That we are here to do a little more. We felt like we have been blessed with so much, and we knew that we had the room in our home and hearts for another child. And then another. And another. I know that some people just can't imagine. Because they tell me. And I understand that too. Because children can be hard and time consuming and expensive. But when they say that God does not call the equipped, He equips those He calls, they were not even kidding. I remember sitting at my computer in China when we were there with Cai. Her special need was feeling quite overwhelming and we were actually surprised with a need that we were unaware of. Greg was here at home and I remember wondering how in the world were we going to do this? But we were given a peace that surpasses all understanding. We have seen answered prayers and healing and a love and peace that only comes from Him. It has had absolutely nothing to do with us. So, the newest member of our family is a beautiful little boy who we have named Luke. He is in an orphanage in the same province that Cai is from, but his orphanage is about six hours away. I promise to post his picture here soon. We would love your prayers for Luke and for our family as we travel this road one last time.

Wrapping Up Summer

The "snake handler" in the family. This is actually kinda funny. I was walking down our inside stairs one morning and saw something above our front door (on the outside). My first thought was that it sorta looked like, well, poop, and then it dawned on me that nothing could actually get to the top of a door to poop. That's when I saw it move and realized that it was a snake head. Not even kidding. So, I SCREAMED for the snake handler who was more than happy to come deal with a snake. As I'm watching from inside, along with the rest of our non snake handling children, I scream and say something like, Oh my goodness, I thought he was picking it up by the head. And my youngest son said no, he wasn't, but now he is.

We celebrated my Mom's 60th Birthday in August and picked her up in a limo to take her out to eat. The rest of our family met us at the restaurant. She was so surprised and it was lots of fun!

Cai had been asking me for pigtails, so one morning I pulled up every little tiny piece of hair that I could and put them into two little, tiny pigtails. We did this for two days and she insisted that I get a picture of her- both days. As it turns out, I'm glad I did because Cate cut her hair on the following day and it's going to be a while before we have anything to put in a pigtail again. I won't go into any details about the haircut except to say that Cai now has bangs and it made me want to say a bad word and I don't say bad words and I didn't, but I really wanted to. And Cate was not on my happy list that day!

We Are Alive And Well ( OK, sometimes it depends on the day!)

I'm very sorry for the absence. But, I really didn't think anyone read this blog except when we are in China!! Let me fill you in on Kelly. She is doing great and has adjusted beautifully. She has gotten her ears pierced, learned to ride a bike, gotten braces, learned to swim, enjoyed a week of horse riding camp and has gotten contacts (her request)- all in four months! We have spent two weeks at the beach this summer and have been in our boat- she loved it all! Kelly is such a sweet girl. She is very easy going and seems to enjoy almost everything. Her favorite food is hamburgers, and will try almost anything.

The language barrier has been difficult but manageable. Adopting an older child has been an experience that is hard for me to put into words. It is just so hard on so many different levels. Bonding is harder when you can't communicate. Also, 14 is an age, anyway, where children still need you but want to be independent too. The culture change is tough. For everyone. There have been so many things I want to explain to Kelly that is so hard. We do so much so differently. Kelly loves China and misses China. She lived with a loving foster family and was very loved by the people from her orphanage. She had lots of friends there. Sometimes it feels like she doesn't want to let go of her language and ways in order to learn a new way.

It has also been wonderful and amazing. We realize how blessed we are to have this beautiful, sweet girl home with our family. She truly has a kind and loving heart. I don't think she even knows how to be unkind. That is a treasure! We know that she will do great things!!

Last post from China

We couldn't leave without a picture of our favorite, non English speaking, friendly, and very patient waiter!

I can't believe I just said that! We won't actually be leaving until tomorrow night but we will be checking out of our hotel after lunch. If you think about it, please pray for our trip home. We have really been looking forward to the day that we see the rest of our family and become a family again. We have had two wonderful weeks in China. I have been so blessed to have Greg here for one week and Kristi for the other. Kelly is an amazing girl and we are so thankful that God placed her with our family. I can't explain it but China has felt very natural this trip. The first trip was just hard, everything was new- the foods, the smells, everything. With Cai, I think we navigated a little easier and tried to appreciate the differences a little more. This time, we actually embraced China- the foods, the people, the culture, some of the smells but definitely not all! We braved the streets, the restaurants and the language and really, really enjoyed it. I have really come to love the country where three of our daughters were born.

Safari Park

Today we visited the Safari Park and it was a lot of fun. We went there with two other families. Sophie has completely fallen in love with their little boys that they are here adopting and is begging to come back ONE more time for a little boy. Ask you father, honey. JK Greg. They are both around 3 years old and are the most beautiful little boys we have ever seen! We have enjoyed spending time with their families here. Our favorite part of the day was the elephant ride- we all rode! The pandas were a big hit with Sophie. We also took a train ride through the park and the animals came very close. I think Kelly really enjoyed the day too. She is such a good sport and very easy going. I asked her if she wanted to ride an elephant and without blinking she said sure! This afternoon, much to Sophie and Pressley's dismay, we came back to the hotel for schoolwork. In the morning, Kelly and I will go to our Consulate Appointment at the Embassy. This will be our last bit of paperwork and are praying that everything is OK. Then, Connie will pick up Kelly's visa Thursday morning. And we will be ready to leave. We are so excited to get back home to everyone.

Making it through the days

That's what we're doing at this point! I don't have many new pictures because I just didn't pull out my camera much today. Our days are pretty routine- wake up, breakfast, walk around in and out of the shops on Shamian Island, movies and schoolwork in the hotel room, and then dinner! We did ask our guide, Connie, to take us to the electronics market today. One, Rion wants a laser and two, we need a diversion each day. The kids are starting to get too wild if we're in the hotel room too long. Kelly is doing great. Today she was in the other room and I called her name and asked her what she was doing and she answered "Reading a book." I was so excited that she understood what I was asking and was able to answer. She fits in with our family so well. I will have to say, though, she isn't much help when I could use her help translating something! We went to the Chinese restaurant tonight and had a tough time ordering- no one spoke English. At all. And what was written in English on the menu were things like pork stomach, bacteria encrusted frogfish, livers and intestines... and the table next to us still had their chicken head attached to the rest of their chicken. I ended up calling our guide and just gave our poor waiter the telephone- what we got was delicious. But I was thinking it would have been nice if Kelly could have helped me! Sometimes I think it embarrasses her at our cluelessness, but other times it almost seems like she wants to fit in so bad with her dumb, clueless family and maybe that's why she isn't helping. Who knows. Either way, she couldn't be any sweeter of a girl!