LOA or adoption update

Finally, we had one thing in this adoption go quickly - we received our LOA in only 41 days ! That is the document from China that says they have reviewed every detail of our lives and they have determined that we are qualified to parent Rosemary ShiSong and Dominic LuMin. Yipee! Now we just have 4 more steps with US immigration and 1 more step with China and we will be on our way. It is even possible that we would travel in July, which would be exquisitely perfect timing, since Camila would be visiting from the Netherlands, and could stay and watch Andy , Nellie and Ariel while we are gone. That would clearly mean that all the whining and complaining I did all the way through this adoption about it taking so long was a faithless lack of understanding that God was in perfect control all along. Wonder if I'll be able to remember this the next time things don't seem to be going as I wish?

The two little girls in the middle of the picture making the victory sign are Mary Kate Baker and Rosemary Wright. The have grown up together , first in the orphanage and then as neighbors in fostercare. When MK left with her adoptive family, they expected to never see each other again. However, by Divine Coincidence MK's mother and I met online shortly before she went to get MK this past January. Last Friday, I had lunch with MK and her mom, Karen, in Atlanta. I learned a little more about Rosie (MK says her eyesight is bad and she walks like a dog ..lol ...no idea what that might mean ) These two girls are joining remarkably similar families (both as homeschooled 13th children !). We are all excited about getting together somewhere (perhaps the Creation Science museum) after Rosie and Dominic come home. Mary Kate has written a very sweet note for me to take to Rosie when we get her which I hope will make Rosie a little less nervous about leaving everything she has ever known.

While we do not even know if Rosie will be told before we get there that she is going to be adopted (every orphanage handles this as they choose), we know that Dominic knows because our friend Cheryl told him! And we even got to talk to him briefly on Skype ! Although, I think he was somewhat shocked, he said he was not afraid and that he thought it would be a good thing. Please pray for LuLiang, D's older friend, who we also tried, unsuccessfully, to bring home. Cheryl had to tell him too and he was Very disappointed. Pray also that Dominic is safe from anything rooted in jealousy.

Fishing

Ariel and Ethan have taken up a new sport this spring - fishing! However, while they have both been Naturals at every other sport they have attempted, this one has been a little harder for them to master. In fact, after many hours of effort they had not manage to land even one fish here in NC. So when they heard there was a lake in the backyard of the house we rented for Disney they were excited. Their enthusiasm spread to the siblings and everyone had lots of fun reeling them in. Don't let this first picture of Ethan's catch fool you - even though Ariel did catch several fish, as you can see in #3 she was never willing to touch one!
The whole experience was made even more exciting because of the little guy swimming toward Everett in picture 2. It was my first sighting of an alligator in the wild. It was not to be my last. The lakes in the neighborhood where our house was were filled with them. Maybe that's why we never saw any kids outside playing. Or maybe it's like bears here in the mountains - you know they are there but they don't stop you from hiking anywhere.

As you can see, Ryan had a fine catch but Jay caught the grandaddy of them all !

May I brag a little?

Katrina was our first "baby of the family". By this I don't mean the first baby, because there were three before her. I mean the youngest child , who is adored by everyone and hence is used to being the center of attention and usually quite charming. Katrina was always adorable and fit that role perfectly. We did ,subsequently, have other "babies of the family". (You might notice that Everett fits this description pretty well ,too.)
What we did not realize until she was grown was that under all that cute was Determination with a capital D. Looking back at old videos of our family it is very obvious, but somehow with 9 children we didn't notice. So while we shouldn't be at all surprised at her academic success, it is in fact, a sort of serendipity.
Last month we visited UNC Chapel Hill for her White Coat Ceremony. That is when third year pharmacy students are presented their white jacket. Next year she will move closer to home to do rotations in the Asheville area before she graduates. We will be so glad to be able to see her more often! We love you Katrina!

My daughter, Ariel, is an athlete. Since we live in an area where the only access homeschoolers have to play sports is in public school, I actually encouraged her (sorry Ryan) to go to high school. She began going only part time with the understanding that there would be certain activities that other students participated in that she would not. It has been for the most part a very good experience. She has had caring teachers and made good friends. She has excelled athletically, especially in basketball, her first love.



Tonight my little homeschooled girl became Miss Franklin High School ! After all those years of people questioning if homeschoolers can 'fit in' with their peers it is nice to be able to say, "of course !" Okay, I will admit that there were alot of things Ariel did not know about when she first started school. Someone asked her recently if she tried to 'be popular' (as if she knew what that was). She responded, "I didn't even know what the bells were for." lol

Adoption Update

Our adoption paperwork has finally gone to China. I should be very excited about this, but I just keep thinking that it has taken about twice as long as I expected and 3 times as long as I have seen our agency do it for other families.
While I had a break from the theater, I finished Dominic's room (even put down the carpet myself) and gathered the ingredients for Rosie's and Nellie's. Theirs will actually be two rooms - one for sleeping and one for girl play. The playroom downstairs is pretty filled with trucks and other boy toys, so I think they need their own space. Since Dominic's room is upstairs, I fully expect that he will prefer to sleep with Ric and Andy so we have rearranged their room to accomodate that. My current project is to get packages together to send to D and R. Each will get a photo album (so that they can be a little familiar with their new world before they get here), as well as a camera to take pictures of their friends, and a few small toys.

Chinese New Year / Valentines Day

According to the Chinese calendar, this is the year of the tiger, but Ric and Andy needed parents for Beary and Brown Bear so we added bears to their menangerie. Ethan not only gave Ariel her first flowers from a boy besides Ric, but also the grandaddy of all bears.
We celebrated CNY at Ric's parent's restaurant. There was tons of food and lots of chicken feet left over, if anyone wants to know where they can get some. They plan to close the restaurant next week - business has been really bad this year - and we are going to miss all the wonderful food terribly !

Snowy Days

This year we have had wonderful snowfalls ! It has been Many years since we have had so much and we enjoy every flake. Yesterday's snow was fat, fluffy, very wet snow - the best kind. Unexpected things sometimes happen on snowy days, which is one of the things that make them so exciting. Last night our power went out and didn't come back on until about noon today - just the right amount of time so that we could enjoy candlelight and fireplace. It also helped the kids to understand what it means that Jerry is 'gone to help people get their power back on'. He is gone often for that, but because we live in town we haven't had that experience in their memory. It was funny when they would say that since we didn't have lights in the living room they would just turn on their bedroom light.
Today, since the power is still out at their house, we had the fun of a visit from Jay and Amber. For Christmas, I bought the little kids some wooden toys to paint. Ariel and Ethan helped Ric paint his trucks: Amber helped Andy paint his trucks ; and Jay helped Nellie paint her doll bed. Everyone had lots of fun, in spite of a little whining from guess who.