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It’s A Small World After All
This story started not long after we got back home with Hannah. We had some photos of Hannah that were taken with the cameras we sent in her care package. In most of these photos Hannah was with 2 other girls. When we asked her about these girls, she said that they were looking for homes too. We tried to track them down with no success. Then, last week after Hannah had talked to her China mom, she told us that one of the girls was coming home to the US with her new family next Thursday. Hannah immediately ran and got a piece of paper from her bedroom that contained the girl's name and US address. We were so happy to be able to contact at least one of the trio of girls that always seemed to be together. We didn’t have much hope of tracking down the other family, however. On Monday I was reading through some of the postings on one of my China Yahoo groups. One post was from a family in China now. I clicked on the link to the family’s blog and was stunned to find the face of the third girl staring back at me. I called Hannah over to take a look and she got a huge smile on her face. That night she could not fall asleep right away, so she just kept singing "Doe a Deer" from The Sound of Music over and over again at the top of her lungs. The excitement of finding two of her friends in one week was just too much. Both families have expressed an interest in letting the girls stay in contact. We are so thankful that God could orchestrate this story in the lives of these three girls. Maybe they will keep in contact for a few months and then gradually drift apart as their lives meld with their new families. But maybe God gave these girls this special gift for a lifetime. Welcome home Kara and Lela!
(Posted: 6/30/2009)
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Our First Father's Day
OK, so I have been really lax in updating. There are quite a few things to write about and show pictures of, but I just have not gotten around to it. They can all be posted later. What finally got me motivated to post was father’s day -- our first. Jon was still in bed when Hannah got up that morning. This was pretty early for her so I asked why she was up already. She told me because it was daddy’s day. We let Jon sleep in for a while until Hannah couldn’t stand it any more. Then, she woke Jon up with kisses, snuggles and giggles. Who could ask for more? As daddy said, father’s day could have ended there. Hannah would have been incredibly disappointed, though. We started out making waffles for breakfast complete with cleanup. Then Hannah gave dad the card that she had picked out along with some gifts she had made for him. On a side note, the card she picked out for him was perfect. When we were in Walgreen’s a couple of weeks ago, Hannah and I quickly picked out a card while Jon was "otherwise occupied." There was one that caught her eye. Since she can’t read English all that well, she gave it to me to look over. I just glanced at it quickly, saw a Bible verse, assumed it was OK, and bought it. It wasn’t until later when I read the card that I realized how perfect it was. In all adoptions there is grief. Still, adoption is an amazing and beautiful thing. How can it not be? It is a picture of our relationship to God. But it is a beauty that comes from ashes. God makes some of the most wonderful things come out of ashes and brokenness. For Hannah to have come to us, a mother somewhere in China felt she had no options. We can not fully understand how this will affect our daughter. But I can tell you that out of that, God is forming our incredible family, and we are forever grateful. All that to say what the card said even better. Take a look at it below. Then it was time to give Jon his gift (that he picked out) -- a fishing pole! It’s not quite as nice as Hannah’s Barbie fishing pole (a story for another day) but good enough for him to join her in fishing fun. Later, we went out for lunch. As usual, the restaurant was selected based on Hannah’s preferences — the day couldn’t be all about Jon! Our first father’s day ended with dinner at Dairy Queen. Yuk! What an incredibly unhealthy food day but what an incredible family day for us! Enjoy the pictures.
(Posted: 6/25/2009)
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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Summer ... NOT!
Our poor Nanning girl has come to NW Indiana to about our coldest spring/summer ever. Temperatures have really not cooperated for much outside fun. School is finally out for the summer, but we have had very few really warm days. Last weekend we managed to fit in a few summer-like activities. Most of the pictures speak for themselves so enjoy them along with a video. The fishing pictures are from a chamber of commerce event in our area. All the kids were running around trying to catch a fish, and all the fish were running around trying to stay away from the kids. Along with most of the other kids, Hannah didn’t catch anything but a hotdog and some chips. On a quick school note, Hannah will begin her ESL tutoring right away next Monday. We thought it might be less traumatic to continue with the English without a break. She will be going 3 mornings a week for about 1.5 hours each. That, combined with swimming lessons every day for an hour, will keep her fairly busy most days. Hopefully we can fit some fun in as well!
(Posted: 6/12/2009)
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Family Updates For June 2009
Here are the current happenings in our family:
