It Was Time

I have been very fortunate in my life to have excellent eye sight.  As the doctor called them "eagle eyes".  Well now it seems I have hit that very real 40 year old wall...ugh.  I finally made the appointment and had my eye exam today for GLASSES.  I spend 8+ hours a day looking at a computer screen, so it was fine time to get my eyes in check.

 

I picked out some frames and the glasses are being made.  I will post you all a pic (maybe) once I get them.  The whole experience gave me a new realization about how F "sees" the world.  Since I have never had to experience poor vision, I never really appreciated how much F really does need to wear her glasses. I showed him F's prescription and the dr told me that if my eyes were like hers, I would not have driven myself there today.  Needless to say, I learned a valuable insight into her world for a little while today.  I will be sure to remember her glasses every single day from now on, it makes a HUGE differenece for the way she sees the world!

Tough Adoption Talk

Go over and read the whole article if you get the time. Some tough stuff to read, but oh so true!

"As for the rest of the world, if you know a family who has adopted internationally, please lend some support. Offer respite, offer to cook a meal, offer to take their other kids and let them have time to bond with their new child. ASK how you can help them. If you are in authority in a church, lift the family up in prayer and be prepared to help if needed. If you are another adoptive family who is having an easier time with your adoption, or if you have never adopted before and have no idea what it's like to be on this path - don't judge. If you're wondering what's going on, ask. Chances are that family needs a listening ear instead of a gossiping mouth. Even if you don't totally understand, you can offer support. You can offer prayer. You can offer your silence and confidentiality because I promise you, this family is hurting enough without false stories or accusations or assumptions being thrown around. Not ONE family I know has gone into adoption with the thoughts that it might fail someday, or that they would disrupt if it didn't work out. They also didn't go into it thinking that their entire family would completely fall apart and be hurt in ways they could never comprehend. "

The Graduate

 

 

Little miss F is SO excited to finally be moving on up to "big kid" school next year! She can't wait to get to ride the big bus and go to school with s an T. I guess I have to admit that she is growing up and looking quite adorable in the process :)

Rob Fix

I was happy to hear and "see" that Ian's new family allowed him to Skype with Rob. I know Rob has been very concerned about Ian and the transition. Hopefully he can continue his relationship with Ian and see for himself that Ian is doing well in his new home :)

Big Finish

 

We enjoyed having Kobe back for one last day before he headed back to China. Started the day off with church, then had lunch with Moma and Sheila at our not-so-Chinese-buffet. Next we were off to Emory for the girls Chinese school. Kobe had fun joining in the little kid games.

I couldn't let him leave Hotlanta without a visit to the famous Varsity! Kobe wasn't so sure about this all American joint ;). Haha, it was an experience he is sure to talk about with his skinny friends-lol.

We said our goodbyes at the airport and he is headed home. Really had a great visit. I hope he gets to come back in a year or so. We will continue to be Skype buddies for sure. He has become a lifelong friend!

Last Day with Kobe

We are going to miss him!

Pop Stars

Getting their groove on this lazy Saturday afternoon :)

Style

 

Yes, these girls have it! Sporting their new boots and hats that they picked out last weekend. Too cute!

Kobe at School

 

Ian took Kobe for show and tell today-lol. Looks like they had a great time!

His Plan, Not Yours

Rick Warren was speaking to me today :)

God Blesses His Plan, Not Yours by Rick Warren

“From now on, every generation will call me blessed! For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.” (Luke 1:48b-50 NLT)   Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew that faith and obedience are the keys to God’s blessing, so she chose to go with God’s destiny for her life. Now, as a pastor, I want God to bless your life. I want him to bless you spiritually. I want him to bless you financially. I want him to bless your career and family and relationships and health. But if you have a plan for your life — I’ll tell you — you’re on your own. God is not going to bless your plan. God did not put you on Earth to live for yourself. He put you on Earth for something much bigger than that. And when you go with his plan for your life, he will bless it. Mary could sing about God’s plan for her life because she was excited about it. Even though it would cause problems, people would misunderstand her, and she would be accused of wrongdoing, Mary trusted God. She knew God would bless her and that even generations to come would remember what God did through her. Guess what? The same thing is true of your life, too. What you do with your life will be remembered not just on Earth but also in eternity forever and ever. How you serve and love others according to God’s will for your life will leave a legacy on Earth and in eternity: “My Father will honor anyone who serves me” (John 12:26 NCV). Could Mary have said “no” to God’s destiny for her life? Yes. God never forces you to go with his plan, because he wants you to choose to love him. That’s why he gave you free will instead of making you a puppet. That’s why the vast majority of people miss God’s destiny. They choose to go their own way instead of saying, like Mary, “Whatever you want to do with me, I’m your servant. I accept your destiny for my life.” .

Wore Him Out

Kobe learned quickly that we are a busy family! As you can see, he couldn't hang,

 and got pretty beat up...

 

 

Haha- seriously he busted his own lip with his knee, then got a yucky rug burn on his elbow from sliding across the trampolines-lol.  He settled down a bit, then we finished the night off well!

Travis played some mean dodgeball!

We all devoured some pizza for dinner.

 

 

 

Then Kobe and Caleb got to practice their dunking skills.

 

Of course all the girls just had some plain ole simple fun bouncing the night away :). Kobe left this morning to spend the next few nights with Ian in his new home.  I am sure he will enjoy his time there as well.  I get Kobe back on Saturday, then he goes back to the airport on Sunday evening.

He's Here

 

All the way from China, Kobe is here!!

Finally Final

 

 

We headed to court this morning to officially finalize Elise's adoption here in the US. This is just a formality that you have to re-adopt in the State of Georgia in order to obtain a regular birth certificate showing us as her parents. Happy Day seeing my family officially complete. No more adoption paperwork-YAY!!!

Living Life

We received an update that he is living his new life well. He is looking only forward and embracing his new family. Shelby asked once this weekend how he was doing, so I requested new pics. As you can see, he is still smiling.

New Year Fun

 

The girls and I went across town today to celebrate Chinese New Year with our friends. Lots of littles there to celebrate with his year. Amazing how much this little group of folks have grown over the past 6 years. We got so big this year, we outgrew the restaurant! Lucy had a fabulous idea and moved us to their local high school. It worked perfectly for our "little" group.

I was able to meet some of "my" new babies today as well. Love helping families grow through adoption. It is truly amazing to watch lives being changed forever.

I suspect that now since the disruption, I won't be the "go-to" person anymore for China adoptions. That is one thing I will really miss. Time will tell I guess as to if I am still referred to new "clients" or not. I hope I can still help form new families through the miracle of adoption. I love seeing these babies live and in person for the first time :)

Kobe's Visit

Remember Kobe from China?!?  Yes, the college student I had hired in China.  The one that was visiting Ian every weekend for the six months while we waited to travel.  The guy that bonded with Ian in China that prepared him for America. Well guess who's coming to visit us on Monday...yes that KOBE!

I find not just a "coincidence" that Kobe will be here to help Ian once again to transition into his new home.  As they say coincidences are just when God remains anonymous.  Anyhow, we are planning to host Kobe a couple of nights next week, then he will go stay with Ian's new family for a few nights as well.  We hope Kobe will help Ian still feel connected to his history in China.  Kobe has a bond with Ian that we all hope will be lifelong. The G's are on board with keeping Rob and Kobe a special part of Ian's life. 

Amazing that Kobe was even allowed a visa into America. We are very excited to see him again.  I have continued a chat/email relationship with Kobe over the past 9 months.  He was of course upset about the disruption, but he is happy that he will get to see Ian in his new home and get to meet his Forever Family in person.  Travis and I are looking forward to picking him up at the airport Monday night!

His New Family

I know a bunch of you are curious as to where Ian is now.  Here is the bio on his new family.  I am happy to say that Ian is still doing great with them.  His mom is very happy with the situation and how he is adjusting.  Our family is doing well too.  Things are working out much better than I had anticipated during this transition.  So any of you out there who have been praying for us, they have been felt, and apparently they are working too. Here is the initial email I received about their family(obviously I have modified to not show any identifying information):   D and C,   You guys have provided so much information about Ian and I wanted to write and give you an overview of our family in anticipation of our meeting next Friday night.   First, R and I have been married for over 29 years now.  We were high school sweethearts and married our junior year of college.  We are both graduates of W in Bowling Green, KY.  R has a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a Master's Degree in Education.  I have a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism.   We moved to Georgia almost 13 years ago from Kentucky.  We have lived in Forsyth County since moving here.  We had anticipated that our stay in Georgia would be fairly brief and then we would be moving on to another corporate job, but we fell in love with Georgia and God certainly had other plans for keeping us here.  I should add here that R is an executive sales representative with X pharmaceuticals and I am primarily a stay-at-home mom, with the exception of the post placement casework I do for the adoption agency.  R has worked for X for 16 years.  R is "on the road" during the day but only has overnight travel once or twice a year for work.   R is also a bi-vocational Southern Baptist pastor and in 2009 we planted F Worship Center.  In addition to the church, we have a non-profit adoption and orphan care ministry called JH.    We have a 6 bedroom, 4 bath house in Forsyth that we built in 2011.  It is just over 3,600 square feet.  At the time we built the house, we dedicated it to the Lord and asked Him to fill it as He chose, whether that meant simply an overnight stay for friends or the permanent addition of more children to our family.  He has certainly been faithful to our request! Our school-age kids attend M Elementary School which is located 1.2 miles from our home.  We hand picked our homesite in order to be in the M school district.  It is the smallest of all the elementary schools in Forsyth.   So...now a little about our kids.  We have two biological sons, who are now 27 and 23.  The oldest, C, is married and lives in Forsyth County as well.  He is the Director of X Schools.  We are actually a second-generation adoptive family as C and his wife adopted our first grandson in April 2011.  We spend time with them two-three times each week.  Our second son is D, and he lives in Duluth.  He is an accountant for X law firm in downtown Atlanta.  Both C and D are graduates of GA College and now both are pursuing their Master's degrees.  Our daughter, E, is now 23.  We adopted E from Korea in 1990 when she was four months old.  E graduates from College and State University last year with a degree in Spanish.  She is currently completing an internship at C.  She lives in Duluth with D, in the townhouse that he owns there.   Our children at home now are ages 8, 6, 3 and 18 months.  All are adopted.  N, the 8 year old is in second grade.  N was adopted domestically from Florida.  He is multi-racial.  He plays basketball and football and loves video and computer games.  Our older kids call N "the baby whisperer" because he is so amazing with the little ones.   J is our 6 year old adopted from Taiwan.  J came home to us at the age of 18 months.  As you may have known, J has a rare genetic disease called F Disease.  We spend every other week at the Emory where he receives an infusion of a drug that will improve his quality of life and minimize many of the symptoms of F.  J is in Kindergarten. We have special arrangements and he receives extra support services from the school because of the number of days he has to miss for his treatments.  One of the issues with this disease is that J may eventually lose the ability to sweat, so we have had to consider what activities would be best suited for him.  J takes gymnastics on Wednesdays and he loves this and has shown quite a talent for it.  He also loves singing, music, and drawing.  N and J are very different but they are the best of buddies.  I have to say that our boys are very open, loving, and accepting of other children.   X was adopted as a newborn in 2010, and she just turned 3 two weeks ago.  She is actually N's biological sister.  She is the ultimate girly-girl and enjoys being the "princess" in the household!  She takes gymnastics through the City on Fridays.  We have a wonderful, open relationship with N and X's birthmother and birthgrandmother and plan to visit with them in Florida over Spring Break.  Our kids are beginning to understand that every adoption is unique.   We were contacted and asked to consider S, our youngest, in October of 2011 and brought him home from Taiwan in May, 2012.  S was expected to have significant special needs, but the truth is he is perfectly healthy.  He suffered oxygen deprivation and had a 15 minute delay of initial cry at birth.  He then had brain edema and seizures and was expected to be severely affected.  Everyone who reviews his medical chart now says he is a miracle baby.  I know the truth is he has a daddy who prayed relentlessly for his healing and God heard that prayer.  We have two MRIs showing brain injury and a third that is perfectly normal!  Faithful God   I have to say that we weren't looking to adopt when we were contacted about S, nor or we now.  But, our goal is to be obedient and responsive to the needs God lays before us and to be used for His purposes.  I believe our home is a warm, relaxing and nurting place.  As a family, we enjoy just hanging out at home together, going out to eat, and traveling.  We took all three of the little ones with us to Taiwan to bring S home and we are planning to return to Taiwan as a family in 2014.  This year we are planning a trip to Disney World in November for the entire family to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.  As parents, I think R and I are very patient.  Parenting in your late 40s is certainly different that parenting in our 20s.  Our older kids keep saying "these are not the same people who raised us"! LOL!   Please let me know if you have any specific questions that we can answer for you before Friday.   Blessings, T

 

Happy Heart Day

Hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day and get to share with those you love. Hard to beat candy for breakfast!

Peek...A...Boo