So we went to Easter service at our church on Saturday. It seemed sorta strange, you know not going to church on actual Easter day, but we wanted to beat the Sunday-Easter-and-Christmas-only crowds. It was the same service, and it was beautiful. We love our pastor's sermons.
And we got a seat. Bonus!
Anyhoo ~ At the beginning of the sermon, Pastor Rick was talking about a conversation he had with a non-believer (let's call him NB). Rick was talking to NB about God sending his one and only Son to save us, how Jesus died, was buried, and rose again... The NB said something like, "Do you really believe that?" So the sermon went on and it was beautiful (did I say that already?), and near the end of the sermon the whole church was so quiet, Pastor Rick repeated the question, "Do you really believe that?" Pastor Rick paused, and our kid said loudly and with conviction, "YES!"
It was AWESOME!
You all should have been there!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So in previous posts I think I mentioned our Datong angels... The amazing generous American people who lived in the city where David lives, who volunteered at his orphanage every Sunday, and they KNOW him. They have shared pictures and videos of David with us. Who gets all that info & stuff? PTL!
You know what?????
I am going to Washington D.C. later this week for my sister's birthday (happy 40th sista!)... and I get to meet them on THURSDAY! I am so EXCITED!
I mean, excited like I am about to POP!
I hope I don't get too nervous and sound like a ding-a-ling when I meet them :-D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And as you all know, in this paperwork-party we call our adoption journey, we are waiting for our LOAs from China. The timing of this step is 30-60 days from the last bit o' paperwork.
We are on day 34...
I am betting they will get here, oh, when I am in Washington D.C. later this week. 'Cause God has a sense of humor like that.
Yoo hoo! Where are you, little LOAs???
Proverbs 22:6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older,
they will not leave it.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?
OKey-dokey ~ we just finished our week-long Chinese food extravaganza!!!
I decided I needed to learn to cook some real Chinese food so
I slaved over a hot wok all week!!!
Our first night was dumplings and yummy fried rice.
Ya, I had frozen dumplings so we used those this time.
I did have to fry and steam them all by myself you know...
The next night we had lemon chicken and steamed broccoli (and I think some leftover fried rice).
This was a big hit with the guys.
Josh liked squeezing his own lemon juice onto his chicken ~ must be the Greek in him...
The next night we had scallops and vegetables. Delicious!
The scallops were not a big hit with Jason, but he liked the flavor of the dish.
Josh thought the baby corns were the coolest!
Up next was Kung Po Chicken (cashew chicken) over rice with pea pods on the side.
Mmmmm, good.
Next on the menu was Beef with Broccoli and egg noodles on the side.
The B&B was yummerific, but the egg noodles were gummy and kind of gross.
Probably operator error ;-)
Ooh, baby, the sesame chicken, peking-style noodles, and steamed broccoli were divine!
To finish up the week, we had curried beef, rice, and hot & sour cabbage.
The beef was delish and soooooo tender. Hot & sour cabbage was too spicy for the kid,
but we thought it was amazing.
What did I learn from cooking Chinese food, you ask?
I learned that it is absolutely positively yummy and healthy and we'll be eating more,
that's fo' sho'!
I learned that my guys love Chinese food as much as I do.
I learned that I actually need to ask for help at the Asian food store.
Just walking in the store is soooo intimidating.
I learned that I need a better wok if I am going to continue wokking.
I also plan to try making my own homemade dumplings. You will see that in another bloggy episode...
Ephesians 5:2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Directions to China
I was wondering how many miles it is to China...
Just to keep things simple, I used Googlemaps and requested directions from Denver to Beijing. I almost posted all 129 steps of their directions here, but instead decided to just give you the highlights. Googlemaps led us across the United States toward the Pacific Northwest to Seattle. At that point we hop in our kayak and paddle 2,756 miles across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. We portage across the big island, then we hop back into our kayak and paddle another 3,879 miles to Japan. After trekking across Japan, Google gives us a break and we get on our jetskis and cross 486 more miles of Pacific Ocean. Whew! We finally land in Shanghai, then it is only 781 more miles to Beijing.
So to answer my own question, it is 11,523 miles from Denver to Beijing.
David is about 200 miles from Beijing.
Samuel is about 600 miles from Beijing.
According to Googlemaps, it will take us 38 days and 12 hours to travel there by car, kayak, and jetski. All of a sudden a 15 hour plane ride doesn't sound horrible...
Right now it is about 2pm on Friday in Denver. Right now it is 5am on Saturday in China. The boys should be waking up in a few hours.
Lord, please let the boys be taken care of and loved today. Please help them to feel safe. Please make sure they have plenty to eat. Please give someone close to them the time today to hold them and snuggle them and play with them. They are so so so so far away from us, but we know you are with them. And if you could help things along so the munchkins can come home in July, that would be so very cool. We can't wait to hold them and comfort them and hear their voices and tell them we love them.
Psalm 57:7 My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!
Just to keep things simple, I used Googlemaps and requested directions from Denver to Beijing. I almost posted all 129 steps of their directions here, but instead decided to just give you the highlights. Googlemaps led us across the United States toward the Pacific Northwest to Seattle. At that point we hop in our kayak and paddle 2,756 miles across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. We portage across the big island, then we hop back into our kayak and paddle another 3,879 miles to Japan. After trekking across Japan, Google gives us a break and we get on our jetskis and cross 486 more miles of Pacific Ocean. Whew! We finally land in Shanghai, then it is only 781 more miles to Beijing.
So to answer my own question, it is 11,523 miles from Denver to Beijing.
David is about 200 miles from Beijing.
Samuel is about 600 miles from Beijing.
According to Googlemaps, it will take us 38 days and 12 hours to travel there by car, kayak, and jetski. All of a sudden a 15 hour plane ride doesn't sound horrible...
Right now it is about 2pm on Friday in Denver. Right now it is 5am on Saturday in China. The boys should be waking up in a few hours.
Lord, please let the boys be taken care of and loved today. Please help them to feel safe. Please make sure they have plenty to eat. Please give someone close to them the time today to hold them and snuggle them and play with them. They are so so so so far away from us, but we know you are with them. And if you could help things along so the munchkins can come home in July, that would be so very cool. We can't wait to hold them and comfort them and hear their voices and tell them we love them.
Psalm 57:7 My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Day 21 and counting
There isn't much adoption news when you are just waiting to hear from the Chinese government for 30 to 60 days and all you hear is...
cricket...
cricket...
cricket...
Tough to make an adoption blog interesting, ya know?
Here's what we're doing lately...
We're putting together another care package for Samuel. I am running out of ideas! So far I have a picture mug with Samuel and his foster grandmom's pictures on it. It is pretty cute ~ I hope they like it... Here, I'll show you! We will probably send some fancy chocolates since we won't be able to do that in our next (and last yippee!!!) care package. I think the next package will be shipped when the weather is too hot and not chocolate-friendly. And of course we'll send another disposable camera :-) I am super excited to have those camera pictures developed. Here's the mug:
I decided I need to learn to cook some real Chinese food. Not just put some veggies & meat in a pan and pour a bottle of teriyaki sauce on it. I want to make the kind of Chinese food that they actually eat in China. But no gross intestinal body parts and nothing fishy with suction cups or eyes still on or anything. (I do have my limits...) So I checked out two Chinese cookbooks from the library. Then while I was doing meal planning, I decided to ~ what the heck! ~ plan an entire week of Chinese cookin'! I'm jumping in with both feet, eh? We're on day 3... but the Chinese food is for another bloggy day...
The next bit o' paperwork from China is the LOA, remember? That is the letter that says, "If you crazy Americans still want to adopt these two munchkins, please sign here." After we receive that beautiful Chinese blessing of an LOA letter, the next form we need to fill out includes a spot where we fill in the boys' American names. If you look to the left side of your screen, you will notice that only one of our boys has a middle name. If you want to know the missing middle name, you will have to ask Jason since he is keeping this information a secret. You can call him "Sergeant Secret Squirrel" if you want... maybe "Triple S" for short... I think I will start calling him that too. I think he will really like that :-D
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
cricket...
cricket...
cricket...
Tough to make an adoption blog interesting, ya know?
Here's what we're doing lately...
We're putting together another care package for Samuel. I am running out of ideas! So far I have a picture mug with Samuel and his foster grandmom's pictures on it. It is pretty cute ~ I hope they like it... Here, I'll show you! We will probably send some fancy chocolates since we won't be able to do that in our next (and last yippee!!!) care package. I think the next package will be shipped when the weather is too hot and not chocolate-friendly. And of course we'll send another disposable camera :-) I am super excited to have those camera pictures developed. Here's the mug:
I decided I need to learn to cook some real Chinese food. Not just put some veggies & meat in a pan and pour a bottle of teriyaki sauce on it. I want to make the kind of Chinese food that they actually eat in China. But no gross intestinal body parts and nothing fishy with suction cups or eyes still on or anything. (I do have my limits...) So I checked out two Chinese cookbooks from the library. Then while I was doing meal planning, I decided to ~ what the heck! ~ plan an entire week of Chinese cookin'! I'm jumping in with both feet, eh? We're on day 3... but the Chinese food is for another bloggy day...
The next bit o' paperwork from China is the LOA, remember? That is the letter that says, "If you crazy Americans still want to adopt these two munchkins, please sign here." After we receive that beautiful Chinese blessing of an LOA letter, the next form we need to fill out includes a spot where we fill in the boys' American names. If you look to the left side of your screen, you will notice that only one of our boys has a middle name. If you want to know the missing middle name, you will have to ask Jason since he is keeping this information a secret. You can call him "Sergeant Secret Squirrel" if you want... maybe "Triple S" for short... I think I will start calling him that too. I think he will really like that :-D
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Bill the Mailman
So you have heard me mention Bill the mailman in a couple previous posts. Guess what?
He posed for a picture for me!!!
I explained that I am making life books for the munchkins, and that I want to include his picture since he has delivered so many important documents to us. He said, "Sure, let me pose!"
Here's Bill ~~~~~~~~
Isn't he the best mailman EVER!!! By the way, he knows I don't have a crush on him now...
Luke 6:38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.
Thanks for the picture, Bill!
He posed for a picture for me!!!
I explained that I am making life books for the munchkins, and that I want to include his picture since he has delivered so many important documents to us. He said, "Sure, let me pose!"
Here's Bill ~~~~~~~~
Isn't he the best mailman EVER!!! By the way, he knows I don't have a crush on him now...
Luke 6:38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.
Thanks for the picture, Bill!
Monday, April 4, 2011
All of our problems are solved
...thanks to our 6-year old!
The other day we were talking about traveling to China. I guess that day he decided he did not want to be left back home, that he wants to travel with us.
Oh
no
no
no...
So we told him how BORING it would be. You know, with the looooooong airplane ride, all the waiting in lines for appointments, then waiting for paperwork, then getting the paperwork, waiting for doctor appointments, traveling around China in airplanes and trains and buses... we did our best to make it sound long and drawn out and BORING. Like we could not possibly have any fun over there, and how much fun he would have at home with people who would be watching him!
So he says, in his most-matter-of-fact 6-year old voice, "Well, Momma. Let me tell you how it should go. First, fly to China one day. Then do all the paperwork the next day. Then fly home the next day. That's it!"
What can I say? Sounds good to me!
Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and
exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
The other day we were talking about traveling to China. I guess that day he decided he did not want to be left back home, that he wants to travel with us.
Oh
no
no
no...
So we told him how BORING it would be. You know, with the looooooong airplane ride, all the waiting in lines for appointments, then waiting for paperwork, then getting the paperwork, waiting for doctor appointments, traveling around China in airplanes and trains and buses... we did our best to make it sound long and drawn out and BORING. Like we could not possibly have any fun over there, and how much fun he would have at home with people who would be watching him!
So he says, in his most-matter-of-fact 6-year old voice, "Well, Momma. Let me tell you how it should go. First, fly to China one day. Then do all the paperwork the next day. Then fly home the next day. That's it!"
What can I say? Sounds good to me!
Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and
exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Last Hurrah!
It is good to take a break from all-things-adoption once in a while. We have been on vacation in sunny San Diego ~ we had such a blast!
Here is the shameless plug for our travel agent: http://www.travelhelpers.com/ Check 'em out. They rock!
We did lots of fun stuff, like spend time at the ocean...
This is our last family vacation as a family of three... WOO HOO!!!
John 6:68-69 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Here is the shameless plug for our travel agent: http://www.travelhelpers.com/ Check 'em out. They rock!
We did lots of fun stuff, like spend time at the ocean...
We went to the San Diego Zoo...
And one of our highlights was LEGOLAND... (duh, there I go stating the obvious again!)
(I wonder if this lady knows we will forever have her butt in our vacation pictures...)
We checked out an aircraft carrier, the USS Midway...
We went to SeaWorld where we saw Shamu and spent the day with our good friends
(the other highlight of our vacation)...
And the girls even got to meet Elmo and Burt!!!
(The boys were all being pansies.)
We spent a day at Disneyland too...
This is our last family vacation as a family of three... WOO HOO!!!
John 6:68-69 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
We have our LID!
We are officially logged in at the CCAA!!! Woo hoo!!! That means they said, "Ya, we got your stuff."
Now we wait again...
We wait for 30-60 days until we receive our next step, our LOA, which is sent to us from China. This is our Letter Seeking Confirmation of Adopter. Way back when in November and December, we received our PAs, or pre-approvals. This really meant that we were matched with our two munchkins and noone else could grab 'em up. The LOA is the official-official Chinese blessing. Now that China has our signed, sealed, and delivered dossier they can look at us (really, they have lots of pictures of us), read allllllll about us, and look at the kids and then they officially say, "Yes, you crazy Americans can adopt these munchkins." We receive the LOA letter from China and sign it, and that says, "Yes, us crazy Americans really really really still want to adopt these two munchkins." Then we send it back to China... round and round and round the world we go!
Then we go bring the boys home!
I
am
just
kidding!!!
LOL
I crack myself up!
There are only about a dozen more steps before that happens :-) But we're getting there!
Let's see... 30 days would put us at about April 22...
James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Now we wait again...
We wait for 30-60 days until we receive our next step, our LOA, which is sent to us from China. This is our Letter Seeking Confirmation of Adopter. Way back when in November and December, we received our PAs, or pre-approvals. This really meant that we were matched with our two munchkins and noone else could grab 'em up. The LOA is the official-official Chinese blessing. Now that China has our signed, sealed, and delivered dossier they can look at us (really, they have lots of pictures of us), read allllllll about us, and look at the kids and then they officially say, "Yes, you crazy Americans can adopt these munchkins." We receive the LOA letter from China and sign it, and that says, "Yes, us crazy Americans really really really still want to adopt these two munchkins." Then we send it back to China... round and round and round the world we go!
Then we go bring the boys home!
I
am
just
kidding!!!
LOL
I crack myself up!
There are only about a dozen more steps before that happens :-) But we're getting there!
Let's see... 30 days would put us at about April 22...
James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
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