Joey

Even if you are busy today, please take the time to got to the link below and read Joey's story at the Love Without Boundaries blog (click text). This little 7 year old boy's file is going to be returned to China soon, which means he may not have another opportunity for adoption. Could you please pray that someone hears his story and has a place for him in their family? The story about little Yan is just heartbreaking, to say the least.

There are a lot of little Joeys and Yans out there.

Still Here!

Wow, It's been a while. The month before school begins is always busy with planning and ordering curriculum for homeschooling. And now that we're all back to school, life just keeps speeding by.

I'm so behind on blogging I don't even know where to begin. So, here's some random catching-up.

Pat and I are both taking classes on separate nights of the week. Megan's at ballet two nights, and Matt's working at least a couple of nights each week...so, we've become one of those statistics...families that don't eat dinner all together (at least not every night)! Sad, I know. I never understood families that didn't have dinner together, and here we are!

On top of all that we're trying to catch up on all the home improvement projects we've put off while saving money for adoptions over the last three years or so! And you know how one thing leads to another....you change the color of the fixtures and suddenly the door knobs don't match, and the switch plates don't match...and on and on.

When it was decided that the old laminate countertops had to go, the kids took to them with the Sharpies. Graffiti artists, we are not, but we all had tons of fun scribbling. After about two days of looking at this (below), I was ready to rip them off myself.

Here are some pictures of the girls in the HOT, HOT summer days....can't even remember when we took them.

And our camoflauge dryer.

Matt left a tin of greasy camoflauge paint in his pocket when he came home from camp....you should see the load of clothes that were in that dryer! The picture below is after I started cleaning it. I got a new washer and dryer anyway....and Matt got some new clothes!

The girls loved to play in the box that the school books came in.
















"The reward of a job well done is to have done it." I've always loved this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I've tried to instill that in my kids. However, some things deserve a little reward. Last month Miyah read all her Bob books five times each and got Mickey at Build-a-Bear as a reward. She's now onto set 2 of Bob (but no reward this time). I love that proud smile!





















Miyah with her very good friend, Elizabeth.





Miyah and Elizabeth rolling on the floor laughing together.

Aww...daddy love




I'll have to post photos of my nephew's wedding and our visit to WI another time. My photos are stubbornly refusing to upload onto my computer...I'll have to wait until my tech support guy (Matt) is available.

Dianbai Friends

A few weeks ago we got a wonderful visit from one of Miyah's Dianbai (China) friends and his family.

Nearly four years ago, only a day apart, Andrew and Miyah were brought to the Dianbai Social Welfare Institute and assigned cribs right next to one another. No one in their lives now can tell them how they spent that first year together, but I'm sure they enjoyed each others company.

Andrew is such a sweet, dimple-smiling little guy. You can't help but love him!

When we talked with Miyah about him visiting, she was so excited. She referred to him as "my best friend Andrew". Mind you, she didn't really remember our last visit to see them two years ago. But I guess there are some friendships that never die.



Miyah and Andrew






The K's (name omitted for privacy) are a wonderful family and we always enjoy catching up with them. I only wish we lived closer. We had such a great time with Kevin and Pam in China in 2004. A few days after we came home from that trip we all talked about how we missed Kevin and Pam.

Since the "K" kids didn't travel to China, our kids met theirs for the first time two years ago and immediately hit it off. Our Matt and their Rob are the same age, as well as their Lauren and our Megan. I've come to realize how rare it is to find a family so similar to ours.


Katie K and Mei Lin








Pam K(aka Andrew's mom) sharing her pie with Mei Lin

Rob K and Matt playing video games

Lauren K and Megan watching High School Musical 2