From Grits to Rice

Turkey Day

2011-11-23T21:50:00.001+08:00

Who knew watching your dad clean a turkey could be this much fun?

Happy Thanksgiving and we hope your turkey can fly, too!

Book Character Day 2011

2011-11-19T21:57:00.000+08:00

At the girls’ school every October, they have Book Character Day. All the kids and staff come dressed as a character from a book. This year Madison went dressed at Crystal, the Snow Fairy. Check our how perfect her costume looked compared to Crystal’s. We had her costume made and were both very pleased with how it turned out.

Hailey went dressed as Jessie from Toy Trouble. And she looked precious too! Hailey actually won the prize for best Lower School girl costume.

Sydney’s class all dressed like one particular book. She went to school dressed as a superhero but then changed into her blue horse costume for the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? Her class introduced their characters in Chinese, so Sydney proudly said that she was a “Lanse de ma"!” That continues to be her favorite Chinese phrase and she runs around saying “I am a blue horse! I am a blue horse!” She gets some very confused looks.

Gotcha Day with some dear friends

2011-11-17T21:37:00.000+08:00

As you probably know, living and raising a family in a country other than your home country is very different. One thing that is extremely different is that you often don’t have your family around on some important milestone or holidays. So what happens is that your friends really step up and are your extended family. The neighborhood kids really treat each other more like cousins than just friends….and our kids think of the neighborhood adults more like aunts and uncles.

During the process of adopting Lily and our first year with her home, we had a lot of dear friends who were really “all in” the process with us. They prayed with us, encouraged us, laughed with us, cried with us, often asked how it was going and helped us a ton during these past 2 years.

These are some of the same people who we worship with in our homes on Sundays. So, we thought it very fitting to celebrate with them Lily’s 1st year at home. A celebration of Lily but also a way to thank them for being the Body of Christ to us and for loving Lily and our family well.

You may wonder where Lily is during this celebration. Well, she feel asleep in Travis’ lap during the sermon and spent the entire celebration asleep on the floor.

1 year ago…

2011-11-15T20:59:00.001+08:00

So much has happened in our family in the past one year. It has surely been a time of great joy and excitement but also a time of lots of adjustment. One year ago Lily joined our family. We went to Guangzhou and adopted her and brought her home to our crazy loud house full of sisters.

She has changed so much in one year. We picked her up with a short little boy haircut that was barely a centimeter long. Now she has thick wavy fly-away hair.

She went from having no sibling and a room full of “friends” to having 3 big sisters, a mom and a dad, 11 first cousins, a gargar, a gran and pop, 8 amazing aunts and uncles, tons of other relatives, and more friends than you could ever imagine.

Lily has also learned a whole new language in a year while still keeping a good bit of her Chinese! It is pretty impressive. I wish I had her language skills. There was a period of time when she was first learning English that she ran around saying, “NO!” to everything…and this momma didn’t enjoy that stage very much. It was pretty annoying to only hear “NO!” come out of your daughter's mouth. Thankfully we are past that and now she often says, “Momma, I love you!”

Her whole demeanor has changed in a year. She was very shy at times in the beginning and then the next minute she was going crazy running around all over. Now she has mellowed out a ton but is a very outgoing, smiley, little girl who usually greets our houseguest with a “Hey y’all!”

Lily is our super precious little girl and we are so thankful for her! She has brought so much joy and laughter to our home. We have enjoyed watching her grow into the little girl that she is and really look forward to seeing her become the girl that God made her to be. We love you, Lily Grace Xiuli! Happy 1st Gotcha Day! We look forward to so many more!

Hailey = Ruth

2011-10-05T09:10:00.001+08:00

Every Friday at Madison and Hailey’s school, they have chapel. A few weeks ago Hailey’s class was in charge of chapel and they acted out the story of Ruth. Her class did a wonderful job, and our little Hailey was Ruth! Here is the video of her performance.

Disclaimer: It is 9 minutes long and is really probably something only a doting grandparent would like to watch. Enjoy, Mom, Dad, and Sandy!

With all your heart….

2011-10-04T20:31:00.001+08:00

In Chapel a few weeks ago, the teacher asked for volunteers to help lead the motions for the other students. Madison was one of the kids picked. I was there and got a little video of Madison helping lead the Junior Kindergarteners thru 5th graders in worship. I think she may have a future in this.

Sydney birthday party

2011-08-25T10:14:00.000+08:00

Beautiful site of Madison reading her bible on way to school

2011-08-22T08:32:00.001+08:00

Traffic in front of office

2011-08-22T08:30:00.000+08:00

Christmas Happenings

2010-12-30T17:04:00.001+08:00

A lot has happened in the last 6 weeks in our house. In the midst of welcoming Lily to our family and trying to adjust to one another, we have done a lot! Here are some pictures from our December together.

We taught Lily how to ride our famous train and play the DS.

We tried really hard to get a good picture of Lily for her Adoption Announcement

We had fun watching Lily learn and enjoy new things.

We threw a few fits.

We made Christmas cookies.

We enjoyed lots of yummy treats.

We had fun playing with friends.

We, sisters, started getting to know one another.

We laughed watching Lily ride in the Barbie convertible.

We got lots of packages from Taobao.

We took more pictures.

We watched Hailey’s class’s Christmas performances.

We watched Madison perform with the 1st-5th graders (she’s in the red on the floor in the center).

We enjoyed performances with friends.

We bundled up for cold weather and even saw a little snow.

We loved laughing at silly Sydney!

We took lots of silly sister pictures.

We loved our matching ‘jammies.

Look who turned 2 today…

2010-12-29T21:31:00.001+08:00

Today is dear Lily Grace Xiuli’s 2nd Birthday! We are so thrilled that we get to celebrate her birthday with her this year. Here are some pictures of the day.

Travis with his little 2 year old!

Lily Grace Todd with her Birthday Twin, Lillian Grace! (Pretty cool huh…they have the same birthday and almost the exact same name!)

Lily probably having Happy Birthday sung to her for the very 1st time ever!!!

She’s not sure what to do with the cake

Big sister stepped up and started feeding her with a fork…no fingers for our clean Lily.

Present time!!!!

This is what our life is like right now….lots of girls….lots of smiles….lots of time close together…some tears….and dear friends loving on us! Happy Birthday Lily! We are so glad that God choose you for us and us for you! We love you!

Better late than never!

2010-12-13T23:10:00.002+08:00

Here is when Travis and I first walked in the door…being greeted by 3 big sisters.

Our very first family picture…not a great picture, but it is historic!

I love those little painted fingernails so sweetly holding Lily’s face for a first kiss from the NEW BIG SISTER!!

I think Sydney is in LOVE!

The oldest sister couldn't wait to carry Lily around…and this is still what she does everyday!

Another not so great family picture after the big girls’ tennis lesson.

Here Lily is celebrating her first Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for her!

A Long Overdue Update

2010-12-07T20:53:00.001+08:00

So sorry it has taken me so long to post again! I hardly know where to start. I guess I’ll start with the disclaimer that this post will have no pictures…sorry!

We are doing really well….just tired and overwhelmed at times. Lily is doing great and I really can’t complain. I will just say having 4 children is a lot of work! I think in general the adjustment to 4 kids is difficult especially when one of them doesn’t know you and you don’t really know her either. We are thankful that everyday we are getting to know Lily more.

Here are some things we are learning/have learned about Lily:

When she is tired and going to sleep she sucks her thumb and with her other hand she rubs her ear.

She can be a neat freak….she doesn’t like for any crumb of food to be on her fingers, clothes, highchair tray, etc.

When she gets tired…she is tired…and it happens quick. If she is not in a bed quick…she has a major (and i mean MAJOR) meltdown.

She LOVES her sisters! She loves to chase them around our house. The feeling is mutual. Madison recently asked our friend who was driving carpool if she could drive faster because she was ready to get home and see her sister. (How cute is that?!)

She does NOT like having a bath…no matter how fun we try to make them look. She will watch her sisters in the bath and no matter how much I tell them to laugh and smile, she will not get in voluntarily.

She is super smart…she remembers everything you tell her or show her. She is starting to talk more in Chinese and English. Her favorite Chinese word is “Bao Bao” which means to hold her. She calls Travis “Baba” and me “Mommy”. She has learned “More” and “No”. Thankfully she uses “no” in reference to something being all gone…like when the corn is gone she will say “no”.

She is following in her sister’s footsteps and loves shoes! She has two new pair that have squeakers in them and she loves to take them on and put them back on….again and again.

She can not fall asleep unless someone (me or Trav) is in the bed with her. We started out having her sleep in our room in a pack n play, but that wasn’t working so well. We would have to lay down with her in our bed for 30-45 minutes…once she was asleep we would try to get up and move her to the pack n play. This usually didn’t work very well and she would wake up and end up staying in our bed…which meant neither Travis nor I slept well. So, after about a week at home, we moved her into her room in the big bed there. We still lay down with her but don’t have to move her. She is sleeping great…usually about 12-13 hours each night!!!

She really likes the carseat. I was afraid that was going to be a disaster.

Her eyes really do look like Travis’. Dark Brown and beautiful!

She prefers playing with cars, noisy toys, or stackable toys. She is kinda scared of baby dolls….even the very cute Chinese one that I bought hoping she would love.

She likes to run around with kids but kinda runs with her chest out and I’m always afraid she is going to fall.

She likes to be carried and her sisters will carry her all around if we let them…she is definitely the little princess.

We are so thankful for her and really pray that we all attach to each other as quickly as possible. Most people say it takes about 3 month to a year for it to happen…I hope it is more like 3 months!

I am back in Guangzhou with her right now for 4 days. We had to come back for her Consulate Appointment. This is the very final step in the adoption process….this is where the US gives her a visa that allows her to be a US citizen from the moment she 1st enters the US. Today we went to the US Consulate (like an Embassy but not in the capital city) with about 30 other adoptive families to take an oath that all the info we have submitted to the US government on our adoptive children’ behalf is true and accurate. It was a “raise your right hand and repeat after me” type of thing and it was very moving! Here we are standing in a big room with about 100 plus American parents and 33 Chinese children all repeating an oath together. 2 of the parents were adopting 2 children at a time and one lady was completing her 4 adoption in China!! The Consulate Officer even wished 2 children “Happy Birthday” from the front….and one of them was Lily! (Her birthday is on the 29th.)

So sorry if this post is all over the place. I will post again with pictures when I get home. Also, I really hope this post will leave the spaces in. For some reason when I go to post the blog to my blog it takes out all the spaces…sorry….I know it makes it difficult to read.

Orphanage Visit

2010-11-22T21:11:00.001+08:00

Thanks so much for all of your prayers for our visit to Lily’s orphanage in Dongguan. The day was perfect and we couldn’t have planned a better day. From the ride to the orphanage all the way to our flight home…it was amazing! We were so thankful we got to go to visit the place she spent the 1st 22 months of her life. I left there with such a thankful heart for the dear people who had taken care of my daughter for almost 2 years.

From the moment we walked into the orphanage, people with great big smiles on their faces were calling out “Xiu Li! Xiu Li!” (that’s Lily’s Chinese name). They were so glad to see her and their love for her shined through them. What a great welcome to us! I was very impressed that the random ayi (caretaker) walking through the lobby would know her….they care for 200-300 children and are in charge of another 500-600 who are in foster care. They also have 300 employees!!

As soon as we got there we went up to a small receiving area on the 2nd floor and meet several of her ayis and even one of her close friends, Fei Fei.

We asked her ayis all about her personality and her likes and dislikes.

They were so loving towards her and I really could tell they were so thankful that she was being adopted. A couple of them got teary eyed while playing with her. I was so thankful that we speak Chinese and were able to talk directly to them instead of through an interpreter.

This is one of the nurses that was there the day that Lily entered the orphanage. An orphanage doctor is who named her.

We also were able to meet some other children who are about to be adopted and got to take pictures and videos of them to send to their adoptive parents. It was fun to be able to hug those kiddos and tell them that their parents were coming quickly and that they loved them.

This is me and Lily next to her old bed.

We also were able to find out some about Lily’s surgery. It is pretty crazy but our sweet little baby’s surgery was just on August 10th of this year!! Our precious Lily was in the hospital for 48 days preparing for and recovering from open heart surgery. It is amazing how quickly she has recovered. The more I’ve thought about the details of surgery, I’ve just been so thankful for a lot of things. Thankful that we have a daughter who came to us well, for the orphanage being willing to spend their funding and donations to pay for her surgery, thankful that God chose to leave us completely out of it so that He could get the Glory, thankful that He really held her when I wasn’t even aware she needed special holding, thankful that God spared us the stress and worry (and possible trips to see her) of even knowing what was going on.

Above all…we left the orphanage that day with a very happy little girl who got to say good bye to her friends and caretakers, and parents with very thankful hearts to see how well our Lily was cared for. For the Lord is so good to us!

Tomorrow's Trip to Orphanage

2010-11-17T21:52:00.001+08:00

We wanted to ask you all to pray for our day tomorrow. We will be leaving the hotel early in the morning and traveling 1 1/2 hours to Lily's orphanage. We pray that while there we will be able to find out as much as possible about the first 22 months of Lily's life. Please pray for Lily...that this visit will help give closure to her time there. That she would grasp and understand that the orphanage is no longer her home, and help her move forward in her bonding with us. Please pray that we would be able to get all our questions answered, especially the ones about her surgery.

After we leave the orphanage we will travel 2 1/2 hrs by car to the airport and then take a 2 hour flight home. We are so excited to see the other girls and be a family of 6 (!!) for the first time. It will be interesting to see how Lily does with the chaos we call home!! Thanks for your love and prayers for us!

First few days with Lily in Guangzhou

2010-11-17T14:45:00.001+08:00

Here is a video of our first few days with her. You can see that she eats great and is playful. The first day she sat and played by herself for a little but now we can’t set her down to go to the bathroom. She WANTS us. We are glad because that means she is attaching to us and know that we are hear for her.

Walking around the hotel

2010-11-17T14:37:00.001+08:00

Today we walked around the hotel some. One of the streets outside the hotel is a walking street and is full of people. We walked down “snack street” also and took some video for you. We didn’t see any scorpions here but have in the past. This morning I was talking with a guy from Oregon and he told me he has never seen this many people before. He logged on his computer and looked at pictures of all the snow covered trees around his house and then looked at the Oregon Traffice department webcams, he said it was incredible to see all the empty roads. but made him feel at home. I think of Black Friday (day after thanksgiving shopping) is like what a regular day of shopping in China is like.

Breakfast day 3

2010-11-17T14:34:00.001+08:00

She loves to eat. When she takes a bit she smiles. (I’m thinking our other kids are going to say you never did a blog for us or put videos up, oh well they were not adopted)

I smile when I eat.

Blow me a kiss

2010-11-17T14:09:00.001+08:00

We were playing with Lily and saying different chinese things with her. lots of kids know how to blow kisses. We asked her to blow us a kiss (给我飞吻）and she started to cry. I guess it was one of those things that you blow kisses to people when they are leaving and she thought we were leaving her. So we won’t ask her to do that anymore.

Here are a few videos of us getting Lily.

2010-11-16T22:52:00.002+08:00

Girls' Time with Gar Gar

2010-11-16T17:50:00.003+08:00

Our big girls are having a wonderful time with Travis' mom, who they call Gar Gar. This morning after Gar Gar made Sydney her milk, Sydney took one sip and said it was "Yuck!" Sandy convinced her to take another sip...she tried one more and still declared that it was "Yucky!" Gar Gar them showed Sydney what she had added to her milk...instead of the soy milk powder she had added about 3 tablespoons of salt to Sydney's milk....I guess it was pretty "Yuck"!

Morning til Nap time

2010-11-16T17:34:00.001+08:00

Today has been a fun day. She slept great between us in the bed (couldn’t get her in the crib without her waking up) she slept til 7:30am so there is hope that she will be a sleepy Todd girl like the rest. The Orphanage said 6am and that is too early for us. Only God is really up at that time.

It looks like Sydney will have a fellow finger sucker in the house for them to compare techniques. She sucks her thumb.

Lily and Sonya playing at the Civil Affairs office today.

Us in front of the sign at the Notary’s office thought the flag and Chinese was fun.

Us in front of the Civil Affairs sign in Guangzhou

The Details…

2010-11-16T16:56:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I was tying to give you all the details, but my blog program kept crashing. So, instead I just gave you pictures. I thought I would fill you in on how things are going with Lily.

She really is a precious little thing! Yesterday (Gotcha Day ) went so smooth. Our guide Rebecca (the lady taking us around and helping with all the paperwork), got to our hotel about 20 minutes before we were expecting. When she knocked on our door Travis was still getting dressed. After she came in and checked that we had all the correct paperwork, off we went to the Civil Affairs Office to meet Lily. It only took us about 10-15 minutes to get there. On our way she told us that she had called Lily’s orphanage that morning to remind them as to what time to get to the Civil Affairs office.

When we walked in that office there were a few other families waiting in the big lobby area and we sat down with them while Rebecca went to check to see if Lily had arrived. We checked over some paperwork while she was away. When she came back, she said, “Let’s go!” I said, “”Hang on.. give me a second…We’ve got to get our cameras out!” She waited about, oh, 30 seconds and we stood up and I saw Lily through the crack in the curtain to the playroom. I was thrilled I was able to recognize her! I had always wondering if I would be able to pick her out from other children.

Seconds later, there she was walking out in her little blue jeans and pink shirt!! She looked at us and then started to turn back and I picked her up. She didn’t really cry, but we did! She just let us hold her and loved one of the last minute toys I threw in our bag before be left home. She is just a petite little doll! She looks just like her pictures.

She even let Travis hold her! It is not uncommon for little Chinese adopted girls to be frightened by their big hairy American daddies. There aren’t that many men in their orphanages and they are not used to men holding them. We were thankful that she was fine being held by Travis.

Then we spent some time in a small office talking with the person who brought her from the orphanage. It was so helpful to find out basic things about her…her schedule, what she likes to eat, what kind of formula she takes, how she likes to sleep, when she normally goes poop, etc, etc.

One of the things we are most curious about is that she has already had a heart surgery which we weren’t aware of. We knew she had a heart defect but had no idea that she had had an open heart surgery already. When we go to the orphanage to visit on Thursday we hope to get as much info about that as possible. We had been praying that her heart would be healed…not sure if this is the way God had planned to answer that prayer. One of our guides thinks it’s possible that the Civil Affairs granted them the funding to have her surgery done and they went ahead and did it. She said that if the CCAA gives you the money, you have to do it right away or you loose the funding. I asked if that meant her condition had worsened…she quickly said, “No!” She said in China if a child is in really poor condition doctors don’t want to do surgery on them, because they don’t expect that the surgery will help. (This has also been our experience when we were helping our friends, the Li’s, get surgery for their daughter.)

Our first night together went well. She slept good, but Travis and I didn't. She is a cuddly little thing and gets pretty weepy at times. That is a good thing because that means she is greiving. All that she has ever known is different. She is getting to know us, but doesn't know us from any other stranger on the street.

We are enjoying getting to know each other. We are doing a lot of holding and eating. Those are 2 things that help her feel safe and aid in her bonding with us.

Today her adoption was final...and she is ours forever!

Thanks again for sharing this amazingly wonderful journey with us!

(Sorry if this post is all over the place...it keeps crashing and I keep having to pick up in a different place.)

Our first breakfast together

2010-11-16T08:46:00.000+08:00

Good Morning! We had a good night. Lily slept well but we didn't. We
were thankful she slept from 9pm until 7:30am (at the orphanage she
slept from 10pm til 6am)! She is a good eater and likes trying new
things. Today is the day our adoption is final and she is legally ours
forever. We better head to the room and get baths before our
appointment.

We are in LOVE…

2010-11-15T23:13:00.001+08:00

Today was the big day…Lily’s Gotcha Day! In the adoption community, Gotcha Day is the day you get your adopted child. Today went so smooth. I will spare you the blah, blah, blah…and get to what you really way….the photos!

This is the first time we saw her. She walked out from the playroom to meet us.

This is when we first got to hold her.

Back at our hotel room she is playing with a few toys and eating a few snacks.

…And we’re off!

2010-11-14T10:21:00.001+08:00

Girls are at church with their Gar Gar, our bags are packed, phones’ charged, packing list thrown away…and we are heading to the airport!

We will be meeting Lily for the first time in about 30 hours. Please be praying for us. For the first time EVER in the 13-14 years that I’ve known Travis, he said to me this morning that he was nervous!! That was me yesterday, but today I’m just super excited!!

Hailey’s first word to me this morning we that it was OK is I didn’t bring her a present home, because I was bringing her Lily!!

Thanks for all your love and support and we can’t wait to introduce Lily to all of you!

The Sisters’ Room

2010-11-13T17:25:00.001+08:00

Well, we will be leaving our house in less than 24 hours. It’s hard to believe it is finally here! 11 months ago we officially started the adoption process, and it’s coming to an end. We are so thankful God has led us on the journey. We are beyond thrilled to meet Lily!

I really wanted to show you Lily and Sydney’s new little room before we leave. This used to be our guest room with blue walls and white bedding. Now it is the most precious little room I’ve ever seen. The girls loved being apart of transforming it into a room for the 2 little sisters.

Here we go…

After taking all the furniture out and painting the room lavender, Travis, Madison and Hailey put the bed back together and cleaned it up.

We got a new ceiling fan, curtain rod, and curtains…

Once the new bedding was on the bed and baths were had, we had to do a little playing on Sydney and Lily’s new bed…

There’s plenty of room in this bed for Lily. The 3 girls all slept in there together that night.

After the final touches here is the new room. The dresser, lamp and picture frame were all painted white to match.

Lily and Sydney’s monogram was places above the bed. I repainted Sydney’s letters to match the new room, and made Lily’s name in cursive.

And changed the fabric on the window seat cushion.

We are thrilled with the way their room turned out. Lily will be in our room for awhile to help her bond to us, and Sydney will stay in the room with her big sisters for while. We aren’t sure exactly when they will move in this girly fairy room, but I’ll be sure to show you pictures of their first night in here.

It’s Official…we are on our way!

2010-11-11T21:07:00.001+08:00

Just wanted to share that we received our Travel Approval yesterday. Within a couple hours of that we had booked our flights and hotel room…and we are getting ready! Travis and I will leave here at noon on Sunday and fly to Guangzhou. Sunday night we plan to have a nice quiet dinner and good night’s sleep before we get Lily on Monday. (I can’t believe I’m about to have my 4th daughter!!) We will be in Guangzhou through Thursday, and then will head home that afternoon. We would love your prayers for our time there and also for the M, H and S who will be at home while we are away. Travis’ mom is here from the States and will be keeping them those several days. We are so thankful for her and all our dear friends here who will be helping her.

So, let the countdown begin…3 1/2 days til Lily is in our arms forever!!

It’s on its way…our TA that is!!!!

2010-11-08T22:28:00.001+08:00

I’m freakin’ out!! We found out tonight that our Travel Approval was mailed to us this afternoon! The awesome thing is that it was mailed to our house here in China. (Usually the CCAA mails it to our agency in the states and then the agency has to mail it back across the pond to us…which equals about 7-10 days of wasted time in the mail) But the sweet compassionate CCAA agreed to mail ours directly to us!!

So….the bottom line is we hope to have precious Lily in our arms this time next week!!!!! I finally think I know when my due date it…Monday, November 15th!

The timing of Lily’s arrive couldn’t be more perfect…Gar Gar (Travis’ mom) arrived here last night and will be here to stay with the big girls while we go get the little sis.

Well, I gotta go get packing…or something!

A Sneak Peek

2010-10-29T21:44:00.001+08:00

Well, while we are waiting on Lily I have been trying to get her new room decorated. I’ve been really proud of all my inexpensive ways to convert our guest room into 2 little sisters’ bedroom. I have lots of pictures of the entire room, but I’m not quite ready to unveil it.

Today, I was so proud of my new addition. What I’m going to show you will not be that impressive to those of you living in the West, but to those of you living in the East, I think you are really going to like it.

This is one of those examples of something you see everyday in the U.S., but I’ve never seen here. OK…enough already…Sydney and Lily’s monogram on their new wall:

I had been trying to figure out how to put their monogram on their wall for awhile. I knew I wouldn’t be painting it. I had considered ordering it on Etsy and having someone bring it in, but that just seemed like a pain and I didn’t want to spend the money. Then I thought I would try one of our local print shops and see if they could do it. (For those of you picturing Kinko’s, you should scratch that imagine, because our “local print shop” looks nothing like that.) Anyway, this afternoon I walked over to the print shop and explained to them what I wanted. I showed the lady where to download the font I wanted and 10 minutes later I was walking home with my wall art. I immediately called my very artistic friend, Lori, and asked her if she could help me hang it.

She came right over and 15 minutes later I had a cute monogram on the wall, and was on my way to pick up the big girls from school.

This is one of the things that actually turned out to be easier and much cheaper than it would have been in the States. I think I’ve found a new hobby and will be creating some new things with my new find.

I promise I will post pictures of the entire new room soon. As far as a Lily update goes, we are trying to wait patiently for our Travel Approval. Once we have our TA we will be heading to pick Lily up!!! We are really hoping that we will be able to pick her up in about 2 weeks! Stay tuned for pictures of her new room…and hopefully, news that we have received our Travel Approval!

9 months pregnant with no due date

2010-10-19T17:28:00.001+08:00

That is what I feel like these days. I feel like I’m hugely pregnant but have no idea when we may meet our new little baby.

We have one more grueling step before we can go pick up Lily. We are waiting for our last documents from the US government to be delivered to the CCAA in Beijing so they can issue our Travel Approval. Once we have the TA was can go pick up Lily!!!! A week or so ago there were some reports of other adoptive families getting their TA’s in 4 days! This process usually takes 2-3 weeks, so I started freaking out about not having things done. So, last week I started thinking we may get Lily on November 1st or the 8th…now I’m thinking it may be more like the 15th. Either way, I’m dying!

In the meantime, we have converted our guest room into Sydney and Lily’s new room. It is super cute (I’ll post pictures soon) and our family had a great time working on it. It is just sitting empty waiting on those cute little sisters to occupy it. (It will actually be awhile before they move into it, since Lily will sleep in our room for awhile to help her attach to us.)

I’ve also been trying to decide what size clothes Lily will wear and then get out what i think will fit her. Based on the measurements we have been given (which may or not be accurate), I think she may be wearing 18 months clothes. After checking with others who have adopted children from China, I think that may be a pretty generous guess…I think she may actually be wearing 12 month clothes. Who knows?!

These are just a sampling of the questions that fill my mind and heart every moment of the day. Praying she comes quick…I don’t think I can wait much longer!

My Blind Date

2010-10-10T20:29:00.000+08:00

A few weeks ago we had the privileged of meeting 2 people who we have known and been working closely with for the past 10 months…the President and China Director of our adoption agency. They were in China meeting with their staff and holding some seminars in various cities about adoption for expats. We have been so satisfied with our experience with them that we invited them to come to our city to do one of their seminars.

On my way to pick them up for dinner, it hit me that i felt like i was going on a blind date. Travis was coming directly from work so it was just me going to pick them up. The thing much different about this “blind date” was that they already knew everything about us…and i do mean everything!

We had a fantastic time with Jim and Josh Savley at dinner and then at the adoption seminar. It was great to have so many other expat families attend and be very interested in growing their families by adoption.

The following night our whole family went with them to dinner again. The girls had fun meeting them and knowing that they are the people who introduced us to Lily.

Mid-Autumn Festival

2010-10-09T20:06:00.001+08:00

This post is a little behind, since the Chinese celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in late September. I can’t really tell you what the Mid-Autumn Festival is all about but usually family and friend get together for a big meal and then afterwards go check out the moon (which is always full on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival). Unfortunately in the city we live in we usually can’t see the moon for the “clouds”.

Another major part of the holiday is to give and eat mooncakes. Most people don’t even really like them, but just have fun being apart of the tradition of giving and eating them.

This year we went with some new friend to a restaurant near the center of the city that is actually on a bridge. We only managed to get a few pictures before our battery went dead.

A lovingly prepared gift

2010-09-14T15:23:00.002+08:00

Today in a city in Southern China our little Lily will be getting her first gift. We put together a care package to send to her at her orphanage where she waits for us.

Here is what she will see when she gets the gift

A soft pink teddy bear, a picture book we made with pictures of her and us in it, 2 disposable camera, our official letter saying she is ours, and a handwritten letter from us.

When Lily is shown the book, this will be first time she has seen our faces or probably even heard that she will be adopted. Our hope is seeing our pictures will help prepare her for us. We hope that her adjustment to us will be as smooth as possible, but it will be traumatic for her…to be placed in the arms of someone you don’t know is horrifying enough, but also people who look nothing like you. We pray that her caretakers will read it or at least show it to her.

Our hope for the disposable camera is that her caretakers will use them to snap as many pictures as possible of her. Of course, we want these pictures, but we also want them for Lily. All kids love to look at pictures of themselves from when they were younger, and adopted children are no different…she will want to know her story and see where she used to live and who she used to play with.

Below are all the things Lily will not see when she opens her gift:

Sydney loving the stew out of the little bear for Lily. It was her way of sending hugs to Lily

Madison & Hailey looking through the picture book before we mailed it.

Hailey also sending hugs to her lil sis.

Sweet Madison showing off “her page”. Her page says in Chinese, “I’m your oldest sister. My name is Madison. I’m 7 1/2 years old. I love you so much and can’t wait for you to come home.

Our dear friend, Xiao Gan, got in on the action, too. She helped me write the letter to the orphanage thanking them for taking such good care of Lily and all the other orphans in their care. We told them that we couldn’t imagine how difficult their job is and we pray that God will bless them richly for all of the love they have show His little ones.

It was really fun to put Lily’s package together. Hopefully she will receive it today or tomorrow. We look forward to years and years of getting to lavish wonderful gifts on her.

Introducing…Lily Grace Todd

2010-09-04T08:37:00.001+08:00

On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, Travis and I saw the beautiful face of Wu Xiu Li (吴秀莉）for the very first time. We were sitting on our sofa together as we opened the email that had information and a picture of her. Here is what we saw

I couldn’t believe how much her eyes resembled Madison, Hailey and Sydney’s.

Then we opened these 2 pictures of her taken on the playground at her orphanage in Guangdong Province. These photos were taken when she was 13 months old and she was walking while holding on to things.

Since that night in June we have been praying for her and praying that she continued to grow and have good health. Even though we got those pictures in June, they were taken in January.

So, now Lily is 20 months old (born December 29, 2008) and we hadn’t seen any new pictures or had an update on her until last week, when we got these pictures

She is now walking and talking and has continued to grow. She weighs 22 lbs and is 78 cm tall.

We treasure every photo we have of her. These 5 photos are the only photos we may ever have of her first 20 months of life.

We all are so excited to bring her home. We can’t wait to hold her in our arms. Her big sisters talk about her all the time. We are praying that the final steps to bring her home will go quickly and we can go get her in November.

She is ours!

2010-09-03T13:35:00.000+08:00

We were so excited to get this document in the mail last week! It is the document from the Chinese government that officially gives us permission to adopt Wu Xiu Li. They had given us pre-approval but this is the letter that says they have reviewed all the pages of things we had sent to them, and they are allowing us to adopt her.

Every official document in China has a red star stamp on it. We have been waiting on this approval for 2 months, so we were so glad to get it. It also means we are one more step closer to bringing Lily home. Please pray that the next several steps will go quickly and we can have her home in November! Picture of her to come real soon!

10 years ago…what a day!

2010-09-02T05:32:00.000+08:00

The past 10 years have flown by so fast! 10 years ago (way back in 2000) I married the most awesome guy I know. You may know him for his striking good-looks and very fun personality, but he is also the most tender, loving husband, daddy and friend that I could ever have imagined.

Here are some pictures from that fun day 10 years ago in Wetumpka, Alabama. It was one of the very best days in my life. I remember Travis and I talking on that day about how overwhelmed we were by the love that all our family and friends showed us on that day…and I still feel that way today when I think about our wedding day.

Here are some pictures to take you back to that beautiful September day.

Happy Anniversary Travis!

1st-ever Family Cookie Challenge

2010-08-15T22:27:00.001+08:00

On Saturday we decided to let Madison and Hailey each cook a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. They stood side my side on their stools in the kitchen and prepared their cookies. Travis and I helped them measure, pour, stir, and mix their creations. On the last step (you know where you add the chips), they got to choose what kind of candy or chips they wanted to put in their cookies. While they were baking, we called some “judges” to come over and judge their cookies.

The cookies were judged on looks, smell, candy and taste.

We didn’t dare let the judges know who’s cookie was who’s…we would not stand for any favoritism.

Now for the intense sampling and voting

We even allowed the contestants to vote

After votes were tallied, Hailey’s m&m cookies were declared the winner…..oh, but wait! We found Gunner’s missing ballet!

And what would you know….his votes tied it up! So, the 1st ever cookie challenge was a tie! Madison’s mini-milk-chocolate-chips-with-a-sprinkling-of-white-chocolate-chip cookies tied with Hailey’s cookies loaded with m&m’s and a few white chocolate chips!

Some Summertime shots

2010-08-13T18:14:00.001+08:00

Sydney wearing Morgan’s fancy shoes and tank top as a dress.

Father’s Day weekend when we went to see Toy Story 3

Our last night with Amy before she left…sob…sob!

Hanging around with Mo

Doll Tea Party with Kate

A Rare Sunny Day

2010-07-27T19:54:00.001+08:00

This summer we have had the strangest weather…pretty cool with lots of rain and gray skies. On the rare chance of a nice sunny day…I have to take the kids out! Today we tried out this pool park that is clear across town from us. Some friends had recommended it and it was awesome! Cheap, clean, and not very crowded. After you look at this video, you may think it looks pretty crowded, but it is all relative…and this is NOT crowded for here! We were really glad to find a fun new place to take the kids for a summertime treat. Check out their rad moves on the big slide!

Bike Riding!

2010-07-23T13:58:00.001+08:00

We are so excited that Madison is riding her bike. Check out a video of her from today.

The dear Li Family

2010-07-22T23:12:00.001+08:00

Some of you may heard me talk about this dear family before. The Li’s are some of our closest local friends here. We first met the wife (Xiao Ying) in March of 2002 and we became fast friends. Her and her husband (Xiao Li) had a little girl (Li Ying Yue) who was about 3 at the time. They have been a very big part of our family since we have lived in Asia. They are really strong believers, and are such an encouragement to us. Back in March of 2008, they were blessed with another beautiful daughter, En Ci. Before En Ci was born, they found out that she would have several severe heart defect and would likely not live long at all. They weren’t sure if she would even survive for an hour. Despite the advice of many doctors who were telling Xiao Ying to abort her, they chose the hard, loving road and gave En Ci life! She was born on March 3, 2008 and stayed in the hospital for several weeks.

The doctors here didn’t really give them much info and they hardly knew what her life would be like (or how long her life would be)…but they loved and cared for her so tenderly. It wasn’t unusual for Xiao Li to go to the hospital at 5am to get in line to see the pediatric cardiologist who only sees patients one morning each month.

After her short, but impactful life, En Ci died last July 24th. Since her death, her parents have continued to shine for Jesus. They have trusted in the Lord like no one I’ve ever seen. They know He is faithful and good, but miss their daughter as much as anyone who has lost a child does. They are so generous. While En Ci was sick they saw people they had never met (and will never meet) give them thousand of dollars to help their daughter. About 5 days after En Ci died they came to us and wanted to return all the money that was given to them to help with her surgery (that she never had). They had every dime that was given to them, and didn’t want to use any of it to pay for her other hospital bills…they only wanted the money to go towards what it was given for…a surgery. I wanted to share their story with you so that you can pray for them over the next few days. It was 1 year ago that En Ci went to be with Jesus. Please pray that God will allow them to grieve for her, and continue to heal their hearts.

This was their family’s last family picture before En Ci died.

Referral!!!

2010-07-04T20:44:00.001+08:00

We are so excited to share with you all that we received a referral for a little 18 month old beautiful Chinese girl! Words can’t begin to tell you how excited we were to see pictures and read all about our new little daughter! It was so fun to introduce Wu Xiu Li (which means beautiful, elegant, graceful) to her big sisters. Her name really describes her so well…both Travis and I were amazed by how beautiful she was when we first saw her photo. Her eyes look so much like her big sisters’ eyes. We wanted to wait until we got our pre-approval before we shared with others. We will wait to share her photo until we get our Letter of Acceptance from the CCAA that we have been officially approved to adopt her.

We have continued to be in awe of God’s timing and goodness towards us in this process! We were logged into the CCAA on Monday, June 21st and we received our referral the very next day on Tuesday, June 22nd…now that is what I call quick! We didn’t officially start our adoption until December 29th, 2009 and we hope Xiu Li (pronounces Show Lee) will be in our arms by the end of November 2010!

Some fun facts about Xiu Li:

Birth date: December 29, 2008

Birthplace: Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China

“I am Special” by Hailey

2010-07-01T21:51:00.004+08:00

Check out this original song written by Hailey. She wrote and performed it just days after returning from a trip to the States with me. I think you will get the point that she felt pretty special. I’m glad that she felt loved by getting to go on a special trip to America with me.

Biking with Morgan

2010-06-30T22:45:00.001+08:00

Our sweet Morgan has gone above and beyond her duty as a cousin! She has been so sweet and fun to her 3 little cousins. She has taken each of them on a date. All the dates consisted of a bike ride, and then have varied from there. She took Madison to get her fingernails painted and then to Peter’s to split a ice cream flurry. She took Hailey to the grocery store and the stationary store. Since Sydney is just 2 1/2 her date was just a bike ride. Check out the video of Sydney riding on the back of Morgan’s bike. Cute!!

Cousin Mo!

2010-06-25T17:49:00.001+08:00

Our sweet 17 year old niece, Morgan, has been here with us for the past 3 weeks. It has been so fun to have her here! All 5 of us would agree…plus all the neighborhood kids and adults. She has been busy having a Chinese language tutor 2 hours/day plus teaching swimming lessons while she is here. Not to mention all the other things she’s been going…going skydiving in a wind tunnel; shopping; going to museums; studying; riding bikes, scooters, taxis, and rickshaws all over town; seeing movies; babysitting; taking her bike to get it fixed; and pulling out Hailey’s first tooth. She is quickly become my girl’s favorite cousin (other cousins, you better get over here fast! Don’t let Morgan get the #1 position!) We love you dear Mo!

Logged in!

2010-06-21T22:48:00.001+08:00

We are completely blown away right now! Our dossier (adoption paperwork) didn’t arrive in Beijing at the CCAA( (China Center of Adoption Affairs) until Friday, June 19th! Usually dossiers sit on someone’s desk for at least a week or 10 days before someone logs them in. Well, they logged ours in on Monday, June 21st….yes, the very next work day! We are so glad that everything has arrived in it’s final destination. This means that we are now eligible to be matched with our daughter. Hopefully, we will know who she is soon! We are praying for you, sweet girl!

Our local butcher

2010-05-14T07:36:00.000+08:00

As Sydney and I are on our morning stroll. We saw the butcher outside
our apartment complex.

Orphanage Visit

2010-05-07T21:25:00.001+08:00

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to visit a local orphanage with some other moms from Madison’s school. Of the 9 of us that went, one has 2 adopted daughters from China, and 4 of us are in the process of adopting from China and Ethiopia. Even though we live here, it is usually fairly difficult to get to visit the orphanages. Thankfully the school has had an ongoing relationship with this orphanage. Several families at the school have actually fostered (and later adopted) children who weren’t thriving there. It was a small orphanage and so we just went in and played/held the kids for an hour or so. Most of the children there were over 3 and had a variety of special needs. I really pray that they will be adopted into loving families.

My friend Cary & I held these little boys the whole time we were there. It was cool to sing “Jesus Loves Me” to these little ones and pray over them while we were holding them.

It was a pretty emotional day to know the grief their biological parents must feel in having to bring them to the orphanage. I’m sure each of them thought they couldn’t give their child the proper care they needed. In China, it would have been much easier (and culturally acceptable) for them to have aborted them. I’m very thankful that their biological parents chose life for these precious ones.

The Urban Life

2010-05-03T16:45:00.000+08:00

When you live in a huge city there are some things that you do in your house that you just wouldn’t do if you lived in the suburbs. A few examples are that you pot plants in your house, you BBQ on your balcony (instead of your backyard), and your kids ride riding toys in your small apartment.

The newest addition to that list is that when you live in an urban area with no outside/backyard space, you can have a swing in your bedroom. I think you also have to have a pretty cool dad who will, not only allow it, but will spend several hours getting it drilled into the concrete ceiling.

Here are some picture of the girls swinging on their new swing.

Hailey was especially excited about that swing, since she LOVES to swing and there are very few swings in our city.

Sydney getting in on the fun!

Only in a city of 10 million people will you see this

2010-05-03T16:14:00.000+08:00

I was just walking out of my office and just saw this and thought it
was funny.

People live in the city but most are from the farming areas. So they
still keep roosters and chickens around that wake us up at 5am.

Neighbors

2010-05-02T15:59:00.000+08:00

We have the cutest little couple who live in our complex. They walk around every afternoon and have started looping down in our circle (to see the foreign kids, I think ). I think they are so precious. The man is 98 years old and his wife is 90! I can’t imagine all the things they have seen in their life time. I think they look great for their age, which is usually the opposite of what I think of the locals here. Because of their hard pasts, usually I feel like people usually look much older than they are, but not this little couple. I have a difficult time understanding them when they talk since they speak the local dialect and in very soft voices. I hope to find out more of their story in the future, because I know they must have some amazing stories.

Here Madison is with them. Notice how little clothes Madison is wearing compared with their clothes. Typically Chinese are “scared of the cold” where I think Americans are more afraid of the hot.

NOTE: To Be Used in Sydney’s rehearsal dinner powerpoint

2010-05-01T15:44:00.000+08:00

My dear friend Ashlei is in town with her son Grady. Last night we went on a stroll with her and the Sorrel’s. Here are the younger kids riding in their strollers. Grady (who will be 2 this summer), Sydney (who will be 3 on August 23), and Gunner (who will be 2 on August 23). We love both of these families and I would be more than happy to be able to use this picture at Sydney’s rehearsal dinner one day.

Rollerblading Club

2010-04-30T21:27:00.000+08:00

Madison is in the rollerblading club at her school. Every Friday the elementary school gets to participate in different clubs. They change the clubs every quarter and they have been the highlight of Madison's week. In the past she has done the Art Club, Technology Club, Traditional Dance Club, and some others that I can't recall. Well, this quarter she is in the Discovery Club and the Rollerblading Club. Last Friday I was helping with the Technology Club so as I was waiting for school to be over, I got to watch her and other 1st and 2nd graders roller blade. They were so cute.

Here she is acting silly.

Her and her friend Hannah blading around the cones.

And another shot of her in action.

We are so thankful for her school and that she loves it so much. She is learning a ton, but she also gets to do extracurricular activities that she enjoys too.

These sweet little sisters

2010-04-29T21:19:00.001+08:00

Last weekend we were out exploring and thought we would go check out a new international hotel that just opened up recently in our block. Here are Madison, Hailey and Sydney acting silly in the hotel. It is so fun having 3 little girls who really love each other...yes, they fuss and fight, but I'm so thankful for the genuine love they have for each other. I love watching them with each other and can't wait to see them love on their little mei mei (mei mei means little sister in Chinese).

A Walk Home from Dinner

2010-04-28T20:39:00.011+08:00

Today was one of the first nice Spring days we've had. It has been a long, dreary, cold winter. So tonight we decided we would walk to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. It's about a mile and 1/2 walk so we pushed Sydney in her stroller, and Madison and Hailey rode their scooters. There is a lot to see in 1.5 miles in this city. On the way back we came up to a little exercise park and Sydney hopped out of her stroller and the big girls threw down their scooters to go play.

We played for awhile with the exercise equipment.

Then the girls each held a little girl's tiny puppy.

Then they scooted down the block to another park and Madison wanted to buy a bird from this man selling birds from his bike. Of course, we said no. I know there are some bird lovers out there, but I think a bird will be the last pet we ever own.

That is just a few of the things we see in a normal evenings stroll around the block.

G.R.I.T.S.

2010-04-23T09:43:00.004+08:00

Girls Raised In The South (of China) still love their grits. It is pretty amazing to me that our girls love grits! They have lived their whole life outside of the southern US, but still love grits. Hailey can eat a huge bowl of grits....everyday! She absolutely loves them. This creates a pretty big problem since we can't get grits here. When we go to the states or we have family or friends visit, grits are on the top of our list of things for them to bring...not just a few packets either....more like 10lbs of grits!

Hailey and Sydney enjoying their grits

For our daughter

2010-04-20T21:59:00.003+08:00

For the most part we have failed miserably at blogging. I way overthink my posts which, in turn, prevents me from posting anything. I really want to do this. One of the reason I think I'm not good at it is because I really find our life to be pretty normal. Many of you would say what is normal about living in China, but it does feel quite ordinary to us.

One thing about us that may not seem very ordinary is that we are about to have a little Chinese daughter. We have always wanted to adopt and now is finally the time. I am going to have a 4th daughter! I never thought I would have 4 children...much less 4 daughters! I'm really going to try again at blogging (for the 3rd time, i think), if for no other reason, but for our new daughter. I want her to be able to look back and see how much she was wanted, loved and prayed for by the 5 of us! We can't wait to meet you, sweet little girl! If the process continues like it is going, it may be sooner than later.

Having a wonderful time with the Lord

2009-10-21T12:30:00.000+08:00

I am sitting in Turkey at breakfast along the Medditeranean Sea.
Praying for our friends and family. Especially Sonya's patents as they
quickly travel back to America to be with Linda's brother who may pass
away soon. They have a long two days ahead of them. Also for our kids
who had to quickly say goodbye to their gran and pop.

Our time here in turkey has been great so far. We have met people from
all over. I can't mention all the countries but as I meet some I thing
wow you are a man who must daily get critized my your family and
friends for hat you believe. It is so easy to forget sometimes the
coat of following Jesus. Of course as I sit next to a beautiful pool
and the ocean I like tr fringe benefits thy cone with it :)

Sausage and butter pancake sandwich

2009-08-21T07:47:00.000+08:00

Well we are at mcdonalds again for our Friday morning date. This is
what Hailey likes a sausage with butter on both sides in the middle of
the pancakes. Then she eats it like a hamburger. I once heard the
breakfast pancake sausage meal was the worst thing to eat here. :)

Is it the moon or sun

2009-08-13T07:22:00.000+08:00

Our kids said this was the moon while we were on the way to school. I
kept correcting them that it is the sun not the moon. Poor kids
growing up in polluted china.

2009-08-06T19:28:00.000+08:00

Madison's Chinese dentist experience

2009-07-28T09:32:00.000+08:00

We had a fun time at the dentist :). Madison had a cavity on her back
teeth and te drilled it out this morning. They then filled it. The
dentist did not feel she needed anthesia (pain killer not sure I
spelled it right). She did great and it didn't hurt her. Way to go 6
year old.

Lots of shoes

2009-07-12T19:24:00.000+08:00

We have a ton of shoes by our doorway. It is easy to see mine as they
are the boats by the door. This morning they were all in order and not
so many. Over the day the three sweet little girls I have took more
and more shoes out. I love my life.

funny things I've seen in China

2009-05-29T09:36:00.000+08:00

Here is one of the things I've seen around China. I was going to McDonalds with the kids one day and as I pull up I see this guy going up the exit ramp of a parking deck. The parking deck exits on the second or third floor so he has a ways to back down and you can see the cars backed up behind him. Stupid driving things like this are a daily occurrence.

Smoking in china

2009-04-14T08:48:00.000+08:00

Today as I drive the kids to school I once again realize that most
people here smoke. I had to turn on the recirculate air for the air
con as our car was filling up with cigarette smoke at the red lights.
It is crazy all the people smoking here. I have done this twice over
the past week. Have a wonderful smoke free day.

Old man walking in a square

2008-09-29T12:03:00.000+08:00

Over the years I have been amazed by this old man who walks around this one patch of concrete every morning. I have seen him for the past four years, only in the morning though. He goes out around 6am and walks for one hour around this square patch of concrete. Usually one to two cars are parked in this spot. He will walk the longest route around the cars. If the cars are too close for him to get around he will just walk back and forth. This morning it reminded me of a movie where a man is in his jail cell and the only exercise he can get is to walk his 6x6 foot cell. Makes me wonder if this guy was in jail for a long time. I say this because he could walk in a circle around the driveway or even a larger circle around the complex we live.

Crazy dog and olympic fever

2008-08-10T19:59:00.000+08:00

Check out the picture of this dog and the olympic beijing put into its back. It was a big poodle and the olympic stuff was raised off her back. I told the owner how cute. Sonya said take a picture if they always want to take pictures of my kids we can take a picture of the silly dog.

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

Olympic Fun!

2008-08-09T14:37:00.003+08:00

08-08-08! The Beijing Olympics are here. We had some friends over last night to watch the opening ceremony. It was really fun and festive! Madison has been bragging all day that she stayed up until 12 midnight last night...I guess she should be...it was the first time for that. She was insistent on seeing the Torch (since we hyped it up and she didn't get to see it when it came through here) so we let her stay up. A friend and I made an Olympic ring cake. I was inspired to make it because my good friend Ginger had an Olympic ring cake for her 8th birthday. I'm sure it doesn't compare to Ms. Marci's cake (Ginger's mom), but we gave it the good ole' college try.

No Torch for us!

2008-08-07T14:28:00.007+08:00

We tried! We got up and out the door really early (for us), and off to see the Torch. From the minute we left our complex you could tell there was something special going on. People were in a bit of a festive mood wearing their "I Love China" T-shirts and waving their Olympic flags. I guess we all had the same idea. Once we got to the area where we thought the torch was to be, we started seeing police everywhere! They were literally everywhere! They had all the roads blocked to cars, bike, and pedestrians all around the area. I got out of the car twice with Madison to see if we could charm a cop...he just said, "There are too many people there. It's not safe for her. You should go home and watch it on TV." That is basically what the other officers said too. I don't think we ever got anywhere near the Torch....we were at least 2-3 miles from it at our closest. The security was unreal and only the people that were invited to attend were there. I guess if we had stayed home, we would have at least seen the Torch while it was in our city. Oh, well!

Olympic Torch is coming!

2008-08-04T15:18:00.006+08:00

The Olympic Torch is making it's last stop before going to Beijing in our city! It's not because we live right next to Beijing. It is because the Chinese government wants to show their support to the earthquake region. Anyway, I've been doing my research on where is it going to be and when. They are trying to keep the details of the torch's whereabouts on the down low, but I'm intent on getting the scoop. We know it is going to come through her tomorrow, but just don't know exactly where and when. I'm planning to dress my kids in their "I Love China" shirts with Olympic flags in hand, and hope the guards will let the cute little foreign kids in to see the Olympic Torch. (For those of you who live here or have visited, you know that 1 little foreign kid is hard for anyone to resist...so 3 in "I Love China" T-shirts will be simply irresistible...or at least I hope so.)

Police at every bus stop.

2008-07-29T11:46:00.000+08:00

Last week two bombs exploded at a bus stop. In a city about n hour flight from us. This week at every bus stop there are guards with electric bikes to watch over the stops. Put that into perspective of how many bus stops that is in a city of 10 million. My office is 3/4 of a mile from the house and there are 5 stops between them. That is a lot of new people to hire and mobilize. China is never at a loss for workers.

Cheap way to make calls

2008-07-25T21:06:00.000+08:00

I found a cool service recently for calling around the world. The cost is a little over 2 cents a minute with the service then I have to call Beijing or SH which is long distance for me but only costs 4 cents a minute using 17951 in front of the number. Also it gives me a number in other countries. So right now I have a special number to call my mom and my sisters. I also have a special number for them to call me on. it rings directly to my cellphone so it is easy. I also have it setup with my friend Erik in Singapore, so he has a Singaporean number to call locally and it rings me in china. I have a china number I call and it rings him in Singapore. Pretty cool. I called my mom and she said it was clearer than Skype (costs a little more) if you want to sign up you can click this link and it gives me some credit. There is also a way to make it so that it is free but it sounded too complicated for me to try unless you had a really really long phone conversation going on.

Visit http://www.rebtel.com/?inviteid=%friend.inviteid%&utm_source=tell-friend-web&utm_medium=email

Great trip home

2008-07-25T12:45:00.000+08:00

We had a great trip back from Thailand. We sat in the airport with about 50 friends and the girls just ran around having fun. It was nice leaving at 2pm since it gave us the morning to pack up and say bye to friends. The planes worked out well. We were a little late leaving Thailand but we had a three hour layover in Kunming so it worked out well. We only had to wait for an hour in Kunming. Wai Wong, a friend, came and picked us up in our van from the airport and then help us carry our 220lbs of luggage up the 4 flights of stairs. The girls played with their toys and we ate Peter's Tex mex at 10:30 at night as a family. Sonya and I stayed up until 2am playing on the computer and getting things organized after a month away. This morning it was great to drink coffee from my coffee pot and also to take a nice shower.

Closing of a fun summer

2008-07-23T12:13:00.002+08:00

This was us dressed up last night as we went to a dinner. Last night we finished up our School of Leadership in Thailand. We went to a nice hotel and had a great dinner. Sonya stayed with the main group and they had some singing, prayed and some people sharing about the summer. I took around 20 kids into a kids room and played with them (I mainly watched the movie Cars and yelled at kids to put that chair down or put that table down). We are sad for our time to be up here. It was a fun summer of watching our kids play with other kids and being able to just hang out and talk with so many people.

The Third Child

2008-07-23T11:11:00.004+08:00

Since Sydney was born I've tried to be very intentional about taking her picture, writing in her baby book, etc. I always think it is really funny that the 1^st child has so many pictures and with each child the photos decrease exponentially. Well, I must admit we have about half as many pictures of Sydney as we do Madison, but I thought I'd share a few with you. She is 11 months old today…I can hardly believe it! She started out as a pretty high maintenance baby (and stayed that way for months), but over the past 4-6 weeks she has turned a big corner…she is so fun! She laughs all the time, and gets so excited if she hasn't seen us for awhile (like after a nap or when Travis gets home from work). So here are a few pictures of her.

We may be lacking in Sydney pictures…but, trust me, she is not lacking in love or attention from her big sissies!

Sick Kids

2008-07-22T23:46:00.005+08:00

Since we have been in Thailand all 3 of our girls have been sick at some point. You hate for your kids to be sick, but they can be so sweet and cuddly when they are. I didn't take any pictures of Hailey when she was sick, but here are the other girls.

Fancy Girls

2008-07-22T23:30:00.002+08:00

We took the girls out one Sunday afternoon for a fancy lunch at a local hotel here in Chiang Mai and then let them get their nails done at the mall. Here are our girls with their friend, Emma, who lives in Beijing.

The lady also painted little flowers on their nails...they thought they were so big!

Tiger Kingdom in Chiangmai

2008-07-22T23:29:00.002+08:00

Our family went to a Tiger park and played with some baby tigers and some big tigers. It was fun playing with them. Madison and Hailey had fun with the tigers but I think they enjoyed feeling the fish more.

I'm trying!

2008-07-12T01:31:00.004+08:00

I really want to be good at this blogging thing. I'm trying...I promise! We are in a small town in northern Thailand right now. Travis is the administrator of a leadership training we are having for our local leaders. We are enjoying being with friends who live in other places in Asia. The girls are having a blast swimming everyday. Hailey has started swimming, Madison has become an amazing swimmer, and Sydney is enjoying floating around the pool. The pool is the easiest form of enterntainment for the girls...so I love it too. I also get to hang with the other moms who are there. I'll try to post some pictures of them swimming...it would help if I actually took some pictures, or, better yet, took the camera with me.

Sydney will be a big sister?

2008-05-28T12:52:00.005+08:00

Ok...No, I'm not pregnant and No, we aren't getting ready to adopt. But, today Madison informed me that Sydney would be a big sister one day. Since she was predicting the future, I thought I'd find out if she would be a big sister to a baby boy or girl. Madison said it would be a baby boy. I went on to tell her that I didn't know if we knew how to take care of boys...what would we do?! She said that we would let him play with Hailey because she plays rough...so there you have it....we will have a baby boy in the future and we will let Hailey take care of him.

We're Back!

2008-05-27T22:11:00.006+08:00

Travis tried to get me into this about 2 years ago and I so wasn't interested...well, here I am now. We will see how this goes the 2nd time around. We've added another princess to our family since then. Sweet Sydney Ruth joined our family 9 months ago on August 23rd. She is such a blessing to our family, but the jump from 2 to 3 really rocked our world.

In My family, I am taught to be lady like at all times

2006-06-06T16:05:00.001+08:00

Madison at Gran and Pops house out in the carport playing with Cody

Hailey eating pizza!

2006-06-05T16:03:00.002+08:00

Hailey is in Hattiesburg eating Papa John's before we head back to China