Introducing Our Daughter ...

It is with great joy and thanksgiving that we introduce you to our daughter.  

Gan An Na was born on October 20, 2011 she is just 7 months old. 

She is waiting for us at the Jianxin Social Welfare Institute in the Jiangxi Province

We have named her Ellie An Na.

We stand in awe of God's perfect plan for our family. We have watched the evidence of his hand every step of this journey. He has orchestrated every step of this process in such an amazing way that we sit back and give him all the glory! God is good! 

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Ephesians 3:20

When our feet hit the ground we will share more about our little girl and how clearly we have seen his hand at work.  

School Is Out

It feels like yesterday I was taking a picture of Eric and the kids heading to breakfast before their first day of school. I can't believe how fast the year flew by. It was a year full of fun, growth and 

tremendous blessings. 

As Eric and the kids left for breakfast and I sat down to write their teachers notes I got all teary. I feel so blessed that each of the kids were truly blessed with amazing teachers this year. They were a perfect fit for each of their personalities. If you remember back to the first day of school post

Alexa was in tears and totally stressed out on her way into school her first day. It usually takes her a month or so to settle in and let her nerves calm down. It is hard on this mom's heart to watch and yet I know God is working on both of us and growing us in the process. This year was amazing. Within a day Alexa's little heart, mind and soul was at a very peaceful place. I didn't seeing an anxiety or stress rise up once in her the whole year which is absolutely amazing. I attribute it to her amazing teacher. She has an amazing gift in how she handles her classroom, how she teaches and her sweet, gentle spirit.

 

Alexa grew in so many areas this year and her confidence soared through the roof in so many subjects. She turned into a complete book worm . Her heart and compassion for others struggling her classroom was an area her teacher said she also stepped up to the plate. She was quick to recognize when others were anxious or needed help and found a way to gently come along side of them. I just can't believe she is going to be a 4th grader. This was the first year she really voiced being sad about school being out because she was going to miss her friends. Alexa has been given the gift of a couple very special friends and it was so fun to see their friendship grow and move to a new level this year.

 It wasn't uncommon for them to make things for each other and give each other notes of encouragement. One of her friends often made little bookmarks with verses on them. I pray their friendship and love for the Lord continues to grow in the years to come. 

 Emma went through her 2nd grade year in true Emma style. She loved everything about school and embraced it head on. She had two teachers this year that job shared. They were a perfect fit for her and each of them brought out something different in her. I saw her heart for the Lord grow this year in a new way. The excitement she had for the Bible and new nuggets of information in stories she heard over and over again. Emma felt like it was a great year as she gained confidence in her Math and Reading. Her very favorite part of 2nd grade was studying the human body.Over and over we heard from her teachers that she had a huge heart and just loves life. Emma has always had a large group of girls she plays with but this year she had a couple that became her best friends. It has been fun to see those relationships blossom this year.

 

Shane had a great year too. It started out a little rocky with a few time outs as he was figuring life out as a kindergartner. He had an amazing teacher that was gentle and loving and yet ran a tight ship so Shane knew exactly where the lines were.

 It was amazing to watch him grow and blossom this year. He matured so much in his self control and ability to focus and finish. He is a true boy who loves to wiggle, talk, poke his neighbor ... so watching him work through all that and come to a place where he knew what was expected and see him handle it was fun to see. 

 I think Kindergarten is the most amazing year as they go from hardly knowing their letter to reading. They go from learning numbers to adding and telling time. They go from just figuring how to write all their letters correctly to writing words and complete sentences. They go from looking so little to losing teeth and looking all grown up! I am so proud of Shane and the way he grew socially, emotionally, academically and spiritually this year. It was a big year for him and he is ready for 1st grade. I am just not sure I am.

 

The kids had their final chapel of the year that I got to go to and then when school was out at noon we said our good byes to friends and teachers for the summer. I love summer and was so looking forward to it but as I hugged teachers goodbye and told them thanks for all they did for my kids I got pretty teary! I feel so blessed that God gave them all such amazing teachers. There were precious memories made this year and each of them had an impact on my kids in a very special way. The big kids and I headed out for a special celebratory lunch. Later we got home and I had a fun little idea pop in my head.

 

If you know me you know I love to throw a party so I thought why not have a "School Is Out" party.

 

We made a quick run to Target and I made some sneaky purchases and while the kids played outside I pulled a quick little party together. Thank goodness for people who make darling printables and post them for free on line ... these printables made things pretty easy.

 

We had a fun evening of celebrating a great year and we are looking forward to a fun summer!

The Tulip Festival

We headed to my home town last weekend for the annual Tulip Festival. The kids were so excited to see papa, grammy and all their cousins. They were anticipating all the fun that was in front of them.

 

On Friday we got to town in time to watch the parade. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Max on my dad's lap during the parade. Max isn't afraid of too many things. One thing he isn't a fan of is bugs and we quickly found out bands are not a favorite of his either. When the bands would come by he would hang on to papa's neck for dear life.

  

  The kids could hardly wait to hit the rides with their cousins. It was a bit of chaos for all the adults to keep tabs on everyone as kids were wanting to head in different directions. Good thing there were 8 adults with 16 eyes to keep tabs on everyone. The excitement was running pretty high!
 

Max was beyond excited as he jumped in the puppy with his brother. I am pretty sure you can see just how Shane feels about life by the expression on his face!
 

The big girls are growing up ... insert sign .... they no longer love the little cars and slides. They have moved on to bigger and better things. I couldn't keep up with them and most of the rides they chose moved so fast or were so high I couldn't even get a picture of them. You can see the top of Darby's head in the bottom of the octopus. This is about as good as it gets.
 

The three middles also thought they would move on to a bigger and better rides. They decided to hop on the Ferris Wheel. There was a bit of screaming coming from the bucket #11 when it reached the top. I wonder who was in there?



 Shane wanted another shot at the Dragon Roller coaster. We reminded him that just 2 years ago he was in tears when he rode it because he was so scared. Well this time around his expression was a little different.
 

The Tulip Festival is not complete with out all the yummy treats. Papa treated the kids to some mini doughnuts and lemonade. Max was happily sharing his doughnut with papa. This will give you an idea of the eating rules at Tulip Festival ... for lunch on Saturday papa had purchased some funnel cakes for the kids to munch on while their parents were getting them some real food. No wonder we are chopped liver when papa and grammy are around.
 

On Saturday we put on the Dutch Costumes and headed to main street to get the streets ready for the queen and her court. Max was the cutest little Chinese Dutch boy around.
 

I can't believe how fast these little Dutch girls are growing up! We had such a nice spring that we actually had a stem fest, there wasn't a tulip in sight.  We had to find some other flowers to take pictures by.
 

Shane wanted to take his pictures by the windmill!
 

A few other pictures before the street scrubbing began.
 

The boys headed out and filled their buckets with water to pour on the road so the girls could come behind with their brooms to scrub the streets. I love Shane in action getting the water out to those ladies. Max was pretty excited about throwing the water out too!
 

The girls were ready. We pretty much fill up the road here and Alexa and Darby are even a few steps ahead!

Max was loving life!
 

The girls had a great time too. Look at Mataya, the cute little Dutch girl I am holding. I can't wait until next year, hopefully our little Asian princess will be home for the festivities.



  The boys reached the end of the route! What a fun weekend with a lot of fun memories.

One More Step Closer

We are one more step closer to our little girl ....

Today We Are 

 Dossier To China 

 This means that our Dossier (large amount of paperwork we gathered) has been approved by Holt International and is on its way to China. We will now wait for a LID. The LID (Log in Date) is the date that our paperwork is logged into China. After we receive our LID we will be ready to be matched with either a little girl thats file is released in the monthly release from China or a little girl that is designated to our agency! We can't wait to see the little girl that God has picked to complete our family!

A Fun Day In Kindergarten

Shane had a fun field trip to the Butterfly House for his final field trip of the year. He was very excited for a trip to see butterflies then lunch and playtime at the park. 

 

 The kids started in a room as someone shared about butterflies. The kids also got to pet the taranchula, Lucy.

  

  They also just added an aquarium area at the Butterfly House which was fun for the kids. Shane's favorite fish were the ones that would pick up sand with their mouth and then spit it back out.

 

We then moved to the Butterfly House and saw hundreds of beautiful butterflies.

 

Shane really wanted a butterfly to land on him so found places to sit and wait patiently for them to land.

  

 He waited ...

 

and waited!

 Finally he got one to land on his shoe lace!

 

The kids had so much fun!
    

We then headed to the park for a picnic and time to play. Shane's teacher gathered all the kids and the kids were sad to be heading back to school. Little did they know what was to come. 

Shane's teacher started reading the book "My Teacher Sleeps In School." When she was to the last page she said it was now time for a Mystery Field Trip. There was a big buzz in our car as the kids were trying to figure out where we were going. We ended up at their teacher's house for the afternoon. The kids got a tour of her house and yard, snack time, they did Bible time and center time. It was a very fun surprise for the kids.

Eyes That Are Opened

A desire that Eric and I have for our kids is that their eyes may be opened to the world around them. We are blessed and so often take what we have and the way we live for granted. We pray that our kid's eyes and hearts would be opened to those around in need. We also pray that they can experience and appreciate other cultures and diversity around them. We want to expose our kids the beauty of other cultures and feel blessed that we had the opportunity to do that during our get away! 

This is one of my favorite pictures of our trip to Cabo with the kids. I feel like this pictures speaks for itself.

It was fun to see the kids eyes being opened to the Mexican culture as we journey to town most nights. We were staying at a beautiful resort but that is not the real "Mexico!" As they walked through the markets they took it all in and we were able to have great conversations with them along the way.

 

The markets in Mexico are such a fun experience.

 

We would spend about an hour or so each evening walking through the markets after dinner before heading back to our resort.

 

The kids had so much fun checking out all the amazing treasures.

 

They also experienced little ones coming up to them trying to sell them stuff right on the street. It is a way of life for the Mexican culture but once again a eye opener for our kids.

 

They were troopers and tried new food!  Some nights they resorted back to chicken fingers and french fries but they did have fun trying new things. The classic nachos were a favorite of theirs.

The first night they discovered Shirley Temples and it was all over after that.  

    

At many of the resturants they had local people that would come in an try to entertain you with singing, magic tricks, balloon creations ... you name it. The kids thought the balloon guy was pretty cool.

 

We had such an amazing time seeing the Mexican culture through the eyes of our kids. Their eyes were opened in a new way on our trip!