Tribe of Nine

Asher's Smile is Back =)

2008-10-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

(Took this with my Blackberry while he was in recovery)

Sorry to leave you all hanging..

Asher pulled through his surgery like a champ!

We are now on Day 6 of his recovery and he is doing fantastic. So, great in fact, that he is back at school today!

(Smiley boy is back!)

His surgery last Tuesday last about three hours. Mom & Dad walked him back to the doors of the OR around 7:45 am and we finally got to see him again just before noon. I was able to make my 7:35 am class at school, jump in the car and speed.. er, carefully drive my way down to the hospital! =) The waiting was the worst part, especially since we were originally told surgery would be over around 10 am. But we were joined by our Pastor and close friend Tim Pent, so that helped pass the time.

When we first arrived back into the RIO (Rapid In & Out Recovery) Asher had just gotten there and was crying. It was so hard to see his sweet little body enduring so much pain. He was trying his best to be brave, but after waking up in a room where you don't know anyone, and you can't feel your mouth (plus your hip is killing you!) he sure had a reason to be upset. Mom and I did our best to soothe him until the nurse showed up with some relieving pain medicine. Within 20 minutes, he was back to his old self cracking jokes once again and his beautiful smile was back!

Due to both my parents' medical knowledge, Asher was able to be released that day and come home around four in the afternoon. Usually there is an overnight stay involved but the doctors agreed to let him go home as long as he was keeping down fluids and could stand. Asher had no problem doing that. =) He had all the nurses charmed, so they were a little sad to see him go. Actually, Asher LOVED the hospital and told Mom he wanted to stay! He had a nice comfy bed, a tv, and an exquisite view of the helicopter pad so he was pretty happy.

I am so glad I was able to pull some strings and be there at the hospital while he was recovering. I had talked to him the night before the surgery and Mom said all he could talk about was "Sera is coming." It was so sweet.. he even wore his Southeastern t-shirt to the hospital that morning. =)

The bone graft was a success and there is even a slight improvement in his speech! The doctor's didn't work on his upper lip, but that also looks better than before. The worst pain he has experienced has been with his hip and the doctor even warned that that would be the most painful. The first day he got around my hopping on one leg.. but by day three he was walking on both feet.. actually, it was more like running!

I was able to go home again this past weekend and he is doing great! You'd never know he just had surgery a few days ago. The hardest part for him right now is the soft food diet. He's got a pretty limited array of choices- ice cream, yogurt, pudding, jello and soups. Geez.. wish I could eat that! Asher loves food so this has been his biggest challenge so far. I think he has another week or two on soft foods and then we can start implementing regular food back into his diet.

Also, since he is SOO active, we have had to limit his ability to move for fear he will rip the stitches. He's not too crazy about that, especially since he missed a karate tournament over the weekend.

I took pictures at the hospital but haven't been able to update or upload because of my crazy mid-term ridden week. Then, I accidentally left my purse at home with my camera! So I'll have that back tomorrow and will add more, but for now I've added a few from my Blackberry.

Asher continues to amaze me with his strength and courage. If it was me going through this surgery, I would probably still be in bed at this point!

We are so glad this surgery is over and that he is doing so well.
Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go..

2008-10-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Tomorrow morning at 7:30 am EST, is Asher's surgery.
Please be in prayer for him and the doctors..that God would guide their hands and allow this surgery to help in his proper development.

We're expecting the surgery to last about 2-3 hours, then recovery and even a possible same-day discharge depending on how well he does. Asher is such a strong little guy.. I know he will do well. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he does better than his own mother and older sister.

Emma's 4th Gotcha Day

2008-08-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a special something to commemorate the four wonderful years we've had with this special little girl..
Until then hopefully this will help paint a picture of our 4th Gotcha Day Anniversary with
Miss Emma Grace YunNa..

We celebrate each Gotcha Day with a cake picked out, made
and decorated by that particular child.

The look of concentration

The Smile

Her cake!

And now for her Mini Photo Shoot:
(I've expressed before how hard it is to photograph Emma because of her constant-wiggly-worm-zero-attention-spanned-can't-sit-stillNESS.
However, this was her day because these turned out GREAT!

(My Favorite)

So Serious

And yet so silly!

I love you Emma Gracie-Poo!

Rainy Fay Day

2008-08-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

What to do on a Rainy Fay Day..?
Why, go out and enjoy her "gifts" while it lasts......

Rainy Trampoline Fun

Elena has been working with Ian to successfully do a backflip..

Attempt 20: Spotting
(I say 20 because I didn't want to bore you with 20 of the same photo-these were the best)

Attempt 21: No hands! He did it! =)

Jump, jump, jump!

Yes, our dog jumps on the trampoline

Elly has ADHD, so she has to work off that energy somehow.

Sigh. Crazy dog.

Ohh, not impressed? She also jumps in the pool. But most of you have seen her do this before.

Even though she looks like a Dalmation with those spots, she's actually a full blooded white Boxer!

So much rain, the pool is overflowing onto our deck!

Our other Boxer, the loveable motherly, Ivy.

Wet children!

"Raindrops keep falling on my head.."

"..but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red,
Cryin's not for me,
Cuz I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin',
Because I'm free,
Nothin's worryin' me!"

Tadpoles

2008-08-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Remember the tadpoles that invaded our pool last month? Well we managed to have mercy and rescue a few to as a science experiment for the kids.

<--The picture on the left shows the tadpoles during the 1st week of August.

<--Here they are August 23rd.

It's been so neat to watch them grow over the last two weeks! Already they have doubled in size and started developing bodies looking more like frogs than fish.

We have unfortunately, lost a few.. but we have about 15 surviving right now!

To me, this furthers justifying the notation that life indeed begins at conception, whether it's a frog or human being. They may only look like little "blobs" now, but soon they'll be frogs. =)

Hurricane FAY

2008-08-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

Although she was only a tropical storm, Fay left her mark here in our house!
We've been through many hurricanes during our 13 years here in Florida, yet this one did the most damage ever to our home!

Leaks along the back wall of our house

Towels are lining each of our windows/doors along the backside of the house.

Notice the air bubble?

School Bells Are Ringing

2008-08-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

As you might have figured already, school is in session here at our house! While I may be a bit behind in my update, there are reasons! I've started a new transition in my life- I moved to start college on August 18th. While I'm only an hour away, it's still been an interesting transition to say the least. Going from a household of nine people to one roommate and a hall full of girls, sharing the community bathrooms, different food, back to school and meeting new people; that has been my life for the past three weeks. Don't get me wrong- I'm enjoying every second of it! I'm having a blast meeting new people and learning what it is to be an adult. But it's still nice to come home once in awhile, and I've been able to do that for the past two weekends. But enough about me.. onto the rest of the crew!!

School is back in session and this year we range from one in college to two in kindergarten!
(With an 11th grader, 8th grader, 5th grader and 2nd grader in between)
To say the house is busy, would be an understatement.
I don't know how Mom does it teaching all of us, but somehow it happens!

This is our tenth year of homeschooling!
Since Mom has been doing it so long she is using a smorgasbord of different curriculum's but her favorites are mostly Abeka and Sonlight.
Abeka is one of the most known and easy to use homeschooling curriculum's out there. It may seem like a daunting task at first, but once you get into the routine it just becomes second nature.
We are also part of a homeschooling group and attend once-a-week co-ops which gives the experience of a classroom setting.

This year Mom is starting something new: She enrolled Asher, Esther and Emma in Classical Conversations. This class works alongside homeschooling families and uses the means of memorization to learn. For example the kids have a STACK of 3x5 note cards full of information that are to be memorized once a week. These cards include information from History, Science, Grammar, LATIN and Math. They use the philosophy that a child's brains at this age is like a sponge, and much more able to digest information than a 16 year old would. Here's a sample of what the kids memorized last week:

In 1492 Columbus made the first of three(?) voyages to discover new land aboard three ships: the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.
The FOUR types of skin: 1) Nerve, 2) Muscle, 3) Epithelial, 4) Connective
Latin roots (can't remember which ones..)
The states and capitols for Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

When I come home this weekend I'll have to get it on video.. it's amazing to hear Esther splurt out that Augusta is the capitol of Maine. I barely knew how to write my name at her age!

Homeschooling obviously is not for everyone, but for our family it just works. We enjoy the added flexibility and "community learning" that comes with this approach to schooling.

The new bulletin board holds all of the schedules and assignments for the new school year.

Asher's books for 2nd grade!

The school room is clean, organized and ready for learning!

Esther and Emma have their own shelf for kindergarten!

Mom works on completing the "Massive Schedule"- the one keeps our house running!

Can you take a guess at who's backpack is who's?

And a peak at my dorm room:

(I'm on the top bunk)

My desk, and the new headquarters for blog updates!

The Summer Finale

2008-08-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Aunt Irma & Laura came for a visit from Maryland last week.
We've enjoyed having them here, especially the kids!

Three weeks ago we found out our pool was INFESTED with tadpoles.
And I'm not kidding.. INFESTED!
Here are just a few of the ones we saved and have managed to keep alive.
If all goes well, hopefully it will be a good science experiment for the kids.

KARATE PROMOTIONS!

Esther shows off her new Camo belt!

Ian has his RED belt!
Almost to black. =)

Esther taking a peek at our tadpoles.

This child is obviously not afraid of the camera..

Some of the beautiful flowers blooming in our backyard..

Our Flower Girls..

And of course, our happy boy.

The girls and their new belts.

Sisters

Two new favorite photo's of mine..

Oh, flexibility!

Esther dresses Elly up in her headband.

Ian (with Jack) and Cousin Laura

The incredible Jack Sparrow- AKA Swimming Guinea Pig!

Who knew a guinea pig could swim?

Jack

Laura, Asher, Elena (and Jack)

I'm glad he's folding his laundry!

Maybe my smile will get me out of folding laundry?

Caught!

Esther loves doing hair.

So.. the girls got in trouble and were sent to Time Out.
And this is how we found them....

We woke them up for dinner.. but they didn't seem to interested.

Asher and his new BLUE belt!

Kayla and Asher making brownies.

Or eating, more than making!

Yum!

More from July

2008-08-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Mom & Dad went on a (another) cruise during the last week of July. They flew out to Los Angeles and traveled down the Mexican Riviera, visiting beautiful places such as Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vaillarta.

While the parents relaxed and had a blast.. their offspring remained at home managing the fort, trying to not be too jealous of "the rents"! Although, we didn't complain too much since we always love it when the parents are gone! When Mom's gone, Sera's rule apply:

Naps for the youngest two are chucked out the window
(They are hardly take them anyways, and that means they'll sleep longer at night time)
Dinner time is whatever you can find
(The first few nights before we had gone to the grocery store, pb&j sandwiches became pretty common!)
We "forget" to take our vitamins
(Who wants to take those anyways?)
Bed time is pushed farther back
(Again, they'll sleep longer at night, and wake up later!)
A nightly movie is in store for the oldest five
(Something fun to do)
Mountain Dew, Asher? Sure!
(Remind me to NEVER do that again!)

Between work, cleaning, feeding children, transporting them to all of their various activities, cleaning some more, grocery shopping, organizing, laundry and all of the other "Mom" duties.. I didn't have much time with my camera except the few photos below!

Our fashion diva

Always sporting a smile on his face.

Our two sets of twins..
Ivy & Elly and Esther & Emma

A Few Other Photos I Happened to Take:

My Projects:

1. Re-organizing the Refrigerator & Freezer
(Yes.. we do drink that much milk..)

2. No more toys in the Family Room!

3. The pile of toys gathered between our playroom and family room..
all went to a friend's garage sale!
The pile actually doubled in size by the time I finished cleaning out the girl's whole playroom, but I forgot to take a picture of the new clean, organized playroom!

And the worst part of the "Mom" duty:

The scene of the crime.

More evidence.

The criminal, who was sentenced to a night of jail time.

The story: Emma had taken a nap on Mom & Dad's bed and ended up having an accident due to oversleeping, and probably a little bit of stress. I stripped the bed, and in the process of washing and drying the sheets we all went to evening church service that night. Normally, Elly is kept in my parent's bedroom so she doesn't have full run of the house. Well, when we came home that night I went to put new sheets on the bed since they were going to be home later that night. I was horrified to see every child's nightmare- a huge stain the dog had deposited that looked like a size of Mt Everest and as if that wasn't horrible enough, it had been done on the costly Tempur-pedic mattress!!!!! To say I was a little furious with the suspect, would be an understatement. Let's just say the criminal spent the rest of her night in doggy jail.
And fortunately, after an hours worth of scrubbing with Oxi-Clean and some Febreeze, the stain was gone. PHEW!

All in all, fun was had by all. The parents enjoyed a relaxing vacation, especially since Dad is an unfortunate work-aholic and has been pretty stressed latly. The kids enjoyed a week of "No Mom" and all seven of us being together. I leave for college on August 16th, so this is one of the last times I'll be able to spend with ALL of them before school starts.

Prayer

2008-07-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Some of you will remember this post I made back in China the day after we had visited Asher's orphanage.
WELL..
I can't go into a whole lot of details right now,
but I'm asking for each of you to PRAY for this little boy, J.

(I know his picture was on a lot of fridge's right after my blog post came out.)

A lot of special things are happening in his life right now..
please pray for God's will to be done and for us to be patient
as we watch His awesome plan for J's life begin to unfold.

I'll update when I know more..

Dad's 50th

2008-07-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

This year marked the big 5-0 for the Daddy-o!
We sent him off for the afternoon with the youngest kids to the movies while those who were left scrambled to decorate the house.
Our guests started arriving at 6:30 and we had all of them park down the street so the house would appear "empty." Kayla had instructions to keep Dad out as long as possible and she knew exactly what to do because after the movie they visited the ice cream store and Petsmart! Finally, around 7:30 pm the birthday boy arrived to a house full of close friends and family ready to surprise him. And boy was he surprised!

Friends are here and preparing for the big moment..

Our theme was "Celebrating 50"

Friends hiding in the kitchen..

Shh..

Here he comes..

SURPRISE!

The Birthday Boy!
He sure was surprised since we hadn't done much that day. We told Dad we would have a nice quiet dinner as a family and he was quite depressed that we weren't doing anything special. Little did he know...

The cake!

We had to throw in a few jokes.. =)
(that's an inflatable walker)

We asked all of our guests to bring 50 of something..
and it was pretty funny to see what people came up with!

One of our friends made Dad an "Old Geezer Survival Kit" packed
full of funny jokes such as prune juice, stimulants, tp, a giant remote control, marbles.. etc

Prune Juice

Our gift to Dad.. in iPhone!
However, because they hadn't come out yet we could only give him the paper version of one!

Now for the biggest surprise-
Mom: "Honey, the kids and I have decided to surprise you with something..."
(Don't you love Kayla and Ian's faces.)

"..we're going to adopt a little boy from Africa!"

And here he is.. =)

Okay, it's kind of been a joke in our family that the next time we adopt it will be a child from Africa. Mom would always be willing to add to our large brood, but Dad always says we are done! So keeping that in mind our friend Randy decided to dress up and use body paint to surprise my dad. It was hilarious.. Dad was sure shocked and I think he even almost believed Mom when she told him.

Don't worry-- we are COMPLETE and NOT adopting again.
(Although a few of us would always be open to adding to the family)

Meet your new son!

Esther doesn't look too excited about her new "brother."

Mom, Randy and Dad

Aged to Perfection

Singing Happy Birthday

Our Family

4th of July

2008-07-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Our Fourth of July was rather quiet this year.
Last year we had over 72 people at our house for an annual 4th of July bash that consists of lots of good friends, food, boating and fireworks!
However, due to the events of the following day (Dad's surprise 50th birthday party) we forewent the usual tradition and begrudgingly opted for a quieter, relaxed holiday. (I say begrudgingly since most of us kids were hoping for more excitement!)
At the end of the day the Disney fireworks we saw were through a bunch of trees.
Oh well.. next year we will continue in our tradition.

Here are a few shots of our little Miss Independence Day Beauties..

The view of the Disney fireworks from our street.

June

2008-07-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Here I go again.. I seem to constantly be apologizing for taking forever to update the blog. Here is it the 16th of July and I haven't even caught up with the end of May or June for that matter! So much has happened over the last two months it's hard to know where to begin an update. Rather than bore you with 16 posts highlighting each occasion, I'll just combine it all into two posts: one for June and the other for July (at least the first half of July.)

So, here we go:

June 6-13th: Mom and I spent a week in the Bahamas for my Senior Trip.

Accompanying us were my best friend Samantha and her mom, Marianna (or Nana, as we call her). We stayed in Treasure Cay, which is located in the Abaco's Islands. To say it was beautiful would be an understatement. My description won't even begin to justify the pristine beauty of this place. Try to picture:

White sandy beaches, none of that imported sand we have these days on our local beaches.
Water so turquoise you can see your toes
The friendliest people you have ever met.

Like I said, I can't tell you enough how beautiful it is. You have to visit Treasure Cay to truly experience what we did. Most people have never heard of it and that's because they like to keep it a secluded place. Only the richest of the rich own homes there, and the biggest Blue Marlin in the world was caught off the shore so it's a favorite of many fishermen. We happened to be there during the annual Billfish Tournament and watched in eager anticipation for what would be caught! The day we arrived an over 1000 pound Blue Marlin was caught, and it claimed the title of third largest in the world.
It was so much fun and we hope to visit again and hopefully bring the whole family back next year! Hard to believe we have such beautiful places located just a 45 minute airplane ride from Florida!!
Enough of the description.. on to details! We had a blast.. we spent most of our days sunbathing and relaxing on the beach, which did I mention it was voted one of the Top Ten Beaches in the World? When we weren't sunning, we were island hopping; taking ferry's to some of the local islands near by. By far my favorite was the small settlement of Hope Town, located on nearby Elbow Cay. It reminded me of a small New Englandesque town, right in the middle of the Bahamas! It's the type of town where people don't own cars.. they get around by golf cart or boat. Even the kids who live there have to travel by ferry to the bigger islands for school.
Another day, Samantha and I were able to go snorkeling and konking with our "neighbors" in the hotel. We snorkeled around a large rock in the middle of the ocean where the water was only about eight feet deep and saw literally THOUSANDS of fish.. and a few barracudas! =O We also got to see what it is to go "konking" and our new friend Jacob brought up six konks, four of which we brought home!
This trip was definitely by far the best vacation I have ever been on, besides China.. yet that wasn't really a vacation!

First time in the water!
Mom and Me
That's what I call Paradise
The four of us enjoying lunch in Hope Town
At the Hope Town Beach
The view from our Hotel Room
Visiting Green Turtle Key
Samantha and Me
Two of the konks we helped catch!

June 15-19th: As soon as we arrived home from the Bahamas, we re-packed and headed out the next day for our vacation on the Disney Cruise Line!

Out of all of our family vacations, the Disney cruise is probably our favorite. Disney just knows how to do it between the wonderful entertainment, fun children's programs, exquisite dining, comfortable rooms, and of course the magic that is Disney! This was our third time on a Disney cruise but it had been quite awhile since our last voyage was right after we sent in our dossier for Emma's adoption in 2003. We'd been planning on taking another cruise again but for the last four years the extent of our "international" vacation has been spent in China! We were very excited to take this trip especially with the youngest three and they all had a blast.
Along with our family, we brought along my friend Samantha who fit right in with out crew.. and the extra set of hands was helpful! We visited Disney's private island Castaway Cay, then ventured north to Nassau for a day and back to a stormy Castaway Cay on the last day. The younger four kids spent the majority of their time in the children's programs and it wasn't by our choice- they begged to go back!
It was a wonderful trip and we look forward to taking another voyage again one day.. maybe in a few years since it isn't the cheapest vacation!

These next two photo's require the rotation of your head!
Just before embarking the ship
Celebrating Father's Day
The special guy!
The kids got to meet Mickey again
Esther and Emma were chosen to participate with Snow White during one of the shows on our first night. Emma is in pink and Esther is in green.
The boys are only pretending to sip our daquiri's!
Family picture in front of the boat
Enduring the annual girl ritual of hair braiding..
Good thing 'cuz they were TOO cute!

The boys enjoyed playing in the water
The girls..
Castaway Cay
Sharing a sweet, uncommon brotherly moment of love!
Pirates and Princesses at Dinner!
Dad and Mom
Aha.. there's quite the explanation..
So our family was enjoying a relaxing day on the Castaway Cay beach. The youngest two were were happily spending their day in the children's program, while the next two in line entertained themselves by flipping each other's tubes over in the water. Dad and the girls were enjoying a swim in the warm ocean and Mom was sunbathing. I hadn't been feeling wonderful that day (probably due to seasickness) so I decided to find refuge in a glorious, secluded hammock covered by a group of large palm trees. I grabbed by iPod to enjoy some tunes and told Mom I was headed off to that hammock. She was listening to her iPod as well but noticed I had said something and replied the common "Uh huh." So I went and sought refuge in that shaded hammock and without realizing it, I had fallen asleep. When I awoke the once crowded beach was completely still and there was NO ONE around. I quickly glanced at my iPod clock and saw that it was only 4:15, so I had 45 minutes to spare before the boat left at 5:00 pm. I headed over to the now abandoned lounge chairs my family had occupied before and noticed the lifeguard calling my attention. She asked if I was Sera and when I replied yes, she told me my family had already left and that they had taken my camera too. A huge rush of relief fell over me as I confirmed my most precious possession was indeed safe, so I could head back to the boat. However, there was still one problem: It was over 90 degrees outside and I had no shoes. They had obviously been taken by my family when they went to leave.. and no one thought to leave shoes for the person they couldn't find. (They went to leave and couldn't find me.. yet they didn't look very hard because I wasn't more than 30 yards away from them..) So, I had no choice but to embark on a very hot, exhausting adventure back to the boat since we happened to be on the farthest part of the beach. Slowly but surely I maneuvered my poor feet onto every shady area of the concrete walkway as possible.. but the two mile walk and lava hot temperatures did quite the toll on my feet. Luckily I was able to reach the tram in time, but my feet were completely numb and I could barely walk. I ended up walking on the sides of my feet and hobbling as quickly as I could. When I made it onto the boat I had no room key or identification but since we were on an island where only Disney Cruise Line guests are, I didn't encounter any problems. The officer who let me on board asked my name and then proceeded to tell me my family was looking for me. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to climb eight floors (on the elevator =) and then walk all the way to the front of the boat towards our room. As soon as they let me in our room, I hobbled to the nearest bed, threw myself onto it and cried.. and cried.. and cried some more. It hurt. My poor feet suffered serious burns.. I'm going to say they were at least 1st degree, maybe 2nd. I couldn't walk, so the wheel chair was my avenue for the evening. Luckily Samantha was there and she and Elena did a great job of "pushing" me wherever I needed to go.
So, Lesson of the vacation: DON'T LEAVE FAMILY MEMBERS BEHIND!

My poor feet..they blistered within 24 hours
and to this day (7/16/08) I'm still blistered.
Pirates Ian Sparrow and Asher Sparrow
Our Third Day was spent in Nassau.. where we shopped and hobbled 'til we dropped!
Since I had burned my feet the night before, I was still not walking very well so we decided to take the wheelchair with us for the day in Nassau. Well, the streets of Nassau aren't exactly wheelchair friendly and I ended up folding and wheeling it through the straw markets since it was so crowded. The wheelchair was becoming such a setback that we took it back to the boat and I spent the rest of the day hobbling. It wasn't too bad- I knew I wanted to go to the straw market and that's where we went.. and where Samantha, Elena and I spent ALL day! We met Dad, Mom and Kayla for lunch at Hard Rock and they spent most of their time jewelery shopping in recognition of their 20th anniversary on the 18th of June.

Ian fell asleep at dinner
Daddy's Littlest Girl
Each night we were surprised with a different kind of towel art in our room. This night we got a peacock and even a few chocolates!
It won't rotate, so you'll have to turn your head..
Same for this one
Our last day on board called for a fun day back at Castaway Cay, however we were greeted with some pretty ugly clouds and rain that lasted all day. While we were stuck on board, the girls and I explored most of the ship. We know the whole thing.. top-bottom!
Finally just around lunchtime, the storm began to clear up so we were able to enjoy lunch on the island.
The youngest four all "graduated" from the Disney children's program.
On our last night, Asher, Esther and Emma put on their dress up clothes and posed with the characters.
Emma was so excited to meet Belle.. can't you tell?
This one turned out so cute.. only it would be better if I could figure out how to rotate it!!
Here we are on our last morning with our servers. They stayed with us throughout our entire dining experience.
And the not so wonderful part about vacation: the dirty laundry.

June 21st: Asher and Sophie's Reunion

Just day after returning home from our cruise we got to experience the wonderful reunion between Asher and his best friend from China, Sophie. We had a wonderful time getting to finally meet Sophie and her family and watching the two of them reconnect. It was so sweet to watch. More details and video are on Asher's blog.
First hugs in over 13 months!
Best friends reunited.

Ian, Esther, Sophie, Asher
Maddie and Emma

June 23-28th: After all of that, our last big event for June was a week at church camp for the three oldest girls.

We spent our week doing various activities, many of which included getting SUPER messy.

And one even involved throwing eggs at each other
(that wasn't the purpose of the game.. it ended up that way after the game!)
We played lots of sports and tournaments, including carpetball.
The group was split into four teams who competed against each other all week.
We had a lot of fun!

This was my last year as a graduated senior; next year will be Ian's chance! =0

This concludes the end of our fun-filled busy month of June!

Memorial Day

2008-06-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Even though Mom, Elena, Kayla and I had just spent the weekend at the beach for a Mother/Daughter retreat with our church, the wonderful temperatures and fun ocean enticed us to make the drive back and spend our Memorial Day holiday there. The beach is always a favorite of our family; the kids love playing in the waves and making sand castles, while the older ones enjoy soaking up the rays or taking a little nap on the soft, warm sand. Our close friends Randy & Pam joined us and brought along their six children so we had quite the crew! It was such a fun day and the kids had a blast.
While we enjoyed the fun, we also experienced quite the scare. Esther and Emma had been playing in the sand with their friend Brooke and they wanted snacks, so we sent them down to the water to wash off their hands and then come back. Five or so minutes went by and Esther and Brooke had come back, but Emma was no where to be found. For the next fifteen minutes, we were sent into a state of panic.. we had no idea where she was and all I could see was the monstrous size of the ocean surrounding us. There were pretty serious rip currents that day and all I could think of was her getting a little to far in the water and being swept away. The Chapman family's tragedy had just happened a few days before and was looming over our heads. It was probably the longest fifteen minutes of my life and I'll never forget when Randy came walking down the beach towards me saying, "We found her."
Apparently, Emma must have gotten separated from her sister and friend when they went to wash their hands and instead of heading back towards us, she kept running down the beach looking for us. Some alert grandparents noticed her running down the beach at a very fast pace, with no one trailing behind her. So they decided to follow her and see where she was going. They saw the look of caution on her face and asked if she was lost. They said she kept pointing down the beach and saying her family was that way, when in reality we were on the opposite end. It was clear to them that she must have gotten confused and couldn't find us, so they headed towards the lifeguard stand. Just about the same time they were making their way towards the lifeguard, Dad and Randy were there reporting her missing. WHEW!! We are so grateful that Emma had her guardian angels protecting her that day. The rest of the day was still fun, but after our scare, we made sure to keep a closer eye on the kids!

Asher couldn't be any happier than splashing around in the water

I see modeling in her future.

Building sand castles

Grant

Naptime

Brooke, Brenna and Emma

Baptism

2008-06-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

May 11, 2008:

Not only did we celebrate Mother's Day, but we also became members of
our new church and watched as Asher and Esther both participated in
the sacrament of Baptism.

It was extra special for us to watch the two of them receive
the sign of being a child of God, because both had recently
accepted Jesus into their hearts!

Let's Take a Look Back at May..

2008-06-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Summer Swimming..

Ready...Set...

Go!

Jump!

Leap!

Dance Like No One is Watching..

Smile..

The Dog Days of Summer

I Graduated!

2008-06-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Senior Pictures

Graduation Dinner-May 2, 2008

Graduation Night- May 9, 2008

My (small!) graduating class

Maybe that's a little too soon!

Remembering Maria

2008-06-20T21:29:00.001-07:00

It was just one month ago today that the clock struck midnight for the life of Maria Sue Chapman. A tragic accident sent Maria into the arms of Jesus where she is dancing like Cinderella, just like in the song her father Steven Curtis Chapman penned just a few months before.
The whole situation left me completely numb... I wanted to sit and cry for days for this precious family who lost their sweet little girl. In so many ways she reminded me of my sweet girls. On the Monday following her death, our family experienced a near crisis when we suddenly lost Emma during a Memorial Day beach trip. Thankfully, our story turned out different but it definitely left me grateful to God that we are able to have more time with our little girl.

The weekend after her death, Steven was scheduled to be performing at a local festival that our family was going to attend. Obviously the tragic circumstances left him unable to attend, but my family and hundreds of others did go out to show their support for the Chapmans. Along with a large banner decorated with the names of those who attended and many cards, our local radio station also provided carnations to be handed out to everyone and set just in front of the stage that her father would have performed at. Though I didn't attend, my Mom couldn't stop talking about the night and how wonderful it was. I found this photo on the radio station's website and wanted to share it. Though Esther and Emma don't know the full of extent of Maria, they will one day and I'm glad they will be able to look back and see how they played a part in Maria's legacy. Just like her, they are forever China sisters and one day will get meet during the greatest celebration of all.
Sorry to sound preachy, but the only way to get through circumstances like these are to rely on Jesus for your every need; exactly what the Chapmans are doing right now.

Please remember to keep the Chapmans in your prayers..

Where Did We Go?

2008-06-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

The Disney Cruise!!

We arrived back home yesterday morning.. unfortunately.
I think we could have all stayed for another few weeks!
We all had a blast.
Lots of pictures will be on the way this weekend!

But first.. we're heading out tomorrow morning for a long awaited
and much anticipated reunion..
Head on over to Asher's blog for more details!

Bahama's Bound!

2008-06-07T06:54:00.001-07:00

Mom and I are signing off for a few days as we embark on my senior trip to the Bahamas! For the next week we will spend our days basking in the warm sun, swimming in the turquoise waters, playing in the sandy beaches and enjoying Paradise..

Just the opposite of us, Dad will be stationed back at home with the rest of the kids.. so pray that the house is still standing when we arrive back home!!

We will be back next Friday and then it will be back into overdrive mode as we hurry up and re-pack the suitcases because we're leaving for our family vacation on Sunday... Any guesses as to where we are going?

*Hint.. it involves Mouse ears and our swimsuits!

California Meets Florida

2008-06-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well.. I thought this was too cute to not post.
I love it when she's sleeping like that.

MAY..
was an exciting month for our family.
Lots going on including my High School Graduation celebrations,
family visiting from out of town,
Mothers Day,
Esther & Asher's baptism.. just to name a few events!

The first week in May we were blessed to have Dad's brother and family visit from California. If you've been a longtime reader of our blog than you might remember how we traveled to California to visit with Dad's family before we made the trip to China to bring Esther home, back in 2006. While visiting, I shared with our extended family the video I had made of Emma's adoption and many other photographs since they hadn't yet met her. After we left and arrived in China we got a call from Mom and she excitedly shared with us that Mauri & Norma wanted to adopt a baby from China! This was pretty shocking, yet wonderful news to us. My cousins were 17 and 15 at the time and both adopted from Chile as infants. I have to admit.. I thought they were a bit crazy to be adopting a little girl when their kids were already almost grown!
Fast forward to March 2007, nearly a year after the seeds of adoption had been planted in their hearts, my aunt and uncle made the trip to China to bring home their daughter and our new cousin, three-year-old Frida.
Frida was born March 1, 2004 in Hunan, China and was later abandoned by her parents because of a heart condition. She had surgery in China to correct the hole in her heart and is now a healthy, strong, beautiful little girl. Frida has been home a year already and has brought so much joy to my uncle, aunt and cousins. She's very spunky, oh so smart and sweet!
We were so excited to have them visit from California so we could meet her and finally get the Chinese cousins together. (We have four Chinese children in our family now!) The girls had a blast getting to meet each other, even though they only got to spend one day together.
It's so neat to think that the girls (and Asher!) will have each other as they grow up. It's also funny to think that my dad and his brother will both be in their 60's when the girls graduate from High School!! =)

Esther..
who played an important role in her Aunt & Uncle's decision to adopt from China.

Brothers; Mauricio and Claudio

Brothers, with their daughters.

Cousins Juliana and Frida going down the slide.

Sweet Frida

Esther and Frida

Frida..
quite the Spicy Hunan girl!

And That's The End of April...(April 30)

2008-06-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well.. I've caught up with all of our April news..
now it's on to MAY!!

You might have noticed in a picture from an earlier post I made of our dog Elly on the trampoline. That crazy dog can actually jump up onto our trampoline and literally starts jumping. It's pretty funny to watch and I captured this picture just as I caught her in action. I didn't have my zoomie lens on, and this is as close as I could get.

She jumped off as I got closer.. but I caught her legs!

We recently had some yard work done in our backyard and had some of the dead grass replaced. Our dogs Ivy (brown) and Elly have really enjoyed romping around in the new dirt..

Beautiful Esther

Her radiant smile just lights up my world.

And sweet Emma..
This child is never willing to pose for pictures, so to have gotten the ones below is a huge accomplishment for me!

Splendid Sisterhood...

More Karate Promotions (April 26th)

2008-06-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

Last, but not least..
Ian is now a brown belt
Kayla is a blue belt
Elena is a purple belt
Asher is a green belt!

Ian is closest to being a black belt.. he has one more to go!
These photo's are in a total random order, but all four were at
the same time so I was snapping away!!

Here's Asher

And the backside of Kayla
(with Mom in the background..)

And poor Asher is getting a kick to the face!

The one being kicked is one of ours..
I can't tell which child, but I think it's Asher again.

That's Kayla.. but it barely looks like her!

Here goes Kayla again..

Nice! That's one of her black belt instructors on the floor.

Here goes Ian..
his objective is to get out of the firm grasp of his teacher..

I don't know why all of my pictures are of each of
our kids getting kicked!!

Elena

Our new blue belt

Dad Earns His Yellow Belt! (April 25th)

2008-05-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

After Esther & Emma's Promotion, next was Dad's turn..

Dad awaiting his turn..

Self defense

Asher waited with Dad while they waited
for the other groups to go.

Kayla and Asher keeping Dad company

Drop and give me 50!

Our new yellow belt!

Asher bids Dad congratulations with a smooch

Yaye! You did it!

Our promoters.. =)

Orange Belts (April 25th)

2008-05-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

Esther and Emma are now ORANGE belts in Karate!!

Esther demonstrating her form of how to get away from a stranger..

"Don't touch me stranger!"

Emma's a little more concerned with making sure her clip stays in place.. =)

Practicing..

Receiving her orange belt
(Esther was at a better angle for me to get photos..)

Mom and Emma

Look at the intensity on that face!

Proud little orange belt

Two Orange Belts

With their teacher.. Emma says she is going to marry him..
Sigh... these little sisters of mine! =)

Esther the Queen of Humor (April 24th)

2008-05-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Esther was just looking Too Terribly Cute one day and I had to snap a few photo's of her. She and Emma have matching Gap giraffe dresses and they are absolutely adorable..

For those who haven't met Esther personally, you're missing out!! Haha.. she's seriously one of the funniest kids I have ever met. The sense of humor this child has is enough to leave you laughing for hours.. I think she and Don would get along great! Esther loves to be having fun and is always laughing.. she keeps us all in stitches. She's a die hard fan of Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. I frequently hear her belting out tunes such as "When You Look Me In The Eyes" and "Everyone Makes Mistakes." She LOVES to sing and the only way I can get her to be somewhat quiet is to turn up the music so she will sing along. She's also got a particularly loud voice, and is always easily heard during Praise & Worship time in school.. and at church! (Sometimes we have to remind her to tone it down a bit..)

She's also head over heels in love with my friend's 21-year-old brother, Daniel. She talks about Daniel, non-stop, every day. You'd sware she is a teenager with the way she talks of how she's going to marry him when she grows up and be a doctor and a mommy. I love how she already has her life planned out and she's only five. Maybe she can give me some of her advice! =)

It's neat to see how God's plan is unfolding for Esther. Her stubborn and driven ways that helped her survive in China for three years will certainly be helpful as she progresses through life. She's got a lot ahead of her including a special need that will require extra attention down the road. But she's never let that hold her back, and she's not about to let it. That little smile of hers just brightens my day and I know that one day it will brighten the world too. =)

My Senior Prom (April 18th)

2008-05-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

The night was perfect...

We had a beautiful Hollywood affair,
complete with a red carpet
and tons of close friends..
it was perfect and a true night to remember.

Me and my date, Chris

Heading to dinner in our surprise limo!

Celebrating

Chris and I on the Red Carpet

This banner hung over the entrance way

With two of my best friends, Elena (pink) and Samantha (blue)

Samantha's Mom and MY Mom tearing it up on the floor! =)

Friends..

I forgot to crop and zoom in..
but you can see Elena and I with Mom & Dad

Elena and Kevin dancing..
(Someone stuck their finger over the flash.. sigh.)

The whole group- it was small, with about 30 of us.. but so very much fun!

Can you guess what we are dancing to here??

I spent the weekend after Prom relaxing at the beach condo with my friends Elena and Samantha. We had a great time soaking in the sun, resting our aching feet and taking lots of pictures.. =)

Us girls just having fun..
Dinnertime
At the top of the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse in Ponce Inlet, FL
Samantha and I on the beach..
Elena and I

No Parents Weekend..(April 10-13)

2008-05-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to catch up on blog posts.. so I'm starting with April!

April 10-13th was a "No Parent" weekend..
Mom and Dad flew up to New York City for a medical conference and also a couple's retreat. The kids and I stayed busy.. we had school, karate and weekend get-togethers with friends to keep us busy. We always look forward to when our parents are gone.. the majority of the rules go out the window and it's a fun affair for all. I didn't cook all weekend, so we either ate out or dug out something from the freezer. Bed times were later than usual and we all woke up late... but Mom was happy we did make it to church on Sunday!
The highlight of the weekend for the little girls was getting their hair cut! Mom and I had been debating for awhile of whether to cut Esther & Emma's hair, or not. She wanted to wait until after ballet was over.. and I wanted to do it now! As they departed for the airport the morning they left, she mentioned to me that there wasn't anything she could do if their hair had been cut! So, on the way to work I made a hair appointment and the next day the girls were sporting a new look! I love their hair, and luckily Mom does too! =)

The Spiderman look

\Washing dishes is a favorite activity for the little girls..

Kayla and Gizmo

Back-flips on the new trampoline

Asher looks a bit like Spiderman here!
(Oh.. and notice how our dog Elly jumps on the trampoline now?)

New Haircuts!

Meanwhile, in New York...

Dad and Mom in front of a World Trade Center Memorial
I handed my parents the camera before they left and asked them to please take pictures. You know how many they took? Only four pictures.. and only two had them in it! (The ones above and below) Sigh.. I don't understand those two. How can you NOT take pictures in a city like that?? Well, at least they did take a picture with them in it! =)

Mom with friends Corey and Paige in New York

Broken

2008-05-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I am truly at a loss for words.

I just found out from a close friend some terrible, tragic news. And as I sit here at midnight typing on my computer, completely broken hearted and unable to sleep, I know that the grief I am feeling is nothing compared to what one family is experiencing tonight. Please pray for the family of Steven Curtis Chapman; their youngest daughter, 5-year-old Maria was killed just this evening. The most tragic part is that she was killed after being struck by a car in her own driveway; the driver was her brother.

Not only does this hit close to home because of my admiration for the Chapman family and the fact that they were the ones who inspired us to adopt from China, but also because she is the same age as my little sisters. And her brother is right around my age. I pull out of our driveway every day, multiple times per day and while I'm always careful.. accidents can always happen. I cannot even begin to imagine what her older brother must be feeling.. it's grieving me to even think about it.

Steven was supposed to perform on Friday night at the Zellwood Sweet Corn Festival. Although I wasn't going to be attending, my family was going to and probably would have had the chance to meet Steven in person. That's something my mom has been wanting to do for a very long time.. meet the man who inspired us to adopt.

It's just another reminder of how precious life is and how we take it for granted.. until it's too late. During times like these it's easy to ask God "How could you?" "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13
How could you take this little girl's life when she had so much life left to live.

"We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope." Romans 5:3-4

How could you do this to THIS family..?"

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Bottom line.. who are we to question God's will in our lives?

Tomorrow (actually, today) I will take a minute to pause and look carefully as I back out of my driveway. Then I'll stop the car, turn around and give the biggest hugs to my two precious girls who will be sitting in the back seat. I'll thank God for the blessings I have, and be grateful.. because tomorrow, one family will not get to ever hug their little girl again.

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust Him." Nahum 1:7

Source: The Tennessean

Random Photo's from April

2008-05-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

March Madness!!

2008-04-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: It's done!! Scroll down or click on each link below:

March was a very busy month for our family:

My 18th birthday was February 26th.. I believe I left off right before that..
Dad, Elena, Ian & Asher all promoted to the next level in Karate.
We spent one Saturday with our church family creating a Memorial Garden for our dear friend's late son, who passed away in July (and whom Asher is named after)
Esther's 2 year Gotcha Day was on March 12th
Asher, Esther & Emma are all taking violin lessons
I was accepted into Southeastern University!
Esther & Emma went to their very first sleepover
Elena, Ian and Asher were in their first karate competition!
Where was Easter?
We spent an entire weekend enjoying the lake
Ian's birthday was March 25th

....and I'm sure I missed something else.

Oh by the way-- I got a new camera!!!! I am the proud owner of a wonderful, amazing Canon Rebel XTI. I love it.. I'm still learning how to use it but wow.. there's a HUGE difference between this and my old crappy Kodak! It's a combined Birthday/Graduation gift and will definitely be used as I plan to major in photojournalism in college. So, part of the reason why pictures haven't been added lately is because of the camera change.. but don't worry.. they are coming!!

And since I haven't added any pictures in awhile.. here are a few random ones of the boys at karate!

SCROLL DOWN FOR NEW UPDATES!!

By the way.. notice our new look?
Special thanks to my good friend and fellow adoptive sister Staci (and her sister Rachael!) for their artistic skills in our blog makeover! Staci is big sister to Sarah Lu, and soon Chayah!

Ian's 10th Birthday

2008-04-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ian Matthew

"Ian"- God is gracious
"Matthew"- Gift of God

Ian was definitely a much awaited little blessing. After being blessed with three girls, my parents were beyond excited when they found out they were finally expecting their long awaited boy! I still remember the night he was born.. 5:45 pm on March 25, 1998. Seven pounds, three ounces.. ten fingers, ten toes. We had the fortunate opportunity to be present at his birth since he was delivered at a local birthing center. I got to cut his umbilical cord which was such a special honor. I always tease Ian that if it wasn't for me cutting his cord, he'd still be attached to Mom!

Ian's a great kid- he's very dedicated and involved in his Martial Arts and Boy Scouts. He plans on finishing both and obtaining an Eagle Scout when he is older and a Black belt.. which could happen before the end of the year! He also loves to go tubing on the lake, play his Wii and he loves anything to do with technology. I think he had our computer figured out before my Mom even did! I see him as being an engineer in the future, but he could also have a career in singing. He has a loud strong voice and will sing anything, anywhere.. frequently I hear him belting out Rascal Flatts or *sigh* Miley Cyrus in the shower!
He's very smart, funny and such a flirt!! Apparently, he's had several girlfriends and is debating about whether or not to break up with one right now-- quite the social life, huh?

Ian's had a tumultuous transition since his new brother arrived home. As excited as he was to finally have a brother and playmate, I don't think he quite understood that Asher wasn't going to be the average 7 year old kid who's grown up like he has. It's been difficult for Ian, but he is learning how to be a big brother and is slowly taking on the role of teacher. I hope one day the two of them will share a very special relationship with one another. They kind of have to since they are the only boys in a family with five girls!!

My mom's favorite verse that she put on his birth announcements:

"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together inside my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written,
every one of them, the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them."
Psalms 139: 13-16

Since Ian's birthday fell on a Tuesday and I was out of town that weekend, we ended up having a little party for him the following weekend. Our friends the Fay's joined us for some fellowship time and we went boating, tubing, wakeboarding, grilled and had cake.

Dad and Dan grilling... notice how the grill is on fire?
Ya, don't know exactly how that happened!

So, the box the cake came in ended up getting squished, causing the icing to stick to the lid when we opened it. I didn't have any green icing to fix it.. so I took a little bit of green food coloring and improvised!

Ivy taking a nap on Dad's lap

Lighting the candles..

Making a wish!

Ian with a few of his favorite people:
Noah, Asher, (himself-HA!), Emma, Cesar and Cooper

Opening cards

Eating cake

Noah and Asher

The Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Ian!
We love you!!

Happy Easter!!

2008-03-23T16:57:00.001-07:00

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Easter day, as we reflect upon the ultimate sacrifice Christ made for us. Hallelujah! He is Risen!!

"But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, he has risen as he said. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee, there you will see him.'" Matthew 28: 5-7

"..but God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that we REJOICE in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now received reconciliation." Romans 5: 8-11

This Easter is especially important to our family as we not only celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also the welcoming of Asher into God's family. Last night, Asher accepted Jesus into his heart! What an amazing answer to prayer..

Boating Pics

2008-03-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

After the karate promotions on Saturday, we spent the rest of the weekend hanging out on the lake..

Wakeboarding

Kayla even got to try kneeboarding

And Elena got up during her first time graduating!
Way to go!

The Karate Competition !!

2008-03-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

Elena, Ian and Asher competed in their first karate competition on March 15th.
All three walked away with 2nd place in Forms, and 3rd in Sparring.
Way to go kids!

I had been at the sleepover with Esther & Emma the morning of the competition, so I didn't get to see Asher perform! =( I was so upset that I wouldn't get to watch him, but as soon as I walked into the room he ran up to me-grinning ear to ear- proudly displaying his two trophies!

Asher gets a hug from his little sister

We arrived just in time to watch Ian's turn at sparring!

Sparring is another word for "fighting." It's supposed to be little contact.. but these two were doing a pretty good job of kicking each other! Ian is in the blue belt.

Ian did very well and beat almost all of the other kids in his age group. He placed 2nd, behind the brown belt.

The fan club

Receiving his trophies

Two trophies!

Next was Elena's turn.. here's a view of what she got from that blue belt!

Elena is in green and she did superb, considering she was one of the "youngest" belts for her age group.

Ian, Asher and Elena proudly displaying their new trophies with their karate teacher.

The little girls.. being silly.

First Sleepover!

2008-03-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

To help offset the costs of our senior trip in June, my best friend Samantha and I have been putting together once-a-month sleepovers for the kids at our school. (Samantha and I work at her mom's in-home daycare.) I wasn't able to attend the one in February since I was in Michigan, but I was able to make it to the recent one we had in March. We've tried to have a theme each month, and of course for March we did St. Patricks Day. The kids had fun making crafts and watching movies. The best part was when we transformed their playroom into a huge sleeping room- featuring five blow-up mattresses. They thought this was just the coolest thing and one of our little boys even remarked, "Wow.. I actually get to take my shoes off!" =)

The next morning, we ended up scrapping our plans for home-made breakfast and headed out to nearby Cracker Barrell for an even tastier, Southern meal! It was pretty funny the looks we got from people when they saw Samantha, her mom (Nana) and I walking in with nine children, all under the age of five! And it was even funnier when they saw how well behaved our kids were. (No offense, but our kids had better table manners than most of the adults in the restaurant!) And I totally forgot my camera!! =(

It was a fun sleepover and the kids all had a blast. After breakfast brunch, the parents came to pick their kids up and that following Monday, they said that the sleepover was ALL the kids could talk about!

We're doing another one in May, which will be fun!

Ready to head to Nana's house for our first sleepover!
(Looks like a lot of stuff for just one night!)

St Patricks Day crafts

Best Friends: Abby, Esther, Emma and Rachel

The kiddo's all lined up and ready for bed!

Snug as a bug!

Violin Lessons

2008-03-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Esther loves the violin!
She is very dedicated and hard working.

Learning the strings from Mrs Campbell

Playing by herself!

The funny man pretends to play guitar

Going over the notes with Kendyl

Happy Adoption Day!

2008-03-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

Esther Joy Xiao Tian

It was two years ago that a beautiful, funny, sweet and oh-so-very-smart little girl was brought into our lives. March 12, 2006 is a day I will never forget- it's the day that Esther Joy Xiao Tian became apart of our family.
It seems like it was so long ago, and I actually just went back and read through the blog post I made on that very day. (You can go back and read it by clicking HERE.) The whole Gotcha day process went much smoother than Emma's did. I'll never forget the way she just waltzed into the room as if she owned the place. I saw her and instantly fell for that little face of hers and those cute pigtails she had! (I was scared to death they would chop her hair off and she would look like a boy!) I went right up to her and said, "Hello Tian" and she just smiled that beautiful little smile she has. The rest is history.. she was content with us for those first two hours.. and then we met her other side!

Yah, the first few weeks with Esther were definitely something I wasn't prepared for-but who could blame her? At three, her entire world had changed. No longer was she the spoiled favorite child from her orphanage who was given anything she wanted just to make her happy, since they figured her future adoptive parents would deal with it once they got her! (And.. we know this for certain!) Yep, she had left that world for the life of the youngest of six children, sharing that spotlight with another child the same age as her.. which proved to be a bit disastrous at first! Her whole world had changed- she had to learn a new way of communicating with us strangers, to not hit her sister and share her toys and what it means to be loved. She has come such a long way from the over controlling type personality she used to have. We just laugh about it now because she's just the most joyful child!

Up until meeting her, I wasn't sure what it would be like to have a sister who was cleft affected. Sure I knew she had already had surgery, but what were other people going to think? Would her scar be so noticeable that people would stare and make fun of her? These fears were all lost upon meeting her because I barely even noticed her cleft and I pay little attention to it even today. Her cleft does affect her nose, but I think it's the cutest little nose ever! Being cleft affected hasn't stopped Esther from doing anything and in fact, I believe it's why God gave her this "responsibility."

Everyone who meets Esther instantly falls in love with her. She is so witty and has great people skills! Everywhere we go in public she always wants to ask someone what their name is, what their mom and dads name is, do they have a dog, and "oh what's your doggies name?" She loves to ask questions and that's how she learns. When she first got home she constantly asked "What is this? What is that" and that's how she picked up on English so fast. Have I mentioned how smart this child is? At school, she has the best penmanship in the class and she's always first to answer questions that her teacher asks. She may not be the loudest one at answering questions, reciting Scriptures or the pledges, but she sure can belt it out when she sings!!

We always joke around that Esther's going to put Mom & Dad in the good nursing home since she'll be the one with all the money. Esther's ambition in life is to be a mommy and a doctor, and to marry Daniel, the 21 year old brother of my friend. He's quite a bit way too old for her, but she thinks he is funny and that's enough for her! I don't know what it is about my youngest sisters and liking older men.. (Emma wants to marry the kids 21 year old karate teacher.)

Yes, Esther is a little bundle of joy and she makes our lives so much happier and funnier. Her humble beginning into this world has given her so much strength and perseverance that I know she will be able to accomplish anything she sets her mind to. (Like marrying Daniel? Hehe.. maybe not)

Happy Adoption Day!!

I flipped it.. but it still turned out like this when I
uploaded it! Guess you'll have to turn your head!

Kyle's Memorial Garden

2008-03-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

In July of last year our friends unexpectedly lost their 19-year-old son, Kyle. It was a shocking time for all of us as we dealt with this unfortunate loss, and how to be there for our friends, Ken, Debbie and their children, Kevin & Kendyl. Kyle died at the beginning of the week and by the end of that week we had received our much anticipated travel approval for Asher. It was so tough since we were rejoicing with our addition, yet mourning the loss of Kyle.

While sitting in his memorial service just a few days later both Mom and I had an overwhelming feeling that God wanted us to give Asher the middle name of Kyle, in honor and memory of him. Of course we asked our friends Debbie & Ken and they said yes, they would be honored.

In a way I feel like God blessed both our families with Asher, since He took Kyle yet at the same time gave us Asher. Asher spends a lot of time with Kyle's family and we are so blessed to have their friendship. It's almost like Asher just knows how much he means to all of us.
Mrs Debbie even teaches Asher, Esther & Emma to play violin!

We have a very close group of friends who attend church with us now, or have in the past. We all decided to set aside one Saturday and go up to Kyle's parents home and create a memorial garden in honor of him. One family in our group is currently living in South Korea, yet they played an important part in the day since they had designed the garden! It was a beautiful way for all of our families to give some of our time to our friends Debbie & Ken who give so much of themselves.

It was a very peaceful, loving and happy day. The garden was done in just a few hours and we spent the rest of the time reflecting on Kyle's life and fellowshipping together.
Here are a few pictures from the day:

A view of Kyle's Garden

Emma and Esther playing Mr Potato Head with Angelina and Brooke

Ian and his friends.. who are only pretending.

Asher was a huge help.. he picked weeds, hauled old palm frauns and even drove a tractor!

Asher working with Matt

Asher and Esther helping Judah plant flowers in the garden

Asher and Chris on the tractor-- I hear he even ran into a tree!

The sprinklers are working!

Elena (second from right) with friends Kendyl, Abby and Bri

Praying over the finished garden.

Karate Promotions!

2008-03-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the beginning of March with a promotion for our Karate students!
Dad and Asher's promotion was on the same night and then Elena and Ian's was the next day.
The whole family made it out to Dad & Asher's especially since this was Dad's first promotion. I don't usually attend the promotions, but this time Asher BEGGED me to come.. so I knew nothing could stop me from missing this special event in his life. =)

Here's the back of Dad, our white belt!

Graduating!

Asher getting ready to go before the judges

Cousin Ethan also moved up to a Camo belt!

Sweet boy

Showing off his skills with his jongbong (?)

As part of their promotion, the student has to show how to get out of a "bear hug" hold.
God forbid anything happen, they will learn the skills to get away.

Asher successfully gets out of his "hold."
"Don't touch me stranger!"

Look at that Camo belt!

Big Sis Elena helped him make the transformation from yellow belt to Camo!

Along for support, Asher's teacher Mrs Langford was there to cheer him on!
As soon as he got his camo belt he ran into her arms. =)

Congratulations, Graduates!

My 18th Birthday..

2008-03-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

In better later than never news, my 18th Birthday was on February 26th.
It was a milestone I had been anxious to reach for a very long time. Being 18 hasn't changed my personal views too much, but I do like the fact that I'm now an adult.. and not just one of the kids. It's a great responsibility and I hear it only gets better (yet harder) as you get older!

Dinner with some of my closest friends at the Rainforest Cafe.

A few of my favorite verses:

"..charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

"..be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?' " Hebrews 13:5-6

"Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

Roses from my parents

Birthday cake for my family celebration

Making a wish.. with a little help =)

Me and Asher

A Few Facts About Me:

Traveling is a PASSION of mine- I've been to China three times, twice to Honduras and once to both Jamaica and Haiti on missions trips. My next big adventure will be to Africa.. I just don't know when I will be going.
I have a natural adoration for hero's- Spiderman and firefighters.
I hate wearing shoes--I would much rather be barefoot, but if I must wear shoes it has to be flip flips!
I love going shopping, wakeboarding, being with my friends, going to the beach, taking Krav Maga and taking pictures.
I was recently accepted into Southeastern University- a Christian college located close to my home. I plan on majoring in Journalism and focusing on Photojournalism. I'm really excited to be leaving home and being on my own soon.
The adoptions were my idea. Yep.. as much as I hate to take credit for all of it, it was my pleading that led my parents to go through it all. Though, I won't take credit for all of it since I know God was using me as a way to work through my parents. Even before we had adopted Emma I knew that we would go back because I knew I had another sister and brother there!
My phone is attached to my hip.. always. And not far from it are my car keys, iPod, Xocai chocolate and gum.
Did I mention I'm addicted to Facebook? I wish I had more of that enthusiasm for Blogger!

My Michigan Trip

2008-03-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

In February, I took a short weekend trip up to Grand Rapids, Michigan with my best friend, Elena. We visited and stayed at Calvin College, which is where Elena's older sister and brother attend. There was 2 1/2 feet of snow on the ground when we arrived on Valentines Day, so it was wonderful to enjoy the chilly 19 degree temperatures versus the sunny 80 degrees in Florida!! I thoroughly enjoyed the snow and all of the fun activities you can do in it.. sledding, ice skating and snowball fights! It was great to get away from "reality" and just have fun with friends. I had a blast.. here are a few photo's from my trip:

Behind me is the soccer field.. good thing it's the off season!

What to do when bored?
Grab some friends, a lunch tray from the cafeteria and find a hill to sled down!
(watch out for rocks..)

Elena and me

It snowed the night we arrived in Michigan and the day after!

Ice skating.. haven't done that in awhile!
Especially on REAL ice.

Building up my confidence..

And finally getting the hang of it!

Best friends- Elena and Sera
(we've been in school together since 5th grade)

This is me and Patrick, a friend of Elena's I met while up in Michigan.
Patrick was adopted from Hong Kong when he was 13 years old so he was really excited to hear about my adopted siblings, especially Asher. Meeting Patrick, I was able to look into the future and see what Asher will be like in about 10 years.

The Grand Rapids Airport..

So.. our flight was supposed to depart from Grand Rapids around 2:20 pm on Sunday afternoon. Elena and I arrived at the airport at 1:50 pm, scared we would miss the flight! Fortunately, the airport is so small that we made it to our gate with time to spare. Around 2:30 pm, we heard over the loud speaker that the plane had some mechanical problems and needed to be repaired, so we wouldn't be taking off until 3:45 pm. That was fine.. Elena and I both had some school work we had neglected to do! At 4:00 pm, we found out that the plane needed a new part in order to fly, but the part would have to be flown in from an incoming flight from Detroit. Our flight was now delayed until 7:00 pm! Happy to have some extra time in Michigan-since we weren't ready to leave-Elena's brother picked us up and we hung with him at his house. Anticipating we would be leaving that night, we headed back to the airport for our flight. 7:00 came and went.. so did 7:30.. and finally around 8:30 pm, the gate attendant delivered the news that our flight would be permanently delayed until 8 am the NEXT morning! (Because of more mechanical problems) So.. while the poor children cried because they couldn't go to Disney World, Elena and I happily went to retrieve our suitcases and headed back to Calvin! (We did feel really bad for everyone who wanted to leave- I think we were the only ones who wanted to STAY!)
The next morning our 8:00 am flight didn't take off until 10:30 am.. and we barely made it because another blizzard was rolling in! It was quite the experience, and I would never fly Northwest Airlines again except for the fact that I now have over $150 worth of vouchers!
Since Elena will be attending Calvin in the fall, I'll use the vouchers to visit. =)

A Look Back..

2008-02-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

Just browsing through some photos..

February 2004

February 14, 2005

February 14, 2006

February 14, 2007

February 14, 2008

My How Time Flies!!

Our Valentine Turns Five!

2008-02-14T11:52:00.000-08:00

February 14th

our sweet Emma Grace turned five years old..

Emma is so excited to have caught up with her older sister Esther, which means she is no longer four! Since we celebrated with a joint birthday party for her and Esther back in January, we had a small family party for her. I love the fact that Emma's birthday is on Valentine's Day- although when she is older she might want to skip the family party for a more romantic affair.. but we have quite awhile before that happens!

As much as I love all of my siblings, Emma and I share a very unique bond. Maybe it's because she was our first one from China, but it was instant love when I met her. When we first met back in Beijing, China, I thought she would never like me, because she screamed for the first half hour! But once we got some food into her little stomach and she realized there was more coming, she never looked back. Emma is the most well adjusted (adopted) child you will ever meet, she knows it too. =) She loves to be loved on, held and played with. However, she's never been much of a cuddler because she is constantly on the move and never sits still!

Many people are drawn to Emma because of her small stature, undeniable cuteness and her personality. She's very prissy, girly and oh so very dramatic! Yet, at the same time she loves to please and is always there ready to lend a hand. She's very comfortable with her place as baby in the family, but she loves younger children and is very helpful at school. Emma isn't afraid of anything- she's perfectly comfortable going 70 mph on the jet ski as she is "tanning" with her big sis.

I see Emma as being one of the popular kids in school.. she's very fashion conscientious, loves boys and is always ready to have a good time. I've said this before, but I can't wait to see the two of them in ten years at 15.. my parents will practically be dead from keeping up with these two. I always joke with Mom that before her 18th birthday, Emma will have been on plenty of dates, gotten a tattoo and been clubbing.. all stuff I haven't yet done at 18! (Esther is the better behaved twin.. she will be much more content studying or sipping coffee..)

Emma brings a lot of energy and laughter to our family and we are constantly amazed by God's grace in granting us with her as our daughter and sister. We love you so much Emma Grace and we are so blessed by your presence in our lives. May you grow up with the love of Jesus in your heart and use your energy and sense of adventure to be a shining light to the world. We love you.. to the moon and back a thousand times!

"Put on then, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another.. And above all these put on LOVE, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly.. and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossions 4: 12, 14, 16 & 17

A Few Facts about Emma:

Her favorite color is PINK!
She's got an amazing amount of upper body strength- I see a future gymnast!
She wants to marry her older sibling's karate teacher
Favorite princess: Belle
Hates spicy food
She's missing the finger nail on her right thumb.. it's never been there, and never grown back!
Did I mention her favorite color is pink?

P.S. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be with Emma on her birthday this year. Early that morning, I flew with my best friend Elena to Grand Rapids, Michigan.. more on that in the next post!

Chinese New Year

2008-02-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday was our last day at Disney World. As sad as we were to leave, we were glad to be going home. There was just too much sickness! The morning started early with an 8:30 AM trail ride for the older four kids and Dad. Forget about Disney, I think this was Kayla's favorite part of the entire week. (She is an avid horse lover) The trail ride was fun. It was Ian's first time on a horse, by himself. He had to work through controlling his horse, since it wanted to frequently take snack breaks! I felt bad for Asher, because you have to be 9 years old and he didn't understand how Ian got to go, yet he didn't. That's the only hard part.. trying to explain things to Asher and he doesn't understand.

After our trail ride, it was back to the cabins to begin packing up and heading home. We had quite the trek back.. all ten minutes of it!

Back home, it was into the shower and Chinese silks for the entire family! While we had planned on everyone being there, Kayla and Ian fell sick and so it was agreed that they would stay home. Over to the restaurant we went, and we were joined by Aunt Nanette, Andrew & Ethan. Funny: The FCC team made a mistake when they were printing out name tags and they accidentally gave Nanette & the boys our last name! So, it looked like Dad had two wives, which he thought was funny. We just pretended Nanette was his sister.. though she really isn't related to either of my parents!

Chinese New Year is always a blast and I look forward to it every year. It's the only time we get to take the entire family out, dressed in our traditional silks. Usually, we just order in from the local Chinese restaurant! We were joined by over 50 other adoptive families, including Miss Gracie and her family! We've "known" Lisa ever since they started their journey to Gracie back in 2005, but we hadn't met yet. It's always cool to finally meet the friends you've "met" over cyberspace.

This year, there was a Chinese dragon dance and the we even had "inside fireworks" which means about 50 little Chinese girls (and boys) jump up and down on bubble wrap. They loved it.

Anyways, Enjoy the photo's!!

How To Keep a Family Happy at Disney..

2008-02-09T13:19:00.000-08:00

Since we visit Disney quite frequently, and happen to be a large family we do possess a wealth of knowledge about how to keep your family happy while at the happiest place on earth! Here's a few tidbit's of information we have learned:

Obviously, this trip proved to be a bit more difficult when half of the crew fell down sick halfway through the week. We spent the last half of our trip hauling several bottles of medicines, including two which had to be refrigerated! We started out the day double bagging the medicines and using ice from our freezer in the cabins. Halfway through the day, the bags would begin to leak and that's when we knew it was time for new ice! The restaurant's were always kind and willing to give us new ice, so it worked out well. Next time, we will bring a small cooler.. just incase!

This year we stayed at Ft Wilderness, which was a wonderful decision made by my Dad. Last year we stayed at The Animal Kingdom Lodge, and had a blast especially since our room was on the Savanna so we had views of the giraffes and zebra's. This year, it wasn't going to work for all nine of us to stay there again.. both financially and physically! The cabins at Ft Wilderness were perfect and everyone ended up having their own bed.

We went to breakfast one day, and it cost $90 for everyone to eat. To save money, we bought groceries at the nearby Winn Dixie (outside Disney premises) and had breakfast in our room each morning. The cabins all have their own full kitchen, and the maids do all of the washing up so you don't have to worry about it!
We ate breakfast a little later, and then kept the kids satisfied with snacks until lunch. To avoid the rush of everyone at lunch time, we usually waited until closer to 2 pm when most of the restaurants are a little less full! With our family, arriving at a restaurant is like a mission. Upon entering the restaurant, we send a team to find a table for nine people. This often includes putting together two or three tables and stealing chairs from nearby tables. Once the table is put together, the older ones take turns deciding on what they want for lunch. (The younger kids don't have a choice.. you either eat or starve) Half of the team is up at the register ordering, while the other half stays at the table keeping the younger varmints happy until the food arrives. Upon the arrival of food, it's a delegation.. you either cut up someone's chicken nuggets or put straws in the milk cartons. We use the "eat it or starve" method which keeps us from having to get up several times and try to find what each child will want. We usually order the same thing for the younger four, and the hungrier ones (ahem Asher) often finish what the smallest ones don't eat (Emma).
We kept a bag full of supplies inside of the stroller at all times. It was stocked full of snacks, water bottles, band-aids, paper towels, wipes and other necessities! (Even an extra pair of flip flops since my new Spurry's were giving me BAD blisters!) Definitely keep a bag full of snacks and drinks for your kids- it saves money and keeps you from having to feed them Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and churro's.

Throughout the day we often keep count of our tribe of nine, and it's a good thing we do because we've ended up with seven, instead of nine before.
Keeping the kids happy is the key to having a fun time at Disney. Now, when I talk about kids I am normally referring to Ian (age 9) Asher (age 8) and Esther & Emma (both, age 5). Being 18, I'm the other adult and Elena (age 16) and Kayla (age 13) are old enough to know how to behave!

At the beginning of the trip, each child received their own lanyard, which is the "necklace" you will see on the kids throughout the pictures. You can buy these anywhere in each of the parks and use them to display pins. Almost all of the Disney cast members wear the lanyards, and they are almost always willing to trade pins with guests. Our kids know that in order to get more pins, you have to be good. Bad children will suffer from the loss of a pin. While we don't usually condone bribing at home, it does work when you're at Disney World.
We rented a double stroller during the day for the younger kids. It ended up being $18 per day, and we could rent a stroller at each park. If you are going to rent a stroller, make sure you ask about their "weekly" deal and you will end up saving about $2-$3 a day. Hey.. you gotta save money where you can! =)

If all else fails, just remember that you're hear to have FUN and these memories only last so long. And don't forget, we're located only 10 minutes away from Disney, so if you have any other questions.. I'll try my best to answer them!

Disney World, Day 5: Epcot

2008-02-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

Our last day at Disney found us at our favorite park--Epcot. We all love Epcot because there is something for each of us. Mission Space and Test Track are favorites for the older kids, while the parents love to cruise around the different countries. The little ones loved riding Soarin' and visiting China. =)
We spent most of our day in China, honoring the kids' heritage and Chinese New Year! We watched a movie inside their 360 degree room and it was neat to watch Asher's reaction to everything. The kids colored on masks and got a lot of attention from the store employees, who are all from China too. The highlight of the day for Emma was when she was coloring at the table and all of a sudden Mulan came up to her. Even though she was extremely shy, I knew Emma was so excited to be seeing one of her hero's, Mulan! Later, we found our way to the front of the line and took pictures and got autographs from Mulan and Mushu. (They were the only characters we got photos with during our entire week at Disney!)
We spent the rest of the day 'touring' the different countries and stopping for lunch in Mexico. In the afternoon, we met up with a patient of Dad's who works at Disney and gave us a free fast pass for Soarin! The wait time is usually upwards of 90 minutes, so this fast pass was a wonderful treat. We got to take everyone on this ride and it was enjoyed by everyone.
After Soarin.. it was a race to get out of Epcot and catch a ride via two different mono-rails to make it for dinner at Chef Mickey's over at the Contemporary Resort. While I was NOT looking forward to the craziness of an overcrowded restaurant with tons of little children and parents all trying to catch a glimpse of the characters.. it ended up being cute. The food wasn't too bad. it wasn't horribly crazy, but it in the end the kids all had fun so that's all that matters. Happy children=happy family!

Esther, sitting outside of "Mexico"

A much better, perkier Asher

Asher and Esther in front of China

The three amigo's

Meeting Mulan and Mushu

How many can we fit inside the stroller?

Goofy is our waiter?

Mom doesn't seem to mind..

Donald Duck came by for a visit!

And got a hug from Ian.. =)

Even Mickey came by!

Minnie seemed to be the favorite..
Asher looks embarrassed because Minnie has just given him a kiss =)

We love Minnie!

Disney World, Day 4: MGM

2008-02-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

Thursday was a tough day, at least for me. For everyone else, it was probably their favorite! While the rest of the family spent time at Disney's Hollywood Studios (we still refer to it as MGM) I was confined to my bed with an awful headache and the onset of a sinus infection. Poor Dad made another trip back to the pharmacy to pick up some much needed relief, which I finally found after two doses of Sudafed. I stumbled into the park around 2 pm and the rest of the day was a blur. Tower of Tower, Rockin' Roller Coaster.. the rides I had been looking forward to the most, were put to the side as I enjoyed two renditions of the High School Musical Parade and the Little Mermaid Show. (All of Esther's favorites) Unaware to us, poor Asher was suffering from his own headache and after the discovery of a high fever and watching him fall to sleep on a park bench, we realized it was definitely time to go! Back to the cabins we did go, and back to the Pharmacy went Dad!
Good thing we have seasonal passes, because we really enjoyed MGM.. we just didn't get to see much of it!

That's why there aren't many pictures.. and they are all of the little ones since they are more complicit to pose. =)

Once I arrived, I found Emma snacking on a yummy popsicle.

Esther's beloved High School Musical.
She loved everything- sang every song and danced like a little teenager.
I seriously think she is a thirteen year old stuck inside the body of a five year old..

They are hard to see because they're so tiny!

After the Ariel show, the girls had to try on Princess crowns.
This is their signature "Hannah Montana pose"

Waiting for Mom to finish her pin shopping..

Crazy children..

We decided to wait outside while Mom, Elena and Kayle were in one of the stores shopping for pins. Asher had "that look" on his face that said he was not feeling very well, and he was burning up. I had him come sit on the bench next to me.. and I'm not kidding.. he was asleep in two minutes! I even moved off the bench, and he stayed asleep. Poor guy!

We put Asher in the stroller while we walked out of the park.. no one
wanted to disturb him, or carry him!

Well at least these two weren't sick.. yet.

Disney World, Day 3: Animal Kingdom

2008-02-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Day Three started off a little bit unplanned.. an unscheduled doctor's visit to our room happened somewhere in the middle of the night. I can't remember if it was 2 or 5 am.. but there really is no difference between the two.. it's still WAY to early! Poor Emma's fever was spiking out of control and while we didn't have a thermometer to confirm.. she was easily in the 102-103 mark. Fortunately, having a father as a doctor makes it a little more convenient. We simply had Elena move into Mom & Dad's cabin, and Dad moved into ours while he cared for our patient. After a stronger dose of antibiotics and Motrin, the fever was finally better under control by the mid morning. Esther slept through the entire event- I'm sure an ambulance's siren couldn't have awoken her.
Needless to say, our adventure that day was a bit delayed so we didn't make it to the park until closer to lunch time. Emma was feeling better, but in order to keep it that way we would have to cart around a bottle ox Amoxicillin, which requires refrigeration. We simply double bagged it and changed out the ice supply every few hours.
The rest of the day was medically, uneventful thank goodness! We took Asher on "Expedition Everest" and he loved it. We kept teasing him that he would scream.. but he never did. He had a very solemn look on his face the entire time, but would never admit to being scared. I think he did have a good time, but he told us he would rather not go again! We also went on the Safari ride, which the kids all enjoyed.

Heading to Animal Kingdom

Kayla & Ian playing the drums

Asher loves anything that makes noise!

The "Tree of Life"

Poor Emma, still feeling sick.
We bought her a Lion pillow to help make the ride a bit more comfortable.

While watching the bird show, Ian actually got called on from the audience to participate!
The lady standing on the left asked simple math questions like 4+3=? and it was a race to see who would answer first.. the bird or Ian? Actually, the bird won 3 out of 4 questions!

Asher stealing Esther's seat.. and Emma looks a bit perkier!

Sorry.. you'll have to twist your neck for this one!

On the Safari ride..

Mom & Asher

If you look at the water you'll notice we were caught in a daily Florida downpour!

I thought this was a cool picture... I was trying to get one of that tree and never realized there was a broom dangling from the Safari truck!

The Disney Savanna

I don't know what kind of cow (?) this is, but I liked the picture!

Elephants

Flamingos

Time for some more antibiotics!!

Later in the afternoon, at the parade

I think that's Minnie Mouse
(We met another adoptive family with a daughter from China.. she's the one in the pink bow!)

At dinner.. Asher using his chopsticks to eat ice cream! That takes some skill.

Our only sighting of Mickey Mouse from that week..

Disney World, Day 2: Magic Kingdom

2008-02-05T14:50:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of our Disney Trip began a little different than we had imagined. After going to investigate why our early riser Emma was not yet awake, we were greeted with a bit of "surprise" and a 102 temperature. Sick as a dog, and hotter than a summer in Orlando, she begged and pleaded with us to let her go to Magic Kingdom. So, we brought extra Motrin & Tylenol with us, loaded her and the rest of the kiddo's up and decided to try it. Although she wasn't quite herself, she did have a lot of fun. What kid wouldn't have fun in Disney World? I mean, it is after all the happiest place on earth.

Taking the ferry over to Magic Kingdom

Happy and comfortable in our stroller.. one of about 1000 this day.
We have a nice red double stoller, but Mom just HAD to have one like Jon & Kate did.
(If you have heard or seen the show Jon & Kate Plus Eight.. that is Mom's favorite show. A few months ago they did an episode where they took all eight kids to Disney World, and they rented the above blue strollers. So, my mother for some reason decided she needed to be just like them and get the girls a stroller too. I did miss our red stroller.. looking for that blue one in a sea of blue strollers was a bit crazy.)

One of the best sights in the world-- it's like entering Paradise for every child.. and me!

Our first task after entering the park was to get Asher his very own set of Mickey ears.
Each of the younger kids have their own set, so we had to get Asher some too!
Actually, scratch that.. everyone except Dad and me own a pair. I refuse to.

Now that's a large crowd!

The only three that would pose..

A side view of Cinderella's Castle

Mr Cool Dude, before entering "Philharmonica"
A little "loopy" after riding the Teacups!
Asher & Dad.. finally on the long-awaited ride!
Asher LOVES cars.. so when he found out there was a car ride, he was there.
He was so excited and could not believe he had to wait in such a long line. But he stood there patiently and eagerly waited for his turn to drive!
Emma and I were partners again like last year..
Hmm.. I thought they said "No Bumping!"
I think Asher is kinda upset that we couldn't go again!

But, he was alright.. he LOVED the ride and asked if we could go on again.
(I would have let him, but the line was wayy too long)

Another view of the Castle

And as the sun was setting..

Well, as the sun went down and it got cooler, Emma kept getting hotter and more lethargic. It was evident we needed to get her back to the room and get some antibiotics into her fast. So, while Dad, Elena & Asher drove to our local pharmacy, Mom and I took the rest of the kids back to the cabin. Just what we needed during our vacation.. someone to get sick!

Disney World, Day 1

2008-02-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

After our fun week at Disney last year (check through the January 2007 archives), we've decided to make it a yearly event for the family.. at least while the kids are little. So on Monday, February 4th, we loaded up the cars and drove the short ten minutes to nearby Disney World and Ft Wilderness, our home for the next week.
The first day was spent acquainting ourself with our cabins (we had two, since we have such a large family!) and our new surroundings. Dinner was at five, so we all dressed up and headed to the California Grill, located atop of the Contemporary Resort. The location of the restaurant makes it the perfect spot to watch the sun set over Disney. And, if your dinner is late enough you can even catch a spectacular view of the fireworks at night!!
Dinner was wonderful, and fortunately the kids did really well in a very-upscale restaurant! We celebrated Mom's birthday that night too. After dinner, Dad and Elena took the little ones to ride the mono-rail, and Mom and I headed back to the house to pick up a few items we had forgotten. However, that would be the first of many trips back home over the course of our week at Disney......

The younger four, dressed mighty cute..and ready for dinner

Overlooking Magic Kingdom

The younger five kiddo's

Hmm..they must have been getting tired by the looks of this picture!

Magic Kingdom.. it was great to harass the younger kids since Magic Kingdom was SO close, yet SO far away from them!

Waiting for our table
(Can I just go ahead and apologize now for the horrible blurry pictures this horrid camera takes??)

Watching the sun set over the Grand Floridian Resort

And you thought your dinner table was chaotic...

Elena and Esther

The first of the many times Ian would fall asleep after gorging himself at dinner time

Celebrating Mom's birthday with her favorite, chocolate cake!

Happy Birthday Mom

2008-02-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

Mom's birthay was February 4th, the first day of our Disney vacation this year.
We celebrated by taking her to California Grill, a classy restaurant located atop of the Contemporary Resort.

I believe the greatest thing God has blessed me with is my mother. We share the same strong-willed and fiercely independent qualities, which makes us not get along all of the time, but we still remain the best of friends. My mom lost her own mother when she was 17 years old, and at that age now I could hardly imagine growing up without her. Mom does such a great job of caring for all seven of us, including home schooling us which is no easy task! My prayer for my mother is that she continues to grow in strength and wisdom with the Lord. Already, she has set such a good example for myself and my younger siblings. I know it will be difficult for her when I head off to college in August, but I know the distance won't be a huge issue.. I just hope it will continue to make our relationship grow stronger.

We love you Mom!! =)

Little known facts about Mom:

She's just two years away from hitting the grand 5-0
She's one of eight children
She loves dogs, especially Shih Tzu's & Boxers
She originally started out as a Music Major in college, but switched to Nursing
She volunteered at the local Fire Department
She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and loves crab cakes!
She is a major chocoholic!!

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Proverbs 31: 10-12 and 25-31

Guess Who's Hair This Is..

2008-02-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, this "rat's nest" is what typically appears on this certain child's head every morning...

Whew.. doing her hair is no easy task!
We use LOTS of No-Tangle Spray to just get a comb through it.

Park Day

2008-02-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

Working at Esther & Emma's school gives me the flexibility to be with them each day and do fun things with them. My "co-worker" and friend, Samantha and I like to take the older seven of our kids to the park. The weather was especially cool on this day, which is unusual for Florida!

Little Miss Emma

Esther & Dylan playing on the tire swing

Best Friends: Emma, Esther & Rachel

Esther climbing trees!

Abby, Jordan & Esther