Science Experiement

Maybe Jesi was feeling a bit jealous.  Left out, year after year, as her older siblings got to spend hours and hours with mom on their annual science project.  Maybe she is just a budding savant, looking for ways to express her scientific superiority.  Perhaps she felt a burning desire to express her inner Michelangelo, but couldn't reach the ceiling.  Or maybe she just wanted some cold Root Beer:

No way to clean this one but to take everything out and start from scratch.  Kudos to my brother Tyler who came for dinner, saw the mess and refused to leave until he had cleaned it spic and span.  Kudos to all involved for keeping smiles on our faces and chalking it up to a lesson learned.  (After the initial shock, we found out that we were lucky only one of the bottles she had imprisoned in the freezer had actually exploded...:)

Jer

Studio 5 Story

I'm always a bit worried when a story is done on our family because I don't know how it will be edited/presented.  Last Monday, Studio 5 paid us a visit and met our sweet kids.   They were such great people and we enjoyed getting to know them.   The segment aired today and it can be found HERE.  They did a fantastic job.  (:

-Christianne

Three videos worth your time.

Love this couple!



This story has always made me want to cry-- just thinking of that poor man!  And then I realize how much more sad it is when we live beneath our spiritual privileges...





One of my favorite videos of all time.   I meant to post this at Christmas but didn't... Now you can enjoy the Christmas spirit in January.  (: 

But I not sad!

Trying to escape my long to-do list that wasn't getting done and feeling quite overwhelmed by life, I sat down at the computer earlier this evening.  A friend had sent me an email asking me some questions about what it was like to parent a child with limb differences.  A little boy had captured her heart, and she wanted some input from me.  He is three years old, from China, and was born with only the top part of his arms.  He also has some major leg discrepancy issues.  This was one of the sweetest, most beautiful boys I have ever seen.  Sophi walked in while his video was on and exclaimed, "What?!  I have another friend!  He is like Sophi!"  She was so enamoured with him and loved watching his sweet videos.

After the videos ended, she asked why he couldn't walk without a walker.  I told her that his legs didn't work quite right.  Then she turned to me and said in the most expressive little voice, "Awwww!  He's so sad."  Thinking she was referring to his special needs, I asked, "Why is he so sad?"

Her reply, "Because he wants a mommy."

Be still my heart.

After a moment, she brightened up and said, "But I not sad!  Because I have a mommy!"   The conviction and the smile with which she said it reminded me that my long to-do list simply didn't matter.

She has a mommy.

PS  If you'd like, you can head on over to This Little Miggy to read a bit about our family.
It's in two sections, PART 1 and PART 2.

Honeyville Farms!

We love you, Honeyville!

http://honeyvillefarms.blogspot.com/2012/12/puzzle-them-home.html?m=0#.UPHhr6NlAb0

15 Minutes of Fame?

The lost girl from our neighborhood has been found!  Yay!  Christi was one of hundreds of volunteers who went out searching for her.  And since Christi hasn't been on the news enough  lately, she now has her picture on msn.com:  http://news.msn.com/us/missing-13-year-old-utah-girl-found-unharmed

She is not amused.

(But I am:)

Jer

I Love Adoption / Pray for Brooklyn

Oh my goodness, we LOVE this video!  A friend shared it with us today and we're so grateful!  Sophi walked in as I was watching it, and one of the boys without arms was playing the piano.  She exclaimed, "That's my FRIEND!  Now I have three friends.  'Cause there's that one girl and then Tisha and that boy playing the piano.  I have so many friends!!"  (:




On a sadder note, we have a neighbor who is missing.  Brooklyn is in Taylor's Sunday School class and in Young Women's with Graci.  Our whole community has rallied together-- it's been amazing to watch everyone do what they can to help.  When I was out with the search and rescue today, I talked to people from as far north as Bountiful who had come to volunteer.   Hundreds of people showed up.  It's heartwarming to know that there are so many caring people out there-- and yet, our hearts are heavy right now as a big storm has rolled in and there still aren't any leads that we know of.  Taylor, Parker, Graci and Cali joined the youth in our ward to hang yellow ribbons all over her home tonight.  They are all very concerned.  Please pray for Brooklyn and her family.

--Christianne

Tender Mercies and Tender Moments

Wow!  What a day!  I know, I know…we say that every day.  But it really is true.  Especially today!  (Saturday)  Some of you probably saw our “Tweet” video.  (If not, you can view it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l85zOQVm6ZQ)  We were trying to encourage some of our favorite celebrities to tweet about Puzzle Them Home.  Well………today we got our first tweet!  The Salt Lake City home show was going on this weekend.  The contractor and architect had encouraged Christi and me to attend so we could get ideas for the new house.  Then on Tuesday, Tammy from the Puzzle Them Home committee pointed out that Ty Pennington (of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition fame) would be in attendance.  Ty would be on stage for about an hour and then would sign autographs.  The committee reached out to the staff at the home show and they said we could get a chance to meet Ty.  We left our house about 9am with everyone except Graci and Elli.  We showed up early, got some of the limited seats for his time on stage (which was quite hilarious-he is an excellent entertainer) and then got in line for autographs.  When we got to the front, he had already been told a little bit about us.  He talked to us for a few minutes, learned a bit more about Puzzle Them Home, and said he’d be glad to help share our story!  Xander was on cloud nine.  He wants to be a "builder" when he grows up, and Ty Pennington is truly his hero.  Within a couple of hours Ty had tweeted, and later this evening he posted it to his Facebook page.  Within an hour it had over 500 likes!  How exciting!!!  Thanks, Ty!  If you haven’t checked out the Puzzle Them Home site, it’s right here.  Share it on Facebook:).

We got done with the home show about 2:00pm and rushed 30 minutes away to Taylor’s basketball game.  He played well in their loss.  At least 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  Immediately following Taylor’s game we rushed back to within half a mile of where we had been for the home show to watch Parker’s basketball game.  He played well in a tight win.  This was with Cali, Lexi, Sophi, Xander and Jessica in tow.  They really were great sports!  (By the way, Christi managed to lose her phone at both the home show AND Taylor’s game.  She is very blessed and managed to find it again both times:).  We finally got home a little after 7pm!

Following a quick dinner of pancakes and bacon, Christi headed into our bedroom/computer room and worked with Graci to finish her research paper which is due on Monday.  I put all of the kids to bed.  Well, most of them.  Cali can be a bit impossible at night.  I never raise my voice at her or physically force her to do anything.  I also can’t speak Chinese very well.  So if she flat out refuses to go to bed, there’s not a lot I can do.  It’s kinda cute (and kind of annoying) but tonight it resulted in some very tender moments:

1.      Cali usually won’t let me hug her or hold her hand or kiss her cheek.  She'll let Christi, but her preferred method of showing her love for me seems to be trying to inflict physical pain.  Pinches, hits, etc.  (All in a teasing, fun way.)  Or to flash her “scary face” at me.  And let me tell you, this face is seriously scary!  Looks like a possessed girl from some horror movie.  But that’s beside the point.  Anyway, I was trying to convince her to go to bed, and she flopped down on the floor, put her arms in the air towards me and said, “I baby!”  “You’re a baby?  Do you want me to carry you?”  “Yes!”  So I carried her up into her bed.  She let me cuddle her up in my arms and kiss her on the cheek.  She put her arms around my neck and held me tight.  It was so sweet.

2.      When I tucked her in with the usual, “Are you my little Angel?” she started to ask about the other kids' nick names.  When she got to Jessica, I actually knew the Chinese word for Princess.  Cali immediately wanted me to start calling her “my little princess” as well.  I wasn’t sure how Jesi would take this, so to alleviate any issues, I said, “Are you my little Princess” in Chinese.  This would not do for Cali.  She requested it in English.  I obliged.  My misgivings were well founded.  Jesi was quite taken aback that I would share her special title with someone else.  (Five years ago when we adopted Graci, Grace also wanted to be little princess.  At that time in the evolution of my parenting style I simply said “No.”  One of the many ways I lengthened the time it would take Grace and I to bond.  Graci was upset and I wasn’t very sympathetic.  Way to go, Dad:(  Anyway, this time I tried the best I could to work with both Cali and Jess to come up with a solution.  I explained to Jess that if I simply said “No,” Cali would continue to want to be my little princess.  But if I would say princess for a few days, perhaps we could ease her into something else.  So far so good.  We’ll see how it plays out.  In the meantime, it was so endearing to know how much Jesi loves her title.  She is, indeed, my little princess.

3.      Sometime after I had tucked her in, Cali again wandered (scooted) out of her room.  This time she came into the living room and asked me    to sit next to her.  She pulled out one of the large scrapbooks from the early days of our marriage.  We started looking at pictures of Taylor and Parker when they were 2-4 years old.  Cali seemed to really enjoy it.  I pointed out her Grandmas and Grandpas.  I pointed out some cousins.  Then we came to a page with my immediate family on it.  I pointed out my mom and dad and siblings.  When I came to Tiffany, I wanted to explain to Cali that Tiffany had passed away.  My Chinese vocabulary is very limited.  So to explain, I used the English words “dead” and “died.”  She did not understand.  At the risk of being rather insensitive, but wanting Cali to understand, I made a little death sound and cocked my head to one side with my eyes rolled back and my tongue hanging out.  She got the message.  (I actually did this with as much tenderness as I could.)  I then said the word for car and smashed one fist into the other palm.  Again, in the most gentle way possible.  But she understood.  She very sweetly leaned over and wrapped me up in the biggest hug she has given me to date.  It was the sweetest thing.

I feel so blessed.  Our children give me so much.  What a privilege it is to be able to rub shoulders with them on a daily basis.

Finally, I just have to say another thank you to the wonderful people who are donating to Puzzle Them Home.  The contributions continue both large and small, both in cash and through pledges of labor and materials.  We are so grateful for every single one.  We know these represent sacrifices and selfless giving on the part of so many.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your love and resources with our family so that we can soon be in a home that will fit our needs so much better. The plan has always been to break ground in February.  In order for this to happen, we need nothing short of a tremendous miracle in raising the funds needed.   On average, about 0.5% to 1% of the people who visit the Puzzle Them Home site are able to donate.  This means we need somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million people to visit.   Just to give you an idea, during the last month there were just over 1,000 visitors.  We would so appreciate any efforts to share www.puzzlethemhome.org.  Thanks for all of your help and all of your prayers!

With deep gratitude,

Jeremy

A Bit Of This And a Bit Of That

Happy New Year!  Can't believe how fast time passes.  Here are few odds and ends based mostly around pictures I've taken on my phone:

Jess and Graci were loopy while waiting for our luggage in Beijing:

Jesi and Grace in their flip flops at the Beijing airport, reinforcing what a responsible father I am...

Some TIRED girls on the way home from China!!!

We were pretty tired on Christmas Eve (go figure!!!).  That, combined with some slick roads made for an abbreviation of some of our traditions.  But one that the kids could not have lived without was GRAND BAGS!  Ten Grand Bags require quite a bit of work to put together.  Not surprisingly, this year's version included several trinkets from China.

By the way, we decided at the spur of the moment to adopt an extra young lady while in China.  Let me introduce you to...Alexandria:)

At first, Xander was OK with his foray into femininity, but as time went by, he became a bit less enthusiastic about the idea:

We recently played a game of sardines.  Taylor hid in the "dress up clothes" closet under the stairs.  Parker found him fairly quickly, but the rest of the us took quite awhile (and maybe even required a vocal hint) before we could locate their hiding place.  No wonder!  (Look closely in the second pictures for a couple of happy hiders):

Can't remember if this was crazy sock day or 80's day or what.  Regardless, there are few guys who can pull off this look.  You get to decide for yourself whether Parker is one of those guys:)

 

Sophi helps Lexi read braille:

Lexi wants to be a cowgirl:

 

Christi and I at the New York toy fair last February.  Fun trip!!!

 

Poor Taylor.  Had to go on a food drive with our church youth group.  Got stuck in a group without any other guys in it.  Hard luck kid:(

After my camping trip to Escalante with Taylor, Parker and my dad, I let my beard grow out for almost a month.  Christi loves it (at least until I start to shave it in sections...):

Sophi likes to play trombone and use hot pads:)

So grateful for all my kiddos and so grateful for digital cameras!

Jer

Angels Among Us

This morning Christi and I had a hold-each-other-cry-together-it'll-all-be-ok moment.  Or few moments.  Cali is doing almost unbelievably well.  She seems to not only feel very comfortable with our family but genuinely seems to love us.  And we love her.  She is a delightful little person.  She deals with her disabilities with dignity and capability.  So much is going well.  And yet it still overwhelming.  We have nine children.  Compressed between the ages of 14 and 4.  Most of them with moderate to very severe special needs.  Between last night and this morning, Christi and I were not sure we were going to make it.  But God always seems to know what we need and when we need it.  Three particular things really felt like tender mercies today.

1.  As I lay pondering this morning (at about 4am-I'm still not quite off of China time), I was impressed with Paul's words regarding faith, hope and charity.  I hadn't read this passage lately, so I really felt as though this was a message from the Lord.  The message was simple.  Have hope.  Although it sometimes feels as though there is no way we can meet all of the needs of all of our kids, we must have hope.  I know-really KNOW-that each of our children is meant to be in our family.  And if it is right to have each of them, then I really can have hope that the Lord will help us and we will be able to lead and love this family of ours.  And once we have hope, we need to have faith to do what we need to do.  Sometimes it is the hardest thing in the world to do something as simple as get up off the couch and face the rigors of getting the littles to bed.  But it can be done.  And when I do it with the right mindset, it is really quite a joy.  So this morning as we were having our "moment," I was able to tell Christi about this communication I had had from the spirit and it left both of us feeling reassured.

2.  Immediately after we were finished talking, I received a text message from a long-time friend.  This friend understands the challenges of the first few weeks following an adoption, as he and his wife have adopted several children themselves.  They understand the jet lag and the language barriers and the bonding issues and the joy wrapped in exhaustion surrounded by love.  The text was very simple, just thanking us for what we were doing with our family.  But it came at such an opportune time.  It reminded us that the things we are doing go beyond just the impact they have on our own family.  It reminded us of how people are touched by our children and what an impact for good these little ones have just by living the way they do. 

3.  Tonight, as we were getting ready for bed, I received a call from another friend of almost 20 years.  This is one of those friends you don't talk to often, but when you do, it's like you never missed a beat.  He called me out of the blue and told me about a Christmas tradition his family has.  They work together, kids included, to help another family.  This year they chose our family.  (They were going to leave something for us anonymously, but my buddy forgot to bring our address along when they left:)  So they called to get our address.  I'm so glad they let us know who was giving the gift, because it gave us the opportunity to talk and catch up a bit.  Great family.  Anyway, after they left, we looked inside the gift bag they gave us.  First there was a book with a beautiful inscription, once again thanking us for what we are doing with our family.  Secondly, there was a jar with an incredibly generous donation towards our house.  It included lots of paper money, but also a lot of coins, which I imagine were from their kids.  What sweet, wonderful people.

I just want to express my thanks to people who listen to the promptings of the Spirit and reach out to other people.  You were our angels today.  You were the messengers that provided tender mercies that helped us remember that we really can make it and that Heavenly Father really is there and looking out for us.

Jeremy

Love our Lexi!

Lexi opens our closed door and comes barging into our room about a subtly as a Mack truck.  "Lexi," I remind her, "you can't just come into our room.  You have to knock first."

Lexi:  "So I should try again?"

Me:  "Yes.  Knock, and I'll say 'No.  You can't come in.'"

So sweet Lexi knocks. 

Me:  "No.  You can't come in."

Lex:  "But I want to tell you something."

Me:  "Not right now.  Mommy and I are talking."

Christi then gives me a pouty look with big eyes and an extended lower lip indicating that she thinks Lexi is about as cute as can be and I'm a big ogre.

Me:  "OK, Lex.  What do you want?"

Lexi:  "Can you slip me for 20 bucks?  Get a CD?"  Christi and I start cracking up.  Lexi:  "That's what Parker told me."

Love our kids!!!

Jer

Stunning

At Cali's request, I put a little bit of make-up on her and curled her hair for church.   Um, wow!  As Jeremy said, "This girl is not going to have a hard time getting a date."

Also, I don't know if we mentioned that our fabulous friends lined up a special homecoming for Cali, complete with Santa Claus!   KSL did a nice write-up on it-- you can find it HERE.  Oh, and I have a favor-- someone on there left a comment asking where we found Cali's profile.  I tried to leave a reply, but because I had already left a reply to another comment, it wouldn't let me (there is a one reply limit.)  If someone happens to go on there and reply to that comment stating that Cali was found on the wonderfulwaitingkids website, that would be so great!  (You can't give the complete URL or it won't post.)  I would die if someone is really interested in adoption but didn't know where to go!!!


We are exhausted.  We are not ready for Christmas.  We are still recovering from jet lag and me from my ear infection/vertigo.  We are a bit stressed.

But we are TOGETHER.  (:

--Christianne

Can't You See, Dad?

Lexi was standing in front of our locked bedroom door, about to be charged with breaking and entering.  (Yeah, we have pretty much no privacy in our lives.  Our bedroom is grand central station around here.)  I noticed her fiddling with the lock and said "Lexi!  You can't go in there!  There are Christmas presents."  Lexi quickly replied, "I can't see."  Me, not catching the significance, "Um, that's right.  You can't see."  Lexi: "I blind!!!"  Suddenly it dawned on me.  "You're right Lex.  You're blind.  You go right on into the Christmas present room:)"

Jeremy

Home At Last!

Just a quick note to let everyone know we made it home safely. The rest of the trip went fairly smoothly, and we had a warm reception when we got here. More on that later.

It was a beautiful moment when we knelt down and had our first family prayer with all 11 of us together.

Welcome home, Cali. We love you!

Dad


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Are You Kidding Me???

I'm not sure why I thought our travel on the way home would go smoothly. It never does, particularly when I'm a single parent shepherding three kids back to the U.S. so why would this trip be any different? We planned layovers that allowed plenty of time, so the travel gods found different ways to play their funny games in our lives.

 

At the "travel home" meeting with our CCAI guide this afternoon, we got the first hint that all might not go as planned. We booked one itinerary all the way from Guangzhou to Salt Lake City. Usually this means you can check your bags all the way through, giving you more lenient weight restrictions on your luggage because it's considered an international flight. Unfortunately, our layover in Beijing is 12 hours (we have a hotel room reserved) and China Southern would not let us check the bags through. So instead of having a little carry on luggage to get to our Beijing hotel, we have four monster bags in addition. It also meant we were restricted to 24 fewer pounds than if it had been checked as international baggage, making my packing job more tricky. Nonetheless, we got everything in our bags, on the shuttle, and to the airport in plenty of time.

Two of my sweet daughters, who enjoyed their pedicure earlier in the day, had begged me as they were getting ready to go to let them wear flip flops. They wanted mommy to be able to see their beautiful toes when she picked us up at the airport on Friday. So of course, being the softie that I am, I acquiesced. I mean, I know we're flying first into frosty Beijing and then to snowy Salt Lake City, but how much time would we really be spending outdoors? Just a short walk from the airport to our van in the covered, short-term parking lot, right? And a short walk from the airport to the hotel shuttle in Beijing. But no. I forgot about how China builds their airports. Even as everyone on the airplane disembarked, I still didn't realize it. It was only after I picked Cali up and carried her to the door of the plane that I realized I also had to carry her down the double flight of stairs to the tarmac.  On the tarmac we had to walk about 30 yards to the shuttles which would take us to the main building.  So Jesi Graci had to walk through the snow in their flip-flops.  I look back and Jesi is struggling to pull a carry on bag with one hand while pulling up her jeans so they wouldn't drag and get wet with the other hand.  Crazy Americans!!!

 

We were supposed to arrive in Beijing at 11:15. Our hotel is 5 miles from the airport, so I figured with a little luck, I might have the kids tucked into bed by 12:15. The baggage took forever to come off the plane, but it gave Graci and Jess the chance to further cement in everyone's minds that Americans really are strange.  They were both extremely loopy from fatigue, and they played pat-a-cake type games and chased each other all around the baggage claim area, even slipping and falling on occasion.  When the luggage finally did come out, we were missing Cali's wheelchair. We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the airport staff guy who had been assigned to push Cali in the airport wheelchair (until hers came through baggage claim) told us to wait in some nearby seats.  He told us this in Chinese, which was loosely interpreted by Graci.  He made me move Cali out of the borrowed wheelchair into a regular chair and then he took off with the airport wheelchair, which I thought was wierd.  After several minutes Graci said, "Well, are you going to go look for Cali's wheelchair?"  "Isn't that guy looking for it," I asked.  In the flippant way that only Graci has truly mastered she responded, "I dunno."  "Welllllll, didn't he say for us to wait while he went to look for the chair?"  "I dunno.  I don't understand everything in Chinese."  Ah, parenthood.

 

So I wandered off to see what I could do.  I couldn't really take the girls with me, 'cuz now we didn't have a wheelchair!  So I left the three musketeers (or stooges, depending on how you look at things) alone with all of our luggage and started traipsing into the great unknown of the Beijing airport, looking for someone who spoke a little English.  With a bit of luck the wheelchair was soon located and we headed towards the front doors of the airport, where we were extremely late meeting a shuttle for our hotel.  By the time we got on the shuttle it was 1:15am.  There was one other family on the shuttle-all dressed in heavy winter clothing.  With heavy winter boots on.  And me with my daughters in flip flops.  Remember, I had hoped to have the girls tucked in by 12:15.  But this is China.  This seems to be my destiny as I embark on these trips.  So intead, I got the girls tucked in at 2:20am.

 

Now would you like to hear the crazy part?  After the girls were tucked in, I wanted to call Christi.  I had to call several times on the pathetic Skype connection I get here before she even picked up.  Then I had to call a couple more times before she could here me.  And when I finally did get a connection we could use, albeit one that kept going in and out every two seconds, I realized it was Chrissy Probst (of Puzzle Them Home fame) that I was speaking to.  Remember, she's going in and out terribly.  I hear her say that Christi was ok.  Dead spot.  They gave her some medicine for the neausea.  Dead spot.

 

Me:  "Is she at the doctor?"

 

Dead spot.

 

Chrissy:  "No.  The emergency room.  An ambulance had to pick her up."

 

Dead spot, with my laughing almost hysterically over it.  Chrissy has to think I'm the worst husband in the world.  She tells me my wife went by ambulance to the emergency room and I start cracking up.  Remember, it's about 2:00am here and I'm exhausted.  I had called Christi to tell her what zany adventures in travel we had been having, and I find out her news.  It's almost too insane to be true.  But that's our life.  And it struck me as funny.  What sobered me up was when I heard Chrissy say, "They ruled out stroke."  Stroke?!?  Are you kidding me??? 

 

At that point she explained what had happened.  (The reason she originally started the conversation with "Christi is ok" was because she had left me a voice mail a little while ago which I hadn't yet listened to.)  Christi had been feeling nauseaus and light-headed.  She called Chrissy and asked for some help getting Elli out to the bus.  When Chrissy came over, she found Christi on the floor and unable to get up.  That's what I got with over our terrible connection.  At this point, she seems to be doing ok.  They have her on fluids and gave her meds for neausea.  They think it's an inner ear thing.

 

So now I'm about to go to bed.  I have to get up in 4.5 hours and catch a plane across the Pacific.  My wife is in the ER recovering from a collapse.  We could use your prayers.

 

Thanks,

 

Jeremy

I have a confession to make...

Every time we go on a trip, and I mean every time, I pack my own suitcase and Christi packs everything else.  The one exception is for camping trips.  I do man up and take care of the tent, sleeping bags, etc.  But every article of clothing, every carry-on toy for the kids, EVERYTHING else is packed by my sweetie.  So here I am, eyes glazed over, staring at a room full of stuff that somehow has to get to America.  I can do it right?!?  (In case you can't tell, I'm stalling.  If I focus on the computer long enough, perhaps I'll turn around and it will all have magically packed itself...)

My Three Sons

I have been tired beyond words-- to the point of being on the verge of tears at all times.  It's made me feel almost sick-- I hate jet lag!!   I just took some medicine awhile ago that helped me get through the last few hours-- and though I'm still exhausted, I can function.  I'm finally ready for bed, but just had to take a few minutes to record how grateful I am for my three boys.

Xander, upon arriving home from school, went straight to the kitchen.  Fifteen minutes later, he came in my room, where I had fallen on the bed and was fighting falling asleep.  "Look, Mommy-- I made you a special snack!"  On the tray were two bagels cut in half and spread with strawberry cream cheese.  On top of the cream cheese was a generous helping of red and green sprinkles ("cuz it's Christmas"), a spinach leaf, and a cherry tomato.  I wish I had had the camera with me!   Of course, he had to stand there to make sure I ate one.  (;  I love that creative, thoughtful little guy!  He wants to be a chef someday (along with many other things, including a father of two girls, two babies, and 49 boys with special needs adopted from China).  (:

Parker, also noticing my fatigue and subsequent lack of patience with the little ones' whining, intervened several times to help out and play with them.  He's very aware of other people's needs.  Love him.

After arriving home late from Parker's basketball game, where I had dragged all the little ones because I couldn't bear to get a babysitter after already being gone from them for so long, it was all I could do to get them in bed.  I asked Taylor, who had just arrived home from his basketball practice and was surely exhausted, if he could please just spend 10 minutes and unload/load the dishwasher.  The kitchen was a mess, it was almost 10:00, and I was just dying to fall into my bed-- but knew that I would be frustrated waking up to a kitchen where there weren't clean dishes or places to eat.  He sweetly went into the kitchen and spent three times as long as I had asked cleaning up.  As he finished, he hugged me and brightly said, "Well, I don't have to ask the question 'Have I done any good in the world today?!'"  That made me smile.  It's a line from one of my favorite hymns:

1. Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?

[Chorus]
Then wake up and do something more
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.

2. There are chances for work all around just now,
Opportunities right in our way.
Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,”
But go and do something today.
’Tis noble of man to work and to give;
Love’s labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live.
To God each good work will be known.

So glad I have boys who live by these words!

--Christianne

Last Minute Musings

I am alone in our hotel room.  The quiet is quite therapeutic.:)  At Christi's suggestion, I made a spa appointment for the three girls, so they are all down getting manicures and pedicures.  Ah, the good life.  I started packing in earnest this morning.  Really thought I could get everything down to three 50-pound suitcases.  But no matter how much you squish 170 pounds, you just can't make it weigh less.  So, as I have done on at least two other trips to China, I went down and bought another suitcase. If it lives through the journey home, it will have been worth the money I paid for it. ;) 

I've missed at least seven of the boys' basketball games while we've been here and it's killing me.  Just got a report on Parker's game (Wendesday night local time).  Their team scored 15 points the entire first three quarters and were down by 11 with three minutes left.  At that point they went on a huge run which ended with a three by Parker to send the game into overtime.  They lost by one in OT.  Bummer, but those types of games can be great learning experiences and confidence builders.  I love watching my boys play ball!

On the way home we have a three-hour layover in Seattle.  My parents live in Portland, so they are driving up there to see us at the airport.  I'm so glad they'll get a chance to meet Cali right away.  I called them a few minutes ago to confirm they were coming and while they were on the phone, my mom spoke with Cali.  It was fun to see how excited Cali was and how much she seemed to enjoy talking to nai nai.  As they spoke together, Cali's head and mine were very close together so I could hear and do a little interpreting.  Once they were done, I took the phone again, but Cali didn't move away.  Instead, she wrapped her arms around me, gave me a big hug, and rested her head on my chest.  It was the sweetest thing.  I think she is feeling very secure with her place in our family.

I know I've said this before, and I'll likely say it again, because it is something that continues to be impressed upon my heart.  I am so grateful to Graci and Xander for their patience with me as I was learning to be an adoptive parent.  I am so grateful to have a better understanding of how important it is to just be patient and let things slide as this new, wonderful individual discovers what it means to be part of a family, and specifically, part of our family.  Harsh words or an impatient voice may result in more immediate action today, but it will only create that much more difficulty in the future for the child to bond and feel loved and safe in their new home.  I believe that biological children are sent to families in a specific order, an order that our Father in Heaven knows is best.  I've never really thought about adoption order much, but now that we have Cali, I feel that Heavenly Father's hand was very instrumental in the order that we have adopted our kids.  I needed to learn many things before I was prepared to have such a sensitive child come into my life!  And Heavenly Father knew that some of our other children were resilient enough to endure my shortcomings and make it through intact:).

I am scared.  It hasn't been easy here in China, but all we had to focus on was adoption and loving our new child.  Going home we will have to worry about work and bills, shoveling snow and mowing lawns, making meals and doing laundry (well, not too much laundry-thank you, thank you, thank you Russ and Candace!), homework, English skills, braille, doctor's appointments, paperwork for another adoption, the list goes on and on and on.  I am so grateful for my partner through all of this.  Sometimes people will express some degree of amazement at our family and what we do.  They often make comments about what good people we must be.  I appreciate the things they say and recognize that our family is unique and special.  But truly, truly, the catalyst for who we are and what our family is is my sweet wife, Christianne.  I am just a regular guy caught up in a special work.  Christi is not a regular girl.  She is an angel.  Her heart is big.  Her motives are pure.  She strives to do the right thing more than anyone else I know.  She is patient.  She is strong.  she is creative.  She is diligent.  She is valiant in her testimony of Christ.  She loves her children passionately.  She is not perfect, but she is close.  And somehow, she is mine.  Thank you, sweetheart, for going on this journey with me.

Love,

Jer

Last Night In GZ!

We took the oath at the consulate today.  Really just one more step left.  We should receive Cali's passport with a US Visa in it by 4:00pm tomorrow afternoon.  We leave Guangzhou around 8pm.  Looking forward to getting home, but I really will miss being here.  The girls have been so sweet and cute.  Graci, particularly, has looked out for me and encouraged the other girls to be sweet and obedient and grateful.  We've done a lot of shopping over the past couple of days.  Visited the pearl market today and then walked down to Shamian Island.  There are several of the shop owners there that know us by sight at this point.  Not on the second and third visit of our trip, but on the first :).  No joke.

Tonight the girls wanted to go swimming.  The temperature was probably in the upper 50s and it is an outdoor, slightly heated swimming pool.  It was a bit chilly!  But they really wanted to go, so we went.  Cali really seems to enjoy the pool.  She obviously hasn't had much experience swimming, but she's starting to get more comfortable.  At first, she didn't know how to plug her nose and go under water, but now she does it comfortably.  She goes all around the edge and like to swim across on my back.  She's even gotten better at that.

This afternoon we did group pictures with the seven CCAI families that are here.  I tried to buy Cali a Chinese dress to wear for them, but she would NOT have it.  I finally convinced her to get a shirt and a pair of shoes.  She looked so cute.  During the group picture of just the adopted kids, there were a bunch of 2-3 year olds and Cali.  But she was a great sport, in fact she looked extremely comfortable with the younger kids, which goes right along with what we've heard about her at the orphanage.  She even held one of the little boys for the pictures.  Lots of fun.

Cali continues to get more and more comfortable with us.  She has more spunk, she is talking way more and she is much more willing to assert herself now.  She has been calling us mommy and daddy, which we both absolutely love.  Tonight we were about ready to go swimming and I was on the computer.  She asked several times when we could go, and I just kept saying, "In a couple of minutes."  She finally said, in a loud voice, "Daddy!  1...2...3..."  Way to go Cali!  Needless to say, we got up and went.

Looking forward to snow capped mountaints and blue sky.  Not looking forward to icy temps.  Looking forward to hugs from Taylor, Parker, Elli, Xander, Lexi and Sophi.  Not looking forward to going back to work.  Looking forward to Christmas!  Not looking forward to being on a plane during BYU's bowl game.  Looking forward to seeing all of the kids interacting with Cali.  Not looking forward to seeing her dental x-rays.  (Hopefully they're more like Lexi's than Graci's when they got to America!)  Looking forward to her meeting the wonderful group of neighborhood girls who have been anticipating her arrival.  Not looking forward to her meeting the myriad doctors she is sure to need to see in the first few months home.  Looking forward to Cali getting integrated into school.  Not looking forward to the inevitable tears that will be shed as she adjusts to American culture, language and food.  Looking forward to sleeping in my bed.  Not looking forward to sleeping in my new bedroom:(  Looking forward to seeing Cali meet grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles and cousins. 
Heading to bed on our last night in Guangzhou!

Jer

A quick check-in!

Jer just wrote a post from China, so you can scroll down and read that first...

I made it home!  I left at 9:30 p.m. Monday evening and arrived at almost 2 a.m. this morning.  With the time difference, that makes for about a 20 hour trip-- not too bad!  Jeremy and the girls have a much longer trip home, as the cheapest way for them to fly is to take a late night flight to Beijing, stay at a hotel, take an early flight to Seattle, have a three hour layover, then fly to SLC.  With three girls.  One in a wheelchair.  Much more difficult than my route, but saves hundreds and hundreds of dollars.  So yeah, Jer's the man.  (:

It feels SOOOOOOO good to be home!  I can't say how much I missed my sweet kiddos!  It felt amazing to hug and love on them this morning.  I woke up at 6 a.m. and went and crawled in bed with Sophi, Xander, and Lexi (who all happened to be sharing a bed).  It was so much fun to have each of them wake up and see big smiles spread across their faces as they realized who was in bed with them.  A perfect start to my day.

I'm feeling a bit fuzzy from jet lag.  I want to sleep all day, but have a million things to do.  Christmas prep and shopping is on the top of the list, as is Lexi's IEP, basketball games for the boys, unpacking, catching up on emails, homework with kids, and house stuff.  Ahhh... back to reality!  (;  It's probably good I have plenty to keep me busy-- hopefully I can stay awake most of the day and be able to get a good night's rest and get my body switched to Utah time...

Mom, Dad, Matthew, Megan-- you are AMAZING.  Thanks for being such angels and taking care of the kids!!!  I love you so much and I'm so grateful for our family!  Can't wait to introduce you to your new granddaughter/niece.  (:

Jesi, Graci, and Cali-- thanks a lot for mocking my heart-felt note.  Love you too!  (;

--Christianne

Loving Guangzhou

In Christi’s much-mocked note to me, she counseled, “Be happy and enjoy this time as much as you can.”  Fantastic counsel.  I can honestly say today was one of the best days of my life.  I have so enjoyed the company of my three oldest daughters.  I am really trying to live by the adage, “Don’t sweat the small stuff…and it’s all small stuff!”  And it really isJ.  It has been an incredibly endearing bonding experience to be half way around the world with just the three of them.  Over the years I have had many opportunities through sports and camping to make some fantastic memories and bonds with my older boys.  But those opportunities have been less frequent with my girls.  As I have now officially retired from coaching, I have been able to enjoy more of these experiences.  And the results in my relationships with the girls are very evident. 

We were up at 7:45 today to get ready for a trip to the Guangzhou safari.  Aside from the rain, it was quite wonderful.  We saw all kinds of wildlife up close as we rode through the “Safari on wheels” portion of the park.  Then we were able to walk through the other areas and see pandas and koalas, tigers and dinosaurs (pretty decent Jurassic Park fare).  We even got to feed giraffes out of our hands.  Those are some pretty long tongues!!!  After resting for a while back at the hotel, we took a taxi down to Shamian Island, did some shopping and had dinner.  There is something about an outdoor meal at Lucy’s that completes my adoption tripJ.  We found some cross stitch patterns for the girls that will hopefully keep them interested for a portion of that long plane ride home.  Also found some good gotcha gifts and grand bag items. 

Today’s best lines:

Jessica (an email novice) while watching me type my email address into an online form:  “Hotmail?!?  What’s that mean?”  Then, after a couple seconds of thought, and with a suspicious look in her eyes, “Does that mean Christianne mail???”

Cali, at dinner after yet another taxi ride, (and through Graci as an interpreter): “Daddy, why do you always ask the taxi drivers the same questions?”  This, of course, was a reference to the fact that I can only ask about two questions in Chinese:  “Are you from Guangzhou?” and “Do you have any children?”  The funny part was that on the way home, we were in another taxi and I asked the driver, “Are you from Guangzhou?”  Cali immediately started cracking up and mocked me in front of everyone.  She has quite the sense of humor.

I am so excited to get home to my family and to the States and to Christmas.  But I am truly going to miss China and Guangzhou and the time I have here to focus entirely on three of my precious children.  Life is beautiful.

Jeremy

A few pics...

Graci with her China neice: Ling Long

Chin brother holding Graci and Bei Bei

Christi and Jesi in the middle of a swarm of elementary school kids who love their hair!

Graci with her 1st and 2nd grade teacher from Hangzhou

We love China Grandma!!!

Ling Long with her America grandparents and her China grandparents.  They decided we were her America grandparents.  We really are part of the family at this point:)

At the zoo.

Jesi, Graci, Duna and Christi

Cali after swimming

Sorry!  These pictures were part of a larger group we were trying to post, but only a few got through and in kind of random order.  We will post more when we can:)