A Beautiful Fall Day

Yesterday we went to a homeschool event about Eastern Woodland Indians. The boys had fun learning about American Indians and exploring the gardens. Jonathan nearly got a fire started with the drills that they had for the children to try. Daniel and Kai helped furnish a model wigwam, and Jonathan, Kai and Daniel all had fun playing some of the games that American Indians played. I enjoyed the beautiful weather and, obviously, taking photos.

Playing "snakes"

Bet you didn't know gourds were heavy.  :)

Jonathan, trying to figure out how the drills worked.

Ride 'em cowboy!

A rose by any other name. . .

Would smell as sweet. . .

Making the beds in the wigwam

Giddy up!

Grinding corn

The boys were impressed by these GIANT pumpkins.

I tried to take a good photo of the 3 boys together.  This one is probably truest to character.

And, after a lot of shots, this is the best I got.  

Trying out the cradleboard.

Poor Kai Wei!

Recently the boys have begun to enjoy playing soccer. The other evening at dinner Kai asked if I would play with him and Daniel in the yard. When I said maybe, Kai Wei said, "Don't say maybe or you will make your little brothers sad". How can you say no to that? I went out and played soccer with them.

A few evenings later, Kai Wei was out playing in the yard with my Dad and brothers and the ball hit him right in the face. His vision was blurry, so they took an emergency visit to the eye doctors, who recommended visiting a retinal specialist the next day. Fortunately Kai Wei didn't tear his retina (which is what the eye doctor was afraid of at first), but he did bruise it and just to be on the safe side, the doctor said no active play for Kai for 2 weeks. No more gym, recess, flag football, or even playing in the yard. Poor kid. Two weeks seems like a long time when you're 11. The good thing is though that his vision is fine and he doesn't need to be on bed rest for the next 2 weeks. Apparently that's what they advise if you actually tear your retina. Can you imagine an trying to confine an 11 year old limited English speaker to bed rest for 2 weeks?

The pictures are from the other week when the cousins came over for tacos, ice cream and movies while our parents went out with our grandparents.



*Still no news on Sarah-Grace, but I did finally post some photos of our webchat to the post below.

Waiting, Waiting and MORE WAITING!

We had a nice webchat with Sarah Grace several weekends ago. Sadly, the video wasn't working for them to see us. We could see us and we could see her :-) CUTE as ever. She did a great job communicating with us without even being able to see us or speak much of our language. She really must be getting used to this webchat thing. She is probably, as we are, tired of it too. It will be so nice to just be in person and give her a hug and get to know her and laugh with her. She is a very energetic and fun loving girl.

However, it turns out we are needing to wait a bit more. I keep reassuring myself that God knows what he is doing and that he is ultimately in charge of the details. . .But I'm really thinking she needs to come home! The problem that has now arisen is that since someone has claimed her as his daughter (the law in Taiwan apparently is that if you claim someone is your child and you register as their father than you legally are the father--no DNA required. . .)SO, now that she has this father registered there are legal complications for her to be classifiable as an orphan. So we wait and let the powers that be settle things. . .

We are still hoping to travel some time in October. But I'll believe that when I see it!

In the meantime we WAIT.

Guess What?!

I was checking email yesterday when I saw one from our agency--it was about a webchat and I was explaing that to Kai-Wei, who thinks all things concerning Ssu Ya must mean she is coming home. So once more I had to say no, not to come to America, just to talk to her on the computer. THEN, I noticed another email with the subject, "Good News!"

SO, one year, two months, two weeks and six days after receiving our referral for Ssu-Ya we have gotten the final ruling! YAY! We can travel to Taiwan in October! We can hardly believe it is true.

Dana will not be traveling this time--as he can't take the time away from work again this year, but Annie checked at work today and she can go. We are hoping to travel around the second week in October, but will firm things up after we talk with them in Taiwan a bit more. We have a webchat scheduled for Friday. We don't know if Sarah-Grace knows yet.

Praise God, we're so excited!

Good bye summer.

Labor day weekend has come and gone, the kids have started back to school, and the air feels crisp and cool in the mornings and the evenings. Kai Wei started 5th grade on Wednesday. So far he says school is "little bit too easy". We'll see how long that lasts. He likes his teachers and is making friends and even learning some of their names. He tells us American names are hard. He was excited to ride the bus and buy a school lunch. I'm not sure how many academic things they did in the first week. He hasn't had any homework yet, so we'll see how things go once they really start working.





This weekend we went to a culture and arts festival that included dragon boat racing. It was really fun to watch, though the teams from our local Chinese association didn't do too well. They don't own any dragon boats, so they don't practice at all, they just participate the day of the event. There were 20 teams there from across the state and out of state. We also headed down to the "Indian Powwow" and watched some dances and the boys got to sit in a dug-out canoe.

Yesterday we had a pool party at my Aunt's. I didn't have my camera with me, so everyone involved is spared the embarrassment of having photos of them trying to ride on beach balls bucking bronco style in the water posted to our blog. :) I couldn't take any photos of our family kickball game either. Between my Aunt who would scream and then run in slow motion every time she kicked the ball, several athletic competitive teenage guys, and a few non-athletic types like me who only played because everyone else was playing it was a very entertaining game. My Aunt and her family just moved in a few weeks ago and we're sure they're happy to no longer be living in our yard (they spent a few weeks camped out there in their pop-up while house hunting) and we know we are happy to have them a lot closer than 4 hours away!

Six Months!

As of today, Kai Wei has been home for 6 months!


Six months ago he told us stories in Chinese that we couldn't understand and his English was limited to numbers, answering what his name was, a few phrases, and, surprisingly, the word barbecue. As he learned English, a frequent phrase was "I don't know English!", said in frustration when he didn't understand. We rarely hear that now. Tonight, I was once again impressed with how much English he has learned as he explained how his fishing rod was broken and he couldn't remember where he put it and he couldn't find it. He still struggles with verb tenses (my fishing rod is break, I can't found it) and of course, he's still learning new vocabulary, but it's amazing how conversant he is.

Six months ago Kai knew his letters, but not the sounds they made. Now he knows all the consonant and short vowel sounds and is beginning to feel like he can read English. He was so proud of himself when he read a note to me the other day. He still doubts me when I tell him he'll be good at it by the end of this school year though.

Six months ago, Kai Wei stood stiffly when I hugged him at the airport. Now he gives us all hugs and loves to get hugs back.

Six months ago, Kai and Daniel were so excited to meet, but quickly started fighting. They didn't understand each other, they weren't good at sharing, and miscommunications quickly escalated. Today the boys have learned to play together. On good days, they laugh and play together all day long. On bad days they still fight and call names, but they aren't always on the defensive now.

Six months ago Kai Wei would try almost any food we put in front of him without complaining. He didn't eat many sweets. He liked noodles for breakfast and usually ate with chopsticks. Today Kai likes ice-cream as much as the rest of us. Unfortunately, trying all his food without complaining was part of the honeymoon period, and now he's trying to get away with being a lot pickier. He still eats noodles for breakfast sometimes, and likes soy sauce on his eggs. He only uses chopsticks occasionally.

Six months ago Kai would jump onto the couch to get away from the dog. Now he loves him, isn't at all afraid of him, and thinks those of us who don't love the dog really ought to.

Kai Wei has added so much to our family. I love the way he makes us laugh, his silly faces, his extravagant suggestions, the way he always asks me to "daogao" (pray) for him before he goes to bed, the hugs he gives, his enthusiasm for singing, the way he loves his "laohus" (tigers), his smile, and the way he loves to have a good chat.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Today was also Sarah Grace's 2nd court hearing. We haven't heard anything yet.

Yet another update on Sarah Grace

I(Debbie, who is typing on Annie's account, since she is the photo guru) was sitting in the Doctor's office with Daniel when my phone rang. I hear Kai's excited voice on the phone saying, "Ma, Ssu-Ya" What can he mean? I think. Can they have gotten an email? Why would Rebecca be on my account?" Then he adds, "Pictures" "OH," I say, "Did we get pictures in the mail today?!" The update we were waiting for! And aren't these so cute? Poor Sarah Grace has had a few difficult months with her court appearance and some illness. But you'd never know it looking at these pictures. She just looks so happy and fun loving.

We've heard that her court date is scheduled for August 15 with a custody hearing for August 20. We hope not too long after these we will hear news. They are hopeful that the judges will rule in our favor. We're praying!

She herself wrote the cutest note in English to say thank you for the harmonica sent by us from my mom and a few little pet shop animals and a necklace. Her comment on the necklace to the worker was sweet. She asked, "How did they know what I wanted?" She said she didn't dare ask for it. When questioned why she said she didn't want us to spend all our money and not be able to come and pick her up. I asked them to assure her that we had that money saved in the bank!

I so much want to bring her home and hug her and be there for her. . .

God Bless!