Guess Who Has Their Forever Family!!!

This little girl is Wu LiNa. We met her at the Baotou S.W.I. when we visited there to see where Avery had spent the first year of her life. She was just adorable and I wanted to put her in my pocket right then! She now has her forever family!! You know what the coolest thing is? She ran to her FATHER first! We should all run to our Father first. You can go check her out at auburnkids.blogspot.com. I'm so glad the orphanage let her hair grow out - she has the cutest little pig tails. Can you imagine getting your forever family when you are 6 years old? What must be going through that little girls' head. Precious.
The orphanage sent her all dressed up so cute and with a bag full of momentos and even some examples of the work she had done in school. We have been so blessed to have our children taken such good care of. Thank you God. Go visit www.halfthesky.org, this is the organization responsible for training the nannies, the preschool, medical care, new building, etc.

Now, this sweet Pan Yue, she needs a mom and a dad. She's the same age as Avery, and just cute as a button. Just like the parable of the lost sheep . . . we'll go after that one.

It's been a great day in China! I know of THREE families who have gotten their children in the past 24 hours. My heart over flows. I want to go back to Baotou.

Preschool for the 'Twins' (I've always wanted twins:)

Preschool started this week! (I know, it's been a crazy busy week here!) The 'twins' go two days a week at a wonderful little preschool that we've gone to for many years (they know all of our kids except for Conner, he went somewhere else). The girls did so good! Miss Angela (Carlie's teacher) said that about half way through the day, Carlie came to her, clasped her little hands together and said, "I need to go check on Avery." So, they peeked in the window to see how she was doing. So sweet. Their two classes had rest time together and the 'twins' got out their nap mats and layed down next to each other. Ethan was even worried about Avery! When I picked him up from school the first thing he asked was how Avery did at school. Be still my heart!

Momma had a good day, too ;).

Our Kids!

Dinner for a TWO Year Old

We are learning to LOVE Chinese food! There's a place called Chopsticks in T-town that serves it Chinese style where you order 2-3 dishes, bowls of rice or noodles, and it's served on a giant lazy susan. It was wonderful! Most of us ate with chopsticks the whole time (Ethan and Carlie would just stab their food with the stick to eat it - smart kids). Conner gave up REAL quick and grabbed a fork. Did we have birthday cake? Nope, not yet, we had Moon Cakes! DELICIOUS!!! Wait, I can't lie. They are not good at all. What the Chinese call a dessert we might call sand molded into a pretty shape??? But, hey, it's worth a shot, right?

Party on Saturday!

She's TWO!

I love my blog, I really do! But, well, with 5 kids and a husband who travels a lot, there's just not much time. Well, today, I AM MAKING TIME! I brought the little kitchen play set and the play food and dishes downstairs so the little girls could play and get caught up on Blue's Clues and Ni-Hao! Kai Lan. They thought I had bought them a whole new toy! The squeals from them were so cute! Now, back to blogging . . .

Avery turned TWO (AR in Chinese:) on Tuesday. We are making a week of it because, well, she got to spend her first birthday with her nannys and friends back in Baotou - and not with us! So, Monday I took the girls (and later Ethan, because he pouted and because he's so darn cute) to Build-a-Bear. Avery still gets scared at some new places, especially where there's loud sounds, and this was one of those places. I mostly had to hold her while her bear was being made for her, but once we moved away from the stuffing machine she was OK (but still clung to me). Carlie had never been either and she was all about it! She's such a little princess/girlie girl. She named her bear Trinida :). Nicole was an old pro at this and I had to limit her on the glamorous outfits she wanted for her kitty cat. I said "T-shirt only sweetheart. You have other clothes at home that you can dress her in, right?"

It's REALLY Official This Time!

I had a fun time telling everyone in a sad voice that I had to go to court. When they would ask why, I would smile and tell them that our adoption was being recognized by the state where the wind comes sweeping down the plain. The secretary at school made a copy of the court appearance because "this isn't the usual reason a kid leaves school to go to court." Anyway, Avery slept through most of it because it was scheduled during her nap time (could you blame her? If I wasn't an adult I would have slept through it, too.) The judge was very nice, asked us all sorts of official questions: "do you promise to take care of this child, providing her with education, health care, love, etc.?" Yes. Yes. Yes. And YES! He asked the other kids if they approved of this and they all gave a thumbs up (even Ethan, who at one time wanted to "send that screaming baby back to China!")

We are one big happy family! Glory to God!!