Reflecting On God's Goodness

The weeks seem to be flying by.  Keane is doing so well, I know it must be so hard for him at times when we are all talking, and he isn't understanding much of the conversation.  We are continuing to use the translator, but it isn't the same as just talking and speaking the same language.  His English continues to improve and he was actually reading some English today.  The first few weeks he didn't know the days of the week, or how to tell time,so things are improving.

One of the problems we were having was he didn't want to do much as far as working around the house or doing any kind of outside work in the yard.  He also was not too excited about reading or any type of school work.  I know the love of learning is a thing that comes from being nurtured, and it breaks my heart to see him only want to play video games or get on the computer.  That is slowly changing and he has been up in our tree fort,out on the swing and he does love the pool.  Our other guys have been playing connect 4 with him and teaching him to play chess.  He loves TV and was amazed that we didn't have one.  We do have movies on the screen projector,but no TV.  Tonight Mike and I had to go out to a homeschool meeting and Mike gave him two pages of math problems to work on. We were so thrilled to get home, and he had them completed and was quite happy about it. He scrubbed pots in the kitchen this week and even worked outside with all of us.  He is always the happiest kiddo,just don't ask him to work.  We really are making great progress in this area, and I think he is beginning to really see what it looks like to be in a family.  The good,bad and the ugly.

We do devotions every morning as a family and Keane has been reading along in his bible.  The first few weeks home, he would find this time to be good for getting a little extra rest, but now he follows along and Rylan our oldest son will translate what is being said, using the translator.  As Presbyterians we baptize our babies,symbolizing their entrance and full membership in the church, and being a part of God's covenant family.  Keane knew he was a part of our family,but now we are teaching him that he truly belongs to a bigger family, The church,God's family. We told him he could not partake in communion until he was baptized, and at first he didn't really want to partake.  The day he was baptized I really think he understood the bigger picture of the church and the covenant and that he belongs.  He gladly took communion with the body of Christ throughout the world that day.  He asks to pray for meals now and is beginning to sing the songs at church. We are trusting in God's promises for Keane and Liam and the rest of our children, He is faithful!!! 

                

                                               Our Sunday Bakery Stop Before Church

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The Last few Weeks

Sorry it has been so long since I posted,but we have been busy with life.  Keane and Liam are doing fantastic.  Keane loves his American name and is such a joy.  He has been to the beach twice and starts guitar lessons this week.  We have a Christian Chinese tutor coming to the house twice a week and Keane is learning English quickly.  He was able to connect with his friend from his orphanage that was adopted last year, and they talked to each other on the phone today.  He calls his friends in China on skype, and we are amazed how happy he is.  He is now our official phone answerer, and everyone who calls knows it is Keane and he loves it.

Liam is funny,outgoing and a big tease.  He has the greatest belly laugh ever and loves to be chased and tickled.  Some how we got the two easiest, happiest kiddos ever.

We have had a few issues when it comes to work and reading, which Keane does not find to be the most enjoyable activities.  Today he asked Rylan to read sitting next to him while he read, and that worked out great. He is amazed that we work out in the yard in 90 degree heat,but he worked along side Mike and they got some yard work done.  We are doing well using the translator and telling him why it is important to work before play and that reading will allow him to learn so much.  I don't think he was pushed to work or to do his school work in China or maybe he was told we Americans sit around and relax all day. He is super neat though and cleans up after himself.  He now knows to clear his plate after dinner and help all the boys with the dishes. Keane said he had never taken a bath before and now he has taken a bath every night since we got home.  He is super sweet and caring.  One of our boys was crying about a writing assignment that needed to be turned in and Keane came over and gave him a glass of water and a tissue.  He has also told Mike and I, I love you in English,which melts my heart. He made me the best card ever for my birthday with pictures of he and I, and it said, I love you!! I still can't believe what a great kiddo he is, God has truly blessed us!!!  He is so perfect for our family.

Mike's parents came to visit from Alabama and Keane was so excited to meet them.  He played cards with Nanny and swam in the pool with Papa everyday.  He can now make it all the way across the pool without having to be saved in the deep end.  Keane has a great sense of humor, and we are starting to have jokes among ouselves that he gets, and we all do a lot of laughing, plus the charades we all do to communicate is always commical.  I'm sure he can't believe what a crazy family he has. 

Kitchen Duty

How great was it to come home to find that our dear friends that were feeding our dogs, cats, inside rodents and outside chickens not only had hung welcome home banners is everyone's room, but they had also seriously done some major deep cleaning on our house.  Jenn keeps it really neat and clean all the time, but our friends did the stuff we don't normally do very often. They washed the walls, cleaned all the floorboards, wiped all the slats on all the blinds (like 50,000 of them), lots of other stuff AND had MEALS ready to cook in our spic and span totally cleaned refrigerator.  They even cleaned the overflow fridge in the garage.  How awesome is that? All of y'all that have friends that you're trying to figure out how to serve - this was seriously indentured servitude type service! We have been majorly blessed. Sorry no pix of the fridge, you'd think I was selling it. :) And we already ate the yummy meals.

A week back in the States - sorry for not posting

Well we made it back to the States! Our consulate appointment got moved up to the 6th, so we went back to Shanghai on the 8th, spent a couple days getting to know the people from the Healing Home where our two oldest still are.  The rest of us made the first flight we tried for - as usual, there were EXACTLY enough seats left for us to make it to Chicago. And they fed us 3 or 4 times - I love free food!!!!! God continues to surprise us by letting us know that He even controls the number of available airplane seats so we can get home for free. And they were all together.....

So we've been back almost a week now. Things are going really well.  Liam is a totally easy baby. Smiles a lot and doesn't seem to be having any attachment issues or significant grieving going on - except when Jenn gets more than 8 feet away from him.  Keane has been asking some pretty funny stuff - I think misinterpretation from the electronic translator is helping:
     Do the boys go to school? (We homeschool!)
     Where will I get my knowledges? ( I told him from us - that probably has him really scared!)
     Do you have money for ALL of this? (We had to stock up at WalMart with almost two carts of stuff - including 20 or 30 of the 20cent notebooks and stuff like that)
     I asked if he were happy or sad and he told me, "I have two plates..."

It is obvious that he has been surprised at some things, too:
     I don't think he expected me to drive our own car.
     Or own our own car.
     Or own more than one car and keep it at our house!
     Everybody gets ice in their water all day long.
     We eat uncooked spinach at every meal.
     We really are going to do school at home............................
   

 And then we went to the beach for the day. Enjoy the pictures!

19? Really?

How did Rylan all of the sudden get to be 19?  What a fine young man you've grown into, Rylan! He and Keane celebrated their birthdays together last night (again) with a cake the hotel brought to our room - they saw it was his birthday from his passport at check-in.  Very nice!

HAPPY JULY 4TH FROM CHINA!!!!

We got Keane a translator, and it has been great being able to communicate back and forth. He was so happy to be able to match Daddy for the 4th of July.  He keeps asking, when will we go to America?  I wonder what he thinks it will be like, and what he has been told. He is doing great and seems much younger than 14, which is great with us.We are hoping he will be able to enjoy just being a kid for awhile and still be able to play with toys and enjoy some of the things he has missed over the years. He calls us Mommy and Daddy, and is all smiles showing us things.

Liam is super happy, easy going, and always giggling.  He is a ham and loves to run everywhere.  He can already shake hands,give five and do the fist bump on command.  He is smart too.  I ask him go get your shoes and he runs over and grabs them with a big grin.   He also loves to cuddle, when I give him the bottle at night .

We are soooo blessed.  Both boys are a perfect fit for our family,only God could plan such a perfect match.

Big Starbucks, Little Starbucks and a Red Couch

     The big brother and the little brother at Starbucks!  Their first cups of America!

And then we strolled over to the White Swan for the traditional red couch picture.  We got one of the two boys and one of the whole group.  I'm not sure if we'll get everyone to look at the camera at the same time until some of us learn a little more English!

Day off - July 2nd

Well for starters, the pool was deeper than the 14 year old is tall.  If you thought we were surprised, you should have seen the look on his face!  He jumped right in and went all the way down.  It was only 1.5 meters, but he's about 1.4, so everything that he uses to breathe through was full of water.  He jumped up and grabbed the side and looked at me with this huge smile and then held out his hand for me to help / save him.  It was pretty neat. Yes, Mom, my  pockets were empty and I was ready to jump in   :)

Really hot today, so we all enjoyed the pool.