Joy

Joy will be 4 years old in May. She came to us at 15 months old and quite delayed. She exhibited many disturbing things that caused concern for us. Mike, Jordan, and I all thought to ourselves that Joy had Down's Syndrome. After a few days of anguish, we voiced those fears among us. Despite our concerns, Joy progressed quite well, and was walking before we left China. She also learned to eat food while we were in China. We believe she only had bottles before she became our daughter.

Once we were home, I took Joy for a check at the doctor's office. He could see the same things in Joy that caused us to believe she had Down's Syndrome. We had her tested genetically for this condition. During the 2 weeks it took to get the results, we just loved her up, fed her healthy foods 3 times a day, and let her play all day long. Obviously, her results came back negative, but during that time, we knew that she was our daughter and we could handle it.

Although Joy is only 8 months younger than Eva, she does not have the same abilities as Eva. Before Eva was 2, she could do puzzles on her own, speak long sentences, and reason quite well. Joy has come a long way, and can now do many things. Some things she can accomplish that Eva cannot. One thing I noticed last year, was Joy could not answer me when I would ask "why" questions. If she was crying and I asked her why she was crying, her response would be, "I crying." She could answer me if I asked if she was hurt or needed to go potty, but never "why?". I realized that she never asked me "why?".  Eva is the Queen of Why, and she understood and asked that question all the time. Just recently Joy started asking me "why" to some of my statements. And, just recently, she has started to understand when I ask her "Why?".

So, here is a picture of Joy with her first completed puzzle. She was so proud that she did this on her own, and so am I!

Happy New Year!

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I'm glad to get back into a schedule of sorts.  We spent New Year's Eve with friends, and actually made it to midnight with all of the children.  Eva and Joy had naps earlier in the day in preparation to the late night.

We still have freezing temperatures (which is very unusual) and we even added a couple of inches of snow to the old stuff from earlier. Seth went skiing with friends, so all the snow we've been getting was great for his day at the slopes.

Mike, Seth, and Jack went with friends ice skating shortly after Christmas.  They've not been skating in many years.  Actually, the last time Jack went, he hated it and tried using a bucket to help him around the rink.  Since then, Jack learned to use the rollerblades, and I believe that helped him with his ice skating.  So, Seth and Jack have skated a few times this Christmas break.  Seth glides like a pro around the ice.  You would think he had been skating all his life, but he's only been skating a dozen or so times.  Jack does very well, considering he is the cautious son.  I decided Eva and Joy are just not ready for skating.  Joy gets too frustrated and Eva would just cry everytime she fell.  So, we'll try next year.

Micah and Jack at the skating rink.

Jordan starts her classes next week, but has been getting many hours in at work.  Once classes start, she will be getting less hours.  She woke up this morning declaring, "I'm ready for spring!"  I'm sort of enjoying real winter weather.

We received news last week that our paperwork was picked up from the Consulate and sent to Beijing.  Next, they will process our Travel Approval and I will then make plans for my travel to China.  I hate the fact that I'll be traveling alone, but I know I will be fine.  I will just miss everyone very much.

Another Step Down!

We're moving right along.  We received notice that our Article 5 was approved today.  That is our last step before China issues our TA!  The people at the National Visa Center and now the Consulate were so kind and expedited everything for us trying to make up for the lost time my papers sat at immigration.  Now, if there was only a way for China to expedite my TA....ummmm.  That one is completely up to them!  Who knows?  It can be 2 weeks or 4 weeks.  I'm at their mercy.

I am so thankful to the Lord for working all this out and leading me to the right people to contact to get things moving for us.

Christmas Day

We had a very pleasant, low-keyed Christmas Day.  Eva, Joy, and Jordan were up shortly after 7:00 a.m.  I heard them all giggling in the girls' room.  We still had some snow, but we had freezing rain that morning, and all the trees were white with ice.  It was very beautiful.

After piddling around in the kitchen, straightening things up, getting the girls dressed, I sent Eva and Joy downstairs to wake up the boys.  After a prayer of thankfulness, we let the children open their gifts.  After seven people opening gifts, the living room was a mess.  Everyone played while Mike and I tried to get some organization going on.

Seth, going through his stocking.

Eva, looking forward to some games!

Joy has been waking Jordan up with the trumpet recorder ever since Christmas.

The Aftermath

Joy having fun with the lacing cards from Grandma.  I thought she would have a hard time with these, but it was Eva who found it somewhat difficult to do the front-back thing.  Joy is always amazing me.

Jack is having SOOOO much fun terrorizing his sisters with his remote-controlled Rexy.  It is very life-like and loud.  Joy screams whenever Rexy is "awake".

On December 23rd, we had no idea what to fix for Christmas dinner.  The last few Christmases we had a beef tenderloin.  But, last Christmas, Mike, Jack, Seth, and I got the stomach bug  and re-tasted our beef tenderloin all night long.  This year we just couldn't imagine enjoying it as much.  Jordan suggested a hot pot of potato soup, salad, and bread.  It hit the spot.  Everyone, but Eva and Joy liked it.

Something I Found

I found this today and thought with all of the anti-God stuff at Christmastime, He always lets the truth be told, even when people try to get rid of the Christ in Christmas...

The "W" in Christmas

Written by anonymous

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience.

I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending..

Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old.  For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school’s Winter Pageant.

I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production.  Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher and she assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation.   All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.

Fortunately, my son seemed happy with the compromise.

The morning of the dress rehearsal I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down.  Around the room I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats.

As I waited, the students were led into the room.  Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.  So when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

My son was aglow (as were all of his classmates), adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row- center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M” upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, as she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.

A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is.

Two More Steps Down

I was hesitant to post earlier because I just wasn't sure what was happening with my file.  But, after many emails to the consulate in China and the National Visa Center (who have been great!), they finally managed to get my file sent to the Visa Center, then cabled onto Guangzhou!  I found out from different conversations with various supervisors in many entities that someone "dropped the ball" with our case.  My file was never sent back to immigration.  After 2 weeks from saying it was put in the mail...they still have not received it.

I got an email today from the Visa Center (working on Christmas Eva on my file, thanks Al!) that they have sent a cable to the Consulate in Guangzhou.  Now, I just wait for them to be back in the office next week, so they can issue my Article 5 and have it sent onto Beijing, where we will wait for our Travel Approval.

What a relief to 3 weeks of unknowns.

Merry Christmas to all.