Two Wheeled Tuesday

Return trip Summer 2018

We will be returning to China for a heritage with our kids and other families that we adopted with almost 11 years ago.  The last time we left the Mainland it was December 2008 with our newly added son to make us a family of 4.  Our kids are now 9 & 11 and are excited to travel to the land of their birth. 

Ten years ago today

It's been a very long time since I posted on this blog, but I thought today would be an appropriate day.  Ten years ago today (11/23/05) our dossier was logged into the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs for our adoption of Madison.  This date is significant & forever seared in my brain as this is the date that changed so many things in our life.  This date steered us to become friends with other waiting parents who were also logged in around the same time and still continue to be our friends both in person & on-line.  We treasure these friendships so much and are glad that our paths crossed on this journey because of a date.  

In thinking back it's funny to think that on the date we logged in, Madison hadn't even been conceived yet, let alone born.  At the time the wait seemed to drag on forever but in God's timing it was just needed to happen.  We are forever grateful to China for allowing us to adopt both Madison & Zeke.

Spotty updates

Yes, I know it's been over 2 months since my last update.  What can I say- life happened!  We got through a beautiful March only to get a little dose of weather reality for Easter.  In late April Matt spent 4 nights in the hospital for an infected toe that went wild.  Thankfully he is on the mend!

Now we are getting ready for Kindergarten- Maddy has her 'round-up' next week & is very excited.  Zeke continues to grow & develop by leaps and bounds.  And the siblings daily find something to fight about. 

Below are a few photos from Easter -

Wordless Wednesday- Happy Leap Day!

Happy Golden Birthday Madison!

Today Maddy turned 5. We had a fun day celebrating & she loved telling everyone (& I do mean everyone) that it is her birthday. We brought cookies for her to share with her Sunday school class at church & then we headed to PF Chang's for lunch. We have much bigger doings planned for next weekend complete with a party. Since a golden birthday only comes once in a lifetime, we will let her milk it out this week too a little :).

This weekend we also made our annual trek to the motorcycle show. Here are a few photos from that event:

Zeke & Grandpa- we stopped by Grandpa's stand to say hello



No, she didn't get this for her birthday (but Mama's hoping this will be her present someday)

Chinese New Year- The Year of the Dragon

Last Monday it officially became the Year of the Dragon. We went out to celebrate at our favorite local Chinese restaurant. The celebration came complete with red envelopes for each of the kids. This past weekend we also did our annual CNY Party with about 20 other local adoptive families at a friend's house. It's fun every year to see how much the kids are growing, one of the best parts of the night this year was making dumplings. This is one of Maddy's favorite foods so she was thrilled with doing this. I am putting a couple of previous year photos for fun too.



Our little life of the party in his glory right in the middle of all the girls



And now for a couple of flashbacks:

Maddy's first CNY in 2008 @ 1 years old

Last year's photo- Zeke's first CNY at home

House Party

I was chosen to host a Glade House Party this past weekend. It was a neat experience. Houseparty.com runs various parties you can sign up for & if chosen you get a free party pack with lots of freebies, coupons & fun stuff for both the host & the guests. The main idea is to expose consumers to new products & provide high value coupons to entice you to try it.

Here are a few photos:

In Loving Memory

This past Wednesday we lost Matt's Aunt Jane. She was a very sweet lady & will be missed by all of us. I've been blessed to call her my aunt for the past 16+ years. She was a spunky lady that loved her family & loved spending time together with everyone. Some of my fond memories of her were sitting around the table at holidays talking with her & spending time at Yellow Lake with her over the week of July 4th.

She leaves behind a large family of a loving husband, 6 kids & many grandkids. Here she is in 2010 at Yellow Lake enjoying food from our cookout. The other picture is this past Easter with Zeke.

Christmas 2011

We had a whirlwind of activity over the Christmas weekend which started with an overnight at Grandma & Grandpa's house on Thursday. We enjoyed breakfast on Christmas Eve there & spent time with the family opening gifts, eating, talking & watch the kids run around excited by their new toys. One of the best scenes to watch was a couple of the boys (which usually included Zeke) playing light saber fights.

We headed out for Christmas Eve Service at church then home for a quiet immediate family night. Christmas Day brought a few surprises for the kids along with a nasty cold for poor Zeke. The kids really enjoyed getting the various items in their stockings. We took a fairly minimalist approach to gifts this year to really focus on the reason for the season- Jesus. All during the month of December we did a nightly Advent calendar door opening along with telling some element of the Christmas Story. I think this will continue to be our tradition as the kids really look forward to seeing what was in their door (sometimes small items like stickers or a piece of candy & others a clue for something bigger they had to find).

On Christmas Day we hosted my family & it was great to have all of my brothers come along with my mom. We had a day in our jammies for most of Monday to let everyone recoup. All in all it was a great holiday & Zeke is starting to feel a little better. Here is a flashback to last year on Christmas Day (yes, Maddy still fits the same jammies). The rest of the photos are from this year.

Christmas 2010, one day off the long trip home from China

Zeke & his cousin Creed


The older cousins attempted to let the littles sleep in Grandma's living room (failure- they both ended up in the guest bedroom w/mom & dad)

Maddy & cousin Tori in dresses from Grandma

Zeke's new bathrobe- as he opened it he said 'Mom, take a picture of me'

Opening the final Advent calendar door

Photo opp with Grandma Mommy

A less than thrilled cousin River with the kids

Nativity Story 2011- this has been the same book we have used since Maddy's first Christmas

Christmas Eve 2010 - journey home & airport welcome

What a difference a year makes! Last for Christmas Eve we started 12/24 in Hong Kong & ended our day at our house, exhausted from the travel. None the less we were so happy to finally be at the end of one chapter with our son & the beginning of a new one.

We were warmly welcomed at the airport by 2 families that are adoption friends and know what a huge milestone it is to finally be coming home with your new child. In looking back, I noticed that I didn't post any pictures of that joyful event.

Our Christmas last year was low key since we were very tired & jet lagged. This year we are trying to really make up for our 'lost Christmas' and give our kids the full experience as possible.

Eating fries at Tokyo airport during the layover

On the plane

Our sleeping Hubei Prince in the car on our way home

Guangzhou Dec 18-23 2010

We loved our time in Guangzhou! After being couped up in the Wuhan hotel, it was great to be able to walk around in the balmy weather. It was fun to see all of the parents with their newly adopted babies & kids. While there we hired Ann from Red Thread to help us navigate the shopping scene & scored some great deals.

It was especially fun being in Guangzhou right after the Asia Games as there were many decorations left from that time. The citizenship ceremony was wonderful. We also discovered a few great restaurants during our time there.

One of the large pedestrian walk ways in Guangzhou- we walked here from our hotel

Visiting the Zoo

Christmas program & church service on the island

Medical appointment on Saturday 12/18- yeah no shots thanks to legislation passed just days before!

Can I scribble on your paper?

Shopping for jewelry

US citizenship ceremony on 12/21

Sitting with Nai Nai on the ride to the consulate


Celebration dinner after the citizenship swearing in (at the French Restaurant on the Island )

Last minute shopping before leaving to Hong Kong & our flight home