Humbled and Amazed

Today Rob came home from work and told me about
a co-worker of his that was simply ecstatic about the pending
adoption of his 5 year old daughter from Russia. He was
proudly showing everyone the picture of his daughter! Blonde
hair and blue eyes, such a cutie. He told how he and his family
were longing for the day that she would be home. (They hoped
in time for Christmas). While this story doesn't seem any
different than any other adoption story I know you've
heard, it is. It touched my heart in such an amazing way
that I had to share. You see, this man and his wife were
blessed with two perfectly normal sons, now in their teens
and a 6 year old biological daughter with severe Downs Syndrome.
One might would say that they had been given a "bum deal" or
even go as far as saying that maybe they were adopting to get
a "normal" daughter. But how wrong they would be! The little
girl that they are all so excited about bringing home, is herself
Downs Syndrome! I was humbled! Again, I see a perfect picture
of Christ's love for us through the beautiful story of adoption.
It doesn't matter if we come to the Throne less than perfect,
His love for us remains the same.

Aiden's Photo Shoot

I'm a bit late in posting these pictures and I know many of you

have already seen them but I couldn't resist posting them on

my blog. We have a friend that is a terrific photographer and

does such great work! He met us at the local park a few weeks ago

and took lots of pictures of Aiden. They all turned out better than

I could have hoped for! We are so excited to now have some really

good quality pictures framed and hanging in our living room.

Happy Forever Day Aiden!

We celebrated Aiden's Forever Day on Sept 8th. In keeping with

our Forever Day tradition, we let him pick out a cake and of course

he chose spiderman cupcakes. :) We put two candles on the cupcakes

to represent the two years he has been ours. We sang happy forever

day (in the tune of happy birthday) to him and he blew out his candles.

His present was a couple of Toy Story toys and a cup. He was thrilled!

We are so thankful and humbled that God chose us to care for this

little boy! He is such a joy and blessing! Happy Forever Day Aiden!

We love you so very much!

Weary Travelers

Two years ago today we were on our way from Beijing to
Chongqing to meet our precious little boy. To say that
we were tired and stressed would be an understatement!
We had flown thousands of miles, spent over 16 hours on
a plane, had tried to adapt to a 12 hour time zone difference
in 2 days. Doing all of this this without ANY luggage AND
while dealing with a very anxious 10 year old! We
had seen the Great Wall, Tienneman Square and the
Forbidden City all on the same day! We were bone tired,
dirty and missing the comforts of home with people we
could understand! I remember thinking I simply could
not go on, I just couldn't do this! And then.....I thought
about a little brown eyed baby boy who was waiting for
his Mommy and somehow I found the strength to
forged on. I think this is how birth mothers who are in labor
must feel. I was terrified, exhausted, thrilled, excited and
every other emotion imaginable all in one! In less than
24 hours I would have a son! The journey was hard,
the travelers were very weary, but we'd do again in
a heartbeat in order to have our son! We love you
Aiden and thank God daily for you - OUR SON!

School Time!

Shaelyn was ready to get out of the car on the first day of school!
She was all smiles!

All dressed and ready for Middle School!

A bit nervous but excited too!

Aiden says he's ready for "Schoo" too!

Aiden is so very excited to be going to pre-school! He's

about to bust! Aiden posing with his pre-school teacher!

All ready to go in and start having fun at preschool!

Shaelyn started Middle School this year! She was very apprehensive

about the change to a new school but transitioned with flying colors!

She wears burgundy shirts and khaki bottoms for her uniform this year.

Middle school is VERY different than elementary school but so far Shaelyn

has handled the change well. Also, Aiden started preschool this year!

He will only go 2 days a week for a few hours but we thought it was

important for him to be around other kids. His teacher also has a degree in

Child language development and plans to work closely with him

on his language skills. Aiden is such an independent little guy and did

wonderfully with being dropped off for "Schoo" (School). We are

very proud of both of our kids! We are praying for a good school

year for both of them!