10/2011 Long over due update . . .

First time to post in over a year.

Lacie's 7th birthday is approaching. It is amazing how time flies. More to come - more posts and updates. They have grown so much in the past year. But for now I share this - so I can begin not wasting any more life.

08/15/2010 Greeting Juyhun

Our new Student Juyhun. He wants to be called Jack. The kids love him. We are excited to have him here. More later! I promise to have more regular updates.

The first picture is at the airport. Also greeting us at the airport and in the photo is Mr. Wallace, Jack's school counselor. Mr. Wallace has hosted kids in the past and the two other boys on the right are his former students. One is Luke from S. Korea and the other is Thomas from ?????

June/July 2010 Beach Vacation Day Three Cont. with Videos

Here are some fun videos of the kids enjoying the ocean for the first time. The little bitty blondie is my friend Allison's baby "K." The beached teenager in the videos is her son "G." and the long legged beauty is daughter "S." They are all awesome kids.

BTW - I do remember one thing on Vacation day 2 that was fun during the travel part . . .
When we stopped at a rest area in S. Ga, or N. Fl I can't remember, we met a family with a 12 year old adopted daughter from Korea. As we talked I realized her father had on a UK hat. Could it be he was from our home state? I mean my friend from Wisconsin wore a UK shirt in China - it is possible. So I asked . . . They are from right here in the L. area. The mom works at a middle school and knows two of our friends. It was real cool. We can't wait to meet up with them again.

Anyway . . .
What I have been anxious to share with you:

June/July 2010 Beach Vacation Day Three

I am not skipping vacation day 2 - it was total business. We drove through Georgia, Florida and into Tampa. We settled in and had dinner and got kids ready for bed. Of course there was joy in seeing my friend Allison and her family. Allison is a dear friend of 32-34 years. I lose count. She and her sister Laurie were my very first babies to baby sit for. It was more than that though - I made myself a part of their whole family - I adopted their mom as my "mom away from mom" and big sister and dear friend. I watched Allison and Laurie grow up and I learned from their mom how to feed, burp, diaper, bathe, and care for babies. She was a wonderful mom.

We remained friends and when I became a teen and Allison and Laurie were in grade school they moved to N.C. We stayed in touch but not intensely. However, when they came to visit family - I always got what I referred to as visitations. Eventually I went to NC for a 16th birthday party, a wedding and a birth of Allison's first baby. I went for Laurie's 21st birthday. They came here for Allison's 21st birthday the year before. Laurie lived with me for a few months. I was Allison's maid of honor - and years later, she was one of my Matron's of Honor. (yea, she got married first and began to have babies first. The great thing is . . . She has become one of my mentors - and helps me figure out this parenting thing.)

Anyway - so my vacation week was also a very joyful time of visiting a true long time and forever friend.

Vacation day 3: Beach day. Allison took us to an awesome and quiet little beach in St. Pete. We spent the greater part of the day there. It was awesome.

It is hard to see, but Paul is struggling at first with being put into the pool of sandy water.













Lacie is excited to finally be at the beach!












Lacie and Daddy braving the waves for the first time.






























Enjoying God's big sandbox!

June/July 2010 Beach Vacation Day One

I realize I have not updated for a month or more. For those who do follow us, I am sorry. Summer came with a bang and we have been traveling or having guests since Memorial weekend - or so it seems. I have some updating to do and much to come later: Lacie's graduation ceremony, our trip to Chicago (Plainfield) for Memorial Weekend to see my sister and family, our trip with friends to Ohio, visiting family in NKY, having a Korean teen guest for a week, Paul's trip to see Thomas the Train, Potty training ventures, Paul's speech updates and the list goes on. I will try and hit each topic soon.

For now, the topic is our "Beach Vacation" - one that has been much waited for and prayed for for months and months. Lacie asked for a beach vacation last year. Once we planned to visit our dear friends in Florida, we have prayed At Lacie's request, for June 26 (departure day) for about 2 months. Lacie has also prayed for her daddy's wrist which got broken about six weeks ago. Cute . . . Just last night she said, "our vacation is over and daddy's wrist is better. We have nothing to pray for." Dear daughter . . . we still have much to pray for.

So, we departed on June 26 and stopped west of Nashville to have breakfast with friends. Patricia and I have known each other since we were little girls. Our families went to church together and we spent many hours playing together. I have not seen her much over the years except for weddings, and in the past three years we have reunited again. It has been fun sharing our families with each other. We have picked up again like we were always friends. Picture of Patricia and family with our family - Vacation Day One.



Afterward, we went to Ruby Falls for a quick trip to look out mountain to see God's world from high up.



















So from Lookout Mountain, Lacie said, "Wow, we can even see our house from here!"










At the end of the day, we ended up at a hotel south of Atlanta. Both kids were very very hyper. But once their heads hit the pillow, they were out. This is the sweet sight we saw first thing on vacation day 2:

Stay tuned for more Vacation updates!

05/23/2010 Five years ago today . . .

Five years ago today I went to work in the morning, as usual, expecting just an ordinary day. My phone rang. I picked up the phone and it was Christa at A Helping Hand adoption agency and she said, "Vonda, I am looking at a picture of your beautiful daughter." My heart started pounding. My mind started racing. Where was the list of questions I was supposed to ask? Her age. Her name. Her province. It all seemed so irrelevant then. I had a daughter. She was in China. Her name was Gong SuMan. She was 7 months old. She apparently loved to smile. My last question before I hung up the phone so I could leave and go strait to the agency was, "well, one more thing . . . Are you sure she is a girl?" Christa laughed at me. If she really knew me. My whole life all I wanted was a baby girl from the time I could hold a baby doll.

I met John. We headed for Lexington to get her referral information and see her picture. When we got there, we were speechless! Ohhh, she was beautiful. I never dreamed in my life that my sweet angel would be brought to me through the miracle of adoption and she was at that time in China waiting for us to come get her. What an amazing journey we began! Here is what we saw when we arrived at the agency in Lexington:




Just three pictures! That is it. My daughter - bundled up in clothing so thick she obviously could not move. I fell in love!

Here is a picture of John and me on referral day holding our referral of Lacie next to the map of China and next to her province.


Our life has never been the same since. We have been blessed tremendously by our beautiful daughter. Everyday with Lacie and Paul is a gift.

Here is our beautiful daughter now, graduating from PreK:


More about Lacie:
She is smart! She is already reading some and doing simple math. She LOVES letters. She loves doing word seek and finds. She loves to read books. Lacie also loves geography. One of her favorite pass-times is to look at our interactive globe and find new places that matter to her, including China, Korea, United States, Kentucky, Indiana (we have friends and family there), Florida (our pending vacation), Madagascar (one of her favorite movies), and many other places of interest.

Lacie's favorites:
Color - yellow
Foods: Milk, broccoli, mexican rice, fish, cream of wheat, candy, ice cream
Clothing: dresses and flip flops. Even skirts won't do.
Activities: swinging, riding bikes, swimming (although she is still afraid of the water, she loves it and loves her lessons), reading, writing, homework
Possessions: lipstick, dresses, head bands, bows, blankies

She is growing up so fast, right before my eyes.

05/17/2010 Reading to Lacie

It was Sunday and nap time in our home, and the kids wanted to read books. Paul decided he would read the books to Lacie and me. After one book, I ran to get my camera. Catch the end of this book, Paul ends with "Amen" instead of "the End."



In the following video clip watch how Lacie gets tickled with Paul. And then their reaction when Paul rips a page in the book.




Lacie's pre-K class had an art show today. There was a lot of very good and artistic work on the walls in Ms. Jennifer's class. They served muffins and juice/milk/coffee to the kids and parents. Afterward, Lacie and I had to leave for a kindergarten orientation at her new school. Lacie was terrified. While the parents attended a meeting, they asked if the kids would go to the library for story time AND to get a school tattoo. Lacie was terrified, but came back smiling. Then the kids got to go through the snack line and get some juice and a cookie. She was scared again but at the end of the day after I picked her up from Pre-K, she was so excited and talked about how wonderful her day was. It began with mommy visiting her school. She loves it when I spend time with her at her school. It literally makes her day. It does not take much to make a little 5 year old girl happy.

Yesterday I braided her hair. After braiding Lacie's hair, she went and looked in the mirror and then said, "Mommy, you made me look Chinese. Why did you do that?"
Surprised by her remark, I responded: Uh, well, I can't take credit for how beautiful you are Lacie! I love that you look Chinese. And I do. I love both of my kids and that they are Asian. Sometimes I forget they are Asian - in that I just see them as my beautiful children, but I love everything about them.

Tonight while Lacie was in her swimming lesson, Paul heard a noise on the level above us and said, "Daa Town? heurt my eeyor." What he said was, "what is that sound? It is hurting my ear." It took me forever to figure out "Daa town."

My boy is talking more every day and I understand him more every day. I love it that he has verbal communication skills now!