Sunday, September 18, 2011

12 months and 10,000 miles later. . .


Yesterday (Saturday), after saying goodbye to each other one year ago in an orphanage in China - the only home either had known - Kaden and Solomon were reunited in Orange County, California. It was a moving experience for all of us - probably the moms most of all!

At first, the boys didn't quite know what to do - I'm sure it seemed strange and familiar at the same time - especially with "Parent Paparazzi" hovering around them, cameras clicking the whole time. Probably the most unexpected thing for Kaden was the fact that Solomon doesn't speak anything but English these days - he was so young when adopted that he didn't have much of a grasp of the Minnan/Mandarin mix Kaden speaks (we call it Minandarin - H/T to Brendan). When we asked Solomon what Kaden was saying, he'd say "I don't know!".

But, they figured out how to have fun anyway:

If you stop and think about it, how amazing is it that these two boys would end up together again literally halfway around the world? Gee, I wonder if God had anything to do with that?

Also, a health update on the family: we're all well! Camden and Jordan finished their final doses of antibiotics today, and except for an occasional cough and a bit of weakness from sitting or laying around for 3 weeks, they're doing great! Thank you all for your help - both physically (yummy food!) and spiritually (the prayers!).

We spent about 5 hours at the park - playing, resting, eating and starting all over again - until it was getting too dark to continue.

It was a great day, and by the time we were done, I think we all were satisfyingly exhausted.

Later last night, looking over the photos, I saw the one below, and thought of the final Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. So, to slightly paraphrase the great Bill Watterson:
It's a magical world, ol' buddy . . . Let's go exploring!

Posted by Steve, actually.
(With Annette's approval!)

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Update on the boys

Steve here - just a quick update on the health of our boys.

Camden and Jordan went in to the doctors yesterday (Friday) and got a shot of antibiotics
(fun! - not!!).
They continue to be sick, but aren't getting worse, and are actually getting a bit better. The other boys were checked by the doc, and they are all fine (yay!).

The ongoing prayer request right now is for continued recovery for Camden and Jordan.
A more specific request is that they both take their medicine - thick, white, yucky-tasting antibiotic - quickly and with as little drama as possible.

Also, keep Annette in your prayers. It's hard enough integrating a new son into a family with 4 boys already, but then add to that starting the homeschool year, and add to that 2 sick kids, and then I'm gone all day teaching. Life is overwhelming right now.

That's all for now, we'll try to update after the weekend is over.

Thank you in advance for the prayers and support!

-Steve

Thursday, September 8, 2011

A Quick Update - and Prayer Request

Greetings to all - Steve here.

This is just a quick post to update you all on how we are doing.

First, Kaden is doing great! He's bonding and integrating into the family really well. He seems happy to be here, and he's definitely enjoying his brothers! Of course, it would be great if he could be fluent in English by tomorrow. . .   (ha!)

Our next two youngest, however, are not doing too well right now, and we would appreciate any prayers you could send on our behalf.

Both Camden and Jordan (boys #3 & #4, respectively) got sick last week - high fever, tired, etc. - and have not gotten better. Annette took them to the doctor yesterday (Wednesday), and it turns out they have both developed pneumonia!

They are tired, coughing, not eating well, and generally feeling yucky.

Our prayer requests would be:

    1) Complete, fast recovery
    2) That they would be able to stomach the anti-biotics they are taking.
        The stuff tastes ICKY, and it's a challenge for them to get it down. Jordan got it down
        last night, and it came back up about 10 minutes later.
    3) That the other boys would not get sick, and would do well during this time.
        Kaden is understandably a bit of a challenge right now - curious and into everything as he
        explores and learns his new world.

Well, gotta class to teach!

Thanks in advance.
-Steve