The Growing Coats Family

a life (and physical) changing experiance

2011-12-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

left-this was the moment Judy and Vicky, and the rest of us got to see the full extent of the 5.63 inches added to her height.

right-one of Judy's friends, Sarah, she was helping get Judy in the car to come home, but through Judy's stay at the hospital she also cared and comforted her.

the pain button was her best friend at times, the x-ray on the left is before, on the right is after.

December 6th Claude, myself and Judy checked into the Children's Hospital in St. Louis, MO for spinal fusion surgery. We were all thankful for what was a fast start to getting changed into surgery clothes, vitals taken, medical information sharing, and a perfectly set up I.V. on the first try. Judy had to receive a massive dose of an antibiotic since she was going to have a lot of metal rods and screws put in the back plus some artificial "bone". This med can create itching, and getting very warm...thankfully Bendadryl solves the itching and cold rags helped the warm face. We called Vicky on the phone and shared prayers as Judy was getting sleepy from pre-surgery meds and then said our good byes to her at the doors to surgery. Claude and I both had tears, praying for this child who waited forever to be adopted and to come America for the best Dr. to treat her Scoliosis. And for what we knew she would be going through during recovery. The surgery started at 9 a.m. and we did not see her in recovery until about 6:30 p.m. and when we did we saw a child attached to three I.V.'s and a central line, compression socks, heart monitors, simply everything....but she opened her eyes to say to us thank you Mama, thank you Baba...oh baby thank YOU!

Judy was in PICU overnight, the next morning when Dr. Linke came in to see her she opens her eyes to say Thank you, Dr. How humbling this child is in her gratefulness. She sat up on the side of the bed while yet in PICU, was moved to a regular room that afternoon, which turned out to be the same one we were in with with Gracie in 2010!

On this floor Judy continued to touch everyone with her thank yous, she called the nurses girlfriend or friend, and they all were simply the best ever! We had to deal with several pleasant things, balloons and stuffed animals sent to her, wonderful care from the providers, great pain team to keep her comfortable...but some yucky things too, breathing treatments, laying flat on her back and not able to turn to throw up (imagine long hair all around her now covered in it) getting up several times a day to walk (she stayed very very strong and walked as far as they wanted to each time).

Judy was released on Tuesday afternoon, a week after her surgery. The Nurses aid Sarah and I got her in the car, her and i held hands and I said just be strong and brave Judy for this 4 hour ride home. She had a wonderful smile for me. What a daunting thing to face, a four hour ride with a spinal patient...at the Alton, IL exit I let my friends Mark and Barb know that we had went past their check point and things were ok and she sent me back the message that she had placed Angels all around our car to get us home. This message stayed with me the whole ride home! Thank you Babs.

We stopped in Springfield next and she got moved to the back seat to lay down and she rode the rest of the way home there. Claude opened the door here at home and looked down over her and she just giggled in delight to be home. I felt like crying in relief to be home!

We are so thankful for Judy having came through this HUGE surgery safely, for Dr. Leinke and his whole team of nurses, pain management, and all for handling this child's health and care as if it were themselves being treated. We are thankful for the 6 girls at home that handled the separation of family during this time as well as they did, and for our family helping or offering to help. Thank you to Carrie and Jodi for the care, and the daunting task of taking 6 girls to get their photos taken, to Cindy and Crystal for filling in here at home besides everything else you do for us. Judy's recovery will be in stages, the first two months the critical time of healing, after that it is 6months of limited activity and then for the rest of a year she still has to be careful. right now she is to lay straight, and has to be helped sit, lay, get up, with no twisting. Even washing her hair now is a task as her back cannot get wet. Everyday will get easier we are sure...today she wanted to do Match class so now she is resting until it starts...an amazing child! And the even better parts to this story is that Judy has seen God answer her prayers and learned that He does listen to you. Plus she "grew" 5.63 inches in height. Please continue keeping her in your prayers....will be a long recovery.

Thanksgiving and so much to be thankful for

2011-11-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

I am not that good at this blog and editing...so the labels are not by the photos as they should be...the first one is of our son Alex who had to have part of the $ dance at Eric and Chelsea's wedding, I did not get a picture of the end "dip" but it was fabulous! Good job Alex.

The second is Eric and Chelsea with our grand-children Drew and Gabbie

The third is of our grand-daughters (L) Natalie and (R) Ava. What a perfect picture!

The fourth is of all of us "girls". I was so thankful that Beth was available for an early morning visit to our house to do hair for everyone! This is the completed job! Thank you Beth!!

The fifth is of Eric and Alex. They came for a early morning breakfast the day of Eric's wedding. Eric was practising his first kiss of the new Mrs. Williams...Alex was not that excited about him being the practise target.

We seem to have been in a whirlwind lately. Claude and I made the decision to home educate the girls that are in Jr. high and High School. It was hard to understand how a child can be an A student but not be able to read close to that grade level, or how can a child be considered to be put in drivers Ed when they cannot read a sign?, and when a child asks to be moved out of an environment and you speak to them to ask more questions to understand why and to see why it became clear it was time to act on that little push/idea we had been having for the last 2 years. So 4 girls start home education this coming Monday! We are very blessed to have a great team, both Cindy and Crystal will be our educators and we will be involved as well.
Our son Eric married Chelsea and joined his family with hers. We now have another grand-daughter named Gabbie and who is so sweet!. The day was perfect for all and was a wonderful wedding.

Judy had been scheduled for a Halo traction starting in Oct but another child was in need of the Dr much more than Judy and she was bumped out of the line-up. We met with Dr. Leinke the Wed before Thanksgiving and she is now scheduled for surgery Dec. 6th and has been blessed to be found flexible enough to skip the month in Halo traction. We are all glad of this, it would have meant long distance parenting for that whole month as she would have been in the hospital in St. Louis all of that time. Now she is expected to be in the hospital about 5-7 days and then home for recovery. The surgery is a huge surgery, correcting a 107 and a 106 degree curvature in the upper and the lower back. Please hold this child in your prayers for a easy recovery and quick healing.

We have gotten our finger prints done-yes again-and are now waiting for the next document to come so we can send our dossier to China for our next daughter. We have chose the English name of Kim and yet are prepared for the fact that when we get to China she may already have an English name picked out.

Claude and Andrew, Kris and a friend of ours went to Lake Weiss a few weeks ago to enjoy some days of fishing. They were all successful catching fish and having a good time. It was deer season already and Alex and I this year were joined with my grandson Drew age 10. He was so fortunate to be out and see a 8 point buck and get to bag his first deer! Of course Alex had to have him mark his forehead of the first deer a tradition he has carried on from his Uncle Andy, my brother.

As we are closing in on Christmas I hope that everyone is well, and that we are home for St. Louis with our Judy healing well. We are grateful for our family and friends that will help Claude with the girls here at home while I am with Judy at the Children's Hospital in St. Louis. Thank you for the prayers for our family.

catching up

2011-08-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well I see it's been awhile since I posted so here goes. School started today, all 7 girls are in school all day so that is a blessing. We spent our summer coping with a horribly hot summer, so hot that the pool usually was not even used! All of the girls attended home schooled summer school and we heard no complaints this year so all went very well! We ended the summer with a trip to Myrtle Beach by way of Lexington horse park, a boot shop advertising 10,000 pair of boots in stock!, the beach, a over night in Charlotte for Penny to visit her China foster sister, a stop a few hours from there to meet long time internet friends, then through Atlanta, GA to see a company that I work with, then thank goodness we drove straight through that Saturday and got home.

Our school year has started, it will be a fall of starts - our son gets married to a lovely young lady Chelsea who will bring us a cute as a bug grand-daughter Gabbie. Oct. 20th Judy will enter The Children's Hospital in St. Louis to have a halo set and we will take her that same day to The Shriners Hospital where she will be a patient for a month having traction to lengthen the spine and relax the muscles to make the Scoliosis surgery easier which takes place back at the Children's Hospital on or around Nov 15th. One of us will always be with her during this time so i will use the term long distance parenting .... After the surgery she will be in the hospital for another 5-7 days and then return home to recover for a couple months before returning to school. The Dr. said we should expect her to gain almost 6 inches in height.

We are also adopting again, a girl nicknamed Cloud. She is 12 and from Loudi China. We hope to have her home before summer 2012.

Claude and I decided to have a pond put in to the south of the house. They are here tomorrow to hopefully finish it up in about 5-7 days. This will be a great compliment to our property we feel and give us hours of enjoyment fishing for "that big one". Alex and I walked the creek last Sunday searching for great treasure, the weather was fantastic, and we enjoyed each others company talking the whole time we were wading thru about a mile. No treasures except the time we spent together. We plan on starting next time where the Spoon river and Indian Creek join about a mile farther down.

Hopefully we will have just the same sort of a wonderful day.

We are asked constantly about adoption-we are going to put another tab on this blog so we can have adoption explained, and to offer advise of situations we have went through...hopefully this will help any and all that are even thinking of adoption. That will happen soon I hope. Thanks for checking in, The Coats Family

Home one week

2011-03-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

We arrived home a healthy bunch-had overnighted in the Beijing International Airport where we experienced a bustling huge airport sleeping. Literally, there were people sprawled everywhere, already on the benches that Carrie and I had assumed we would take. We circled the luggage carts, got out the blankets we had and bunked the three girls on the floor. Carrie sat a lot of the next hours with her chin propped in her hands, I think I laid down on the floor...already a distant memory. They opened the check in counter at 4 am and we checked in, went thru customs, and found our gate, I thought. Thank God Carrie was still propping her chin in her hands and was awake, checked the tickets to find I had brought us to the wrong gate, she got us all awake and we trekked back about 18 gates to the right one. By this time the girls had been up almost 24 hours with just the little cat naps and they were really dragging to get there. We got on the plane for home and pretty well crashed off and on the next 13 hours. We arrived into Chicago with a nice enough lay over to get through customs and to our gate before boarding the plane to Peoria. All on time!

The whole trip was good. I pretty well can sum it up by saying thank you to God for this child. I feel great sorrow for the approx 90 children left at the orphanage as I feel we have taken the heart from there and that they are still there. This child snuggled in the first night in China looked at me and said good night mama I love you. Sigh.....and it hasn't stopped...When we arrived into Peoria her and I were first through the door and there were all the girls, a proud Baba, a new grandma and grandpa, a uncle Randy, cousin Jodi and friends....at first Vicky and Judy weren't real sure what to do or say, then they hugged and started talking (Vicky really had lost all her Chinese language yet while we were gone it pretty well returned to her and the girls have been talking in Chinese a lot)

Judy starts school tomorrow. We have her placed in 6th grade "sort of" as she will really be with the ELL teacher most of the time, then getting worked into class's as the language comes but I think it will be really fast the way the last week has gone. She has seen the pediatrician, (she is 49 inches tall!) the dentist (the first cleaning ever and she really hung in there thru it all and has no cavaties), and several stores to get clothes and shoes (this time American Express did not call after Claude's shopping spree so either they realize we have 7 girls or are just used to it).

Today we sat as a family and had the girls translate for us to make sure that Judy understood adoption. At first there was some concern as the girls had translated it as Foster Care and she answered yes she understood, that she got to be here for awhile to play and have fun and then would go back to the orphange. I am sure Claude and I had looks on our faces that need to never be recreated! Then they realized what they had said and got it fixed. Yes she understood adoption. We went on to make sure that she has what she needs, explaining if there is other items she needs to tell us....Addie asked what if Judy asked for a cell phone. It seems at this time all is well, that with the last 6 girls we gained enough experiance to pretty well cover the bases except for a night stand and a desk for her. Easily taken care of!

Claude is on family leave for 2-3 weeks to help get her situated and that really helps. Our house is running smooth, we have gotten Gracie moved upstairs so it is just Judy and Vicky in the one bedroom, I just am not sure yet how everything will play out as far as who is best sister to who...the girls are pretty well paired up it seems...so far it seems it is Judy and Addie...not because of any reason other than Addie just idolizes her and Judy is eating it up. She also seems to be one to like to be alone a little bit, play big sister or mom, and Addie is the same so they may be the ones that are best sisters together. All of the girls have agreed that Judy is a perfect sister. Claude and I agree that we have a 7th perfect daughter. Thank you God.

2/26/2011 Update from Ruthi

2011-02-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry no new photos yet, maybe later....but first of all great news!!!! As usual rules change in China daily or even minute by minute and we are allowed to pick up the visa a day earlier!!! So am going to try to change flights so we can get home Friday instead of Saturday!!! sweet!!! TMZ had her medical exam today. I hope she gained even more trust in me when I got her in the cubicle with the one female Dr. there, when I explained that she WAS keeping on her cami and panti's and when I handed her the tissue thin gauze "sheet" to cover with....all the while holding her hand saying it is ok....the Dr. was quick, examed her nicely and said ok... I quickly helped her dress, all the while letting her hold the sheet against herself...what 12 year old wants to expose herself so soon to a new mom? Let alone on the other side of the flimsy curtian is many more people waiting for her spot? Then thru to the eye exam, to the ent exam, then to the horror chamber...I mean the shot stable...I mean the little area where they give the tb test. That was shot #1-then expose the left arm, shot # 2 and # 3-expose the right arm, shot #4 and #5 then pull down the pants and expose the thigh for #6....what can you do? Administer Tylenol...say I am sorry, hug her. We waited 20 minutes to make sure she was ok and then left....have met the rest of the maa group...great friends! Filled out paper work, got our agenda and now are off to shop! Love to all....will take camera so we can supply some more photos....

Later that day: YES I AM SHOUTING!!!! TOAST AND COFFEE FOR ALL!!! MINUTE BY MINUTE CHANGES HAPPEN IN CHINA AND WE GET TO GO HOME A DAY EARLY!!!! We will arrive, God willing , in Peoria on Friday March 4th at 9:20 am!!!! American Airlines #508 coming from Chicago. Be ready for a tired group.....but we are going to get home early....S-W-E-E-T...I cannot wait to get home...this trip was different from the start that I was already missing home before I left.

Friday, February 25 Update

2011-02-26T06:58:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the park where the monkeys are. We saw lots of them...I don't like things like that -- so kept my distance The girls did well. TMZ slept terrible last night. She woke Carrie and I up a couple of times having dreams, and she had a cold when she came and still does. S between the two she is tired. TMZ, Penny and I are in the hotel room and they are both laying down together to nap now. TMZ seemed sad to me, so I had our guide Richard ask her if she was ok, or maybe sad. Se says she is sad today, also missing her friends. We told her we understood and it would be ok. I think rest, good food and taking it easy is best...as we will. We leave in about 3 hours for the airport to go to GZ. Richard said it is 90 degrees there now....hmmm, winter clothes packed...may have to strip dwn to a tshirt.... I have to find TMZ some clothes...her waist is really a bit larger than any length of pant. Maybe capris will work best as jeans...will find her something. Penny let her use a tshirt today as most of the ones I bought are way small. It was very long so I used velcro dots to hem it and she was really pleased....Penny agrees she will be a nice sister.

Thursday February 24 Update

2011-02-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

The candy that Morgan and Penny are holding is honey...you spin a dial and it picks a character for you, then the lady had a pot of honey with a spoon, a hot plate of sorts that was about 18" inch square, and she took the spoon with honey in it and made this wonderful piece of art that you then ate...crazy talent! The honey tasted a bit heavier in flavor than ours. Morgan had a rooster and TMZ had a bird form. We ate supper at Pizza Hut..crazy that you could order everything from ice cream desserts to soups to fried rice and other Chinese food. We even ventured to the pharmacy with our botle of cold meds and secured a bottle that matched it, except in Chinese writing. TMZ told me how much the dose is for her...all the while saying no thank you...she really does not like the taste but hey. We understand home is to get 6-8 inches of snow...about the same time we will be on the plane going to GZ to hopefully see 70 degree weather...hopefully the snow stays away from GZ.

Thursday February 24 - What do you want to be when you grow up?

2011-02-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

Today we went to an ancient village turned tourist trap :) But it was truly great. TMZ was game to put on the traditional Mao garb and get her photo taken. The other girls said no. Penny was forced to use the squatty potty and I seriously do not know how she managed since I am certian she was holding her nose with one hand :) We also saw tons of water buffalo along the highway walking. Carrie wonders how many mph they walk. We saw so much that really to describe it is so difficult. In all the people that we saw today we saw only 3 women expecting. Did you know that silver turning colors can tell you if water is safe to drink or not, the villagers use silver to tell them. We ate lunch at the ancient village...not too bad but Carrie and I agree we are trying Pizza Hut tonight. Yesterday on the way to Zunyi I asked the guide to ask TMZ what she wanted to do when she grew up. Her answer? (tissue moment) She said that until now she never had any dreams and now she can have them. That she might want to be a scientist, or a teacher, or a jewelry designer. I am so glad this child can have a dream now. And a family...now we just have to figure out the English name issue...she uses Judy. She thinks Callie Jo sounds like a boys name. hmmm...

2/23/2011 Update - Visit to Orphanage

2011-02-26T05:38:00.000-08:00

Today we did a 2 hour drive to Zunyi City. We met our friends Zoe's mom there. It was great meeting a lady that can email me from China with concerns about her daughter and I in a matter hours can email her back and say she is fine, she just left her phone in the bottom of her purse. I told her today that she has a wonderful daughter and that she is a wonderful mother.

We went to a walking street. It was peaceful and had shops. Morgan got a fan and some earrings. We tested a few bites of different food items for sale and resisted buying baskets that are too large for our suitcases. We ate a lunch that was great...didn't bother my stomach. And then we headed to the orphanage. It took several tries to get there. We even ended up stopping and the guide, Richard, caught a motorcycle taxi and had them lead us for a ways.

We finally pulled in….what words do you use to describe a place that amazes me has children thriving in it? It is difficult to fathom that our daughters, and others daughters, have came from here and are as beautiful as they are? The blue two-doored metal gate with a padlock...a concrete courtyard with concrete playground things...even the slide was concrete. Metal framed windows that had to leak as if they had only screens in them...all the while the kids wanting to see us and see what we had, etc. TMZ’s room that slept 6 girls had bunk beds...two desks, wash tubs under the beds...no closet, and nothing on the walls. There were no Justin Bieber posters, no mirrors, no thick mattresses, no bed spreads with matching pillows...but lots of quilts bundled on them. Two blind girls were there at the desks and got the radios that TMZ had wanted to give them as gifts. Another girl was brought in, the third girl there in the room that is also blind and she got her radio. They all said thank you and I made sure to hold each of their hands when saying you're welcome... Then the other 3 girls that she gave pens to...then she handed out some hair items, a brush, etc. We had the apples for the other children....

TMZ was so excited to share her gifts, the guide summed it up well saying that she is so excited to be adopted and yet so sad to leave her friends that it evens out a bit. The smile has not left her face...maybe one does outweigh the other??

Then we drove to the girls school...to imagine our daughters walking to school on the road that we traveled was just not a good feeling. We said goodbye to Zoe's mom after we left the school and started the 2 hour drive back. Thank goodness that since 2007 there is a road put in that is passable. Before this drive had been 4 hours or more. We are back in the hotel now...tomorrow we go to an Ethnic Village and hope to just spend a bit of time walking, the last full day here in Guiyang. Now we have to figure out how to pack the suitcases!

Update from Ruthi - Tues Feb 22

2011-02-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Tues Feb 22

From Ruthi:

Today we ate breakfast here at the hotel in Guiyang, China. It was raining a bit so we skipped going to the park where they have wild monkeys. We will go there Thursday instead. Today we went to two stores to buy some gifts from China. They are pictures (artwork) and some jewelry and other items to remember China by. We went to eat at KFC but could not read the menu so we came back to the hotel to eat. I had French fries and fruit. They do not have Pepsi here so I drank water. I want a Diet Pepsi SO BADLY! Tomorrow we are driving to Zunyi City, China. It will take us 2 1/2 hours to drive there. We will visit with some friends and we hope to get to go to the orphanage there so Tao Ming Zhu can take some of her friends some gifts. If we cannot visit then we will send them in the mail. Today we are really suffering some from jet lag and so are going to rest a bit this afternoon and then the girls have to do some homework. After that we will just rest again as we have a long day tomorrow. Here are some pictures...in one it shows you that we ate “hot pot.” It is where you have a pot of broth at the table for yourself and you pick out what you want to cook there. It was "ok."

TMZ - Officially a Coats!

2011-02-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the pictures, TMZ is officially a Coats and she is already very tightclose to her two new sisters. One of the things I talk to people about when adopting is you have to SEE that they are your child. You cannot adopt to "save a child" no matter how hard that is...you have to have a connection.

In 2009 when leaving China, I tried to take off the red beaded bracelet and I kept putting it back on (read earlier blog posts about the significance of the red beaded bracelet and the red thread that has connected each of our children)...when leaving GZ, I saw a bracelet that was beads that reminded me of Zunyi City and TMZ...I bought that bracelet and have worn it ever since. I had this overwhelming feeling of "memory of TMZ and of leaving her behind in China." When the news arrived that we had first been able to find an agency that would help us find her paperwork, and then when we found her and then when we were approved to adopt her, I always was able to touch these beads at my wrist...my reassurance of her and my memories. Even though she and I had never met--at home I had Vicky, who has spoken of TMZ probably every day. Vicky would talk of hoping TMZ was ok in China, and how TMZ wanted to come to the United States and be adopted. Oh how Vicky prayed for her friend TMZ to find a forever family.

So today the adoption paperwork was finalized. I spoke to the SWI people who questioned me if would we find a physician for TMZ’s back. They had always felt it was better to hope she would have a physician in the United States. I was able to tell them that Claude had found the #1 physician in the world and that he was about 3 hours from our home and we were making appointments for her to see him. They were very pleased, so much so that they asked for us to email them how and what we found out about her back.(TMZ has curvature of the spine) Today the paperwork was perfect. They announced to me that she is our daughter now...and I had tears rolling down my face. I kissed TMZ and said thank you to God for this child. This child that covered up in bed last night and looked at me and said “I love you mama.” So dear to my heart those words were!
When we got back to the hotel though, I was crying. I was crying because I realized that I had saved my daughter. Not adopted to save her, but my daughter was now saved as ours. I knew that she would be safe in our home, have enough food, have the proper medical care for her spinal condition, and have parents arms to hold her forever.
TMZ has really attached herself to her new sister, Penny. At supper tonight, anything that Penny did, TMZ was doing. I wondered at one point if Penny fell off her chair, if TMZ would too. At lunch, her plate of fried rice was served first. She passed it to us to share and we told her it was all hers, that our food would be here in a minute. (Note from Nan: I remember when Kate first came to her forever home with Ruthi and Claude – Kate would put her entire elbow in her bowl of food – a defensive motion to keep anyone from taking it before she could eat, I imagine TMZ was not used to large servings of food either.) Every article of clothing that I bought for TMZ today she said thank you mama. Penny showed her how to play a game on my Ipod and in about an hour it is lights out…tomorrow we are going to the park where there are wild monkeys. The last time I went there I was glad the wild monkeys did not show up. I sort of hope they don’t again. J

To Vicky: I asked the people from the orphanage if they will look in your file and give me copies of photos that may be there to see if they have any of you when you were very little and they said yes they will look. So maybe Wednesday we will have more photos of you. In a photo book that TMZ has there is a photo or two of you as you were growing up and in a “foster” family that I think you visited a few times…and a picture of you with him I think. You will see these when I get home. Vicky, the orphanage also asked me to show them photos of you with them so on Wednesday when we go there, I have photos of you for them to keep. I will take some gifts for the lady that bought you the new shoes, the tall gentleman, and the lady that came with you when you came to me to be adopted. I will take pictures of them to show you what they look like now. I do not know if I get to see inside the orphanage where you lived but I will tell you when we get back on Wednesday what I got to see ok? I love you. Penny, Carrie, and myself are all getting sore throats from the smoking and the smog. I barely have a voice. What is it with China and my throat? I always lose my voice. Give all the girls hugs and kisses and all my love. We will be home soon!

TAO MING ZHU

2011-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

This is Ruthi's sister, Nan. I have to apologize to everyone. I am updating Ruthi and Claude's blog while Ruthi is in China. I somehow managed to type in the wrong name of my new niece. Please forgive me, Tao's name is Tao Ming Zhu. I hope I didn't cause too much confusion.
Nan

2011-02-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

Tao Zhu Gotcha Day - 3rd update from my sister: Well --no tears, Tao Zhu isjust worried about how she will communicate with us. She is saying lots of “thank you’s.” She said when she found out she was being adopted to Vicky's family she cried she was so happy. She ate some supper-tucked in bed now in the Aeropostle t-shirt that Vicky picked out and red pj pants with a big smile on her face. I bet this little girl is a sweetie over and over....our guide Richard has made the paperwork seamless! Plus we have warm fingers since this hotel has heat...if you are seeing us on the blog, or someone is posting to Facebook, don't forget that my e-mail while in China is jiaforus@yahoo.com . Now I am going to bed...I admit being tired. The cigarette smoke and smog has brought back the hoarse voice and scratchy throat. This trip I packed a steam vaporizer and will be plugging it back in! To Claude: Tao Zhu is not as tiny in size as we thought...I am not sure any of the pants will fit her but will try. None of the shoes fit her...so a bit of shopping is due! To all a goodnight, Vicky, Gracie, Addie and Kate Ilove you...and Vicky, Tao Zhu said she thinks you look like a rock star....

2nd Update from Ruthi - Reunion Day for Penny and Morgan with their Foster Families!

2011-02-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

we have arrived in Guiyang and are at the Ramada inn but we will be moving tomorrow-i think a tent outside could be not only cleaner but much better managed-I hope that the little space heater they brought Morgan and I to our room will help the chill. Carrie and Penny already in bed under several blankets so said they passed on heater. We have had a perfect trip so far-some highlights include American Airlines saying that our connection was too short of a time and moved us right down the line to Delta...thank you! The flight to Beijing was great...Carrie and I figure we are on the "Lose 16 pounds" plan and the plan food except for the cookies have been a good start. I slept the bulk of the way as did Morgan but Penny and Carrie were hit and miss. We got to the hotel and I knew Penny's foster mother was already there -- but the biggest surprise was when we walked in and there was a piano just sitting front and center stage. Needless to say Mama G got a very emotional and heartfelt piano concert given to her before the guards at the front desk scattered us away. She and I both had tears at this child's success. Mama G spent the whole day with us visiting the Great Wall and then she went on her own to T. Square...best of all also was all of my worries were needles when Morgans foster family came. What basic lovely people this family is. They brought their two daughters and an aunt to Morgan (foster) and they brought Claude and I a Beijing duck! yep cold in the bag!!! hummm What am I to do with that? Mama g was so thankful for the gift when i put it on the plane with her, Morgan was crushed that we were not going to eat it but i asked her if she liked it and she sid "never had it"! How funny. They also brought us a huge gift of tea. Lovely people and I pray to always stay in touch with them. They raised Morgan from not yet walking age to 11 years old....Morgan reduced the mother to tears when she gave her a coat that Morgan and I had found for Morgan for the trip....the coat is now on a lady that I am sure needs it. Carrie is doing great but is tired. I am doing great but tired...Morgan hit the wall today about 6 pm...and Penny followed shortly thereafter....Morgan though, relishes Chinese tv so guess what she is doing here now at 1:30 am?? That will end soon. We get TMZ tonight at 7 pm. I wished that we had been able to Skype it but we get her at the adoption office...we will Skpe shortly after! Say a prayer for her please....signing off....R and the rest of the crew

1st Update from Ruthi - China Trip

2011-02-20T06:50:00.000-08:00

I leave this Thursday with Morgan, Penny and my sister Carrie traveling with me. We land at midnight Friday the 18th to wake up and meet Penny’s foster mother at the hotel in Beijing, go to the Great Wall and a Hutong tour then in the afternoon we have been able to arrange a brief visit with Morgan’s foster parents. We then get on another plane that evening at 8 to go to Guiyang and receive TMZ on Sunday. At moments like these where we will be tired I always pray to get the daughter in the afternoon so we can rest some and catch our breath but normally they arrive in the a.m. and they see me exhausted but so excited.

Travel approval, Visa's and a picture

2011-01-12T12:00:00.001-08:00

In the past we have never shared a photo of our daughters before travel but this time have been told it is ok. I wish that I could copy and paste bits of what I have wrote in the past but neither Facebook or a blog allow that action so I am typing a bit of it all again.

We are adopting TMZ who we have chose the English name of Callie Jo T.M.Z. Coats for. We hope and pray this name is one that she will love forever. This child is the one that welcomed our Vicky into the orphanage by giving her a pair of slippers to shower in and a piece of candy so she would not be scared. This child is the one that dared to always help our Vicky when she needed it, even if there were possible consequences. She is also the one little girl that always wanted to go to America. She said good bye to one friend who went to America and that left our Vicky and TMZ to be best friends and not a threesome. Then when Vicky was adopted this little girl faced telling her best friend good bye as she left Zunyi City to be adopted, to leave her there at the orphanage, and for the friend to go to America. Everything that she wanted....she was so mad and upset that she did not come to tell her friend Vicky good bye. They parted that way almost four years ago. We, thru the Grace of God, thru the Red thread that holds families together, thru government offices answers and thru the adoption agency Madison Adoption Assoc we have been able to get permission to adopt that little girl.

In the photo above on the left is our new daughter Callie Jo Tao Ming Zhu and the photo on the right is our daughter Vicky Tao Ying (on left) holding Tao Ming Zhu's hand. This photo is one of the last times the girls were together.

Today I have sent for Visa's for myself, my sister Carrie, and our two daughters Morgan and Penny. We did, because of a huge paperwork error last adoption, request a Visa for Claude too in case of an emergency again. I feel that since we have that base covered it will guarantee that there will not be an error this time. Add that to your prayer list please? Please also pray that these girls have a wonderful reunion, that the last four years being apart has not separated them. That this 7th adoption of our 7th daughter, who is 7th in the birth order of our 11 children will be completion for them and of our family.

I also want to tell you that I greatly value the small business There's Always Hope who does Visa's, state authentications and Consulate visits in the Chicago area. She does a great job! Thank you again.

Hopefully in February we will have her home. My sister will post for me on the blog while I am gone so you will be able to follow the trip. Please pray for the family that is at home and for Claude to keep his sanity listening to Justin Bieber, and looking at the color of pink :)

Christmas 2010 update

2010-12-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

Currently we are waiting for the one piece of paper that everyone waits for during an adoption and that is travel approval. In case you missed one or two of our posts we are adopting again. Our seventh adoption, our seventh daughter and she is seventh in the birth order of our eleven. This means completion I am sure! We hope it will be here the first two weeks of January and then we can plan on leaving the 2nd Thursday of February. Nothing like having a plan! We have a small package heading to China now, it is being hand delivered to Tao Ming Z. Hopefully they will get to see her and show her photos and hopefully get some measurements...I always like to get their feet size so I can take new shoes....who doesn't like new shoes?

The girls and the boys here are all ready for Christmas. Their lists are made out and cannot be changed now...the elves are resting the final week of Christmas you know....here are a couple updated photos of all of us, enjoy and Merry Christmas to all. Claude, Ruthi and our family

October update 2010

2010-10-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

Today our dossier goes to China for the adoption of our 7th daughter. We have been searching and searching English names. One name we have always liked is Wren. I have found one meaning of the name that sort of sealed us using it-it means part of a large family. TMZ is going to be that! So until we change our minds, or until I get to China to find out different we are calling TMZ Wren. She is our 7th adoption, our 7th daughter and is 7th in the birth order of our 11 children. 7 is completion in the bible and so after I get home from China i plan on going back to wearing a watch on my left wrist instead of a "waiting for my daughter" beaded bracelet.

I want to report that Gracie returned to school half days this week and will go full days starting next-the Dr. report was very good!

We are again in the process of moving around rooms, trying to settle everyone into rooms that maybe serve them better-Morgan is a sleeper and hates noise and would like her own room, Penny appreciates her own room too-so we are dividing with a partial wall a huge bedroom that we have and will put them each into those rooms. Vicky will get the same room she is in but will be with TMZ Wren, and the three little girls will return upstairs to the two rooms up there, Addie and Gracie sharing one and Kate having her own (she needs a lot of sleep).

Morgan is doing very well in school but complains of a C in Algebra. Personally I am thrilled that she even gets it! And she reads a library book at her reading level every night so she can take a AR test the next day! I love it! She has came so far!

Penny is doing grade level work, and has started the 13 year old "arguing" but I feel sure it will stop soon as she just gets another chore added...

Vicky is adjusting to Jr. High very well it seems, she has matured it seems most of the time to her age, but then there are moments that I think not. But hey, I am sure I am the same way.

Gracie is still smiling, and still learning, and loves the cats!

Addie is struggling in math, but has always, but third grade has all new expectations so has to really work harder. There is nothing better than Addie walking up and saying "I gotta give you something" and hugs me.

Kate lost her blankie for two days....I am sure I could close this note on that statement but I do want to report it was found and she did get a good nights sleep last night. Kate is in second grade but we all remind her she is not yet 14.

hugs to you part 2

2010-08-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

I could not get Kate's photo to fit on the original post so here is part 2. Please see part one from earlier today-

Happy Birthday BaBa or hugs to you part 1

2010-08-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of our girls won't hug...and all Claude asked for for his birthday today was a hug from everyone. I hope that my idea will satisfy his heart as a gift from the girls that won't hug, but to add to the actual gifts of hugs that the girls that will hug give him. So Claude (or BaBa to the girls) here are your hugs for your birthday!

Summer update in photos

2010-07-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

It's summer time!!!

2010-06-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

carnival fun, spreading straw on the lawn...oh my!

Family update

2010-06-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

We posted several several months ago looking for a little girl, from the Zunyi City SWI as we wanted to follow her adoption and be sure our daughter Tao Ying (now Vicky) could stay in touch with her. Since then we have found her! She finally was put on the shared list at the CCAA and our family is adopting her. We received PA and gave in and told Vicky this news last Wed. Her response was over the top! We are all so glad this decision has been made and that we are moving forward with all of the paperwork! I have no idea when we will travel, we are not DTC yet.

Update-home 6 months!!

2010-05-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

I will only say that everything is so well! Pictures will tell the rest!

Family photo experiance

2010-01-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

we for the first time since 2002 we had all 10 kids under one roof and took the opportunity to have a family photo done, top left is the result of the others 75 or so photos taken that got started with one of many wrestling matches as usual-the two wrestling are Alex age 31 in plaid shirt and Eric age 29 in purple shirt and Vicky age 11. Then of course when we get everyone seated and smiling Kris (Brown shirt age 33) has to be funny and wave at the camera. When we changed the seating arrangement Vicky chose her spot of choice as being the tallest and standing on the end table...not. In the end we did get lots of very nice shots and of course additional memories to store.

updating on the family

2010-01-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

Our son Kris and his family are still stationed in the warm south at Kessler AFB. We are all very proud of Kris and Cathy for their jobs with the Air Force. Our son Alex and the girls are still doing great! They enjoy camping and fishing and family time - Alex still works for the phone company and is still the Great Hunter...he and I have went out several times deer hunting this season, one Saturday I came up to the house and he called me about an hour later to say "I GOT A HUGE BUCK" yea right he got the one I should have :) Our son Andrew moved back to Illinois, and he has went to work with Midwest Ingredients and is a supplier of feed ingredients to dairy's, etc. Eric is dating a lovely young lady, we enjoy having her and her daughter Gabby visit us, and Drew still likes to ride the four wheelers out here and show his aunts how to play games on Facebook and funny singing cats on you tube. Eric recently went to work for a salon in Morton-we wish him well!

The trip to China as you all know was interesting to say the least, paperwork out of date by 2 days-a never heard of before twist-landing in Beijing expecting 60 degree weather to wake up to snow!, Claude flying to China and thus our girls spending time at home for the first time without a parent but with my sister and niece.In the end what was important was we brought home our daughters Morgan age 13 and Gracie age 9. They both came with a backpack-nothing of anything personal in them-not like what i had heard from other families of their children bringing things from music to books, to photos etc., but one day i was unpacking things to find a photo album we had sent to Gracie of family photos had been filled between the pages with photos of her own, of a foster mother, of best friends, etc. We have also found out that she has the foster mothers phone number etched in her memory and will be sometime calling her to say she is OK and let her know how to stay in touch. Gracie also did bring her Teddy Bear - Bo Bo Bear - with her and she has since told me that in China there were two Bo Bo Bears but that she gave her friend Naomi one. So two separations, one of two girls that loved each other and two-of her bears. Morgan we find did bring something very important to her-phone numbers...lots of them! She has called some of her friends at the orphanage and spoke to them. We asked for Zoe to listen in a bit to tell us if she was reporting good news or bad news and Zoe told us that one thing she said was that it was not to bad here, learning English was going OK, that the school has a teacher for her and so do mama and baba at home. This was good news to us as Morgan has really resisted learning English and then when Zoe told us that Morgan knows and understands a lot of English it has been hard to get her to speak it to us. Thankfully she is showing more patience with the process, and has just started reading stories to us. We are very proud of her-to be 13 and not only have to learn a new language but to find out that this is forever (she did not know this) to go thru these changes (food, clothes, bedroom, family, friends, hey even now riding a school bus, can you even begin to imagine the changes?) we have also been so fortunate to have had Zoe here with us for 10 days (she was Vicky's English teacher in China) and Morgan warmed up to her and shared a lot with her of her life before here. We feel a lot of changes in Morgan were because of these conversations and that we were able to address a lot of her questions and previous life. Thank you Zoe! Gracie has settled in and can tell a great story-in English-and imitates one teacher at school that is always clearing her throat before she speaks. Has me just rolling when she talks about her.

Penny will be 13 in less than a month (God what were you planning when you lined us up to have two 13 year olds at the same time?) and plays on the basket ball team for 6th grade. She is also in chorus and band, is still taking piano lessons, and can be caught still fluffing her hair as the school bus pulls in the drive. Penny has spent the last two months translating for Morgan and Gracie when we cannot figure out the needs.

Vicky will be 12 this summer-the changes in this young lady...to numerous to count-she has changed so much and is such a lovely young lady. She did finally commit to having her hair cut this fall. A bit over ten inches came off-now that was a change! Vicky is taking piano lessons and does a beautiful job playing, she is now watching season 7 of Little House on the Prairie and did get a pink violin for Christmas but no Conestoga wagon. Vicky will sit and watch her L. house on the Prairie shows and stick a load of laundry in, when it is done she pauses the show and puts it in the dryer, then pauses it again to get the dry clothes out and fold them. Vicky is a great daughter!

Addie is going to soon be 8. She is in 2nd grade this year and still is best friends with Lauren. Addie likes to play school or office all of the time, rarely watches t.v. ad loves putting together puzzles. Addie said that if Gracie has to have any surgeries for her hands or feet that she is going to the hospital to help her not be scared. Vicky said the same thing...very caring sisters! Addie likes to do the dishes (really) and always tells me she has thought about me during the day and to have sweet dreams.

Kate turned 7 in Oct (I just realized that we will have two 13 year olds again in about 5 years) and is in first grade. Her favorite thing in the whole world is sugar (now her pony's name is Sugar) and this past year has questioned why we had to adopt her first making her the baby of the family. I cannot get her to yet understand that even if we had adopted her third or sixth she would still be the baby of the family as she would still only be 7. Some day she will understand I am sure. We drove to Washington D.C. this past summer and Kate had amazing patience-she would ask how much longer and if I said three hours she would sing out "well that's better than six hours" but I cannot say she has that sort of patience all of the time. Kate is still my best barn helper when it comes to getting the eggs or feeding the rabbits...but in the house you just as well say she needs a maid following her :)

Claude is still at the grade school-thankfully the school he works at did not get hit to bad with the sudden outbreak of the flu this past fall-but it really kept him busy cleaning and cleaning to prevent anymore than what did happen. He still picks up the girls every day after school, he just hates for them to ride the bus for 45 minutes when it is only 6 miles home. He has a full fleet of four wheelers to care for here that he has accumulated for the girls...and last summer he planted about two plus acres of Sunflowers, Milo and Turnips for the wildlife etc. The Sunflowers towered at 12 feet!

Me-well my son has to work a bit harder this year at covering up the grey hair. Work is great, and we have been blessed to have another successful year. My days start at 5 a.m. with a quiet cup of coffee and then making a hot breakfast for the girls to get on the bus at 7 a.m. If the little ones need that extra 45 minutes of sleep then I let them sleep in and take them to school as it is only 6 miles to school and then I head to the office. Most days I am home to Claude having cooked supper, and just about to put it on the table. I love having chickens over at the barn, this year we have some that lay shades of blue eggs. When I put them in the cartons I try to put one blue egg in the lower right corner...sort of a signature. We did get hit with the H1N1 flu this past season when the elementary school the girls attend had almost half of the student body out in one week. This included Addie and Kate and we set up a system here where they were segregated from everyone for the whole time they would be contagious only for the reason of stopping anyone else getting it. Again being self employed has great benefits and I was able to stay home to care for them and just work from home. They were not as sick as some, and I did check in with the Dr office every day to make sure they were on track with getting better..for a few days they did think it was great, breakfast, lunch and supper in bed. TV all day but on about the 3rd day that changed so became a bit interesting keeping them in there separate from the other girls. But once the crafts came out and letting them out of bed to sit at a small table and chairs happened they settled in for the last two days of being stuck. We all danced with joy when they were free of fevers for 24 hours so they could be around all of us.

Our house is very noisy to say the least. I worry that we won't be able to help the girls with their homework to much longer as not able to understand the Math-but if that is the only worry we have then we will be OK. We do not yet know what this year will bring, only God does. Gracie has her first Orthopedic Dr. appointment in Feb and I imagine this will either give us an outline of her future or will be sending us to Shriner's for their opinion. I hope to have Addie and Vicky at the Ear Institute in Chicago this spring also to see of the advances that will be available for their hearing. The girls today were also talking about basketball camp for this summer so I imagine there will be some driving. And will Morgan want to learn how to ride a bike? Hopefully she will go out for track as she shared with me that she likes to run, and I imagine Kate will be spending a lot of time riding Sugar....I say prayers with the girls every night. They include please God as these girls go to sleep tonight so beautiful, healthy and smart please Lord let them wake the same. We also pray Lord that our family that is not with us in this house be safe and healthy too. So as I close this post please go onto the next couple of older posts to see some photos of Christmas, sledding etc! Enjoy.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-08T14:44:00.001-08:00

the photos above are top left my sister Carrie and her daughter Jodi-we are so thankful for the both of them helping us so much this fall when Claude had to fly to China unexpectedly and while I was gone, then of Eric and his son Drew, Drew so resembles his dad at that age-then THE tree! We still say thank you to Noah for the gift of the tree (well until we go to take it down) and one of the two dining tables with our approx 35 guests of the day, next of Zoe and of Jodi-I believe Jodi's face indicates she had wanted a t-shirt the same as Zoe got, my chalk board over the kitchen sink (I have found the girls now scanning it thru the week to see what I have noted and they offer suggestions) then of our sweet Kate, posing as usual,

next row on the left is our dear Addie, the tree again (can you tell I enjoyed the tree), then our sweet Gracie, to the left again is Penny playing in the Christmas play band, then to the right is Penny playing Christmas music, then Vicky below her and she also played Christmas music, our grand-daughter Natalie wearing a Christmas bow and showing how tired she was, Kate putting on her chaps for riding the pony and last but not least my dad, Tom and mom Bev (thank you to the both of you for traveling to China again)

several new posts-sledding first

2010-01-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

sorry-you will have to read post after post as I have lots of pictures, etc., to share with you -so here is one titled sledding-Claude bought some new sleds called "TUBS" and they can fit at least three adults! He pulls them with the Mule so to be safe! Otherwise the kids will use them sledding down the hills but they are pretty heavy and I doubt they will be pulling them back up the hills very often! One of the photos shows us on our New Year Day walk along the creek. Gracie wanted to go really bad and rode on the sled the whole time-I was glad she would as the ground was so uneven and the snow was deep-in the picture is Kate pulling her. Morgan has no desire to go outside in this snow and weather so she is not in any of the sledding photos. The young lady in the middle photo is our friend Zoe who had never experienced this sort of cold and only occasionally had been in this deep of snow.

A New Year and catching up

2010-01-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

First I am sorry for no follow ups-to say the word busy does not begin to cover it! To get home from China and to not only try to catch up with the time change, to add 2 to the family, get them started in school, the changes they go thru and the changes we go thru, then to realize that Christmas shopping was not even started (and the lists included i-pods, a sing with me doll, a pink violin, electric guitar and a pony,) we hosted a friend from China over the holidays for 10 days, a horrible cold that I had, a 13 year old overwhelmed with the changes and the learning of English, need I say that to update the blog was impossible? This posting I am going to only update with photos...I promise to write in the next week...photos are top left -Penny during a Basketball game, middle top-everyone says that the McGava girls (my sisters and I) have a hands on the hips stance that we do when we are arguing or about to win. Penny does the same! top right: even though we have over 7,000 square feet in our house the girls will always sit right there on that short staircase to play Nintendo, pictured are Penny, Addie, Kate then Morgan. Middle left-Gracie and Addie posing. Middle our sons Eric and Andrew met me at the ice skating rink and they helped all the girls skate. They even got Gracie a few rounds in although the next day she admited that her feet hurt. Middle row right - the boys were very conscience of their safety when skating. Bottom photo I like this picture, to me it shows what I will do for these girls, off and on I carried Gracie thru China when she was tired...although this photo does not begin to show that my rear by then had lost almost 16 pounds :)

Home one week-my red beaded braclets

2009-11-23T12:46:00.000-08:00

We have been home one week-Morgan started school last Thursday as a 7th grader. To be in a place where no one speaks your language except your sister who is not in the same grade I am sure is wearing, but after she told someone yesterday that she is not going to speak English, only Chinese, well I feel she may learn English sooner than she thinks since she will have to learn how to communicate more than a few screeches and finger pointing. Gracie is a 3rd grader and seems to be doing well. Her teacher just loves her but this mama's feelings are "who wouldn't?" I feel Gracie will pick up English faster than Morgan. Both girls are eating well and seem to be sleeping well too. Morgan is sleeping by herself now and Gracie still pleads to sleep with me....although she is sleeping in her own bed without complaining (she can sleep with me, she knows this, but I think the pleading is a game now)....both girls have been able to make several rounds through the department stores for clothes and shoes and Claude took them to Farm King for outside boots and winter coats. Yes they now have camo too!
I feel all of you have read about my red beaded bracelets...that each time we have committed to adopting that i put on a red beaded bracelet. They come from Wal-mart and are just a few dollars for a pack of several. When we finished Penny's adoption in 2008 I was not able to take off the bracelet and had worn it thru the time and it was still on while we adopted Morgan and Gracie which shows that it was built well and tough to withstand all that I put it thru. You have to remember that I never take them off as I feel the adoptions are "threatened" when i do. Well while in China this last time I kept meaning to take off my beaded bracelet and scatter the beads. Never happened...Saturday at church a lady shared with me that she had been praying about adopting a little girl that they sponsor in China....in a split second I took off my bracelet and put it on her. I told her if she would read our blog she would see what the Red bracelet means....to me it means strength, hope, life, my daughters, our family, health, love, Grace, and the future. Please wear the bracelet in all.

leaving china-and we are home

2009-11-15T03:02:00.000-08:00

We were able to get the girls passports and visas Friday night and catch the ride to the airport in GZ. Morgan-13-really has not cried thru this process and when it was time to say good bye Friday evening she was very sad and was crying saying good bye to Zoe. We kept moving forward, it will be ok. When we got in the van she huddled down in her seat with me and the next thing I knew there was Zoe rushing to Morgans side of the van. Hand to the window. Her mom Donna was there with her....The girls said good bye again, very quiet and sad, Elvin told them what Donna and I want them to know, that they will be able to communicate by phone and skype, that they will see each other in July...that they will always be in touch. Gracie was quiet but was not crying, dad and Bev and Carol all hugged everyone goodbye with tears, I knew if I had tears that I would finally just have to sit and cry so the action of moving forward was best.
After a very long evening of getting to the "correct" hotel and checked in, back up 4 hours later and to the airport to check in in Shanghai, and a long flight to Detroit, both of the girls did fantastic on the plane...we were lucky to have the monitors in the back of the seats and Gracie quickly figured out that there were games to play. Morgan as usual slept when in a vehicle...Carol, dad and Bev were all three in the row behind us...when it was time for Carol to leave us for her flight I did not wake up the girls from their sleeping, Gracie on the floor of the airport and Morgan stretched out on the seats..Carol said she would just cry and it was seemingly best to not get the girls started. Dad and Bev you guys are troopers, carrying all the extras...holding Gracie's hand for some balance...thank you. The last week Gracie has practiced the girls names, Penny, Addie, Kate...Vicky...and so was ready to move forward and meet the girls, Morgan was out in front as usual but boy when she say the girls in the airport she scooted right behind my dad and was not willing to come out...in fact part of the time she would get Gracie and have her come sit by her while we were collecting luggage. Hmmm do we have a overwhelmed shy teenager? Everyone fit in the car, we got home and the girls showed all around, and finally bedtime came and I was laying here when Claude had went to check on everyone to have him come up and say Morgan was down there sobbing her heart out...I ran down and scooped her up...it's ok, it's ok...and brought her up to our bed. She was just sobbing...got her some tylonel, tucked in our bed, sent Claude to the spare bed, water in a glass for her and held her...it's ok. Really Morgan it will be ok....and she fell asleep for a few hours..I was woke at 2:30 am to her quietly crying again...so we have been up. I asked her if she wanted to read and so raided by flash light Penny and Vicky's Chinese book collection. We have been up ever since...she has had two tangerines and me my TOAST< PEANUT BUTTER AND COFFEE!!! There is a God! Claude is up with her now and they are cooking some eggs I think. Thank you to everyone for your prayers, the supplied help and meals. I feel this journey of adoption is amazing, and what does God have in mind for these girls future's? Please continue following their lives as we will continue posting...In God's hands, The Coats Family

Countdown to Heading Home Begins! from Ruthi

2009-11-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

I forgot to tell everyone! I weighed myself today. Have lost 11 pounds... My jeans don't fit anymore! (sidenote from Nan - this means I might get to raid my sister's closet again! Yay!)

Today we started the day with me typing into the English to Chinese electronic translator, "Will you stop complaining?" They both shook their heads no and said no. At least they are honest. So I retyped it to say, "stop complaining." They then said ok. :) Today we went to a garden which was very pretty, then to eat at a resturant there. The pictures will say it all about the food. On the way out of the park there was a long incline, all marble, and I saw Gracie and Nia at the top of it and they acted as though they were going to run down it, but then stopped - then as quick as you can think - off they went. Gracie was doing great until just the last say 5 feet of the incline when she went down. The knees and the left elbow are both bruised. No crying at all, just toughed it out it seemed. We put cool water on it etc.

Elvin took us to the Beijing street market here where shopping is supposed to be great. We got Morgan a pair of jeans and a shirt, me a great leather bag and a couple of Chinese outfits for the girls when they are older. Gracie stayed here at the hotel with Nia and her father and little brother. They played computer games and had a much better afternoon than if they had been shopping.

We are in the room, Morgan is reading a book. She told me she likes books...tomorrow is a free day until 2:14 pm when we leave for the consulate to swear all info we gave is right...and then Elvin will get the girls' passports with the visas on Friday afternoon and we leave here at 5 pm for the airport. We spend the night in Shanghai, then fly out Saturday am at 10 am! Thank God Claude had been able to come over here and have the time off work, get an emergency visa etc. Otherwise Ii believe that I still would have been in Beijing. The weather there is horrible we are seeing, some reports are over 8 inches of snow. The offices still would not have heat in them until November 15th! Only those of you that have traveled this trip in the past can know how glad you are that it is finally only a few days until you get to fly home....the last couple of days have been very hard as far as homesick goes...food is finally unappealing here at all. Although, this trip I have ventured a bit more into the food than normally. The guides have done a great job ordering for us. Then of course there is Llucy's and the french fries!

I bought a few books for the girls today and hope to have the battery fully charged on the laptop for the games to be available on the plane. I think the way Morgan is when on the bus or on the last flight she may just sleep about the whole way. I worry about Gracies legs dangling the whole trip. I i have the one backpack that I will set on the floor and she can rest her legs on it to help. That's all for now...

Update froRuthi Monday Night 11-9-200

2009-11-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from yesterday and last night. I washed Morgans hair and wrapped it up in a towel turban which she thought was pretty cool. Gracie was promptly up and ready to get the same... We went on the dinner cruise, no one got sick from the boat movement so all was well but just as we went up on the top deck it started raining so went back inside. They had a juggling act to entertain.

I am still dealing with Morgans behaviour of no one in 13 years telling her what to do. The last couple of days have been wearing as she just will not pay attention when told to stop running, watch out for the car, sit down, stop complaining...so last night when she started running on the boat to go in out of the rain i grabbed her arm and told her to stop running, and let my anger show, then typed it in to the translator when inside. I then also typed in "stop complaining" to Gracie...she has down let's go, lay la (tired) i think if I keep consistent order going, it might stop.

I have been looking for some clothes for the girls but still have not found any except a couple of t-shirts...so poor Gracie is stuck with the same pants over and over.... It is amazing how Gracie is able to do everything for herself, maybe not a button-- but since I brought no clothes with them I don't know. But the new shoes I got her-- she ties them!! I am nervous about her balance but she sure is not worried. There has been no falling down etc as I expected.

Morgan has gotten to where she is helping Gracie such as in the line and putting food on her plate etc.. but only as a big sister not as a caretaker. My cough is much better, I feel I can finally breathe and do not need to stuff a tissue up my nose every minute of the day.
I hope work is going well, I have tried to e-mail work people several times but they get returned to me as not accepted..must not need me :)

Today we go to the pearl market and have nothing to do until 3 pm so the girls and Carol are sleeping still!

Update from Ruthi Monday 11/9/2009

2009-11-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, first thing is a huge yurrah... Claude, I had not bothered to tell you as the stress was enough thru this trip. Morgan Xie's TB test had came back with numbers that were high thus she had to have an x=ray when she had her physical today. I had not told you because we were all certian that it was high because she has had a tb vaccine. This happened when we adopted Kate also...so when given the tb test they react high. Personally all I kept thinking about was that I had not paid for the extended stay on the travel insurance in the event that the x-ray had came back positive. I had laid this wholoe problem down for God to handle and felt He would...which He did. Her x-ray is 100% clear thus all is well.

Morgan Xie had to have 5 shots today. 2 in each arm and one in her leg. We have came back to the room to rest and stay in where it is cool. They suggested the kids drink lots of water today and take it easy. Gracie Mei Qing had to have 4 shots. There were several ow's out of her while getting them. At lunch she was pretty quiet, and like I said we are back in the room to rest.

Ping Ping was not real happy about getting shots. In fact when the dr's came around he waved his hand and said no he was not one being adopted. What a sense of humor!

Tonight we do the river cruise and meal. As long as the girls wake up ok after resting, we will go. Tomorrow we have to stay in the rooms from 10:30 to 11:30 while Elvin is at the consulate. He will call if something is wrong. Pray for no ringing phones! Then tomorrow afternoon we go over to the pearl market and spend a bit of time there. We Elvin will take us shopping on Beijing street. I hope to line these two up with some clothes for school.

Dad and Bev are enjoying the trip...Bev is shopping...dad is carrying the bags :)

It's Official!

2009-11-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Another email from Ruthi:

ok they both said yes (to being adopted)...what a relief to be over that hurdle. i now have one red bead bracelt off and i have plans of loosing it today. i figure if i drop it on the street bead by bead thru out china that my heart and feelings will be spread like seeds....both girls get car sick so before we left we gave them meds to help. thankfully it does and we don't have to use the bags that the driver carries. we are sleeping 5 to the room. carol and morgan xie, me and claude and gracie mei qing.
we hope to get the papers this afternoon but who knows. beijing has its own way..not bad, just stating the facts.
i have attached the photos we took today...i think claude and i are both ready to collapse with relief that this paperwork seems fine and done. claude will have to write a letter explaining why he is heading home for the american consulate for their visas...i want to say this to everyone about my dad. friday when this came around that we had problems here with paperwork we were here in the room talking about the different avenues of fixing this...one was to have to stay an extra week and/or longer. dad spoke up and said he would do what needed to be done and that included staying here with the girls and i.

Halloween on the homefront! What fun!

2009-11-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

Great Wall Photo

2009-11-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

The Great Wall

2009-11-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

From Ruthi - Saturday, October 31 at 2:37 p.m.:

Today we went to the Great Wall. We were a bit more prepared today with me passing out the Dramamin! Maybe with this group of children we will need it in larger than the "to go " type bottle that i have. Morgan Xie did much better than yesterday although she put her head down and napped a bit so at least she was not throwing up. I did not give any to gracie Qing...and should have. it wasn't to long and she was warm, then looking about to cry, got her on my lap and she got clammy...then i got out the bag...we got a bit of med in her and at least it took the edge off. only a couple of false uurps and she got control of it.

ok, first...Claude is on a plane to us. the beijing adoption seems to have their own reasons/rules and our power of attorney is "out of date" and it was either me be here an extra week minimum or for him to come here and be part of the adoptions. time and costs it was better for him to come here. he will get here on sunday afternoon. yeah! we get to see him and have his company and get this train moving....boo he has to miss work and the girls had to be lined out for care etc..thank you to everyone that was involved in getting this to happen. cwa, andy for driving him to chicago for the emergency visa, to the visa dept, to tina for typing and emailing the needs...to lalette and the rest of the office for covering for me and andy both on friday...to my sister carrie for jumping in (Carrie thank you from the whole of my heart) and caring for the girls. for whoever is missed that i had no idea what you did to help us...so we are looking forward to seeing claude!
next is about the girls. the clothes i brought were not a hit at all. gracie qing likes the lime green sweat suit, and is wearing a pair of dark pink sweats we got her..she likes the pj;s oh and she got to bring her bear with her from the orphange! she will compete with addie in the doing the hair a dozen times a day dept! she redos and does her hair all day!she is the sweetest littlest girl...dozens of angels wrapped up in this little girl. i am wondering about needing glasses for her and you should see this child hang in there moving...today at the Wall she was ready to go to the top. her and i got to it. Eric i took her one level higher than i had been last summer...remember the spot where i said i stopped to rest hoping that if i passed out from the heat that you would stumble over me?? well she and i went up one more level. at times she was almost crawling up the steps on her feet and hands...but she went up...i decided that i was the one going to be carrying here down these steep steps and said we were done...and she did ride down on my back piggy back style! thank you to one of the dads, kevin, for walking in front of me several times on some of the horrible steps. keving had also offered to carry her but we did ok!
morgan xie darts everywhere...she loves tv, and seems very independant. i believe that the agencies term of "sassy" will apply...but right now i also feel she is still very nervous, and has this shield all around her like "well what is this going to be like?" she liked the pj's but has not yet changed her socks although the socks i brought for her are all the same as what she has on. she wears a 7 1/2 shoe-i wear the same 7 1/2 to and 8.for once we have a girl that does not like pink. she wants me to take her shopping so she can get some pants that make her legs look skinny-the sweats are baggy and loose fitting..so we will be heading out soon to do that. penny morgan xie has chongqing bangs the same as you did...but her hair seems thinner than yours, not so think.
this morning we had a sock fight...just to have fun, throwing them like snowballs. almost got them in carols coffee :)
we went to the great wall...then to the friendship store that as we walked in i remembered this was where claude had gotten sick in 2004 from the beefy noodle soup...so i ate very carefully..no soup for sure. Carol is taking it all in, i have not had to hold her hand and guide her around yet while she is staring or anything...she is really going with the flow! dad and bev are doing good too. i think for a lot of us that the jet lag hit us last night and several of the couples did not sleep well...hopefully we will all sleep well tonight
penny and vicky i have the lists of music and books and movies and hope to go to the book store tonight to see what i can find....addie and kate i am still looking for doll clothes etc is there more that you wanted? kim you called in on skype and i could not answer as i was on the skype with claude about him coming over here...we will get together i promise!
as far as how the girls are doing, they are doing great. they seem ready to go and are not looking back. just the way i like it! say a prayer please for the girls both at home and here in china to do well, for claude to do well traveling both to and from, and for continued good health and one last thing...please pray the beijing adoption will fly us thru the process so that we can stay on track with the trip.
in God's hands, Ruthi and the rest of us here!

Yay,

2009-11-01T06:28:00.000-08:00

From Ruthi:

Woke up this morning to find it had snowed...and it just kept it up. I had tried to pack for every medical emergency possible, enough snacks for two weeks...stuff to layer in case of cool weather, but NO ONE told me to bring snow boots and a parka..or a sled to pack Qing in. So we all skipped the forbidden city tour and went to the mall to buy winter coats for the girls. I and carol just threw on another couple of layers. I guess the snow made world news. Claude got here tonight. His getting off the plane was delayed over an hour as they could not move the things up to the plane to let people off because of the snow. We plan and God laughs.

The girls are both doing very well. Extremely well in fact!

One of the families here are Kevin and Donna Carroll, our prayers are with them as Kevin's mom is extremely ill in the hospital back in the U.S. and he hopes to complete their adoption and leave tomorrow night and go back home to be with her. We also are praying for safe travels for him, and fast paperwork so that he can catch the plane on time.

Penny,Vicky, Addie and Kate: ...we hope you did great trick or treating. Remember to keep telling Aunt Carrie, Aunt Nan, Jodi and Andy thank you and that we all love them dearly for the care they are giving you all. Baba will be home Wednesday night with you! Kate, Baba used your elephant pillow on the plane and it really helped him to sleep. He said thank you!

It is time to be done writing ,girls, so here are prayers for you...Dear Lord, thank you for our wonderful daughters. Lord, as they go to sleep so beautiful, healthy and smart please Lord let them wake the same. We pray Lord that each of our daughters know how much we love them, and that we are so glad that You brought them to us Lord. Please let the girls rest well Lord.

Amen
Good night girls! We love you....

Just talked to Ruthi - 11:54 p.m. Halloween night

2009-10-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

I am so glad I downloaded Skype today! I hadn't even heard of it before this...well Ruthi mentioned it but I said I didn't have it and that was that. What a big "duh" on my part.

Ruthi said that some rules were changed at Beijiing and they considered Claude's power of attorney out of date - and instead of her staying there an extra week in order for the paperwork to be done - it was cheaper for Claude to get the emergency visa and fly to China himself. He will be there for a few days - and then Ruthi will be returning as scheduled originally.

Ruthi says that so far - Morgan Xie (pronounced Shay) will settle in as a sassy teenager. I think that means she will fit right in as a "McGava Girl!" Gracie Mei Qing (prounounced Ching), she says, will simply steal everyone's heart. Yesterday they visited the Great Wall - I know from past trips that it is a very tiring day, obviously if you've seen the Great Wall - you can understand. Apparently Qing decided she was going to the top, even though part of that was on her hands and feet going up stairs. Ruthi finally had to stop her as she know she would have to carry her back down - which she ended up doing part of the way anyway - piggyback! Ruthi is strong enough - mentally and physically - I think, to carry all six girls on her back to the top of the Great Wall and back down - if she made up her mind to do it.

Please keep the Coats family in your prayers - I sure hope the rest of this journey is easier than the beginning has been. Ruthi is very concerned about the girls at home, and how they are holding up emotionally. Kate, especially, was very concerned about her mama going away - I'm going down tomorrow for a quick visit. Ruthi said to take sugar cookie dough rolls because that is one of Kate's favorite things to do. I'll be in Walmart first thing in the morning arming myself with sugar cookie ammunition!

Goodnight all!

nan

A Few Hiccups

2009-10-31T17:44:00.001-07:00

Well I have been getting sketchy information regarding the journey to China. Ruthi's Blackberry isn't working properly this time and she can't access her email account. But she is able to use "Skype" and called home when she got the girls. Jodi said they were a little camera-shy about getting onto Skype, but at least they got to see a little of their new family live on the web camera. Jodi says the girls are just beautiful. Their sisters, waiting at home for them, are so excited!

Now the hiccup- apparently Ruthi is in Beijing, where all the official adoption business happens. In four previous trips to China, there has never been a problem with paperwork. But this time, Beijiing discovered a problem - Claude's power of attorney had expired (I hope I am saying this right since I am repeating this second-hand). Claude traveled to Chicago Friday and was able to get an emergency visa, and jumped on a plane today to China. He will meet up with Ruthi there and all will be fine. There's no need to worry - like I said, it's just a hiccup.

Carrie, Randy, and Jodi are now in charge with the girls and Carrie says she is keeping them busy so they don't worry too much. I'm going to go visit tomorrow, and will be able to get the emails Ruthi was able to send so far (they haven't been able to forward them to me due to computer problems). I'm sorry I don't have more information...I will post more tomorrow!

Nan

The Travelers Are Together

2009-10-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, Ruthi's sister, Nan here! Ruthi is scheduled to arrive in China Wednesday night. I heard from her Tuesday when she met up with her friend Carol - who is traveling to China with her. Carol is a great friend to Ruthi, she has been there through thick and thin and I am sure that Texan can handle anything that comes their way!

On the homefront - our neice Jodi is helping with the girls at home. She posted on her Facebook account Tuesday morning that she deserved a gold star - all four girls on the bus on time and even packed their lunches! Talk about a crash course in parenting. :)

Please keep everyone in your prayers, and I will update the blog as soon as I hear anything, I imagine it will be tomorrow night...

Nan

Finally Leaving! Oh my

2009-10-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have one suitcase done and by the front door. The other is still next to the scales while I try to max out the 50 pounds I am allowed to take in each of 2 checked bags. My friend Carol has said she was treated to a special gift from the ladies she works with and she enjoyed a manicure today after work. She also swears she won't get any sleep tonight. Gee go figure..our flights tomorrow are early. 6:30 p.m. but unlike a lot of folks dealing with huge airports ours is so small that we can arrive at 5:30 a.m. and still get it all done and on the flight. That helps a bit I suppose.
Yesterday was Kate's 7th birthday and our family was here to help her celebrate it with a brunch and cake. That afternoon she said it was the best celebration ever!
I still cannot post photos of the girls, Morgan Xie, age 13 or Gracie Mei Qing age 9 but soon they will be shown to all!In fact sooner than usual as we land in Beijing Wed evening at 10:35 p.m., will get to the hotel hopefully by 1 a.m. and then we get the girls the next day. I hope they figure out quickly that their new mama does not always look like she was in a train wreck...I cannot imagine how tired I am going to be! I know God will provide....
Please say prayers for the girls to accept us and to not be overcome with fear, for safe travels and health to stay with us. My sister Nanette is posting for me while I am gone, normally you cannot access blogs from in China. Please say a prayer for the girls here at home, there was some crying going on yesterday, and the closer it gets to bedtime tonight I keep praying that the tears stay away. Both theirs and mine. Also include Claude and our niece Jodi-both here to manage the girls and keep control. Oh my!

We are going to China....

2009-10-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

All right forward movement!!!!! FINALLY!!!! I leave on Tuesday Oct 27th for China by way of Detroit and Japan...first time ever being to those two places so I will be sure to take pictures. :)

We get home the night of Nov 14th into Peoria Airport after a very long day of flights again coming home thru Japan and Detroit. We had to do it this way just to be able to get home on Saturday into Peoria. My thanks to Marylin with China Smith Travel for working and working and working on these flights. We have used them for all of our adoption trips with great success!

Please say a prayer that we have safe travels, and that the girls will both be accepting of us as their new forever family.

I have set it up that my sister Nanette will post for me as I will not be able to access the blog while in China so she will get e-mails from me and post. Thank you Nan! Don't forget their is a 13 hour time difference :) so you may not remember what you are getting into taking on this task.

Also our sincere thanks to our niece Jodi for coming to stay for the days I am gone so the girls will have help with school work, matching their clothes, and getting on the bus in the mornings all the while that Claude paces the farm preparing himself for two more females in the group :)
Please say a prayer for his continued sanity as he is pacing.

Another time of waiting...

2009-09-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you just getting to know us, we are currently waiting for Travel Approval (TA) for our 5th and 6th daughters. Our daughters that are waiting for us in Beijing China are Morgan Xie (we chose the English names and are praying that they like them) age 13 in a just a few days and Gracie Mei Qing age 9. This will be the 5th time for me to go to China, Claude will hold down the fort here with the girls while I and my friend Carol (from Texas), my dad and mom all head over to get the girls. So while we are waiting...
We say lots of prayers, that the new girls will adjust and accept to this huge change in their lives from everything they have ever known. That the H1N1 flu will not rear its ugly head and stop/delay travel. That our girls and sons here at home continue to do well and keep things under control. Kate had hives extremely bad last year from stress of me being gone. We pray they don't return. We also pray that our own health holds up and that our peace of mind stays peaceful :) during this huge time of travel and bringing home the new girls....
During this time we also prepare for situations like no English so we have Electronic translators, talking about the girls being scared, no English, adjusting, clothes for them, and just in general also about loving and accepting them.
There have been a few times that different things have hit us. The new van we had was all of a sudden not large enough for a family of 8. So we went van hunting which turned into a fiasco of buying a van that we 100% hated. Which sent us on another shopping trip to buy a great Suburban...seats 8! Yeah! Another when a bit of panic went over me that we will have one daughter with 2 years of English, one daughter with one year of English and TWO WITH NO ENGLISH!!!!! I am sure we will have moments of insanity. Penny-one year of English-the other day told Vicky to "stop talking so much! You make my head broke" see what I mean about the English? At least the meaning was there.
I have gotten out a suitcase. Not that I am packing but I work full time, have four girls at home, and life can occasionally get crazy so why wait to do something this important and chance missing / forgetting anything? And now I admit that I will pack and repack 15 dozen times...I will weigh each bag 15 dozen times so my luggage is not over weight...I just have to have a way to de-stress so I do it thru the packing.
Right now, even as I am typing, there are two families in China meeting their children for the first time. These children are from the same orphange as our daughters. We are saying, and asking, for prayers for these families for acceptance and Gods guidance thru the rest of their lives. We are also asking for a peek into our daughters beings and also for some photos of the girls. We have not seen their photos in a year...we wonder what they now look like! We have gotten their measurements so we know their sizes etc...But what do they look like? So that's it for now! Again, thank you for following our journeys! R

The awaited conversation

2009-09-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday after church we went out to eat. As we were all munching away Addie leaned over and asked me "Mama remember when I was in your tummy?" and I just sank...why in a restaurant? So I said "Addie remember you weren't in this mommies tummy?" And I started to go on to have this dear 7 year old interrupt me and ask "So does that still make me a Mammal?" Talk about laughing...I still chuckle a week later...
Please keep Abbie Ault, a young girl from Princeville, in your prayers. She is very ill in ICU in the hospital. Until next time, Ruthi

Whispers of God

2009-08-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight the sermon at our church, Northwoods Community Church was -From Watcher to Worshiper-what a perfect time for me to attend church after a long time....you see I have been struggling with attending our church. Not about the sermons or their practise, nothing at all except it is huge. HUGE. And I have been struggling with wanting "family" or more community to go along also with the service. I guess to know Everyone that is sitting in the pews....hmmm. I attended a smaller church a few weeks ago and sat there and had dreams going thru my head of my daughters walking down the isle there for their wedding day. Of the girls sitting in a group of about 6 kids hearing about God and about the Christmas service .... but when I left that day I could not have told you what the sermon was about. I felt that I wanted (from NW) more "worshiping" and where I came up with that idea I have no idea.
You see, in the 5 years that we have attended NW, of the sermons that Cal has preached there has not been one that I walked away from not shaking my head saying yes, or having a revelation of yes that is so true!, or how I could put that towards my life or how it fit our life. His words are powerful. And tonight when Cal explained how NW had been set up as a seekers church. A church that allowed people to attend and seek God, and to be anonymous in their seeking of Christianity, but one day he had the feeling that people were wanting more from the church. And he heard a whisper from God that it was time that the people worship, not watch. (not a direct quote) My ears really perked up..he offered me candy....he had me hook line and sinker...Cal went on to talk about this term "whispers of God" and how at times in our lives we are whispered to by God. And what God releases in the hearts of worshippers and what worship enables our hearts to do. So that leads me into my whispers from God....
I was sitting here in our home, I love our home...I was packed to go to Chicago for thyroid cancer surgery and I pleaded with God to hear his whispers...actually I was asking for roaring yelling from Him. Instead He held me. The whispers that he said were answers to my pleading but then he kept whispering to me when I added prayers that were said from that moment forward, please God offer the hungry children food, medicine to the ill children, and parents arms to hold the children that do not have parents. His whispers were gentle, constant but gentle. More like directions...listen to this lady, notice this child, see this family with adopted children, even to the final direction "stand right there and listen to Shelly tell you about their daughter they adopted". Claude and I had wanted to have children together but diabetes really was the reason to not, to enjoy our sons we had. But Gods whispers...what wonderful directions to have had! I offer everyday the thank you in a loud and clear voice to God. Thank you for whispering to me and giving me the directions that you did towards the answer to my prayers. He has offered Claude and I the opportunity to be able to supply children medicine, food, warm clothing and the final answer to my prayers - and parents arms to hold the children without parents-(by putting Shelly in front of us showing us her daughters picture from China. Of sitting me next to little Ann, also from China, on the plane when on vacation) by allowing us to adopt these wonderful little girls from China. And for allowing us again to adopt and be so blessed that we are bringing two daughters home this time.
I came home tonight from church feeling that again God whispered to me...that I am worshiping where I should be. Never even thought once about which side of the church should the bride enter on her wedding day :)

nerve wracking paperwork-FedEx in control now

2009-08-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Finally! And as hard as it is to hand over the paperwork in those flimsy cardboard envelopes counting on them to not get caught in a conveyor system or falling off a truck but instead counting on them to be handed to the correct people in perfect condition is what all of us do at this point. We will only have to do this a couple more times before we are finally able to travel to bring home the girls. All of our passports have to be FedEx to get Visa's-so that is two trips in the flimsy cardboard envelopes. Then we have a very formal "Approval for Travel" that will be sent for both girls (one form for each girl) and they will also have several trips in the flimsy cardboard envelopes...we have never had a problem with paperwork and as much as I have been chanting prayers and clenching my jaw I hope we continue with the good luck!

As close as I can tell I believe that God would really be guiding these papers well if we were able to travel in Sept to bring the girls home, humanly I expect to travel the last week of Oct and home the first week of Nov. All in God's time....

We did get updated measurements of the girls. Morgan Xie (Shay) is 5' 2" tall and is 81 1/2 pounds = she is only a bit bigger round than Vicky but is taller than Penny -so think tall and skinny! Gracie Mei Qing (Ching) is 50.4 inches tall and is 52.8 pounds=she is 5 inches taller than Addie(Gracie has grown in the last year!) and is about 4 1/2 pounds more than Addie and Kate...she is about the same around as Addie and Kate so also thin in comparison to her height.

We are very disappointed that we did not get any updated photos of the girls. I think that has been part of the day, a bit down...I have really been wanting to see new pictures.

I am attaching some pictures of the two youngest girls that I took ...just being silly. And a photo of a Wren in the bird house outside of our front door. Please include in your prayers our nephew, he left today for basic training for the Air National Guard. Very very hot in Texas for the training. Will update with a few more posts soon!

One year for Penny

2009-07-31T06:28:00.000-07:00

Penny has not concentrated at all on her one year date of adoption, rather she has chosen her one year date of landing in America to celebrate. This is fine, an older child gets to create memories where with a younger child you create them and then the child will take over as they grow up and be involved. So to recap our year with Penny---

-We adopted Penny last year and while waiting for her we discussed names and one day Claude said we need to use Penny. I was like hmm, we can add it to the list...then every night for weeks he would have the girls sit at the table before dinner and go "we want Penny, we want Penny" and even though we asked two times before we traveled if Li Juan had a English name and were told no. The day that I received Penny in China and we were in the van to go back to the hotel the guide asked Li Juan if she had an English name already and she said yes, Penny. Not a dry eye in the van, and there is that China Red Thread.

--when we were in the hotel room, just the first few hours of Penny being with me she handed me the Electronic translator and it said "what do I do now?"

--Penny loved a very nice looking pair of sandals in China and I bought them for her, yet trying to get her to buy a pair of comfortable looking shoes. I bought a box of band-aids next.

--we knew Penny had had piano lessons. She played the piano for me in a store and I just had tears. When we got home Claude took her piano shopping and she takes lessons yet every week.

--to watch a child say good bye first to her foster sister, who was adopted at the same moment as we adopted Penny, and then to leave her country of birth with only a few items in a couple back packs is hard. You don't question "is this the right thing" but you question how can an 11 year old child be so brave and to trust you with not only their few possessions but with themselves? That China Red Thread is a very strong thread that also includes trust in it.

--When we got to our house Penny was excited to be drug thru the house by her new three sisters and her mama and baba to show her where she was going to forever live. She saw everything I bet in less than 10 minutes and went to sleep pretty quick that night surrounded by her three new sisters sleeping on the floor by her bed. To go from a city of 30 million people to living down a 1 1/2 mile lane where the closes neighbor is 2 miles away and a house that is huge had to be a experience that most of us cannot comprehend.

--the next few months were spent adjusting to a whole new way of life, language, foods, clothes and the way of our family. Claude and I feel that Penny blended in and joined our family as though she had always been with us! She still at one year seems the same.

--Penny asked us one Sunday if she could stay in her pajamas and in bed all day. Sure as long as every thing is done that needs to be done...the idea that she could stay in her pajamas ALL DAY amazed her and also started a tradition of getting the pajama's on as soon as she can during the day or evening.

--Penny's favorite things to do are shopping, playing the piano, art, wearing pajama's, watching movies....

--we asked her if this first year has been good, medium or bad and she raised her hand in the air and said great!

To adopt an older child you count so much on their beginning to have been good. We say thank you to Penny's first years being so guided and one of those people was Mama G (as we call her) who was Penny's foster mother in China. Thank you Mama G for loving this child and all of the other children you loved.

Penny's first year here has included learning how to ride a bike, riding a school bus, a 24 hour a day warm home, snacks (we are a big snack family) teaching us how to cook a few Chinese dish's, adjusting to hugs (not happening to much yet) , spending time with family, riding a four wheeler, getting up close to chickens, cows, a llama, bunnies and a dog....soft towels, smell good soaps, surprising us that she prayed in China, snow, Christmas presents and a big birthday party. Fireworks for Chinese New Year (thank you Claude for setting these off out in the bitter cold and snow while we all watched from inside)

Penny has also shared a lot of things with us, her forever family. Some we share with all, others I have asked her to write down so she has these memories for all of her life. Penny is a beautiful daughter to Claude and I and a wonderful sister to the girls. Thank you Penny for accepting us, trusting us and even though you haven't said it more than twice, for also loving us. Happy first year!

More photos....

2009-07-26T11:03:00.001-07:00

Shortly after the photo on the left Bob gave Addie a kiss and she wiped it off going yuuuck! All the while the camera was rolling for the documentary that we could be part of that will be shown in Australia. The 10 minute show is to be about Microtia and also about using prosthetics instead of surgery. The next photo is of Addie wearing sunglasses for the first time that are staying up on her face! I felt that these two photos were confirmation of a success for Addie!

Our time in Washington D.C.friends, sightseeing and ears

2009-07-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Washington D.C. was expressly to get prosthetic ears for three of our daughters who have Microtia...and then around those appointments Vicky would get to see her friend TZ who she lived with at the orphanage in China, we would meet up with John and Andrea and their daughters (their oldest daughter is from Hanzhong where Kate is from), we would visit with TZ folks, tour some of the Capitol and hopefully have a sane trip/time.

To comment on our daughters behavior while we were traveling and they were locked tight in seat belts for the 1900 miles that we put on the van would be to simply say PERFECT. Kate had two separate melt downs but otherwise her humor was "how many more hours mommy?" and I would say 4-she would say with a song "well that's better than 6!" Addie was forever smiling and great...Vicky played her Nintendo or did homework, Penny listened to her music and sang (I guess we all listened to her music huh?) and she also would do homework....they sincerely were great travelers!

I will post some pictures here of the girls with Bob Barron, Custom Prosthetics, (Vicky said no photos, she is still adjusting) and of our time in D.C. Top right photo is Bob tinting Addie's ears to match her skin and then the next one is her profile now when using the prosthetics. Bottom left is Vicky and TZ, then bottom right is the usual squat we still see our girls doing. Please remember Kate was 22 months when we adopted her and yest she will still assume this stance when waiting, etc. Amazing! And to have looked and seen three of the girls all doing it without prompting etc was even more amazing!

My Bucket List includes...

2009-07-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

A lot of you may disagree about my own observation of myself but here goes...I see myself as an extremely simple person. I do not really have hobbies, my daughters can sway some of my opinions and you will see me now wearing make up more, dress's, jewelry, etc..but before the girls it was 100% t-shirts and jeans...and I work a lot..not just work as in at thee office but here at home too...4 daughters and a huge house, family, etc and you can imagine that there is always something to do....but I have a passion that has came from early childhood and that is tractor pulls. I just die over the NOISE and the TREMORS and THE WHINE OF THE ENGINES and the BLACK EXHAUST THAT COMES AT THE STARTING LINE...I like the modified tractors the best...anything with 3 jet turbine engines on it that takes off at the start line and goes as smooth as these guys do down the track....well I am really getting into this so I had better get to my evening...last night I met my dad and Bev at the tractor pulls in Henry, IL and sat til almost midnight watching these truck and tractor pulls....it was great! On a side note though I am sure part of my interest has came from when growing up my dad and uncle were one of the first tractor pulling teams to have a "hot rod" and we went to tractor pulls in the summers...there were no trailers to put the tractors on to haul them home and I can remember following dad home, mom driving behind him in the car. My mom actually drove in the women class when she was about 7 months pregnant with my brother! So in my bucket list I have two notes....1) to be the person at the start line holding the red and green flag giving the driver the ok to take off and 2) to drive a modified hot rod ....the pictures tell it all except for the NOISE, THE TREMORS AND THE EXHAUST.....

sorry, here's the photos

2009-06-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

I did post two photos that Sharla took, the one of Addie and I and the one of the girls in the wheat...the one in the center photo is Sharla, then my Vicky on the left....it was a nice 4 days!

Last days of the girls visit

2009-06-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

I won't write a lot, will mainly show pictures....Penny and Abby did very well. Actually this past few days was a pretty good example of what it might be like with 6 girls here. Hopefully they all get along as well as our four and Sharla's two did! Not one argument, fuss, or anything...usually all were pretty well in agreement!
Sunday afternoon Sharla wanted to take pictures in the great Midwestern light that happens after 5 pm so she shot some pics here at the house and then we drove about 11 miles to a wheat field and stuck the girls out in it (it's itching, it's sticking me, this is terrible). The visit was good for Penny, Sunday when we were taking photos she again got very sad realizing Abby was going home the next morning but she was able to see that what Sharla and I had promised would happen. That we would do our best that the two girls would get to visit and see each other.
In a couple weeks we will be able to let Vicky see her best friend from China, Tao Zhu, as we will be visiting out there for almost a week. Another great opportunity for these girls to stay in touch and to visit.

A few more photos

2009-06-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

We attempted to go bowling Thursday in Kewanee, I had even called the bowling alley and their phone line was busy so assumed they were open...no, so we went to the second bowling alley in Kewanee and they were closed too...so third choice was Aunt Nanette's goats at the farm. Bingo she had just had a set of triplets born the night before, the goats were a hit plus they have a bucket calf and everyone experienced it sucking on their fingers, although Addie had her whole hand up to her wrist in its mouth. Yuck!

Friday we went to downtown Peoria to the riverfront and the girls complained it was hot...so we walked across to the antique center to see the train set up to find that it was not set up...so we went to Steak and Shake for lunch then came home...but still it seemed fun was had.

Saturday we went for bowling in Peoria, I called and yes this bowling alley was open! Cosmic bowl was great....then home to experience a thunder storm, and cook dumplings and sticky rice.

Today we cook out and swim.

Finally time to post photos

2009-06-28T06:10:00.001-07:00

We have had a great time except for a rash of places not being open or a rain shower or two....Last night Sharla and the girls got to experience a Midwestern thunder storm all while Sharla kept the dumplings cooking on the stove! She sure is a trooper!

Just by chance last night I dialed the girls Foster mothers phone number which we have not been able to get thru on for months and she answered! Penny stumbled for quite awhile with her Chinese language and then after several deep breathes and false starts got started talking to mama G and had a wonderful conversation. Abby was able to say hi but really was not able to visit much...

Today my dad and Bev, Eric and Drew are coming for lunch. Dad, Bev and Eric were in China with us and know Sharla and the girls...Dad has called daily asking how the reunion has been going so will get to see first hand today.

I feel that it is important that the girls keep in touch and visit...we will have to continue making this happen!

Last night Sharla gave me a lesson in making dumplings and I was amazed to find out how easy they are...they will be made more often in this house! Penny, Abby, McKenzie and Vicky showed us their expertize in making the dumplings...Addie and Kate caught on pretty fast!

Are they on the plane on not?

2009-06-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

We got to the airport with plenty of time, had some ice cream while we waited for Abby, her mom Sharla and her sister McKenzie to all arrive. Penny was doing pretty good but I could tell that she was growing nervous as the time came closer. They finally announced that the plane had landed and we waited, we waited, we waited...the line of people coming out slowed...then stopped. Penny was then starting to act more and more nervous and ahhh! I saw Abby at the top of the stairs waiting outside of the bathroom and I leaned over and said in Penny's ear "there she is honey, she has on the red shirt...see her?" and Penny leaned forward and looked and looked and then saw her and theeeeeen, and theeeeen, Penny burst into tears.

Tonight is a big night!

2009-06-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

We head to the airport to pick up Penny's foster sister , Abby, from China and Abby's sister and mom Sharla! They have not seen each other for a year so we are thinking this might be a great reunion to experience! They are then staying with us til Monday when they will fly back home.

We have talked about a lot of things the last few days-Penny, what do you think Abby will call you? Your Chinese name Li Juan. your English name Penny or your "special name" Juan Juan? (Penny is not sure) Penny what do you think you will call Abby? Li Hong? Hong Hong or Abby (Penny is not sure) Penny are you ever going to clean up your room? (I keep thinking I do it tomorrow and .....) Penny are you going to let Abby sleep with you? (I don't know, she kicks a lot! But Penny now you have a big bed, in China you had a twin bed that you both slept in...Ok Mom maybe she sleep with me) Penny are you going to hug her when you see her? (I am not sure mom)

We have made lots of e-mails back and forth to our guide in Chongqing and she has contacted the foster mom (we call her mama G) and she is setting up a Skype account so hopefully the girls can call and see her while together. We e-mail back and forth but there has not been the site available.

It amazes me to look at the photos of Penny from a year ago and notice the huge change in her!

We will post pictures the next few days or so so everyone can follow the reunion!

The "new" daughters

2009-06-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

A family is in China now adopting a son from the same SWI that our waiting daughters are at and we sent them two identical photo albums, and two little bags of gifts for the girls that they then hand carried to China with them and delivered them to the directer of the SWI. They explained that the girls were going to be sisters and showed them our photos and the gift bags we had sent...we understand the directer was very happy with this news and has promised to share this information and gifts with the girls...it will be so nice if they know this hope is out there for them, and that they can share the scared feelings they have....
We still have no idea of travel time, but I am praying for early Aug travel so possibly the start of school and Claude's schedule won't all collide! Also they talk about this flu coming back stronger in the fall and who wouldn't want to be home before fall flu season?
This week the older girls here at home are studying four out of five days, again word comprehension is foremost and catching up on class's that they miss while out for extra help. Learning the states and capitols shows a lot of pronunciation of certain letters that need extra help and here I have never, and I mean NEVER have I been able to pronounce Massachusetts and here I am trying to help them learn the states and pronounce them correctly...poor girls....Penny is doing 6th grade Algebra and Vicky is getting down fractions a lot more...to skip a child from 2nd grade to 4th will show you how much a child learns in each grade!
Addie and Kate are reading up a storm....doing some crafts, feeding the chickens and today played alligator (no idea what that game is but Carrie does still have her arms and legs so must not have been to bad of a game) and we have finally gotten to the point where we are going to put up the pool. The temperatures just have not been warm enough to even consider it!
Claude bought 120 baby pheasant at the sale barn Friday night, when will I ever learn that I go out of town and he goes to the sale barn to bring home more? :) One time when I was out of town he called me and said oh honey you will really like him...as a lead in. Well "him" was a paint colt, wild as a March hare, from Canada that had been at the monthly horse sale. We kept Canuk for several years and was a beautiful horse.....along with about six others that "I would really like". (kidding Claude, really I am kidding)
We have great celebrations as my dad is feeling well after his "small" heart surgery to repair a blocked artery. He and Bev even went out dancing last Thursday evening. You just can't keep a good man down! Praise God for answered prayers of his health, the Dr's skilled hands and for he and Bev paying attention to all the signs of a problem. I imagine lots of people might have tried an antacid, or the approach of maybe I will feel better in the morning. Thankfully instead they went to the hospital.
Until next time, blessings to all R

Over due update

2009-06-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

No excuses...just been very very busy! The house is about done, finally! Few more areas of dry wall compound needed, a bit of paint, and one more room of curtains...then a good dusting and I call it quits!

School is out but here that means one week of no school and then school starts again. Penny and Vicky will have a summer school tutor here at home three days a week. They will catch up on social studies and science BUT the way they will be learning is to enhance English language comprehension. The girls leave these two classes daily at school to receive extra help at school so we will just catch them up during the summer. Three days a week will give them still time to have a summer...it is 4 hours a day and then the rest of the day can be the pool, etc. Addie and Kate will keep reading and moving forward in learning too, but not as scheduled as Penny and Vicky.

Our adoption paperwork has moved along perfectly. Our last date to remember was the log in date of the dossiers in China. That date is 5-21-09. By all of my figuring I see us in China in August. I can only pray that it is no later than August!

We had a great idea today and handed Penny the camera and had her take some photos of us. She really did a good job we think. We will be FedExing two identical photo albums and letters to the a family that leaves this week to adopt a child also from the same CWI as where the girls are in China. We had Penny translate a letter to each of the girls, and also to the CWI director whom we have asked to have the girls know that they will be sisters and to spend some time together. We hope this would be some comfort to them. We kept the package very small so we don't take up any space of the family's luggage, a disposable camera for each, hand creme, hair thingys...lifesavers...and the photos. We also pray that they go ahead and give these to the girls now so they can prepare themselves for being adopted and being part of our family.

We picked up our new van this weekend. We bought a ford Tuscany van that seats 10. It seems that it will work OK for us. Well, once I can figure out how to turn on the t.v. in it...most of you are probably thinking give the girls the remote and let them figure it out...I did and they could not either. Hopefully the dealership will be able to figure it out.

We have figured out Skype...that is great! We even figured out the video cam option on the computer and it is great! This allowed Vicky to see her English tutor and our friend Zoe in Zunyi City China...and our friend Kelly in the Philippines...and when I go to China we will be able to use it to talk to all at home.

I will try to do a better job updating....just got caught up with the girls finishing up at school, paperwork for the girls adoptions, work, and trying to finish up the house all the while having fun with the girls!

A welcome form AND a welcomed phone call

2009-04-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

**Welcomed form**
We received our wonderful new super dooper enhanced I-800a...WOO HOO!! What this does for us is let us now send the two dossiers to China....So Tuesday I will be driving to Springfield to have them stamp all the forms and then we will Fed-X all the forms to the Chinese paper stampers(they have an official name, I just cannot remember it at this moment) in Chicago who hopefully will stamp all the papers double fast and Fed X them back to me...and then I will Fed X them (think fed X makes a few dollars off us huh?) to the adoption agency who will then translate them and Fed X them to China....the way travel time looks I feel (asking for prayers) could be August.
**Welcome call**
Last night, well actually this morning at 3 a.m., my cell phone rang out on the kitchen table. Claude rolled out of bed and answered it and no one was there but a vm popped up...thinking a truck co or plant had an emergency i just hit redial on the phone and was so utterly amazed to her our friend Kelly answer. Kelly and her husband Nate and their daughter Hope are missionaries in the Philippines and she was calling us to congratulate us on our Pa for the littlest girl. But to the funny part....she was stuttering just a little bit and finally asked "what time is it there" and I peeked at the clock and said about 3 am...poor Kelly was so sorry and embarrassed but hey!! I had a phone call from Kelly!! It was great hearing her voice instead of "reading" her voice....So Kelly thank you for making the error in calling us at 3 am...it was a great conversation with no interruptions from anyone here!!! Anyone else want to visit with me with no interuptions just call my cell at 3 a.m.!!! And Kelly...3 am sincerely was fine...and thank you for the great congrats on PA.

Bye Bye cows

2009-04-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

For those of you that were so entertained with my weekend last weekend….well you were probably not aware that Monday night when I got home I again chased cows, in the rain with a bit of hail added in (Claude had "done me a favor" and gave me the eveining to myself and he took the girls out to dinner) this is the result of their behavior. The sale usually starts about 7 pm for large animals at the Kewanee Sale Barn, Kewanee, IL in case anyone needed a cow, or 6. I think unless the chickens can unlatch the gates or the bunnies can get out of their pens I should have a bit of a calmer weekend this weekend.

Kayaking weekend-NOT for me

2009-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

So Saturday Claude had three guys come over for breakfast and then they loaded up their kayaks on the trailer attached to the mule and off they went to put in at Indian Creek. The girls and I had things to do and were working in the yard when Vicky came with the phone saying Baba wants to talk to you...he asked if we would call our dog, Coal, who was following them. So we all stood out there in the yard yelling Coal, Coal, come here Coal...no dog and finally I told the girls enough...

The next phone call was Claude saying that now the dog was swimming after them in the Spoon River and would I bring the 4-wheeler down and get him? Gee sure...let me drop all my things I have scheduled and go get the dog while you have fun...yes honey, I will come and get the dog...so off I go on the 4-wheeler looking for this area that they are at and when I finally find them the dog is in the middle of the river and the guys are all back paddling to stay in that area while I am being Queen for the Day and getting the dog. Without painting a actual picture just imagine me sliding down the river bank in my new flip flop, yoga pants that are also new and my favorite Eddie Bauer sweater...to try to lift the darn dog (Coal is a black lab) up the bank to the top. I have thrown away the sweater, praying that the laundry pre-wash will fix my flip flops and who knows about the yoga pants?

So I get home with the dog who is just beat and tell the girls I have to go take a shower as I am covered in river bank clay dirt, all the while delivering my cell phone messages that have piled up to hear this very cheerful voice of the lady at the post office saying " we are so sorry that your 25 baby chicks did not catch the early morning ride to the post office that is much closer to you and they are here in downtown Peoria, can you please make arrangements to pick them up before 4 today?" Well this is 40 minutes away from me...I go take a shower and am in the bedroom to get dressed to go get the chicks when I happen to glance out the window and OH MY GOD THE COWS ARE OUT! Really I think my whole being slumped just a bit at that moment...but being the great wife and mom that I am I got all the girls inside so they would not get trampled and accessed the situation a bit more to see that only one of the cows was out...I went over to the barn and got a bucket of grain and got the cow back in with encouraging words from Vicky who was standing at the opened window telling me there she goes that way! No now she is coming with you...she is almost in! She is in, shut the gate, hurry mama!

Then we head to Peoria with a cup of water along with us, get the baby chicks and all of us sit on the sidewalk and dip their beaks in the water to save them (they should have had water about 7 am) and put them all back in with the lid on and head home. Addie only asked 15 times to make them quiet down that they were making her head hurt...I think we were all glad to get home and have things settle down just a bit!

Saturday room re-do

2009-04-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to my sister Carrie and friend Vickie for coming and for Vickie bringing HUGE cinnamon rolls from Great Harvest to fortify us while working setting furniture in the room that is finally pretty well done. I was so lucky when Andy called and said the rug was delivered and thank goodness he agreed to be a great son and wrangle it into his to small for the rug car and bring it out here from the office!!! We all agreed it looks great in the room. I found the brown "paisley" chairs at Big Lots and just love them!!! Vickie helped hang the photos of the girls (bear in mind I have to get some more frames the wall is not complete) Vickie suggested I need long drapes to soften the room and Carrie and I agree so the hunt is on for those. And for the large table I have ordered black chairs to go with it....so all in all it is starting to come together! I am going to have us live in the room a bit before deciding on the cabinets to house the t.v. and on that wall will also be some large water colors from China. Thank you again Carrie and Vickie

April catch up

2009-04-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being so lax in posting...a bit busy and a sore throat has kept me from doing as much.

The new adoption first-we have our finger print appt set for 4-14 and will leave about 4 am to drive to Chicago for that so we can be back at a decent time. I hope that everything keeps moving along as I am figuring it to and possible travel as early as August. So far Penny and Vicky are still going with me. I am still waiting for some papers to come back so we can apply for their passports but everything else should go ok. I have bought two different accordion files so I can keep two complete dossiers separate and organized (yes I said organized) and since they are different print designs I should be able to manage this.

Penny is still developing her sense of language and how to use it..she is experimenting with her tone in the family also...Claude and I were addressing the girls about being sloppy in the tv room and Claude said how about mama and baba go upstairs to your rooms and make a big mess and she said "bye-bye" to him and smiled....hmm, time out! Her English is very good, still a lot she does not understand but she does well. She is reading a lot, still enjoying the piano and has really moved up in her talents there. And she has gained 20 pounds that she needed.

Vicky has really went to town on A.R. points. She loves the Little House on the Prairie series and has read a ton of them....She is trying so hard to not bite her nails. This is a huge thing for her if she gets it done...she has started painting them to help her. Right now Vicky is sharing the sore throat seat with me too and has a bit of a cough....Vicky spends every waking moment thinking about the trip to China, but at the same time is a bit worried about it. She knows she can decide to not go....I believe I have never experienced a child more interested in biographies, and seeking information then this little girl...amazing sponge that she is. Vicky is also taking piano lessons and is doing so well. Vicky asked me if I believed that prayers worked....and I said yes and went on to explain what i feel and believe about God and how when I say a prayer I have proof that they work...well then I have her eyes looking at me with a bit of a challenge and also a desire for proof...so I said remember last week you were very upset about not being able to play the recorder and get more ribbons/levels like Penny and so every morning on the way to school we would say a prayer asking God to show your mind and fingers how to play so you could get the levels? And look you have moved up three levels in less than two weeks.....or how I pray every night for God to let my daughters as they go to sleep so beautiful, healthy and smart to still wake the same in the morning??? and how each day everyone is....and she just relaxes against me and said hmm, oh. She continues to ask me to remember things in my prayers and in our night time prayers for her....

Addie-this little girl is just such a Jewel...She has excelled at reading this year and is doing so well in school. She is such a caring little thing and is always so willing to help anyone. Her hair is growing again and she says she is not going to cut it ever again...every morning she asks me to put it up in a pony tail to always grumble that I don"t have it at the right level on the back of her head..so the other day I showed her what level it was on her back so we have a marker of sorts...why did I not think of that several weeks ago when I had gritted my teeth when redoing the pony tail for the 4th time? She still loves her desk and writing, and playing babies....and getting up every morning and laying on the register in the kitchen that her Grandpa Tom cut in the floor when we built this house...who would have ever thought when dad made those templates to router out the plank flooring so the grates would sit flush that we would have all these little girls laying over the top of them every morning? God and His ways! Addie has made me think that we should either buy stock in the potato chip market or learn how to make our own...she loves chips!

Kate-as she holds out to keep her status as the baby of the family, but yet wants to give up some of those things that mean being a baby, she is a bit in a limbo state...she went with Claude and got tired and he said go ahead and take a nap Kate on the ride home and she looked at him, pulled her thumb out of her mouth to say you know I can't take a nap without THE YELLOW THING oh yea she had left her blanket at home trying to leave it a bit....the other day Claude found that she was trying to not loose it again (she is always loosing her blanket, as much as she looses it you would think she did not need it) and he found it thumb tacked to her bulletin board..pretty smart! Kate is in kindergarten this year and she is reading first grade books so is doing so well. Kate settles in with all the girls and yet can be just as happy by herself. She and the other girls planted about 5 trays of garden seeds and they have great plans of summer flowers and veggies. She is also counting the days til the baby chicks arrive.

Our house...the people we contracted to lay about 800 sq feet of hardwood flooring returned to tear all of it up and replace it..neither one of us felt that the 2 1/4 inch curve they had put in it belonged there...but that is fixed now. the painter is putting the last coat of pink on the two bedrooms and then carpet comes in a week...my friend Vickie is coming up Friday and hopefully giving me some suggestions on some decorating and the contractors are almost done with the outside too. they keep teasing me they are on a four year plan...great.

Adoption update

2009-03-18T10:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a milestone moment! I mailed off the I-800a application to the people in Chicago that will then send us one letter confirming they got the application...then they will send us another letter giving us an appointment to drive to Chicago to get our finger prints done again no matter that we have been finger printed for each of the last four girls adoption and no matter that we have been finger printed for each girls adoption at the local sheriffs office and no matter that we are registered already with the state as foster parents eligible for adoption....so once we get that appointment we will drive to Chicago and be first in line so we do not have to wait hours.
Then after they have the finger prints checked (I guess that is what they do with them?) then they will issue a new and improved 171 form. This form allows us to send all of the needed paperwork to China!
This time it will be a bit different for me to do the paperwork since we are adopting two little girls as I will have to send off two dossiers...so in the past when I carried a back pack holding all of these papers when I traveled to China and had room for a few extra things in the back pack, I imagine this trip that it will be full! Hopefully Eric won't mind lugging it occasionally! So current time line for the 171 form is averaging 50 days I hear, and if that holds true then I expect to be able to be dossier to China (DTC) by May 15th at the latest. Travel could be still in line for Aug to Sept if we can have both dossiers travel together and stay together! wonder if I tie them together with Red Thread if it would help?
We have not yet sent a package to the girls as we have not gotten pre-approval for the littlest girl...as soon as we get that we will send out a package. Claude and I would like them to get it the same time so hopefully if they know each other they can try to bond a bit as sisters and share together if nervous etc.....
This Friday is the re-adoption day for Penny and Vicky here in the U.S. and we will all attend this. We plan on eating out afterwards to celebrate. By doing this re-adoption we will have their citizenship done shortly afterwards and be able to apply for their passports too. Since the two are hoping to travel with me this fall to bring home the girls we have to stay on top of getting this done!

Construction lesson, and work

2009-03-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Another lesson learned about construction...that when you supply the materials to the labor, and when it won't work the first time and there is a solution offered and it does not work then to read the directions on the materials...who would have that that a floor tile could not be laid "below grade"? We supplied the floor tile as shown to the contractor and they laid it on the concrete floor in the lower level, it curled up, they suggested a different glue, they relaid the tile, it curled up...so then all of the girls, and I, picked up and hauled out the floor tile that Claude scraped up....what a mess!! Made for a nice fire...and prayers for this construction be done soon!

My Birthday-today!!!

2009-03-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

Every year I look forward to my birthday as everyone should! It is your day....celebrate! So today is my birthday. 49 years ago my parents welcomed me (hopefully) into this world in Peoria, IL. I had red hair and the baby pictures I have seen shows a huge curl of hair on the top of my head...A few days later when my parents took me home from the hospital there was a huge snow storm, my dad says the worst he had ever drove in. Fast forward to today and my e-card from dad and mom said Happy Birthday, no snow in the forecast! I ask where are the tulips?
Yesterday was a very long day for me here at work, I was dealing with a rejected load of feed and it seemed as though the day would never end and it kept going thru my head that boy I feel old, and tomorrow I will be! But you know, am I old? Am I young? Am I medium? What I do know is I am a Christian, I am happy, I am a wife and a mom and my family loves me...that I have lived a wonderful life and pray that this continues. If not then I know that I will be with our heavenly Father, but right now this is where I am.
In the office we always celebrate birthdays with lunch out and a cake, gifts etc....I have been so busy with the house, the girls, and work that I really sort of blew off today and in fact last night felt bad that I "slighted" everyone out of a cake today since I did not ever answer the question of what kind of cake should we get? So last night I made a pan of chocolate chip bars and brought them in to share....to be totally 100% surprised that my favorite Lemon Cake was delivered!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We are going out to lunch this Friday. Tonight the girls and Claude have gifts at home, Kate slipped and told me this morning that none of them liked the scarf that I had marked so Baba (Claude) bought it for me :) and Vicky was rolling her eyes that Kate told and I whispered it was o.k. she is only 6...so all was fine. Happy Birthday to me!

House construction update and pink paint-lots of it!

2009-03-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos of the interior of the great room/dining room....the 4 girls and I went today and got 5 gallons of pink paint and one gallon of light lime paint for the two bedrooms....we even managed to find a pink ceiling fan for the one bedroom, go figure! To give you an idea of the size of the room, the one photo that has all the windows in it, between the sets of window's there is 15 feet, and that wall I have figured as my photo wall. There are even spot lights set up that I can use to high light the photos. We have planned an 18 foot long dining table that Claude is building that will go on the end of the room where the tile is and then the other end is for the t.v. and living room furniture. We hope to figure out how to have one of the pianos in that area also but have not gotten that floor plan figured out. I am still hoping my friend Vickie will be up to help me figure out some of this...she did such a great job for her sister and her own home is so nicely decorated (hint hint) I love the ceiling fans, Claude found them and suggested them. They really fit the style of our home. We look forward to being done soon and getting the t.v back out of storage!!! Please keep checking back for updates...oh, grandma and grandpa if you are checking out this update Addie had the cell phone in her hand taking photos the same as I was. She leaves for school every morning handing me the phone asking if I will charge it up while she is gone. It is the best gift ever. I cannot imagine if it were hooked up to call a real call how many minutes she would have racked up. She is "on" it all the time!

Addie turned 7- and Grandma Betty

2009-03-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Addie has asked for months when her birthday was going to be, and then the count down began. She would give great sighs of disappointment saying "IT" was never going to get here. Friday night she had two friends in, Jessica and Lauren, and she invited her sister Kate to attend just a small party. Fun was had by all as they ate tacos and decorated cupcakes, played a couple games and enjoyed the evening. Addie loved the gifts the girls gave her. Then Sunday morning, 3:30 a.m. I felt a nudge next to my head and I opened my eyes to have Addie ask me if I was awake, I said come on get in bed so she crawled over me to very happily say "it is tomorrow, it is my birthday, now I am 7". And then giggles! She did not go back to sleep! Thankfully Claude loves naps and they laid down latter in the day and she did nap.

We had grandpa Tom and grandma Bev in along with A. Carrie and U. Randy, brother Eric and brother Andy also came and we all enjoyed breakfast along with birthday cake! Claude and I got Addie a new bike and an adding machine that has a roll of paper in it...she loves anything to do with numbers, cash registers, money...and we were on the A list with the gifts...then grandma and grandpa gave her their gifts, along with a cell phone that is not activated but you can still use it with the lights on and to take pictures and boy they were on the AAA list! The phone has not left Addie's hands! Total delight!!!

On a different note our sons Grandma Betty passed away Sunday morning. Just about the same time Addie and I were awake and she was excited that she was 7 finally. When Betty first got sick and Addie and I were saying bed time prayers Addie would always interrupt me and say don't forget to pray for Grandma Betty to walk faster...at that time Betty was very ill, yet was able to still get around just a bit and I know Addie meant for her to get better so she could walk faster...but for me I prayed that Betty would not suffer this the end of her time here, that she would be able to "walk faster" to God and be thru with the physical pain she had. As her cancer progressed I was able to sit and hold her hand and pray for her, to care for her, to offer her daughter in-law Leanna time to sleep. (Betty is a former mother in-law of mine). Betty was a Christian from a very young age, and one day she even told me with a sigh, please tell my boys I am going to God. I promised I would and that I would sit and hold her hand while she took that journey. As days, weeks, even months built up she hung on. She shared bits of stories with her family, Alex and Eric went and sat with their grandma when Leanna and Keith would leave....they were so good with her. Alex telling her one night Grandma it is time to go to sleep and until you do I am just going to sit here beside you...I think he sat there all night as she never went to sleep. Eric sat with his grandma again last Thursday night and I waited until 7 pm to text him and say are you doing ok? He said yes, just sitting here reading my book and holding Grandma's hand, she is sleeping and is calm. What good grandsons they were to her. I am so glad that one of my memories of Betty is when she traveled to Germany with Claude and I and the boys to visit Alex when he was stationed there. She said so many times that she had never thought she would ever get to travel like that. Precious memories! Please hold her family all in your prayers. Betty told me one night that her hardest job ever, and here she started weeping, was being a mother to her sons. I told her that she was a model to us all, not only as a mother but as a lady and that she should have her hand in the air cheering her success. Betty Williams was a very good lady, mother, grandmother, sister and a friend. We will all miss her and her lessons of baking, painting and being gentle.

update on our house addition progress

2009-02-25T13:32:00.001-08:00

Today the guys put primer on all of the main level and hope to paint the ceiling tomorrow, not sure how they are going to do this since I have the paint chips and they are about 30 miles away already....the floor tile for the dining area is all in the house ready and they will deliver the hard wood flooring next Tuesday. That will be installed as soon as the tile is done. The bedrooms are all to be done yet this week too so all is moving along pretty well! On a side note though, I am sure Coal our dog will be sad when this is done...since it has been so cold we have been putting him inside the downstairs at night...and while the guys are working they let him hang out in there with them....come on spring is all I can say! Be sure to read the post below...i posted and then forgot to write this. R

Life lesson

2009-02-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

Life lesson at our house the other night… the two oldest girls want to raise Hamsters and sell them..I sat with them and came up with an expense list of “starting” their business. I personally had hoped that the expense list would stop the joint venture for lack of funds or no interest in spending their money on additional cages, food and water bottles, but they still could prove profit, even after spending the initial set up of an estimated $75 (I elevated the $$ even trying to get this discouraged), and had enough money to share the costs, so I guess as of last Saturday they are officially in the business of raising and selling Hamsters. I figure this school year they will just about be able to max out selling to their class and they had better hope they have new classmates next year to sell to - my life is crazy to say the least.

Catching up and going into Feb 2009

2009-01-31T15:07:00.000-08:00

The first photo is a partial view of our Chinese New Year celebration...We had fireworks!!!

Last night we hosted a birthday party for Penny who turns 12 on Feb 1..her first birthday party it seems! Even though i had pizza for all 12 kids they all wanted noodles and rice...go figure :)

Claude and I went to the flooring store today and ordered the flooring for the great room. A nice warm honey brown hardwood...will be nice I think up against the tile. We also ran thru the grocery store and a furniture store while we were "on our own" for a couple of hours...we both have a touch of sore throats and sinus...we all need sunshine so bad! Maybe it would help the crabby moods at our house too....yes even the Coats residence has the crabbies!

Last week our social worker was here for Penny's six month home visit. Amazing that it has already been six months! she has gained almost (much needed) 22 pounds in that time! One thing I tell people is not to buy to many clothes at first when getting home...the children grow so fast you can hardly keep up the clothing supply!

We are currently waiting for pre-approval for our second "waiting" daughter in China. I should be coming thru soon although I know all of China is currently shut down for Chinese New Year. This time all of the paperwork will be in duplicate....each time I travel I stress so over all of this paperwork and now that part will be doubled! I guess I will be thankful that my son Eric is a cosmetologists and can keep me appearing young! Wash away the grey....but even the handling part of the paperwork is enormous...

Please say a prayer for all of those nationwide that have been hit with the power outages from the winter storm. Ruthi

sorry---extra post

2009-01-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

I said in the below post above Zero in the title...we have had horrible weather this past week. Broke weather records her and on Thursday morning we saw -30 degrees....just plain scary! Also anyone reading this--throw me any ideas you have about our next vehicles! ^ children and two adults...hmmm! I am wondering if a stretch limo is possible Hey there has to be a few used ones out there av now because of the poor economy I would think! We could just paint it to be a "regular" car color and maybe we would blend in?? :)

Great day today! Above Zero!!

2009-01-17T15:14:00.000-08:00

We went to art lessons today and had a great time! Plus we met a young lady there that uses sign language. I have searched for someone to teach us sign language and hopefully she will consider it! Then we headed to the mall where we checked our coats in a locker and headed to the food court for Chinese food...it was great! And as we were there we met a new friend. Lorey came up and introduced herself and her family. Two adopted children from Korea and her daughter Clair was showing off her new swim suit...she will enjoy her summer for sure. Their son is 6 and we decided we have to stay in touch....it was very nice that she came up and spoke to me and our girls...we also loved the kisses thrown our way when she left..we feel we have met a true friend. As we left the mall though Claude called to say the wind had picked up and basically our road was white out conditions so we headed home with him saying he was meeting us at the end of the 1 1/2 mile lane so we got in ok...we are all home safe and sound and in our jammies ready to play battleship and checkers...!

And now we grow again

2009-01-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

I will admit that I have tears while I write this. Our adoption agency CWA www.cwa.org has a list of waiting children that came out months ago that we found our waiting daughter, age 12, on but at the same time a little girl on the list caught my eye, and my heart. She is 8 years old (she is 48 inches tall and 44 pounds) and her special need is club foot.But it was just her little smirky smile and the way she holds herself and her eyes and her ears...her little hair cut and the look in her eye that just stayed in my heart. We talked about both little girls and the little girl that is 12 made the match into our family. The older girls had asked for a sister to be close in age to them....but still I have e-mailed CWA every week or so asking about "little #23" and Carol would answer "still praying for a family for her" and then one day a family did ask for her...but then about the same time Claude asked me about her and I said I was still praying for her family to find her to adopt her...and so then he said how about we ask if we can adopt both girls at the same time...we had our names put on her list and then if the other family said no we would then be able to discuss if both could be adopted. So on New Years Eve we received an e-mail that said "ok, here's your chance!" and we received her files and sent off family photos and paperwork and more paperwork to the contact of CWA so she could present us to the people in charge in China for special permission to adopt both girls at the same time. After countless times of wondering if this could actually happen, "But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily,surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3, last Friday my phone rang and it was Carol from CWA saying China said YES! So today we are Letter of Intent to China to adopt the second little girl...we will be able to have both sets of paperwork travel together so we will only travel to China one time but bring home both little girls! Whole lotta pink going on at the Coats house! Please keep our family and all of these waiting children in your prayers....

Final ones-photos!

2009-01-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

ok! then we have our son Eric and his son Drew, my dad and mom, and then our family photo of the ones that were able to make it for Christmas. Our sons Alex, Eric and Andy were all home, our son Kris and his family are stationed in MS and had been up thru the summer.

2008 mudding on 4 wheelers-crazy!

2009-01-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

I stay home usually when the girls and Claude are out on the four wheelers. I am the first to admit they are fun! But so far I have enjoyed just taking photos rather than taking part of this muddy mess! Claude has made sure the girls all have helmets and automatic shut offs on the machines and is constantly going over safety rules with them. He also rides with them, they never ride alone.

more photos of 2008

2009-01-06T09:36:00.001-08:00

top my brother Andy and his daughters, next my sister and her famiy all enjoyed Christmas day with us, our daughter Kate enjoying the huge snowflakes then next is Vicky outside and then Penny all on the same day!

more photos of 2008

2009-01-06T09:27:00.001-08:00

Top photo is of Addie and our son Andy at Christmas Eve services, then Addie enjoying HUGE snowflakes as they were falling, then my sister Carrie and her family at our house Christmas day, then Andy the cereal guy, then another of Addie.

Backwards to Christmas 2008

2009-01-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

Addie was a candy cane in the school Christmas play this year. She was so excited...she is the second from the left.

The other photo is of us on Christmas day. It was mid day and everyone was still having a wonderful time!

New Years

2009-01-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

As we entered 2009 we asked for blessings of our children, for those at home and also the ones that are grown and gone from home and those that have not yet entered our home in person! we wait for all of the paperwork to go thru for the adoption of our daughter all the while with another little girl in our hearts that we pray for....our family is doing well! Penny has accepted that Claude is always going to tell guests in our home that she can play the piano, Vicky is starting Tia Chi lessons next Saturday and the other three girls are taking art lessons. It will be fun to have a filled Saturday morning, I just hope this winter weather holds.
The house building on is going well. We ordered the lights and are looking at some cabinets for the tv room...The girls go back to school tomorrow, this break for the holidays has seemed like a very long one, I am certian they are all ready to go back and see their friends and continue learning.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

This is Addie in her side of the room she shares with Kate..

(green bullitin board) and then Kate and her side.

The reason I have not posted in awhile

2008-12-17T06:30:00.001-08:00

Is because not only do I get up at 5:15 A.M. everyday, get a cup of coffee, kiss Claude good bye as he heads to work, visit with Victoria (Vicky is now Victoria) who is always awake early, start waking up the little girls, get a hot breakfast on for the girls, Penny sleeps in as she said she can get ready fast, then send the girls off either on the bus for school or they can wait and I will drive them the 6 miles into school, but then I have to attempt to curl my hair (I fail in this department, ask my co-workers about my hair complaints) I get ready myself then I head to the office where I am a partner in a food, feed and non-perishable broker business www.midwestingredients.com and work all day, do more adoption paperwork, am Christmas shopping a bit on-line and at lunch time, but then we started, in addition to these full time jobs Claude and I hold, a new addition to our house. We just needed a better set up having five girls and ourselves, our visiting sons, etc...so finally we will have a laundry room not a laundry closet, and three more bedrooms, a great room, and a tornado shelter (thank goodness). So I am also busy picking out lighting, ordering shingles, windows, etc., to keep ahead of the builders!

Please if you are considering adopting check out the Hope Project at www.cwa.org and look at the beautiful waiting children there. I pray that all of these children find their forever families soon! #22 did, she is ours :) stay inside where it is warm lately and check back, I will try to update more often. Ruthi

Our hearts

2008-11-13T16:59:00.000-08:00

So every time we have committed to adopting our daughters I have put on a red bead bracelet and worn it all the way to China and usually it has been put in a suitcase, or given to our daughter...This past July though when I was in China I wore my red bead bracelet that I had worn since the previous Nov when we had sent our Letter of Intent for our daughter Penny and when we got her I took the bracelet off...i put it back on...then a few days later I took it off again. To put it back on...Finally after a couple more times of this I just left it on and came home with our daughter Penny....you have to know that this red bead bracelet is one that comes with a collection of maybe three other colors where there is a bracelet and a necklace..maybe $3 at Wal mart for this child's set of beads...so it had lasted thru a lot already and seemed pretty darn strong yet.... to stay on my arm for sure!
After I got home it was spoke about off and on about another daughter...Claude said he had always wanted five...one night Penny and Vicky came and said they wanted to talk to us, please sit down on the stairs...so we did and they told us they thought we should adopt another sister for them. They knew how old she should be, even where her bed would be plus that they should go with me to get her so they could help her not be scared since I don't speak Chinese but they do and also that Eric their brother has to go again as he was fun and helped Penny a lot when he was in China with me...amazing how this Red Thread has us all tangled together!
We have got everything in action and have committed to adopting a little girl, age 12 ....we are sure this will be another amazing ride! Please follow along the journey! As we follow all of our hearts...again to China.

Nov update

2008-11-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry this update has taken so long....the flu and cold season has certainly hit the Coats household! Please say prayers that we are now done for the season. I am trying to catch up from being out almost everyday this week with Kate, Addie and Penny all three being sick and Claude with a sore throat and sinus too! Thank goodness Vicky is staying so healthy!

We all went trick or treating and had a great time, we could not have asked for better weather. Claude has succeeded in getting all his girls in Camo....we go down into the timber all the time on the Mule and lately we are getting so many eggs that hard boiled eggs are snacks :) Please enjoy the photos!

the rooster, the cow and the tree

2008-10-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

I went over to the barn Saturday morning to take some pics of the chickens and get the eggs...this rooster must not like his photo taken as shortly after this photo he flapped his wings and came at me flogging me pretty good! The cows are really settling in and growing and then the tree in all its Autumn splendor is one that is in our front yard.

4-wheelers, Anna, Claudia-let me out to play!

2008-10-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Claude's namesake

2008-10-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Please meet Claude's namesake, Claudia

4 wheelers!

2008-10-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Eric,youngest brother,showing the girls up do's for their hair

2008-10-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

Catching up since Sept!

2008-10-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has taken so long....to say we are a busy family is an understatement. Right now we are in the midst of corn and soybean fields disappearing and making Kate and I sneeze til we feel like we have no breath left and broken ribs! Claude has added three four-wheelers to our group of toys, the fourth has been ordered since Penny has decided she likes to ride....our son Eric has a 4-wheeler there for his son Drew also so fun is had by all!
Penny we feel has settled into life at the Coats household well. She goes to piano lessons every Tuesday and has to practise every day...she is used to it she has said since she did this in China.
Vicky loves to read and is already hot into acquiring A.R. points plus she out of the girls loves the 4-wheelers and she is having Penny teach her the piano. We told her once she gets the basics down then she can also go for lessons.
Addie is really working well in school and has a giggle friend Lauren....plus she plays "office" all of the time, sometimes having you fill out the questionnaire which can be very time consuming!
Kate has had a heavy dose and a devil of a time dealing with hives...finally after seeing an allergist though we think possibly stress from all the changes in such a short time, a new sister, mama in China for two weeks, Gretchen being done and school....that now she is on meds which we hope will make them go away! Kate loves kindergarten and is doing very well!
Our son Kris and his family are here for a couple more days....it has been nice to spend time with them and their daughters Anna and Claudia...
Claude hurt his back at the school one day a few weeks ago and is still suffering from the wrenching that he gave it. I have been praying that is heals soon! I have lots of honey do chores before winter :)

Week of 9-1-08

2008-09-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well we jumped into Labor Day weekend with a huge leap! The girls passed out programs for our friends wedding and wore their Chinese dress's that I had brought home this trip...then they spent the rest of the weekend buying art supplies, and learning how to ride the new outside toys Claude bought them...Addie and I had great fun in playing a trick on everyone and going over to check to see if we yet had eggs from our chickens but before we left the house we each had gotten an egg out of the fridge and hidden as we went out the door (under our shirts so no one saw them) and when we went over to the barn Addie was so excited, she kept winking at me about how we were tricking everyone....it was great! I would like to ask for prayers for my cousin Rosemary who has been in the hospital for 3 weeks now...also for my friends Laura and Greg who are in Russia hoping to meet their new daughter...so now to post new pics! top left is all of our girls in pink at the wedding, with our best friend Hope in front in brown, next on top is Hope, then top right is Claude teaching Kate the new four wheeler rules then second row on left is Claude teaching Addie the rules too...the weight limit on the "toy" is 150 pounds....get off the toy Claude!!!

Addie being Hanna Montana

2008-08-28T12:06:00.001-07:00

several current photos

2008-08-28T11:49:00.001-07:00

L to R:

Addie in her new Chinese dress, Vicky and Kate on the "new ride" at our house, Addie has officially lost her two front teeth!

Week of 8-25-08

2008-08-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

OK so some days I may not get a post up on this blog so will try for a weekly post...Last Sunday I attempted photos of the girls. We have a wedding to attend and I asked the girls about getting new dress's and they all said they wanted to wear their new Chinese clothes I had brought home...So they were trying them on so what better time for some photos...occasionally though there was a lot of messing around going on as you can see by this photo.
We are at the end of the first full week of school and all seems to be going well except all the girls are very tired at the end of the day. And why do they get up so early? They get on the bus at 7:05 and yet are waking up at 5:30...we have a rule that you cannot get in our bed unless you have a fever or the sun is up ...today at 5:30 when my alarm went off I could hear talking...three of the girls were outside our bedroom door, sitting on the floor visiting...waiting for the sun to come up :) what a way to wake up. Penny is really opening up and we are seeing her personality more, plus we are seeing she has a quick grasp of English, Vicky is thrilled to be the only girl able to drive the new mini bike that suddenly appeared at our house and she can also give the little girls rides as their legs are to short to drive it themselves..I would like to ask for prayers for safety of our son Kris and his family during the storm approaching the southern states. Cathy and the girls are packed to leave if evacuated and Kris will stay behind with his troops...but will be sent to Texas I guess if the Air force evacuates the base too...please include all the people involved down there! I have more pictures to post...R

Friday Aug 22, 2008

2008-08-22T05:57:00.000-07:00

This morning while I was waiting outside with the girls for the bus to come we were talking…Vicky asked me if I was going to be late for work…I said no, I don’t have to be to work until 8 o’clock…she said you going to be late? And I said no, and if I were it is ok as I am the “boss”. Wow the look that was on the girls faces! Impressed! So that started Vicky asking her usual 9,000 questions…you own the company…yes I and LaLette…oh…you Teresa’s boss?...yes…you Tina’s boss?...yes…you nice to them (I lied) I said yes…then she slapped me down when she said you own the work because you and LaLette old? Thank God it is Friday?

First day of school-2008

2008-08-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today all the girls went to school. Kate is in kindergarten...just does not seem real! Penny and Vicky are both in fourth grade this year. Vicky was so successful last year that we jumped her to 4th from 2nd. We had put her in 2nd for the added help of the English language etc...she did so well she won her class spelling bee...Penny will get all the help she needs and have Vicky in the same room as her to help with language if needed...Addie went on her way to 1st this year. I am praying she remembers to put the Mrs. in front of the teachers name this year. Last year she called her teacher Paxson all year...no Mrs. to it.

So now every morning I have about 45 minutes to myself..although here I was thinking a chapter of my book would be read, maybe do a better job curling my hair...a longer shower...what did I do? I checked all the rooms, threw in a load of laundry and headed into the office! Go figure....

Today we celebrate Claude's 50th birthday. The school all sang happy birthday to him and the staff all brought in brownies, cupcakes and rice crispy treats. It is fun to be celebrated this way.

We are still saying thank you's and prayers for Penny's adjustment. She is doing so well! She asked if she could call China today after her first day of school and I told her yes. I hope that goes well like the last calls have. Please say a prayer for Vicky's continued adjustment of a family...she is doing so well after the last couple weeks...

Mine tastes like dirt too!

2008-08-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

So we are into the second week of settling in. We made the decision to put Penny, at least to start, into 4th grade. This would allow for extra help for an additional year before hitting Jr. high. The new piano was delivered last night and Penny has been giving each girl her own lesson....Penny is so delighted over this posses ion as are the other girls!
A look into the last few weeks happenings at our house-...the other night i asked all girls what do you want to eat? Addie wanted chicken with ranch-strawberry shake-Kate said double hamburger-no bun and a sprite-Vicky said a hamburger with everything and fries and a coke...Penny said chicken! All of a sudden all the three who had previously placed their orders said they wanted the same as Penny...I just wrote 4 next to Penny's order. So as we were driving down the road I asked Addie is your chicken good? YES! Kate is your chicken good? YES! Vicky is your chicken good? YES! so then to test the follow the Penny rule that has been happening I said Penny does your chicken taste like dirt? (sorry, I did take advantage of no understanding of what i said) and the three others all chimed in saying their chicken tasted like dirt too. Who won on this one?
We do have to make times that Vicky and Penny are not together, or are at least including the other two little ones....the girls all need to know each other as sisters.
Penny is opening up more and a tiny bit less shy around Claude and I.
So at the end of our first two weeks I have to say I feel we are doing OK! Thank you for the prayers.

THE piano

2008-08-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

After playing all the pianos at one store and saying NO to them...then going to the next store and playing all the piano's (thank goodness she did not like the $25,000 baby grand!) she sat and played this piano, at the end of the song Claude said she hit one of the keys with a ping stood up and said YES. The piano gets delivered Tuesday....She told me she wants to teach her little sisters to play piano....Claude is so sensitive to these girls..yesterday when they were in town he stopped at the store to let Penny "visit" her piano...she sat and played several songs he said...