Some Pictures For Your Enjoyment (AND MINE!).....

The top two are of the kids eating breakfast one morning last week. I had to take a picture because Kennedi just cracks me up the way she eats pancakes. She dips the whole thing into the syrup (like you see) and shoves the whole thing in her mouth for one bite. She is amazing to watch, especially when she is trying something new, she cannot get enough of it! Her new found favorite, CHILI BEANS!!! :)

The second two are of Kennedi and her two favorite stuffed animals. She MUST sleep with them every night and always has to know who bought it for her, why they bought it, and who exactly the person is! So I had to take these pictures to show my two friends how much she loves her animals. The frog I got at her shower in January and matched her room perfectly (little did I know she'd love it so much!). She dressed it up in Woody's costume so she has a pink tutu and Woody's shirt and hat on! Too cute!!

Of course I had to add one of one of our basset hounds below. This is Scotty. A friend found him on the road with part of his ear missing (either another dog or a coyote got ahold of him). Isn't he cute?

Last but definately not least, our "Cool" 7th Grader. Isn't she beautiful?:

Just a quick post......

Hello everyone! This is just a quick post for those of you who ask how the couple is that adopted the 10 year old (they were with us in China and went to Hong Kong with us). I just received an email from them. They were on the news in NY speaking about their adoption. They all look like they are doing really well. You can view the short piece by clicking here.
On another note, the lady who was very instrumental in us staying connected to Kennedi while we waited for her, Judene, is moving to India. She has done some amazing work in China at the Bao'An SWI (where Kennedi lived) and Shenzhen SWI and will be greatly missed. She's the one we had lunch with while in China. She cared for these children so much (I just sent her some pictures of Kennedi, she loves to see them after they leave China) but God is calling her to do some work in India. We thank Judene for everything she did for us and all the other families with children from these orphanages.
And as the Beijing Olympics finish up tonight in China, I am sad to see them go. Not only for the games which were amazing but for being able to constantly see the scenes and commercials from China, Kennedi's home for almost 6 years of her life. For two weeks people from every country can come together and play games and compete as though nothing else matters, in peace with one another. My prayer is that one day this peace will not only be for two weeks but for every week of every year. Blessings to you.....

Pismo Beach and First Day of School

Well the summer, as we know it, has come to an end for another year! By the way.... aren't you enjoying the Beijing Olympics??!!! Opening ceremonies were so moving, I was almost in tears! To think that just 4 months ago we were there bringing Kennedi home and that this is a part of her culture. It was very good, probably the best I have ever seen! We faithfully watch the events each evening and are enjoying it very much.
Anyway, the pictures below are from earlier in the week when Kennedi and Bradley took a trip with Mark to Pismo Beach. For those of you who are not from around here, Pismo is on the Central Coast and is a small town which is a popular vacation spot. Mark's parents go there for two weeks each summer for the Portuguese Celebration and Kennedi said she wanted to see the beach and build a sandcastle so Mark took them for 3 days. Katelyn and I stayed home and had a "girl weekend" of shopping and she had Jr. High Registration. As you can see, it looks like Kennedi enjoyed the beach and had fun. She was taken to the beach somewhere in China because we have a picture of her there (probably with her foster family) but I'm glad we could take her to the beach here.
The top two pictures are of Kennedi and Bradley yesterday, their first day of school. Bradley started 3rd grade and Kennedi of course is in Kindergarten. I think it's going to be a year of challenges for her (today her teacher called saying she didn't understand "before", "middle", and "after") but I am hopeful that she will do okay. It will take awhile for her to get used to her teacher and for her teacher to learn to understand her. It's kinda like having a toddler learning to talk, only the parents know what they're saying. :) Kennedi said she enjoyed school yesterday and today so that's a positive! It helps her going to a very small school, there's only 9 in her class, she can get a lot of extra help that she needs.
Katelyn starts school (Jr. High) on Monday. We registered her on Tuesday and she is taking all honors classes plus wants to play volleyball so hopefully she'll do okay. She's excited about starting Jr. High but nervous because she's going from a small private school and class of 12 to a public school and a class of about 300! Pray for her as she attends her first day on Monday.
I am also going back to school! After 15 years being out of High School, I have decided I want to get a degree and become a teacher like I have always wanted to! I have prayed about it and really feel this is the road I should be on. I am starting classes September 2nd at National University and all my classes are online so I will still be able to be home with the kids and work fulltime. I will be done in 4 years and very excited to finally be doing what I have always wanted to do! So in a couple of weeks we will all be studying away! :)

Hoping you all have a blessed weekend! Hope to post again soon but don't know how soon!

***GO USA!*** (and China too!)........

Creative Arts Kids Camp Performance

This is one of the highlights of each summer for our kids! They really look forward to Creative Arts Kids Camp. This year was the first year Katelyn was too old to participate in Camp but she was able to be a leader. She had 12 Kindergarten and 1st graders herself to make sure they all got to each "class". By the end of the week she said "it has been a long week"! She had fun helping out though!

Miss Kennedi actually got up in front of the whole church and sang like three songs with sign language and all! During the week we'd try to get her to show us what she was learning and she would not so we had no idea if she would get up in front of everyone and do what she was supposed to. A couple of times she was seeing what the kids were doing behind her but for the most part she did really well. She now sings the songs in the car for us (although most of the words she says you cannot understand) and has a great time doing it! Our little China girl, home for just 4 months, singing about Jesus to the church!

If you have reading our blog, you know that Bradley loves the arts and really looks forward to this week. This year he signed up for Percussion and Advanced Drama. The pictures above are of him playing the "barrels" during the performance. The play he did was hilarious and he did a great job!

Summertime Fun!

Hello and happy Sunday to everyone! Hope this post is finding everyone well and enjoying the last couple of weeks (for us at least) of their summer! These pictures above are from yesterday. My parents have 2 girls again from Japan (they had 2 last year as well) for the week through Kerman's exchange program. We spent the day with them swimming and playing UNO and having dinner. They are both real sweet and brought us tons of things from Japan! As you can see in one of the pictures above, they brought Katelyn a Kimono which Kennedi just had to try on (along with Katelyn's glasses!) and I couldn't pass up the picture oportunity! She is quite the character and continues to make us laugh! Her new thing to say is "Okay Sir" or "Yes Sir" or anything with "Sir" in it! She constantly likes to tell me "Okay Sir" as she salutes me. It's been fun trying to get her to understand that I am not a "Sir"! :)
Tonight the kids are doing a performance at church after their week-long Creative Arts Camp. Kennedi will be singing and doing sign language and Bradley is doing percussion and drama. Kennedi has really enjoyed the week and I cannot wait to see their performances! I'm sure I'll have more pictures to share after tonight!

Until then..... Make it a week to remember.... :)