Traveling

We just found out that we travel on July 4th to pick up our sweet girl.  And her estimated birthdate is July 6th.  And this will be the exact date that we get to pick her up!!  So for her first birthday, we will get to celebrate with her.

And for those of you who don't know, we're officially moving to another city.  We're excited. We'll keep you posted.  

So in the next 5 weeks, we've got to pack up our apartment and go to Africa to pick up our daughter.  And maybe somewhere in there we will sleep.

We're Parents!!! (again)

WE PASSED COURT!!!!!

WE PASSED COURT!!!!

We don't know anything else!!!

Help us with names

So, we need your help deciding on our daughter's name.  Makaria will be her first name.  We have loved this name for a long time and now we have someone to love with that very name.  It is Greek and means "Blessed."  In the Beatitudes, the "blessed are the....", is makarias.  We took her name from there.

We love the story of Esther.  Of her courage for her people.  The way the Lord used her (also an orphan) to bring victory. Hadassah (Ha-da-sa) was Esther's Hebrew name.   I realize that this is kind of a biased poll, because both of the names "Hadassah" and "Esther" are actually the same person.  But the names are different, so we still wanted to hear what you guys thought.  And I've also always wanted to do a poll thingy on our blog.

Her Ethiopian name will also be included, but we aren't allowed to share her Ethiopian name.  In due time my friends.  We've got our court date on Friday, so we'll hopefully know something soon.

So go to the right of our blog tell us which one you like better.  

Makaria Esther ******

or 

Makaria Hadassah ******

Mom and Dad's visit May 2009

We had a BLAST with my parents. This was their second trip out to the Motherland. This time was nice because it was warm. This made my mom and I very happy. I can't begin to recount all the funny stories and cool things we did, but here are a few pictures to sum it all up.




This is at a local park. The goal of this little game was to stick a ratty old net into nasty bacteria-filled water and pull out a lucid, floundering or completely dead fish. The kids stayed at that station for most of the time there. Lovely.



Here's the grandparents and the kids with the Olympic FuWa's. We walked around the park, had a picnic and then rested a little that day. We had a good balance of hang time, play time and adult talk time.





My little guy thought the fish were gross and instead stayed in the ball area. Probably good, because no way one of those fish was not going to be put in his mouth.



We took a day to bring them to the Great Wall in our city. It was a little crowded becausue it was May holiday here, but we had fun. This part of the Wall is nice because it's a much easier climb.





What a cute Mom I have! All our neighbors commented on how young she looked. They also all thought that my parents should move here because the swine flu is so serious in the States. I tell them that they have jobs and our neighbors simply tell me that my parents should call into work and tell them they moved to China.



Mom, Selah and Malachi took a little rickshaw through Hou Hai in Beijing. It's a beautiful area with historic hutongs. This is after the guy chasesd us down, helped my Mom, Charis, Kesed and I find the other half of our group by giving us a free ride-stroller and all.







Dad and the kiddos as we're waiting for Mimi and the other 2 to come back from their ride.



I was so proud of my parents and their flexibility with food. They ate Chinese breakfast, street food, hot pot, Korean BBQ, local snacks, the whole deal. I was really proud of them. They also did 3 sleep-overs with 3 of the kids! What troopers.



Sweet friend, DaYu and Charis playing on the monkey bars. She came with us to Beijing and hung out for few days with the fam. It was nice too to have her there while we were all crying and trying to catch a bus home. We were a mess.



I wish I could write so much more about their trip, but I figured that if you have to continue to scroll on a blog, you're readers will no longer read. My parents are such generous, wonderful people. We're hoping it won't be as long before we see them next time. It was a sad bus ride home. We Love You!

A Great Word on Christian Teaching

Again, Jonathan Edwards is right:

"I don't think ministers are to be blamed for raising the affections of their hearers too high, if that which they are affected with be only that which is worthy of affection, and their affections are not raised beyond a proportion to their importance, or worthiness of affection.

I should think myself in the way of my duty to raise the affections of my hearers as high as possibly I can, provided that they are affected with nothing but truth, and with affections that are not disagreeable to the nature of what they are affected with."

Parents and Adoption Update

Here's a little update in our world:

My (Carrie) parents came for almost 2 weeks.  It was a fantastic trip.  I'll do a blog and photo dump soon.  We had been getting in a good rhythm to where it just felt normal to have them live so close by.  And then all of the sudden, they boarded an airplane to return home.  I.hate.goodbyes.   You'd think I'd be good at them by now, with as much as we've moved, but it seems to have just gotten harder.  

While we were with them, we got an email telling us that our adoption case might not be heard next week.  I can't even write this without getting weepy.  Bottom line is that the government thinks there might be some corruption happening in the case where the child has been abandoned.  That's our case.  While I'm excited that the government is acting quickly on corruption leads, it's hard for the parents and kids who are waiting.  I feel like I'm in the last trimester of pregnancy that seems to drag on and on and on.  I am getting antsy and I have a hard time waiting.  

But I read through Deut. 8 this morning and am so thankful to the Lord for his steadiness, his goodness and his faithfulness.  He brings us into hard situations because He loves us and wants to help us learn discipline and grow through being disciplined.  Like a good father should.  We're trusting you Lord.  You've displayed yourself in perfect timing this entire adoption process and once again we're at a place of complete lack of human control.  Thank you Lord for this opportunity to grow. 

I've Been Published!

Ok, so it's self published, but none the less here's your chance to check out what I've been working on for the last couple of months.  It's called "Made in China." I've put together a recipe book of local Chinese dishes-spicy green beans, sweet and sour pork, eggplant, and tons more.  There's pictures and hints for Chinese cooking.  And characters, pinyin and an ingredient list for those of us who live here and want to cook Chinese dishes.  

 We'd also love for those who have adopted Chinese children, to be able to cook some authentic food for their kids and teach them all about the wonderful country that is so much a part of their history.   Click on the book to the right side bar of this blog or to www.blurb.com and it will send you to the bookstore that's carrying my book.  

BUT....

the best part of this whole deal is that ALL of the proceeds are going to help a ministry called Mercy Ethiopia.  They take in street kids in Ethiopia and give them food, shelter, education and hope.  Their vision is for the kids that do have parents, to reunite them with their families and provide their for their necessities, while trying to reunite and build a healthy family.  It's a great vision that will hopefully build a great foundation of physically and spiritually healthy families in this wonderful country.  Check out their web page.  

And then....

get the cookbook, pick up some chopsticks, boil some rice and get your Chinese food on.  

The book represents so much of our heart:  adoption, China, Ethiopia and food.