Summer Excitement and Announcement!

What a fun filled summer it has been.  I can't believe it is August already and I have not posted in over a month.  Will explain more on that in a moment....  First let me tell you about the fun things we have been up to.  Little princess here is out for her walks/running here.  She feels great despite as of lately being a bit more winded.  Will get that checked out soon.  She loves her new circulation and new found energy.  This is where the parents ask to turn them back down a some.  Just kidding.  She's on fire with a great spirit.   We always take the stroller and she walks/rides and runs whenever she pleases.  Enjoying her life.  I think I remember feeling like this with Jackson's lengthening process and relishing the childhood perspective of a child's life.  She is resilient, loving and forgiving and represents a Christ-like attitude, despite not being even old enough to comprehend God's hand on her life.

Last day of school photo.  Boy was Huahua ever happy to have her buds home every day, all day!

Jordan's kindergarten graduation.  I don't know if she was more proud of graduating or of her new sister she was introducing to all her classmates.

Our favorite Kindergarten teacher, Mr Edge.  He's been with us through so much and all our children have had him!  But wait...... there's more coming!!!!

Our house is quite chaotic and crazy with four children playing and having a great time!
We come up with some silly things to do.

Some other summer activites:
Riding on the back of Grandpa's carriage, riding the pony, swimming at the pool, playing at the park, picking berries/veggies out of the garden, playing with our new kitten, playing on the swing set, water fights, jumping on the trampoline, trip to the waterpark, gymnastics, swim lessons, and of course lots of motocross!

SPECIAL VISITOR ALERT!!!!!!

Many of you know the story of "Aunt" Katie, but for those who don't, I'll fill you in.  In April of 2012 Katie went to China on a medical missions trip and fell in love with Huahua.  She was a surgically untreated heart baby, who was not doing well medically.  By Oct 2012, when she returned to China on another trip, Huahua was very ill, within months of passing away.  Katie had two choices, turn away or do something about it.  Katie returned the states and petitioned to Love without Boundaries to save our daughter.  At this point in our lives, adoption was not on our radar, but God was in the making of an incredible testimony for our soon-to-be daughter.  Katie, along with many generous people (80%  from AL) raised the nearly $15,000 for Huahua to have her life saving surgery in China.  So of course Katie became family.  This summer we were able to spend five wonderful days getting to know "Aunt" Katie!

Katie and Huahua April 2012.  Huahua was 13 months old.

The kids awaiting her arrival from Alabama at the Dane county airport.  They made signs to welcome her.

Last time Katie held Huahua was in China in Oct 2013!  And she had delivered our care package to her with our pictures in it!  It was the day Huahua learned she was going to have a forever family. Here they are 9 months later on the other side of the world with her new family.  God is soooooo Good!

Some fun times at the pool and park with Aunt Katie.

The boys went to camp this summer for one week.  The girls enjoyed some "quiet" time without them, but when they returned we could clearly tell there was some needed hugs and love to go around the family!

                      Picture of Jackson's cabin mates and leader.

Play hard and crash really hard.  Huahua can't quite make it without a nap all day and Daddy enjoyed this moment when she snuggled in for a nap with him.

So besides the just regular busy stuff of four kids and summer activities,  here's what has been taking up a good chunk of my time!  While we were in the process of adopting Huahua, there was a little boy listed on Lifeline’s website, who I watched daily for his family to find him.  I prayed for him, as the other children on the website and grieved for him, as he never was never matched with a family.  As we visited the orphanage in China, God would have us run into this sweet little boy.  Keep in mind the orphanage has 1500 children at any given time!  After months of prayerful consideration we are pursuing to adopt our son, Nianjie.  He is almost 6 years old and has lived in an orphanage his entire life.  He has orthopedic health needs, which will need to be addressed.  God has walked us through multiple medical procedures with our children and we have complete faith He will continue to provide.  We ask for your continued support in our adoption journey as we bring another orphan out of China and into our home to learn the love of a forever family.  Please pray for his heart, as he is older and has lived many years in a formal survival mode.  Pray for our children as we prepare our home for an additional child.  We have seen such growth and blessings from Huahua’s adoption, as they have learned the real meaning of living out the gospel across the world to represent God’s love.  Please meet our son.

We will continue to keep this blog updated as we move forward with Nianjie's adoption.  The home study is almost complete, so we hope by six months or so we will have him home.  Praying for smooth paperwork trail and God's provisions in the funding of this adoption.

Huahua picking raspberries.

Sisters straight to the heart!

The following pictures are compliments of Katie's photography while she was staying with us.

Monster cookies!!!

.

I know I might be a bit biased, but these two princesses are just stunningly beautiful.

Yep, that's Justin.  Not for the faint at heart.  Do you see my point now why Huahua is not going to race dirt bikes?

Maybe just model the goggles....

Family photo opportunity at the track

Justin (left) and Jackson (right)

She's starting to get the "posing" down.

Justin started taking over Katie's camera and took this nice shot of his brother!

Justin is always photogenic too!

Went for a hike at the State Park with a Natural Stone Bridge.  After the walk, Jordan said "I never got to see the bridge", Apparently we didn't explain the destination point well enough, but she loved the walk through the woods.