we have been in contact with the foster sister and she told us thank you for adopting her. this made me feel so much better. It was what they wanted and that makes it so much easier for me. Lily is so frustrated right now because she is very smart and does not understand much english. if she understood more things could be explained and she would be able to handle things better. we are searching for many ways for her to learn and i am teaching her all day long. please pray for her as she goes through this very confusing time. she also knows how to push every ones buttons and plays the dumb card a lot. she can be very manipulative and im  trying to balance love with boundaries. She is doing so well considering but it is still a challenge every day:) I pray im up to the task!!!

pictures of Lily's first bike ride.

we are going to have to come up with some adaptations for the handle bars, not sure now what is going to work. her wrists rest on the padded bar in the middle and they hurt her after a short time. I have my dad on the problem:) im sure he will be able to come up with something clever.

Lily's first visit to the zoo!

the day started out rough with a lot of tears. but after a 30 min. melt down about Ellie saying somthing she didn't like she was able to calm down and we all had a good  time at the zoo.

home a week

this has been a roller coaster week. The kind that has those times on it that are not fun at all and really hurt at times but then you hit a hill that is really fun. We found out on Wed. that Lily had her foster moms phone number memorized and really wanted to call her. we have a woman from church that has been very very kind and let Lily use her cell phone to call China (she is a chinese native and calls family there with a calling card) Dana, the woman's name, helped to translate a little and we found out that she lived with them full time for 5 years and part time for the last 3. The foster mom was told that if she was put back into the orphanage that she would be sent to school, she never was but was never placed back into full time foster care either. There are many missing pieces that we will be filling in for years Im sure  but just knowing that she really loves and misses someone breaks my heart.
I am trying to find a good ESL curriculum for school in the fall. Amy, Dana's nine year old daughter, will be coming to our house and helping her with English a couple times a week until school starts. Dana let Amy come with us to the Dr. on Thur. and she was a great help. don't know how we could have done it without her, God has provided, and will continue to, Im sure. My sister is going to have a field day with my grammar:)
I want to thank everyone for all your prayers. I have felt lifted up in so many ways and Lily is truly doing miraculously well considering all the changes she has been through. Paul and I could not be doing this without all your prayers....THANK YOU.. THANK YOU.. THANK YOU

lily going up the ladder and down the pool slide.....amazing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIiIRM_wSWk

Made it Home!

We made it home safely to Toledo!  So glad to see great friends at the airport to meet us.  And friends who even cleaned our house and put food in our fridge!  Thank you!  What a wonderful blessing after the long flight and immigration forms.  Lily is getting to know Luke and Abby and friends, and getting comfy in her new home.  Hitting the sack early, thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

UPDATE!

Friday Aug 6

WE ARE COMING HOME TODAY

Today we start our long journey home! 4 hour bus ride to Hong Kong, short night in the airport hotel, and then 14+hour flight to Detroit. Not looking forward to the flight but will be happy to be home!


Yesterday we went to the consulate for paperwork and ceremonial oath. Lots of other adoptive parents there too. Everyone is feeling OK now. Emma's fever hasn't returned. Lily appears more and more comfortable and is having fun swimming and listening to music. The earphones we have are too small so every 2 minutes they fall out, and I'm sticking them back in her ears (she can't quite do it herself).


Love to all - see you in a couple days. 


 Paul

Lily swimming for first time

Ellie's arm is doing better today and Emma's fever is better (yes she had a fever of 103-104 through the night). Paul went out in search of a battery for his blood sugar monitor and found one using all his Chinese language and ninja skills! Keep praying because we are not sure what might happen next!!

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!

URGENT - FOR PRAYER

Ellies arm is really bad tonight, she can not sleep and she is in so much pain. Her arm is burning and swollen. She is worse then she has been since she fell. Please pray for her healing and comfort!

Also pray that we can find a battery for Paul's blood sugar monitor! His battery died and we cant find one to fit it, so we are unable to check his sugars, this is very dangerous.

please also pray for Emma. she woke up at midnight with high fever and crying her head hurts. worried about what she might have caught. THANK YOU

Thanks for all of your prayers!

Cyndi

We have had a wonderful day. Lily loves to swim and seems more comfortable every day. she does not say many english words but she seems to get her point accross just fine. The girls are eating noodles together right now. They have these noodles very much like our ramen noodles but with different flavors, fish, seaweed, shrimp, kelp, hot beef - you get the picture. This is what we eat for one meal a day because they are very cheap. There is a comfortableness starting to settle over us and we are all a lot more relaxed.

No big plans for today, just a group picture and maybe shop for souvenirs.

We went to a outside art museum and shopping this morning. It seemed weird to not be in church! We will post pictures of the museum later today. I wanted to update you on how Anan/Lily is doing. She is slowly learning that she may not push and hit when she is not getting her own way. I am sure it is very hard to not be able to understand why she can or can not do things. She does understand enough to know that she is not allowed but does it anyway:) the first day here in Guangou was hard for me. Seeing all the baby's and toddlers. it was hard on the girls too. baby's are just easier to bond with, you can hold them and snuggle and they are cute. We know that we are in Gods will and we think Anan belongs in our family, its just hard to see all the cute babies, for all of us. not easy but good. it has drawn me closer to our saviour and forced me to trust in him in a deeper way then ever before, not by site but by faith.

There is nothing that Anan can't do if she wants to. I am continually amazed at how she can do things, she uses her knee to bend her elbow so that she can reach her mouth. She is doing so well considering that she has left a lot of people that loved her. It would have almost been easier if we knew she had not been loved, then we would have felt like we were giving her something she would never have...Love... but we know that she will be better off in America in the long run.

I am missing my Abby and Luke very much. We could use some of Lukes comic relief now and again:) I am feeling better, fighting off a cold but today has been way better. we are enjoying the pool and Lily can not wait to get all the way in. she can not get her TB test wet until tomorrow after it gets checked. right now the girls are resting and watching a cartoon in Chinese for a bit before we go once again to McDonald's for supper, i will not go to McDonald's for a year when i get back!!! its really the only place we can afford thats walking distance. Staying at a 5 star hotel is great unless you want to eat at one of the restaurants! it would be over $100 for our family to eat here. we can get McDonalds for all of us for around 8...so mdDs here we come:)I love and miss you all. we covet your prayers and are feeling them with every passing day...we can not wait to get home!!