The Pre-show

I promise that video will soon be loaded to the blog for you to view if interested. These still shots were taken before the show on Friday night...and just prior to the show...our camera ran out of batteries. So, over the coming days I will gather more photos to post here as well so that you can see Daddy, Potato and Bub as a shepherd and his sheep, as well as our whole group on stage in their costumes. This will give you a bit of the flavor BEFORE we went to the auditorium and went on stage.

Above: 5th from the left is our Brownie with her dance troupe...once again we were amazed at the choreography these kindgergarteners put on for the show...FUN!


Above: Potato gets ready to put on her sheep costume.

Below: The other sheep...they used a bit of blush on him.

Below: This is the group of 4th & 5th graders who did the formal dance to "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen"...they were awesome!

Below: Big Momma and a few of the dancers from our big number.

Below: Though it pains me to post these photos...they called me "The Queen" in this gown. The story of finding a gown in "one size fits all" Here (that size being a US dress size 7) was quite a lesson in humilty... or realization of pride....

Below: Posting this shot to see if you can detect the MASSIVE fake eyelashes we all wore...took me back to my years playing with my Mom's make-up kits after her performances with the Opera company and trying to press her fake eyelashes on my own eyes...it was like wearing a curtain over the top 1/3 of my eyes....impaired vision!

Below: The Bug and her buddy from the Wu family..."Spice"

Below: Magpie and her buddy from the Wu family, "Sugar"

Above: Potato enjoying our pre-show feast at the school...Lotus Root and Seaweed Soup!

Above: Brownie loves this little friend...note, they were trying to make a "heart" with their hands to show their love for each other...

Above: More photos of "posing" kids....these taken during dinner in the kindergarten classroom.

More photos in the days to come, once I can hack them from others' cameras...and video coming too!

Costumes ...anyone?

I finally (after 3 trips to the costume shops) remembered to bring my camera to share with you the "experience" of the costume shop scene.

To go to the costume shop one must first organize transportation. (As we are deeply ensconced into our second year here dependent only on public transportation, first one considers the bus lines and the three different exchanges one must make to get to the part of town desired.) Next, after considering that significant time would be required to simply travel there and then the complexities of negotiating for costumes would be required...a wiser approach is clearly to ask the awesome moms at our school to drive and translate.

I have mentioned in blogs past about the fact that Here, in sharp contrast to There, when one needs to buy anything you travel to the "XYZ Market area"....in this area shops peddling the exact same wares line the street of a particular area. (Whereas There...a proprietor of a shop looks to find a "niche" area where no other store offering the same wares is located.) Below is snapshot of the "Costume Rental market"...

Perhaps you can imagine why it is a good idea to go with a local...a foreigner like myself my ride down this very street and have no idea the dozens of stores right here offering costumes. On every trip I've been pressed by dozens of people trying to select their perfect frock. Big galas are the norm Here...pageantry like nothing I've ever seen before (keep in mind that 1/2 of my parents were professional opera singers in There)...this is the land of massive productions...super competition...and gowns made by the thousands!

Below, a few shots of this "inside" of the costume shops:

At long last this Thursday we traveled back to pick up the 20 sequined dressed for the girls in the elementary school, the 30 sequined dresses for the Kindergarten's performance, the 20 sequined dresses for teachers who would be dancing/singing, etc, and ONE MASSIVE gown for moi...the soloist of the night.

At times like these when we're deeply involved in these matters that seem, well, silly, in the scheme of eternity...I often have to pause and listen the HS more closely about WHY we're here, WHY we're doing these things. As we are receiving glances of opportunities to do work beyond the school, we're often up late at night asking...what is the purpose of this? Our whole team, in fact, has discussed this at our weekly meeting.

This week I received a powerful reminder through a message given some time ago by a guy who leads a large fellowship in the Dallas area. He was powerfully reminding us that we must run with perseverance the race marked out for US. That, according to the text from which he was teaching, for some we will shut the mouths of lions in the race He's called us to...and for others...we will suffer much for the good news. I thought about it and neither situation describes the race we've been called to here...so what gives?

We came Here to be obedient...to love and to share with anyone He leads into our path the hope of our lives. So many are watching up close and personally in our community and now more newspaper articles and magazine spreads have been done on our large brood and the "why Here" question always comes to the fore.

The aria I sang on Friday night was "I love "This Country"." And as I prepared for months for it I was constantly tangled and frustrated by the language...exasperated that I could not learn it. But finally on Friday morning, a breakthrough, as I started my day with prayer my focus narrowed. The performance would be a by product of the hours of rehearsals with the 8 teachers who danced behind me...the students who we live with and teach everyday who would be watching....and the 1000+ people who would hear me sing the song are those who watch our family and how we "do life" everyday here in our community. Did our lives reflect that we truly "love" this country?

We do love this country...we love her people...not because life is easy or comfortable, but because He placed a deep love for this place in our hearts.

In all we do Here (EVEN in the seemingly silly), for as long as He has us here...may our lives be fountains of the love that only He can give...remembering that He longs for them to know how much HE loves this country...we are to be the "grace-filled, gift-givers" of that profound love, while here in this time. Pray for us...that we will not allow the discomfort, discouragements and our own numerous failings of our flesh block the flow of this vital work...for it is by His grace and for His renown, alone.

Super Gold Medal!

While shopping yesterday afternoon Daddy's cellphone rang and he hurriedly ushered me outside to take the call...

It was from one of our students on the team that competed at last weekend's National English Competition (see previous Blog entry for details.) She called to say that her mother had just accessed the results on the web for our entry and we had been awarded the "SUPER GOLD MEDAL." This is the top prize awarded and nationally, of all the kids competing, only the top 1% receive this distinction. Apparently, gold medals are awarded to several students/teams...but here in our city...we were awarded the "Super" Gold Medal which meant that the panel of 4 judges awarded us the top scores of the day!

I was just amazed! I thought perhaps since our entry was so different than others we saw, that we might do well or on the other hand, not place at all.

And, since competition here is heralded by EVERYONE, this is good PR for our new school and the school's English program!

"We live therefore we compete"

This series of photos comes from our Round 2 involvement in the National English Competition. The students had to compete on November 14th in Round 1 where they each sat for an Exam that lasted nearly two hours. Of the 12 kids from our school who tested, nine advance to Level 2, which was comprised of the top 15% scorers on the written exam. They had the option of competing individually in the "Oral English" Round, or putting a group performance together. They were all interested in going forward only if they could compete as a group. So for the past several weeks we've been working on a 7 minute presentation I wrote called "The Cost of Kindness." (Thought I'd take the opportunity to get yet another character lesson in their heads!)

At any rate...the title of the piece was apropos given the circumstances we found ourselves within. It was my first experience to see the competitive world of children/parents and educators Here up close. WOW! What an enlightening day it was...big reminder that we're not in Kansas anymore Toto!

When our team got off the bus the murmurs began...some gasps were heard...a few shouted at us. Fortunately for me, I didn't understand what was being said...I just assumed that it was the usual "look there are some foreigners there" that is commonplace in our existence. After we pressed through the throngs of two parent groups hustling their costumed child in a flurry of movement...we made it to the second floor.

Above: This shot was in the holding area where I circled up the team and had them practice their lines. Mrs. Wu from the 4th floor, was also deeply engaged in coaching our team. It was circus-like, to say the least. I was interviewed by a newspaper columnist about our team..and then of course about our large family...and that our soon-coming little brother was from right here in our city. Everyone was taking pictures and the noise was deafening in the room!

I recognized relatively quickly that one of our boys was really not himself...he seemed like he had a foul attitude. So, I pulled him aside to ask what the problem was. He told me that there were children, teachers and parents saying "mean things about our team." He told me that they said things like "foreign teachers and students don' t belong in this competition," "those aren't local students!" and to our Chinese students..."you are getting ahead by working with foreigners." I'm certain that there was more that he didn't tell me, but I got the picture. I told him, then our whole team, that the best way to make such unkind words stop was to be excellent when it was their time to perform. Literally, there were moments when I would see my student's watching and listening to some "trash talk" from another parent or kid and I would physically step into the sight-line and repeat..."focus on your job and be excellent, don' t listen!" It was wild. I even saw one woman, while running and carrying her child, tripping over a bag on the floor and the middle-school aged boy who's bag it was began to shout at her, flailing his arms at her and approaching her aggressively. The pressure must be intense to feel you must resort to these things to get ahead.

Above and Below: Our kids before they entered the auditorium. It was so cold...but they were getting cranked up to perform. It was awesome to see them developing their team spirit!

Below: Our kids doing their piece...

It was an experience never to be forgotten...and we'll know the results soon about how we fared in the competition, we may do well or be scored more intensely because of our "foreigner presence" even though we had the Chinese student's carry the bulk of the speaking...next year we will be even better prepared...but I was so proud of the way our kids held their heads high and let their little lights shine.

Competition. Here you buck up and face it or like a steamroller...it buries you.

New Photos of the Little Man

Just got this totally unexpected pictures from the adoption agency of our newest little man. Wow, does he look like he's ready to party with his big family of brothers and sisters!? I was amazed at that shot of him laughing on the horse...we do a lot of that around here...laughter that is...and those dimples when he smiles...

Hope you enjoy seeing them and sharing this journey with us!

Unexpected Guest...Entertaining Angels?

The reference in my title is to a passage in The Book that says we should always show hospitality in our homes and that some of us have entertained angels unaware. We're pretty sure we entertained an angel last night.

We have been blessed to remain in contact with Potato's foster family since we adopted her in 2006. We knew then that they were incredible people. Their hearts were broken...no worse yet...they were completely dismayed when we finally traveled to bring Potato home. They of course knew when 2 years and 4 months before they were asked by the orphanage to take this precious girl home and to care for her "until she could be adopted"...they knew that she could never be "theirs" forever due to regulations and the fact that they already had two grown children. But they took her in and devoted themselves to her. I can assuredly say that Potato suffered no set backs while waiting for us...her first family gave her a full, happy start.

They have come to our home; NiNi and YehYeh, as Potato calls them. They had the wisdom and heart to be called "Grandma & Grandpa" instead of Momma and Daddy so that her forever family (us) would have the joy of being her one and only Momma and Daddy. They often call on her special days...her birthday, her adoption day (which for them marks the end of their daily contact with our girl a celebration for us and a day of painful loss for them), the major holidays here...but yesterday we had a call from our "Chinese Family" (dear friends who live near us Here, with whom we've had a close relationship for several years...he often acts as our translator for communication between the foster family and our family. He had just heard from YehYeh, and YehYeh was in our city (normally they live about 1.5 hours away. Could they come over for dinner? I answered "YES, OF COURSE! YehYeh is always welcome."

Potato's NiNi was still in their hometown to care for a foster child in their home now...but YehYeh had come to our city for some advanced training in his field. Though I think it must be highly uncommon, this man went out of his way to see Potato...he wanted to visit us and check up on her.

When I asked Potato after school yesterday, "Guess who's coming to dinner tonight?" She excitedly asked "My NiNi and YehYeh?!" (I was amazed that this was her first guess...and it revealed the importance of this first family in her thoughts! We often talk about them and retell the parts of her story that we know from them.)

He came at about 6:30 PM with our "Chinese family"...and Potato bounded into his arms for a big hug. Once again, as has always been the case when he sees her, there were tears in his eyes. We ate dinner and Potato thrilled him with her ability to chatter on and on to him in Chinese. Mid-dinner he asked her if she'd like to call her NiNi who had stayed home to care for the baby...and Potato said, "Yes!" After she'd eaten, she grasped the phone in her warm little hands and called her NiNi. Not only did she express the pleasantries in Chinese...she communicated to NiNi asking..."Is your home still clean? I'm going to come visit you soon!" And we will visit, we've made plans for another trip to her hometown this Spring during the Tomb Sweeping holiday (a traditional festival where locals return to their families tombs to attend to them as well as remember their ancestors.)

After dinner Potato brought him games to play, translated a few of her favorite story books for him into Chinese and laughed with abandon. When she finally had to go to bed she got up, turned and hugged him fiercely then stopped mid-way to her room and said "Wo ai ni, YehYeh!" (meaning, I love you grandpa!) and he responded to her "Wo ai ni!" Our dear friend who was here quickly said to us, with astonishment on his face..."Oh, how amazing for a local man to say that...it is very hard for a man to say such things here!"

Before he left I told him that I thought of him as a most honorable man. That we will forever be amazed that, while it would have been easier for him to hold his heart back from this foster child who he knew wouldn't be "his" forever, that he loved her with abandon. We thanked him again and asked him to thank NiNi too for their selfless love and dedication to our Potato with the knowledge that they would someday send her off on a bus...in her little green party dress...with one squeaky shoe...and a bag full of her favorite treats...to us.

No, I am quite sure that this time we KNEW we were entertaining an angel.





See for yourself...a happy, deeply loved girl...adored by both her families.

I think I can make it...

This will make absolutely no sense to those of you who read this blog who do not know me personally...sorry about that...

But, I had an "WOW!" moment on Saturday. I'd escaped the sick ward here at our home on the 8th floor, hooked up with Mrs. Wu from 4th floor and we had made the 45 minute trip to the "Western Food" market. The good news is that most of the things we're eating I can now find at our local market...but every two weeks or so, we have to make the trek to the Western Food mecca.

And so it was there, on this past Saturday that a key piece to the "longevity in my new culture" puzzle was discovered:

RASPBERRIES.

I found frozen raspberries!

Now, being that I come from There and There is the berry capital of the universe...nothing is ever going to match up to the memories of berries fresh at the roadside stands...

BUT...this is AMAZING! I can make the kids favorite scone recipe...and a favorite dessert recipe...and even RASPBERRY JAM! (Not often at these prices, of course!)

I bought all I thought I could fit in my apartment sized freezer...and rode the wave of raspberry euphoria all the way home.

This coupled with the fact that in the last two months we now have access to fresh milk...real milk...that tastes like milk and is not UHT (Ultra Heat Treated-shelf stable) milk...

These, dear friends...are breakthroughs!

Yeah, maybe we can stay... ;)

No School For YOU!

We've experienced a bit of "government oversight" these past three days.

On Tuesday afternoon, a meeting was held at the school where we teach and the kids attend. In our "littles" Kindergarten classroom there were 6 kids out with cough or fever. Two of those six were our Brownie and Potato. We were told that there is a government regulation enforced this winter (due to H1N1) that if 5 children or 30% of a classroom's students are out sick (be it from fever, cough, runny nose, etc) that the classroom must observe a mandatory closure for 7 days! (When all the H kids are out...it could truly look like a pandemic!)

Though there are no confirmed cases of H1N1...Brownie and Potato's classroom met the "mandatory closure" clause...so, I've been home with them for the past three days. Bub, sadly is also sick with a fever and a nasty cough.

The older girls have had a touch of illness, but were well enough to go back to school on Friday to compete in the school's reciting competition.

(A note about competitions Here...to live is to compete...we are CONSTANTLY preparing for another competition!)

The girls each did a reciting competition yesterday. Next weekend I am taking nine of our students (we had 12 originally compete in a national English competition and 9 scored high enough in Round 1 to continue on to Round 2) to compete against all the other Round 2 participants (probably several hundred). I had to write a drama for our 9 students to act out and perform for the judges this next weekend.

The weekend after we have our huge Christmas extravaganza performance where I've choreographed dances for Grades 1-5 to perform in front a 1,000 or so people at our company. The kids will be singing and dancing...just like Broadway ;)...only Here in a cold building! I have been asked to perform with a troupe of 8 dancers (no I am not dancing) adorned in elaborate gowns while I sing a huge Chinese Aria called "I Love You China"...of course, in Chinese. Daddy is also not exempt from the efforts as he is a shepherd in the Nativity that will be performed that same night...he is PETRIFIED about remembering his lines in Chinese!

There are many other exciting items to tell that I'm limited to share...some really cool new partnerships underway as well as deepening of relationships and new doors opening to serve. Each day I am reminded that I am only the clay in the Potter's hands...and that I mold much more easily if I only acquiesce to His design for each moment.

Off to fix breakfast...Happy weekend everyone!

News from the Eastern H's...

After posting the numerous pictures in the following two posts...it's time to give you some big news...

The H Family is in the "family way" again.

Still with me?????

One of the biggest reasons that you've not seen regular postings or communication from us has been this major development for the H Family. We waited until today to post these details to ensure that we'd been able to communicate with our children both near and far...our parents...our siblings...all while we waited for the big news we received today.

Some six weeks ago we were being visited by our dear friend on a Saturday...we call his family our Chinese family...and quite unexpectedly the conversation turned to Potato (adopted from China in 6/2006) and Bub (adopted from China in 9/2007.) I was retelling a story about Bub from the day before. That Daddy and I had walked home with Bub all alone that Friday as the sisters were all busy with play-dates and dance lessons. I told our friend that Bub had climbed up on the back of Daddy's bike and that he'd wrapped is arms around his Daddy's back and said..."I love you my Daddy!" I told our friend that I had nearly melted and had tears in my eyes as I whispered another prayer of thanks that God had asked us to bring this precious boy home.

Our friend was also moved by the simple story and he began to relate to me that he suspected that without adoption, and with Bub's special need of a missing eye, that Bub might NEVER HAVE KNOWN LOVE...that he might have only known discrimination. That thought bothered me deeply as Bub danced around on the floor in front of me, happily singing and periodically stopping to hug his Momma. Our friend said, "you do understand that without adoption for Bub, he would have likely been left no choice but to beg."

That comment quite literally took my breath away.

Our precious, happy, bright and joyful boy...a beggar?

My mind instantly flashed on a scene from earlier in that month when we'd visited Shanghai with our oldest son (The Rockstar) and his precious wife (The Princess.) While we pushed through the busy streets of a touristy area my ears first heard the banging of a gong. Then as I neared the sound I saw them. Two older people, sitting on stools. The man banging a small gong that hung from his arm...no fingers on his hand. The woman, preparing to play a flute of some sort...missing one eye.

We see these scenes often. Here, when you see someone begging, it is most common that those pressed out against the edges of the busy throngs of people are those who were born with special needs...limb differences...blindness...

My mind could not envision our Bub...forced to beg.

Then our friend said, "and you know, when I travel back to Potato's hometown, I see the massage shops full of girls who were orphaned or poor or uneducated...forced to sell their bodies to eat."

I know these things to be true. I've seen them with my own eyes...I live Here...but the impact of our friend's words on my heart was crushing.

And, I felt...a deep stirring...the stirring that I've come to know as the Holy Spirit.

Later that night, once all the tribe was in bed and Daddy and I began to have a moment to share about our days...I retold the conversation I'd had with our friend.

As we let the reality of his words sink into our minds and hearts again...our eyes wet with tears...Daddy began with saying "If we can adopt another precious blessing...if there's room in our home, in our hearts...how can we not?"

It was shocking for both of us to have this conversation as we were both quite comfortable with the idea that the H family had reached its full measure. I laughed through my tears...with my heart beating violently in my chest, and said "but I don' t even know if we could adopt again! I haven't looked at an adoption website in more than a year and we live Here, not There...and, and, and.." But Daddy said to me "This is so unexpected, but I cannot deny that I sense that God wants us to wake-up and pay attention to this, right now. Go and research it."

So late that night, I got up and began to research whether or not we could even adopt again. And it appeared, by the narrowest of margins and with some "waivers" for income and family size...that we could. In fact, one major piece of the puzzle? Our home back There that we could NOT sell! We wondered "WHY?" when it wouldn't sell...but now we see that if it had...we could not have moved forward for another adoption.

Over that weekend, looking at the hundreds of kids on the "Waiting Kids Lists" for China...there were two that really stood out to us as children that we should inquire about. The first was a little girl who was missing her left eye...just like Bub. We thought "Well, that's a no brainer...we can handle that and we have the world's best team back There who takes care of Bub's eye." So I sent an email to that agency asking if they would work with expats living Here.

The second one was a little boy. So handsome, his birthday the day after Magpie's with a special need...his left hand missing all his fingers, only his thumb was present. I just kept staring at that little man and my mind kept flashing back on that image of the two begging on the streets in Shanghai...a missing eye and missing fingers... So I sent an email to his agency.

For a few days we waited and began to pray fervently..."Lord, if this in NOT something you've put on our hearts, if this feeling of urgency is NOT from you, please CLOSE THE DOORS on this immediately!"

We also spoke with all our kids. Those back in the states (Rockstar, Princess and Butterfly)...all of them speaking words of faith and agreement with us...our Butterfly saying with her sage 19 year old wisdom "If you don't move forward with something He's asked you to do, I will be so disappointed in you guys. I will always have more love to give anyone that He brings to us." Our Rockstar...."This is so exciting, so awesome, we'll be sharing this with our prayer group on Tuesday night." Here at home our kids, one by one, when separated from the pack said things like "Yes!" "Absolutely!" "Momma & Daddy, I pray for orphans everyday that they'll find homes, of course I'm willing to share our family with another!" and Potato said, "Let's bring home a boy and a girl!" This was so encouraging to us to hear that all seven of the kids were getting their needs met and had open hearts toward another.

Some precious moments happened with Bub that are worthy of mention here. When looking at the picture of the little boy for the first time Bub says "Who's that Momma?" I said, "That's a little guy who doesn't have a family." He kept playing with his cars right next to me and then says "You mean, he don't have no sisters?" I said, "No, he doesn't have any sisters." Some moments later he then said "You mean he don't have no brudders?" I said, "No." Then several moments later he looks at me, right in the eyes with this pitiful, questioning look in his eyes and says "You mean he don't have NO MOMMA?!" I said. "No honey, he doesn't." He then said to me "Well Momma, he NEEDS a family!" I was struck at that moment with the reality that only 3 years ago this precious boy talking to me was a picture on the computer that I was gazing at too.

Bub says last week that he wants to pray before we eat our dinner. This is usual...and it's ALWAYS the exact same prayer..."Thank you God for my family, for Momma, Daddy, Magpie, Buggy, Brownie, Potato and Bub, Amen"...We were all really hungry and I begrudgingly said, "even though Daddy just prayed"...okay. He then breaks out in his VERY FIRST original thought prayer..."Dear Jeesusss, please help my brudder who only gots one finger and please help me share my trucks with him. Amen." I nearly melted.

The next day we had an email back from the agency who had the little girl's file. They said, "Thanks for your interest, but no, we don't work with expats." Clearly, this was a closed door.

But there was NO email back from the agency who had the little boy's file. So finally I called them. The first news was that they would be willing to work with an expat family. The second news was that the little boy we'd been looking at...was already out to two families for "review"...and in the adoption world this most often means that the child has already got a family. Feeling like the second door had closed that that we must have misunderstood what we thought God wanted from us...the thought flashed through my mind..."Where in China is he?"

So I asked the question..."Could you please tell me where that little guy is?" After a few moments the voice on the line said..."yes, he's fostered through the XXXX Social Welfare Institute"...I'm using XXXX, but the location was in fact OUR VERY CITY HERE! There are hundreds of kids on waiting list from all over this vast nation. There are hundreds of different orphanages...but this little guy...is right here in OUR city. I nearly fell off my chair.

Those of you who are familiar with the story of our son Bub's adoption and even the final confirmation of what lead us to pull up stakes and move Here know that the Lord has two times blown our minds with the fact that THIS CITY was the key. I knew at that moment, as miraculous as it was, that I was looking at a picture of my newest son and I thought I could see God's thumbprint right on top of his picture! So I told the voice on the line, "I know that you have your procedures about releasing files and that there are two families in line in front of us for this little guy...but I'm confident that he is my son." (She probably thought I was nutty...but she gave me a kind, "Well, we'll just have to wait and see.")

The second bit of info I received was also one that gave me goosebumps. See, the "Waiting Child Lists" only come out from China every so often and I had not been following such things in some time. I asked the agency when this little boy's file had come to them...and she said..."Just last Friday"...my mind quickly tabulating the international dateline conversion...his file came out the VERY DAY that I sat stirred by our friend's words about adoption, the very day that Daddy and I stayed up late and agreed that we were to adopt again. The last list the agency had gotten?...4 months before...

Finally, after one week, on Magpie's birthday, the eve of his 2nd birthday, they released his file to us. Though we were amazed at the suddenness of the development to expand our family, we know our Lord well enough by now to obey when He leads...so on our son's 2nd birthday Here, we sent an email to the agency saying, "we will adopt this child." I believe that giving him a family is the best birthday gift we could have given.

Besides the obvious lack of qualifying on size of our family and our income...the next biggest problem...how in the world would we pay for an adoption....we have no money, we're living as cross-cultural workers! But twice before we haven't had the money either and each time He's provided. We knew to trust Him that if He was asking us to do this, that He would provide. And, once again, we were blessed beyond words by a dear friend and benefactor who loves kids and shares willingly her finances with kids in need. It was quite literally, astounding to receive her email indicating her willingness to help us bring him home. There are angels among us, I am convinced.

Quite suddenly as well, people here began to help us put together the funds we'll require to pay this side of expenses Here for paperwork and the orphanage donation. It has been yet another experience of His abundance working through willing hearts. We have a ways to go yet on the required funds, but we are in absolute peace knowing that every detail He will attend to.

The great savings of all is that we'll really save money on the whole "travel" part of this adoption. We figure that it will only cost us about $15.00 to rent a mini-van for the day and a driver to take us over to Civil Affairs. Back to the very office where twice our hearts and minds have exploded with the reality of adoption...where twice before our precious children walked into the room and into our forever family.

After many hoops, hurdles and the drudgery of paperwork...today we received the news we'd awaited for the past four weeks...China's agreement that they would waive the "family size" stipulation and the "income" stipulation and have agreed to match this young boy to our family.

So without further delay...meet the 8th H Family offspring...Noah Graham...





We hope to have him home in the Spring sometime. We are praying for expedience so that he can travel back There with us next summer to process his citizenship and meet his extended family and friends. We had a homestudy done just this past weekend, with the backdrop of a huge Thanksgiving outreach event...our hearts were full of thankfulness indeed.

In fact, that has been the most overwhelming emotion of this unexpected roller-coaster ride...thankfulness. Twice before He's asked us to do something that many people thought foolish or unreasonable. Twice before He's asked us to trust Him blindly and to participate in His righteous purpose of adoption. (We are always reminded that He was the first adoptive parent when He took us into His family.) Twice before we wondered how we would pay for it, how we would handle another child and how it would effect the lives of our family. Now I am certain that what we have received from those two experiences of what was foolishness to some; pure blessing. I am thankful beyond my ability to communicate that once again He has asked us to participate with Him in a perfect picture in the physical realm of what He longs to do for all of us who are spiritual orphans. We are so blessed, we will get to receive once again the richness of His mercy and grace and the JOY of being His hands and feet to a precious one that He knows by name...and now so do we.

We know that not everyone is called to adopt. We are confident that this is the ministry that He has called us to. If you heart is tugged...may we let you know that there are hundreds of other blessings who are waiting on lists for someone to say "yes" to them. In fact, on the very list that Noah Graham is on, three boys are still waiting who are also from right here in our city! Would you care to know more about them? We feel confident that we could be pretty decent tour guides for your family when you come to bring them home! Come on in...the water's fine!

We are thankful, indeed during this special season.

Happy Thanksgiving & Deck the Halls!

We hope your holidays were full and exciting. Ours certainly were as we negotiated 27 pounds of turkey once again in our over sized Easy-Bake Toaster oven. You see the shots of our Thanksgiving table above. With great admiration I thank the Daddy of our home who extended our table that previously sat 18 to one that sat 24 with the help of another piece of plywood.

Last summer while home on furlough I hit Big Lots and found Thanksgiving napkins and a garland made up of Autumn leaves for about $2 each. Then upon returning here this Fall, I found some bedsheets in plaid that were "fall-ish" in color. The result?! A pretty table and lots of guests who ate lots of American food!

The shot above is of my "kitchen remodel" this year. Also done by the handy Mr. Daddy...we found a store here that's sort of like Home Depot...where he found the red shelves and then he bought a piece of wood placed it atop two "some assembly required" standing shelving units and viola...a 2nd counter top! This advantage cannot be heralded enough! We enjoyed lots of desserts as you may well see there too...

Above: Game time, in Chinese...love to hear those kids speaking with confidence...how do you say "UNO" in Chinese? Just "Uno"...

Above: This dear fellow is a family friend who travelled to the US with his son and stayed in my parent's home! He was so thrilled to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and he said that I was a "good hostess and excellent cook, just like (your) mother!" (The previous accolade was added solely for my mother!)

Above: The foreign guy is 1/2 of the new couple who joined our team this year. Potato took him on and I think beat him at a rousing game of Scrabble...the other beautiful girl in the photo is one of the Wu children...and Potato is sitting on our colleague Karen's lap

Above: A shot of our neighbor, her baby and the new principal of our school.

Above: The Bug enjoys some baby-time.

Above: For my birthday on Nov 25th...my eldest daughters made ME a birthday cake! What a great surprise!

Above: Too tough to get that star to stay up there!

Above: My "stringing the lights" assistants...

Above: Our Merry Christmas Crew...

The Fall...in Pictures

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted to our Blog. I'm terribly sorry for it. There have been many developments in our life from mid-October until today...you've probably ready about them already above.

These are some photos from events at our school. Sports Day and Harvest Festival...hope you enjoy a glimpse into our world this Fall...

Above: Magpie had 10 girls over for a sleepover....she turned 10 on October 30th. It was really a day of celebration. Not just for her birthday but how God answered our fervent prayers for her to have friends. I fed a huge American dinner to 18 kids complete with a pink birthday cake. Then these eight stayed overnight. We really enjoyed the night!

Above & Below: Shots from our "Crazy Hat Day" to celebrate Halloween.

These shots were from the Kindergarten's Harvest Festival. There were many games for parents to do with kids...including "making your own fishing net."...this activity was clearly designed for families who had observed the local "One Child" policy. With three in Kindergarten...we nearly went cross-eyed sewing 3 nets!

A good 'ole relay race for Potato and her Daddy.

Below: The nets held!

Below: A proud pair showing off their fishing net craft.

Above & Below: Some more shots of "Morning Exercises"....the students do them everyday for 15-20 minutes. Brownie in the shot above demonstrates that she is very concerned with FORM as well as FUNCTION.

Below: This is the shot of our entire Elementary School Staff and Student Body for this year. We were so happy to try on our new T-Shirts for our 2nd Annual Sport Day that was overseen by our very own Daddy, who is the Dean of Students at our school.