Whew what a week!

It all started during the heat wave we were having at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN. It's an amusement park and water park about 3 hours south of Indianapolis. The boys LOVED it but Kamryn would beg to differ. She got no breeze from riding the rides and being strapped in the stroller was not her idea of fun. Plus, she doesn't like being in the water either . . . the most she did was sit on the edge of the baby pool and splash her feet. She was a trooper though and went on her first kid-friendly train ride around Mother Goose land.



Our agency reunion picnic was today. It was so much fun to see some of the families that we traveled to China with plus the other families that we've come to know during this journey too. Since we live so close to the park where the reunion is held, we had a little ice cream party at our house last night with the families that came into town early. It was fun to see the girls play together. We are glad that this is an annual thing and already look forward to next year!



The boys took Kamryn on her first carousel ride today. She didn't like it too much. What she loved the most was dancing to the band that was there! The boys enjoyed the mini golf and rock climbing wall so fun was had by all.

Put Your Hands Up

This is what happens when a little girl has two older brothers!

She is constantly amazed at the things they do . . . even the simplest of things like blowing bubble gum and watching Harry Potter movies.

Just say hi

Isn’t it amazing how God brings people into our lives at just the right time when we need them or they need us or we need each other? Meeting the Crandall’s was definitely a Divine appointment. I pretty much stalked them in the hallway at church because they were a family with 3 boys and a little girl from China! This was while we were waiting for Kamryn so I felt a nudging to say hello. Good thing I didn’t shy away and just hope to run into them again. We instantaneously connected and had lots more in common than almost identical looking families.

Sadly, I took them to the airport last Sunday because they moved back to Colorado. We are all missing them so much already. Last weekend was a rough one, with lots of tears and questions from the boys like, “why do they have to move?” We moved here three years ago, and had lots of people asking that same question about us. Heartaches are hard to witness and hard to go through, but in the end, it means that you have loved and been loved, and that’s what we need to keep doing. We need to keep connecting with people.

Interesting enough, connections can also be made without even physically meeting each other. Through this adoption journey, I have special friends that I haven’t even met, but only “talk” to online. These gals simply emailed us congratulations, and through many, many more chats, I can truly say that they are as special as the friends that I spend time with on a regular basis.

If it’s meant to be, you even get more than one chance at a special friendship. Thanks to second chances, Carol & I became friends. Our older boys were on the same spring baseball team. We connected and exchanged phone numbers, but life got in the way, and soon spring turned to fall. Miraculously, our boys were on the same fall soccer team too. We realized it wasn’t luck, and we’ve been close friends ever since.

So on a closing note, remember to stay in touch with those special people already in your life, but don’t be afraid to say hi to a stranger who just may become one of your best friends.

Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July from all us!

A Day at the Zoo

Last Thursday Kevin had the day off, so we ventured to the Indianapolis Zoo. It was a nice distraction for Kamryn who was still not too happy because of her teeth. Kamryn's favorite animals were the ones big enough for her to see from her stroller. The boys enjoyed the meerkats, bearded dragons and the snakes most of all. A few years ago when Brendan and I visited the zoo one day while Matt was in school, we witnessed feeding time at the reptile house and saw a snake eat a mouse. Matt really wanted to see that this time, but the snake wasn't hungry since the mouse lay in his cage untouched. The dolphin show was fun, although it was a little too long for Kamryn who wanted to wiggle away from us in the bleachers and get moving again. Although it was there before the show that we were able to share with strangers (because they asked) about the most fascinating, wonderful journey we've ever taken, our trip to China to adopt Kamryn. Maybe Kamryn will someday nudge someone who is on the fence about international adoption to finally take that plunge.