Happy Birthday Kirk!

What a blessed family we are to have you as our daddy!

Blowing out the candles with Daddy is so much fun!

We LOVE you daddy!

Happy 4th Birthday Joshua!

Our handsome 4 year old!

I love "Toy Story!"

Blowing out my candles ... with help from my sister Lilly.

I'm 4 and I got a "big Buzz Lightyear" for my birthday!!!

We LOVE our brother!!

It's hard to believe that our sweet boy turned four years old! He was SO excited to have family over for his "Toy Story" birthday. His joy and enthusiasm for life is infectious! He is tender hearted and always has a ready smile.
We love you dear Joshua and thank the Lord daily that He brought us together!

Simple Pictures From Today

Always a handsome man!

Love these dresses ... and the girls inside them even more!

"Oliver, you're my best buddy!"

Oliver is 6 months old now!

"I feel like a great fish owner!"

Lilly worked hard to save for her fish. Today we went and she picked it out. On the way home she commented, "I feel like a great fish owner!" Great job Lilly!

Meet Shrek the Fish

"I love my new fish!"

"Shrek the Fish" has certainly found a great new home.

Our first trip to the ER!

The children were pretending they were birds and Josh decided to "fly" off the couch. He received 3 stitches and "super glue" over his eyebrow. He was such a trooper and a brave little man through it all! I think mama cried more than he did. The exciting part for him was getting a purple popsicle at the end of it all.

You're a brave little man Joshua!

Happy 4th of July 2010!

Happy 4th of July! We spent a couple of nights in Frankenmuth with "Maw and Poppy" and then headed to the Hallgren Cottage with Grandpa and Grandma Hallgren for more fun! We had a wonderful time!

Lilly loved to fish and caught over 5 fish ... good size ones too! She and Kirk are naturals!

Josh loved to dig in the sand!

Jess loved to play in the water!

Oliver mostly barked at everything. He loved the boat the most! He's 5 months old now and is almost 40 pounds.

This picture is from Oliver's "graduation" from puppy school in June. Are they sure he should have graduated? :)

An "Almost First Grader"

For many years, I attended my nieces and nephews concerts and often wondered ..."Will I ever attend MY children's concerts?" Last night we attended Lilly's Kindergarten concert!! So many emotions ran through me and I couldn't stop the tears from forming. My baby girl ... is almost done with Kindergarten and the world is at her feet. She grew and matured this school year and has already informed us that she is an "almost first grader!"

Mrs. Kelley (her teacher) and Mrs. Piatrowski (K para) were amazing!

Our "almost 1st grader"

This picture is from Mother's Day! A day that has INCREDIBLE meaning!

All Done!

Today was the final step in Joshua's adoption - his US birth certificate! Kirk and I went to the Juvenile Hall of Justice in Detroit (yes, that is a bit of an experience), showed all his adoption paperwork and received the seal of approval from the courts! This is it ... we are all done with the paperwork for Joshua! Feels great and we have an amazing son! We pray that our children grow up to love and serve the Almighty!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord ... plans to give you a future and a hope!"

WE ARE BLESSED!

The Buzz

Josh got his first "buzz cut" today! It really makes his beautiful eyes stand out even more.

What a handsome little man!

(The "Before" look)

Off-a-ler

Josh and Jessica can't quite pronounce "Oliver"

So they call him "Off-a-ler" :)

"Off-a-ler" continues to prove that he is a great dog ... a puppy that does all the puppy things ... but a great dog!

He is 11 weeks old in these pictures.

I watched this beautiful moment today! Ollie laid down right next to Jess and rolled over on his back. Jess rubbed his tummy for a long time and he just laid there. Good boy Off-a-ler!

Joshua nd Oliver seem to have the same love of trains. Unfortunately, Ollie likes to eat them. They are still great buddies!

If you look back to our first post of Oliver and Lilly together (March 27), you can see how much he has grown in just a month. Yep ... he'll be a big boy!

Jess and Oliver are about the same size ... for now!

Sweet Oliver!

A Blessed Easter!

Praising the Lord for the risen SON!

Happy and blessed Easter!

Uncle Ken, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Karen, Uncle Greg, Aunt Pam and our cousins came over. We had a blast with our Easter egg hunt!

Stephanie (holding Lilly), Chad (holding Joshua) and Nicole (holding Jessica)

Enjoying our treats!

Alll dressed up for a day of worship!

What a handsome man!

A beautiful little lady!

Another beautiful little lady!

Hippity, hoppity, EASTER's on it's way!

We had a FUN time coloring our eggs today!

Oliver just enjoyed chillin' - Yes, he is sound asleep in this picture!

Happy Gotcha day Josh!!

Gotcha Day ... March 30, 2009 - Joshua's wonderful foster parents!

One year ago today, sweet Joshua Sheng joined our family! I spent some time rereading my posts from China and was in happy tears many times! There were difficult times in China; missing my girls, missing Kirk once he left and Joshua missing his precious foster grandparents. The first couple days were tough! But the joy from this little man was worth every difficult moment in China! It is hard to believe how Josh has grown in a year, both physically and emotionally. He bonded to our family so quickly! He is a happy little man, full of life, full of snuggles and even quite stubborn at times. All things that let us know he is HOME! We recently received a beautiful letter and handknit sweaters from his foster parents. These are priceless to us! The Foster Care Network (and Joshua's foster family in particular!) have a love for Christ and for the children in China that is amazing! We pray the Lord will continue to bless their amazing ministry! Because of their love towards Joshua, we have an amazing little guy today!

Joshua ... one year later! Below is the sweater made by his foster grandma.

WE LOVE YOU SWEET JOSHUA AND ARE BLESSED BY YOU DAILY!

Praising the Lord!

And dear Robin Geddings ... thank you SO much for taking time from work and joining us on this amazing and difficult journey. I cannot imagine making this trip without you! Thank you seems inadequate! I love you dear friend!

Robin, me and Joshua in China!