January

January at our house went something like this:

We celebrated the football season with a banquet on an evening with questionable road conditions.  School let out early that day because of snow predictions throwing this long planned event into question.  The roads were fine, sidewalks a little risky, but the team showed up as they did all season. The banquet ran long, but the highlight video was very well done.  Having a mic on the coach during the season and then using his cheers, quotes, and speeches accents the action quite well.  (Best quote, "It is what it is.  I don't even know what that means, but it is what it is.") We love our new coach!  He came out of college and professional play and is full of energy.  He took the team further than they've ever been and thrilled them with the pro buddies he had showing up at practice.  We are guessing this is a step toward a more lucrative position, but we would love to have him stay.

Zach and Trevor

Trevor is new to the school, but his family has been a friend of ours for years.  We are having a blast watching these two play.

Peyton and Zach

Ben and Zach

I first met Ben at the banquet, and he is a trip.  He kept the team in stitches, and we are fortunate that his sweet, sweet sister is a friend of Savannah's.

If you've followed the blog from the beginning, you've seen Blake a few times.  His history with Zach includes Cub Scouts, elementary school, and middle school wrestling.  If Blake's parents are any indication of the man Blake is becoming, he will be oh so generous and kind.

We're so proud of our team for being district champs and runners up in the region.  I'm looking forward to football next fall!

Speaking of football, Andy's beloved Broncos got a lot of attention this year when they welcomed Tim Tebow  to the team.  He surprised the cynics with his success.  On the night they went down in defeat ending their playoff run, Andy knew the game would be tough.  He was prepared.  Andy sported his Tebow t-shirt under his Elway jersey.  He marinated pork in freshly squeezed orange juice. He stocked the fridge with blue and orange jello and the freezer with blue ice cream and orange sorbet.  A blue cheesecake was finished just in time, and a cake frosted in orange was the comfort food upon the defeat.  Of course, everything was washed down with Orange Crush.  Andy missed church the next morning because he felt under the weather.  I cannot say for sure whether it was the diet, the loss, or a legitimate virus.

Illness of a more cheery nature plagues my sis-in-law, Danielle.  She and Jonathan learned this month that they will be welcoming a boy in late May.  Unfortunately, this boy keeps Danielle sick, sick, sick.  I rarely see her any more.  Everyone is excited, but I have to admit that I am very concerned about whether this child will have a name.  Jonathan and Danielle cannot come to an agreement.  They may need a mediator, but my side of the family will have to stay out of it if they continue to suggest names like Ronald (after my dad) which would give this family siblings named Regan and Ronald. In any case, this is news to cheer about.

Speaking of cheers,  Julia continued her cheerleading and cheered her last game of the season today.  She wants to be a flier.  Let me just catch my breath.

For the record, Zach leaves church every week with either Wyatt or Julia on his back.  I just love that.

On Tuesday the intramural sports teams were recognized during the boy's varsity basketball game, and the cheerleaders had the privilege of cheering with the varsity cheerleaders for the first two quarters.  They performed their floor cheer between the first and second quarter. The girls did an excellent job, and despite the lack of interest from the fans on the opposing side, our high school students rallied behind the elementary cheerleaders and chanted when the girls called them to do so.  Love our school!!!

The girls form a tunnel for the intramural sports teams.

Before the week was finished, Tessa celebrated her birthday.  A few of us gathered at Dad's house, and we all got a good laugh over the cake he bought.  Hmm, is she turning six?  Dad got the biggest kick out of himself on this one.  Tessa found the cake while Dad was out picking up KFC, so we all were wondering if he chose this on purpose to be funny. You really never know with him.

We ended our week with a celebration of the Chinese New Year.  Funds did not allow us to join our local FCC celebration this year, so we had a Chinese meal for lunch which made this guy very happy.  He has anxiously awaited this all week.

After lunch we worked on a dragon cake.  Our first attempt was not so successful.  The cake did not come out of the pan without some damage, so I had to do lots of repair work.  We had not even finished decorating it before I made the mistake of letting Shiloh in the house and leaving her unattended.  Yep, she enjoyed it.  Note to self, no more dogs that can counter surf. We were determined, so we started over, and I have to say I am happy with the result.  Of course I steal all of my good ideas, and this one came from here.

It's the year of the dragon, and even though we celebrate this culture that has become a part of us, I have to admit that celebrating the dragon and all it means seems a bit ominous.   I will end this post therefore with good wishes for the new year Chinese style.

"Best wishes and Congratulations. Have a prosperous and 

good year."

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Advocating and praying for an orphan

Savannah has a friend who was adopted from the Ukraine when she was a little girl.  Savannah is very fond of this friend, and the adoption story of this girl is very cool and amazing.  However, this post is not about Savannah's friend but is related to her.  


While in the Ukraine this friend was very close to another girl, and apparently, their parting left a lasting impact on the parents.  A couple of years later the friends were reunited when another family adopted.  Their friendship remains intact.  


Apparently after the first adoption, another friendship formed for the second girl.  Now the friends who now have the security of a family are praying and hoping that this other child gets a family before she ages out of the system and is unable to be adopted.  She is fourteen, beautiful and has been to America.  She spent Christmas here.  She doesn't have much time.  I have read on the Love Without Boundaries site of the heart-wrenching experience of seeing an orphan reach that awful birthday when the hope of a family is lost.  I can't imagine that pain.


Will you pray for her?  I have said it before that even if there was only one orphan in the world, it would be an emergency.  Unfortunately, many need a miracle to get a good family which I think should be a basic human right.  Don't you?


Some final thoughts
If you are feeling tugged toward adoption but just can't make the plunge, it is normal to be scared.  Adoption is hard and dangerous, and so is following Christ.  You might get your heart broken.  You might put yourself out there and have it fail or bring home a child who so utterly rejects you that you have to let them go.  That is awful.


However, if nobody took the risk, you wouldn't have the beautiful and amazing stories of families where it worked.  Sometimes I have to ponder what life would have been for Wyatt and Julia if China hadn't opened their doors to the world.  


My outgoing and charming Wyatt may have been withdrawn and forlorn, rejected by a society that values perfection above people.  Nobody would have fought through four classrooms for him to find the best fit for kindergarten.  He would have struggled in school if he even got to attend school and would have been labeled a bad child simply because he needed a different approach. He may have been scorned by many people.


Julia would not have attended school.  Her orphanage was much too poor for that.  Simple things that she wants such as to be able to grow her her long and girlie would have been denied her.  She never would have pursued her natural athletic talent unless it was to become her whole life and identity so that she could give the government bragging rights.  How would she have supported herself as an adult?  Most likely through prostitution, and that thought alone sends a dagger to my heart.


If considering adoption, you cannot expect a fairy tale, you must expect a challenge.  It is not for everyone.  I am not an advocate of minister's implying that you are someone less than a Christian if you do not adopt.  What adoption does is take a painful loss and turn it into something beautiful.  It is hard but worth it.

Overheard

"You can stick a bazooka up Barney's nose."


Andy and I heard Wyatt state this from another room.


I have no idea who Barney is.


I have no idea if Wyatt even knows what a bazooka is.


I didn't ask.

The Awful Anniversary

Today marks one year since I last talked to my mom, last looked in her eyes, and held her hand for the last time.  So today will be the last that I wear the bracelet in her honor that I have worn almost everyday for several months.  I may wear it on occasion in the future but not daily. More than likely I will pass it on to one of my sisters.  Tomorrow I will change my Facebook picture.  It has been a picture of Mom and me when I was a toddler (see below) for most of the last year.  Today I will remember my mom.  Today I will try to grasp how it can already be a year, how I can still laugh out loud on occasion, and how much I really miss her. I will remove the symbols of grieving and may or may not replace them. 

As the clocks don't stop, and as life would have it, Zach's football banquet is scheduled for tonight.  It fell between losing Mom and her funeral last year, and I imagine that it will be associated with this anniversary until he graduates or until Christ returns whichever comes sooner.

The Experiment

Allow me to introduce Jules (more on her name later in the post).  Jules is the much loved dog owned by my mom until her death.  When Mom died, I thought that we would naturally take ownership of Jules.  She lived in a house with three other dogs (four dogs in one house is a story in and of itself) and was the weakest link in that crew.  Though sweet, any attempts Jules made to enjoy human affection were thwarted by her diva-ish biological sister who has actually drawn blood on Jules.  The humans in the home were not anxious to give up the dog so loved by Mom.  Honestly, I was not in the market for a second dog.  Think kennel costs, vet costs, and for this dog; grooming costs.  None of which really fit in our family budget for now. Tessa plans to continue to pick up the tab on all these things...love her!

Today I brought Jules to my house, a temporary (maybe) experiment to see if she can be happy here and if she can get along with Shiloh.  In the hours since she has been here, she has hissed (yes, a dog hissed) at Shiloh a few times.  Her tail remains between her legs as it has most of the time at Dad's house.  Shiloh has not been mean to her, more like intrigued by her.  Jules had a bath and was fairly good for it.  The only real glitch was the fact that she was so scared that she threw up in the car by the time we got two houses away from my dad's house, and she shook all over for most of the ride here.

So, she is here, and so far, so good.  We will see what the next few days bring.  I am still very intimidated by becoming a two dog household but am convinced that this may be the best fit for Jules. 

Now about her name.  Yes, we have a little girl in this house with a very similar name.  Yes, I do call that little girl Jules quite often.  Jules was already named when Mom got her.  Because of Julia, Mom had every intention of changing the name.  I told her to leave it as it was because Julia would get a big kick out of it.  I was right. Julia loved it.  However, I did not expect that these girls would end up in the same house.  Yes, changing Jules' name has crossed my mind.  Honestly, changing Julia's name used to cross my mind.  I considered changing it to Kylie a few years ago.  Kylie means boomerang, and that seems to be a perfect fit for our Julia.  I do think that we will not be changing any names.  The kids would be too upset to change the name of their Grandma's dog.

We will see how it goes.

Note: No animals were harmed in the production of this post unless 8 or so takes to get a good picture counts as cruelty to animals.  No harm intended.

Out with the Old and in with the New

Our last days of 2011 included:

Ice skating with friends for both Savannah and Julia. I did not stay at the rink on the day Savannah went, so I have no pictures.

Celebrating Christmas with a game of bowling with Andy's mom and her Korean exchange student.

Great family time on the Wii

While on the subject of the Wii, there was some disagreement involving the Wii at some point in the last couple of weeks.  Andy stated that we got the Wii for the family to enjoy, not for arguments.  I knew his mistake immediately and hoped the kids would not catch it.  Julia is much too smart for that.  She stated, "Ha! I knew it!  You are Santa Claus!  You said we got the Wii."  Andy just laughed.  I laughed.  It was all good.

Our last hurrah was not quite the quiet New Year's celebration that we intended.  The kids insisted that we go to Grandpa's.  He ordered pizzas, and we played the Wii until just before the ball dropped.  We watched it drop and headed home.

Sunday morning found us celebrating Julia's baptism in church for our victory weekend.  All members who joined the church in the previous year or were baptized march to the front and hear the sermon from the altar.  The minister actually turns his back on the congregation for most of the sermon to speak directly to those whom we celebrate at this service.

Personally, I did not consider this service a photo op. However, Julia is a typical youngest child and made sure I had the camera because she loves to insist that I take her picture and then put it on Facebook or the blog.  No worries about a lack of self-confidence in this area, and this explains the fact that that there are more pictures of her than the other kids.  You might note from Andy's pose in the picture above that he is also a youngest child.

We headed back to school, and I thought we were going to lose it because we were all so tired and cranky.  We barely survived the first week, and now the long winter with few breaks dawns before us.  Oh joy.