The least of these

I have to share with y'all a story that happened in China. 

It may end up being kinda long -

but you'll want to stick around to the end. 

I know I'm glad I did.

Our last full evening in China we went to dinner
with a few other adoptive families 

As we were walking to the restaurant, 

we passed a homeless man in the middle of the sidewalk.

This man broke me,

 it was so hard to just walk by

and not do anything. 

But, we did.

We went to dinner,

 had a nice time with our new friends.

As we walked back to the hotel,

a few of our guys decided to stop at the local 7-11 

to get a few goodies.

Since there were only stairs available to get into the 7-11,

the women and kids with strollers stayed outside
on the busy street. 

As we waited and we chatted,

 I noticed another homeless person headed our way.

And to be honest, 

I was nervous.

I had nothing for him. 

I felt horrible. 

This man, could not walk,

he used his arms and hands like his legs
because his legs were mangled.

He wore flip-flops on his hands,

his fingers were long and thin,

he had 6 fingers on one hand and very long finger nails.

But, even more -

he had the biggest smile I had ever seen.

He had gentle eyes and tried to talk to us.

Seeing that my Mandarin consists of "Ni Hao" ("hello")

and "Zaijian" ("goodbye")

I said "Ni Hao"
and he smiled.

Hagan sat in his stroller and was intrigued by the man.

I tried to get Hagan to say "Ni Hao" 

the man talked to Hagan and Hagan smiled. 

I really wished I had something for this man.

We felt so bad but honestly we began to feel uncomfortable
and anxiously awaited our men to come out of the store.

As our men began to come out,

they realized our situation. 

Out from the store came one of our travel mates and his
7 year old biological daughter.

She was holding a big bottle of water. 

She walked right up to this beautiful man and handed him

the bottle of water,

and her father gave him some money.

The man looked into the girls eyes, nodded his head
and thanked her.

Tears filled my eyes.

This sweet, beautiful, seven year old,

purposely went into the 7-11 with her father to purchase 

the water bottle for this man. 

Us adults were in China caring for the least of these,

but it took a beautiful seven year old 

little girl to truly show us 

how to care for the least of these. 

Thank you A for opening my eyes!

Last Day in China

A few photos from our last day in China.

Chill laxin' reading my book!

We are super excited to get home

to our kiddos!

 Let's get this party started!

"I'll see you in America!"

WARNING: Cuteness overload!!!!

We had our Consulate Appointment this morning -

the last of our paperwork! 

Hagan and Griggs will now be official US Citizens when we touch 

ground in the US!!!

I had such a hard time at this appointment. 

My emotions won over and I broke down.

We are so blessed to be asked by God to be these boys 

parents! 

We are blessed to have such beautiful children at home 

whom call us "Mom and Dad".

We are sooo blessed.

But I felt like I was leaving someone behind. 

I am leaving millions behind. 

Behind in cold orphanages, with know one 

to love them unconditionally.

**********

After I pulled myself together (on the outside),

 we left the Consulate -

our group headed to Shamian Island. 

We ran a few errands and went to Lucy's for a familiar lunch.

It was so nice to be back on the island. 

The boys played their family matching game 

while we waited for our food. 

Hagan is getting really good at this game! 

Then I let Griggs out to run and try to get a few photos of him -

well, 

this boy can pose!  

Ohhhhh he was cracking me up! 

 Hagan was ready to join in on the fun!

Another a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. poser! 

And tomorrow night... 

We're heading home!!!!

YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

We are truly blessed!

Our Monkies visit the Zoo

This morning we were able to see our 

agency coordinators who helped us get to our precious boys! 

Karla and Mallory are here on a Medical Mission trip -

visiting three orphanages.

One of the orphanages is Jorja's -

I sooooo wanted to go with them! 

Instead, we set out with our group to the city Zoo.

It was a beautiful, sunny day -

a great day for walking and strolling!

Griggsy got a haircut! 

The boys saw that I had my camera and stopped 

for me to take their photos!

Aren't they just perfect!

 Traditional spot for a Zoo family photo

Our little monkey imitating the sleeping bear. 

Hagan being his silly self! 

Tonight we are heading to the traditional Pearl River Cruise. 

I'm sure our silly boys will LOVE this!

And guess what?

2 more sleeps and we will be on our way home!

That's right! 

2 more sleeps! 

We have a night flight on Wednesday -

so it doesn't count as a sleep!

We are sooo excited to get our boys home 

and be home with the entire family! 

Really? That good?

I know that some of y'all are wondering...
and some of y'all have even asked...

"Really? Are things really going this well?"

Well, to answer your questions...

yes!

There are moments of course,

but really, they are moments.

We have had disagreements,

and challenging of the wills -

but nothing too rough.

Hagan doesn't like when we call him on his table manners -

but when he realizes that we are serious -

he learns and tries to re-think his old habits.

Yesterday, while Bryan napped I braved taking the boys out by myself,
without a stroller.
We rode two elevators and walked to the other side of the
HUGE hotel lobby to another elevator and
to the playroom -
I tried to get them to hold hands but Griggs was not going to
have anything to do with that.

It may not seem like much but Hagan is much faster then Griggsy :)
When I asked him to wait he came back and walked with us!
Soooo proud of him!

Hagan got his first time-out yesterday in the playroom
He handled it like a champ!

(Hagan's silly face)

Griggs is a copy-cat and does what Hagan does,
though if we have to tell Hagan "No"
Griggs keeps going and pushes the limits.

Thankfully he is 2 years old and is easily distracted and looses focus
and goes on to the next thing.

(Griggs copying Hagan's 'silly face)

When we are out and about they are pretty shy,
they are learning to warm up to our travel group.

Hagan is learning sign language really well,
he knows,
"Baba"
"more"
"please"
"potty"
"water"
"blue"
"yellow"
"green"
"poop"
"eat"
"wait"
and
"all done"

Griggs' signing is too cute!
he knows
"more"
and
"please"

They are two SUPER, HAPPY smart boys!
(some day I will get a photo of them together -
right now their just goofy and they tickled each other
if we sit them together for a photo!
HAHA!)

see, not the photo I was hoping for -
but ohhh how fun!

...wonderfully made...

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you 

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body. 

All the days ordained for me 

were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

Psalm 139: 13 - 16

Troopers

And once again our boys did great!

They handled the time at the medical office 

like the champs that they are!

Griggs ran around giggling and entertaining everyone.

And Hagan generally sat quietly 

playing with the pipe cleaners.

He began making numbers with them!

Wow!

And Dad made an airplane -

that Hagan and mom thought looked more like a sword -

that turned into a gun.

He is such a 5 year old boy!

They both did great through the exams -

they didn't really enjoy the TB blood test too much -

but were back to them selves quickly!

Thank you for your prayers!

(and new rule in January - 

no vaccinations -

we just had to sign a paper promising that we would have

our children vaccinated when we get home! 

yahoooo!!!)

Up, Up and Away!

One would have thought our boys had flown before!

They both did so well on the plane!   

Griggs was not too happy about take-off,

but sweetly feel asleep in momma's arms. 

And Hagan, being his silly self, 

laughed and laughed!

During some turbulence he grabbed my arm

and had a terrified look on his face -

then looked at me and started to giggle. 

Crazy boy was teasing!

He is such a ham!

Today we head to medical.

Which means vaccinations and TB tests - yuck!

Please pray for our boys!

Also, Hagan's congestion is getting a bit better -

but we are hearing what could be sleep apnea.

We're not sure how well he is sleeping,

and we know that Momma isn't sleeping as I 

continually make sure he is still breathing. 

All and all we are so glad to be in Guangzhou!

We were met at the hotel by sweet Rebecca and Lily whom we

have been friends with for 6 years now. 

They have helped us bring home all of our Chinese babies 

and we are sooo grateful to them!

(and they are fun too!)

 Kiddos at home,

we miss y'all so much! 

We showed Hagan y'all's photos yesterday -

and played the matching game with the photo cards!

He was doing really well! 

He is trying really hard to learn y'all's names! 

Have fun this weekend! 

give Mimi and Uncle JB a big hug for me!

 We love y'all!