Lifeline

Update:
Mailed I800A on 12/9
12/19 got an email from government that our "invitation" to be finger printed would come in 7-10 days by mail.
12/26 NOTHING in the mail. NO mail service today. I am SO anxious to get the invitation. We really want to walk in on Wed or Thursday (2 hours away) but we cannot without the invitation. Praying it comes tomorrow. Please. After we get printed, it takes 3 weeks to get the approval.

(Our interpretation of Homeland Security investigating us.)

I am on some closed Facebook groups about adopting older kids from China. They are SUPER helpful! I think of it as a lifeline. Often there are SOS messages sent out saying things like, "I am in country, my child is crying, we are exhausted...." and then always 20-40 encouraging messages written back. I always come up with something encouraging to write, because I just imagine the mom sitting in the hotel room, panicked, hitting refresh, looking for some help. I also pray for the families, since Jesus can actually meet their needs.

On this group I met a woman I will call EH. I could tell by her encouragement that we were of like mind. She actually traveled to China in October to meet her 2 year old son she had been matched with. In the back of her pictures I saw several of the kids that were hosted at the same time as our little guy! Kids I knew by name! She was in his town and at his school! I immediately contacted her to see if she recognized him. She didn't. Well, she is traveling in the next week or two to get her son! She has graciously offered to bring a little care package for Jude. I got a letter translated and mailed it to her with a small album of wallet sized pictures (that I got from the sale of the century), a small bagged lego set, and car that he left here. In the letter I practically begged that he jot down a quick note or something to hand back to EH for me. This is the second letter we have sent. The first letter we emailed, also with pictures on it. We heard it was received in China, but never got a response. We asked for an update and we got this picture and a video of him coloring. Unfortunately he says nothing in the video. I'm not even sure he knew it was coming to us. Of course in my EH letter I mentioned the video so he knows we saw it. We have still been advised not to give him adoption hope, until we are farther along in the process, but we were sure to mention how much we loved him and missed him.

(This is the picture we got last week)

I would pay $100 to know what he is thinking. Does he miss us? Does he want to be adopted? Does he even think about us?

On the Facebook group, often there is an older child who is really afraid about leaving China. We get these SOS messages asking for prayer that the child will take a leap of faith and agree to be adopted. Children 10 and older are asked. Man that must be hard! For everyone involved. It is like an arranged marriage. So vulnerable to leave everything you are comfortable with and go to a foreign land with strangers who are committing their lives to you! I think about how comfortable I am with mediocrity. Sure, things could be better if I put in the
 effort or took a risk, but it is so much easier to be content with lukewarm/comfortable. I settle for good instead of God's best.

I see this with Perry's old job. He didn't love it. It was a great salary (we know that now but didn't really appreciate it then) and a good company, but he had no advancement. It was just a job. Something he didn't ever feel he was great at. We were content. Lukewarm. God had bigger plans. He pushed us out and for awhile we were miserable.

I liken it to the story of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob. Brothers got jealous, beat him up, threw him in the pit. Man that pit must have been miserable! Smelly and seemingly hopeless. Then he goes through some more ups and downs. I mean there are some hopeful parts of his journey, then, BAM! Accused of something he didn't do, back to the pit, prison. Ultimately the King of Egypt promotes him out of the dungeon and into power. In doing so, the Lord uses Joseph to save His covenant children. The lineage of Jesus! All of that had to happen so God's people could have the best! The Lord provided for ME by sending Joseph to the pit!
This is so encouraging. I worship that same Lord! He too allowed us to wallow in the smelly pit! After a season He gave us something better! By walking this journey we found Jude. (We are currently trying out an American name really hoping we can agree on it soon and I can start referring to him as that. We of course will keep his Chinese name, by will give him an American first name so he has options. PS- it is NOT Jude).
Also, Perry really likes his current job! There are State holidays, he enjoys his coworkers, he is getting really good at the job, good benefits, he loves having a cubical, and looks forward going to work!
One thing is for sure. I know that I do not KNOW how hard this is going to be. But I also know my Lifeline. And I know we can trust His plan for our lives, no matter how smelly it is at times.

Adoption Outline/Timeline

I haven't written much on the blog, because frankly, adoption paperwork and life have been time consuming. We have been moving along, although each step has so many sub steps.
Many people ask where we are in the process. I am going to attempt to explain it.

1. Initial application to both a home study organization (ABC Carolina Adoption) and placing agency (Living Hope Adoption Agency). Tons of papers to fill

2. Pre-approval from China to pursue JH for adoption

3. The Home Study- This took 3 days set aside for meetings (we had fewer because this agency did a home study for us 3 years ago), doctor physicals for all of us, criminal background checks, outlining all of our finances, DMV driving records, child abuse clearances, 3 letters of reference, including one from a teacher vouching that we take care of our children, finger prints, and $2000.

4. The social worker first met with us at the beginning of October and turned in her draft to ABC on 11/7/16. I was amazed at how fast that was, but then there were the revisions, fine tooth combing, additional psychological evaluations, Thanksgiving holiday, signatures needed, approval needed, financial paper reconciliation down to the cents, notarizing, Living Hope approval etc. for it to finally be complete.

5. Home Study RECEIVED in the mail YESTERDAY 12/9/16 at 3:30pm

6. I 800 A- is basically the US saying that they approve us to immigrate someone. So we apply for this approval (hence the A in the form) asking them if we have permission to adopt from China. We must send them an official copy of our home study, our birth certificates, our marriage certificate, and about 10 pages forms filled out. Oh and $890. They will invite us to come get our fingerprints taken in Norfolk to make sure we are not terrorists or human traffickers. When they send us our approval letter that is the final piece of our dossier puzzle.

We mailed our I 800 A last night at 6:14pm same day we received the HS. This process will take about 5-6 weeks.

So that is how far we have come. This is the step we are on. Now we wait for Homeland Security to invite us to the finger printing. Please pray that we can get the finger prints done in 2016. Perry has a personal day that will not carry into 2017. We will need every single one of his vacation/personal days to travel to China.

WE ARE HERE

FUTURE STEPS:

7.Submit Dossier for translation to Chinese Consulate in NY.

 Once the I 800 Approval paper arrives- we will submit the Dossier. The Dossier contains, certified copies of our birth certificates, marriage certificate, physicals from doctors, financial information, employment verification letters, copies of our passports, 2 new passport pictures for visas (I assume), 6 family pictures, home study, and criminal background clearances.

Our Dossier MUST be submitted by 3/13/17 because of the dates on all of our forms have to be less than 6 months old.

8.Letter Seeking Confirmation (LSC) or Letter of Approval (LOA)- China confirms our match with our son JH, and sends us LOA giving us official permission to adopt him. This could take 1 week- 3months!)

9. Final Immigration approval (I800) 2 weeks

10. Receive GUZ number- 2 or 3 days. The next few steps have to deal with him being granted a visa. The visa will be placed in his Chinese passport and as soon as we touch down on US soil he will be a US citizen.

11. NVC Letter- 1-3 Days after the GUZ. Confirms that the National Visa Center has forwarded our caste to the US Consulate in Guangzhou

12. Article 5 Drop-off- 10 business days until pick-up. The US Consulate in Guangzhou prepares the paperwork for the visa. Then will be submitted to China by Living Hope so we will be granted travel approval.

13. Travel Approval- 1-3 weeks. China extends an invitation to us to come on over and get him! We have to do it within 90 days of the invite!

14. Consulate Appointment- 1-2 days. After Travel Approval (TA) Living Hope schedules an appointment for us at the US Consulate in Guangzhou to complete the final paperwork necessary for the visa. Once we have this appointment, we begin making travel arrangements. Our social worker from Living Hope said to plan for $15,000 for the travel! That includes: flights for 2, hotel, 2 meals/day, guides, in country travel (train/plane), province and orphanage fees, and legal fees.

15. WE FLY TO CHINA FOR 2 WEEKS

16. You meet us at the airport upon return to celebrate with us!

The Sale of the Century- Amazing!

When my friend Katherine said to me in September, "We are going to host a garage sale for you and it will raise thousands of dollars", I was skeptical. WOW! A LOT of work, A LOT of craziness endured by this loving host family, A LOT of donations, A LOT of love and A LOT of volunteers!

We felt loved by every single donation, word of encouragement, shopper, friend who came, neighbor, you name it! There is no way I can even thank everyone who helped. Countless hours of sorting, pricing, loading, unloading, hauling, moving, advertising...... And just when we had not an ounce of energy left, my sister and her family and 2 other dear families showed up for clean up! Took 2 loads of the best stuff to our favorite thrift store and a charity picked up the remaining garage full a couple of days later.

It was so very beautiful seeing this team effort. Seeing friends and family working so hard to help us. And WOW did God multiply the money! I was going to be thrilled with $1000 and He provided $6,336! The largest cash deposit I have ever brought to the bank.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to every person who was a part of this special event! I won't mention your names, but here are a few of the people who made us feel so special. Sorry I don't have a picture of all of you.

Today is the Day! (Well Saturday)

I feel so very special, like it is my wedding tomorrow and everyone has put in so much time and effort to pull it off! HOURS have been spent sorting, pricing, box moving, sign posting, and tomorrow is the big day to enjoy! I am really looking forward to it!

We have over 1000 items and I have felt loved by every single donation, every thought, every smiling friend, every kind wish and hope!

I have friends posting items to their neighborhood sites, running out into intersections to post signs,  picking up donations, making signs, making crafts, sorting jewelry, making phone calls for me, baking treats, selling their own things online to profit us, carting treasures back and forth over the river, and buying items. WOW! Are we loved!

The weather is supposed to be great, the treasures are poised, and I need to go to bed. Wake up call in 5.5 hours! Several years ago, some ladies from church chipped in for a double stroller for our dear friend, Matbien. Now that her children are older, it felt so special to see the stroller came full circle, to our sale, to help bring our son home!

T H A N K  Y O U !!

The Sale of the Century

One note of clarification: Our soon to be son (God willing) has a real Chinese name. Jude is just the American name that the adoption agency gave him so we could basically refer to him, be able to pronounce his name, and to protect his privacy. We signed a paper that until he is ours, we will not publish his real name. Also, we are thinking about giving him his own American name in addition to his Chinese name so he can use that if he chooses. All of this to say, he has never heard of the name Jude nor will that end up being his American name.

Now, on to the post. A dear friend, Katherine from church stopped me a couple of weeks ago to say, "I am going to have an adoption yard sale for you and we are going to raise thousands of dollars to help you adopt!"
Katherine has A LOT going on. She has 5 young children, both she and her husband work full time, and did I mention they are moving out west in November! Even with ALL of this going on, they have gone ALL IN and have been accepting an amazing amount of items almost daily! They have spent countless hours, sorting these items. (Picture after a very long day of work, finally getting your 5 children to bed, spending 4 hours sorting through discarded treasures to repack.)

Did it look like this in your head?

The garage is half full of "processed boxes" meaning they have touched every item,  re-categorized them, and re-packed them. Tim is very dedicated to the process (thankfully so) and they both are amazing workers! If I had seen all of the donations, I would have balled up in the fetal position in the middle of the room and cried not knowing where to start. God is definitely using Tim's systematic brain to serve us! 

 So every night that they sort, boxes are spread out around the house and each item is processed. Here Katherine and her neighbor Saint Ethel (who has donated hours of her time) are starting to sort (at 9PM on a Friday night!)

My dear friend, Ann and I got to participate in the sorting last night. There is still 2 WEEKS before this yard sale! The week of the sale I will be posting details on Facebook and Craig's list. Please help me spread the word, because we need SHOPPERS! Since it is hard to remember, I am telling people, "It is the Sat. before Halloween or last Sat in Oct and to look for the signs at the entrance of Smoketree across from the new North Courthouse Library".

How this sale has affected me:

I have a realistic expectation of the money we will raise. I will be thrilled with $500, but having this sale has made me feel so incredibly loved and supported! EVERY SINGLE time someone has given me things, dropped stuff off to Katherine, called me about it etc, I have felt loved! 2 great friends are moving and this was perfect timing for them to unload some quality items before they moved! Some friends just bring it to Katherine's and I never even knew they were going to. Friends of friends, Facebook friends, Aunt Martha, strangers, people from our church family that I have never met, SO MANY people have given to this. It turns out that beyond raising money to bring home our boy, it has given people an opportunity to be involved, to be a part of his story!

Ann said this yard sale was going to be my baby shower. With all the planning, and energy, and time that has been invested, it feels like it! I certainly feel supported and loved!

This is going to be a blast! Friends are bringing donuts, making baked goods to sell, coming early to set up, helping sort etc!

Please let me know if you can donate a couple hours of sorting one night or if you can help at the sale. And PLEASE COME TO THE SALE! There is SOOOO much there! And although we are raising money, there are bargain prices. We need shoppers!  Everything must go. We will probably still be there well into the afternoon, so please come by!

Financial Support Information for those interested

Some folks have asked how they can support us on our adoption journey. Thank you so much for your interest! Below are several ways if anyone wants to support us financially. Absolutely no pressure. Thank you for following our adventure, I have been busy filling out paperwork, but do occasionally update the blog.

Option 1: Click on this link to use your credit card and support us through Go Fund Me.

The More The Perryer Adoption

This is not tax deductible. It will go directly to our account when we close it.

Option 2: Another way is to make a tax deductible donation directly to our adoption agency:

Living Hope Adoption Agency

PO Box 579

Fort Washington, PA  19034   

Make a note that it is for Rebecca and Chris Perry VA Adoption and it will all be applied to our future expenses. Some people are curious why adoption is so expensive. To date we have already invested over $7,000. 

The projected cost is $30,000-$35,000. I will jot down a few of our upcoming fees that we will need to pay to Living Hope just to give you an idea.

1. Home Study Review $300 (we paid $2000 to another organization for HS)
2. Dossier authentication $5,475
3. CCCWA China Adoption application/translation $1,550
4. Chinese Travel Visa $380
5. International Airfare $3,000
6. In China travel and accommodations for 14 days $4,500
7. In China facilitator $667
8. Jun Han's airfare $1,050
9. Orphanage donation $5,833 (not sure what this is about)
10. Adoption fees in China $2,130

and the list goes on.

Option 3: Local friends- donate things to our garage sale, or better yet, COME SHOP AT IT! Advertise for us. We are going to have tons of really nice things and  we will need shoppers. A dear church friend is hosting it on Saturday Oct 29th at their home in Smoketree near Monacan High School. Please spread the word. It will be on Craigslist. The  Larsons are now accepting donations in their garage for the big sale. Contact :   katherine.a.larson@gmail.com

Or myself to drop off items.

Here is the information:

Preparing for the home study

 (Picture of our kids and cousins this summer)

There are MANY steps in international adoption! Most of the time I am thankful that they are so careful about who they let through this process, but some of the time it just seems oppressive. As we filled out the 26 steps of paperwork needed to begin the home study, we both said, "Our hat is off to anyone who would do this without knowing the kid they are pursuing!"

WOW! What a labor or love! At least we know the sweet boy we are pursuing since we hosted him this summer.

 With Perry starting his new job, and still working his part time job he has logged 60 hours these first two weeks of work. That has been an adjustment to us since he hasn't worked full time since last October. We did the last piece of our puzzle this morning! (For this very beginning home study step). Some of the 26 steps are involved (health physical, notarized guardian letter...) some are signing fee agreements etc. Perry mailed the documents today!

The caseworker is on vacation until Thursday, so in some ways that allowed me some breathing room this past week. We are hoping the papers will arrive at the end of this week and she can assign us the case worker. Their is only 1 worker who lives within an hour of us who works for this home study agency. Please pray she is available. We need this home study complete by Thanksgiving to get to the next step. Also, we need to find 15 hours to do some on line training classes together as well as a couple of other things to complete the home study.

One step at a time.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has been supporting us in prayer, encouragement and financially! We have already paid  $6,810 in this $35,000 process and are thankful for every gift!

This is the link to our "Go fund Me Page" if you are interested

The More The Perryer Adoption

 

Also a very sweet (and busy) church friend is organizing a yard sale for us at her house Sat Oct 29th. More details to follow, but if you have anything you would like to donate to the sale, we are hoping to raise some money to bring this little guy back home.

Feeling the Love!

We have been overwhelmed by all the love, encouragement, excitement, prayers, and money coming our way! THANK YOU!!
The start of school hit me like a ton of bricks. The paperwork, the fast paced schedule, anxious middle schooler! (No new pics of Jude, although I have reserved some for later posts)

Also, came the home study packet. There are 26 things we need to do before we can send it back. When we do, that will start the home study. Then there are about 10 things (including hours of education) that we have to complete before the home study visits conclude. (Then many more steps)

Some examples of the 26 things:

1. Pay the home study fee- okay, not time consuming (Amazing that after 10 months of unemployment we are able to do this. Praise our Provider!)

7. Individual autobiographies following a detailed outline (phew- dug up the one from Alyona- this one only took me an hour to modify. Perry still working on his)

16. proof of health insurance for adopted child - shouldn't be hard, but Perry starts his job tomorrow, so benefit info still pending.

22. Doctor examination of all 5 of us,( HIV test, Hep B, Tuberculosis for adults). This one was more time consuming than other numbers. Here we are 4 business days to get 5 appointments in while Perry isn't working. Our doctors got the 2 of us in on Wed (my only available day) and had the results of our blood work for us when we got our TB test read on Friday! The nurse, herself adopted, worked diligently to make sure our physicals matched. She said it was a privilege to help us. She knows first hand the blessing of adoption.
 I called the pediatrician on Tuesday and before I did I whispered a prayer, "Lord, go before me. We have one available time to make this happen, late Friday afternoon. ". I called. The ONLY nurse who knows me answered the phone! "Hey Mindy, going to sound crazy, but I was wondering if the doctor would see all my kids as late as possible Friday to fill out these forms?" She goes right to ask the doctor directly and comes back to the line, "Dr. Sutherland would be happy to see all three kids at 4PM Friday!"
Okay- checking these numbers off.

Right now the ball is in our court. I started working on this packet Monday, and I hope to get it in the mail by week's end. This is of course the tip of the iceberg. At least the mailing of the papers will put the ball in someone else's court.
Daily someone will remember something Jude did. We will chuckle or sing his favorite Chinese songs (none of us know what we are saying). Man, we miss him!

Prayer requests:

• Jude's protection- physically, emotionally, spiritually. Also, I'm asking the Lord to give him hope that we are coming for him
• Perry- his job official starts tomorrow (although he has volunteered 2 x/week at this place since May) this will be the first time in 10 months he will work all day! And although he could handle that, most days he is working 4-5 hours tutoring in addition. We don't want to turn down the tutoring gigs, especially since their busy season is finite, but 12 hour days are long for that introvert.
• Our new groove- we need to get into a good school routine. I am back to teaching 2.5 days a week, babysitting before and after school daily (Perry Care), adoption papers, dog sitting and normal life. I am feeling sustained by the Lord, not melting in a pile of crazy (yet), but need to pace myself.
• Praise for the Body of Christ and all of the encouragement and excitement they are sharing with us.

A Family For Jude!

God is so very faithful and sets the lonely into families! (Psalm 68:6)

After much prayer, counsel, and consideration, we are moving forward to adopt Jude!

At the beginning of the lay off, Perry pointed us to the verse Proverbs 3:6 "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight".  Who are we to know plot our course? His ways are higher than ours.
We would never have guessed, a lay off would lead to hosting which would lead us to our son.
We would have zigged, God had us zag.

It feels surreal. It is not logical to embark on an expensive adoption journey after 10 months of unemployment. A friend told me the adoption path is a "rugged road, but more of Jesus". We are taking the next step in faith. It feels a bit like when you are early pregnant and you aren't sure you should tell people because there are so many pitfalls that could happen.

We decided to move forward on August 25th. We filled out 2 extensive applications and now have a new gigantic stack to attack. Unfortunately this process could take a year and close to $35,000. Another friend said once, "It is gracious of God to not tell us everything our obedience will entail when He calls us to obey".
So we are going to faithfully take the next step. One step at a time.

If you want to continue with us on our journey please pray for us:

• We need prayers for endurance to get this process moving.
• Pray for Jude that he would know in his heart we are coming for him (they won't tell him until we are a month from traveling to get him, because there is so much that could make this fall through).
• Pray for us that we will take steps to strengthen our marriage and learn new parenting ideas that will best serve him.
•  If you are interested in supporting us financially, my friend Tracy has set up a "Go Fund Me Page" here:      The More The Perryer ADOPTION                                 
• If you prefer a tax deductible donation, you can make a check out to "Living Hope Adoption Agency" and put a note stating : Jude's adoption by the Perrys and mail it to: PO Box 579     Fort Washington, PA 19034
• We hope to apply for a grant and possibly matching grant through Lifesong for Orphans but aren't eligible to do that until we have the home study complete and are about $7k into the process. If you prefer to wait and give to our Lifesong account that would be great too!
• There is absolutely NO PRESSURE to give to our journey. God has proved Himself super faithful to us these last 10 months and we know He will continue to provide as He walks us down this path. Your prayers and encouraging words are extremely valuable.

Counting the Cost of Hosting

So much to process and say, only have a few minutes, but wanted to get some of it down. What struck me about the airport was the other host families.


One, single mom of 2 adopted Chinese daughters hosted in Indiana. They drove to DC to get Mia three weeks ago and Jill, flew with Mia yesterday from Indiana so Mia could fly to Chicago to get her connecting flight to Beijing. Seeing Jill's love, dedication, sacrifice for these children is so beautiful. I am so glad to have met this beautiful woman! So many logical obstacles could have stopped her. Time, money, energy, singleness, her girls starting school, work....but no, she shared her life with Mia.

 Then there is Tracy and family. We would not have done this without their faithful example! Time and time again, they take his step of faith to love these orphans. Look at their smiles! How they beam! Don't you see Jesus just shining from them? They open up their house to awkward, homesick, different people, in the name of Jesus. And guess what?!  THEY ARE BLESSED!

 And Kristy! She watched Tracy for years and took a leap of faith. The first meeting she thought, "what have I gotten in to?" In the end, she and her family were the ones who received the blessings! And see that lady in blue? She is a friend of a friend from Texas, who flew up to meet Andy since he will be her son! Had Kristy and her family not taken this risk, Andy would be aging out within a year working in a factory. Now he will be a big brother to 4 other boys and have a mom and a dad!

 This mom in the jean capris, is gorgeous! She has 4 biological kids, adopted 2 with Downs from Bulgaria (5th, 6th) and then gave birth to her 7th. They have 7 kids, and decided to host! They actually stepped up at the last minute when Weston's host family fell through. They drove 6 hours from Pennsylvania to DC! Her heart! Her love for Jesus, her beautiful family, her husband, their tears as they said goodbye to Weston their host child.....so dear! 

And my friend Ann! She signed up to host at the last minute when Alexis' family fell through so she could experience this with us. Well, her child came on time so they didn't even over lap. Ann has 3 other kids and one is a 2 yr old. It would have been easy for her to say 'no' and it was a challenging month, but God met her. Alexis got her love tank filled and experienced thing she never would have!

I was so struck by these beautiful families! They are not pre-worrying about the hardships they could face or the obstacles they have to overcome! They are just loving these kids one day at a time. They didn't let money, time, inconvenience, differences, distance, other children, and worldly comforts stand in their way. And as a result, they were blessed! Oh the bitter sweet joy we all felt having given part of our hearts to these children. Oh, the beautiful blessing of relying on Jesus for our energy, sustenance, and sanity.

 I am blessed! Honored that Jesus peeled back the curtain a bit and showed me more of His glory. Loved by my friends and family who have asked, prayed, checked in, supported, and cared for us.

If you think God may be asking you to take this "leap of faith" to host, contact us. My friend Tracy is hoping to get 10 kids to Richmond next summer. Read Tracy's blog to see her Hosting Challenge .

As for us, still relaxing in His love, seeking His will, and enjoying our best summer yet!

Our Last Day

I know I haven't blogged much lately. We have had a lot going on. We were on pins and needles as we awaited the news that after months of an internship, Perry finally got the job he wanted! Praising God for His faithfulness to us! I got a skin infection which really debilitated me and now the antibiotics are causing side effects. We have sort of circled our wagons and spent a lot of time together around the house.

Last night I maybe slept 4 hours. I AM DREADING the drop off tomorrow at the airport. DREADING! My stomach is in knots (not sure if it is the antibiotic/grief or what).  These last few days have had a lingering, sad undertone. He HAS to go back (3 week visa) and after 10 months of unemployment, a $35K adoption seems impossible.
Praying the Lord would continue to soothe my soul, and that I would trust His plan for our lives and Jude's. Praying that I can savor this last 28 hours. 

One week left...

There hasn't been much to report. We have been shuttling the girls back and forth to various camps all week, so the boys have been playing contently at home. Perry did take them to Bass Pro Shops where they bought a little gun that kills flies. They have been enjoying hunting flies inside the house.

We went bowling with cousins, pizza picnic and to the pool with friends,

Our dentists, Dr. Lawrence and Dr. Friend at  RVA Dental Care , donated a full cleaning, x-rays, fluoride treatment and sealed his back 4 molars!

No cavities!

Day 11

Phew, we had so many personal things to think about/ sort through that the blog had to take the back burner. We are thoroughly enjoying Jude and he is enjoying his time here! Turns out he is human! He has relaxed and is reveling in the freedom and love he is experiencing here. That being said, I have had to call his name, sometimes 3 times, before he responds and obeys. And, he did actually say "no" to me when I offered him pancakes. :)

Jude is about 9 months older than our youngest daughter. She loves translating to him through charades.

Last night we enjoyed dinner at another host family's house. Here the boys are playing trains.

Jude thinks "Baba" is SOOOO funny. Perry hid Mickey in his shirt and Jude laughed hysterically looking for him! "Baba" took the boys to Bass Pro Shop today to look around and play.

He also has discovered the scooter!