Our Baby Story (if you will)

My friend Londa is a genius at videos. I had given her footage we took of Liv and asked if she could edit/put together something from our time in Korea when we picked her up. She WAY exceeded my expectations and made a video of our whole first year! The beginning of the video is the very first time we met her. Then there's a little more of our time at the agency with her and leaving the agency/at airports. The remainder is clips from her first year at home. The very last shot is us at her court date when the adoption was finalized (about 4 months after she'd been home). Hope you enjoy it! THANK YOU LONDA!

Trouble with Blogger

While I can write posts on our computers, for some reason I can't post them. I click the post button, and it does nothing. So I save my posts, and when I can get onto another computer, I go to Blogger to post them. Thus the delays in dates. So bear with me.

1

I am writing this post at about 9:30pm on October 2nd. But in Korean time, it's the 3rd and our little man's first birthday. He's starting the day as a one year old. It's so hard to believe that I have a son, and I've missed his first year of life. I'm excited to have him, SO excited to meet him someday, but so sad I missed all those baby moments. Adoption is so different and so much harder in some ways but way more miraculous in others. I pray for him often, pray like the dickens we can bring him home sooner than later. According to our agency, the timeline is still next summer to go get him. We are waiting for a visa from Korea. Obviously if we get any new news I'll pass it on.

We love you little man! Happy Birthday!

Boaz

Our dear friend, Londa, got a puppy named Boaz. Liv loves him. He's part chihauhau and part pomeranian. And he's got that awesome solid black line down the middle of his nose. Really, if you put it in scale, it's like an adult with a lab or golden retriever size dog on a leash. I just love the picture below - 2 balloons and a puppy, what kid could be happier. And we don't have to take care of this puppy! :)

First Day of Preschool!

It was a rainy start to the day, but we got to school okay.

Here she is in front of her little cubby.

Liv was excited to go and just walked on into her room.

I'm grateful she can go to a school that feels so comfortable in. She's definitely ready, and when I picked her up this morning, she was excited with lots to share. So here's the start to a new phase in our life. She's goes every morning from 8:30 to 11:05 at a Montessori school. No more lazy mornings for us :). Goodness they grow so fast...

I'm back Baby!

Apparently Blogger is one of the methods God has put in my life to teach me patience. I kept trying to post all through August. Wouldn't post, wouldn't post... Finally, while I was at the public library one day, I thought I'd just try to post the saved draft I had. It worked! So bear with me - maybe the problem is my computer? Anyway, I'll try to write drafts and post them when I get to the library.

So here we are at September 1st! I can't believe it. Liv had her first (sortof) day of preschool today. She went to her classroom for a half hour while I filled out paperwork in the library. Tomorrow is her first full morning on her own. I think she's ready. At the beginning of this week she was asking if anyone was coming to watch her (in the past that meant she hoped there wouldn't be). So I reassured her that I would be with her all day. So he

r reply is that couldn't someone PLEASE watch her?!? I guess she misses hanging out with college students and is getting tired of her mamma :). So yeah, I think pre-school will be good.

Here's a few shots I took as Liv's 4-year-old pictures. Ready or not, here comes preschool!

Summer Adventures

After a 3 months absence (!!!!), I'm back! We've done traveled all over and back again. Our 6 week summer assignment was smack-dab in the middle of the Badlands of North Dakota. It was beautiful, remote, first cold/wet then hot, dusty, and windy but full of great students and dear staff friends. We were in North Dakota's #1 vacation spot (I'd argue the only vacation spot...) Medora, ND. The town is 4x6 blocks, only 30 or 40 miles from the Montana border, and has a population of 112 during the year (according to Wikipedia) but grows significantly during the summer tourist season. They bring in 250 employees from all over the U.S and even the world. We met individuals working there from Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Turkey, Ukraine, and Columbia to name a few. What awesome ministry opportunities!

There were 5 kids total on our project, and they all became buddies. It was awesome. For our very social 4 year old, it was heaven :).

Here's our great staff team made up of dear friends. What a blessing to be together for 6 weeks. We ate together, parented together, met together, and ministered together. Flaws and sin were clearly visible but met with truth and grace. What a blessing to work alongside these people. We love them dearly.

A Blessing Bestowed

Well, my last post was on Payton's birthday last week. But what happened around supper time last Tuesday I couldn't post until this week... we got a referral for a little boy from Korea and yesterday we said YES!!!! We're filling out the paperwork/gathering the documents to add little ShiWoo to our family! I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty darn excited! His name means, Shi - bestow and Woo - blessing. Yeah, because that's just God. We looked at his picture for the first time yesterday morning after we called our social worker to say yes. Liv got a big smile on her face, and I teared up. He's a little peanut with a TON of hair (more/bigger than Liv had)! And as you're wondering where the picture is for this post... let's just say the agency doesn't smile on posting pictures of orphans online. So if you see me, I'll have a picture. However, I can't post it here. But let me say I've been looking at it constantly in the last day and a half. He's around 7 months old. The current wait time is 11-12 months 'til we can travel to bring him home. I'm really praying the Lord would provide the visa sooner so we could get him this calendar year. So that's what I know for now. We're so excited around here and will keep you posted!

Five

Hard to believe but Payton would've been 5 today. I can't believe it's been 5 years. Here's some of my thoughts from today:

• I'm so grateful we had her even for a little while. What a strong, amazing little person she was.


• I'm so grateful she's in heaven. Heaven is amazing (almost done with the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn - have about 20 pages left in the 475+ page book! ...been slowly working through it for, um, probably a year... It's a really good book.). Heaven is real. I'm going to get to see her there someday!


• This was the day I confronted one of my biggest fears - childbirth. And really, at that point, you have no choice.


• I don't know if this'll make sense, but I grieve what I didn't know was coming. I was so excited and optimistic. There was no warning, and honestly, I don't know that I'd have wanted to know ahead of time. I just would've worried about something I couldn't fix or control.


• Today was filled with unexpected gifts from the Lord. I can't go into all of it now, but He's so faithful to remind me of His goodness and kindness, His plan at work in my life. I'm humbled and blessed.

So thank you Jesus for our little girl. Thank you that she's with You. Thank you that I'll always be her mother and will get to spend eternity getting to know her in all the ways I didn't get to in this earthly life. Thank you for how You used her little life.

Because it was snowing on April 19th...

With the glorious weather we've been having lately, Liv and I were home all day (inside) last Tuesday and creativity was in order. Because for pete's sake it was SNOWING on April 19th (thought I'd state that again in case you missed the title). I was just grateful we weren't in the areas that were getting 7-9 inches. I had bought the big roll of paper from Ikea for $4 for just such an occasion. So we rolled out a good piece of it, broke out the crayons and markers, and went to town.


I kept asking her what different things were that she was drawing and wrote what she said on the paper. My favorite is a brown circle on the left side where she colored around the edges. When I asked her what it was she said, "a circle where everyone grows flowers." Also pictured is a cross, a baby, and the face of the mom next to it.



Here she is next to her masterpiece!

I Had a Ball (literally)

After 7 years on campus, Aaron finally agreed to go (in his defense some of those years we've been gone over that weekend). The campus hosts a Viennese Ball every spring as a fundraiser for the music department. It's a really big deal (supposedly the only other Viennese Ball in the world next to the one in Vienna, Austria). They completely convert the entire student center. The biggest room is the ball room - the symphony orchestra plays waltz music (and people actually waltz!) and after an hour the jazz orchestra plays swing and big band era music for an hour (where again, people dance!) and they alternate like that for the evening. It was wonderful. Then another big room is the polka room where a polka band plays. There's a small room where you can listen to jazz ensembles and another room to listen to a variety of student acapella groups (who are really good) and other instrument ensembles throughout the building. I really, really enjoyed all the music. We didn't even dance that much - I just loved people watching and listening to the music

So we went. We joined some students near and dear to our hearts and had a great evening!

Telling your kids about Easter

I know I've written about this book before - but for real, it's one of my favorites. Really, really good! Well, my friend discovered if you go to their website you can watch an animated version of the stories being read. Last week's story was about Jesus in the garden before the crucifixion. Liv was fascinated by it and watched it 4x in a row. This week's story is about the crucifixion. Click here to check it out.

Heavy Hearted

Those of you who have been following this blog since it started with Payton will know who I'm talking about when I mention little Ben. When Payton was in the cardiac ICU at Mayo the 2nd time, across the unit was little Ben. We met his parents who, like us, spent much time in the unit and were also staying at the Ronald McDonald House 2 blocks away. We became friends and periodically ate together and spent time together. They had adopted Ben from South Korea, and he'd been born with half a heart. In absolute genius, the doctors at Mayo found a way to adapt his heart to allow it to work. He's had ups and downs concerning his health and had even been on hospice a few times. Recently, however, he'd been doing really well. He was off oxygen and moving quite a bit on his own. But yesterday after breakfast he collapsed and went to be with the Lord. It was totally unexpected considering how he'd been doing. The funeral is tomorrow. I just ache for their family. Please keep them in your prayers. Ben was part of what influenced Aaron and I towards adoption. Seeing him and other children at Mayo really softened our hearts to the point we knew, before we lost Payton, that we would adopt at some point. I hope somehow he and Payton are able to connect now in heaven - with whole hearts celebrating with Jesus.

Gotcha Day #3!

We Love you Olivia Jee Eun! We're so grateful you've been home for 3 years! This past Friday, the 8th, was Liv's Gotcha Day. I think for adoptive families, at least for our little adoptive family, the Gotcha Day really feels like the "birth" day. It's the day we brought her into our family. I remember the the van ride to the airport, checking in and getting to our gate, the flight, getting home - it's the story of how we finally got her here! And it's already been 3 years, and she's nearly 4 years old! I read on a blog about how they gave their child a cultural gift on each Gotcha Day. I loved the idea, and this year got her this book. I love the pictures in it and hope it'll be something she can enjoy and learn from.

Nonnie Barb and Bompa Tom are our neighbors and attended our court day to officially adopt Liv and have been celebrated each Gotcha Day with us. They treated us to lunch at Culver's (I've got a girl that loves a good cheeseburger and some fries!). Nonnie Barb made her a pillowcase with Tinker Bell on it - a new love of Liv's.

We had a great time. I continue to be so grateful for Liv and our family. And we're so grateful to have Nonnie and Bompa here. It's such a blessing to have some "family" in town. And I'm getting so excited about this next little one - we'll be on the waiting list for a child from Korea this week! Can't wait for the next Gotcha Day!

A Love Story

40 years ago today a young, bright-eyed nurse married a handsome soldier. He had proposed 6 weeks prior. He had a short break allowing them to get married. Could they do it? The wedding was quickly put together but simple and beautiful. With hardly a honeymoon, they began their lives together. In the early years of marriage they endured long stretches of separation as the young soldier fulfilled his commitments with the army in the states and then finally in Vietnam.

They lived in apartments with used furniture. She often worked nights. And eventually they built their own little 3 bedroom house in a small town North of the city. In 1978 they moved in before adding their first child, a girl, a few months later. She stayed home with the baby, and he worked in an office. And nearly 3 years later, a sweet little, chubby-cheeked boy was added to the family.

Family was their priority. She went back to work 2nd shift while he worked days at the office. They drove cars that worked most of the time. Instead of a new car, they put in a pool. Instead of new carpet in the family room, they saved for family vacations. Doing without, they put the children in a private school. And eventually they went back to school as well. While working full-time and giving their all to two kids, she got her Bachelor's degree and then her Master's (and just barely survived statistics). He also earned his Master's.

They worked hard on their marriage and provided a stable, loving home for their children. There were days off spent by the pool and Sunday morning breakfasts made on the grill. They took day trips into the Chicago to see museums and plays. They went to all their kids sporting events.

They helped each other follow their dreams to move into new positions at work and open a new business. Through many ups and downs, highs and lows, they finally becan to see success.

Despite busy schedules, they've supported their kids and grown in their marriage. They're the best parents any child could ask for. They deserve a lavish party, but their kids can't afford it. The money has gone to construction loans and an engagement ring, to administration fees and application costs.

We love you Mom and Dad! Happy Anniversary! We can't honor you with a party, but we want to honor you with generations - a new daughter and a new grandchild. You deserve a wonderful day and congratulations on 40 years!

Adoption Update #2

Drum roll please.... well, that may be too dramatic. We still don't have a kid. I don't want to get anyone too excited. But we do have some new steps forward. We are moving forward to dual-listing with Korea again! Yay! This means we'll continue to stay on the list for Ethiopia just in case (though it seems little or nothing is happening at the moment. But still I'd hate totally pull out as things still shake down.) But we'll also be on the waiting list for a child from Korea. It seems VERY likely that as soon as we're on the list we could quickly get a referral from there, most likely for a little boy. So we'll see what happens. We have a few forms to get in to update our homestudy for Korea (always paperwork), and once those are in we'll officially be on the list. I'm hoping we'll be able to send them towards the end of next week. So there's where we're at. It's been a big adjustment in thinking becuase for years almost we've been planning for this little boy from Africa. I'm still trying to get my head around the possibility of a child from Korea, but I have to say I'm pretty excited about it. I love the thought of Liv having a sibling from there. This adoption has definitely been full of many more surprises, but the Lord continues to guide and provide. We can't wait to see what happens next!

My Husband is a Rock Star

I married a wonderful and gifted man. He has really grown a lot in the last few years as a communicator (in my opinion, not denying there's some bias there). This year in ministry he's taken on speaking at our weekly meeting more frequently. We've begun live streaming the meetings which are linked to Here. If you'd like to watch/listen to one of his talks you can click on the meetings dated (the 2 most recent) tonight, March 31st, along with March 3rd. I was able to watch him speak tonight, and I have to say he knocked it out of the park. He did awesome. So I wanted to share the love :). If you decide to watch you'll want to start viewing 45 minutes in or so to see Aaron as there's quite a few other things they do at the meeting. The talks are only 20-25 minutes. Wash the dished while you listen... or clean the kitchen or fold laundry. I listen to a LOT of sermons this way :).

Adoption Update

So here's the deal - Ethiopia has cut the processing of adoptions by 90%! Yes, that's a 9-0. So the people that already have a referral for a child (meaning there's a child they've already committed to adopting) are getting back-logged to go pick that child up because they're waiting for the department in Ethiopia to approve their match. So those people could potentially wait a year longer than the estimated 5-8 months to bring their child home (at least as much as they can guess now). For those of us that haven't committed to adopting a child yet, we're in limbo. In some ways I'm grateful we haven't committed to a child from there because it would be a really long wait, but it's also a disappointment because we've been planning this for going on a few years now. All this just happened a few weeks ago. So we've just been sitting tight and waiting to hear from our agency as to what our options are. There's an online seminar mid-week that will hopefully give us a feel for what our options are. At this point it seems likely that we'll switch to adopt from a different country, but I obviously can't say for certain. If you could pray for wisdom amidst all this we'd be so grateful. The 2 things I've continued to try to remember is that (1) This is totally out of my control, and (2) God is totally in control. He knows where our child is and will help us in the midst of everything. I'll keep you posted on what happens!

The Alps

As we flew home, we flew over the Alps. Ah-mazing. I was just awstruck because as high as you are up in the air, the mountains still looked so big. I hope someday I can go to Austria or Switzerland for a closer look. I just had to share a couple pictures :).

All over and back again

We've had a few adventures here at the Jones home, but we're all finally home and settled again. On Feb. 24th, Liv flew to Florida with my parents to see as much of Walt Disney World as possible in a week. On Feb. 25th, I flew back to our frequently traveled to location in the Middle East for a week long vision trip with 2 other moms. Aaron got to stay home and work :(.


Liv had a GREAT time with Grandma and Grandpa. Some of her favorites were riding the tea cups, seeing the characters, and meeting Cinderella. I was so grateful she was in good hands while I was gone.


My trip went really well. Travel was smooth for the most part. We stayed healthy. I got to spend time with one of my dearest friends, pray for a country I car so much about, encourage and serve the staff women there, and connect a little with some of the students there. I was so grateful. We actually spent 5 days in the city Aaron and I served in our second year of marriage. It was so surreal to be back there and remember what that year was like.


This is banana milk - doesn't look like much, but it's really, really good! This is Sue, Donna, Krista, and Clare. Sue and Krista live and work there - awesome women, so enjoyed getting to spend time with them. Donna and Clare are my fearles traveling companions!

The apartment building we used to live in.
Me and my sweet friend Sarah - love her dearly.

Our mighty traveling team of 3. This is one of the views of the campus we worked at and that the current team works at.

Me and Sarah :). Starbucks really is global!

Lasts and Firsts

The thing about parenting is it's easy to celebrate the firsts of things, but a little harder to celebrate the lasts. Because most of the time you don't know when the lasts are. I think this past Monday was Liv's last nap. I know, I know - she's 3 1/2, we had a good run. Most kids give up their afternoon nap well before now. She had a cold, took a nap Monday afternoon, then slept 'til 7:45 Tuesday morning - an hour and a half past her usual wake-up time. And I think that did it. I knew she wouldn't nap that afternoon. I put her down to bed early that night, and the new schedule has taken over.

Then yesterday we had mom's group. She played all morning and was pooped that afternoon. She wanted to go to bed but didn't sleep. A little later we read some books, and she just zonked out. It's rare that she falls asleep in my lap. So is this another last? Will she fall asleep in my lap again? I don't know. So I'll treasure this one - notice how much she's grown, how she doesn't fit in my lap like she used to. Marvel at her perfect olive skin, her long eyelashes, her straight black hair. My sweet girl. Such a blessing. Glad Aaron was home to capture it.

Christmas Card Recycle

So I saw a great idea for a Valentine's wreath from here. It's a blog I've come to love for numerous reasons - 2 of them being 1. because she's also adopted from Korea, and 2. because she likes to craft! I loved the idea but wanted to use what I had. So what did I have? I did have a 1 1/4 inch square punch and lots of Christmas cards!
Here's the finished product...

Here's the supplies: a foam wreath, Christmas cards and their envelopes (that's right, you get to use both!), my square punch, 3/4 inch stick pins (leftover from a Christmas craft from last year), and a scoring tool - you don't need the cutting edge, you need the scoring edge. ...and a Packer football game on Saturday night or a few episodes of White Collar to keep you company while your husband is working.

Then punch, punch, punch. The scoring tool was used because it was difficult to get a clean fold on cardstock (from which most Christmas cards are made).

I cut the envelopes into strips to wrap around the wreath as the base layer. I used the parts that had stamps or other postmarks on them cause it seemed more fun. The strips don't have to be perfect, just 1-2 inches wide. Then pin them around the wreath and cut off the excess. You could use a glue gun for this as well.

Here's the stamp from a card that came from France :).

Then take your folded squares and pin them in place. I have to say, I don't know if a glue gun would work on this part. The cards are stiff and don't give well. The pins allow you to rotate them a bit as needed and give a pretty secure hold.

And here's the finished product! (not hung because, well, I don't have a ribbon yet to hang it. And it's the middle of January and time to take down the Christmas decor, not put more up. But I'm excited to hang it up next year!)

Hope it inspires you to make use of all the cards you still have left from Christmas in a pile (if you're like me...).

My Story

A dear friend of our family's has a prayer blog, and this week he's written about grief. He's posted our story of Payton there. The post is a talk I wrote for a women's night on summer project in June of '08 where I wanted to share with the women how God heals our hearts. It tells the whole story of Payton as well as what the Lord did in my life through all of it. He's broken the story into 3 parts as it's LONG - just a warning. So if you'd have the time and would like to read it, here's the link:
http://shorterdesigns.com/prayercoach/2011/01
His wife is the mentor I mention in the post. Jan 11th is the first post, the 12th is the second, and today or tomorrow he'll post the third. Enjoy!