Gotcha Day Pictures

Here we are right before the prayer ceremony where the director of the agency prays for all the children and their families.  



During the prayer Tate rested his head on Aaron.  It was really sweet.

Hopefully it's okay that I post this picture, but I love it.  Here he is with with foster mother and her daughter.  Again, I can't emphasize enought how kind they've been.

And here's little man zonked out after the emotion of the afternoon.

We had Cory and Cindy with us here on our last trip and had much better pictures! :)  It's hard to try to be in the moment and photograph the moment at the same time.  And where's there's picture gaps is where I was taking video.  Oh well, you do the best you can :).

Gotcha Day

Yesterday, the 30th, was our Gotcha Day - the term in the adoption world for when you take custody of your child.  It was... good and so sad and heartbreaking and precious.  We had one last meeting with Tate's foster mother and her daughter.  It was wonderful to see them again.  We took pictures together and some pictures of Tate with them.  But then the time came for them to leave.  It was a quick goodbye.  I ached for his foster family and ached for Tate.  They left quickly as they began crying.  Tate did okay and looked around curiously.  Then we brought him up to our room.  He looked around for a minute - I think waiting for his foster mother to come through the door.  Then he got a real sad look on his face... then he started crying... and crying... and screaming.  And Aaron and I cried and held him and cried.  It was absolutely heartbreaking.  He kept looking at the door and calling for his foster mother.  And we just kept holding him and let him cry.  After an hour (by this time is was 4:30 in the afternoon and he hadn't had a nap yet) he fell asleep in Aaron's arms.  We laid him down for a nap, and he slept like a rock.  We woke him up after an hour - as I told Aaron woke him up back into his nightmare.  He started crying again immediately.  We quickly changed his diaper and got him in the stroller to go to a park we found out about close by.  When he got in the stroller and left the room his quit crying right away.  He loved the stroller, loved being out, loved looking at people.  We played for awhile and came back for supper.  It was such a blessing that his foster mother packed his supper.  He had seaweed wrapped rice rolls, some Korean pickles, a hard-boiled egg, tiny little sardines (ate those up like nobody's business), and a bunch of fruit.  The kid ate and ate and defintely eats more than Liv.  Then we brought him back to room - resume crying - gave him a bath and Skyped our parents and Liv.  He perked up for that.  Then came bed time - even more rigorous crying and screaming and arching the back.  It was just heartbreaking.  But then after about a half hour or 45 minutes, he pointed to his blanket, laid down with it, and went right to sleep.  It was the craziest thing.  That was nearly 12 hours ago.  He is still sleeping - poor little guy.  It's nearly quarter to ten.  Whenever he wakes up we'll get him breakfast and head out. 

Some of the precious moments yesterday were playing with him.  He's such a sweet boy.  Aaron pointed out that even though he's been so sad, he hasn't been obstinate.  He lets us hold himWe ran around the little playground with him, and he liked being in our little kitchen next door to eat supper.  He'll chat and point at things.  He was intrigued with Skype and would chatter and wave and point at the screen.  He liked watching himself on video I think.  And we broke out some bubbles.  Those were a hit as well. 

So I'm going to end this post for now.  If he keeps sleeping I'll upload and post a few more pictures.  PLEASE, please pray for him and for us, especially the flight.  I feel like if we can just make it through that then we'll be home and able to move forward from there.  At 6:30 pm central time on Tuesday evening (the 31st) we'll be boarding our shuttle to the airport here (it'll be 8:30 Wednesday morning of the 1st here in Korea).  Then a few hours later we'll be in the air.  We'll land in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening of the 1st at 4:30 pm central time.  By the time we get home it'll be about 24 hours of travel.  Thanks so much for praying.  We appreciate it more than you know!

Sights and Sounds

Yesterday, Saturday, Aaron and I switched lodging (moved from a hotel to the guest house in our agency which had an opening and is quite a bit cheaper) and then we shopping for the kids.  By far, my favorite thing we saw was this picture.  It looks slightly blurry because of the sortof holgram quality, but the writing is the best.  Read it closely - could be a good fit for us large Americans.  Man, I wanted to buy it and hang it in our dining area and just see who noticed.  You just can't find gems like this back home.

(In case you can't read the writing, its says, "I am the food shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.")

Then we ventured over the more cultural area for shopping.  There's a lot of really great Korean items you can find like fans, pottery, silk, scarves, and other trinkets. 

This is a girl's hanbak - the traditional Korean dress.  We got one for Liv that'll fit her right now, and Tate's foster mother had bought one for him.  I'm hoping to get their pictures taken in them together.

Also, we've been watching the Olympics in Korean.  They are (obviously) airing the sports featuring Koreans.  We've seen women's handball (cross between basketball and soccer - very interesting), archery, rowing, judo, fencing, and a little swimming. 

Last night we met another couple who had just taken custody of their little boy who's exactly 1 month older than Tate.  Oh, it just broke our hearts.  He was so sad and forlorn.  The expression on his face was so fragile that it seemed the slightest thing would put him to tears.  They are staying right down the hall, and everytime we've heard him today he's been crying.  It's just so sad.  On this side of things, adoption is seen as such a happy occasion - and it is.  So much paperwork and such a long wait finally ended with excitement to finally see this little person face to face. But for the child, adoption first starts with profound loss.  Loss of one of the deepest relationships between a parent and child.  And now for these little guys, another loss of the only mother they've known.  I have ached, cried, and prayed for Tate.  And now tomorrow our lives, and his little life, will never be the same.  We are so excited and ready to bring him home to our family, but we do so with a profound dependence on the Lord to meet us, and especially to meet Tate, in all the ways we need.  We're excited to bring him home and settle him in, but we want to be sensitive to his needs and his great adjustment.  Please keep praying for us and especially for Little Man.  He's a special little guy I can tell, and I can't wait for you to meet him too :).

Introducing Tate ShiWoo Jones!!!

We are in KOREA!!!  We got the call to travel to get ShiWoo this past Monday, the 23rd.  We flew out Wednesday the 25th, and now today, the 27th, we finally got to meet our little guy for the first time!  We had sent over a little toy photo album this past winter which we knew he had received and played with.  When we walked up he just looked at us for a moment with a look on his face like he was trying to figure out who we were and why we looked familiar.  We were able to spend an hour with him, his foster mother, and our social worker who translated for us.  We were just taken with him.  He's just shy of 22 months old and about the cutest little thing and such a sweet boy.  He chatters and moves about to play with various toys.  He loved this large toy car.  In the first picture we were playing a type of peek-a-boo with it. 

From what his foster mother told us, he loves people and even initiates with others.  He chatters all the time, and is a happy, easy-going little boy.  It was very apparent that he's been well loved and taken care of by his foster mother - a blessing we could never repay.  We're unbelievably grateful for all she's done.  We brought Liv home with the clothes on her back.  Today, the foster mother brought 2 full shopping bags with his blanket, 2 stuffed animals, a couple toys, his clothes, and 2 albums with all the pictures they'd taken - such a gift!  We couldn't believe she sent all that with us. 

We will have the weekend on our own.  Then Monday afternoon we'll take custody before we fly home on Wednesday, the 1st.  Please pray for this transition for him.  I'm sure he'll feel the separation keenly.  Pray for wisdom and discernment for us in how to best help him and love him well.  Also, please pray for our flight home with him.  It's a lot to have a toddler for 12+ hours on a plane.  Since he's under 2 we did not buy him a seat because we paid an outrageous amount for ours to fly over.  So he'll be on our laps.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous about it.  Your prayers will be greatly appreciated!

I'll try to post again in a couple days once we have him as long as we have internet.  We're in a hotel now, but we will transfer to the guest house at our agency since a vacancy opened up - quite a bit cheaper.  Thanks for celebrating with us!

5

Here's Liv on her next-to-last-day of preschool with her teachers.  She LOVED school this year, and her teachers were an absolute blessing!  I'm amazed at how much she learned and grew.



And today is Liv's 5th Birthday!  It was a big day and her 1st birthday at home!  Every other year we've been on assignment somewhere.  We so enjoyed getting to celebrate here!  She attended vacation Bible school at a nearby church this morning.  We went to the pool for 3 hours late this afternoon.  She requested pizza and icecream for supper - Papa John's and DQ, done.

I can't believe she's 5 and attending kindergarten this fall.  It's been a delight to watch her learn and grow.  She loves story - she doesn't ask questions about why things are the way they are or how things work, she asks questions about people and stories: Why did he do that?  Why did she get mad?  What happened to this person?  She's maintained her love of horses since our time in North Dakota last summer.  She likes to dance and sing around the house.  She loves to pretend.  She's great at "helping" around the house - trying to channel that energy so she really can learn and help do chores.  She loves to be goofy, loves to wrestle, loves Disney, loves going to the library, loves jamming to music in the car.  We keep praying for the Lord to continue to shape and mold her heart.  She is growing into a sweet girl.



And an adoption update:  So things are moving along quickly!  Right after my previous post we got a call that ShiWoo's visa is being processed and within the next 2-9 weeks we'll get our call to travel!!!!  AHHH!  We can't believe it!  I kept expecting things to move more slowly, that hopefully we'd go in September.  I hadn't really prepared myself that it could happen faster!  So now nesting has kicked in - we are trying to clean out and purge a bit.  I have hopes to paint the kitchen and my dresser... we'll see how far we get :).

I'm Back! Hopefully...

It's been nearly 8 months since my last post! I'm sure many that had been checking here have since given up! I've been divided between so many things I want to write about and remember and my dislike of spending time on the computer. But, I have a terrible memory (or so it has developed the older I get), and so remembering has won. Today I dropped Liv off for her last day of preschool. And as I rewatched the video posted below, I simply cannot believe that Liv will be in kindergarten this fall! I was amazed as I watched her this morning. She got out of the car and walked to the school building like such a big girl. As I pulled away, I saw her swinging her arms and walking as confidently as her 33 pounds could take her back to the playground. She's still such a peanut. And on the adoption front, ShiWoo is 20 months old and has been our boy for a year now. We were anticipating we'd be able to bring him home this fall. However, it's very possible we could go get him late summer! Of course they never want to assure you of anything, but I think it's very likely. I've honestly been in a state of surprise over the last 24 hours. I'd been preparing myself for a longer wait, but now the possibility of him coming home this summer has me shocked! So we'll see what happens, and I will definitely keep you in the loop!

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.